#that we do as viewers and -once again- had been dealing with all that other crap it would be way too much to handle

[blazinghotfoggynights]

No one knows if Buddie will happen. It may. It may not. I think there is just as good of a chance of Buddie happening as Eddie being written as realizing he deserves good things and that good thing being Ana or Marisol or some other woman and Taylor redeeming herself and becoming Mrs. Buckley. Tim may even write a BuckTommy endgame for all I know, but that doesn't change what the story is so far. (911 does crazy things. Anything is possible.)

What that leads me to is what about Buck and Tommy indicated anything more than a convenient plot device? Buck and Tommy had zero chemistry. ZERO. There was more chemistry with Buck and Ali and that was flatlined. The whole BuckTommy relationship felt forced and created in order to push a bigger storyline. Were we all watching the same show?

Personally, I think there were great subplots that were left unexplored. We could have been given Tommy being confronted about his racism and misogyny, Buck dealing with being with someone like that, Tommy's journey to becoming an openly gay man, Hen and Chimney finally opening up about what Tommy's behavior was like for them and how it feels to now be confronted with one of their tormentors on a frequent basis, etc. (Feel free to take any of those and write fic. Can you tag me if you do? I'd love to read it!)

Every single interaction between Buck and Tommy was cold, dismissive, or about sex. There was nothing deep there. Buck was, once again, trying to force something.

Go back to 7x3. Tommy PUSHES Buck away while watching Eddie. Tommy was spending time with Eddie every spare minute they had. He never once invited Buck to hang out. When Buck visited him at the hangar, Tommy simply checked him out, then was condescending. When Eddie arrived, Tommy's whole demeanor changed. He physically stood up straighter, began smiling, and couldn't wait to get away from Buck.

Tommy going to Buck's loft was not about attraction. He was dealing with realizing he couldn't have Eddie and it wasn't because of Marisol. I could be wrong, but I don't recall Tommy ever mentioning Marisol. He complained that he could never take Buck's place. That was someone congratulating the victor. Did you not hear the tone of Tommy's voice and his phrasing? He was not complimenting Buck at any point. He was annoyed and jealous.

He kissed Buck for something other than attraction. How did the fans who figured it out know? The man had no clue Buck was attracted to him because he was paying Buck dust!

Tommy had the chance to play with a baby bi and he took it. Buck was young, hot, and ready to do anything so Tommy took the offer.

When Buck tried to open up and be vulnerable after Bobby's heart attack, Tommy turned it into sexual innuendo. I don't care how you spin it, that conversation was creepy and not something someone who cares about you would say.

When Buck was at the cemetery, he mentioned his boyfriend wouldn't touch him. Tommy didn't ask for Buck to be healed for Buck's sake. He wanted to be able to sleep with him!

You don't have to be Buddie to have seen that relationship was a mess. Buck dove in head first and was reckless and needy immediately. Tommy was distant and cold. It was all right there in the viewers' faces the whole time. If you saw a deep, committed, loving relationship between Evan Buckley and Thomas Kinard, you were missing the blatant clues.

Tommy was there for fun and knew it would burn out. Buck was the same old Buck, begging for someone to love him and jumping in with his eyes closed. Eddie? Well, we have to wait to see which direction Tim chooses, but the past was really clear about who Tommy wanted to spend his time with initially.

Tim could easily send BuckTommy and Buddie fandom both into meltdowns by putting Eddie and Tommy together. Ijs. Then no one gets what they want. You never know with him.

[fan-of-young-royals]

I know Simon is so much stronger than me because that final fight in the music room would’ve been the Moment I decided to break up with Wille

[darklinaforever]

It kills me how many people think that the gender of a fictional character doesn't matter.

We are in fiction, where the characters have arcs, or they embody themes. Obviously for some characters gender matters.

Michael is literally named the new heir and freaks out about becoming a new John /basically taking everything he had.

Michaela can't really have this arc... Unless we strangely learn that the laws in Scotland are extremely different from England located in the Bridgerton universe (and I speak for the universe of the series, where we have no idea if they will stick to reality where women in Scotland could inherit), and I doubt it for the moment.

So no, Michaela couldn't necessarily have the same arc as Michael.

I'm not even sure she could be a Merry Rake. Can a woman be called Rake in show Bridgerton universe ?

The fact is that Michaela will necessarily differ at certain times from Michael.

Already there are always drastic differences between the show and the book, this time I think it will be even more emphasized. (I even doubt that we will have as many nods to the book as season 3 dedicated to Polin's story did)

In any case, the very basis of Francesca's story is that despite the loss of true love you can always have a second chance, which is a clear originality compared to the other romances in this series of books ; well, is already changed with the way the end of season 3 happened.

It seems that the marriage to John was a mistake, that the physical aspect of their relationship will not prove pleasant in view of the Fran's reaction to their kiss, and worse, that Fran doesn't feel true love for John.

True love in Bridgerton often results in great passion and similarities to the story of Edmund and Violet, and Francesca literally matches Violet's reaction when she first met Edmund, but this time when she meets Michaela.

Whereas Fran is never supposed to have this kind of reaction around Michael / Michaela as long as John is alive. Because she normaly truly loves him.

So how could the story be the same after such a change to the very heart of the story ?

It's not just the gender change from Michael to Michaela that makes the adaptation of When he was Wicked complicated and uncertain for some viewers, including me too, it is above all a whole.

But for some obscure reason people refuse to accept it.

Beyond that, I repeat, Michael Stirling is a fictional male character who has been around for years.

That people are disappointed, including me, not to see this character, as he is basically on paper, be adapted to the screen is not necessarily homophobic, assumed or internalized.

Yes, some are, but not everyone. Some of us are part of the LGBTQ+ community and no, we do not all suffer from internalized homophobia so as not to 100% validate such a change !

We're talking about an attachment to an image that we have formed in our mind about a FICTITIOUS character for fucking years !

Besides, I didn't even say that I was fundamentally against it, because I have already explained several times that a part of me was happy to see a main romance between two women on screen in the television universe for Bridgerton (and the actresses are magnificent and on top of that, I'm sure, will have very good chemistry). Once again, representation is always cool, but, is this really the right place to do it ? I'm not so sure.

And contrary to what some say, I'm not saying that LGBTQ+ relationships should systematically be secondary in fiction. No way. I'm simply saying that transforming one of the main canon ships of the books without which the Netflix adaptation would not exist is perhaps not the right thing to do, since there is already a community attached behind these characters...

And seriously, if the creators really wanted a main LGBTQ+ romance dealing with the Bridgerton universe, they could easily make a spin off dealing specifically with this part of society and how they live.

I'm sure many, including me, will watch such a spin-off ! And damn I would love for something like that to happen !

You see, the opportunity to have an LGBTQ+ romance at the forefront without changing the kind of characters mostly beloved by an audience that already exists. Not very complicated though.

Do you realize how inappropriate it is to insult someone homophobic for that things ?! I don't know what kind of fucking bubble these people live in...

And it's scary to say that you can be insulted by a community of which you are a part, simply for not conforming to everything that is judged 100% morally correct for them.

If you have the misfortune of delay, sometimes there are those who unleash themselves on you to insult you for things that you don't have, simply for a fictional character...

"You don't 100% validate that a fictional male character who has existed for years and whom you have loved for years, with a fairly precise image in mind as a result, becomes a woman in his adaptation ? Well obviously, it's is that you are, at worst, a homophobe, or at least worse an internalized homophobe, and in any case that is not tolerable and you are not a true ally and you are problematic who deserves to be hated."

I don't know if you realize how STUNNING this is ! There really are people on this app who need to get fucking treatment...

And anyway why am I racking my brains ?

There will always be stupid people to come and tell me that what I say is always homophobic because if I have a problem with the change of gender of a fictional character through an adaptation well I'm the real problem.

As they say, you can't change idiots.

So stay stupid if you want, but at least leave me alone.

[yannaryartside]

If Sydcarmy is not engame….

This is a rant. A sad rant but still. I know we have evidence, I would go to the supreme court with it, but hear me out.

