#she should be a bigger star in the industry

[ylangelegy]

i love your writing !! 🥹 for the jealousy prompts, han and “i don’t blame them of course, but you’re mine”?

★ jisung x makeup artist!reader ┆ word count: 1.1k ┆ part of my closed jealousy drabble game.

ⓘ established/secret relationship, fluff.

There's a certain level of tenacity needed to survive dating an idol.

You've known this since day one, since the unassuming Tuesday afternoon where Jisung had shyly asked you if you wanted to make it official. In the industry, 'official' and 'public' were two completely different promises.

You're not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, though. You love Jisung. He loves you. That should be enough, right?

At least that's what you try to remind yourself as you steel yourself for another award show. It's the Asia Artist Awards this time, one of the bigger ones that Jisung has always admitted to having mixed feelings about.

For a celebrity, your boyfriend sure did have an aversion to crowds.

He's gotten good at masking it, at least. You watch from the wings as he glides down the red carpet with the rest of the band. Not a thing is out of place. His hair is flawless; his suit is pressed. Most importantly, his makeup is immaculate, although that's to be expected when the one doing your makeup is someone who knows your features well.

Jisung does everything that he has to. He puts on a photo-ready smile. He waves to fans, makes hearts with his hands for the cameras. When the boys step aside for interviews, he does that, too— slides in a wisecrack, nods in all the right places.

It's mesmerizing, seeing him put on a show, and it's a show that everybody eats right up.

"He's popular today," one of your fellow makeup artists notes with amusement.

You follow her gaze. She's right. The screams for Jisung's name are a little louder. The cameras flash brighter when he moves. Even the interviewer seems particularly enamored, laughing loudly at Jisung's quips and resting a casual hand on his shoulder.

The flash of annoyance that you feel is assuaged when Jisung takes an infinitesimal step away, feigning like he's leaning into Minho instead.

"He is," you finally respond in an even tone, even though the word doesn't quite encapsulate it.

Your boyfriend is more than popular. He's a goddamn star. Everybody can see it, and so everyone wants a piece of him.

Once the boys' five minutes of fame are over, they slink off to a secluded area for retouches. The atmosphere and the lights always call for quick touch ups. A little bit of blush there. A brush of powder here.

Immediately, your team descends on them. Each boy has an assigned artist. When you make your way to Jisung, the shift is palpable.

Blink and you'll miss it. Jisung goes from his idol persona to somebody tired, somebody drained from all the interaction, to someone who is looking at the love of his life. His eyes light up. His shoulders ease. The corners of his lips tug upward in a fond, giddy grin, and you can't help the way you smile as well.

"Hey, you," he breathes, years worth of affection packed in a simple greeting.

"Hi," you say back. "Your lip gloss is smudged."

He chuckles, as though he's amused you're going straight to business. There's not much room for you to be the couple that you want to be. Not when you're in a public place, when he's still got an entire show to sit through and a stage to perform.

The two of you have managed to strike a balance, find your happy middle. Jisung toed the line more often than not, but he knew better than to push the envelope when it was your careers on the line.

He stays still as you go to fix his gloss. He physically can't help but tease, though, his mouth moving against the pads of your fingers.

"You would know a thing or two about smudging my gloss," he mumbles, his voice low enough for just the two of you to hear.

You shoot him a glare. He throws you an exaggerated wink.

This is the Jisung that you knew, the Jisung behind the scenes. Cheerful despite his exhaustion. Awkward in his flirtation but never any less sincere.

You rummage through your kit for concealer. It's not unusual for the artists to be well-acquainted with the boys, and so small talk was typically accepted. Your voice is perfectly casual and conversational as you comment, "You're getting good reception today."

He doesn't miss a beat. "Yeah, well, maybe it's 'cause I have a good makeup artist."

Your lips twitch like you're holding back a smile. Jisung looks like he already won an award for the night at the mere sight of it.

"Just 'good'?" you tease, working on reapplying concealer under his eyes.

"Mmm," he hums. "Meant to say 'the best'."

Even though you give him an eye roll in response, the two of you know that you revel in his affirmation. It's why he's so generous in doling it out.

Jisung sounds like he's treading gently as he question, "You okay, though?"

You return his question with a distracted one of your own. "Why wouldn't I be?" you ask, still focused on smoothing out some of the blemishes around his nose.

There's a moment where Jisung contemplates whether he should go on. You can tell by the way his teeth briefly sink into his lower lip, the way his eyebrows furrow for a moment. His next words are calculated, careful.

"The 'good reception' thing," he says slowly. "Is that about all the— uh, fans?"

The question is vague, but you've known Jisung for long enough to know what he's implying. A part of you melts at how ready your boyfriend is to give you assurance, even if both of you are on the clock.

"I don't blame them, of course." Your own words are matter-of-fact as you step back to survey your handiwork. Voice still pitched for just the two of you, you go on, "But you're mine."

Jisung looks like you've struck him between the eyes. It draws a laugh out of you. You're never outwardly possessive, not the type to kick up a fuss over his thousands of adoring fans or fellow idols, and so it's a bit of a rare treat.

"I'm—" he starts so sputter. "You're—"

"Jisung-ah!"

Chan's distant call barely snaps Jisung out of his flustered state. You have to give your boyfriend a light shove, just to encourage him to get moving.

"Later," you say. A promise.

He doesn't respond immediately. It seems like his brain has stopped working, and when it boots up, he manages a panicked squeak of, "Later!"

Jisung stumbles off, nearly tripping on his own laces. You put your hand to your mouth to hold back your giggles.

He will have to go face everyone else with his cool and collected persona. He will have to go be HAN of Stray Kids, will have to rap and joke and perform.

But there is also a Jisung that you love, a Jisung that's yours, and it's enough. It's more than enough.

[raivenantcravings]

Round 6 Reaction/Analysis

SDFFSDHFLSDHF ROUND 6 FSDHKFDSH ROUND 6 FSDKFSDHFDS ROUND 6

I woke up to twitter analysis saying that Till never even looked at Ivan until his final moments. And I made pre round 6 fanart titled "look at me." Couldn't manifest it. He never looked at him in the end,,,

broo dont look so happy. oh my god you lovesick fool.

reaction and analysis under the cut

First detail I noticed was that are the mics clear because both Ivan and Till are being vulnerable? They have nothing to hide anymore, so they'll show the world their whole being.

Anyways, to my main point,,

My interpretation of the ending was that Ivan was really trying to "cure" Till.

Till opens up with wanting to feel pain, to feel hurt.

"Please, leave me scars"

"Please, hurt me so that not a single drop of me remains"

Which, I realize he's talking to Mizi, but it's a cry for "help" either way.

Ivan's part goes:

"Notice my pain and mend me right now"

Again, he's talking about himself, but I think it could apply to what he does to Till.

So they kiss.

And, I've seen a lot of other people already say this, but I also do feel the kiss was not only meant to be for Ivan to selfishly show his love for Till.

Like bro don't go nonconsensually kissing your crush, what are you doing!?

When the scores came out, Ivan was much lower than Till than I expected. I thought it'd be a Mizi-Sua situation where the scores were close, but Mizi barely edged it out.

But Till almost had 20 points over Ivan.

And I know it's because Till is a rising star. And his new image change would really garner the attention of everyone. But it's not like Ivan is a nobody either. I didn't expect the scores to be so different.

I do think its because Ivan kissed Till. As a final nail in the coffin that guarantees his loss.

Alien Stage is commentary on the idol industry. One of the most prevalent issues in the idol industry is the romantic lives of the idols. Idols are not supposed to be in relationships, at least not outwardly. Their whole image is for the fans. Nothing they do should ruin that public image as an idol.

Much less in a in a queer relationship.

Now I don't believe the universe of Alien Stage cares about LGBTQ+ issues because there's bigger issues surrounding their human pets. But I think that it is an issue that Vivinos is trying to address because they certainly never shy away from queer issues in their other works.

And I feel the idea that idols/pets should not be swayed by their romantic emotions is still prevalent in their society.

So for the audience to see Ivan kiss Till, in one of the most outrageous and public displays possible, further pushes the votes in Till's favor.

And yeah, I also do believe that he kissed Till for him to finally look at him, but I also feel that it was a self-sacrifice too.

And then Ivan violently chokes Till.

Possibly, as another way to give Till votes. Since when Mizi started punching Luka, the audience was outraged at her actions.

Violence is definitely frowned upon on the stage.

More on the choking scene,,

I also saw some people saying that it's because Ivan wanted Till to die with him, which may be part of it. I don't think everything Ivan did was completely selfless.

But

Till accepts it. Earlier when he is at the bar (party? venue? the private show either way), he fights the alien who tries to punch him.

He did show him Mizi's missing image, so he is enraged in this moment, but he does have fight left in him even then.

He doesn't resist when Ivan chokes him just closes his eyes and awaits death. Perhaps if Mizi was already dead, he can just join her in the afterlife since he had no way of knowing she was still alive.

In this way, Ivan is his savior. The one who is finally freeing him from all this pain he felt after losing Mizi. This is his "cure."

And for Ivan, he sorta wants to be a savior to Till. He has freed him on multiple accounts from his shackles. Even helping him run away with him, so they can experience freedom together.

They both get what they want, but,,

Ivan lets go of Till and Till, with an expression that feels like shock, finally looks at Ivan.

Killing him would not give him the freedom that Till needs

that Ivan wants Till to have.

So, like the countless times Till has been chained around his neck, Ivan gives him his chains:

hurting him like he desires.

A scar around his neck.

(Where the scar from his name is)

And mending him,

by taking away the final chain that Ivan could release from Till.

His "cure."

It felt like his final desire was to get Till to snap out of it, to realize that he needs to find true freedom, to not get apathetic at the situation, to keep on going and to live.

He really, truly loves Till even if Till does and never will understand it.

Also final thoughts, is it not strange that Ivan is able to release Till's bindings so easily?

No one else is shown releasing the bindings, so maybe it is just as easy as a press of the button. Yet, I don't feel like it's just poorly designed if that's the case. Because you literally have a person like Ivan releasing a dangerous human like Till. Shouldn't a cautious society like the world of Alien Stage made sure it wouldn't be super easy to get out of.

If there is more to it, I wonder if that'll be a plot point later on. With Ivan leaving behind the secret to getting out of the bindings for Till. So, when a character maybe Till or even Hyuna or Mizi have been captured, they're able to escape since they know how to remove them.

Maybe, I'm just being delulu

And final final thoughts, the kiss was great and definitely made me almost scream. But the way Ivan nuzzled Till has got me acting up.

Like, it's just so soft and sweet and not a big show of it like when Ivan kisses Till on stage.

It feels so intimate, so personal, so full of love.

I just, I just can't. They'll be the death of me.

[usedpidemo]

Tell your friends (Ive Yujin & Wonyoung)

—————

Thank you @capslocked for the input/advice <3

—————

“What do you think?” asks Yujin, casually, as you’re both walking up the long, winding stairs. A scenario you’re familiar with, but this is completely different from before.

“Of this place?” Your eyes wander around, scope out the surroundings like you’re evaluating real estate. “Eh, it’s fine—I mean, I’ve already been to your place and it’s really nice.”

“First time I’ve heard anyone call this place just fine.” Completely surprised at your reply, her eyes go wide, along with her jaw, as if you’ve said something taboo. “This place is no joke, it makes mine look like an average joe—just like you!”

“Hey.” Offended by her personal taunt, you counter, “At least I’m content with what I have instead of pouring needless amounts of money for this narcissistic shit.” 

She simply laughs off your retort. You’re not even trying. Part of the game is you actually playing along. “Gotta keep the image up, after all.”

“What image? That you’re slutting out every night for a ‘random nobody’ off the street?”

“If I wanted a random nobody off the street, I could have at least gotten someone with a bigger cock,” says Yujin, trying to get under your skin. This kind of banter should render you poisoned with all the toxicity, but you’re almost numb to it at this point. Her words hit hard, because she’s speaking the truth. Anyone else could be in your position right now, and you’re luckier than 99.9% of the people on this planet, because she’s still An Yujin—variety queen, fashion icon, and pop star—after all. “Or maybe someone who’s willing to rip through my clothes when I tell them to—”

“Yeah, I get it. You get new clothes that you’ll use for a week, only to stash them away in the storage.” Might as well put on those imaginary headphones to drown out the noise, but you’ve heard it so many times, your ears simply block out her voice. “You’re rich and famous; I’m a nobody. We get it.”

She shoots you a devilish smirk, complemented by a wink before going ahead. Her flawless body and model strut serve as the perfect hall pass; you're willing to give every excuse and exemption just to be with her in bed when it’s all said and done.

The huge front doors swing open automatically. The living room alone dwarfs your entire house and makes Yujin’s look miniature in comparison. Collective chatter fills the atmosphere as guests convene everywhere. Not a single space remains unoccupied with at least two people engaged in conversation over drinks. 

Like the visitors at your girlfriend’s party, you have no idea who these people are or what their intentions are. Some of them turn their heads, stare at your direction and greet you hello. They’re not actually meant for you, but for the woman right beside you. To your dismay, she remembers how awkward you are at large gatherings and takes advantage of it. Bumping shoulders, she encourages you to wave back at them. Not the name you want to make for yourself.

So you sneak away from her and escape into the crowd. Passing through different rooms, you eventually run into a familiar face in the entertainment room. The person turns around, meets your gaze in dramatic fashion, and her excitement immediately rises to dangerous levels. 

“Hey! Oh! Were you invited too?” asks the girl, enthusiastically, running toward you.

You vividly recognize her cute face—and her Japanese accent. She was the girl who almost uncovered you twice in a single night.

“Oh God—” You grumble, bothered, silently praying your whisper drowns in the sea of loud gossip. “Oh—hi, Rei.”

“You must really be someone special to be invited to Mistress Jang’s party.” Rei suddenly pulls you by the shoulder to whisper something secretive in your ear, closing any opportunity to escape. “You know this is a blue card invitation, right? Only those deep in her social circle can come here, and her private circle is really, really small. Just so you know, there’s an industry rumor going around that the son of a government official offered millions in a bid to woo her, and she turned him down.”

“O-oh, that’s—cool.” 

Respectfully, what you wanted to say was that you had no interest in the so-called Mistress Jang, or the corrupt children of the officials running the nation with puppet strings. You were only there at Yujin’s insistence, and nothing else. “Surely he must be fuming that Jang—”

“Shhhh.” Rei puts a finger between your lips to quiet you down. She briefly looks left and right, scanning everything and everyone around you. “We call her Mistress Jang, Miss Jang, or Miss Vicky Jang. The title is very important here.”

“What?” For a moment, you thought you had stepped inside the palace of some ancient dynasty, the way titles are held in high regard. “What are you talking about?”

“You don’t know, huh? Are you living under a rock? Miss Jang is one of the biggest names in the country! She’s Korea’s it girl and national princess. Gosh, every brand she wears—and touches—becomes instant sell outs. She’s like a god even among celebrities!” Rei turns around, scouts the place a second time, as if she isn’t already screaming. Surely, this has to be hyperbole because you’ve never heard anyone with a description this grand, only in children’s role play. “She’s practically royalty, even if she doesn’t have a title.”

“Oookay.” Your lack of interest shows through your dry tone. “Yeah, well Yujin invited me here so—”

“Well, that makes perfect sense. I was thinking you were some kind of celebrity or photographer, but now I also know you’re Yujin’s boyfriend. So, the guy hidden in some of her Instagram photos was you.”

“Right.” Shake your head, slowly drawing away from her and this conversation before you become the center of discussion and treated like an actual celebrity. “So, yeah, it was nice seeing you again—”

“Can I ask you one question?” Her narrow eyes and pouty lips are practically pleading to you. Might as well amuse her just this once. Maybe she’ll finally leave you alone. “Please?”

