#or i think it was a stream made into a video by mc gamer?

[single-malt-scotch]

seeing ppl talk about moment where etho may have been drunk in clips is always amusing bc i always think of a super old mindcrack stream as a moment where i feel like he actually was, prior to any conversations where he said he doesnt really drink alcohol, bc he was so weird and awkward during it

[lowkeyrobin]

Mcyt with an s/o who's a voice acter for video game characters? They mostly do voice characters in horror games n stuff(like until dawn, where the characters are also modeled after the voice after if I remember correctly)

I just think their faces would be hilarious if the choice they make in the game ends up with y/n getting killed lol

OH MY GOD YESSSSS ; also tried to use different games and not the same for everyone but I'm not the heaviest story game gamer LMFAO ; also don't talk about how timeliness wouldn't make sense shhhhhh

MCYT ; video game voice actor

includes ; tommyinnit, ranboo, badlinu, nihachu, quackity, & foolish gamers

warnings ; language & fictional violence and death/murder

masterlist

TOMMYINNIT

somehow the topic of mc story mode came up and how you actually voice acted a few characters + one of the Jessie variants (whichever you picked as a kid 🙏)

"WHAT? WHY DIDNT I KNOW ABOUT THIS?"

"I mean I was like, fourteen. I don't think I even knew you yet"

"absolute betrayal"

he literally speeds to his office, downloads the first game and proceeds to stream for three hours playing it (he selects whichever Jessie you voiced of course)

"OH MY GOD THAT IS MY PARTNER, HOLY SHIT, LISTEN TO THEIR BABY VOICE!"

the tweets never end

"spot the difference" and its an old/new pic of you compared to jessie

💀💀💀💀

once he gets to the save Petra or Lukas scene he straight up pauses and playfully yells at you like you made the game?? 💀🙏

he dies so many times it's not even funny

love him tho

RANBOO

Detroit become human

the moment he finds out you voiced a minor character he speedruns trying to find you

the character is also modeled after you, so he's begging chat to keep an eye out for you too

you're basically just some very friendly person trying to help Connor but no matter what route he/the player takes, you wind up dead for the angst

ouuuu the heartbreak, the angst

if it's by being shot, betrayed, or committing your own death, you're gone bro

"y/n why the fuck does your character die in the worst ways possible?"

you shrug

"that genuinley hurt my feelings. I don't wanna play this anymore"

"you didn't get to Connors possible death scene yet!"

"WHAT?"

FREDDIE BADLINU

TLOU 2 (I don't support the makers zionist views, I just thought this fit. free Palestine and do your daily clicks)

was literally cheering you on the whole time when you were bts for voice acting your character

you had to take like scream classes to upgrade your screaming abilities lmao

you gave the voice to a character modeled after you, an infected teen who runs into ellie on her way through the game

she/the player is forced to put you down because you're not immune

L

he plays through the game and turns to you like "dude do I actually have to kill you to progress?"

you just nod

"I'm sorry, I didn't wanna do this"

THE DESPERATE SCREAMING GOT HIM

literally looked at you in horror

"...are you okay?"

you smile and nod

NIKI NIHACHU

life is strange

mf you would've been like 16?? damn get ur bag, okay

she plays through and you va (whoever you choose) and everytime she hears your voice she smiles

"omg that's my partner! that's y/n, you guys!! :D"

the cutest

literallt cries at the end of the game

"y/n, were you in life is strange two?"

"why?"

"Cause I wanna play it but I don't wanna get my hopes up about you being there"

"just play it, just play it. trust me"

ALEX QUACKITY

twdg s4

basically clem/the player gets really close to your character and ends up having to kill them after they turn into a walker

the angst, the heartbreak

he's never done a full let's play / game play like that before and especially with a full game series

when he got to s4 and heard you for the first time he literally started jumping around and screaming

now when you die... it's jumping and screaming alright (in anger and sadness)

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? I PLAYED ALL THOSE GAMES JUST FOR YOU TO DIE?"

"I mean there's an option to prevent me turning, you're just a dumbass"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? IM RESTARTING"

FOOLISH GAMERS

dead by daylight

you va'd multiple characters/killers

and the devs wanted to show appreciation by giving you your own playable character with your natural voice

when foolish finds out, he gets tubbo, quackity, tina & niki in a call to play dbd + stream for like 6 hours

loves seeing all the death animations you'd be given and all your voicelines

"OH MY GOD! guys this is my partner, they're so instantly talented at voice acting, holy shit!"

"we get it foolish, you love y/n"

"It's more than love, quackity, it's an obsession"

"my brother in christ, calm down"

[ghousttm]

The Milos i think I'd make if I was mc !

There would be two routes based on my traits. Silence and Gamer

Silence is when i end up not actually talking to Milo a lot, but neither of us wanted to cut off or anything, so we do keep in touch sometimes. It made Milo a more quiet and reserved, stoic person

I think the special event for this route is Milo having the worst day of his life and despite Jim not talking to him much, they still reached out to him and lended him an ear. Going to meet him in person even though they hated going outside their dorm and spending time with him quietly

He's a lot like pre-milo i imagine, just more stoic

Gamer route is .. definitely made from self indulgence- in this route I'd insist on playing games with Milo a lot since he's got the stuff for it and i usually never have access to those stuff

Every one of our 'date's ended up being us playing different games together and making stuff about it (This is because i dont know any other way to hang out with people)

We at some point started posting videos of us gaming together and one of our videos became a viral hit and we took this opportunity to also start streaming and shit. Building up our new audience

And the special event is going to be our first controversy, where it seemed like the world was against us and shit

And aughhh idk i cant think im getting hungry again

Therapy milo is after me and milo start dating i think like "damn we're both kinda fucked lmfao 😭😭" and i realize i am an independent person now and i can book my own therapy and i invite milo to go as well or whatever idk it'd be nice to have a friend at all, especially having them be my therapy budfy

[atticsandwitch]

Obey Me! Characters and an MC with chronic pain

More self indulgence

Lucifer

Is aware, thanks to Barbatos, but also respects your privacy.

Probably won't act like he already knows if you decide to tell him.

Can't stay by your side as much as he wants, but he works hard behind the scenes to make sure you're taken care of.

Makes sure the first aid cabinet is always stocked with pain meds.

Calls you in sick when you need to miss school.

Schedules your doctors appointments

Often tutors you to make sure you don't get behind.

Makes Mammon bring you your homework, Has Satan pick up your meds.

Still wishes he could do more.

The first to check on you in the morning if you wake up in pain and are late to breakfast.

Mammon

The first to know after Barbatos. He's always in your room going through your things, so he found your medications, aids, etc and tried failed to find a subtle way to ask you about them.

Is honestly amazed that you have to deal with that every day and still manage to do everything that you do for him and his brothers, and all with a smile.

Thinks you're a badass.

Whenever he goes on shopping sprees with Goldie, he buys you anything he sees that he thinks might help.

He doesn't know what it is, but it says its for pain, so MC might be able to use it!

It breaks his heart to see his human in pain, and he feels helpless, so he'll stay by you and stroke your hair during pain flare ups.

Hovers a little.

Always willing to lay in bed and have a Harrison Porter marathon.

Gets really good at wrapping your joints in compression bandages, braces, or kinesio-tape.

Leviathan

The resident Akuzon addict will actually research all the best products for coping with pain. He'll sort through reviews and find whatever sounds the most helpful.

He finds out when he invites you to an anime/gaming marathon and you decline, saying you're in pain.

Boy doesn't run, but he's at your door in three seconds flat and out of breath, trying to make sure you're okay.

Video chats, live streams, and other technological ways to hang out become a common option for the two of you, but he also sets up an area in his room just for you, where you can lay down and access anything you'd need to feel better. Tens unit? Check. Pain meds? Check. Heating pad? Check. Braces? Check. Ice packs? Check. The list goes on, MC.

Knows all your comfort characters/series, and incorporates them into his comfort strategies. "'You're amazing! I don't know anyone who could handle what you do every day!' That's what the die-hard gamer from your favorite anime would say in a situation like this, right?!"

Satan

Makes a point to do things for you before you can even ask him to.

Will get things for you, bring them to you, put things you've left out back in your room or where you'll easily find them so you don't have to go looking.

Always offers to carry things for you.

Reads up on whatever he can that might help.

Should we get Cerberus certified as an emotional support/service animal?

Obviously a good tutor when you need help with school.

Reads to you or sends you cat videos when you're having a bad day.

He's really good at reading people, so he's one of the first to notice when your mood starts to change due to the pain.

Makes the others aware whenever he realizes you're having a pain flare up.

The Devildom Museum of Art is suddenly offering virtual tours of all their new exhibits. Hmmm I wonder who could be responsible for that.

Asmodeus

The king of massages and back rubs.

Seriously, it makes Mammon jealous, so Asmo's always giving you back rubs in his room so Mammon can't butt in and demand that he takes his hands off you.

Always there to offer you a hot bath

Learns all about aromatherapy, and knows all the best scents for relaxation and pain relief.

Always buying lotions and massage oils to use on you, especially if he thinks they'll help.

Knows about all of the newest super food trends and encourages a healthy lifestyle and diet without being pushy.

Drink lots of water, MC!

Encourages you to take it easy, and to never feel guilty about taking care of yourself.

Seriously, Asmo will force you to take self care or mental health days if he thinks you need it. (Much to Lucifer's chagrin. Guess he's calling you in sick again.)

Beelzebub

Along with Belphie, he's very good at being able to read your mood and tell when you're starting to feel bad.

Likes giving you piggy-back rides and always offers to carry things for you.

Seriously, between Beel and Satan, you don't ever have to lift a finger if you don't want to.

Checks in with you often, but tries to make sure he's not hovering. He wants to help as often as he can, but doesn't want to take away any of your independence.

Gets really into physical therapy and learns all the best stretches and exercises to help you, but still knows that sometimes only junk food can make things better.

Takes it upon himself to bring you all your meals. He'll even pack you lunches, or go get your food for you in the cafeteria.

Knows all your favorite comfort foods.

Really just wants to hold you when you're not feeling well.

Probably the second best at massages after Asmo.

Belphegor

Prides himself on how well he knows you, and can tell when you're starting to feel run down almost before you can.

Takes it upon himself to learn your limits so he knows when you're pushing yourself and can distract you so you don't overdo it and wind up in pain later.

A little bossy, but his heart's in the right place, "Don't sit like that, MC, your back will hurt later"

Canonically already carries around stomach medicine for Beel, so he's definitely carrying pain meds around for you too.

Snuggle buddies for life.

As much as he enjoys/needs sleep, if you're having a pain flare up, he'll make sure to stay awake to stroke your hair and comfort you until you fall asleep first.

Tries to make jokes to make you feel better.

Doesn't seem like it, but he's a pretty good tutor too. He's used to cramming at the last minute.

Diavolo

Makes sure you have any accommodations that you may need. Online classes, extensions, extra sick days, you name it.

Checks in with you often, but won't say anything about your condition unless you tell him first. Will act like he doesn't know until then. But will sheepishly admit the truth if you find out and apologize.

Does anything he can to help magically as often as possible, but there are rules and limitations even for him.

All he really wants to do is take care of you and treat you to things. Anything at all that he can do to help, really.

Would pamper you within an inch of your life if he could.

Has the Little D's help you out with things all the time, but tells them to act like it's just coincidence that they're there and have time to help.

Lucifer and Barbatos both have to remind him that you need rest and he can't constantly be checking in on you. They roll their eyes whenever they see the Little D's approach you.

Barbatos

Was probably the one in charge of all the details of the exchange program, like transportation and background information, so he would have been the first to know.

Made Diavolo and Lucifer aware as part of his duties, but respects your privacy and wouldn't offer any details without permission.

Seriously admires your strength. It takes a lot to deal with pain every day.

Always has pain meds, braces, or other small helpful items on hand.

Does more for you than anyone besides Diavolo.

Diavolo and Lucifer both think it's sweet, and may tease him a little.

Solomon

Always has magic ointments and creams on hand, and gives them to you often.