If sydcarmy is not endgame:

It would make the show a disappointment for me. It will kinda ruin it to some extent. But not only as a shipper they had her expectations unsatisfied, but as a conscious viewer. I would like to explain why.

Part 1: the meaning of their connection

I was a shipper of this relationship the moment the characters met. She was cute, awkward and brilliant. He was cute, awkward and angsty. I normally go hard for shipping character where I find both of them interesting, and I like their dynamic. This is the ship that had consumed my head the most in all my years of consuming fiction. They both have real traumas and flaws. Even if the show wasn't so obvious with its intentions, I would have shipped them until they both got their respective soulmates. These two characters taught me how complex developing a romance could be, and how satisfactory if the pieces went together. Just the fact that they are so complex and I got to ship them is something I am grateful for. I will never write romance the same way.

Now, I don't know if is the time of the month fatalism hits, but I have been recently seriously considering the fact that it may not happen. That Claire was always supposed to be Carmy’s endgame.

Part 2: potential

The first reason why I would be disappointed if they are not engame is because the concept of two people building something together while supporting each others flaws is what got me into the show. It is such a beautiful concept for a couple, and I know it works on friends, but I once read that romance appears in your life when you have to open yourself to new potentials. In Carmy, Syd saw the potential for grow and movement, in Syd, Carmy saw the potential for peace and sincerity. Not to mention I rather ship two messed up characters than one messed up character and another that the show has called “perfeft” multiple times.

Part 3: Claire

Thinking Claire bear is endgame is to admit that she has to grow of the flaws we all saw, that Carmy could make her better (wich I don't think because Claire seemed to have a lot of lack of empathy to begin with) but ok. The thing that could never work for me is that we know Syd can make Carmy feel peace but Claire can't. It is the theme of the show that a woman should learn how to be like other woman in order to maker her man happy? We will define how much good she can do to Carmy on how much peace she could bring like Syd did. That doesn't sound right to me.

Part 4: Syd

I don't think the purpose of Syd in the whole story is to be Carmy’s endgame, but a lot of her screentime so far has been defined by her relationship with him. In the good things she does for him and his family. We know she has feeling for him. We know that she has had her heart broken before and then this could break it again. Again, that is the theme of your show? That a woman needs to get her heart broken in order to grow or get to her full potential? Who asked for this?

You made her fall for a guy that may never support her creative journey, that may have defined how she view herself as an artist? That she will have to deal with her broken heart and decide to find another spot to work? Are we supposed to believe that is something good for her? You wanna to contribute to a narrative of glorifying women's pain to justify growth? You are gonna use these amazing character just to have her heart broken 3 seasons out of 4. Is that supposed to be her big lesson? Her motivation even?

Not that is justification for Carmy and Syd getting together, but what a waste of time. If you had established and denied the attraction earlier or just never make her have feelings for Carm you could have her a interesting arc worthy of such an interesting character.

Not only that, but it seems all so cruel, to create a dynamic that in friendship can make her grow but because she developed feelings for him can hurt her immensely.

Idk, maybe I just made a story on my head that I thought made sense but the author insist on disagreeing. Maybe I am making storm out of nothing since they may have us a satisfactory thing. But yet…

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Oh this is going to hurt... a lot.

I should be worried if the first thing I do after an episode isn't open Photoshop. Normally, I would now recall the best scenes of the series and decide on a set… But not today, even though I have the time. I once wrote that when a series can no longer catch me, you can tell by the fact that I stop making gifs… Okay, sometimes I just don't have the time. But today… I wouldn't even know which scene to choose, because there was nothing that got me, nothing that excited me and nothing that I felt emotional connected to. Instead, I have a lot of thoughts in my head that all want to get out somehow.

After the over-emotionalization of the last episode, I had actually already given up on Last Twilight. And that really hurts to admit. I loved the series from the very first second and I just thought it was so good! The problem for me was that they tried to just touch the audience's tear triggers, their emotions, all of them. And they forgot that too much of a good thing is simply not good. For me, episode 11 was right on the edge of what was bearable and I still don't think Day did the "right" thing. You're allowed to argue in a relationship and hold different opinions and then talk about why you hold a certain point of view, for example. If the other person can't deal with it, if you can't find a compromise, then you have to take the consequences, yes. But that wasn't even done here.

Day insinuated that Mhok pitied him, didn't listen to Mhok's side and today we learn that Mhok really only felt pity? Really? And that he is happy Day broke up with him so he could grow? Really? That is so fucking stupid. Day has problems with pity, that's understood and ok, but it's also ok for Mhok to make his own priorities in life and decide for himself not to want to leave, but to stay with the person he loves. But Day took that decision away from him. They could have talked about it. Different perspectives can also make a big difference. But no. Day pushes Mhok away and Mhok lies to Day… But back to tonight's episode. I was actually done with last week (yeah nope, I know). You can see that they tried to find a highly emotional ending that everyone seems to agree with and can cry into their handkerchiefs. The number of fuck yous I hurled at my laptop today shows me that the trick didn't work on me. It was all so over-emotionalized that it just felt fabricated and fake. And that's so sad, because the show felt so fucking real until episode 10. And now it was a weird cliché-ridden cringe-fest.

Honestly, if I had been dumped like Mhok and then ignored for three years, the time I spend thinking about that person would be really wasted. I'd be so fucking angry (probably not anymore after three years, I just wouldn't care). But Mhok immediately starts flirting. They pick up where they left off, but there's three years and thousands of kilometers between them. Unrealistic for me. And then Mhok just carries on, whispering to Day about what's happening and what's going on and just acting like his boyfriend again, holding his hand, helping him get dressed, showing him where everything is. I was a bit surprised that he didn't feed him. And Day is confused and just smiles. I think as a viewer I was the only person who was angry at the end. There were no bad emotions. Nothing. And that felt so fucking wrong!

And then comes the wedding and talk of second chances and of course Day says no because he's too scared someone will take pity on him. Yeah, fuck man, shit happens. and Mhok can't or won't give up. An emotional chase begins and the bride and groom leave their own wedding for the two of them and I lost faith in everything. And of course the plane is gone and of course they're all checked in because the passport was scanned and of course Mhok turned around and went back and of course he clued Night in and of course they end up doing the same dance they did back then and of course the family watches them get back together. And of course the series ends with a bunch of sugary sweet scenes from "call me mom" to sunset and let's repeat this most beautiful and heartbreaking moment from the past epsiode without any emotional impact. It was so predictable and so, I'm sorry, so bad. I'm so angry! And of course he gets his sight back. After all, what kind of a message would it be if Day remained blind? Is that possible? That a blind protagonist can find happiness and love and lead a successful life? No, it's not possible. He has to be able to see again. He has to become normal again in order to lead a normal life. What a shitty message! Damn!

Sometimes less really is more. Not everything has to be perfect and normal. At least that's the lesson I thought I should learn from this series.

If anyone has any gif requests, my inbox is open, but I don't think I'll be making any on my own. At least not today and not with this anger in my stomach.

[radioappleheadcanons]

Part three! (here are parts one and two) This one is a bit more Vox-heavy than the others, but that's because I couldn't think of any other things, they'd have issues over once they worked through the things mentioned in the first two parts. So, picking up where we left off.

A large portion of the city got to see Vox freaking out and yelling at Alastor, demanding to know who his supposed rival is and why they got to make demands of him. One-half of the viewers are convinced that Alastor must have done something because Vox would never be upset that he's not a rival. Now, he clearly just wants to know who it is, so he can hold them against Alastor. The other half read the room a bit better and insisted that no, Vox is actually just upset that he's been replaced. It starts several wars within the Vees fandom, which usually Velvette would be angry about, but honestly, she's having too much fun watching it. If it starts really hurting them, she'll do something but for now, she is just watching the chaos, trying to get a feel for it.

But no matter what side they’re on, they all want to know who the person Alastor was talking to on the radio was, and who, if Vox was to be believed, got to negotiate the terms of his forgiveness with Alastor.

But then Vox just shows up in person, insisting that he's there to help. Literally everyone knows he's not, but they can't do much about it, because he does have a live stream going. With a lot of annoyance, they give him a tour. He tries to bribe several people to tell him who the rival is. No one does. They just roll their eyes.