“Fine, what is it?”

“What kind of person is she in bed?” The question elicits an animated reaction on your face—the kind that gets passed around on the internet as a meme. “I bet she gives really good head—”

“There you are!” Yujin suddenly shouts, interrupting right before it becomes extremely awkward. “Hey Rei! What have you been talking about?”

“Yujin!” The Japanese girl abruptly releases you, meeting her in embrace and exchanging friendly kisses. “Not much, just catching up with your guy about some—” she suddenly pauses, making up an excuse on the fly. “—stuff. Anyway, did you know he doesn’t know who Miss Jang is?”

“I was about to take him to her, actually.” 

“Oh no—” You impulsively blurt, losing control over your volume at that moment. 

Forget that they’re right in front of you. Forget that you value your own life over some pussy you can get any other time you want.

Surely Miss Jang would be the kind of person who immediately comes for the life of the offending party when the smallest rumor or slander reaches her ears—how much more at an occasion with some of her most esteemed guests, making you an example of what not to do to cross her.

Fortunately, the two friends then turn their eyes toward you, seemingly unaware of your dismayed reaction. Yujin takes you by the hand, but her soft touch doesn’t relax you in the slightest. “I’ll take him to her now. See ya!”

“Of course, have a great night, you two.”

There’s no light at the end of this tunnel; it’s more of a series of unfortunate events connected from one to another. You’d rather take the option of sharing the freakiest, lewdest secrets of your sex life with Rei over meeting this Mistress Jang face-to-face. You had no say in the matter, not when you’re Yujin’s partner and she’s just as highly esteemed of a name, if not greater, as everyone else in the room.

After a flight of stairs, she scans the second floor, where more people are drinking and chatting it up, before heading in. With you in-tow, you head toward the center hallway together. Seemingly uncaring of your hand getting crushed by her grip, she weaves around dashing from one side to the other until she suddenly stops. Her eyes light up when she sees several suited men assembled in a circle surrounding something—or someone. 

“She’s over there. Give her a minute,” she says, observing them without giving a moment to consider your squished hand—or you for that matter.

“Understood, Miss Jang,” says the oldest man at the center, nodding. The suited men disperse in different directions like a trained, coordinated army unit. A young girl emerges from the assembly with a cold, steely expression in her eyes and her features. 

You expected Miss Jang to be of intimidating, imposing stature, like she could snap you in half like a twig, when really, you’re more likely to toss her around instead. At first glance, everything about her appearance makes her akin to a doll. Pearly white skin, soft, silky lips, and a lightweight figure—everything about her seems curated and designed for maximum appeal to the unrealistic standards of the public. It wouldn’t surprise you if she was actually a life sized model in disguise, with metals and electrical wirings operating the body underneath several layers of unnatural beauty.

Your assumption seemingly comes to pass when she turns her head in a rather mechanical motion, then the blank look on her face shifts to a fixed little beam, hiding any sort of emotion behind them. “Yujin.” Her voice comes out near silent but honeyed, eyes curling into a smile as she recognizes your girl.

“Wony!” She lets go of your hand to hug and give her a kiss on the cheek, treating her like every other acquaintance or friend of hers.

“So, a boyfriend huh? Congratulations,” the other woman replies, reciprocating her friend’s gesture with a kiss on the other cheek. “I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks. He’s kind of a bum, but he’s all right.” Even around friends, Yujin couldn’t help but make the gap between you and her obvious. You’re properly dressed for the occasion (disregarding the fact she bought and tailored it for you), but otherwise, you’re a fish out of water. 

“Come here.” Mistress Jang shoots you a cold stare. Frightened, you immediately follow. Releasing herself from Yujin’s hug, she extends her hand out for you to shake. “You must be Yujin’s boyfriend. Welcome.”

“Um,” You try to think of something—anything—respectful to reply to her with, but ultimately come up with nothing. Sure, she’s not the dangerous boss or demanding overlord you envisioned, but she’s still the most important person in the entire mansion, with emergency protocols practically marked all over her. “Thanks.”

“Please, make yourself at home.” Her eyes lock onto yours, curls into a friendly smile, inviting you to act comfortably in her presence. “I know it’s your first time here, so enjoy.”

“Thanks,” you reply twice in quick succession because it’s the only word you can think of. Other words aren't necessary when it’s the safest option available. 

Patting you on the shoulder, then giving it a playful squeeze, she reassures you again, “I know you’re nervous because of the whole Mistress Jang thing, but please, I don’t bite. I would never.” 

A little teasing smirk and wink from her makes Yujin giggle. The two women rub foreheads, share a brief stare into each other’s eyes, reveling in their strong bond. “Please just call me Wonyoung.”

“Um, okay. Thanks for the welcome, Wony,” you say, looking over your shoulder, trying to escape those magnetic eyes of hers, but they ultimately draw you back in. No one else in the room other than you three. “You two know each other, Yujin?”

“Of course!” The energy Yujin answers you with is infectious. Your girlfriend plants a kiss on her cheek, hooking her arms around her shoulders. If you weren’t around as a third wheel, they’d make for a perfect pair. If she had her way, she would talk about her all day long. “We’ve been friends for a long, long time. Then she got bigger and richer than me and—”

“No need to compare,” interrupts Wonyoung, facing her with a wider grin. “Let’s not make our guests here jealous.”

A hearty laugh from the two follows, and you can’t do anything but smile. You don’t really find their jokes funny, but at the very least, their tight friendship warms your heart. The way their eyes glimmer when they meet, how rosy their cheeks burn, and how close their lips are from making contact—they love each other dearly and intimately it’s almost invasive that you’re awkwardly watching them, as if you didn’t exist in that moment.

You have places to be and other things to do. Inelegant as it sounds, you’re forced to interject, respectfully. “I think I should be on my way now.”

Wonyoung turns her gaze back at you. “Oh, right. Almost forgot you’re there,” she replies, almost bursting into a giggle at the end of her sentence. “The main event will begin soon. Go and have fun in the meantime.”

“Yeah. Go and have fun,” Yujin repeats, almost taunting. It’s almost second nature for her to tease you. The twosome turn around and walk away, hands still clingy like they can’t live without the other, and their collective laughter echoes all over the room as they leave you alone.

—————

You promised yourself not to stir up a commotion during the party, knowing that anything you do has a high probability to snowball out of control very fast. Only one drink will suffice. It’s not like you’re deeply hurting at all, unlike in the past. 

You’re sifting through framed photos throughout the house, mostly of Wonyoung’s silver spoon childhood, but one picture sticks out from the rest—one with her and Yujin that was certainly taken recently. It becomes even more apparent that she’s most likely her only friend, considering she’s the only one present in the photos who isn’t connected by family or bloodline.

“Yo!” A shout breaks your introspection. Turn your head and Rei’s fastly approaching you. This time, you don’t even try to hide your annoyed expressions. “Enjoying the place? Have you met Mistress Jang yet? What was she like?”

Remaining silent, you feign ignorance, looking the other way, back to the photos. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t work.

She’s standing right beside you, smiling mischievously. It's almost trollish, almost pervasive, and downright annoying. You wonder how anyone puts up with her, and how she even gets invited to these gatherings. “Did you see her and Yujin holding hands? They look so cute together! I bet they would make an amazing couple, you know?”

You raise your eyebrows, partially in agreement, but mostly to entertain her, if it means she eventually leaves you alone. 

“You know, you’re such a weird guy for being Yujin’s supposed ‘boyfriend’,” she continues, pushing her face close to yours, lips pouting and shooting you mischievous, playful looks. “I mean, I don’t get why she’d want someone like you, unless you’ve got something big down there—”

At this point, you’d rather cut your ears off than listen to another minute—no, five seconds—of her grating prattling. 

When you walk away from her, she takes a hold of your hand, causing you to look over your shoulder, furious. Glaring at her, you snap. “Back off.”

“I’m not backing off until you answer me!” Rei’s shouting, trying to make a scene out of this heated exchange. “Serious, I’ve been nice to you the whole time, yet you don’t even look at me with equal respect!”

“What does that have to do with respect? You’re being annoying as fuck!” You don’t mince your words. “I mean, why does it matter to you that I’m fucking Yujin every night?”

She staggers back, eyes wide in shock, jaw slack, and the hand that seized you covers her mouth. It’s the answer she wants, yet it sounds unbelievable. It also draws the attention of everyone nearby, some approaching to see what kind of commotion is happening. There might as well be a huge spotlight shone on you both. You’re the main characters now.

One glance and it rips you from the immersion of the moment. Dozens of eyes focused on you and your co-star, eagerly anticipating what happens after the cliffhanger. The break is long and awkward; nothing exciting happens while you both freeze in place, like the script hasn’t been completed yet. In your mind, you’re hoping someone slaps some sense into you—or wakes you up from this elaborate dream. 

“We’re just talking here, not much is happening!” Somehow, you’re able to break character to break the tension. It doesn’t seem to work initially. The onlookers remain observant of the situation, unconvinced, until one person leaves, followed by another, and more disperse, until you’re completely irrelevant in their eyes once more. Even more amazing is how not a single butler stepped in to intervene during the sudden uproar.

Deafening silence follows as you’re both left alone to contend within yourselves without outside interference. One look at Rei and you find her still motionless, like every part of her malfunctioned. Perhaps it’s the bluntness in how you’ve admitted a lewd secret to her or the way you snapped against her that caught her by surprise. You’re not entirely responsible though. She should have known what she was getting into by poking the bear.

Still, you’re a nice guy, and it’s still a heat of the moment action you’ll definitely regret in the morning. “Um, look, I’m sorry, but yeah—”

“Gosh.” Rei suddenly blurts, eyes still wide, staring at you without a single blink that it’s a little unsettling. You expected her to finally calm down after such a quiet, low answer, but instead, she follows with, “I wonder how well she takes your cock—I mean—how well does she give head?”

“Is this how you talk to friends and acquaintances, Rei?” you reply, tilting an eyebrow, more amused than annoyed. 

“Maybe—” she rolls her eyes, avoiding your gaze, and you can spot the faintest sign of a devious smirk on her lips. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind if you showed me with your girlfriend’s consent—”

“To all house guests. To all house guests.” An artificial voice echoes over the speakers, interrupting the conversation and grabbing everyone’s attention. “Please gather outside. The special show will be starting soon.”

After the brief distraction, she faces you again with a friendly, mutual smile, saying, “We can talk about this another time.”

Leaving you on another cliffhanger, she spins around and follows everyone outside.

—————

The interior of the mansion is nothing compared to the courtyard. An enclosure so large in scale; it can host a concert or festival. While you and the guests pick seats, butlers form the stage for the performance. Surprisingly, Rei opts not to lurk close by, instead choosing a seat far behind. You, on the other hand, settle for one in the second-most front row area. She doesn’t spot you spying on her a fair distance away, and probably for the best, too, after what had just transpired.

Ignore her. You’ll want to avoid her for the rest of the night. Perhaps if you’re luckier, Yujin decides she’s had enough and wants to leave, but it’s very, very unlikely. It would take the ground beneath you splitting to separate her from her best friend.

Smoke rapidly fills the platform as the stage goes dark. The entrance is grandiose; the audience around you erupts in thunderous applause as two silhouettes flash themselves behind a door-shaped window. You can recognize both figures with ease. With all the times your fingers traced her skin and curves, you could recreate Yujin’s body from memory alone. 

The cheering grows as the windows swing open, their faces now in clear view. Yujin and Wonyoung make this sexy pose side by side. It’s almost unbelievable how radically different their attitudes are on stage, and you were just speaking to them a while ago. A handful of phones are stretched out to take photos of the duo, while you’re mentally taking pictures, taking in their overwhelming beauty that cameras don’t do them enough justice. Your girlfriend was always the first thing you had your eyes on, but admittedly, Wonyoung’s making you feel some kind of way, too. 

They follow up with a parallel strut that outshines any model. Yujin shoots your side of the audience a flirtatious smirk, and your reaction is no different than anyone else, falling head over heels for her, as if you weren’t her lucky one. Wonyoung’s smile is more innocent, dainty—the kind that warms even the coldest of hearts. Had your fingers not bore deep into your thighs, self-restrained, you might have quietly snuck them between your groin, irrespective of where you are and who you’re with. 

You don’t realize they’re singing on stage with the stationed mic stands. You’re mostly immersed in their little sensual movements and the way they motion to the crowd with their hands. You don’t know the lyrics to every song, but you’re bopping lightly, imagining how their tight bodies would react when they ride you in private. There’s a little hum quietly dripping from your lips, not because you’re following along with the tune, but because you’re moaning. 

Yujin and Wonyoung perform for half an hour, but you don't waste a single second of it not admiring them. There are times when one of the girls waves or shoots a pair of eyes at your direction, but you remain reactionless, taking in the sight of their perfection before you like they’re a present for your patience.

One more wave to the audience before they leave, to the loudest wave of resounding cheers. They walk back to where they stood in the entrance, flaunting their cheeks before the doors close and they disappear in a puff of smoke. In a different setting, you'd have ran onto the stage and taken them both, right then and there, in front of the crowd, without a care in the world. 

—————

You don’t hear a word from either of them for the next two hours. Biding the time, you wait on the outskirts of the courtyard, beyond anyone’s sight, taking solace under the fresh mountain air, occasionally looking through your phone with no texts or calls, looking for a sign to leave. One look over your shoulder and it’s very clear that no one’s going home anytime soon. Taking photos of the two was the smarter play, in hindsight.

“Miss Jang would like to have a word with you.” A steely voice catches your attention. Tilt your head to find one of the many nameless butlers standing upright before you. “Come with me.”

“Oh thank God.” You’re not even hiding your excitement, as evident by that lively pep in your step. You feel your patience is finally being rewarded.

You follow the servant back to the mansion proper, avoiding eye contact with anyone, even when you catch a glimpse of Rei around the corner interacting with another guest. Back up the stairs to the second floor. Not another soul around and not a single sound can be heard. Ultimately, he leads back to the room where you first met Wonyoung before turning around and leaving you there alone.

“Wait, what does she want—” The door slams shut with a loud thud before you can even finish the question. Run back to chase him, but the door remains firmly shut and you’re unable to open it. Knowing how much surveillance there is everywhere, it wouldn’t surprise you if she knew of your little exchange with Rei, whether it be cameras, microphones, or guests disguised as moles. 

“No, no, no—” you grumble, each one more fearful than the last. Try as you can to turn that knob, it refuses to budge. Texting Yujin’s your only other option, but you can’t get a good signal inside the spacious chamber, despite previously seeing 5G on your phone. The lights suddenly shutting off would be the last thing you want to happen, and against your wishes, it’s what does end up happening—leaving you entirely in the dark. 

It’s the stuff of nightmares: completely shut inside a rich manor, with lights suddenly going off at random, and with no forms of communication. The only thing missing are the windows swinging open to let strong winds blow, but you have to stop thinking more of these grim thoughts before they become reality. 

Desperation sets in so quickly; you’re banging aimlessly at the door, at the window, but not even your hardest efforts can move a single inch. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Your fate is basically sealed.

A little gleam clears darkness from the other side of the room. A call to judgment. A slim figure walks in, judge, jury, and possibly executioner all at once. Then the lights come back on, blinding you. 

“Hi.” She calls to you gently, ignoring that you’re walking in aimless circles. “You okay?”

A scream escapes your breath, leaving you in your most embarrassing state. “Wonyoung!” You don’t give her any space to ask for context. “Look, if this is about what happened earlier, then I’m sorry—”

“Sorry?” She raises an eyebrow and her lips curl into a frown, concerned for different reasons. “Incident? Are you okay?”