Knows that weather can affect pain, and checks in on you when it rains.

Will take notes for you in class and bring them to you at the House of Lamentation.

Worries more than he lets on.

Does extra medicinal magic on you without your knowledge, but only if he knows it'll help somehow. Normally he has no problem experimenting on people, but he cares too much about you, and you've been through enough.

Simeon

Likes to cook for you when you're not feeling well and brings meals to you when you miss school sometimes.

Is really good at taking care of people.

Always there to listen, and very sympathetic.

Has to hold himself back from hovering, but having to remind Luke helps him.

Loves playing with your hair while he comforts you.

Forehead kisses.

Like Beel, he just wants to hold you and make things better.

Luke

Worries about you a lot when you miss school.

Simeon and Solomon have to remind him that he can't constantly call or check on you because you need your rest, but if one of them visits you, you can bet that he's tagging along.

You're so strong MC!

Making you desserts as we speak.

Would share his comfort items with you.

[wyrmy-fics]

if the rfa had youtube channels, what would they be posting?

This is going to be so much fun oml. I know exactly what to do. So buckle up 👁👁

Reblogs are highly appreciated. :)

RFA on YouTube

Includes: Zen, Yoosung, Jaehee, Jumin, Seven, V, Rika.

Warnings -> (N/A)

Type: Headcanons.

Zen:

✧ Zenny’s Tips & Tricks ✧

His channel is mainly about himself, as anyone would guess.

But at the same time, they’re actually helpful and fun to watch. He’s been crowned the “big bro” of YouTube.

Beauty tips: How to wash your face properly and the right products to use, the perfect shampoo and conditioners, how to keep yourself from aging...

Zen will also do tons of reviews and sponsorships.

Whenever he’s not talking about beauty, here comes the tricks.

Acting tricks: How to pick your monologues, the right volume to use within the theatre, how to use your expressions, the red flags in theatre...

Even if you aren’t interested in those, he always makes the videos enjoyable to learn from.

The occasional fancams here and there...

“It’s not weird to show your own fancams, right?”

Yoosung:

⭑ Yoosung Games ⭑

Of course he’d be a gamer channel.

Streams on Twitch and then edits the videos for YouTube the next day.

He has the whole set up too - the gaming chair, headphones, glowing keyboard, etc.

One of the best LOLOL streamers out there, but he also tries new games.

The occasional conspiracy theory videos.

Yoosung often streams with other players too and has his own little circle.

Really kicked off when he tried out Minecraft survival mode.

Would probably be one of those yelling/screaming type streamers...

“The enderman looked scary, okay!!”

Pure of heart, dumb of ass.

Out of request, would probably do some challenges like Try Not to Laugh or Simulator challenges.

CrankGameplays vibes...

Overall a very loved YouTuber and slowly growing in subscribers.

Jaehee:

❊ Jaehee Kang ❊

A very casual YouTuber.

Doesn’t really open up an account until she has her café.

Vlogging about her day is her main source of content.

There are a few videos with tips about creating a business and marketing, as well as what all she did to get there.

Shows off her coffee skills with her morning scenes.

If it’s a slow day for Jaehee, she’ll film herself working with soft music playing in the background that viewers can listen to with her.

Occasionally streams for Q&A sessions and to just talk with her subscribers.

Relationship videos with MC.

Hair updates because she’s excited about it growing out!!

A very loved and relaxing account. Who could hate her.

“Mom of YouTube.”

Jumin:

- (=•́ܫ•̀=) Jumin Han (=•́ܫ•̀=)

A business related channel.

Everyone asks about the cat faces in his name.

He doesn’t answer. (Was put in by Luciel)

Focuses his content on how to run a business and what it’s like for a CEO.

Doesn’t post too often - predominately takes requests when someone has a question about his work.

Will use the account to upload something professionally and send over in meetings.

If given the chance, will talk for a good 30 minutes about one simple thing. No editing either.

One time, Jumin made a video about the Dark Arts and magic he learned from his book. Everyone asked what that was about.

He didn’t answer.

Almost always has Elizabeth the Third with him in his videos too.

“Everyone must see her beauty at all times, don’t you think?”

Seven:

♛ Defender of Justice ♛

People usually call him Seven or Luciel in his videos, though.

Because he can’t show his identity to the world, he’s a masked YouTuber. (Also the reason why Saeran doesn’t create a channel.)

Think channels like Corpse, SwaggerSouls, or Dream.

Plays along with Yoosung in his games and is part of that little circle.

Will occasionally stream but relies more on videos he can edit.

Lots of cool effects in his videos - the intro is never skipped by anyone.

He tried being a VTuber once. Nearly cancelled for catfishing.

When he’s not gaming with Yoosung, Seven is mainly doing reviews on materialistic things.

Probably cars, inventions, recent technology, and giving info about them.

He’s a super mysterious YouTuber because no one knows anything about him. No one can find anything if they tried.

Everyone loves his humor though and how accepting he is to his fans.

V:

✎ Jihyun Arts ✎

Creates his channel after his route.

Will post tutorials, speedpaints, reviews, and look at his subscribers art to compliment them.

Very slow with updating his videos but makes up for it with the length. (Average 15-20 minutes.)

Everyone loves to put his videos on in the background since his voice is really soothing. Especially when he’s painting very quietly.

There are a few videos where he teaches certain techniques with both photography and painting, like lighting and settings.

As a photographer, it was hard to clearly see feedback on his works or talk with fans. Thankfully, YouTube changed that.

It took him a while to ease into it, but he loves engaging with subscribers and asks questions on social media all the time.

Reshares any and all artwork made for him to give his honest opinions, which are all lovely.

Somehow shipped with Jumin by fans.

Rika:

☼ Kim Rika ☼

Posts twice a week with a mixture of content.

Occasionally promotes the RFA and charity work as a leader.

But on other times when there are no parties coming up, she does story times.

With parties and planning around famous (and infamous) guests, she’s bound to have a few interesting stories she can say publicly.

Like how nice Rui is in donating his photographs, or the time she slipped up and said the wrong thing to Chef Lamsey.

They’re all in good fun and typically a drama free channel.

Sometimes will vlog herself when preparing for parties and making trips to gather the things needed.

Lots of cute effects and stays within a very warm theme in all her thumbnails.

Just like Jihyun, she’s one of those channels where people play her videos in the background to simply listen to her voice.

Most likely has a line of merch, all sun and daffodil related.

PHEW that’s a lot of characters. Hope this is what you had in mind! ^^

- 💙

[mariaiscrafting]

ahhhh ty ty ty <3

ok, so I think that what makes Dream act this way (iykyk) is how dreamwastaken became so big so quickly. and by quick I mean fucking lightning speed.

he didn't have enough time to learn enough about cc etiquette, especially in these three aspects: influence, boundaries and fanbase/stans/whatever you call it. I'll try to explain it:

• Influence: Does he know the influence he has? Like, when he hears that he is the myct with the largest fanbase, does he really process that? I remember he talked about not being able to control all of his fanbase and there's bad apples everywhere -- which is true, and that only like 1% of his fanbase breaks his boundaries (that include sending hate for him, harassing, doxing, etc. yk, basic twitter culture lol) but, honey, with your big ass fanbase, 1% is still a lot of people. As a content creator you *have* to be aware of that.

let's take the hbomb situation. First off, as a streamer, it's you that set the mood of the stream. Even if he was only messing around with his pals, even if they did say to do not send hate to hbomb, dt dunking on him created a toxic environment, which caused his fans being toxic towards hbomb and you know what happens next. Hell, when this happened, I was watching Tapl and he was watching them and he was crying laughing over them screaming bc they were just. so loud and so aggressive that it was kinda ??? Sirs, this is literally a Minecraft Stream lmaooo

my point is, that was not the road that dreamwastaken, 21M fans, should've taken. he don't condone his fans actions but he knows his fans are diehard and will always be on his side, he should be more careful before stating negative opinions, especially if its towards another person.

• Boundaries and Fanbase: He posted a list of his boundaries a while ago, idk if you know or seen it (btw please george copy your bestie for the love of god <3) but I'm not talking about those boundaries, I'm talking about the basic boundaries between cc and viewer. boundaries that, in my opinion, should exist between cc and viewer. I get that Dream is an open person, an oversharing type of open person if I may add, but I think he should take a step back regardless. When I heard that he was taking a time from twitter, I genuinely got so glad, not because he couldn't start any drama then, but because it would do so so good for his mental health. I'm not even that fond of him, it's just that for me, any cc taking a break or outright leaving twitter is a win for me. I know how RSD is hard to deal and honestly letting shit out it's better but dream you have dt you have bbh so please don't make things worse online 😭 I know how good can be to feel validation from millions of people but. it's not a good idea, especially in the state that his fanbase is on rn (this topic is kinda sensitive to talk abt for me bc people be outright ableist and hide it as criticism like. say that shit's not helping his reputation and whatever without acting like he's fucking. manipulating his fanbase for being affected by his rsd💀 or, on the other hand, don't say that hes just being adhd🤪 when he's just being an asshole like damn that's a Him thing bro lol)

(omg it's so big I'm so sorry and theres a part two I'm so sorry tumblr user messed-up-gal ToT) - morango 1/2

pt. 2:

Dream is the proof that the people who loves you can be your downfall. istg. Have you noticed that every drama that Dream enters, people usually get more mad abt how his fanbase reacts (85% they'll react in a bad way) than Dream himself? it's not always, but its definitely more likely. I'm not saying Dream is saint, he Is petty and his ego does him dirty and made him choke multiple times before,, But! i dont think hes a bad guy. he's literally just a dude. ok, he's a 21yr old white gamer man that has a trumpie past (maybe?? idk. I think hes cured now ig lol) so he's bound to do some shitty things but he still tries to get better and hopefully he'll mature. 21 is old enough but it's still so young, yk? I kind of lost my mind during the end and my eyes are literally begging to be closed so tl;dr: Its gonna be hard for him to become a better cc bc his fans don't let him be criticized (by infantilizing his adhd symptoms or the mob mentality as soon as someone says anything abt him), the honest criticism get lost between lies from antis that don't know shit, he still has a lot of growing up to do and overall he became famous too fast and he needs to learn things even faster bc as soon as there's not a single one dream hater on sight they'll turn their back and attack him instead lmao I hate twitter i definitely have more to say but I'm tired and my memory is shit. just-- hate dream if you want, love dream if you want, nobody is obligated to have an opinion but I wanted to express mine. have a lovely day! -morango 2/2

Aight, there's a lot to unpack here, so Imma try to only go into the points I have something to add to (here's what I talk about in each paragraph, if you want to jump to a specific point):

Speed of Dream's rise to fame

The "bad apples" in the Dream fanbase

Post-MCC HBomb stream

Not condoning versus actually condemning his fans

Manipulation & RSD

Criticism of Dream, his fanbase, and his brand

The “just a dude” argument, flipped

First, I agree that one of the many factors that has resulted in the current image Dream has set up for himself, the way his fanbase functions, the ways people hate on him, and the way the Dream brand functions, is the speed of his rise to fame. It's unique, and there are probably a hundred social/psychological angles that could be used to examine the exact effects of that speed upon all of these facets of the Dream Name; did rapid fame beget the rapid rise of unrighteous hatred, did those waves of hatred then instigate the rise of a surprisingly overdefensive fanbase, did that rapid fame get to his head and/or result in an inability to appropriately handle all the after-effects of rapid fame, etc.? That point you bring up, about how the speed of his rise to fame requires him to learn even more quickly, is so interesting to me. I think that maybe Dream expected to get pretty famous pretty quickly, hence the preparedness in regards to some mechanics of influencer fame- merchandise, business-building, networking, knowing how to manage his fanbase to best benefit him. But I don't think he expected to get this famous this quickly. This is all speculation of course, as are this entire post and your ask, but I think that he just couldn't anticipate having to learn how to handle enmasse controversy, waves of antis, or every Youtuber speculating/knowing about him; and yeah, that results in him having to learn all of these things very quickly, lest he allow his whole brand and fandom to fall apart.