RadioApple has mixed feelings about it. On one hand, Alastor loves attention. He thrives on it. On the other hand, this really isn't anyone's business and he'd prefer if it had never gotten out. Lucifer is in a similar boat. They talk about it, deciding that they simply aren't going to address this. It's not the greatest idea but they know that feeding into it will just make it worse. So, Vox has doubled the doubt of drones he's got watching the hotel, and now they have people showing up to try and scope them out. Thankfully after kicking a few of them out and wrecking the drones they get the point across.

Meanwhile, after dealing with it a bit, RadioApple decides that it'll be funny to mess with people. So, they have Lucifer use a voice filter and do Al's radio show. They have Alastor, sans fillters, answer the phone when the sins call Lucifer. They enjoy the sheer chaos, and no one puts the pieces together, because the sins aren't talking to sinners, and the sinners can't even get to the other sins. Alastor in particular enjoys watching people fail around like a bunch of headless chickens trying to figure it all out. But they also just never mention it again, which just makes everything worse because they now have no leads whatsoever at all and everyone is just wondering if maybe Alastor was just screwing with them.

Only he definitely seems to be in a better mood and refers to whoever this person is sometimes. Eventually everyone (-vox) accepts that they're not getting answers. and then the world rival changes into a partner, and everything loses their mind because WHAT? Surely you don't mean the same mysterious rival right? No? You do? Okay well, what does that mean?

People are finally desperate enough to try to get information out of the others, which is a mistake because the others make it to mess with them. So, there's a lot of ‘Oh the Roach King? Yes, his Raoch Queen is wonderful’ or ‘Oh Strawberry Pimp’s latest commitment, yeah they hot together’ and the like.

[smolwritingchick]

The Bangtan Gal Chapter 60- Running Man: The Golden Duo

Chapter Summary: Due to popular demand, Jennie is asked to guest star in a Couples themed Episode of Running Man, bringing Jungkook with her to go up against other groups of two

Words: 6,000+

Genre: One of my favs!! MAJOR Jungkook fluff and things get suggestive at the end with some suggestive Jungkook content!

Author's Note: I wanted to experiment just for shiz and giggles. Hope it didn't disappoint! <3 Lemme know what you think. And thanks again for reading!

-------

All over the K-pop news sites, there had been a poll on who viewers wanted to guest star on Running Man, and surprisingly, Jennie was voted one of the top favorable picks. Viewers were impressed with her athleticism and passion and wanted her back on the show.

Once she was called and asked about being on the show again, she was thrilled and eager to come back. Besides, the Monday Couple wanted revenge on her, so that added to the anticipation.

When told that there would be other guests, competing against each other in pairs due to the episode being a couples themed episode, Jimin and Taehyung quickly suggested that Jungkook should join and be Jennie’s partner.

Naturally, Jen and Jungkook happily agreed, ready to take on the challenge.

‘BTS’ Jennie and Jungkook to guest on an Episode of Running Man’

Running Man announced today through its Instagram that BTS’ Golden Duo, Jennie and Jungkook are currently filming their guest appearance on the show to compete against the Running Man cast and other guest stars in teams.

The article went on to explain that Jessi, 4Minute’s Hyuna and Gayoon, Hayoon and Amber would be joining in the episode to pair with the cast members. Positive reactions were in the comment section for The Golden Duo to be working together again since they made an impact the last time BTS was on the show.

When all the couples were on the set, they were paired out with one another and wore team colors. Jaesuk and Jessi wore green, Haha and Gayoon wore orange, Gary and Song Jihyo wore blue, Sukjin and Hyuna wore purple, Jongkook and Amber wore yellow, Kwangsoo and Hayoon wore brown and JenKook wore red. 

Each couple stood by one another, inside a cozy room. They were told that their first mission was to play the pepero game and whichever couple had the shortest stick, would win the round and be one step closer to winning Korean Beef at the end of filming.

“How many times have we eaten pocky sticks together?” Jen recalled while Jungkook let out a chuckle.

Yeah, they had this in the bag.

This would be the second time they were filmed eating pocky together, bringing back Rookie King vibes. It was going to be interesting how things played out at this time.

The Monday Couple were the first ones to go up. 

“Golden Duo, watch closely because our stick will be the shortest,” Gary warned

“Wow, tough crowd.” Jen chuckled

The Monday Couple were impatient to get their revenge on them for the tag game the last time they were on the show. 

“Don’t get too cocky. We’re dealing with the Golden Duo here. Don’t get them angry. These kids are dangerous.” Jaesuk exclaimed

Jen’s mouth upturned at his statement as everyone watched the Monday Couple munch on their stick at a fast pace. Their noses briefly touched, causing the rest of the couples to giggle. Their lips abruptly touched and the stick fell on the plate, looking around 1.5 cm.

“Golden Duo can’t beat that.” Gary taunted and high fived Song Jihyo.

Jennie and Jungkook glanced at each other and smirked with amusement. It’s best to let their actions do the talking instead of entertaining their comments. They weren’t bothered by the Monday Couple. They’ll still win for sure with a strategy.

Jongkook and Amber were called up next, grabbing a stick. They both were flustered and giggly, trying to take it seriously. Amber couldn’t help but stay still, squinting her eyes, chuckling to herself while Jongkook did all the work. He continued munching forward until the stick fell before he could go further. JenKook took sight of Haha and Gayoon munching on their stick, and they ended up letting their stick be a little bigger than the Monday Couple’s, who were confident in winning because no one had beaten them, yet.

Jungkook took a stick out of the box and met Jen’s gaze.

“Good ol’ Rookie King.” She mentioned, making them laugh at the memories. 

After they pulled themselves together, she stood in front of him. 

“Go slow and steady,” she advised, getting a nod in response from him.

Jungkook placed the end of the stick in his mouth, leaning down slightly for her to bite the other end of the stick.

“Start!”

They were told and slowly began munching, with their eyes on the stick. Both feeling keen to win and strategic to make sure their stick was the shortest, they ignored any distractions surrounding them which consisted of the Monday Couple playfully trash talking.

Jungkook ended up moving closer to Jennie, cupping her face as the stick got shorter and she slowly tilted her head to the side.

“You ship?” Amber glanced over to Hayoon, off camera.

“I ship,” she confirmed with a giggle.

“I ship too.”

Once their stick dropped on the plate, it was measured as everyone gathered around to see. 

It was announced, “It looks like 0.5 cm.” 

“No!” the Monday couple yelled.

“I ain’t even mad...” Jessi shook her head while Jen high fived Jungkook.

When it was Sukjin and Hyuna’s turn, they were a giggling mess and their stick accidentally broke in half, which made everyone laugh. Jessi and Jaesuk were finally up, going slow and steady. Jaesuk had accidentally dropped the stick, which made Jungkook place out a hand for Jen to slap for a low five, feeling good that they were still in the lead.

“Why is it so long? It should be shorter!” Jessi playfully scolded, causing Jaesuk to laugh nervously when she grabbed ahold of him.

“I-it was an accident!” he tried to explain

“Accident, huh?” she let go of him, narrowing her eyes.

Lastly was Kwangsoo and Hayoon. Jennie giggled at their banter when Hayoon kept covering her face, trying to get serious about the game. She was so adorable as her face became flushed. When they both had the stick in their mouths, everyone began freaking out when they started to munch. After their stick dropped due to Hayoon pulling back when he got closer, their stick was nowhere near close to JenKook’s stick.

“Winners! Jennie and Jungkook, Team Golden Duo!” the staff announced

Jungkook instantly fist pumped and high fived Jennie once again.

“This is unacceptable!” Gary complained.

“We’ll beat them on the next mission.” Song Jihyo reassured.

When they traveled to the next destination, Amber and Jennie had discussed a date when they would be free to hang out and catch up. Both being busy with their respective group comebacks, they managed to find some time to hang out next week. Jen couldn’t wait to hear what F(x) was working on.

For the second mission, each couple stood on a big platform surrounded by water, located in an indoor swimming pool. The mission was simple. All they had to do was push all members of the opposing teams off the platform and be the last team standing.