“Didn’t you know? Me and Rei got into an—oh.” Realizing there’s no reason to panic, you relearn the ability to pick up cues, and act like everything’s normal. Wonyoung’s shooting you a wary look, and it’s not far off from how everyone else at this party saw you—at least at one point. “Yeah, no. I was kinda scared because the lights suddenly went off and—”

“The lights? Well, Yujin told me you were a scaredy cat,” says Wonyoung with a small smile. You roll your eyes to the side, far more annoyed than anything else that happened tonight. Take back what you’ve said earlier. Yujin’s the kind of person who’d actually pull those tricks on you, and of course she’d allow her friend to get involved in her own warped games to avoid suspicion. That’s how cunning she can be. She sees you as a sandbox to play with.

“I’m sorry. I called you so I can apologize and because I want to speak to you.” Wonyoung continues quietly, bowing reverently as if she committed an unforgivable crime—something she most likely learned being under intense scrutiny all the time. Forgiveness was going to be given, regardless. This seems completely unnecessary, but you appreciate the sincerity and effort.

“Wony, or Miss Jang, whatever you want to be called—it’s fine, there’s no need to cry about it.” She lifts her head, sobbing a little, and her lips contort into a gentle smile. You can see and understand why she’s so beloved; beyond the wealth, she’s so innocent, pure looking and sounding, all the elements of a likable character in a cute package.

“Thank you.” She nods her head energetically, shaking your hands in appreciation. Dramatic behavior for something relatively minor, but you’re a guest without any authority in her house. Besides, how can you say no to that endearing face? “I’m really sorry. I just wanted to be close with my friend—”

“Yujin? Don’t worry about it. She likes to tease me a lot,” you interrupt, rolling your eyes to the side again, tone mildly disgruntled. Another one of her playful tactics, out in the light. “And I can see you two are really close.”

“Yeah.” Wonyoung brushes a finger against her pink cheek, pouting her lips. “We’ve been friends for so long, I don’t remember anything before we met.” 

She suddenly stops, looks over your shoulder, before adding, “We should take our little talk to another room.”

—————

“Thirsty?” asks Wonyoung, walking around the room, scouring for the tea infuser.

“Kind of,” you reply, unsure if you really want a drink—or to drink her. Either way, you’re dying for a taste of something sweet. 

While she’s preoccupied with serving you tea, you scan her from head to toe, still dressed in her showy outfit from earlier. A red corset covers her white dress shirt and tie, complemented by her hair wrapped in a cute bun. None of it steals your attention more than her short shorts, showing a glimpse of her plump ass cheeks that ripple when she casually walks back and forth. Her attitude is nothing compared to what she displayed on stage, yet she renders you speechless. In your head, she’s still the daring woman out there performing.

She walks over to you, casually reclined on the comfy sofa, with a fresh pot of tea in hand. Pouring a drink on your cup, she shoots you a heartstopping smile, like she’s facing the cameras; it’s second nature for her to charm. A memory you’ll keep forever. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” Lean over to grab the cup and take a sip. Very hot that it scalds your tongue, causing you to flinch, but it’s tasty. “Mmmmm—hot, hot, hot.”

She giggles in the middle sipping her own self-made drink, but it doesn’t bother her. Admittedly, you’re no religious tea drinker to tolerate it, but on the contrary, she handles it with such well-trained poise. It’s in the little details: how straight her sitting posture is and how she holds the cup in her delicate hand, despite the long nails, along with the saucer—very princess coded.

“Not used to tea?” she asks, before taking another swig at it. “It’s healthy for you, you know that?”

“Don’t really have time for it,” you reply back, mirroring her motion, but the second nip is just as sizzling. As a result, you end up looking even more stupid. She has this neutral, deadpan look on her features, but the little shift in her lips as you burn your tongue on her tea reveals cracks in her well-manufactured character. A very embarrassing display, even behind closed doors. “Shit—I mean, crap, that’s hot—”

“Hey, you can swear here. This isn’t a church.” Her cup is half-empty or half-full, depending on how she sees it, before she puts it down on the table. “So where were we again? Right. Yujin.”

Her name sets off red flags in your head, activating your fight or flight response. Even when you’re in the most secure place in the world, where nothing can hear or see you, she’s lurking around the corners of your mind rent-free. Knowing she’s close with Wonyoung means she’s more than likely in the know about every part of you, down to your most personal parts. The lights prank was the biggest proof of this.

“Tell me. What is she like as a girlfriend to you?” No mincing words, no gentle mood setting opener, she goes straight to the point, yet you’re still on edge. The wary side of you believes she’s probably extracting info that you’re keeping for yourself. It’s the perfect lure; behind all the flashy lights, she has a kind and friendly aura wrapped in a sweet package.

It takes a few minutes to process and think your answer through. Her eyes demand honesty, but to you, it’s probably just a front. She’s a celebrity, after all. She wears a mask everywhere she goes. 

“That’s a very personal question to ask,” you reply, emphasis on very. There are lines that can’t be crossed, and this is one of them. You’re not falling for the bait so easily. 

Wonyoung tilts her head, cocking an eyebrow, unbothered. “I know. Yujin tells me you’re a great lover, but I wanna hear it from your side. How do you feel about her?”

“She’s a great lover too,” you reply, testing the waters’ depth. Very treacherous. Hope it doesn’t pull you down and drag you to the bottom. “She likes to tease, she’s very playful, and she likes to make me look bad in front of her friends, but otherwise, she’s great in just about everything.”

She lifts her eyebrow and nods, taking mental notes of every spoken word. After a pause, it’s on to the next question. “In what way does she make you look bad in front of your friends?”

There’s still time to swim back to safety, but the waves are growing more turbulent by the minute. 

“Er—” you struggle to formulate anything that doesn’t raise a suspicious eyebrow. Either it breaks continuity, or makes no sense. Maybe you’ll float, somehow, but that sinking feeling remains stronger. “She likes to stick it in my face that she can own me if she wants to.”

“And is that not true? You know you’re dating a celebrity right?” Wonyoung places a finger on her chin, staring deeply into your soul. She’s the taller person in the room, but not the bigger person. “We’re kind of narcissistic like that to anyone. You should have known that.”

“If I knew all celebrities were like that, I’d have never come back to her,” you say, using every bit of your willpower not to yell at her. 

“Yet here you are. And you’d never be here without her presence.” Wonyoung crosses her legs, mildly entertained as you gradually pull those metaphorical hairs off in front of her. “You told me she was great at everything, right? I guess ruining the bedroom must be part of that, too.”

The sound that comes out of you is almost inhuman. Wonyoung’s no longer acting sincerely, breaking character to laugh at your misery. It was bound to happen with how shallow your brain thinks. Then again, you weren’t in the clearest state of mind when you reconnected with Yujin.

“I get it. She’s very hot. Everyone wants a piece of her. Consider yourself very lucky she’s just that—and not a naggy bitch, unlike some of the people in this party,” she adds, smarmy in delivery that it doesn’t feel like proper consolation.

“Yeah, but what else am I supposed to do? I don’t like being her punching bag.” 

“To be honest, I don’t know what you two are like, I really don’t.” Wonyoung suddenly stops, hops off from her couch to sit beside you. Disarming of a tone it is, the answer is anything but reassuring.  “But think of it this way. Gotta take the bad with the good, right?”

“I guess.” You take a deep breath, uncertain about what to feel, or do. 

“She hasn’t done anything to you tonight, right?” She quietly wraps an arm over your shoulders, inching her pristine face close to yours. Another line crossed. Forget about that, she’s dancing back and forth between those non-existent lines.

“Nope. Haven’t seen her after the performance, either.” 

Your eyes meet, and hers twinkle brightly, worthy of a star of her name. It’s the thing you wanted the least to happen.  You’re drowning in her gaze.

“Can you do something for me?” she asks, whispering softly. Her breath fills your nostrils with inviting warmth.

“Sure,” you say, without hesitation, throwing all caution to the wind.

“I wanna know what she feels,” she says, each word dripping with honey and rapid growing lust. “I wanna know how she feels with you in bed.”

“Are you sure?” you question, but it’s pointless. Your hands are already tracing the outline of her back, marking new territory to explore, until they cup soft, bare, round flesh. 

“I’m ready,” she replies back, eyes gleaming with desire. She shifts her entire weight onto you, pushing you to the bottom of the couch, asserting dominance over you. “She told me how amazing you are in bed, and I can’t help but be curious. I really wanna know what it’s like.”

Before you can even question the security of the place, she’s right ahead of you. Kissing the ridge of your nose, she whispers, “Don’t worry if we’re being too loud. Only the both of us will know.”

Kiss her on the lips in return. A lure until you flip positions. Suddenly, you’re hovering above her. Your hands drag along upward until they grasp the zipper of her red corset. You meet resistance when she quivers beneath you, shaking her head vehemently.

“What’s wrong?” you ask, pulling yourself back into a crouch.

“I want to keep my clothes on,” she whispers, timid and nervous, her demure character gone in an instant. “Um—it’s not that I suddenly changed my mind, it’s just that I haven’t done this before.”

You sit up on the couch, perfectly understanding, quickly formulating a way for you to make her first time feel comfortable. “Tried any toys before?”

Wonyoung follows you, softly grasping your hand. “Played with a few dildos, but that’s about it. I find it quite uncomfortable at times.”

“Hmm.” An idea suddenly hits you like lightning. It’s ridiculous, but you might as well swing for the fences. “Watched porn?”

“What?” Wonyoung’s jaw slacks, caught off-guard by such a rather obscene question, even by lewd standards. She lets a moment to let the question sink in, more on the side of disbelief than looking for an answer. “Yes, but—why?”

“Well, I was wondering if you want to learn how to suck a cock.”

“Mmm, that sounds interesting, but I’ve seen enough ‘movies' to have an idea.” Wonyoung hops off the couch, promptly drops to her knees. Frisky fingers latch on to the hem of your pants, already ahead of you. “Would you like me to suck your cock?”

There was no need to elaborate any further. 

You give her an approving nod. Immediately, her fingers work on your zipper, sliding them down. The rest of your pants and underwear follow. Her eyes light up at the sight of your cock, springing to life after being freed.

Looking up at you again, she asks, “Can I?”

Nod again, completely hypnotized by the sight of your shaft close to the perfect, young starlet’s face. It’s almost scandalous how you have what’s basically a goddess in everyone’s sight brought down to earth in such a filthy manner. 

“I’m not really good at this, but I really wanna try.” Wonyoung’s being apologetic again before anything happens, and it’s repetitive, but you’ll let it slide over and over. She sticks out her tongue, nervously inching it close to your cock, until it plants atop your tip, breaking your resolve almost immediately.

“Mmmmm.” She gets her first taste of real cock. It's bitter, salty, and everything she expects, everything she craves. That first slurp cools her dry throat, like finding an oasis in the middle of a desert.

“Christ.” You lose control of your senses, eyes growing weary at the sight of her dainty fingers, the way they wrap around the base of your dick, pumping you to full hardness. You can't believe it. There's this surge of ecstasy, and it renders you helpless under her control. "This was your first time? Fuck--"

Sloppy slurps and smooches from her lips reduce you into a groaning mess. She spreads globs of precum all around your shaft, unintentionally spilling little specks on her chin and cheeks. Her eyes continue to watch intently while you fall weak at the knees, clinging nails to the sofa’s linen. Ignore the collateral damage you’re making. It will barely dig into her deep pockets. 

The more Wonyoung continues to blow you off, the more seed splatters onto her, making her sparkly features even more glinting. It’s difficult to comprehend just how incredible she is at sucking cock—or maybe it’s just you struggling to think beyond pleasure and nothing else. She claims it’s her first time, yet the way her fingers stroke you with confident and elaborate precision means anything but. The little bits of white that taint her flawless face do nothing but make a masterpiece shine even brighter.

Her tongue continues to slide and make itself known all over your length. It’s almost impossible not to give in to your urges and force yourself down her throat. She’s doing well so far; you can barely hear her gurgle or complain while she takes more of you inside her, little by little. Caress that dark hair, still bundled together in a cute package. She reciprocates your compliment by pushing a little bit further, even when her maw tries to resist, only to cross a line she hasn’t reached.

“Ghhhk, mmmph, ghhhk!” Wonyoung coughs into your shaft, overwhelmed by the fullness of your length, tickling her sensitive part deep in the gullet. You pull her by the bun, release her throaty grip on your shaft with a sloppy pop, letting saliva spill onto the floor and her dress.

“You okay?” you ask, concealing the bliss you feel with a frown. Compared to her, you’re not a good actor.

To your surprise, she slaps you away from her harshly, then shoots you a disappointed pout. More adorable than intimidating. “I was still adjusting, asshole. If your dick wasn’t so fucking big—”

“Gotta take the bad with the good, right?” you deflect what she said to you earlier, chuckling at her cute scowl. Unknowingly, Yujin’s mannerisms are rubbing off on you, but you refuse to give credit where it’s due.

Wonyoung rises from the floor, opting to straddle herself on your lap instead. Your shaft lines against soft, wet flesh. Her hands grab the bottom of her shorts, pulling them up for easier access to her folds. It’s impossible to look anywhere but those magnetic caramel eyes, staring deep into your soul, telling you what she wants, without the need of any needless words.

“I’m ready now.” She rests her hands against your shoulders, looking at you expectantly. That was only a warm-up. It’s time for the real test. “Fuck me.”

You’re briefly taken aback just by how blunt her demand is, but those two words spoken in such a sensuous tone linger. Denying her at this stage would be downright criminal. Her slim thighs wrap around the area where your cock stands, the softness of her skin more than capable of making you cum before you can do anything. 

She leans forward to capture you in a passionate kiss, hotter and more passionate than the first. The spell that pushes away whatever logical and moral barriers remain. There’s an angel placed before your lap; time to make her sing. 

Lift her up until she gently descends and makes a graceful landing against your shaft. Upon impact, the kiss is disrupted, rocking her entire body with a new, electric sensation. Moaning music  into your mouth, she makes it clear how heavenly you feel. 

“Mmm—oh God, you’re already stretching me out,” she purrs against you, shutting her eyes and letting all the pleasure wash over her. 

“Better than any dildo?” 

“Better than any dildo.” She nods, lifting her head to expose her neck, clean and pure—ready for ruin, just like every other part of her. 

“Just moan for me, okay?” you say, whispering against her nape. “I’m gonna fuck you like how I fuck Yujin.”

Her body locks as you push deep into her tight, overwhelming cunt. To say she was suffocating would be an understatement. Her sopping pussy proves to be a strong vacuum when you draw back for the first time, pulling every bit of you deep into her core. She’s grasping at straws to not fall apart so quickly. Tugging your hair, neck, and into your expensive dress shirt—none of that bothers you in the slightest, thrusting in a second time, adjusting quicker to her heat than you expected.

You release a breath you’ve unknowingly been holding, looking up at her pleasure ridden face. Her expressions melt in every direction, chest heaving deeply from all the built-up pleasure. “You’re really tight, Wony.”

Resting her forehead against your temple, her palm grips the back of your skull. “And you’re so big.” Praise you’ll never grow tired of hearing from anyone. “C’mon. Do it already.”

In an ideal world, all her clothes would have been gone while you pound into her wet, delicious pussy. This is just as hot, too—maybe even hotter. The usually imperfect Wonyoung looking like your typical girl at the local bar arouses you. So you weaponize those nasty thoughts and do your God-given purpose—to fuck pleasure into their needy, wanton bodies.

Pushing your strained hips up, you pound her, make her sing to high heaven. Hungry fingers hike up the rest of the leftover fabric in her shorts being sucked in by her gap, partially stained from pent up excitement. It’s a familiar feeling, reminiscent of when you were young, innocent and didn’t know any better. Now it’s playing out again, scene by scene, with a few key differences. The girl is different, and you’re nowhere close to being drunk, but here you are—stuck in that old place.