Second, I disagree with the frequent argument that Dream's fanbase is only marginally toxic. Personally, I think that the circumstances of Dream's fame, his personality and management of his fanbase, and his brand of content have resulted in the very specific kind of stan that Dream stans are. I don't think this is simply a case of "all fandoms have a small percentage of assholes who take it too far;" rather, the nature of the community itself breeds the kind of mentality of "an asshole who takes it too far." I only even know this because I was a Dream fan (kinda a stan, I'm ngl). At one time, I watched every single Dreamwastaken & Dream Team video multiple times; I listened to the Manhunts on repeat, as though they were podcasts; I followed mostly smiletwt and dttwt accounts on mcyttwt; I had upwards of 10 tabs for AO3 DNF fics open on my phone at a time; I watched DNF and Dream Team Being A Family-esque compilations on repeat; I watched every George and Sapnap alt stream I possibly could; I went out of my way to defend Dream against Redditors and Twitter antis regarding the cheating scandal. For the latter half of 2020, and a couple months of 2021, I lived and breathed this part of the fandom; so when I say that Dream stans are a whole other breed than any other kind of mcyttwt stan, I say that because I used to be like that, too. I usually use parasocial very loosely or ironically, but Dream stans are genuinely one of the most parasocial fanbases I have ever seen or been a part of. The level of investment Dream stans have in this man's life, the lengths they will go to to defend him, the amount of psychonalysis and digging they do on his life and character, the amount of emotion he can evoke in them- it's taken to another level, man. This isn't just characteristic of a fraction of his fanbase; this is what the fanbase is like as a whole.

Third, I partially disagree with your take on the HBomb thing, but not in the way one might think? I actually empathize with the way they reacted much more than I thought I would, simply because I suspect I have RSD (also suspect I have ADHD, have for several months now) and I can see myself getting insanely frustrated because of something like that. Like yeah, it was "just a MC stream" or "just an MC game," but that's kinda disregarding the fact that something that might seem like "just a [insert inconsequential thing]" to a rational mind might have a major emotional consequence/take a major emotional toll on someone with RSD, or really anyone who gets easily impatient/angry about video games (Sapnap reminds me of many of my friends, in that way). The issues I, personally, had with the way they handled the HBomb situation is that these are simply explanations and reasons for my empathy; they are not excuses. I have no excuse when I get irrationally angry about something inconsequential in my own life, for a couple of reasons. One, because I am an adult and I need to learn how to handle my reactions and manage my own anger. Two, because as someone with many mental problems, it is my responsibility to learn coping mechanisms to ensure my own emotional stability and livelihood; this includes learning whatever I need to handle RSD- whether that be isolating myself from others when I know I will become violently/passionately angry about something, creating and sustaining a support system that can get me through bouts of extreme emotion, finding healthy emotional outlets for my negative emotions that won't harm myself or others, or a combination thereof. I don't think what they said about HBomb post-MCC was an irreversibly horrible thing, or anything. I think there were errors committed by two men who should be fully capable of foreseeing and preventing those errors, but I don't unconditionally hate Dream or Sapnap for the post-MCC stream or comments. I just wish they had made amends quickly, publicly, and sufficiently, because the greatest consequences from the whole thing weren't even from those two criticizing HBomb themselves; they were from the waves of backlash because of their immense influence on the MCYT fandom, which could've been prevented, if they had acted maturedly and responsibly after the stream.

Fourth, you’re right, that he doesn’t seem to condone his fans’ behavior. I detest the frequent anti argument that one of the reasons Dream should be criticized is because he explicitly uses his fanbase to attack others, or something of the sort. Personally, I think he created his fanbase in a very specific way and interacts with them in such a way so as to benefit him as much as possible, yes, but he never actually tells his fanbase to go and yell at or harrass anyone. Still, there is a significant difference between not condoning something and condemning something. It might seem unfair, and it might be annoying of me to say this, but I truly think that someone with this large a fanbase, especially one as overzealous as Dream’s, needs to be condemned every single time it goes on some kind of rampage/harrassment campaign. Either that, or Dream needs to make a definitive, permanent statement against any kind of harrassment of others on his behalf. I know he’ll occassionally make the odd tweet or serious stream addressing something his fanbase did, but one of the many reasons his fanbase keeps doing the same damn thing is because he’s so lukewarm and spotty about this condemnation. A fanbase like his needs to be given explicit guidance and boundaries for the numerous things they do in his defense- harrassing/doxing antis, harrassing people who criticize him who aren’t antis (respectful criticism, other CCs, other MCYT stans, etc.), harrassing the people he critcizes (i.e., HBomb), speculating about his personal life (his relationship with his gf, his mental health/ADHD, his romantic life, his childhood, etc.), and speculating about his relationships with his friends and colleagues.  My personal ideology is that, if you have significant influence over someone or a group of people, you are at least somewhat responsible for the things those people do or don’t do, if it at all relates back to you. I’m so fucking tired of the argument that CCs aren’t responsible for what their fans do. Obviously they aren’t responsible for every single one of their fans, and obviously they can’t fully control their fans at the end of the day. But I think there are certain things that reach such a level of extremity that does make those CCs responsible. This can be measured by either scale or intensity; that is to say, if a CC’s fanbase does things on an extremely large scale, or one person from/a fraction of the fanbase does something really extreme, then the CC is made all the more responsible. Another CC I’ve always had trouble discussing with other people on this subject is Pewdiepie, in particular, about the extremists in his fanbase. Because the things a small handful of his fans have done in reference to him and/or in his name were so fucking extreme, I thought Pewdiepie had to take at least some responsibilty. Along a similar vein, because the things Dream’s general fanbase does are so widespread and on such a massive scale, Dream has to take at least some responsibility.

Fifth, okay. Hmmm. I want to tackle this point you made about the ableism he faces in some criticism of him carefully and with empathy, but not coddling. One, I do think a lot of the criticism he receives for the ways he handles criticism (post-cheating Tweets, reactions to John Swan, post-MCC HBomb stream, etc.), disregard his RSD and can be oftentimes ableist. I’ve actually encountered people irl who criticize this aspect of Dream’s character, and have had to explain to them their disregard for how ADHD/RSD affect neurodivergent people’s reactions to criticism. But - and this is a big, and very controversial but - I think mentally ill/disordered people can 100% leverage their mental illness/disorders for the sake of manipulation. This is actually something I’ve learned from a psychiatrist, regarding the ways people I know and I handle our anxiety and depression. This manipulation can be unwitting or intentional, but it is entirely possible, and the possibility shouldn’t be entirely dismissed as ableist. Living with a mental illness or disorder that others know about/that you are very public about puts you in an interesting position to receive frequent sympathy, empathy, and/or pity. I’m not saying that empathy for Dream having ADHD/RSD is entirely unjustified; on the contrary, I have frequently expressed how I can relate to his ADHD symptoms and have defended him for expressing those symptoms, both on mcytblr and in real life. I am saying that Dream fans tend to use his ADHD as a kind of shield for a lot of criticism levied against him, including the supposition that he could be manipulating his fanbase to defend him because of his public expressions of RSD. So yes, my theory is that Dream knows how to levy every aspect of his life for his personal gain and for the growth of his brand, and that includes his ADHD. I think he has courage for his openess about his ADHD, I think his openness has contributed to the rise in awareness of mental health and empathy for neurodivergent people within Gen Z, and I think at least some of his expressions of RSD publicly/online weren’t intentionally made public. All that being said, I also think he has to know just how much his fanbase cares about defending him for his ADHD, and I think he has to know that some of the things he does related to his neurodivergence endear him to his audience, in a coddling, baby-ing, mildly ableist sorta way.  Maybe this is all incredibly presumptuous of me. Of course, I can never know the real intentions behind any Dream video, Tweet, or stream. Maybe I’m just projecting, because I can see myself doing just this, if I had the maturity I had circa 2018-2019. Idfk know, man.

Sixth, I actually agree with you here, people probably do get more mad at his fanbase than him. Dream puts out content pretty seldomly, considering the frequency of content output for other Youtubers/streamers in his field/at his brand size. And yet, he has received masses of criticism. Considering that the things Dream himself does/says do not entirely correlate with the amount of criticism he receives, I think it’s a logical assumption that a lot of that criticism actually goes back to the size of his presence online, rather than the man himself. That is to say, because of the massive community he’s amassed, the exponential growth of his fanbase, their presence on every single social media site and in virtually every single Internet space/fandom, and the size of his metaphysical presence in his fields, Dream is much bigger than the man himself, so the criticism he receives will, at least in part, be a direct or indirect result of all these other aspects of the Dream brand.  Something I don’t think many Dream fans/stans, or even most MCYT fans in general, understand, is that Dream isn’t just “one guy” in the eyes of the Internet- at least, not anymore. He hasn’t been for nearly a year. Like Pewdiepie, Mr. Beast, and other CCs who have amassed similar levels of fame and wealth via Internet content creation, Dream is a brand now, and most people will treat him as such. He isn’t just some uwu soft boy playing Minecraft anymore. He is on a whole other level from any other MCYT in his friend circle or colleague interaction bubble. His words will never again live in a vaccum or private bubble, his friend circle will never again be under anything less than intense scrutiny, his past actions will never again be simple mistakes or silly errors, his words will never again be casual tweets or streams for laughs among a couple thousand followers. Dream’s name represents something much bigger than just the one man. As such, all aspects of his brand, including his fanbase, will tie back to him and, ultimately, to any general criticism of him.

I’m not saying I like any of this, and I actually think the evolution of influencers from people to a marketable brand with similar mechanisms, responsibilities, and liabilities as a corporation is some kind of late capitalism nightmare fuel; I’m just stating my own observations and theories as to why so much anti-Dream criticism seems to be directed at his fanbase, rather than him.

Seventh, he’s just a guy, you’re right, but I think a lot of the antis on Tumblr understand this more than you know. As I’ve seen it, the sentiment among much of the “DSMP stans DNI” crowd seems to be that of “Dream/other MCYTs are such ‘bad’ people, so why do their fans stick to these mediocre, racist men, when there are so many better people to watch/better content to consume?” We know this argument is flawed for many of the obvious reasons - the conflation of all MCYTs’ actions regardless of individual identity, the equating of a CC’s fanbase’s morality to that of the CC they enjoy watching, the exxageration of any error MCYT CCs have committed as bigotry/racism, the fundamental misunderstanding and misinformation that led antis to believe this exxageration of the facts, etc. But I want to focus on the general, underlying sentiment of, “why not watch someone better, when your creator is problematic?” Sometimes, I ask this of Dream stans. Yes, being mildly ignorant, getting involved in the scandals Dream has, and being a right-leaning/libertarian centrist in the recent past all seem like harmless things, all things considered. One could say Dream isn’t nearly as bad as many antis who are misinformed seem to believe, and that there are much worse CCs Dream stans could be watching and creating fan content for. But I think what Tumblr antis wonder is, aren’t there also much better MCYTs/CCs people could be watching and stanning? Because he’s just some guy, right? Is his content truly so exceptional or is he really so exceptional a person, that people have to stick by him, despite the things that spike up regarding his current or past actions? I think that’s what made me finally decide to stop watching Dream. I realized he was just Some Guy. The Dream Team was a comforting dynamic to indulge in, DNF was a cute ship to read and speculate about, and Manhunts were fun videos to watch; however, once the Reddit posts came out and I read them in-depth, the cost-benefit analysis tipped over to the “not worth it” side for me. I realized Dream’s content, while fun and comforting, was not entirely unique, and wasn’t worth sticking around for, given what I then knew about his past political leanings. If he is just Some Guy, then there are a hundred more like him out there. There a hundred more ships, a hundred more found family dynamics, a hundred more entertaining and skilled Minecraft players. So while I agree with you on the point of people being allowed to love him regardless because he is just a guy, at the end of the day, I think that, if we are to believe that sentiment or use that argument in such a manner, we should also understand the flip side- that, if he is just some guy, why is it worth sticking around? To that I say, maybe because people just enjoy the simple things they enjoy.