‘Round 1’

“I have a plan! Let’s all take out the Golden Duo!“ Gary called out.

Wow, again?

“Man, you thirsty! He’s so obsessed with us.” Jennie called him out.

“I agree, they can’t win again,” Kwangsoo added. “Let’s take them out.”

“Geez, what is this? Survivor?” Jennie pondered

“I think they’re just jealous,” Jungkook added.

When the game started, Gayoon had decided to make the first preemptive attack, going after Hyuna. She succeeded in shoving her off the platform as she watched Hyuna fall into the water, giggling. She was clearly unprepared and wiped the wet hair from her face. She’ll get her revenge on her group member in the next round.

Gayoon had tried to push Haha off and they began to try to overpower each other. The other teams had been watching their match and finally got into the game, going after each other. Jongkook effortlessly began shoving people off the platform with his muscular arms.

Cornering Hayoon, Jennie bumped her hip against hers, causing the GFriend member to lose her balance and fall into the pool. 

“Hips for days. Sorry Hayoon, love you.” Jennie waved.

“I’ll remember that!” Hayoon called out.

Due to the slippery water and her shoes, Jennie yelped, about to fall. Jungkook was quick to scoop her up, bridal style in his arms and she held onto him. The sudden action made her stomach flip as she locked eyes with him.

“Careful,” he mentioned with a reassuring smile.

Carrying her, they decided to go after Kwangsoo when he was distracted by trying to push Jaesuk out. Using her feet, Jennie kicked Kwangsoo on his back to make him fall off the platform. The motion caused everyone to start laughing at Kwangsoo and JenKook’s unique teamwork.

“I wasn’t ready!” Kwangsoo yelled, with his guard down.

Getting set down, Jennie watched as the rest of the teams were all up on each other, grabbing and pulling, trying to shove each other off. Sadly, Jen ended up getting pushed off due to Song Jihyo tripping her. 

Swimming back up to the surface, she watched the rest of the match, rooting for Jungkook. When it was down to him and Gary, Jungkook had easily shoved him off the platform to win the round.

“Yes!” Jennie got helped back up on the platform by Jungkook and happily celebrated their victory.

“This cannot happen again!” Gary complained.

For Round 2, Jennie went on a defensive route, surviving with Jungkook as she managed to protect him. She would constantly get in front of him, shoving anyone back who tried to go after him. Jongkook, the tiger, began to get ganged up on, as most of the teams strived to shove him and Amber off the platform. Once they failed to shove Jongkook and Amber off, they went straight after the Golden Duo.

“Oh gosh.” Jennie stood back to back with Jungkook. 

After she took in the sight of what was going on, Jen made her move, grabbing a hold of Hyuna’s manicured hands. Miss Bangtan used her strength to shove her into the pool. Turning her awareness to Kwangsoo, he let out a yell, staring at her in horror. 

“Nope! Nope! Nope!” he ran and jumped off the platform

Meanwhile, Jungkook had worked on pushing Sukjin and Jaesuk off the platform. JenKook regrouped and stood in front of Jongkook and Amber. Jennie and Amber go after each other, clasping their hands together, attempting to push each other off while giggling at each other. Amber slipped on the platform and Jen took advantage by rolling her to fall into the pool. 

Turning to Jongkook, she noticed that Haha was trying to shove him off, ignoring Jungkook and she helped Jungkook up, bringing him to safety. The two managed to shove Haha and Jongkook off and happily high fiving each other.

“How many people have they taken out so far?” Amber laughed.

As the round progressed, Jungkook was shoved out by Song Jihyo. He was annoyed that he had lost but rooted for Jennie to win the game for their team.

Jessi had attempted to push her off the platform. 

“Sorry, hon. You gotta go.” Jessi said but Jen stood her ground and managed to push her off instead with the help of using her feet to trip her.

Distracted from Jessi, Jennie felt a strong push on her back and fell into the pool thanks to Song Jihyo.

“Yes!” Gary happily shouted, applauding her.

"Darn it..." Jennie swam up and Jungkook pulled her into his arms.

"Take that Golden Duo!" Song Jihyo smiled victoriously.

"We told you we'd beat you!" Gary added as the audience laughed at how passionate the Monday Couple was about beating The Golden Duo.

"Don't worry about it. We'll get 'em. Good job," the Golden Maknae reassured Jennie with a smile and gently moved some of her wet hair from her face.

In the end, Song Jihyo won the round for her team.

For the final round, everyone ganged up to take out Jongkook first, creating a big group on top of him. Jennie avoided the chaos with Jungkook and decided to start pushing people off who were near the edge to increase their chances of winning.

Standing in the middle of the platform, Gary and Song Jihyo faced off with the Golden Duo, as they tried to push each other near the edge.

“Jennie! I will get my revenge!” Gary yelled, grabbing a hold of her. "We are going to win this! We are not going to lose! We are not going to lose!” 

Miss Bangtan laughed, evading his attempts to shove her off the pool.

Song Jihyo shrieked when Jungkook easily picked her up over his shoulder and tossed her into the pool. With Jennie, she used her hips to bump Gary off the platform.

“Nothing personal.” Jennie shrugged, feeling victorious despite the Monday Couple’s complaints.

Kwangsoo had crawled away from them, on the platform but ended up getting rolled off by JenKook.

Near the end of the round, it was down to Jennie and Amber. They caught their breaths and stood in the middle of the platform. Going to strike, Amber had tried to trip Jennie, but Miss Bangtan evaded her move. It was a back and forth battle between the two, pushing and pulling each other, near the edge of the platform. In the end, Jennie caught an opening when Amber began to lose her balance on the edge. She then did one final push and watched as Amber fell into the water.

“Yeah!” Jennie cheered and jumped off the platform, landing into Jungkook’s arms. 

He embraced her and spun her around as they celebrated their victory.

“Great job, Jennie! You did it!” He giggled, wiping some of her wet hair from her face.

"Woo! That is what I'm talking about!" she giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

“ARMY is going to be very happy to see them winning on behalf of BTS.” Jaesuk chuckled.

“They really want this Korean beef,” Jongkook added.

“Why do they always win?” Kwangsoo complained.

"This is not fair!" Gary complained as the audience laughed.

“I think we should just give them the beef. They already won.” Gayoon giggled.

-------

For the last mission, everyone was scattered around a mall, by themselves. Jennie stood near an emergency exit, with her Korean spelled name tag stuck to her shirt.

On the speaker, it was announced that they would need to find their significant other. Once they reunite with their partner, they must team up and find the correct key. After they find the key, they must find the room where the key opens, and find a platform to land on while avoiding getting their tag ripped. If one person gets their tag ripped, the entire couple is eliminated.

“Gosh...really?” Jen cringed at the camera. “That’s...a lot of work.”

Once she heard the buzzer, the game began and she let out a breath. “ARMY, time to find our Golden Maknae.” she gave the camera a thumbs up and started walking with a cameraman following her.

With Gary, he carefully walked around the mall on the second floor. “I must find Jennie or Jungkook. We need to take out the Golden Duo, so they can’t win. Hopefully, I can convince everyone else.”

He was so fixated on making sure the two teenagers lost this time. They won too many battles. It was time to lose for a change.

With Hayoon, she chose to hide in a changing room that was in one of the clothing stores. 

“I’m going to hang in here for a little while,” she spoke on camera.

Back with Jennie, she walked slowly, looking at her surroundings. 

“All right...so far so good...” she mumbled. 

She recognized Gary walking by and immediately leaned against the wall, making sure he passed her, unnoticed. She let out a sigh of relief and quickly left the area to avoid being detected. 

With Haha and Gayoon, who had found each other, they go to each store to find the correct key. They came across three sets of keys, but none were the right ones.

“Found you!” Gary called them out, causing Gayoon to yelp in surprise. “Wait! Wait! I don’t want to fight. Let’s work together.”

“Why should we trust you?” she pointed out.

“I want to get the Golden Duo out, so they won’t win. Don’t you want to get them out too? Let’s work together, find Song Jihyo and take down the maknaes.”

“Well, those maknaes are insane.” Haha started to become convinced.