Wonyoung is nowhere close to assertive, unlike her. Her confidence and emphaticness immediately crumble after the first thrust, and freefall even further on the second. She’s not ripping through your clothes, nor is she eager to lead you to bed right away, how she has you glued to the couch with those slender legs. None of that matters when her moans are pornographic, unbefitting of her otherwise pure, princess-like charm that she’s famously known for. On the contrary, her torrid, frantic kisses perfectly embody that trademark allure.

You’re testing those waters again to see how far you’ll go before you inevitably drown. One hand rests at the zipper of her corset, imprinted with your fingerprints, eagerly anticipating her go-ahead for undressing. The other confides on her plump ass molding into your grip, into something truly yours. Meanwhile, she continues to alternate between a mewl and a moan, crashing her body against your shaft to stretch her out even further. Soften her up more with kisses and nibbles on her chin and neck, leave crimson marks as red as her dress. As glowing as she already is, she will shine brighter than the lights above.

“Yujin must be so lucky to have you,” whines Wonyoung, huskily, tilting your face up to meet her fluttery eyes glazed with pleasure, expressions twisting with every overwhelming sensation. She kisses you again. The taste of strawberry flavored lipstick will never leave you. “This dick is so good—”

“I’m still holding back, babe.” Kiss her reddened neck and collarbone. The way she moans in response reminds you of her, a pleasure they both share. “I want you to feel good since it’s your first time.”

Yujin would demand you to up the pace, and lead you to a rushed ruin, but not Wonyoung. “It really feels so good. Keep going.”

Even as you engage in small conversation, your slow, loving tempo rocks her light frame vigorously, releasing sweet melodies you’d never hear from that mouth otherwise. Her tight, sopping cunt flexes against your cock, allowing you smoother and sloppier glides in and out of her core. You’re nowhere close to hitting the perfect angle, but her silvery mewls offer consolation. She continues to envelop you in her tight embrace, hands reaching all over your back, wanting more of you merged with her as possible.

The hand itching to undress her roams down her back to rejoin the other in squeezing her soft, cheeky flesh. To your amusement, she yelps in your ear and she violently quivers, eliciting a silent giggle out of you. A test of the room’s soundproofing, and it works as intended. Her entire body is in your grasp, moldable and malleable in any shape and form to your heart’s utmost desires. 

“I don’t know how much longer I can last. I’m so close to cumming,” she whispers, and it only spurs you on to lead her into a satisfying climax. Slow as you are penetrating her, you want the moment to last longer. A few minutes isn’t enough for you to relish the warm sensation of your cock buried in her incredibly tight hole. Still, she has this look in her weary eyes demanding you to pull through, which you happily oblige.

“Where do you want me to cum?” you ask, slowing your pace down that even snails move faster. You’re unwilling to take any risks, especially with someone like her.

“Anywhere you want.” Wonyoung continues to fuck herself against your cock, apathetic about everything else except the high she intensely seeks. “I swear, if you pull out now, I’m going to—”

A kiss on those sensitive collarbones tempers her demanding mouth, back to those broken, varied moans. Another reminder that she’s nowhere close to grabbing you by the balls like Yujin could. As punishment, the dress must come off, but you know it’s not worth the rest of your life in perpetual harassment in exchange for temporary pleasure. You’ve already learned your lesson; she’ll understand it one day.

For now, you settle into that laid back pace, lifting yourself a bit off the couch as much as your legs allow you to. Wonyoung has basically marked down your whole back with her nails, hoarsely squealing and whimpering as her body trembles. You can feel it in every part of her how she’s ready to cum with the way her pussy clenches against your cock, unwilling to let go, just like the first time you entered her.

“Oh god, I’m gonna cum—” 

Right on the dot, Wonyoung finally gives in, throwing her head back to let pleasure run its course. It pulls you deep, gives her juices to liberally coat your shaft with delicious waves of slick, dripping on the couch and down to her thighs, forming a lifetime connection with you. The force sends you back down on the sofa, enough to stop you right in your tracks, long before you’re even close to cumming. 

“Oh my god, oh my god. I came so much.” Firmly clinging to you, she rests her head on your shoulders, completely zapped of all her strength. Her eyes tilt down to note the wet puddle blocked by your legs. It doesn’t alarm her in the slightest; to her, a replacement couch is cheaper than a thorough cleaning. 

Kissing her ear and placing her beside you on the sofa, you quietly ask, “How was it?”

“I came so much. Oh my God,” she says, unable to comprehend she spilled that much. Her gaze remains glued to the wet pool formed on the couch, now seeing the full extent of her wreckage. A curious finger taps the sticky pool to make sure she’s not imagining things. “I don’t think I ever came that much with any dildo.”

Putting back your pants on, you smile at her innocent reaction. She’s still fresh to it all, but there’s a curiosity in her eyes, wanting to learn more. “You’ll get used to it.”

“I really wanted to undress you, you know.” you follow, examining her from head to toe, all sweaty and clothes soiled from a simple session—and you weren’t trying too hard. “I can’t help but imagine what’s beneath all that clothing.”

“You’ll see.” Her eyes have a fiery glint reminiscent of your girlfriend, and all of a sudden, she has this renewed life. “Just so you know, you didn’t cum in me, asshole.”

“Just being safe,” you reply, shrugging your shoulders. “Wasn’t sure if you were on the pill or not.”

“Of course I was on the pill.” Wonyoung looks away, but you can discern the scornful expression on her features, seemingly offended by your comment. “I would never.”

You flash a taunting smirk, ready to play her preferred trick. There was no way this would end after a one and done. “Why don’t we take this to the bed right now, then?” 

—————

It was so obvious right from the start. 

The door barely grants access to Wonyoung’s bedroom, but you already had a finger directed at the center of the mattress, pointing out the glaringly obvious figure laying on its edge. It doesn’t surprise you in the slightest, and looking back in retrospect, everything building up to this moment was all part of an elaborate plan.The questions, the setup, the secretive location—they were all red flags. Then again, you always think with your cock, not with your brain, especially when there’s a pretty girl begging for it.

“Hey sweetheart,” says Yujin, whimsically, posing on her side like it’s one of her typical photoshoots. Like Wonyoung, she’s still in her performance outfit, but with her hair down in contrast to her junior’s bun. “Having fun?”

“Was,” you retort, but your complaint has no ground when you’re unable to keep your eyes off your seductive girlfriend. 

She smirks and giggles, knowing everything’s falling into place. “Wony baby. How was the experience?”

“Pretty good,” replies Wonyoung, smiling from ear to ear. “He didn’t cum in me though.”

“Hey,” you suddenly blurt out, turning your gaze to the younger woman, not even trying to hide your annoyance, because you know what really happened.

“You’ll get yours, babe.” Yujin rolls off the bed to approach you, retaking control of what’s hers from her friend. She then pushes you onto the mattress, staring you down like a hungry predator stalking down her prey, aroused by the taste of blood—or in this case, lust. If not for those fiery pupils watching your every little move, hammering home the fear of God into your soul, there would be some fight in you to resist.

Now that’s a lie, because you would never—she always had her way with you.

“Watch and learn.” Climbing and hovering atop you, slowly spreading your legs, Yujin looks over to her best friend, watching on eagerly to see what it’s really like with you two. She’s seated on the edge of the bed, having restored much of her elegant poise to its clean, camera friendly form. 

“You did a great job warming him up for me,” says Yujin, grinding her hips against your clothed prison, already on the verge of blowing up. The two beauties watch in amusement as your tent pitches a second time. Fuck. You’re already leaking copious amounts, it’s quite obvious, and she’s humping you at such a relaxed tempo. 

“He really wanted to undress me,” comments Wonyoung, still flashing that princess-like beam, looking innocent in the matter, when in fact, she’s the instigator. “I told him not to, and he thankfully didn’t, but I felt his hands on my zipper a few times.”

“Mmm, being so naughty when I’m not looking?” Yujin’s tone is honeyed, but her movements are anything but. The pace she grinds herself against you quickens, and you’ve never felt so desperate for release, but you had no say in the matter—not when she has your hands tied over your head, kept in place by Wonyoung’s delicate but firm grip. “Were you ready to leave me for her? Good choice, but typical.”

Quick fingers make near-instant work of your pants and underwear, pushed down to the floor in an instant, freeing up your hard cock. Such relieving freedom is taken away just as quickly as it’s given when Yujin seizes you by the balls and your length, setting you alight. Each second burns hotter than the last, a kind of fucked-up form of punishment typical of the justice system. 

“Jesus, f-fuck, Yujin—” you hoarsely whimper, visibly struggling to gather air, but it only serves to arouse Yujin, and she reprimands your feeble oppression with a tighter lock on your most sensitive parts, smirking devilishly. It’s useless. For Yujin, this is all play, an elaborate demonstration to teach Wonyoung, but the pain is real. There’s a good likelihood you may not have a functioning pelvis in the morning. 

“You’re being very rough on him.” Wonyoung watches on concernedly, but also intrigued by the rather torturous method being performed. She knows she couldn’t overpower Yujin if she tried, and well, she most certainly didn’t want to be on the receiving end of her hands, either.

“He actually enjoys being handled like this, dear.” Yujin makes sure not a single spot in your shaft is left unchecked by her steely hold. The deflated, helpless expression on your face says otherwise, but it’s only a front for what comes after. Little white spurts spill from the tip of your shaft, sufficient evidence to prove her point. “See?”

“Mm, are they like this all the time?” Wonyoung remains unconvinced. 

“Not always, but you’ll find one someday—someone who’ll beg on their knees to fuck you.” Her stranglehold on your cock loosens, finally giving you some actual breathing room—at least in your groin. “Didn’t you have that Korean government official sending you birthday ads and flowers?”

“Too ugly for my taste.” The younger woman grimaces at the reminder of that particular man, wishing he never be brought up in conversation ever again, much to her friend’s laughter. “I would never.”

Yujin nods along in agreement. “You’re too pretty for him. I bet he doesn’t even have a big dick like our little friend over here.”

“True.” Suddenly, both pairs of eyes turn in your direction, stare you down with a malicious smirk, full of purposeful intent. You would meet them halfway with your own confidence, but not when you’re in such a powerless position and with most of your strength sapped.

“Come up here.” Yujin gestures to her keen friend, hopping off your lap to make room for the lighter woman. Hiking up her equally short shorts, she hovers above you, giving you a peek of her splayed out pussy—the one you’ve craved for so long. Meanwhile, Wonyoung occupies the space previously occupied by Yujin, smothering you in a sea of soft, creamy thighs. The older woman spins around to face her untrained partner, hanging her cheeky flesh atop your face—a perfect view and obstruction.

“What are you gonna do to him?” asks Wonyoung, eyes wide with curiosity at Yujin’s seemingly awkward and strained position.

“Don’t pay attention to him.” Yujin promptly rests her ass against your face like a pillow, followed by her thighs muffling up your ears. “Get on top of his cock.”

Wonyoung complies, gliding her hips down in a graceful manner until she hilts herself down to your base, impaling her cunt with your hard dick. The inviting, suffocating heat that surges throughout your sensitive body makes you violently tremble. What a position you are in, something that most people in the country could only dream of. Two beauties in the prime of youth, desired by everyone, sandwiching you with their perfect, goddess-like figures. At this point, you were simply an outlet of pleasure to two wanton, hot bodies and nothing more. 

“O-oh God—” Yujin lets out a prolonged, tense whine as your tongue licks between her glistening folds, indulging in the sweet taste of her wet juices. Her thighs tighten up in response to your stimulation, closing spaces where you can breathe, but that doesn’t bother you. You craved her more than a drink in a dry desert with the way you lapped up her slick, and her suffocating legs were nothing but practice to hold in your deep breaths. For once, it was nice to have some form of control in the situation.

“You okay?” asks Wonyoung, clambering her palms against your thighs, looking hesitant.

“More than okay. This feels so fucking good.” Yujin’s confident expressions gradually melt away to make room for pleasure to take over. Before long, her slender, hourglass-shaped hips ride against your face, maximizing the areas your tongue can dig into. Her hands cling to your clothed chest for support, unable to remain balanced while you continue to feast on her. Miraculously, she’s still able to formulate a follow up, albeit with a string of stammers and stutters. “S-see? You’ll w-want your guy to be l-like this.”

“C-come on, ride h-his c-cock, d-dear. I-I-i’m s-sure h-he won’t mind.” Yujin reassures her friend with a weak smile that immediately folds under the helpless, blissful sensations her body feels. 

Fueled by newly found courage, Wonyoung glides and slams her hips against yours in delicate, graceful motions, still testing her limits. Your primal instincts take hold of you and you thrust upwards in kind, making her thin figure move atop you in smooth waves. It doesn’t take long before their collective moans form a harmonious symphony that you wish you could hear perfectly, if not for the two layers of silky, thick skin blocking your ears. 

“F-fuck!” Wonyoung whines, clutching at your waist, but the overbearing pleasure coursing through her body almost makes her fall off multiple times. Thankfully, her closest friend is there to keep her on her toes. “O-oh my God, o-oh God—”

“Feels good, doesn't it?” Yujin rests her hands on her junior’s shoulders while grinding her ass against your face, allowing you an endless fill from her slick fountain. “Just hold on. I’m here, okay?”

Wonyoung nods. Unsatisfied with her limitations, her hips increase in pace riding you. She wants to prove she can handle it, and that she’s ready for more of it. Soon, she grows comfortable, fully adjusted to your length. No longer needing Yujin’s help, she helps herself to her own lewd pleasures, using your cock roughly as her conduit. 

Not a single second passes by that you feel your body split in half, moving in two different wavelengths: one half preoccupied with eating Yujin’s delicious pussy, and the other slowly pumping into Wonyoung’s tight, sopping cunt. You’re a quick learner. You know all their sweet spots to hit and create the most satisfying sounds from their lips. Subtlety is the least of their priorities—a point proven when they’re loudly cursing and passionately declaring how good you feel, echoing across several rooms. The rooms might be soundproof, but the entire mansion may as well hear you three fuck.

Between clean licks of Yujin’s wet folds, when she lifts her ass out of your view, you can barely make out her and Wonyoung’s pleasure-ridden expressions. The two friends have begun making out with each other in between lewd moans and whispers, while never letting up the pace they ride you with.  

You’d love to lay in this position forever, as the complementary piece for two of the most beautiful girls you’ve ever met to pour out their pleasure in. But you knew deep down it wouldn’t last long, especially with Wonyoung, freshly recovered from your first session with her. She was always a ticking time bomb with a shorter fuse, accelerated by the now vigorous rhythm she rode your cock. It was always on your mind that this was her first, but she was fucking you like she had racked up a significant body count.

“S-so c-close,” whines Yujin, huskily, the first spoken word in a while that isn’t either your name or some kind of profanity. 

“M-me too,” adds Wonyoung, breaking sequence with a deep kiss of her partner’s lips. There might be no competition, but the twosome’s intensity rises even higher as they desperately chase after that climax. Your body is close to falling apart, cock throbbing wildly, also on the cusp of sweet release, but you’re merely a silent witness with little to no say. You’re just a channel for them to bask in bodily, sexual pleasure. 

It’s all but inevitable at this point. The real question is: who would be the first to cum, the first to start a chain reaction?

Their cries bounce loudly against the walls of the bedroom, past opened rooms as they lose control of their bodies, fucking themselves on you until the dams finally break. Yujin’s muscles spasm and crush you between her thighs. For a moment, you’d think she could snap you in half like a twig. A waterfall and a lake forms on opposite ends of your powerless body, creating two sticky pools on both sides. The powerful double surge of their climaxes is enough to bring you to a full stop, allowing them to drown you in their orgasmic bliss, creating one last crescendo as a swan song to their peaks. 