Anyways, I wholly agree with your tl;dr. Thanks for that insanely long ask, this was a fun thing to keep me occupied while I’ve been at work, facilitating Zoom sessions this whole morning.

[thenichibro]

Summer 2017 Anime First Impressions

Well here we are again, four weeks into the season before I finally get around to catching up on the twenty shows I’m keeping track of. Not like anyone reads these anyway. Regarding this season, we can say one thing: at least it isn’t last season. Thus far there’s been nothing super stand out, with a lot of middle-of-the-road shows and a few ones slightly better. Much preferable to the shit show 16 weeks ago. As usual, here’s what I’m watching, with MAL links and original shows marked:

Tsurezure Children (MAL) Starting off, we have a webcomic turned serialized manga turned anime, and for good reason. Tsurezure is a 4-koma romcom focusing on way too many couples in bite-sized happy romance stories. Defined by reaction faces, exclamation points, and yet a surprising amount of exposition, it's a quirky comedy I glad I started reading. One of the main downsides of Tsurezure is that although it has overarching themes, minute-to-minute enjoyment is very much based on the current couple. Personally, I love the Class Prez/Deliquent, Chiaki/Kana, and anything with the Love Master. The problem, then, is that once you find the few you really like, it's kind of a shame you only get so much time with them. A simple art style that matches the manga belies an infectious humor that Toshiya has mastered. This is one short show I wish was longer. Watch this.

Aho Girl (MAL) Continuing the notable increase in half-length shows, we have this half-witted one. Aho Girl, lit. "Clueless Girl," follows Yoshiko, an idiot, and her friends(?), mostly childhood friend Akuru, trying to deal with her idiocy. A suitably odd OP, both in sound and visuals (or relative lack thereof), leads into Yoshiko's introduction through getting a 0 on all her tests. I guess that confirms the title, now doesn't it? Tsukkomis, wild attitude swings, and bananas are the name of this show's game. One thing I love right off the bat is just how blatantly annoyed Akuru gets with Yoshiko's antics. It's not hard to see the "he's supporting her because he does feel something," but that being shelved in favor of faces of disgust is just funny on a very essential level. This show knows exactly what it is, a dumb comedy about a girl being dumb. And yet it's dumb fun all the same.

Isekai Shoukudou (MAL) A somewhat restrained take on the well-worn isekai genre, Shoukudou involves Nekoya, a resataurant that serves fantasy creatures once each week, connecting to "the other world" through the restaurant's front door. Right off the bat, the upbeat OP is coupled with some fantastic visuals. I missed having a food porn show last season, but Shoukudou brings it back in force. Further, throughout each episode the background music keeps pace with events and is a very nice touch to the cool tones of this show. Indeed, this show absolutely exudes cool. The smooth tunes while the last few customers (albeit they being beastmen, wizards, and the like) finishing their orders, Aletta and the Master cleaning tables into the night, it's just so nice. Aletta is the new hire, a demon girl homeless in "the other world" who finds the door to Nekoya by happenstance and promptly gets a job and a new outlook on life. She's real cute. Shoukudou has plenty of the "customer narrates the intricacies of how good the food is" every time a new customer comes in, but it's great all the same. If this show is a slow introduction of new characters to Nekoya for the rest of the run time, I will be more than satisfied. AOTS contender right here. Satisfied with an isekai? What is this season coming to?

Koi to Uso (MAL) Marraige is arranged genetically for happiness at 16, and other love is forbidden. As if there was a premise that lent itself more to a high school romance-drama. I have to say, I am in absolute disbelief that Koi to Uso isn't penned/drawn by the same creator as Scum's Wish. The artstyle and really the whole tone, albeit Koi to Uso being a bit more restrained, I immediately thought it was the same author. Wild. Anyway, we're dropped into a modern Romeo and Juliet, Nejima and Takasaki confess, to each other, just as the government - the external circumstances - are pulling them apart. It's not a new path forward, but I think the latter half of the first episode conveyed the emotions pretty well. The beautiful artstyle helps, and with shaking hands, red cheeks, and streaming tears the ending scene got me into it, despite the expected outcome. ...Is what I was thinking as Nejima fucking fell on top of Ririna (his assigned wife) in the second episode. Why. Why do that? Why have that 6 seconds into the show? At least the girls are cute - Takasaki in a hoodie, shorts and thighhighs was just incredible, but Ririna with her curious eyes and attitude beyond her height, hoo boy - guess I'm rooting for the underdog now. Time to suffer. With Ririna's schemes, Koi to Uso is perfecting anxiety - having something so treasured so close, being trapped by things out of your control, being trapped by things inside yourself - so much anxiety. This show can't go anywhere except emotional turmoil, but if it's already getting emotional responses out of me, I'm going to stay interested. Especially after episode three's ending.

Netsuzou TRap (MAL) Yet another shorter-than-normal show, we have NTR. Yes, that NTR. The "fuck over the caring guy and get off on cheating behind his back" kind of NTR. Just now with lesbians. Even moreso, I dislike Hotaru's archetype so much it just makes me feel bad for Yuma. If you're into that, watch this. If you're not, don't. I don't know why I did. There are better fetishes.

Clione no Akari (MAL) The fourth and last of the short shows, Clione no Akari begins with Takashi and Kyoko trying to help Minori, who is getting bullied. Its muted art style matches this tired premise. I know it's only nine minutes, but the first episode still felt like it dragged on for some reason. Moreover, both Takashi and Kyoko reflect on their weakness and that they want to stand up to the class for Minori, but then in the second episode all of that possible growth just gets passed over. They call out to her after she almost gets splashed by a car, and then Takashi says "After that, Kyoko and I grew so focus on how we could solve Minori's current situation, it was as if it were happening to us." So after they complain about their weak personalities, instead of forcing them to change, they simply get a way to help Minori while not directly standing up to the class. It seems like if it affected them that much you'd see a bit more exposition rather than nothing to "And then, we became super close to her" over the span of fifteen minutes. It might seem like I'm asking for a lot from a 9-minute show, but that's exactly the point - if a show aims to be an engaging drama about making friends and standing up for one another, it needs to have more substance packed into its short timespan, and Clione no Akari does not.

Hajimete no Gal (MAL) And the award for "highest percentage of animation budget used exclusively for cameltoe" goes to... First, make sure you eschew the HorribleSubs release on this one, because the censoring is bad. Not Terra Formars bad, not Shinmai Maou no Testament bad, but it's not great. Now then, this is a very simple decision: you watch for the fanservice, or you don't watch at all. I'm serious when I say the animation goes to Yukana, and to a lesser extent the other girls, because the male characters (even the MC) and everything else looks downright bad. The fanservice, however, is pretty damn nice. Junichi's delusions lead into some steamy scenes that are top tier gyaru action. Other than that, the OP/ED are generic, the other girls are lackluster, and the "comedy" is unfunny. Just skip through the dialogue until you get Yukana being cute, and this'll be somewhat enjoyable.

Gamers! (MAL) A nothing main character spoken to by the cutest girl in school because she's interested in video games and especially his passion for them, despite never talking prior. Wew. Karen, said cutest girl, is attempting to bring back the school's gaming club, where real gamers play games with their gaming friends. These are serious gamers, so serious about their gaming that they forget everything else except the game, like the true gamers they are. Episode one has fantastic lines like "I've been looking for new members who are undeniably true gamers" and "Why did you guys become gamers?," like it's something you have to awaken to. And yet even in spite of this, the glorification of gaming is still going hand-in-hand with the conceptualization of "gamers" as outside normal people. Karen hasn't told anyone about her gaming passion even though she's so popular (and it's foreshadowed she'll lost her widespread respect), and Amano gets the description "Games are his friends." Every character is just entranced with Amano's gaming spirit that they can't help but want to game with him. And just like a good MC, Amano is humble and pessimistic about his own gaming passion, but stands up for the game club and the gamers that make it up. This show feels like an E3 PR rep's ideal anime. The game references themselves aren't half bad, but that's certainly not saving this waste of my time. Guess I'm just not a true gamer.

Made in Abyss (MAL) I was originally off-put by the character designs, but I am glad I finally decided to watch it. A city sits on a massive hole - The Abyss - full of ancient ruins - and our main characters are delvers into the giant void. Importantly, Made in Abyss lets us know right off the bat that it will not be all idyllic landscapes - a close call with a dangerous monster now foreshadows so much better than suddenly changing the show's tone halfway through. Background music and art style both benefit this show greatly - the music rising and falling with he action while the art easily conveys the current state of the landscape - overgrown yet hiding secrets. Riko is a energetic girl at an orphanage guild, known for swiping Relics she finds and generally causing trouble. In the tussle with the monster, she is saved by a robot boy, Reg and promptly takes him back to experiment. Just the first episode sets up tone, characters, and the mystery of the Abyss with precision. The choice of children as main characters is an interesting one, but I almost didn't think twice because the rest of the people in Made in Abyss didn't think anything of it, either. Starting with a premise that has such a clear objective, like the Abyss' bottom, also relatively anchors the show against wild plot swings, which gives me more confidence in the story going forward. All these things combined are making for quite an enjoyable experience, and I can't wait to see where it goes.

Ballroom e Youkoso (MAL) Tatara is our typical despondent teen protag, who through a chance encounter is roped into trying ballroom dancing, and in it sees an opportunity to find himself. I picked this up solely on its premise, because I've never seen an anime about ballroom dancing before. It just seems so far from the typical slate that it caught my eye. This show's unique animation style, credit to Production I.G., has its ups and downs. For the most part, the show looks clean, the lines look great, and the motion is good. On the other hand, the actual dance scenes seem to lose a bit, in favor of dramatic freeze frames or showing the top halves of people rather than their legs moving or other intricate motion. I'm certainly not going to yell at the animators, for a show in which Tatara is won over by simply watching a ballroom dancing DVD, to get the viewers interested the motion, the visceral movements of the dance need to be shown, and more often than not they aren't. Oh, and the necks. Why is everyone's neck so long? Apart from Tatara, behind Sengoku's bombast lies a calculated, seriously powerful personality that is the perfect motivator for Tatara. And I don't know about you guys, but Shizuku is cuter in her practice/casual clothes than in a ballroom dress. Just my taste. Anyway, alongside the stalls in animation, I can't honestly say I like Tatara's VA. To me it just gives off the trying-too-hard-to-be-a-teen vibe too much for me to not notice it every time he speaks. While still enjoyable, these two faults are noticeable the entire time you watch the show. However, if you are interested in the premise, and don't mind animation quirks, then by all means, Welcome to the Ballroom.

[ORIG] Princess Principal (MAL) Alt history, 20th century steampunk London, and spies but also superpowers and made-up minerals, this is Princess Principal. Smooth jazz while a loli-ninja wearing a mushroom hat cuts up 20th century cars? Sure, why not? Cavorite, the aforementioned made-up mineral, allows for temporary control of gravity, allowing the girls to make their first daring escape with a VIP. Also, the girls are spying between the Commonwealth, or the West, and the Empire, or the East. Also the Princess herself is a spy. It's certainly a lot to take in immediately, but this show seems to revel in the craziness - echoing the fast-paced, spontaneous action of the spies themselves. Our main girl Ange lies to get through life, and is soft spoken and terse. The others in her immediate crew range from the authoritative onee-san to the cheerful loli. I personally feel like they could have made a perfectly enjoyable spy thriller with just alternate history and no supernatural element Take Joker Game from a few seasons ago - that even went so far as to be historically accurate in its place names and such, and aside from some same-facing was a wonderfully engaging show. While I do feel the personalities more in these femme fatales, I just don't see the "thriller" part as holding up as much. It's really not bad - I just feel my main gripe here is the overpresence of themes that don't need to be there. Still worth a watch if you don't mind it.