“Okay, we’ll work with you.” Gayoon agreed and the three of them began walking together around the mall to find keys and search for Jennie or Jungkook.

It looked like JenKook was in trouble if Gary continued to convince other teams to join him to take them out.

With Amber, she walked around, seeking to find her partner. “I have a feeling someone is hiding around here,” she murmured, going inside the store that Hayoon was hiding in.

Hayoon had heard a noise and remained quiet while Amber walked around to see if anyone was hiding. In the end, Amber couldn’t find her and ended up finding a key, but it wasn’t the right one. The rapper continued her hunt for Jongkook by leaving the store and going up the escalator.

Hayoon, still hiding in the dressing room, placed a hand over her heart. “Thank goodness. I don’t want to get my tag ripped anytime soon. Ah...maybe I should go find Kwangsoo. But I’m so scared. What should I do?”

With the Golden Maknae, he kept a low profile as he went to find keys. 

“Ah...I wish Jennie was here with me, right now. They are doing well to keep us apart. But I will find her. And we’ll win for sure.” he said to the camera, determined.

“Hey!” the sound of Jessi’s voice, caused him to look Jungshooked. 

He immediately began backing up while she walked after him. He ended up giggling at her as she tried to grab onto him to rip his tag off. His strength overpowered her attempts and he escaped. Jessi tried to run after him, but he was too fast and she stopped running. 

“I don’t know why I even tried.” she shrugged on camera, chuckling as the audience laughed.

Back to Jennie as she unsuccessfully discovered the right key in a shoe store, she came across the row of Nike sneakers. 

“Daaaaaamnnnnn, how much are these?” she exclaimed in English and picked up one of the shoes to check them out. “Yo...I need to get this after the show.”

Distracted, she was unaware that Hyuna and Sukjin had spotted her. Hearing footsteps, Jennie quickly set the shoe down and ran out of the store, with them high on her tail.

“Jennie!” Hyuna laughed and grabbed a hold of her.

“This is so cheap. You gonna run up on me when I was looking at Nike shoes? Really?” she evaded her attempts to grab her tag, defending herself against them both.

“Let us oust you, Miss Bangtan. We need to win this.” Sukjin responded.

“Sorry, but I didn’t come here to lose. I appreciate your determination. Not enough to take me out. Jungkook and I are going to win this.” she managed to push them away and escape. 

She ended up losing them, and she hid in another store to catch her breath, hiding behind the register. 

That was too close.

“Ah...I hate this. I want Jungkook. The heck, is he?” she complained.

Turning her head, she found another small box and opened it to find a key. Examining it, she realized that it was not the right key and placed it back. She abruptly heard Hyuna and Sukjin yelling in panic and loudly running past the store she was hiding in. She realized that Jongkook had found them and started chasing after them.

“So glad I’m not them right now,” she murmured.

As the game progressed, Gary managed to find Song Jihyo with Haha and Gayoon, discussing strategy when they found Jen or Jungkook to eliminate them. Unfortunately for them, they had bumped into Jongkook who had been chasing after Hyuna and Sukjin. The two teams instantly run with Hyuna and Sukjin, yelling and screaming all over the place. 

Hyuna got in an elevator but unluckily none of the others made it inside with her. When the door opened on the next floor, she saw the Golden Maknae quickly looking up from his feet, widening his eyes.

“Oh no!” she shrieked as he rushed in, grabbing a hold of her. “Wait, wait, please! The game just started!” she pleaded but unfortunately for her, he ripped her tag off to eliminate her and Sukjin from the game.

“Sorry, Noona.” Jungkook bowed and grinned.

‘Hyuna out. Hyuna out.’

Back to Hayoon, she still was hiding in her hiding spot. When she heard the announcement, she sighed out of relief when it wasn’t her partner. Out of nowhere, she shrieked when she suddenly saw the dressing room door swing open, locking eyes with her best friend, Jennie.

“Really?” Jennie laughed and took a seat next to her.

“Aw...it was nice when it lasted.” Hayoon pouted.

“Have you seen Jungkook?”

“I heard him in here a while ago. I have no idea where he went. Thankfully he didn’t find me.” 

“Thanks. Okay. See you.” she stood up.

“W-wait, you’re sparing me?”

“Yeah.” Jen nodded. “I love you, that’s why.”

Hayoon smiled at her answer and felt a little flustered.

“Just try not to get caught," Miss Bangtan warned. "And if we meet again, I won’t hesitate to take the tag off.”

“Gosh...you and Jungkook are so scary when competitive. Reminds me of our dodgeball game at school.”

“That’s riiiiight.” she kissed her forehead. “Be safe out there.”

“You too!” Hayoon watched her leave. 

Standing up, she decided it was time to move around and find Kwangsoo and some keys. No more getting scared. It was time to play the game.

As the game went on, Amber and Jongkook had found each other and were running after the rest of the teams that were plotting to find Jennie and Jungkook.

“Run faster! Run faster! They’re here! They’re coming!” Haha yelled.

“Ah...we are in deep trouble!” Jaesuk huffed

“This was not part of the plan! Work with us to take out the Golden Duo!” Gary pleaded.

Jungkook had found himself in the mix when Song Jihyo spotted him and started running after him. Now it was Gary, Song Jihyo, Haha, Gayoon, Jessi, and Jaesuk running after Jungkook while running away from Amber and Jongkook.

“Get Jungkook! One team has to sacrifice themselves so we can oust Jungkook!” Jaesuk shouted.

“Go! Go! Go! We’re losing him!” Gary yelled, determinedly.

Out of breath, Jungkook came to a stop and had to fend for himself desperately as he saw the three teams halt in front of him. The three teams were distracted because they wanted to focus on Jungkook but Jongkook and Amber were behind them and they weren’t sure what to do.

Out of nowhere, Jennie jumped into the fray, grabbing a hold of Jungkook from behind. He widened his eyes in surprise when he turned to see her, gesturing for him to run with her. Everyone noticed that Jennie and Jungkook were finally reunited and freaked out.

“No! This was not supposed to happen!” Gary whined as all the teams scattered to go after them and escape Jongkook and Amber.

“Ah! Separate them!” Haha shouted.

“They’re headed downstairs! Go down!” Jessi yelled.

Song Jihyo managed to grab a hold of Jungkook’s arm, which made Jennie get pulled back with him.

“Uh, uh, not today! Kook and I will live to see another day! Get off of him!” Jen made her lose her grip before running away with her Golden partner.

“Aish...these kids...they’re too fast,” Jaesuk called out.

“We are dealing with two pains in the asses here.” Jessi chuckled, shaking her head. “These kids need to go but they run so fast. So how are we going to beat them?”

Once Jennie and Jungkook found a safe area to hide, he wrapped his arms around her tightly for a hug.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“I am just very happy to see you, right now.”

“Feeling is mutual. I really thought I wasn’t going to be able to make it. Catch your breath, I know you’re tired.”

They sat on the floor as he tilted his head back, making it rest on the wall. Jennie laid her head on his shoulder and rested with him while keeping her eyes and ears alert for anyone walking by. 

Finally, they found each other and can work on winning.

After resting for a while, they walked around the mall to find the keys. As they strolled down the hallway, they heard a loud noise behind them. Jungkook was quick to grab her to safety by wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her against his chest. He looked both ways to see if anyone was there.

“That scared the crap outta me,” Jen said in English, exhaling sharply with a hand on her chest when they noticed that one of the camera crew had knocked over a plant by accident.

“What are we going to do? Everyone is after us. Should we go stealth?” Jungkook suggested as they continued their search for keys.

“No, I don’t think we should do stealth this time.”

“Really?”

“Yeah because they aren’t focused on getting the key, they’re focused on getting us out. They’re gonna do anything to eliminate us. They’ll try to corner us, distract us, this, that, and the third. We need to be quick and on full offense. No more messing around. We gotta win this. So, let’s find this key and if anybody runs up on us, we’ll rip the tags off. No more running away. I won’t let anyone rip your tag off. I promise.” she reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I got you, Jungkook.”

A bunny smile appeared on the Golden Maknae’s lips, motivated by her words. “I got you, first. Now let’s go.”