The wave of Wonyoung’s orgasm washing over your cock should make you orgasm too, urging the tightness in your balls to burn up. Thank your lucky stars you grinded to a standstill right as they came, giving you enough time to put up some form of resolve not to cum in her right then and there. You’ve been holding the impulse for so long, but you wanted your load not to belong to her first.

To your regret, Yujin clambers off you, parting her bountiful ass away from your face and bringing you to the light. Similarly, Wonyoung gingerly slides off your lap, rolls over to the side, wrapping an arm around your body, completely zapped of all her energy. Yujin rests opposite her junior, not as fatigued as she is. She can’t resist giggling when she sees the aftermath done to you, your entire face a canvas for her cum, which you clean with your tongue. 

“You did a number to her. Good job,” she says, darting her eyes over to her tired friend. She plants a finger on your groin, collecting a sampler of Wonyoung’s juices to taste in her mouth before gathering more to put in your mouth as well. Licking her wet digits, she adds, “Tasty.”

Her words barely register in your brain, and so does the little slick she places in your mouth. Your mind only focuses on one particular thing you’ve always wanted to do the whole night besides fucking, and that is to undress both girls and fuck them.

“You okay, Wony?” You turn over to face the worn out Wonyoung, who shoots you a weak but satisfied smile. She lifts her tired arm to give you a thumbs up, as if her beautiful beam wasn’t enough of a reassurance. “You know Yujin and I fuck more than once, right?”

“I know,” replies Wonyoung, coming out as little more than a faint whisper, mirroring her exhaustion. “Give me a minute. Maybe two.”

Eager as you were, you needed a breather, too, and there was no better place to rest than in the middle of two hot girls, lovingly resting their arms around you like they belonged to you.

—————

You take a beat to wipe the nonexistent filth off your chest as the two beauties stride ahead of you towards the desk table. With the way they walk, it doesn’t look apparent that they were railed to oblivion minutes prior. An insignificant detail that quickly becomes forgotten when your eyes take in the seductive and inviting manner they present themselves to you. Two sets of mouthwatering cheeks peek through their particularly short shorts—the most intrusive thing between you and them.

“Come on and fuck us, sweetheart,” says Yujin, looking over her shoulder with that sultry, near-impossible to resist gaze to entice you with sweet, dirty pleas, as if you weren’t already intending to fuck them hard. You always loved to hear those two words, but it’s a lot more special that she’s not alone. 

“You still owe me your cum, baby,” adds Wonyoung, trying but cutely failing to mimic her friend’s motions and sexy voice. There’s still an air of elegance and cutesiness in her projection that almost makes you giggle in amusement, but you wouldn’t dare—not when Yujin’s there, eying your little every move, growing impatient and testy, likely because she would pick her over you any day. 

Count your blessings.

It’s not difficult to get hard again, especially with the delicious sight in front of you. You finally rid the pesky dress shirt they’ve never removed and expose yourself down to your barest essentials. Positioning yourself between their legs, you stroke your cock with your hand, paint flecks of precum on their round cheeks, warming yourself up to embrace their heat. It’s impossible not to give their flesh a good smack as a reminder that their clean image is nothing more than just that—an image, a facade. You know them more intimately than anyone else.

“You two are so fucking hot,” you say, peppering their asses with a palmful, first to Yujin, then to Wonyoung. “And so naughty. I wonder what those people would say when they see you looking like this?” 

“What did I tell you about kissing ass during sex, sweetheart?” Yujin shoots pointed daggers in your direction, unamused. Wonyoung’s not innocent either, following her senior’s eyes with an intrigued gaze. “Put it in already, babe.”

And that was all she said. 

It only takes a moment before Yujin falls back to earth. All of her confidence instantly crumbles as you line yourself between her folds, then promptly invade her tight, welcoming pussy, foregoing all manner of pleasantries. She’s as warm and divine as you always wanted her, made easier and slicker by all the juices dripping and flowing down her toned legs. Her face rolls and slams against the surface, yet it can barely contain her strained cries of pleasure. Frantic nails scratch against the board’s edge as her body reacts to every little jolt, surrendering herself to your every whim.

You don’t leave Wonyoung unattended either. You slip a finger between her soaked lips, watch as her sweet, innocuous face crumbles into something lewd, something corrupted. Her eyes immediately go shut and her mouth goes wide with a whine a pitch higher than her senior before they melt into the desk. She’s a bundled mess, moaning into her friend’s ear as her pussy graciously coats your fingers with thick sheens of slick.

“P-please, o-oh God—”

“F-fuck, f-fuck, aaaaah—”

Their combined voices of strained, distorted bliss, dripping from their pleasure-laden faces spur you on and motivate you to ruin them some more. It’s unbelievable how they present themselves out there with a clean image when they have the most salacious, lewd tongues in private. None of it makes sense, how they could wear skimpy clothing in the sight of the most esteemed and well-regarded people in the room and no one would bat an eye, and they certainly wouldn’t raise an eyebrow with how loud they are as they’re being pounded from behind.

None of that ultimately matters to you. You don’t see two big celebrities in front of you. You don’t see your girlfriend and her partner asking for sex. You only see two of the hottest girls you know demanding pleasure, and you’re more than willing to give them everything.

With one hand gripped on Yujin’s ass and two fingers on the other deep inside Wonyoung’s cunt, you dive in and indulge into their overwhelming wetness. This is the kind of sex you always preferred—without any banter, without any further demands, just mindless submission into each other’s heat, filling the air with only the most pornographic sounds and nothing else. There’s nothing the two can do in response, especially when their bodies are squirming and vibrating beneath you, tightly clinging on the desk for dear life, growing wetter with each pump into their wanton pussies.

Without any voices in your head giving you directions, you have free reign to toy with them, use them as your outlet of pleasure now. So you switch your position behind them, sliding your wet dick inside Wonyoung’s pussy and replacing your cock inside Yujin’s cunt with your fingers. Even as you skip a beat, they’re too enamored in their own pleasures to realize your sudden absence, and far preoccupied by the new presence in their loins to care. 

That’s the sequence you follow: mindlessly stroking yourself deep into their hot, drenched cunt while fingering the other, back and forth, ignoring the discomfort you feel in both your legs and fingers from this disruptive cycle. Your only regret is not being able to see the twisted expressions in their stained features without a mirror to revel in their perfect, pornographic image, but the chorus of moans accompanied by your flesh slapping against their flesh are more than enough of a validation. 

“Going to cum, fuck,” you quietly announce, not wanting to let one seize demand over the other, but their ears catch wind of your little words. They tilt their heads slightly upward, still in the throes of bodily pleasure.

“Please cum for me.”

“Cum inside me, baby.”

Distinct as their voices are, they’re indiscernible to your ears, especially when they’re so husky and strained. Using the last of your strength, you pull out of someone’s pussy, stroke your throbbing cock with your hand, gasping and grunting as you finally let go. Gripping the other hand on someone’s waist, thick streaks of seed stain both girls’ clothes and cheeks, coat reddish spots of pounded flesh, letting it drip down their butt and thighs, to their boots.

The two girls lie motionless on the desk while you cling to their waist, gasping for air, barely holding out after your powerful release. Their legs and ass glow with your freshly coated sheen under the orange lights of the bedroom, and they sparkle brighter than any diamond in the world. 

“You okay, sweetheart?” Yujin’s voice brings you back to reality. She’s the first to catch you in her embrace, cheekily smiling. 

Unable to muster up the strength to speak, you simply nod, head still spinning.

“Is it okay if I ask you a question?” Wonyoung asks, having unlatched herself from the table to join in the embrace, pecking your cheek with her soft lips. Your eyes glaze over the young beauty in response.

“Whose pussy was better? Mine or hers?”

A question you certainly have no answer to—nor do you have any intention of answering.

“I guess he’s still undecided,” says Wonyoung, turning to her senior, smirking. “Do you know?”

“Nope. I have no idea either.” Yujin’s sweet grin turns into the same, wicked smirk. 

Something’s wrong; you can feel it. You feel yourself staggering backward, saved only by their embrace of you. Yujin and Wonyoung kiss and moan into your body while moving you in the direction of the bathroom.

Possession of control swings back in their favor. They have you exactly where they want.

“Only one way to find out.”

—————

(A/N: Holy shit this one was an uphill one to create. I'm not a Wonyoung simp, not in the slightest even after writing this piece, but her SBS Gayo outfit made me feel some kind of way. Then there's Yujin being perfect as always. This is barely my new longest fic, topping out at a little over 12K words, and working on it became a chore at times. I only revisited this universe only because of those outfits and how good they looked together. Thank you for reading!)

[saphronethaleph]

Dis Tributary

“Those Rebel animals,” Grand Admiral Sloane said, softly, as the report came in – the Star Destroyer Haruspex had been effectively hulked by some form of sabotage, the details unclear but it had involved something to do with a reactor breach.

Whether it had been internal sabotage, manufacturing sabotage, or a bomb infiltrated onto the ship… that wasn’t yet known.

“This must be something to do with the New Republic,” the officer added. “If they want a war, we’ll have to give them one. Rollo!”

“Ma’am?” Rollo Yarnet asked.

“Run me the numbers,” she requested. “Can we do some kind of deniable strike on some New Republic system? Or… something that will stop them from doing this?”

“Well,” Yarnet began, and his tone of voice made Sloane sigh.

“I’m not going to like this answer, am I?” she asked, testily. “All right, let’s hear it.”

“To put it simply… no,” Yarnet replied. “Not for, and I use this term advisedly, Admiral – generations.”

Sloane blinked.

“...what?” she asked. “What do you mean, we can’t do anything for generations?”

She swept her hand across. “The New Republic’s military is far smaller than it should be – it’s not even as big as ours is! We should be able to break loose a strike force, at least.”

“That would be very difficult,” Yarnet said. “For… well, generations, as noted.”

“Then explain, Rollo,” Sloane snapped. “Explain to me how the decadent Old Republic could build a fleet to shake the galaxy in months, but for us it’s impossible!”

She was shouting by the end, and Yarnet folded his arms behind his back.

“We are not the Old Republic,” he said, succinctly. “Nor, I will note, are we the Empire, though we are structured much the same. The problem is scale… and, chiefly, legitimacy.”

Graphs appeared on the bridge holoprojector, and he pointed at them helpfully.

“The Old Republic was militarily extremely weak, for its production capacity, size and legitimacy,” he said. “Decadent, as you called it. But it was the unquestioned, elected government of most of the galaxy, however skewed those elections were – it was believed to be the elected government. The people who lived under the Republic may have thought it was basically useless for many purposes, but they did not question that the Republic was who should be in charge of them. The Separatist movement was largely driven by rich companies, who exploited what legitimate grievances did exist for their own purposes, but in many cases those rich companies brought their own manufacturing industries to the table – and, of course, did not require heavy contributions of labour or resources from most of the Separatist worlds.”

Yarnet glanced across. “I won’t dissemble here, Grand Admiral. The Separatists were created to be defeated by the Emperor; this was generally fairly well concealed during the Emperor’s reign but is considered to be more or less evident now. The important point here is that the Old Republic represents what we can call the mobilization model of economic output – the people in the Republic believed that it had a legitimate claim on their effort, and their population and economic base was so vast that it did not require a significant contribution from any given world to field a vast fleet… which, of course, crushed the Separatist fleet.”

He shrugged. “The Separatists were largely raised through what we can call the existing power model – they simply already had significant production assets and private armies and put them at the disposal of the Separatist state, but loss of those facilities was crippling to Separatist war production.”

Sloane’s expression had been stormy since Yarnet mentioned the Separatist’s being created to be defeated, but she controlled her initial reaction.

“I don’t believe you about the purpose behind the Separatist movement, but… I suppose it’s not especially germane,” she said. “So… we have a problem because the New Republic is bigger? The Empire was bigger than the Rebel Alliance, but they wanted victory more. Isn’t that why they’re now in charge?”

“No,” Yarnet told her. “The cause of the rapid collapse of the Empire’s military position is because of the Empire’s economic and military system – it was what is called a military-tributary empire. That is, the Empire’s military – originally built up under the Republic, I will note, and subsequently modernized – used the threat of military force to extract value from systems under Imperial control, ultimately dismantling every other power structure that did not represent the ability to exert violence. This permitted higher productivity from an individual system…”

His voice trailed off.

“...so what’s the problem?” Sloane asked.

“Most of the value extracted from the systems went into maintaining the military that provided the threat of violence,” Yarnet explained. “I actually did my dissertation on this. In hindsight, the tipping point was probably reached in about Imperial Year Twenty or Twenty-One.”

“Tipping point?” Sloane repeated. “Explain.”

“If the military sustains losses that are too severe and its image of invincibility is too sharply damaged, then a runaway collapse can take place,” Yarnet said. “Unrest grows, demanding harsher suppression to maintain productivity, meaning that more and more of the capacity of the military is occupied in simply keeping the extractive system running; at the same time, the ability of the Rebels to recruit assets expands.”

He highlighted a graph. “By Imperial Year Twenty-Three and the Battle of Endor, the Emperor was attempting to stabilize the situation with a second Death Star, but effectively the entire Imperial military not constituting the garrisons and nodal forces running the extractive systems was present at Endor – and, I will note, lost the battle, leaving a weakened but still extant Rebel fleet.”

Sloane was frowning. She hadn’t heard this before, but she could run a strategic analysis.

“So… there were no longer any good options?” she said.

“Correct,” Yarnet agreed. “Surrendering a large portion of the galaxy and concentrating the fleet for a fighting retreat, maintaining both a sufficient fleet in being to punish Rebel attempts to accelerate the timeline, would have probably allowed the Empire to retain extractive control over that reduced area for longer, but instead the caretaker government engaged in the Jakku campaign.”

“Shavit,” Sloane muttered. “So… hold on. The New Republic is seen as legitimate and so they had the ability to build ships quickly, because their population was actually putting in effort without blasters to their heads, while we were pulling out ships and our productive capacity cratered… okay, I see how the collapse happened. But-”

She stopped, and ran through the numbers again.

The First Order had a fleet, still… but it was mostly spread out into, as Yarnet had put it, garrison and nodal forces running the extractive systems.

She looked again at the screen showing the hulk of Haruspex.

“Are we past the tipping point?” she asked. “Should I be calling for a withdrawal and consolidation – would that even help?”

Yarnet was silent for several seconds.

“I don’t… think we are,” he said, eventually. “But it’s close. In fact, Admiral, I would say that we need at least one of two things. Urgent peace with the New Republic, not merely a cold war… or to focus on building legitimacy of our own. To reach a point where our civilians will work without blasters to their heads – simply reaching that point effectively frees up our entire military for campaign.”

“That would take decades, even if I could get the rest of high command to sign off on it,” Sloane said, then groaned and rubbed her temples. “Which is… exactly your point. Right.”

She sighed. “All right. Is there any other way we can resolve this?”

Yarnet frowned.

“Well,” he said. “If we were not the successors to the Empire and presenting ourselves as such, we probably could expand and recruit other smaller powers into our overall structure, but we are the successors to the Empire and that would obviously require too many aliens in positions of authority. If we had a superweapon then we could intimidate the New Republic into backing down and that might let us expand our control without needing to maintain the ability to fend off a possible attack… and of course if the New Republic got rid of their entire military, we wouldn’t have any opposition anyway. But aside from that the only thing I can see that would break the logic of the situation would be if we got hold of several hundred fully crewed capital ships that appeared out of thin air. In that circumstance we would be able to destroy the New Republic fleet in being, and then re-establish a tributary empire over enough of the galaxy to overcome the New Republic on a medium term basis – essentially the Separatist theory of victory.”