Centaur no Nayami (MAL) Having watched both MonMusu and Demi-chan and consequently becoming an Expert™ on monster girl shows, Centaur no Nayami is most certainly more of the former. I'll say at the very least that guys in school also being monsters is a welcome change, rather than including a harem. Hime, the titular centaur, acts just like her name. Nozomi is our sharp-tongued, tomboyish tsundere, while Kyouko (my favorite) is a terse, blonde tsukkomi. We get a surprising amount of world-building right out of the gate - the world is as it is thanks to a different evolution path, and to avoid the discrimination of the past, "equality" is aggressively and strictly enforced. The seemingly dark background behind the otherwise peppy slice-of-life is definitely off-putting, and seems immediately at odds with the tone. If while walking around town the girls maybe glimpsed an abuse or something similar, the aggressive equality mantra might seem like an understandable government reaction. Seeing nothing of the sort while hearing Kyoko not want to ride Hime because that's discrimination and she might get sent to a "correction facility" is more than a bit unsettling. Production-wise, the show looks and sounds great. Quirky music for quirky circumstances, and the motion of all the characters' different bodies is conveyed convincingly. The A/B Parts splitting the episode is something I haven't seen in quite a while, but I think it lends itself well to the SoL part of the show. Overall, this is a surprisingly endearing slice of life with a higher-than-normal amount of kissing, and I just wish they'd lay off the dramatic background. Worth a watch if you're into monster girls or slice of life more generally.

[ORIG] Action Heroine Cheer Fruits (MAL) Last but not least, we have Action Heroine - Heroines (as in those live-acted hero shows) are now super-popular, and the show follows one town that is way behind the curve on popular heroines. Immediately, I like the art. It seems like not too much more than "generic anime-style," but Diomedia has a way of doing soft lines and expressive faces that just looks great. Now I don't pretend to like hero/heroine-type premises, but even I can see this show's got remarkable heart. Spurred by her sister wanting to see Kamidaio, the current most famous heroine, Mikan, an earnest, caring sister teams up with Akagi, an energetic Kamidaio-super fan to put on a small-scale show, and the rest is history. Their first performance is carried singlehandedly by the effort the two girls put into making Mikan's sister's dream come true. Action Heroine gives off the feel of an idol show (he says, having not seen LoveLive nor Idolm@ster), with a diverse cast of girls all trying to be the best for their fans. While I don't think this show is exactly going to enjoy LoveLive levels of success, as I've said - you can see the heart it has. Some individual moments were also very strange - like a flashback where one girl loses a tennis match because a bug flew in her face, and another girl talks to her imagined anthropomorphizations of model trains. If you're into the nostalgia of hero/heroine shows, this plays right into that. Otherwise, it's a show you can pretty easily avoid.

[my-mystic-messenger]

So like a lot of people like YouTube couples and stuff, right? What do you think how would RFA and Saeran react to MC turning out to be a YouTuber, maybe even inviting them into a video? Like what kind of video would they make and stuff like that. I'd really love to see your spin on things. Thanks for the hard work :3

Bless you, anon. This is the shit I am talking about! I tried to make this as diverse as possible, so the HC’s look quite different for each of them

|| REQUEST ARE (ALWAYS) OPEN!! ||

Zen

♬ asan actor Zen has to know how to handle media

♬ platformslike Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook have a big impact on his career

♬ theyalso give him the chance to see what his fans (and haters) thinkabout him

♬ still,all the time he was merely an observer

♬ henever even considered possibly going on YouTube and making videos

♬ untilhe caught you filming a video for your channel

♬ you’dbeen a little embarrassed about it, mainly because you’d kept it asecret for so long

♬ itjust sounded sort of…strange to say that you were a professionalYouTube

♬ butwith over 15 Million subscribers you were good in the game

♬ ittook Zen days to wrap his head around that number

♬ 15Million people just waiting for you to put up a video once a week

♬ whenyou told him just how much you earned on top of that, he was shook

♬ Zenwas obviously very happy for your success, but a small, ugly part ofhim was jealous

♬ he’donly dream of that big of a number of people admiring him

♬ youcould tell how much it was wearing down on him and you felt horrible

♬ youdidn’t have to work half as hard as Zen and still had the biggerfollowing

♬ thatis when you got the idea; you asked him to join you for a video

♬ aftertalking it over with his agency you set the video up

♬ thetwo of you still weren’t allowed to hint at the fact that you weredating, but you were allowed to be friends and continue to makevideos should they be a hit

♬ aftera while of discussing the two of you had decided on covering a songtogether

♬ youboth knew that a romantic song was out of question so the decisiondidn’t take long

♬ thetwo of you covered 7 years by Lukas Graham

♬ yousat beside each other, making the music together while singing at thesame time

♬ yourvoices sounded perfect together and neither of you could stop smilingand stealing glances

♬ onceup the video went viral extremely fast

♬ somepeople were fans of Zen, happy to hear him sing on YouTube, othersnow turned into fans

♬ hispopularity grew more and more with every day

♬ somuch so that people started demanding he start his own YouTubechannel or become a fixed part of your channel

♬ youwouldn’t have minded that at all and apparently Zen agreed

♬ whilehis agency didn’t allow him to start his own channel they did agreeto more collaborations

♬ so,you turned Friday into Collab-Day, posting a new song with Zen everyweek

♬ Zenpopularity reached it’s peak when producers and agency got more andmore drawn to him

♬ hecould barely fend off job offers

♬ abouta year after your first collab he was supposed to star in 5 moviesand had changed agencies

♬ morespecifically to one that was more acceptant of your relationship anddidn’t demand hiding it

♬ whenhe proposed to you he did it through song, during a video for thewhole world to know

♬ afterthat you started a second channel, just the two of you

♬ youposted everything on there, from music to vlogs

♬ butthe very first video was a little collage of your wedding and honeymoon

Yoosung

★ you see Yoosung is one of those people who follow Let’s Play type of channels, gamers like himself

★ the thing about those is though that a lot of them don’t show their faces (take Cry for example)

★ you were one of those so even after meeting you, he had no idea that you were a YouTuber

★ let alone the infamous SediLusiVici, one of the most famous gamers and the one he’d been following religiously for years now

★ he finds out in the – for him – most shocking and surprising way possible

★ SediLusiVici was having a collab with PewDiePie and the two of you decided to play LOLOL

★ PewDiePie suggested to attack the top three players of which two were none other than Seven and of course Yoosung

★ when he’d suggested that you’d laughed, telling PewDiePie that number one was one of your best friends and number two was your husband

★ Yoosung’s face had completely frozen as he stared at the screen, PewDiePie gasping in the background as you laughed your ass off

★ “You’re kidding, right?”

★ “No, man, I’m serious. I know both of them. I know their real names and what they do for a living and stuff like that and Yoosung is my real life husband.”

★ “Daaaamn…wanna ruin their top rankings?”

★ “You betcha, bro!”

★ so for about an hour Yoosung watched the two of you climb and climb in rankings until SediLusiVici had kicked HackerGod and SupremeYoosung from their respective spots on the top

★ it was as shocking as it was mesmerizing

★ by the time you came home from work Yoosung was still staring at the opened video

★ you greeted him cheerfully until you noticed what he was watching and blushed

★ “Fuck…I didn’t know you watched…that…”

★ you didn’t really fight about it, nor was he mad that you’d messed up his game, but he couldn’t believe that you never told him you were his absolutely favourite YouTuber?!

★ you were flattered and happy he liked your work and decided to invite him into a video

★ especially as a lot of people had requested a video of husband and wife together

★ of course Yoosung said yes and a couple of days later you started a Stream

★ you introduced your husband to your community and took the time to answer some of their questions

★ everyone was actually rather excited to get to know Yoosung as well!

★ Yoosung was shy about it at first, but very happy too

★ so many people actually admired him for his gaming skills!

★ in that video the two of you took the time to take down HackerGod together, laughing the entire time

★ it would be rather funny to read what Seven had to say about this once he saw he’d been defeated

★ twice…

★ with you on top and Yoosung back to second place you ended the stream

★ it was one of your most watched videos ever

★ after that you collab quite a lot, sometimes even Seven joins in

★ it’s usually you and Seven ganging up on Yoosung

★ he’s always grumpy about it

★ the fandom finds it hilarious

★ of course it’s all in good fun ;)

Jaehee

♨ shefound out in the probably most anti-climatic way

♨ youstraight up asked her whether you wanted her to post a little add onyour YouTube channel

♨ youthought that maybe it would bring in some more customers

♨ she’dagreed, of course

♨ theidea was brilliant and wouldn’t cost either of you any money

♨ whatshe didn’t really know was just how big your channel was

♨ andjust how much revenue it would bring to the cafe

♨ merelya couple of days after you told her you posted it, there wasn’t aminute the cafe wasn’t packed

♨ everyonewanted to try out that cafe you’d talked about in your latest blog

♨ whenit dawned on Jaehee just how popular you were she also realized thatyou must be putting a lot fo effort into your blog

♨ butwhen?

♨ youworked together and lived together

♨ youtold her that you used the nights to record as to not disturb her

♨ themoney you used mainly for bills or to invest into the cafe

♨ Jaehee’sheart melted when she found out

♨ sheinstantly asked you on how to make it up to you, do something for you

♨ youinsisted she didn’t need to, but she wanted it

♨ youthen suggested for her to join you in a video

♨ youhad an idea but needed help for it

♨ Jaeheehappily agreed

♨ thatis how the two of you found yourself in your kitchen at home, camerasaid

♨ youwere doing the cooking challenge

♨ whichin itself wasn’t a thing, but you made it one, since you couldn’tcook or bake for shit

♨ everythingstarted out fine, almost like a cooking tutorial

♨ Jaeheeand you had picked something simple to start with

♨ ifpeople liked it, you’d suggested making it a series

♨ thepasta actually turned out pretty fine and you were surprised

♨ youate it before continuing part two of the video and neither of you hadto throw up, so…

♨ parttwo is where it got really fun

♨ Jaeheewanted to teach you how to bake a cake

♨ thatis very complicated though

♨ itstarted when you accidentally tripped and flour was spread all overJaehee, you and the kitchen

♨ afterthat everything just turned into a little war

♨ bythe time you called it quits the video was extremely long, the cakewasn’t happening and the two of you were covered in everything andanything

♨ “So,if you want to learn how to destroy your kitchen in just a few easysteps feel free to follow this tutorial!”

♨ needlessto say that cooking challenge did turn into a series

Jumin

♛ Juminisn’t good with technology, he never was

♛ he’sincapable of using an IPhone camera and took ages to uncover all ofthe features of the RFA-app

♛ hedidn’t even really know what YouTube was, let alone how to use it

♛ hehad other things on his mind than silly little videos on the internet

♛ thatwas until he found out that apparently you were a professionalYouTuber

♛ anda very famous one at that

♛ atfirst he was confused and didn’t know whether to take it serious ornot

♛ butthen you told him you could work from home and he was extremelysupportive

♛ youstill had a job like you wanted, earned your own money like youwanted but never had to leave the apartment without him whichmeant you were safe and he didn’t have to worry – Perfect

♛ thatis until you ask him to join you for a video

♛ despitebeing a public figure, talking like that seems uncomfortable

♛ thatis until you explain what the boyfriend tag is and how it works

♛ heinstantly relaxes, happy to parade your relationship for everyone tosee and here

♛ thetwo of you sat down together, started the camera and you beganreading questions

Whendid we meet and where?

”Wemet in a special chatroom a couple of months ago”

“It’smuch sweeter than it sounds, really!”

Wherewas our first kiss?

“Atmy apartment.”

“Yeah,in front of Sarah.”

“You’restill mad about that?”

“Well,it sure wasn’t romantic, Jumin.”

Whosaid “I love you” first?

“Me,although you realized it first, I think.”

“Youwere very emotionally constipated when we first met.”

“Youstill chose me though.”

“Youwere rich.”

♛ whenhe looked at you unimpressed you laughed and stole a quick kiss

♛ theblush that spread on his cheeks was very pleasant to look at

Whendid you meet my parents?

“Atour wedding. They were very nice.”

“Thingswere very…quick, between the two of us…”

Whatis the one thing you wish I didn’t do?

“Putyourself in danger to help others all the time. I told you to be moreselfish.”

“Younever let me forget, honey, but you know I’ll still continue doingit.”

Wherewas our first date?

“Isyou sleeping at my place considered a date?”