As time went on, the Golden Duo searched around, undetected, and managed to find the right key. All they had to do now was find the room to open the door and stand on the platform. 

Walking to the door that leads to the stairwell, Jennie opened it and walked in with Jungkook, only to spot Jaesuk, Jessi, Kwangsoo and Hayoon, Gary and Song Jihyo trying to get each other’s tags after they all had turned against each other.

The sight of JenKook caused Kwangsoo and Hayoon to rush down the stairs in panic while the rest of the teams were caught off guard and ran down the steps to avoid them. JenKook had decided to dash after them, going after the Monday Couple first for revenge. 

Running through a door, the Monday Couple had pushed to close it shut, only to have JenKook push forward to push it open.

“No! It won’t end like this!” Gary yelled.

“Don’t let them in!” Song Jihyo shouted.

Jennie, using her strength, gripped the doorknob and placed her foot on the wall, slowly pulling it back as the door gradually opened. Jungkook took advantage by grabbing Song Jihyo’s arm. He pulled her to him and used his other hand to search for the name tag on her back.

Riiiiiiiip

‘Song Jihyo out. Song Jihyo out.’

“Ah...I can’t believe this.” Song Jihyo slid down and sighed in defeat with Gary. 

After bowing and thanking the Monday Couple, Jennie and Jungkook continued their search for the platform.

“Are you okay?” Gary helped Song Jihyo up.

“Wow...the Golden Duo is no joke,” she mentioned, bewildered.

“They have to be the strongest guests we ever had. Iron Man and Captain America strength. This won’t be the end. We will get them next time.”

Near the end of the game, Jennie and Jungkook finally found the door. Managing to open it with no problems, they quickly jumped onto the platform as confetti popped out from the ceiling, making them the winners of the game.

All the teams had met up in the room to recap on the episode and congratulated JenKook on their successful win despite the odds not being in their favor.

Receiving Korean Beef as their prize, Jungkook happily announced, “We’ll eat this proudly. Jin Hyung, prepare to make this for us when we get home!”

“Ahhhh, they came to our show and won everything. They cannot be beaten.” Haha shook his head as everyone laughed

Once Jennie and Jungkook went back to the dorms with Seijin, the members greeted them with loud cheers when they saw the Korean beef in their hands. 

A victory dance commenced between the members and afterward, Jennie showered and helped Jin cook the beef. 

After dinner, Jennie chose to turn in early due to the full meal and long day of filming. Wearing a white tank top with black shorts, she dozed off in her warm bed.

-------

Buzz Buzz Buzz

Stirring in her sleep, Jen slowly woke up and grabbed her phone off the nightstand. Squinting her eyes at the high brightness of the screen, she turned her brightness down and checked out the message.

Kookie: You awake? I have a headache. Could you massage it away?

Jen: Sure. Drink water and then stop by

She sat up and stretched her limbs. Turning on the lamp, she turned to look at the time. It was past 1am. It looked like Jungkook was done gaming for the night with the rest of the Maknae Line. 

Noticing that her bun was messy, she realized that her bonnet had fallen off while sleeping. Yawning, she took out her bun and shook her hair out, deciding to fix it after massaging Jungkook. 

Hearing a firm series of knocks on her door, she called out with her voice filled with sleep, “Who?”

“Golden Maknae in need of Miss Bangtan’s famous massages.”

His bright voice made her smile. “How much are you paying?”

“I’m sure we can negotiate with smarties.” he quipped, making her giggle softly.

“You got me there. Enter my realm.”

She watched him walk in with a big smile as he closed the door. She noticed he was wearing one of his many white shirts and a pair of shorts that came to his knees. His hair was messy, too, it made him look even cuter.

She scooted over as she felt the bed dip when he got on the bed to lay down next to her. 

“I told you don’t eat so much candy. But what do you do? Eat a lot of candy. Now, look at you. Suffering from a headache.” she scolded.

“The candy Hyung buys is really good. I can’t help it.”

“I can’t help it.” she mocked in a low voice, making him chuckle. “How much did you even eat after dinner?” she let him lay his head on her lap as she gently began to massage his temples.

“You don’t want to know.” he let out a content sigh, closing his eyes.

“No more eating a lot of sweets, especially before you go to sleep. Those sugar headaches are killer. And make sure you drink more water and take aspirin."

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You’re a handful.”

After a while, he ended up falling asleep, with his headache nearly gone. She gently removed his head from her lap and let him sleep next to her. Moments later, Jen decided to play on her phone, to pass the time until she felt herself getting tired.

After ten minutes, she glanced over at the Golden Maknae, watching him sleep as his chest rose and fell slowly. Placing her phone on the nightstand, she turned to her side, to continue observing him. Her hand slowly ran through his soft hair. Gently brushing her fingertips against his cheek, she absentmindedly ran her thumb over his bottom lip. Glancing at his lips, she quickly shook the thought away and removed her hand.

‘The heck was that Jen?’ she looked away from his lips but couldn’t help but look back at them.

Jungkook had grown up. His vocals get better and better throughout each comeback. He had gotten so much taller, it was like it was yesterday when they were almost the same height. His English skills improve day by day, making her proud of his efforts. And he had become so handsome over the years.

Her body began moving on its own as she found herself slowly leaning down. She stopped midway, looking at his gentle face. Closing her eyes with hesitation, she pulled back. 

Jen laid on her back and looked up at the ceiling, inhaling and exhaling deeply. She didn’t understand what she was doing. What this strange feeling was. 

Turning her head to the side, she looked at him, falteringly.

After a moment, she turned her body on her side and leaned forward to press her lips to his. She kissed him softly while closing her eyes. His lips were softer than she anticipated, taking her off guard. Nonetheless, she felt something strong from the kiss. 

When she realized what she had done, she pulled away, confused by her abrupt actions. 

‘What the hell, Jennie? Why did you do that? Stupid, stupid, stupid. I am such an idiot.’ she thought to herself, touching her lips.

She was so fixated on thinking of what she had done, that she didn’t even notice Jungkook slowly opening his eyes.

Consequently, he knew exactly what she had done and when she met his gaze, her stomach dropped.

Busted.

She stiffened, widening her eyes while her face felt flushed. All she wanted to do was crawl into a hole. She had no excuse for her actions and couldn’t even think of coherent thoughts without making a fool out of herself.

“...u-um-I’m...” she hesitated, averting her eyes from him. “I-I’m sorry, I don’t know what got into me. I think I’m gonna go get something from the kitchen.”

She began scrambling to get out of bed but felt his warm hand, firmly grabbing her wrist to stop her from getting off the mattress.

“Don’t leave,” he whispered.

Jen let out a sharp gasp when he gently pushed her down on the bed, feeling the soft, warm sheets under her. Her heart raced quickly as she watched him slowly climb on top of her, placing his palms on the bed, next to both sides of her head.

She couldn’t look at him in the eyes as she felt a mixture of crazy emotions while still feeling awkward by her previous actions.

“Look at me,” her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his low voice. 

She nervously held his gaze, unable to ignore his request. She didn’t understand where this sudden desire to kiss him was coming from and it bothered her.

It bothered her because she shouldn’t even be in this foreign position with him.

It bothered her because the way he was staring at her made it harder to resist him.

It bothered her because he looked so enticing and she anticipated what he was going to do to her.

Her chest rose up and down with the butterflies in her stomach getting worse. She watched him take a good look at the position they were in. 

From his face, it seemed like he was contemplating if he should risk it all. It was like he was struggling to suppress the urge to do whatever his mind was thinking of doing to her. She regarded that he had licked his lips and placed his bottom lip in between his teeth as his eyes traveled down to her bare, thick legs. When he locked eyes with her, she felt her nervousness intensify.

He slowly leaned down, pressing his body against hers, gently kissing her softly. She froze, widening her eyes as she felt his lips move on hers while he tilted his head to continue kissing her slowly.

‘What the hell? What the hell are we doing? What the hell are we doing?’ she thought in panic.

His lips were tender and he pulled away briefly, leaving her breathless. Jungkook moved some hair from her face before leaning down to crash his lips against hers again.