Sloane sat down.

“So, no, then,” she said.

“More or less,” Yarnet agreed. “You did ask.”

[kylieswift31]

Are you not entertained?!

Looking back it's clear that Taylor Swift knew she would be involved with Travis Kelce, the Chiefs and their football games long before their relationship started. This allowed her time to plan and leave a trail of breadcrumbs along the way so that looking back it felt like an invisible string tying them both together.

Just like a broken clock is right twice a day, leaving a plethora of Easter eggs increases the feeling that they were meant to be together all along for anyone that choose not to see past the facade of Taylor™. Many of the connections are simple and obvious, such as the number 87, the combination of red and yellow and football themed references. Others are more of a shot in the dark but have a bigger payoff if they end up foreshadowing something really specific years in advance.

To understand how Taylor has been able to plan so far in advance we shouldn't be looking backwards at what has happened in the past, instead we should put ourselves in Taylor's shoes to consider the steps she would take knowing what was to come in the future. This would begin with researching the topic and learning about the history of football and sport in general. "I want to tell a sports story because I had just watched the last dance." In the folklore long pond studio sessions Taylor and Aaron Dessner discuss the reasons behind why they created the song 'epiphany'. Watching movies and reading books that feature sports stars is a great place to start looking for inspiration to gauge what the public is familiar with.

The next step would be to pick out specific references to hint at in interviews, outfits and social media posts. These take a little more effort to pull off but mostly relate to future projects Taylor has already planned out. The Easter egging begins to reach mastermind status when the foreshadowing links to events outside of Taylor's immediate control. The most recent example of this is the new Pepsi commercial inspired by Gladiator that ends with Travis saying "Are you not entertained?!" This is the same Gladiator quote that Taylor referenced in the Time person of the year interview that she did late last year. It's possible she knew about this commercial ahead of time before her interview.

This is a recreation of the Pepsi commercial that was made in 2000 featuring Britney Spears, Beyonce and P!nk. They were dressed as scantily clad warriors singing a cover of Queen's 'we will rock you' while being attacked by lions. The remake features Megan Thee Stallion singing the same song as Travis and his teammates are being attacked by tigers. This is an interesting choice of predator considering they end up locking one of the tigers in a cage. We've seen many tiger references in Taylor's work including the fearless tiger stripe outfit and the "way to go tiger" lyrics in 'Peter". If we consider what Taylor would have been inspired by as she was planning ahead, the original version of this commercial would have been a perfect example of female sportsmanship displayed in a male dominated industry.

Just like the eye of the storm can trick you into thinking the storm is over, the end of the international leg of the eras tour wasn't the end of Taylor's story. This new commercial is just like the second half of the Truman show when the camera zooms out to reveal the dome Truman has been living in. Everything we're seeing during this break feels jarring after being so focused on the details of the eras tour each night. This is intentional, allowing us room to zoom out to see the bigger picture and the role the director has been playing all along to script the narrative. And even though Taylor isn’t visibly associated with this commercial, it feels like a connection to her story when she’s selling out the same stadiums all by herself over and over again.

All of these connections between Taylor and Travis feel synchronistic in hindsight, yet are logical connections if you're planning ahead of time regardless of the motivation behind it. If you believe they're in love it will seem like fate or a coincidence that they both used the same quote. If you believe Pepsi and the NFL are using Taylor to increase their sales then you will see how they reused her quote to gain attention. If you believe Taylor contributed her ideas to benefit her PR relationship then you will see that she used the quote to foreshadow the new commercial. And if you believe this is all a part of the performance art you will see that it's another piece of the bigger story being told. Either way it creates yet another connection between Taylor and three of the most powerful and successful pop stars of our generation.

After all, are you not entertained?

A tortured poet,

Kylie x

[yuseirra]

I've been exploring the idea that the star IS the god of the series (in that case, the name "hoshino" implies that the members of the household must be all gods..!)

And I thought the there would be a god who's responsible for the black star and the white star, one each..

But it does also occur to me, what message would THAT have if the story is only swayed by the gods? That's just as much as convenient and shallow as having one mastermind be responsible for every bad thing in the story.

So here's another idea, remember how in the first season's op(anime ver), a white star floats in the bg and it glitches out into being the black one? Maybe it's just one god who's responsible for both.

I think the "star" would be the "god of entertainment"(ame-no-uzume) and she's the one who originally really loves people and loves spreading love, thus blessing those in the entertainment industry and helps them rise to bigger heights.

However, the entertainment industry ended up having many dark sides to it, making her become corrupt and form another, irrational and destructive side of her, thus the "black star". Whenever someone falls deep and gets consumed by the malice of it, she tries to protect them through her powers but it works like a monkey's paw because she herself is tainted.

Maybe the two protagonists are assigned to bring back order and bring her back to her true nature. Ruby heads into the light(the white star), the bright side of the industry while Aqua may have to get rid of? Fix? Purify?; the corrupt sides of the industry SOMEHOW(black star). This is just a passing thought but I have a feeling that it could have been the people who've corrupted the gods in the first place if they've been causing mishap. The black and the white could be two sides of the same thing and the brighter the light, the stronger the shadow becomes.

Anyhow, the way how everyone's wishes that they made in Amenouzume's shrine became granted but in twisted ways.. Seem to imply that the god IS unstable right now. (Or that her husband is. That shrine actually worships both her and her husband.) Then, in that case, making the industry healthier may help that god return to her original loving self. She could be both the god who loves people & the one that is absurd and irrational.

Just throwing this out here too because theorizing doesn't hurt!

+ADDING ON:

Aqua's reaction towards the name "Amenouzume" was interesting(ch 74). I've said this once but he seems to have many thoughts about her.

I feel like the "role" or "mission" he was assigned by the gods he has could be related to that particular god. And if Ai IS amenouzume, the way Aqua is so keen about "making her real wishes come true" (end of ch 109, end of ch 130, how he says he only has one mission to tsukuyomi in ch 118)(making the movie, saving kamiki) and vowing he would do it for her is not only just because Ai is his precious person. It's what he HAS been assigned to do.

I believe that could be why he's been thinking about how he should "save his father" in respect to his mother's wishes because he's figured out that if that's what she wanted, it's something he needs to follow through regardless of what he wants.

However, if their dad is a "corrupted god" in reality that's already gone too far down the wrong path(refer to this post: I feel Kamiki IS a god who's forgotten he's a god too), thus is someone beyond saving, he can't go through with his mission. Then he'd rather keep everyone who loves safe, away from his influence, and take him down.

I think that's what's going on there... doesn't it all work nicely together?

[britneyshakespeare]

i feel bad for raquel lee bolleau and i feel like what she's saying about the lack of transparency behind quiet on set is a bigger issue that the consumers of this type of content don't want to talk about or criticize. social media has led to a huge boom in tragedy porn and trauma porn about the entertainment industry but especially the children's entertainment industry, especially especially from the eras when the largest demographic in that audience were consuming it themselves.

it's already been problematic in itself that there is an oversaturation of unresearched and repetitive videos on the exploitation of former child stars. it seems like the creators and audience don't often ask themselves "have we gotten enough of this? do we need another take on it? is another video full of dan schneider rumors and gossipy forum posts really adding to the public discourse?" i don't know quite at what point it becomes exploitative that this content continues to be made, and be evergreen in social media algorithms. the volume, the reach, and the general lack of quality control are the evil triad. because we are far past the point where i really believe everyone consuming this stuff cares about exploited children. there's far too many people gawking and not reevaluating the systems of power involved. or, to put it more concretely: how many times do we all need to watch those clips of ariana grande squeezing the potato and spilling water on her neck? at what point is this just personally disrespectful and retraumatizing for the victims that for the most part we, the consumers of internet content, are claiming to advocate for?

quiet on set is the first time traditional media got involved in this niche. there is still a lot of value in some of the discoveries made by the series. but it does not have completely clean hands in this either. it does not feel like everyone involved in making the executive decisions cared nearly enough about the vulnerability of former child stars they recruited to share their stories, or hell, whose stories were told without their involvement, such as amanda bynes and racquel in episode 5. these people did not even give statements.

the focus of this docuseries was far too broad and not coherent enough at the end of the day. and they did not give enough support to all of the people they roped in to tell their stories about childhood trauma. i have a hard time trying not to be completely cynical about its whole production, because i really want to believe that many of the people who worked on it do care. not every individual involved knew or had control over the injustices that happened in its own production. but the executives? fuck em. they greenlit this thing, and probably incentivized the creators to make these episodes as fast as possible, because they knew it would be a cash cow. something as sensitive as THIS series should not be so poorly produced just because it will be a guaranteed smash.

[baby-girl-aaron-dessner]

Hi 👋🏼 so I heard the rest of the album and wanted to share my opinion.

So I have listened to it one time but so far I have loved most of the songs.

There are songs that started great but ended up being disappointing and others that I think should have been kept in a drawer. But I can say that my favourite is fortnight. I don’t know why but it actually stuck with me for some reason and fresh out of the slammer.

Now, I am going to share my insight into this album and you can agree to disagree but I hope we can all be civil when discussing because we are all mature adults here. And again this is my impression. And if I am not making sense please say so and I’ll try and explain myself better. English is not my first language and so I can sometimes say stuff that don’t translate well into words.

The first thing I noticed about the album is that there were no love songs on it but it was also not a breakup album.

I think the biggest theme of the album was “ I am lost”

Taylors entire life has always been mapped out. And even when she ventures off and did things differently that was also planned because everything was a theme. When people say she changes her self to fit her “boyfriends” image they are not wrong but they are also not completely right. I think a part of it comes down to finding herself which she probably never had the chance to considering how she consumes her self with the music and the industry.

My theory is that when she met Joe she found the escape she needed and a new place to explore far away from the media. But that didn’t satisfy her, because deep down she doesn’t know who she is away from the light. And thats the insecurity we see in lover. The. Locked down happened and again she was lost musically and romantically but with songwriting she thought she can fill in the wholes in the relationship but I don’t think that satisfied him and so he didn’t want to continue. Which made a bigger gap

With midnights, for me at least, it sounded like she was going back through her life to try and figure out who she was and how did she get there. I think there was a lot of questions about herself she was trying to answer. So when she and Joe broke up it added to doubt she had about herself and that why we got TTPD.

The reason we didn’t get alot of Joe songs is not because she loved Matty more or she wanted him more but because she her self was struggling, it was not just a rebound but it was an experiment. From what I heard in the swings no one in her circle understood the appeal but were playing along because of what she was going through. And it was not just the break up but being back in the spot light like that.

To me it felt like she was not saying fuck you all the fans and people around her with the relationship but more of “ I need this so let me be”. Like she was trying to prove something to herself.

The most interesting song to me was So High school, because it does seem to be about Travis, but it sounded like he is just convenient more than a love affair. She also doesnt understand him or finds him interesting and sees his world as juvenile but it’s safe to stay in for a little while

The song I Can Do It With A Broken Heart is not about heart break but about struggling with fame. I can’t explain why but that’s how the lyrics played to me.

I don’t think she is happy in her life outside her music and songwriting. Again I think she is lost and she is trying to cop with a lot of sad emotions.

Anyway, I just wanted share my thoughts because I have no where to put these thought😂

Sorry for the long post 🥰

Hi sweet anon, thank you for sharing. Your English is great.

I agree with a lot of your interpretation, especially when you say she sounds ‘lost’ on this album. It’s both relieving and heart-breaking to see a child star grow up to realise that they have been moulded to be who they are by their elders and the industry. Her anger and confusion at this is so understandable and well over due.

I agree with you when you say, “deep down she doesn’t know who she is away from the light”.

I also agree with your interpretation of So High School. From The relationship being portrayed in this song sounds quite superficial/surface level. Especially when you compare it to the way she writes about her other muses.

At the end of the day, Taylor Swift is midnight rain; she is ever changing. I can imagine this would leave her in a state of constant confusion.

[majaloveschris]

I live in the NYC area and recently received a local newsletter from my neighborhood showing outdoor summer movies in the local public park.

The reason I’m telling you this is bc something kind of interesting happened. One of the movies they were showing this summer is mrs Harris goes to paris.

In the neighborhood newsletter blurb discussing the movie, they mentioned Lesley manville (the star), AB, and then isabelle huppert.

No mention of Lucas Bravo, Jason isaacs, etc.

It was really bizarre to me bc AB being listed as second billing for a random local newsletter makes little sense to me as she was very clearly not the star or even second star. Lucas B technically should be bigger than her as he has a pivotal role in Emily in Paris which is still going on and hasn’t been canceled, and he was just in a romcom hit with George Clooney and Julia roberts last summer. He’s also a professional model and has been on runways and mag spreads this past year alone.

Ab had WN that got canceled and she didn’t even do any interviews for the second season. She has not been in any large endorsements or gotten any super prestigious roles since, but she did go public with a more famous actor.

If anyone is questioning if the PR is working…there’s your answer. Her name is getting out there and the search algorithm for her name is getting more and more out there as well.

Is any of this due to her own talent and success? (LOL)

Or is it more likely the huge PR boost given to her by someone else’s name?

I think the reason some ppl, esp team real, is doubtful about PR bc AB herself is not doing the legwork to put her name out there for more positive professional recognition. Her very actions/inactions seem to point to her hoping that the PR boost will do the work for her.

Many women who started dating more famous men usually had their own careers or would leverage the association to their professional benefit. Examples: Kaia gerber (mother is supermodel Cindy Crawford, boyfriend is Austin butler), Gigi hadid (already famous in her own right) and whatever her thing is with Leo DiCaprio, Hannah Davis (model) and Derek Jeter, Natalie V (works in the industry) and Henry Cavill. You’ll see most of these women have their own personas and social media and continue to do their own thing outside of being connected to famous men. Even if you feel they dated/married up or are opportunists as well, they still have their own thing going on. They didn’t just go into hiding so all ppl will ever think of is that they’re spending all their time following their man around.

By contrast, the dating rumors began for AB and she immediately pivots to “never being seen” unless it’s to let ppl speculate she’s with him.

She gives the vibes of a person who very much hopes the offers will fall into her lap bc she got her name attached to an A lister. She forgot that she is not marketable by herself and has no IT factor so ppl are still not checking for her. Being pretty on a basic level and attending one fashion show does not make you a star.

I know ATP the discussions on this have hit beyond the point of broken record. But I stand by it - she never wanted to work for fame. She wanted it handed to her, and still does. Her little friends JA and his sister also wanted to reap the benefits by association, and really believed all of their statuses would magically elevate due to their “association” with an A lister.

No wonder CE has spent this entire year mentioning the “industry” and what it makes you do. This was a hint, y’all.

This whole "relationship" definitely gets her name out there. WN was successful, but not enough to give her a name in HW or in America.

I think one of the other really good examples of how big of a boost it is for her can be seen on WN's number. So the official People article came out on November 10, 2022, exactly on the day the show's second season debuted. The first season had never been trending before that. Not when it came out, not when they announced the second season. However, after the announcement, not just the second but even the first season started trending, with the first season in 32 countries and the second season in 70. I've seen that a lot of people have said they only started watching the show because they wanted to see who the woman Chris is dating is. And I will also admit that back in, like, January 2022, I also checked the show because I was interested in who she is.

Obviously, I'm not saying those people didn't like WN or that they just watched two seasons because she is dating him. I'm pretty sure there were people who did it because of that, but I'm also pretty sure there were people who liked the show and the characters, but maybe they didn't even know about it before that. WN is not my cup of tea, but that doesn't mean it's a bad show. Not at all. But I think the fact that it started trending and that more people started to watch it has to do with their relationship. It has to do a lot, in my opinion.