“Jumin,that sounds perverted!”

“What?How? We didn’t even sleep in the same bed for most of the time”

“Jumin!”

♛ hewas the one to end the video by pulling you in for a passionate kisswhile reaching out for the camera to turn it off at the same time

Saeyoung/Seven

☼ Sevenobviously found out about your YouTuber activity when he did abackground check on you

☼ however,he never actually visited your channel or such

☼ hisprogram deemed it safe, so there was no need to do that

☼ untilyou started dating and he found out just how much money one couldmake off it

☼ allthese years he’d been busting his ass hacking and doing illegal shit

☼ constantlyliving in the shadows and hiding

☼ andthere you were, making funny sketches and skits for close to 20Million subscribers

☼ earninga whole chunk of money and doing so risk free

☼ hefelt a little betrayed by those circumstances, so he started his ownYouTube channel

☼ obviouslybeing a new YouTuber is hard, especially when there are so manyalready established ones

☼ sohe swallowed down his pride and asked you for help

☼ obviouslyyou said no at first

☼ youwere still paying him back for being a dick to you when you first met

☼ andall the pranks he pulled after

☼ whenhe’d dressed as a maid and begged you on your knees though, you had agood idea

☼ yousaid yes

☼ obviouslyafter taking a picture of him first…for research purposes

☼ thatnight he’d checked out as many of your videos as possible, making aprofile for himself

☼ he’dhad it all planned out, ready to film something funny andentertaining

☼ maybeeven a prank video

☼ insteadhe was met with a huge box of make-up waiting for him

☼ WTF?!You’d never done anything make-up related videos before

☼ didyou even know how to do make-up?

☼ the answer was no, Seven foundout soon after

☼ youwere doing the my boyfriend/girlfriend does my make-up thing

☼ you’dreally thought it would be funny, you really did

☼ youknew you were shit at make up, incapable of even so much as wingedeyeliner

☼ youthought Seven was the same and you’d both bullshit the whole thingfor jokes

☼ youthought wrong, because Seven took that shit serious

☼ hedid some mean contour, smokey eyes, perfect eyeliners and lips

☼ heeven did some magic on your eyebrows!

☼ youalmost felt bad when the two of you turned to the camera

☼ youeach looked at your reflection, then at each other, then back at thecamera

☼ Sevenburst into laughter first, you followed soon

☼ apparentlyhis crossdressing had taught him some valuable lessons

☼ “Subscribeto his channel my babies. He’ll give you some mean make-uptutorials.”

☼ you’dbarely gotten out the words between laughter before ending the video

☼ Sevendid actually give make-up tutorials

☼ notonly that but he also gave tips on cosplay, wig care and tips forcrossdressers in general

☼ sometimeshe also pranked Yoosung

☼ sometimestwice a week

☼ hegained followersvery quickly

Saeran

☀ youtold Saeran about your YouTube career relatively early on

☀ itwas during one of those days where he completely shut off and youfilled the silence with babble

☀ youtalked about how you’d started YouTube in the first place

☀ howyou used your channel to promote good causes and even raise money forshelters and stuff

☀ howyou wished you were good enough at make-up to do tutorials

☀ andhow you’d messed up even the most simple smokey eye in your eagerness

☀ sillystories in hopes of getting him out of his shell

☀ youhadn’t really thought that he’d listened to you

☀ notuntil one day, many many months later, he told you that he’d enjoyedyour latest video

☀ you’dbeen shocked for quite a while after, wondering how long he’d beenwatching

☀ whenyou’d finally gathered the courage to ask Saeran had blushed, leavingyou baffled

☀ headmitted that he’d been watching you way before you even told himabout it

☀ infact that is why he’d chosen you was because he’d known you from yourvideos

☀ somuch so that he’d desperately wanted you to join Magenta and Mint Eye

☀ whichfor Saeran is just a way of saying he found you cute

☀ afterthat you catch him watching your videos more often, always smiling tohimself

☀ heeven lurks around when you film them, obviously suppressing theexcitement he felt

☀ ittook you a while to invite him into your videos

☀ notbecause you were ashamed, but because you’d worried he’d hate theidea

☀ (youalso weren’t quite sure what kind of video he was okay filming)

☀ whenyou asked him he was extremely excited about the entire thing

☀ buthe did refuse to do anything boyfriend tag related

☀ youwere a little disappointed, but understood

☀ noteveryone liked that cutesy stuff and Saeran was one of those people

☀ insteadyou thought that following the trend might be a good idea

☀ ChallengeVideos 

☀ the first video you filmed was a try not to cry challenge

☀ ittook you approximately two minutes and one video including a dog tobawl your eyes out

☀ Saeranmeanwhile just looked at the videos as if he was trying to solve ahard puzzle

☀ needlessto say he didn’t cry one

☀ “Do you even have a heart?!” 

☀ “I thought we discussed this already, Princess. The answer is obviously no.”

☀ youjust stared at him for a while before ending the video

☀ peopleloved it

☀ thecontrast between you and what they assumed to be your boyfriend wasstraight up hilarious to them

☀ theyalso applauded him for not losing the challenge and asked for anothervideo

☀ thistime you took a different route; try not to laugh challenge

☀ youheld it in for as long as you could, but burst out laughing when theylooped someone falling on their nuts

☀ meanwhileSaeran had the same face again, frowning and focusing without asingle laugh

☀ “Dude,this is freaking grade A content how the hell are you notlaughing?”

☀ “Huh?The challenge said not to laugh. I’m good at that…”

☀ “…wow…thisgot really sad real quick

☀ “Wellit’s good then that this isn’t the try not to cry challenge then,right?”

☀ hesmirked at you and you frowned

☀ thedamn video got multiple million views

SediLusiVici means I sat, I played, I won in Latin, for anyone who cared…

[ethicallysourcedhumanmeat]

Practically Impractical

This is a Mystic Messanger Fic with a custom MC/Seven/Jumin.  It’s mostly fluff and angst.  You can find it up to date on my AO3 account here

[Next][Masterpost]

Part One:

She should have said something sooner.  In the chat, they’d certainly asked her plenty about herself, but Seven’s background check had only revealed her sock accounts.  Besides she didn’t plan on seeing any of them again. 

Returning the phone had been a whim.  Overseas, alone, no one to judge her she’d finally taken her friends advice and installed a chat app.  One of those locals in your area, swipe left to accept things she’d been avoiding for years. She’d thought the lost phone was just someone’s clever hook up line.  So she packed her pepper spray, sent a text to a local friend and took a cab to the address.  But all she found was an empty apartment and the RFA.

The RFA was an excellent distraction.  She was in Korea for work, contemplating taking a job that would move her here.  She’d said no at first.  She was content being mostly behind the scenes at the small gaming media company, helping the tech department get the stream out, compiling soundtracks and acquiring media licences.  It had been a fluke getting her little niche half hour show.  She’d streamed games in her free time, mostly for friends and then someone had uploaded a 15 minute video of her playing Last of Us and singing along to the spice world soundtrack.  It had gone viral before she’d even known it was on youtube.  Suddenly 15 followers was 1500 and someone recognized her from crew appreciation and she got called into a meeting.  She got 30 minutes every Thursday evening with a guest dubbed Inappropriate Soundtrack Karaoke. 

She wasn’t convention appearance big, but she was frequently requested to host their coverage, so when they decided to send someone from their American studio to co-host Pro-Gamer tournaments with her Korean counterpart she was the first name to come up.

She’d declined at first.  Max was finally settled, finally had people, she didn’t want to ruin that.  But she agreed she’d do one.  It wasn’t just her popularity as a host that had extended the invitation but her background.  She’d grown up there, an army brat, and then stayed after her parents had been posted back to America.  She’d met Max’s father, a fresh faced Private, while she pursued a media communications degree.

Then they’d been posted back to the States, but not near either of their families and that’s when things had turned sour.  No work for her aside from sparse freelancing, no common ground, no mutual friends, and worst than the social isolation was that she could’t even go anywhere.  She’d let her license expire because she’d taken the train mostly but where they were stationed didn’t even have a bus system.  It was three years since they’d split and she was doing better than ever, and if not for Max, she would have seriously considered the move.

The party was a good distraction, and the chats.  She could work from the apartment.  All her production tasks were easy enough to complete, and the apartment ended up conveniently close to the convention centre she could shoot intros with her Korean counterpart and make it back to the apartment in time to catch Zen’s morning selfie.

By the time she felt bad about lying to them Seven was at the apartment and things had gone horribly wrong.  She’d had to call the studio and invent an illness, Seven had helped with fake documents. She’d been having fun chatting with him, had started to think about telling him who she really was, or at least encouraging him to look deeper.  It had been fun being young and unattached but with the RFA she could see herself taking the job, moving Max here and having a support system.

Seven had been so withdrawn in the apartment, with good reason, and she worried what would happen if she told him the truth, and then it all came to a head and there was no time.  She accepted the job via phone call in a hospital waiting room while Seven was in surgery.  Standing next to Jumin she made arrangements for Max and all the things she’d had in storage to meet her.  She supposed from the surprised faces now he must not have told anyone.

“You sing?” He asked in English, looking up from his phone, her wiki page open in the browser.

“Kind of,” she blushed.

Seven had insisted she stay at his place when he woke up.  And she did try, but it didn’t feel right to be there without him, so she’d taken up Zen on his offer to bunk there but she’d only lasted a few hours, Zen was nice enough, but something in his personality reminded her of her ex-husband in a way that had her constantly on edge.  So she planned to spend the next few days at the apartment, the one with the bomb, until Yoosung showed up with Rika.  He’d insisted she stay with him.  She’d tried to refuse but Vs funeral was coming up and she could see he had his hands full with Rika. 

“You don’t have to do that.”  Yoosung’s voice was quiet, barely audible over the hymn she was singing while she braided Rika’s hair.

“I don’t mind,” she smiled.

“After everything, you don’t have to be so nice to her.”

“I really don’t mind Yoosung.”

The way he draws in his breath, his chest puffed out, she knows he wants to say more.  She felt sorry for Rika.  Callie had seen what religion and mental illness could do first hand. Helping Yoosung while Seven monitored Saeran’s recovery was cathartic and Jumin had surprised her by asking her to sing at Vs service.

“Why are you so kind?” He says, under his breath and she twitches.

“I’m not.  Really.  I’ve just,” Callie sighs.  “When I was young I was very religious, Catholic like you, and I joined a youth group, it catered to my interests and my spirituality, except it was more sinster.”

“Like mint eye?”

“A cult, yeah.  I had a very close friend who was sick like Rika.  I’m not saying—”

“Callie.”

“Yoosung, what she did was wrong, but she needed help, V shouldn’t have taken her mental health on as his personal burden, and he certainly suffered the most for that choice, don’t get me wrong.  But this is over, and if she recovers she’s going to have that on her conscience for the rest of her life.”

“But after everything—”

“She’s still a person, who was very sick.”

He’d hugged her then, and she’d held him while he cried.  The moment passed, and her guilt levels rose.  At any point she could have told someone.  But then again, so could Jumin.  He’d invited her to coffee, Yoosung and Zen had seemed relieved to see her leave that day, and Jumin had started interrogating her.

“I tried to let you bring this up yourself, but who is Max.”

“Jumin, I’m not sure I’m comfortable talking about this.”

“Because you haven’t told Saeyoung?”

“Fuck, really?” She hung her head.  “So is this a friendly threat?”

“It depends who Max is.  I assume whoever they are is the same person you frequently excuse yourself to talk to?”

“Jumin,” even Seven hadn’t noticed, he’d been so distracted by Saeran that he hadn’t even questioned her.  “I just, there’s so much happening.  I don’t want to add another cross to his pile.”

Jumin sat across from her eyes narrowed over his drink.  “Perhaps this is a conversation better suited to a  glass of wine.”

“A shot of tequila would be preferable.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I could arrange something.”

“No we’re here now,” she sighed. Resigned. “Max is my daughter.  She’s 8 and no I don’t even speak to her father, not when I can help it.”