Part of her wanted to push him off.

Tell him that this should not be happening.

But his kisses were too much to handle and she found herself kissing back, uncertain. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Gradually, she became in sync with his lips, finding a rhythm, despite her lack of kiss experience.

With a hand in his soft hair, she ran her fingers through it. Shortly after she felt his large hands caressing her legs and she hitched a breath. 

Jungkook’s hands were all over her. Places that a friend shouldn’t be touching but he was so gentle that she couldn’t help but melt into his touch. They slowly eased back from their lingering kiss to catch their breaths. 

Jennie, unable to resist and giving in to this heated encounter, sat up with him to straddle him on his lap. The sudden gesture made him grunt softly as she gripped onto his shirt. 

The way he looked at her looked like he was giving her permission to do whatever she wanted. Sensing her hesitation, he ended up guiding her hands to remove his shirt before tossing it to the side.

'Oh my God...' she thought as she ran her hands down his chest and then took his face in her hands. 'What's gotten into me?'

She resumed kissing him again as she felt warm and tingly. Each kiss felt better than the last one, making her feel good. Their kissing got heated as he slowly ran his hands down her back and squeezed her hips. He was starting to drive her crazy as he continued his frisky behavior when his hands slowly traveled down to squeeze her rear. The sudden gesture made her jump and let out a squeal of surprise before resuming their heated kissing.

Once they pulled back to breathe again, a thought in her mind made her place a hand on his chest, as the doubts came back.

‘We shouldn’t be doing this...I should not have kissed him. This isn’t right. But it feels right. But friends don’t do this. We need to stop. This can’t go any further. I need to get out of this.’ she thought, feeling conflicted with everything that was going on.

Jungkook noticed her pulling away and closed the gap by pulling her back against his body.

"Don't. It's okay," he murmured and swiftly laid her back on the bed, climbing on top of her to kiss her again.

Jungkook made her forget about the doubts as he deepened the kiss, causing her to softly moan. It made her feel embarrassed that an abrupt sound like that came out of her since she never made a sound like that before. She felt his strong hands grab her wrists, pinning them on the bed, beside her head. His hands gradually slid up to her hands slowly intertwining his fingers with hers. He kept a firm grip, making her unable to escape his passion.

Jungkook took his time, placing sweet kisses on her face. From her cheeks to her jawline, he made her feel wanted and cared for. He needed to stop kissing her like this. Every time he kissed her sweetly, he would glance at her lovingly before doing it again. His kisses were making her heart pound. She couldn’t take much more of this.

Turning her head to one side, she closed her eyes and let out shaky breaths when she felt him shift down to her neck. His nose nuzzled against her neck before placing, soft and gentle kisses around it, leaving her panting from the foreign feeling.

‘Oh God...why am I enjoying this?’ she thought as she threw her head back against the pillow.

She tightened her hands against his, writhing underneath him while trying to fight back any sounds. Of course, with Jungkook pinning her down to the bed, focused on her neck, she failed miserably, becoming undone. Jungkook appeared to be satisfied with his efforts and her reactions because he let out a low chuckle in response.

“Jungkook,” she whispered breathlessly as she felt his warm breath against her ear.

“Relax, baby girl...” he whispered, feeling her squirm from all the overwhelming and foreign feelings in her body.

This was torture, what he was doing to her, and she couldn’t do anything as he held her down.

"Do you trust me?" she heard him ask in her ear, making her shiver. 

"Y-yes," she breathed out. 

Suddenly he let her go and began kissing down her neck and started to move lower, making her feel flushed

"W-wait...where are you going?" she stuttered with her breathing increasing as she placed her hands in his hair when he continued to travel down to her stomach. 

Never would she think that Jungkook would ever do this, especially to her.

----

Jennie ended up falling off her bed with a big thump. She quickly got back to her feet. Snapping her head from side to side, looking around, she noticed that no one was in her room but her.

“What the hell...?” she placed a hand on her hair, which was still in a bun, and checked her phone to see no messages from Jungkook that indicated that he needed a massage tonight.

She then realized that she was just dreaming.

“Oh no. Oh my gosh, please. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.” she started pacing around, in panic. “No. No. No.” she shook her head repeatedly, trying to get the thoughts out of her mind.

It startled her that she just dreamed about her friend this way. 

“That meant nothing. That had to mean nothing.” she tried to convince herself. “No way. No way this would happen. Why did I dream of that? Why? Am I drunk? Did I eat one too many Smarties? Get it together!”

She slapped her cheeks with her palms. Going into her small bathroom, she splashed her face with cold water and sat on top of the toilet seat, to collect her thoughts.

That imagination...came out of nowhere.

Jungkook would never think of this, would he?

He would never think of her like this, right?

So why did she think of him like that?

He probably never dreamed of her like that, either, so why did she?

He would never think about making out with her, would he?

She was so confused.

Friends don’t just make out with each other like they did in that dream and she shouldn’t be having these types of thoughts of him.

“This is wrong. We can’t...we’re friends.” she reminded herself. “Best friends. In a group. We are in a group, working together. Professionally. This...can’t happen. It meant nothing. It meant nothing, Jennie.” she tried to convince herself as she worked on pretending that the dream didn’t happen.

Boy, it was going to be hard to act normal around Jungkook in the morning.

[keelsforreals]

refrain: chapter 1, good

kageyama x f!reader

chapter 1 - refrain masterlist

♪ ༘⋆ good

a/n: i recommend listening to the song when it comes up!! it's not required for the story or anything but i think it adds to the reading experience :)

kageyama opened his laptop and leaned back on his headboard. the sun was setting and the air was thick, "perfect yn listening weather" in oikawa's words. he had no idea what that meant, but kenma silently agreed so he took his word for it.

the stream was apparently starting soon, so he opened the youtube tab he pinned the day prior. looking back at him through the screen was yn. yn... the name was somehow familiar to him, not just from kenma and oikawa talking about her, but he couldn't recall from where. shelving that thought for another time, he focused on the stream and listened.

"hiii! oh wow you guys are coming in quick". she pushed her hair back with both hands, and smiled as her eyes darted back and forth from the camera to where the chat was. yn spoke softly but clearly, kageyama wondered if her singing voice was similar.

"so..." kageyama blinked, pulled away from his thoughts, but determined to stay focused this time. "today's stream is going to be pretty chill. if you didn't know, i had a concert last night at onigiri miya. were any of you there?" her eyes move to the chat and she smiled. "yes tooru, i know you were there". unconsciously, kageyama looks to the chat and cringes as he skims oikawa's numerous messages. in all caps. with far too many emojis.

yn laughs and reads a few messages from other viewers before changing the subject. "okay, uh, i should probably stop talking now. it's singing time". she pulls an acoustic guitar from off screen and positions it in her lap as she starts talking. "now this first song, i'm sure you're all familiar with. especially one of you. and for that one person watching," something between annoyance and sadness shows on her expression for just a second, so fast that kageyama feels like he's the only one that noticed. "i've moved on. we both know that. so why can't you?"

kageyama wants to ask every question he could. he's always been nosey. but before he could act on any urge to type in chat, he feels embarrassed. 'this is a stranger. what am i doing?'

"anyways. this is mud"

...

a whole hour of songs and short talking breaks in between, but kageyama hasn't looked away once. her face is relaxed, her eyes either focused on the chat or on her hands while playing her guitar. he finds himself smiling at her looks at the camera and remarks, fulling feeling her music when she starts a new song.

the final song ends with a long strum of her guitar. she exhales and takes the guitar off of her lap as she starts to talk again. "alright guys, i think that's it for tonight". yn smiles and looks at the camera, kageyama feels like she's looking right at him.

"thank you for watching, i'm really glad i could-woah HEY!" her head whipped around to her bedroom door as it flew open. "YN!" kageyama squinted at the screen, realizing he knew the unfocused face and voice behind yn. nishinoya? why was he there? what was the big deal?

"woah, noya dude what's your problem? im live right now"

"turn off the stream! now like seriously!"

"good or bad?"

"good i promise just turn it o-" he reached over yn's shoulder and ended the stream. just like that. not knowing what just happened or what to think, he pulled out his phone.

p.s!