A lot of Chris fans love them together, support them, and even defend her and their relationship. So yeah, the fact that her name is now connected to his helps her out big time.

It always bugged me that she never really promoted her work. I guess she did a little more when the second season of WN came out, but it wasn't anything special. She also seems reluctant to engage with her fans. They keep tagging her; they write sweet messages for her, but no reaction. Not even a thank-you or anything like that. They were trying so hard to save WN.

I just don't like her or her personality. I mean what we can see from it.

[henshinwolf89]

Zeiram 1 Retrospective

When it comes to Tokusatsu, it can be somewhat tricky to initially get into. With such a long history and back catalog, and an often 50+ episode long commitment, it can be daunting to newcomers. That’s why I usually say to find what appeals to you and go from there. Maybe find something that’s on the shorter side of things before trying to tackle the bigger ones. Standalone Tokusatsu movies can be a good starting point.

That leads me to suggesting one such movie series as a potential starting point into the larger world of Tokusatsu, the Zeiram series, which consists of two feature-length films and a six episode OVA. Zeiram was created by the insanely talented Keita Amemiya, an absolute legend in the Tokusatsu industry. Having worked on almost every major Tokusatsu franchise in some form at one point before creating his own series, such as the incredible Garo franchise, he quickly established himself as a unique visionary of the business.

Zeiram is Amemiya’s second film after Mirai Ninja, his debut movie in 1988, and began its life as a sequel to it before evolving into its own thing. The first Zeiram movie was released on December 21, 1991, and reportedly had a smaller budget than Mirai Ninja, thirty million yen, which is roughly two hundred thousand dollars. The entire film’s budget is apparently the cost of just a single episode of Garo! However, just because it had a smaller budget doesn’t mean that they skimped on the special effects. The film deploys an impressive array of special effects, ranging from amazing suitmation, puppetry, pyrotechnics, wire work, fight choreography, and even stop-motion animation!

The film stars actress Yuko Moriyama as Iria, a tough as nails intergalactic bounty hunter. Moriyama was a relatively new actress, having her start on a contact lens commercial for Seed Contact Lenses and mostly doing TV work. Moriyama was initially hesitant to play Iria, as she had no prior experience playing action roles, but enjoyed her experience as Iria by the end and came out with a very positive outlook. She wasn’t used to using guns or gun props and was pretty surprised by the impact of the model gun the first time she used it. She got used to it eventually as she knew Iria was a professional and needed to act the part. Soon, she found firing the guns to be really fun. Moriyama also stated having difficulty with the suit Iria wore. It’s bulkyness making her feel like a robot and bruising up her body quite a bit. She got used to it after a month. However, the suit was very squeaky and noisy. You could always tell when she was nearby, much to the amusement of the rest of the cast and crew.

The other two major characters are the two average working Joe electricians, Teppei and Kamiya, played by Kunihiro Ida and Yukijiro Hotaru, respectfully. Ida was in Amemiya’s previous film, Mirai Ninja, and is a varied actor being in the original Japanese version of “Shall We Dance?” Hotaru, on the other hand, is an accomplished stage actor and should be a familiar face to Tokusatsu fans. He played The Evil Emperor Diable in Bishoujo Kamen Poitrine, had a cameo as the suicidal man in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack or GMK for short, and most famously played Tsutomu Osako in the Heisei Gamera trilogy, and Gonza Kurahashi in Garo. Hotaru and Amemiya are good friends, and they both have a tremendous amount of respect for each other.

Moriyama, Ida, and Hotaru all developed a great working chemistry with each other. Ida was very supportive of Moriyama, frequently psyching her up and giving her emotional support, while Hotaru often gave her acting advice. They did line readings together often and read through the script many times before shoots. They did this in advance as often as possible. Hotaru during shoots would hunch over to make himself look smaller in comparison to Moriyama, so Iria had a larger and more imposing presence.

Next up is Bob, Iria’s A.I. partner. Who is voiced by Masakazu Handa. He sadly died at the young age of 47 due to heart failure on August 26, 2014. Handa was a professional voice actor who also did a lot of narration work and announcement work at events like martial arts tournaments and sports games.

Finally, the titular monster, Zeiram, is played by suit actor Mizuho Yoshida, and the suit was made by famous sculptor and artist Takayuki Takeya. Yoshida’s first role was in Mirai Ninja, but he has played many Kaiju characters as well, such as Mother Legion in Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, Zedus in Gamera the Brave and Godzilla in GMK. In the Rebirth of Mothra movies, he played Desghidorah and Dagahra in the sequel. He has also provided motion capture work for video games such as the Tyrant from Resident Evil CODE: Veronica, Dylan in Dino Crisis 2, Dead Rising, and Onimusha. Most notably was the mo-cap actor for both Solid Snake and Naked Snake/Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid 1-3.

Amemiya drew many designs to find the look of Zeiram, an alien wearing a sedge hat. He settled on the look of a traveler from the Edo period, as he thought it would be scary to see someone like that in the streets in the middle of the night. The Zeiram costume was quite heavy, most of the weight being on the head with tension on the neck. According to Amemiya, Zeiram is female, but in the films, the characters use male pronouns, so I’ll be using gender neutral terms to refer to Zeiram. I mean, it’s a bio-mechanical alien. It probably doesn’t even fall into our human definitions of gender anyway.

But enough about the behind the scenes tidbits for now, let’s get into talking about the actual film!

The movie opens with an intense scene showing how dangerous Zeiram is. A group of armed men are brutally slaughtered by the ruthless alien. A bounty is placed on the capture of Zeiram, and Bob accepts the order and claims no one may interfere with Iria and Bob’s job. Next, we see Iria skulking through the streets of Tokyo, gathering supplies. Then we are introduced to Kamiya, who is elated to finally strike it big gambling on horse races. Kamiya is divorced, most likely due to his gambling habits. Teppei is next, trying to contact Kamiya about their next set of jobs. He wants to quickly get them done as he has a date with the company’s secretary, Yumi, something Kamiya teases him about.

I like Kamiya and Teppei. They’re just two average dudes that are about to find themselves in something extraordinary. They are the source of comic relief and provide a contrast to Iria’s stoic badass demeanor. Their hapless antics don’t distract or ruin Iria’s action scenes, and they even contribute tremendously to helping Iria. Honestly, they remind me of Val McKee and Earl Bassett, played by Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward from the movie Tremors.

Anyway, Iria and Bob’s base of operations are siphoning a lot of electricity, and so Kamiya and Teppei are called in to investigate. Iria and Bob are building a device to trap Zeiram in a place called the Zone. They need to use the Zone to capture Zeiram to avoid causing collateral damage to Earth’s environment and population. Bob says that they need this job to pay off debts racked up by Iria. After catching Zeiram in the Zone, the two electricians arrive, and Teppei accidentally stumbles into the Zone’s teleporter. Iria gives chase, and Kamiya invites himself along. This is where the movie primarily takes place in the Zone, where no other life is allowed in outside those permitted or teleported there.

Iria traps Kamiya in a protective barrier and goes off to pursue Teppei and find Zeiram. Unfortunately, Teppei encounters Zeiram first and is attacked. He flees, and Zeiram produces a creature called the Lilliput monster to give chase.

The smoke in the scene where Zeiram attacks Teppei with the Lilliput was created with oil at 2 o’clock in the morning. One of the first locations they shot according to interviews. People who hung their clothes out to dry had them covered in oil the next morning, Amemiya feels guilty for it and was sorry. The Lilliput monster was played by suit actresses Mayumi Aguni. Apparently, an early example of a woman playing a monster in Tokusatsu. It’s unfortunately difficult to find information online about female Kaiju actors. The only others I’m aware of are Yumi Kameyama as Super Gyaos in Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe and, of course, the popular and adorable Rie Ota as Baragon in GMK.

Back to the movie. Iria manages to track down Zeiram and lures it to a warehouse that she previously laid with booby-traps. She ensnares Zeiram in a wire trap and begins to gloat about her victory. Her confidence gets the best of her as Zeiram seizes the opportunity and surprises Iria with the parasite in it’s hat, and cutting itself free. Meanwhile, Teppei stumbles upon Kamiya frozen in the barrier. He attempts to free him. The fight between Iria and Zeiram rages on, as they exchange fire between each other. However, Bob warns that conventional weaponry is useless, so against Bob’s wishes, Iria reveals her battle armor and switches to hand-to-hand combat.

Iria’s armor proves effective as Zeiram’s payload of artillery is reflected. Zeiram chooses to fight with melee as well and begins to overpower Iria with shear might. Iria lures it to another trap, restraining it in place. Zeiram unleashes more Lilliput monsters to buy itself time to escape. Iria defeats the Lilliput monster, but Zeiram escapes its binding. Zeiram presses forward and corners Iria, but just before it can finish her off, she manages to finally trap it in the same confinement barrier she trapped Kamiya in.

With Zeiram in custody, Teppei finds Iria and requests she release Kamiya. Iria complies, and she explains the situation to the two men. Just as Bob is preparing to teleport everyone back, a Lilliput monster attacks the group. Iria defends the two but gets transported along with the monster, leaving the electricians behind with the frozen Zeiram. The scuffle with the monster damages the control panel, cutting off access to the Zone. Bob reveals it has also destabilized the Zone too, and not much time is left before it completely vanishes.

Waiting for Iria, Teppei rifles through Iria’s bags as Kamiya grows impatient. Another Lilliput monster attacks Kamiya, and Teppei uses Iria’s weapons to fight it off. In the struggle, Zeiram’s stasis pod gets damaged and releases it. The two electricians attempt to flee by hot wiring a truck. Unfortunately, Zeiram corners them and bites Kamiya’s arm with it’s parasite. They manage to shake off Zeiram and escape. It’s revealed that by consuming its victims’ DNA, Zeiram creates its clone monsters. It creates an imperfect clone of Kamiya, but it is unable to follow orders. In its rage, Zeiram kills the clone.

The scene where Kamiya gets attacked by Zeiram’s tentacle is one of the final scenes to be shot. The tentacle was controlled by wires, and the prop was quite short. They had to utilize camera tricks to make it look longer. After Zeiram removes its scarf, revealing its face, to make the Kamiya clone, its face seems reminiscent of the Predator. I wouldn’t be surprised if Predator played a role in inspiring Zeiram in some way.

The two electricians flee into a beer storage warehouse and attempt to defend themselves from Zeiram. The fight causes Teppei to get separated from Kamiya. Teppei is unable to locate Kamiya, escapes, and contacts Iria. Iria and Bob debate sending Teppei the Metis Cannon to fight Zeiram after Teppei resolves to make a last stand after he assumes Kamiya might be dead.

Teppei heads to the drop-off point on a motorcycle to retrieve the Metis Cannon, Zeiram intercepts, and corners Teppei. Suddenly, Kamiya returns to save Teppei with a construction crane. However, Zeiram overpowers it and knocks Kamiya out of the vehicle. Then Iria swoops into the rescue, armed with a bazooka. Iria unloads the bazooka’s only shot towards Zeiram, severely damaging its body. Zeiram discards its lower half, revealing its true body is the hat, and mutates into a more skeleton-like creature to continue pursuing our heroes.

The bike scene was shot in a plane hanger in Haneda Airport. Amemiya had no prior experience with shooting a scene with a stunt like this before and was worried about the safety of the actors. The wire connected to the stunt actor on the bike fortunately snapped off, had it not, Yoshida, in the Zeiram suit, would have been hit and seriously injured. The Zeiram skeleton showcases Amemiya and his teams talent at practical effects with an impressive display of both stop-motion animation and puppetry, bringing the creature to life.

The trio, with Zeiram in tow, flee through a maze-like web of rooms in search of the Metis Cannon to kill Zeiram. Iria stays behind to stall Zeiram, leading to her being flung out a window after damaging Zeiram with a grenade. Kamiya and Teppei find the Metis Cannon but struggle to put it together in time, Zeiram tracks them down and corners them. Iria locates them in the nick of time and quickly assembles the Metis Cannon and uses it to destroy Zeiram’s skeleton. She then captures Zeiram’s hat in a barrier.

Bob transports Kamiya and Teppei back to home base outside the Zone. Then, he brings back the captured Zeiram. Next, he attempts to bring back Iria. However, Zeiram breaks free, damages the transport device, and goes on the offensive once again mutating further. Iria is trapped within the Zone as it is collapsing. Bob instructs Kamiya on how to repair the transport device as Teppei attempts to hold Zeiram back with a makeshift wooden barricade. Zeiram breaks free and is poised to kill Teppei when Kamiya fixes the device, and Iria arrives to save the day by lighting Zeiram up with as many shots as it takes, finally killing it.

As the morning comes, the trio catch their breath and thank each other for everything. Iria cuts off two locks of her hair and gives it to Kamiya and Teppei as a way of saying thanks and for them to have something to remember her by. Bob then asks if the three could group up for a commemorative photo. As Bob snaps the picture, everyone smiles and credits roll.

Though Moriyama was inexperienced as an action actress, by the time of filming the final confrontation with Zeiram, she was completely in character. Amemiya found it easier to direct her, as she had become accustomed to fighting, and he had gained more experience as a director. Despite a few bumps in the road, the cast and crew had a pleasant experience with the movie. The only major problems were the weather, which seemed to be against them, according to Amemiya.

As for my thoughts on the film? I absolutely love it! I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone, whether you’re into Tokusatsu or just like monster movies or creature features, like Predator or Alien. I’d even recommend this movie to a Resident Evil fan! I couldn’t shake the feeling of being reminded of my love of the intense rivalry between Jill Valentine and Nemesis. I wouldn’t be surprised if this film played some role in inspiring Resident Evil 3, though I have zero evidence to back that claim. Zeiram even goes through several mutations, like a final boss from Resident Evil.

Even if you’ve never heard of Keita Amemiya’s work prior to this, chances are you’ve encountered his work vicariously through some games you may have played. Games like Hagane: The Final Conflict, Onimusha 2-3, Clock Tower 3, Genji: Days of the Blade, Final Fantasy 14, and Shin Megami Tensei IV. Like I said, he’s a legend of the industry, and he has fans all across the world.

If you’re interested, you can easily pick up a Blu-ray copy for a good price. It recently received a fantastic 30th Anniversary Edition re-release back in 2021 by Media Blasters. Go check it out! You won’t regret it!