The always composed Jumin Han stared mouth agape for what she estimated was a full 17 seconds.  He inhaled sharply though his nose and set his coffee aside.  “And she will be moving here with you.”

“Yeah in a few more weeks, I hope.  The studio is arranging to have one of my production staff escort her but—” she sighed.  One more sentence and this would be officially considered confiding.  Everyone else’s problems had seemed so large in comparison but she was starting to feel the cracks.  “Jumin, are you, are you ok?  You don’t need to listen to my problems.  How are you with everything that’s happened?”

For a minute she thought he might open up, but he smiled.  Content apparently that the offer had been made.  “I’ll be fine, but what were you going to say?”

She takes a long drink of her coffee and by the time the bitter sediment at the bottom of the mug has settled at the back of her tongue she’s decided to tell him.  “Her father is notoriously hard to contact and I have to have his permission to move Max out of the country.  Max was born here like me, she and I have dual citizenship but he’s a Servicemen and I have no idea if he’s not answering my lawyer because she’s my lawyer or because he’s deployed somewhere.” She sighs relieved.  There’s nothing to be done but it was nice to have been able to tell someone that, to express her frustration.

But Jumin’s eyes narrow and he’s already firing off who knows how many emails from his phone.  “I’ll contact my lawyer, certainly I can help with this, at the very least.”

“No, I appreciate it but you don’t really need to get involved.  I mean, I really appreciate the offer but I don’t want—”

“You don’t want my help?” Jumin offers.

She laughs.  “No, I’d love your help but I don’t want the headache.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s one thing for the contract Lawyer at the studio to do me a favor and occasionally handle my ex-husband.  But if a foreign lawyer, with connections to your name, aggressively contacts him in relation to moving Max out of the country?  I mean I’m sure you can understand how it looks.”

“You mean there would be gossip.”

“Even if there isn’t gossip, he’ll be unbearable.  I really appreciate the thought behind it, and if he was a different, reasonable, person I would take you up on it.  As frustrating as it is to wait and do it on his terms it’s just easier.”

“Will he be upset that you’re removing his access to your daughter?”

“Probably,” she shrugged. “But I doubt he’ll even bother to see Max before she leaves.  She might get a call or an email when she’s finally here.”

Jumin was quiet for a while.  “It must be hard to make travel arrangements then?”

“I think the plan is for my assistant to travel standby with Max as soon as he signs. I’d love to go and bring her back myself but even with the studio covering most of the costs, this hasn’t been cheap, and I just can’t justify it, and the studio is shelling out a lot to move me here.”

“Would you let me help with this then?”

“What?”

“I could, perhaps authorize my plane to take you to meet your daughter.  As long as I have no other business when her papers are ready, if that is something you’re ok with.”

It was Callie’s turn to stare slackjaw. She nearly dove across the table to hug a very stiff Jumin. “Yes, yes, thank you, I would love that, we would...Jesus Jumin, this is.  Man.  Yeah.  OK.”

In the cab she took to Seven’s afterward she got texts from Zen and Jaehee that linked back to a gossip blog, already featuring a photo of her hugging Jumin in the coffee shop.  She laughed at the attempts to figure out who the strange American woman hugging the C&R director was.  It was a good day, and with such good news she had decided to tell Seven about Max.

She practiced how she would tell him right up until the moment she opened the door and saw the Choi twins covered in blood.

“Shit,” Seven laughs as her face pales.  She can see bruises on his neck and soaked bandages on Saeren’s wrists.

She doesn’t speak, her first aid kit was still in the car from their road trip and she knew she had put the tourniquet back.  Saeyoung is right behind her when she kneels in front of Saeran.  The smaller Choi does not speak or fight when she ties the tourniquet, trying to remember what her ex-husband had said about his field triage course.

“Do you need anything?”

She’s not sure if he’s speaking to her or his brother but she shakes her head, and removes the bandage, the cut is shallow, the wound in the wrong direction.  “I supposed going to a hospital is out of the question?” 

“Yeah,” Seven says.

She flushes the wound with alcohol and pats it dry.  “Hand me the steri-strips, no the whole package.”  She considers not using the tourniquet for the second arm, but she doesn’t want to let on, give anyone the idea that this was not worrisome or dangerous, or lend to any future attempts.  So she repeats the process, tourniquet, cleaning, steri-strips.  She covers the wounds with fresh bandages, and looks Saeren in the eyes, he looks away but she waits and gradually his eyes make their way back to hers.

“This isn’t ok,” she says softly.  “This is never the answer, no matter what you think the question is, ok?”  No response, just intense eyes staring back at her, and Saeyoung tugging at her elbows. “Even if you never feel like you can talk to him, talk to me.”

“So you can tell him, and laugh at me.”

“Oh honey,” she smiles and kisses him on the forehead.  “You have no idea the things I haven’t told your brother.”

*

If he had to guess he’d have said it was his fault she hadn’t said anything. Hell if anyone had asked he’d have told them that she’d probably told him, and thinking back to that time in Rika’s apartment he’d had plenty of opportunity to ask. He’d just been so distracted. Overwhelmed was a better word.

If he’d been paying attention he’d have noticed the way her voice changed for two calls a day. Just a slight change, an octave higher, a singsong lilt, but he had spent too much energy telling himself that he wasn’t noticing these things to really investigate their purpose.

If he really thought about it he knew her internet presence was too small, too clean, full of carefully curated tweets and pictures of her in what he now knew was a wig. Most of all she was guarded when she spoke about herself. He of all people had noticed that quite easily.

And somewhere in the back of his mind he’d told himself he would look deeper, push farther. Every time her wall slipped he made a mental note.

“No no,” he heard her laughing on the phone with Yoosung through the CCTV. “Way back in LOLOL history...Oh god now I’m dating myself.” She laughs again and there it is, that twinge of jealousy. “No Vanil- yes Vanilla...this is embarrassing Yoosung...Okay fine, I was kind of a big deal, for like a year and then,” there it is that change in her face, the way she stops herself from saying something. He makes another note to look deeper when he has more time. “Life got in the way...No, real lif— Yoosung when you’re older you’ll...” She laughs again and he can feel his heartbeat rise and fall with the pitch of it, he turns off the sound and goes back to his work.

He catches movement out of the corner of his eye on the CCTV, Vanderwood is distracted so he glances at the screen and, something isn’t right, ok there’s a stranger in the apartment, a stranger in a towel in the apartment. A woman with short, white hair; he starts to think that maybe he’d figured her out. Maybe she was gay and that was what she was hiding, that was why she drew the line at does Jumin Han is gay. Then the woman turns and a familiar face looks up at the CCTV, a quick flash of embarrassment and then she holds her finger to her lips and winks at the CCTV.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Vanderwood asks behind him. “You have work to do, we don’t pay you make your own Voyuer porn you pervert.”

Seven turns off the CCTV feed.

Something about the fickle way she interacts with Zen, the hot and cold. Always warm to start, and then the change. He makes a note of it. He’ll look into it when he has more time, but the agency and now the chatroom is hacked again. He watches her phone light up on the table in front of her and he can tell by the way she cringes that it’s Zen.

And she is so kind, so calm, every curveball thrown their way and she takes it all in stride. She even suggests he do more background checks on her. Maybe she’s in cahoots with the hacker he starts to wonder, or maybe the agency is testing him.

Maybe it’s all test from the agency. That’s what he’s leaning towards, this pretty girl with a secret past who falls flawlessly into the RFA winning even Jumin’s heart. V had gotten him into the agency, V could be in on it too. He had to focus on his work, but with her casually revealing secrets on the CCTV maybe she’s the real job.

And then the special security system got hacked. Even if she was a rival, or a test, why would she put herself at so much risk? Still with little explanation she’s happy to do what he says. He can see her eyes on the screen, frightened and yet her voice on the phone is so calm. What are you? He wants to yell. The words repeat inside his head until they become the soundtrack to everything he should be doing.

Even when Saeren is in the apartment she’s fearless. He watches her walk barefoot across the shattered glass as Saeren threatens her. He watches her stance lower and shift as she prepares to defend herself and then she sees him and yells his name and he can’t focus.

He can’t remember a thing said but he remembers the fear in her eyes as she bit down on his brother’s arm, the way her barefeet ground into the glass covered floor as she slammed her body backwards to loosen his grip on her, the way she felt behind him her breath steady and determined.

No matter how awful he is, she always speaks to him calmly and with kindness but her eyes betray her hurt, it’s not until he’s destroyed the robot cat, not until he looks up breathing heavy full of adrenaline that he sees her take that step back, sees the fear, that’s when his heart breaks.

But still he pushed her away, and she treated him with kindness. Even in her demands she’s kind. He swears she knows his mind better than he does. She talks to him while he works, asking him questions and looking at him like she knows what he’s going to say. When he finally decides to open the drawer she’s practically waiting with a crowbar.

“What are you doing,” he laughs. “We’re probably driving to our deaths and your colouring your hair?”

“Colouring our hair,” she smiles at him in the mirror.

“Our?”

“It’s a wash out,” she smiles “But it can’t hurt to look a little different since we’re on the lam.”

“The lam?” he laughs.

“Shut up and come here so I can do your hair.”

He concedes, just to see her smile. Of course she’s probably a little right, the agency could have local police looking for them, he would have to change the plate on his car before they leave and changing their appearance even a little wouldn’t hurt.

She doesn’t sleep, not for the whole drive, and after all that time she spent on their hair, she starts producing wigs out of her bag. A wig for every county line they cross. She laughs with him despite how terrified they both are and still she makes those quiet secret phone calls.

“You know,” she says, yawning, “I’m the oldest member of the RFA.”

He perks up, she’s starting to talk about herself. “Nah,” he smiles at her. “Jumin and V are almost 30.”

“I know Luciel,” she laughs. “I turned 30 in July.”

“No you didn’t,” he chuckles. “You’re facebook says—” What had her facebook said? No her age hadn’t been on her profile. Her age hadn’t been anywhere he looked. Just another thing he’d made a note to look deeper into but not found the time.”

“That’s weird right?” She’s nervous. Her knees drawn up to her chest, barefeet flat on the seat, she doesn’t even look at him. “Fuck, it’s weird right? I’m like 9 years older than you. You were 11 when I got married.”

Everything stops for a minute, he can hear the clunk of her head against the window and the sharp intake of breath.

“Married,” he says quietly.

“I’m not anymore. He left me three years ago.”

Seven snorts. “Is he stupid?”

She laughs. “Was that a compliment?”

He shrugs and they drive in silence for a while. “Is he Korean? Is that why you’re fluent?”

“No, he’s American. I was born in Camp Casey, my parents were American military, I’ve only been in the US for 10 years grew up off base.”

“Oh.”

He could have asked her more questions then but he already had so much to process with Mint Eye and Saeren, he had to file this away for later.

And then everything happens so fast, and god help him she keeps it together the whole time. Even when he shoves Saeren and Vanderwood in the car, and he’s shot, she keeps it together.

“Hey, bitch in the fancy coat,” he can see her watching Vanderwood in the mirror.

Vanderwood says nothing, sneers back.

“You don’t have to talk to me but there’s a first aid kit in my duffel, I’ve got a tourniquet, do you know what that is?”

Vanderwood snorts.

Even trapped by Mint Eye, even with Rika, and then V being shot, she doesn’t falter. She holds it together, and when he feels like the pain and the blood loss might bring him down he just has to look at her determined face and another surge of adrenaline keeps him going.

He expects her to break down when Jumin gets there with his army of security guards but she stays by him, breathing steady determined breaths, and the last thing he remembers is the pitch of her voice when they take him out of the Ambulance.

“What do you mean I can’t go with him.”

But she’s there in his room when he wakes up, curled up behind is knees with her feet dangling off the tiny hospital bed.

“Hey,” he says softly carefully laying his hand on her head as she starts awake. “I thought you couldn’t come in with me?”

“That was in the ICU, but you’re out now.”

“And Jumin Han’s money doesn’t hurt?”

“And that,” she laughs. Her make-up is smudged, her face pale. She’s been crying but she’s also changed. “Jaehee brought me something to wear.” She answers without his asking.