[liana-kerzner-is-a-narcissist]

@charlene69's story

A third person who's had issues with Liana speaks up! This was sent to me via DM and is copied and pasted verbatim from a message I received:

Here is my story regarding Steven and Liana Kerzner. When I was 15, I became a fan of Robin Williams. That got me interested in acting. So a few years later in the eighties I wound up at community television-Newton Cable Channel 10. I wrote and starred in comedy specials, and did a theatre talk show call "Limelight". On June 25, 1984, I discovered that I loved working in T.V. In fact I spent ten years at Channel 10. I loved doing shows and had fun. But I HATED dealing with Steven Kerzner. I was on his shows "City By Night" and "Ed The Sock". Steven was a narcissistic little jerk who had an ego bigger then the Soviet Union and had an obsessive need to be a star and the centre of attention. He also seemed to be jealous of of everyone including me. He was impossible to work with, but there were times that were good times, like the summer of 1992 in his live Ed the Sock show at Yuk Yuks. And yes, I went on with him to his City T.V. show with Ed the Sock and got paid for it. But I got fed up with being made to feel like a nobody even though I was much more talented then him. He developed a reputation in the entertainment/media world. Not as talented performer, but cruel, abusive egotist. The industry hated him and because of the way he was he destroyed his career. Which was kind of sad, because he wasn't funny, he did not have any talent, and all his jokes for Ed the Sock came out of a joke book. I even read he stole someone else' jokes. He would tell me that the jokes I wrote were bad, but they were not. After Ed the Sock was cancelled, I just should have left. I was working with other people by now and discovered my own comedic talents (I brought the house down at amateur night at Yuk Yuks, which was more then Robin Williams ever did.) etc. Steven ruined his career which was sad because he had an unusualy easy into the entertainment/media business, because as I said he had NO TALENT and was NOT FUNNY. But he had some it factor and the talent for shameless self promotion that made him a star. Now he and his "lovely" wife Liana seem no to be working and are called scammers. Steven spends his time hiding behind nostalgic posts on Facebook (a lot about cartoons and old T.V. shows) when his father recently died, he did not come to the funeral! He and Liana tried to launch their own T.V. station, I believe - it sounded like a big failure. As for Liana, she is exactly like you described her . She was fat, thought she was sexy (but was not) and was completely talentless like her husband. I am very convinced she worked in porn in some part of her life. I did an Ed the Sock show on T.V. with her, and she made some derogatory comment about me, which was edited out. Great! The final end came when she and Steven as Ed where doing a show called "This Movie Sucks" some show that was like Elvira Mistress of the dark when we would show a horror movie and make fun of it. The concept was good for me, since I was funny. Liana sat like a slut on the show and threw popcorn at me. If it were now, I would through it back a her, and make it into a comedy performance. We worked on the show all night at the former CHCH Channel 11 station in Hamilton. I was fine with staying there all night. But Liana was in charge was going to cause trouble for me. Backtracking a bit, I hadn't worked with them for years. It was a total suprise to find that both of them, especially Steven had not evolved with the show. It was terrible, so amateurish like he never had done a T.V. show before. So, I should have known and never did that show. Anyways, Liana thinks she is a big star and everyone owes her a career. She thinks she is special, but she is nothing but a porn star wanabe. She and Steven think they are very important, but they are jokes. Liana used her position working behind the scenes to make up lies to Steven to get me fired from the show and all his shows. But she did me a big favour, since their shows are embarrassingly bad, and would hurt other opportunities from coming your way. But she got me off the show because she is jealous of me.

[fibula-rasa]

Watch More Movies Notebook: July ‘24

Favorite New-to-me Films of the Month

(listed in order pictured above, L to R)

READ on BELOW the JUMP!

Highlights and Shadows (1938)

[letterboxd | GEM]

Industrial film commissioned by Eastman Kodak made by James Sibley Watson Jr. It’s not especially common for people to watch industrial films for entertainment—though if you grew up in the kitsch-crazed 1990s US, you may be more open minded to how enjoyable they can sometimes be. Highlights and Shadows has no kitsch or camp factor (Shake Hands with Danger (1975) it is not) but it is beautifully constructed. That comes as no surprise, really, since the project was headed by Watson, who previously made the avant-garde classics The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) and Lot in Sodom (1933). Aside from the exquisite cinematography and optical effects, I appreciated the film’s shared focus on finely-engineered technology and its human element—at one point even including a shot of a janitor at work.

——— ——— ———

Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie: Black Dream Hole (1995)

[letterboxd | imdb]

In the final film accompanying the 1990s Sailor Moon series, Chibiusa makes another weird friend. This time it’s Perle, a fairy working for an evil space queen who wants to steal the power of children’s dreams for her Black Dream Hole. This is my favorite of the Sailor Moon films we’ve watched because it has heavy Little Nemo vibes! 

——— ——— ———

A Day in Santa Fe (1931)

[letterboxd | imdb]

A charming entry in the discourse of the city symphony genre. I’m a big fan of city films, but hadn’t heard of this one before reading Lovers of Cinema this past month. Initially I wrote a whole page of notes about this film and how it sits in conversation with the films that inspired it, but decided that should be a bigger conversation for another time here on the blog! That said, A Day in Santa Fe is a often cheeky response to the urbanity of most of the other city films and, if you’re familiar with the genre, it’s worth checking out.

——— ——— ———

Bewitched Matches / Les Allumettes ensorcelées (1913)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Short part-animated/part-live action from Émile Cohl. Three girls invite a witch into their home hoping she will tell their fortunes. When their father comes home, he rudely kicks the witch out and she places a curse on his matches, of all things, which take on a life of their own.

——— ——— ———

Manhandled (1924)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Swanson was such a complete movie star. Contemporary critics of Swanson’s silent film work seemed to think her appeal was entirely based on her ability to wear extravagant outfits well, but she had the skill to do a little bit of everything. It was fun to see a film where Swanson gets to mix relatability, dramatic skill, comedic chops, and, of course, a chance to wear some wild getups. 

All in all, it was an enjoyable film and Swanson has good chemistry in particular with Lilyan Tashman and Frank Morgan. However, I did find the conflict between her and her boyfriend at the climax to be a little forced (it feels like he knows her better than to jump to such rude conclusions, no?)

——— ——— ———

Rich (1983)

[letterboxd | imdb | UCLA Youtube]

A student film by UCLA alum S. Torriano Berry and restored by UCLA graduate student Gabz Norte. What a cool project to have current students restore the work of former students! While Rich is very much a student film, I found it to be thoughtful and wholesome in equal measure. (I do have a soft spot for films shot in and around Watts tho!)

——— ——— ———

The Salvation Hunters (1925)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Josef von Sternberg’s first film as a director, which I also watched because of Lovers of Cinema. Very cool how Salvation Hunters plays at social commentary with the devices of typical Hollywood storytelling and story flow almost bordering on dream logic. In some ways it felt like a presage to Fellini’s work. In short, I loved it.

——— ——— ———

The Devil’s Dance / La Danse du diable (1904) 

[letterboxd | imdb]

Very short dance film about a little green devil (who might be fart powered?) and the visions he summons. Visual interest added by Velle shooting entirely from an overhead angle.

——— ——— ———

My Brother’s Wedding (1983)

[letterboxd | imdb | Kanopy (US)]

Watched this film after logging Rich on letterboxd, as another user had brought up this My Brother’s Wedding as similar to Rich. It’s always interesting when artists working the same time/place/industry will weigh in on subjects relevant to them in their own unique ways, but convergences and divergences of perspective emerge. Anywho, the neo-realist element was really well executed and I appreciated all the bits of character-based humour both as enhancement of the realism and as variation of tone. (TBH I was hooting every time the 30-year-old Pierce started wrassling with his elderly father! Like, it’s funny, but it also communicates where Pierce is at in his life and his dynamic with his parents!)

——— ——— ———

As always, if any of these films catch your eye, but you need specific trigger/content warnings, don’t hesitate to ask for them!

——— ——— ———

Monthly Round-up

I apologize for how informal/unedited these notes are for my favorite new-to-me films this month, but I’m playing catch up since I spent the beginning of the month ill! Said illness is also why my Salomé cosplay and essay isn’t up yet! 

I spent most of the past month researching and—though it remains to be seen if it will be for better or worse—my Salomé work will probably be in two parts. The first part will likely be up in the next few days! I ended up discovering so many interesting things behind the most commonly repeated ideas about Salomé that it would be way too much for one post!

As I mentioned in the notes above, I read Lovers of Cinema this past month and it gave me quite a few ideas for posts. One of which will likely be up this month: a watchalong a la the “Film Comedy’s Eves” post from a few months back. It’s a very accessible read if you’d like to learn more about the world of avant-garde/independent/experimental cinema of the US in the first half of the 20th century! 

Now, while I spent most of my blogging time this past month falling down numerous research holes, I did manage to put some themed gif and still sets together:

Sun, Moon, and Feather (1989)

[which I talked about in last month’s round-up]

Manhandled (1924)

Losing Ground (1982)

La Danse du diable (1904)

Highlights and Shadows (1938)

Blue Blood / Sangue blu (1914)

Lot in Sodom (1933)

——— ——— ———

Well, thank you all for your patience with the Salomé cosplay getting so drawn out, and stay tuned for part one soon!

Happy viewing!

☕Appreciate my work? Buy me a coffee! ☕

[vivianbernadetteaurora]

The Supremes

One of Motown’s finest ever acts, is the Supremes, now I learned a lot of what I knew about the Supremes free watching Dreamgirls, one of my favourite musicals of all time, and let’s say it is very much based on the happenings of the Supremes and Motown and Berry Gordy, Florence Ballard and Diana Ross, in the film Dreamgirls you see the Effie is the strongest singer and the lead singer of the group, by Jennifer Hudson, who is meant to represent the Florence ballad, who died at a young age due to alcohol, and then you have the Mary Wilson of the group who is a bit of a pushover, and just let it be, not very happy with the way that Diana was treated so different, obviously there is an imbalance of power of the fact that she was with Berry Gordy, in the film it shows how Beyoncé’s character Dina, is put above the rest of them even though she is less stronger singer of the team. They have the image that he chase so many times in show business., want to show off even though in the film? Hudson seems a lot bigger than Beyoncé is character in real life when you actually see the supreme as they were actually very similar, Diana Ross even admits later in law that she definitely suffered some sort of eating disorder, she was absolutely tiny, and had to lose quite a lot of .weight for the role even though she was herself she was not even as little as Diana, so many people talk about the fact that Diana Ross didn’t know how to be on the stage and she would do weird things with her eyes and not really know how to move as well, some of the amazing classic of the 60s with the beehives and all, Florence is beautiful to me. She looks very similar to Ron lead singer Ronnie Spectre who also had a relationship with her record label person Phil Spector who turned out to be a complete monster.

In any of these groups you see at time and time again with boy bands girl bands everything, Destiny’s Child all all that kind of thing you see how the lead singer is complete treated completely differently, perfect example would be in the Pussycat Dolls with a Nicole Scherzinger, all the other backing vocals, Destiny’s Child wasn’t destiny it was destiny and that’s how many people saw it back in the day that was Beyoncé’s group. It was her family. It was her cousins. It was her parents., and stars they will get treated completely different or they will get a bigger percentage or they will write more of the music. It’s never equal in these groups and it needs to be spoke about more because you say all the time or, who is more talented and they were outshine the group but they don’t get as much as they should.

In Dreamgirls, it also shows that Florence ballad character was originally with Gordie, and that Diana Ross ends up being with him instead, even though Effie thinks that they are really in love, and because she tries to sing over Dana constantly, she ends up getting, she’ll go out of the picture for years and come back with a solo career, then find out in the film that he has a daughter with her, but he never knew about because she was pregnant at the time. many of these people in Roy bands as well. You should see it with Lou Palman where they got completely abused by their person who should’ve looked after them this industries and notorious for it all all the time it’s the same story all over and over again, it didn’t get along and It’s a shame Florence Ballard didn’t get the career that she wanted, and she felt so unhappy that she had to drink.

[lcndonboysstuff]

Taylor Fkn Swift longest relationship is sitting at home not being booked for any roles???

I’m curious on why it matters that Joe was her longest relationship and the correlation on why he can’t get roles because he was with her for so long. If anything - it’s the opposite. I don’t think being in that relationship helped him at all. I think his career looks completely different today if he didn’t go to that dive bar in 2016. Her star was always going to shine brighter. I have zero doubt that Joe did not take certain roles because of timing or circumstance or what it would mean in regard to fame because he took TS into account. And now? Who knows. Her millions of fans who now all hate him don’t help. Her snide remarks and songs about him don’t help. And she seems to have a stranglehold on a number of people in the industry whom Joe has worked with, been friends with, are potential cast mates who have all been shitty to him or are very obvious friends with her. And while I doubt he is wanting to be cast in Deadpool 10 or Wolverine 8 (or whatever number they are on), I’m sure there is an impact that we’ll never know about.

On another note, I have really liked people’s thoughts on Joe’s career! Hopefully something gets announced soon or he makes an appearance soon. I think part of the nervousness comes from the unknown because he has vanished and not been heard from. I don’t look to see him doing any promo until potential Cannes in May at the earliest (or maybe Venice in September?) , so hopefully a new role is announced and project starts before then.

yeah if he didn’t date taylor his career would be different. i feel he would hate fame less and be more willing to take on bigger roles.

fingers crossed for an announcement soon. ‘kinds of kindness’ should debut at a big film festival perhaps Cannes or Venice. that with the brutalist and hamlet premieres we should get a lot of appearances this year :)

[fullhalalalchemist]

https://neurosciencenews.com/neuroscience-pornography-brain-15354/

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ab.20367

https://exoduscry.com/articles/violent-porn-is-shaping-children-everywhere/

https://nbc-2.com/news/2021/01/12/heres-how-your-porn-habit-could-be-helping-human-sex-traffickers/

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/oct/26/former-porn-stars-recall-industry-abuses-struggles/

https://www.collectiveshout.org/porn_stars_speak_out

https://www.engadget.com/2016-04-21-legal-porn-sites-hiding-child-abuse.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/opinion/sunday/pornhub-rape-trafficking.html

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-18/pornhub-videos-lawsuit-rape-exploitation-minors/100227966

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58917993

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/porn-could-bigger-economic-influence-121524565.html

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19862768/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3050060/

https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/three-ways-domestic-violence-is-connected-to-pornography/

https://verilymag.com/2015/08/porn-industry-playboy-mansion-sex-trafficking-belle-knox-rashida-jones-holly-madison

https://fightthenewdrug.org/how-porn-can-promote-sexual-violence/

https://fightthenewdrug.org/can-tell-difference-metoo-stories-porn-plot-lines/

-ncose, exodus cry, ftnd, endsexualexploitation, are all far-right christian fundamentalist organizations who's goal is to eradicate all queerness and sexuality from the public sphere. they do not gaf about traffiking becaues none of their resources have ever actually gone to traffiking victims. leila mickelwait fucking post CSAM on TWITTER that she had saved on her phone. SEVERAL of these news articles take their info from them and use them as a source when they just lie and make shit up all the time about traffiking and porn. and all these news sites just repeat what they say with NO fact checking. they are not trustworthy sites and should never be used as sources on anything.

-there is NO medical consensus on porn addiction. it is not a 'real thing' and most of the time the source is some form of religious guilt, shame, depression, etc and sex is the quickest way to get endorphins. which is why porn is such a big economic influence. porn has always been one of the main drives of pushing innovation.

-linking a few studies does not prove anything. thats literally not how science works. yall need to also understand that porn is going to affect different people differently. cis men and cis male teens who already don't ever evaluate their role in society, or ever think twice about gender roles and already have their set-in-stone ideas about sex and gender are going to be affected differently. these studies never take into account the sociological aspect of these men and where they stand on sex and gender or how they interact with each other.

people are obsessed with sex and porn! they always have been! sex and sexuality is normal and desirable and yall need to stop acting like it isnt or is some huge taboo thing or that it NEVER has affected our society and shaped how we do things. people have ALWAYS been obsessed by it and it has always shaped laws and society.

[superiorjello]

Someone should make an updated Bye Bye Birdie but it's about a Kpop star having to enlist, with themes on parasocial relationships, the insanity of capitalism ruling these people's lives, and just generally how horribly the industry treats people.

Like, on one hand you have the story about Birdie himself, who is literally just Some Guy™️ who happened to be good at singing and dancing and just wants to go do his military service, but the label is making him do this whole "get a kiss from Birdie" contest that he doesn't even care about. He'd rather go get a drink and play Fortnite or something.

Then you've got the story of the girl who wins the contest, and she's so excited, but she also has a new boyfriend and he's not so sure about this whole thing. Conflict arises. That plot doesn't need to change all that much from the original, really.

Then you have Birdie's manager, who is honestly looking forward to the break he's gonna get with Birdie away for a little over a year. He's being driven to distraction by all the nonsense the label is throwing at him with this contest, and he's clearly got something going on with his assistant.

Each perspective gives a chance to explore the things wrong with the industry, as well as the magical moments that keep us coming back.

Also I think the jealous boyfriend should become a bigger stan than the girl after they like, bond over Fortnite or something.