“Is that Zen’s face?”

“I don’t know, I think maybe?” she laughs.

His recovery is fast, and despite his insistence she stays with Yoosung rather than in his house. He calls her every chance he gets, no more CCTV feeds but Saeren keeps him busy and it’s only a few days before he’s out.

She’s so calm when she finds them, covered in Saeren’s blood. So calm when she asks about the hospital, knowing the answer would be no. She ignores him behind her, with his shaking hands, and anxious breaths. The way she takes control, he should have known.

*

“Uh, Luciel.”

“Nope, I’m not going to look at the gate feed until she’s answered all my questions.”

“Seven you should really—”

“You can’t make me.”

In truth the smug look on Jumin’s face should have told him something. 707 the hacker would have connected her weekend away for work with Jumin’s sudden business trip.

“Dude,” Zen was laughing. Maybe he should look. But then he heard the gate click open and the door swing open and—

“Maxine Annette, we don’t slam doors.”

Everyone is quiet except for the little voice arguing that she definitely did not slam the door, until finally Jumin speaks. “Hello Maxine.”

“Hello Mr. Han.”

“It’s nice to see you again.”

“Didn’t you want to say something to Jumin, Max?”

“Thank you for the plane, Mr. Han, and the stuffed kitty.”

The entire room stares as Jumin Han kneels in front of the little girl with Callie. “Did you give her a name yet?”

“Mom said it should be something regal,” Seven can see Jumin’s face, he can read the expectations in that statement, but from the look on Callie’s face he’s not sure the little girl can meet them. “Her Royal Majesty Sparkleface Fluffbuttons the first.”

Jumin does a good job of hiding his disappointment. And the tension in the room fades as everyone quietly chuckles at his expense. Yoosung and Jaehee swoop down on the little one called Max and suddenly Callie is at his side.

“I’m really sorry,” she whispers.

“You have a kid,” he whispers back, but still there’s a smile on his face.

“I wanted to tell you.”

“When could you have?”

She shoves him a little. “You’re supposed to be mad at me.”

“I almost got you killed, you have a kid. I think we’re even.”

[recentanimenews]

Three-Episode Test: Ink's Spring 2018

Welcome to the Three Episode Test, where Ani-Gamers contributors give you the low-down on what they're watching (or not) from the current simulcast season and why.

Aggretsuko

Streaming on Netflix

All I know of Sanrio is its ambassador of kawaii, Hello Kitty, and that the company has a gamut of similar cute and humorous characters focused towards garnering the attention of children and their parents’ salaries. (Needless to say, I don’t pay Sanrio much mind.) So that makes Aggretsuko – an overworked, overstressed, red panda office lady who privately pops the cap on her bottled-up public frustrations via a combination of self-hypnosis, beer, and death metal karaoke – Sanrio’s shadow and one of my new favorite characters. I’m watching this show as someone just about to hit 40 and currently saddled in a job where work is constantly piled upon my shoulders because I appear to be able to take it. This cartoon, much like the metal Aggretsuko loves and sings, is catharsis pure and simple, but it’s also really good.

The contrast between sweet and suffering is obviously the entire concept of this character/series, but what brings out the all-too relatable humor in that sadness is all the details that this fifteen-minute short certainly doesn’t have to include. There’s some above-and-beyond camera work that gives select scenes depth and vibrancy. Certain frame compositions intimate adult internalizations with scary accuracy. Contrasting the simplistic line art and solid, bright colors of public life with the scratchy lines and murderous color palate of a Sanrio-ed Devilman Crypanda for private thoughts is perfect. And reactions shots as well as comedic timing are on point 100% of the time. I watched three episodes for this column entry. Now that I’ve finished this review, I’m binging the rest, and you should too.

Crossing Time

Streaming on Crunchyroll

I should have known better to put faith in a series with a description that starts with onomatopoeia. This series of shorts tells “The various stories … that occur during the time spent waiting at a railroad crossing.” (A Romantic’s dream!) While the concept sounds like something begging for anthology participation a la Space Dandy or demanding the intimate attentions of a movie maker such as Makoto Shinkai, this series of shorts simply lacks soul. Absolutely nothing is visually engaging; you’ve seen this scenery – the yellow and black striped arms, the alternating red warning lights, the tracks, the trains – as it is presented here a million times over in various anime. People with true vision would find a way to tune the environment to complement the story being told, but Crossing Time, as far as Episode 3, relies on dialog to carry the entirety of its dramatic content … and the writing simply isn’t up to being thusly tasked. Even though it’s a short, the fact that the promise outweighs the follow-through is unforgivable. After all, if I can imagine something better, what do I possibly have to gain from watching? Dropping this like a rock to save me from drowning in yet another anime stream.

Cutie Honey Universe

Streaming on HIDIVE

Fear not a loss of sparkles or flowers; if you’ve got a hard-on for classic shoujo character designs (given a modern finish), uncensored violence, loads of yuri, and skin exposed by battle-damaged onesies, the newest addition to Go Nagai’s Cutie Honey franchise has you (not necessarily its heroine) … covered. Even if you don’t find anything appealing about that opening sentence, this title might still have a few things worth your time. There’s a lot of goof here – from ridiculous monsters and the tried-and-true, double-faced master villain to the band of delinquents with (slightly) veiled hearts of gold and even good ol’ sit-com yuks.

Cutie Honey was always one of the magical girl variants I’ve wanted to check out. So much like the Masaaki Yuasa Devilman Crybaby that dropped last season or the Ashita no Joe spinoff (MEGALOBOX) this season, Cutie Honey Universe is the body into which I’m dipping my big toe – feeling out the temperature via a modern incarnation to gauge interest in an older property … and (I think) that’s ok. Sure, I may not get the twists or references, but the show is entertaining as hell, and I’m gonna be watching each episode, as soon as it airs, every week.

Gurazeni: Money Pitch

Streaming on Crunchyroll

Bonda Natsunosuke, a left-handed middle relief pitcher for the Jingu Spiders, is in the twilight of his career and has yet to make an impression. He’s obsessed with his contract rate (a mere ¥18 million) and those of the batters he faces. He’s memorized all their stats but lets them intimidate instead of inspire. Bonda firmly believes there’s money in the banana stand under the mound, but can he dig in hard enough to dig it up?

I can’t really pin down why I like this show so much. It’s got everything I hate about baseball, including baseball and the deluge of stats that fans of the sport constantly spew. Luckily, the importance of the latter is rendered next to worthless by the way the animation and voice acting carry tension and emotion in every scene. The CGI is actually pretty good in comparison to other series; the motions of pitching fooled me a few times and offer a fluidity that I can only think to call video game sexy. This is a series about stress from earning your keep in a competitive field, its impact on self-worth, and the value of friends, and the show’s cast is entirely made up of 20-somethings and older! Like I said earlier, I’m not sure why I really enjoy watching this show (possibly for general sympathy for the MC), but I’m definitely gonna keep watching to see who the heck the cute woman with the picnic basket is in the ED!

Isekai Izakaya: Japanese Food from Another World

Streaming on Crunchyroll

Unlike Restaurant to Another World, where a door opened to multiple parallel worlds, Isekai Izakaya so far only focuses on one linked-in dimension – a medieval Western European(-ish) nation. This device works in that it shows how the popularity of the food served at the modern day izakaya wows the palates of the past and does a good job of showing how word of mouth brings business to the shop. Unfortunately, that’s the selling tool of which I’m most weary and tired. The focus on presentation, indulgence, and reaction seem more advertisement for a nation’s cuisine than dramatization of enjoyment.

The expression of reactions in theme with character station is charming but also wears thin pretty quickly; I’m here for the food and drink and reactions, and overthinking is the enemy! The show also seems written to try to appeal to the success of similar series, but tries too hard; forced humor (whatsontap is cute as a one-off gag but runs dry real quick) and overblown reactions are the bane of this 15-minute short that seems all the more extended for such tactics. Adding to my distaste for this series is the permanent overlay of the series title, episode title, and the Sunrise bug. This is nothing less than annoying and also makes for cluttered reading when dialog translations are on screen. All of my grievances (save the Sunrise bug) are nullified with the really solid Episode 3, but I’m afraid too many bad experiences have soured me on this series. After my third trip to Isekai Izakaya, I’m closing out my tab on a good note but not coming back.

MEGALOBOX

Streaming on Crunchyroll

Ashita no Joe (aka Champion Joe) is one of those anime series I’ve always meant to see, so on the 50th anniversary of the manga’s original debut date, I decided to at least check out the 2018 spinoff. The art in MEGALOBOX looks like Cowboy Bebop, but the animation comes across as owning 2018 production values. The art is a direct retro style, but movement, framing, and camerawork all speak to having learned from the past. This anime is, to coin a made-up term, retro-gorgeous™ to the point that I wonder if it’ll speak to the current generation of anime fans. (We’ve reached a brink, folks.)

I want to describe the color palate as ruddy – a fairly, if I do say so myself, apropos descriptor for a series about a blood sport. And the fact that the art style doesn’t come across as “clean” speaks a lot to what this series is actually about. While I’ll forever love the drama behind an underdog story, I specifically love that this series, at least so far as Episode 3 is concerned, introduces issues on a personal level and expands them to include their influence on/reaction to social class strata and citizenship issues. On a lighter note: even though I’ve never read nor seen any of the previous iterations, I gotta say Junk Dog choosing his new name at the end of Episode 2 made me well up in some weirdly embedded sense of faux nostalgia. Also, Emi Nakamura's (Laughing Salesman NEW OP) contribution to the ED is wonderful. There’s no way in hell I’m not watching this until the end.

Steins;Gate 0

Streaming on Crunchyroll

This is in no way a starting point for viewers new to this series. Things have changed, and to realize how as well as why that divergence is important thematically as well as plot-wise, viewers are going to need to have watched the original series and the movie (Déjà Vu). And while my reaction is admittedly tainted by a great love for these characters, the primary problem with this show remains: it is obviously faithful to its visual novel origin. Recognizing that fact, no matter how many times in-show jokes try to own it, can easily douse the flames of interest or taint the viewing experience for many. However, the writing, both conversational and situational, is really good and does not baby the audience.

[Speaking of babying, SG0 adds a loli character. (But she's really 21!) How ... depressing.]

The audience, after a pretty great cold open, is dropped into a new world – one with an all-too familiar ending. This world, thanks to the research of a certain deceased scientist, is obsessed with extrapolated memory-driven AI.  WHAT COULD GO WRONG? To say I’ve been waiting for the conflict introduced in the very beginning of Episode 3 is a truth – one I regrettably feel obliged to report as a prediction come true. (If it were not for the predictable nature of the source material, the anime might be more surprising.) Steins;Gate is a love letter to sorrow junkies, so needless to say, I am down for all future twists from this animated heart wrench.

tada never falls in LOVE

Streaming on HIDIVE

A comedy with balls almost as big as those on its cat. Gaijin transfer student … photography club … yada yada. What really makes this show is its quick pacing and sucker punch visual gags. (The famous character relegated to a barfly in a coffee shop FLOORED me, but Episode 3’s direct narrative nod to said character is utterly disappointing.) That’s not to totally disregard the show’s in-show show, “Rainbow Samurai,” which is amazing, but all I’m sayin’ is that that that joke won’t be worth half as much if an entire episode of tada never falls in LOVE isn’t an actual episode of “Rainbow Samurai” (sans any characters, at least visually, from the former). That said, Episode 3 secured my viewership with the risks this comedy is willing to take regarding narrators.

It’s almost sad that the entire anime does not take place in that coffee shop; the bits in classrooms and with the photography club maintain an engagingly energetic air but stop short of being particularly memorable. And thankfully, tada never falls in LOVE is not the typical learning anime dedicated to cameras. (I think there was one, 30-second explanation of indicators on an SLR camera’s menu display?) Instead, the show revels in having fun with its delivery and toying with viewer expectations. So no matter the setting, the comedy is what will keep me coming back week after week.

originally appeared on Ani-Gamers on April 27, 2018 at 1:00 PM.

By: Ink