➳ first chapter is done lets go!

➳ i will probably make a playlist with some songs that go along with yn's streams and post it later

➳ sorry that this is like all writing i got really carried away (dw it will go back to mostly smau next chapter)

➳ nothing bad happened! the news is really good

➳ oikawa is a double texter (more like quadruple texter) and he feels no shame

➳ noya and yn check up on each other by saying "good or bad", it's easy for the both of them and it can lead to a conversation if needed or just stay the one word answer if they dont feel like talking about it

sypnosis: the infamous point to a crowd member at the end of all of yn’s concerts wasn’t something she ever thought that much of, after all, it was just a joke her friends and bandmates thought would be funny. however this simple move to an unaware and uninformed boy makes both of them question if it really was just a throw away joke this time, or something more. something neither of them expected to come out of this small, crowded gig.

taglist (open!): @lvtilzs @diorzs @nymphsdomain

[spaceorphan18]

Hi! You mentioned you were a bit disappointed by part 2 - what do you think could've been done better? Personally I needed more Colin, I felt like he got lost in the Whistledown plot

Hi Nonny!

Ooff, I have very complicated feelings about all of this, lol.

I was initially disappointed when I first watched because there are a lot of subtle emotions going on and it all goes by so quickly, and is in such short bursts that it's hard to unpack all of it on first watch. It also COMPLETELY plays with expectations and has them in the middle of a fight while getting married which is... so bonkers. So bonkers. And it is incredibly disorienting.

Having rewatched it (multiple times now) and having some MAJOR revelations about Colin (I mean I was casually watching two months ago -- I had zero real idea bout his character) I actually love a lot of the second half, and really appreciate what they were going for.

Is it perfect? No - there are still some issues (I'll get to that in a sec) but I appreciate the story that they were attempting to tell. Because it's fascinating. And there are a lot of delicious elements to it.

I think one of the biggest issues is that they were trying to cram this incredibly complex story into 8 episodes. And with the addition of the million subplots, it didn't fully work. Honestly, I wish we had gotten an episode or two longer just to let the full story breathe a little more.

I agree that, overall, they we needed a tad more of Colin's process. It's there but it's subtle. And I think his entire character arc, while there, is subtle. As just a casual viewer who hadn't watched the previous seasons - ngl, I felt slightly lost and slightly disappointed that we didn't get to see /more/.

Also it's hard. HARD. That they don't get to connect post-wedding, because Whistledown still hangs down over them. Because you WANT to them to have that post-wedding bliss. You WANT them to consummate the marriage and have that after glow and we don't get that. And my god, I really wanted to wake up in bed together, happy and blissful like we got with Kanthany.

But that's not the story.

I will say, once I unpacked it a little - the story we get is absolutely delicious. And I actually really love what we did get. There's this fascinating angst there -- where the characters are so IN LOVE and yet they both have their own journeys of dealing with the Whistledown of it all. And the fact that they do go through with this wedding, the fact that their their friendship means they have groundwork to get them through the nonsense, it's so good. I really love it.

But yeah, ultimately, I just wanted more of it. Because we don't get enough. But, honestly, I feel like we'd never get enough really.

About the side plots -- I haven't gone back and watch the first two seasons other than the rewatch I did a month ago. I'll have to see how many subplots are in those seasons, because idk know if there are /that/ many more. It's just that we're used to Polin being the subplot that it's odd when someone else takes that space.

About the ending -- here's where I feel like it could have been better. And here's where I think that maybe Season 4 can deliver on what was ultimately cut short in Season 3. I think Season 4 will have them be a united front and whatever Pen is going to go through they go through it together.

But we also get the happiness we didn't fully get at the end of Season 3. I hope -- would like to believe that Polin will settle into their comfortable roles as subplots again.

And maybe selfishly, I hope the show can keep Nic and Luke as long as possible because -- with their story being there from the beginning they have the chance to be a backbone of the entire show. And I mean, think about how much story that accumulates over all those seasons.

Anyway - I have more to say about the episodes, and maybe I'll kind of write up more on Season 3 as a whole, or episode by episode or something. Because, y'all who've been here with me know, media analysis has just become my second job. (I say as if I don't love every second of it.)

[lady-phasma]

It’s me again 💝

I’ve been in the Hotd fandom since the show first aired but got really into it once adult Aemond showed up . I’ve dabbled in a bunch of what I call creator content, fics , imagines even editing videos … I just don’t seem to find my people or I have people and they talk for awhile but then ghost . I try not to stress cause I get it we have lives and that shit comes first but it’s just idk sad when I try so hard and I’m lost in the crowd if you will. I’ve reached out to people via dm and I usually try to comment and give my opinion to get some interaction . Perhaps I’m making a bigger deal than I should . I would love to come off anon and dm but I just don’t wanna be judged and I say this even though I know people reading this will think pathetic . It is what it is

Hi 💝! Thank you for writing again! First, no negative self-talk on my blog. 😊 It's not a rule exactly, but I don't support it. Maybe you follow me, that's irrelevant, but I doubt that the demographic of my followers will think anything about this is pathetic. Outside of them, if they think that, they can block me and then we don't have to worry about their opinions, do we?

Now that's out of the way, don't worry about coming off anon. You don't have to or you can decide later. I answered another ask and said this and it bears repeating:

Feelings are valid, but they are not always truth.

Maybe it is a big deal to you at this point in your life. It has been to me at other times (not on Tumblr because I was on a near-10 year break from it). I don't like to give advice because I'm not in your shoes. I can only offer an ear to listen and my honest opinions.

Keep creating!! Whether it's in a fandom setting or not. I only write what I want to write. I only make gifs of what I want (or need for a fic). Make things when you feel inspiration or even if you don't. Drop your imagines in here if you want. Especially (but not limited to) excitement you have during the second season! There is going to be so much lovely chaos during the second season. We are all going to have thoughts!

As for your experience on your blog, follow more people, reblog with comments/discourse (if it's kind and not hurtful). And try not to compare yourself to others. I know it's difficult when notes on a post feel so damn good, but they aren't always immediate. And be yourself. I don't mean any of this as advice - it's just how I behave on here. Try not to try, just be.

I am so glad you've been in the fandom since the start! I stared my HotD experience on AO3 because I had been on there for years. Then a conversation in the comments in October 2022 got me on Tumblr for the first time since 2013/14. I'm so glad it did! There has been drama (I took a hiatus from Jan 2023 until March 2024) but there has been more joy and fun than that for me. I do that on purpose.

As I've said before, there were about 9 million viewers for the season 1 finale. That's a lot of people. More than I can imagine. So, if I were to offer advice it would be this: this time around for me I have been looking at the tags I follow more often than I used to. I look at posts that are like-minded: kind posts, funny posts that don't make fun of any part of the fandom, and posts about niche characters/elements. Then I look at that blog further, check out older posts to see if they have my same values (or close), and if so, I give them a follow. People don't always follow back, that's okay. But I get to see their positivity or inclusivity and that enriches my experience. The Nettles community is one of the best out here and I am so glad I get to be a part of it. We don't always agree but it's so fun to find a part of another aspect of the fandom. I throw my net wide because there are so many of us.

Lastly, like I said in a recent answer: what do you do to make others feel heard? Do you comment on posts when people express that they are lonely in a fandom? Do you give them a hug emoji or a "hey, I see you" kind of reaction? I do these things when I see those posts because what we put out comes back to us. Treat others how you want to be treated. That's not to say you haven't been doing this but if you haven't, maybe think about why - are you shy, judgmental, unsure how it will be received, or other motivations to keep scrolling?

I want everyone to have a great time in this or any fandom. This fandom in particular needs more positivity and inclusivity. I didn't get the nickname auntie for nothing. 💕 But it's never forced or fake. Come back to my inbox any time and as often as you like. We don't have to keep discussing this unless you want to! Is Aemond your favorite? Which episode do you dislike the most? Are you excited about something in particular for season 2? But there is no expectation or obligation.

[sharptoothed-gaze]

o//

So after watching vods and bads stream and clips:

When things calm down or they get a moment.. I NEED for qTubbo and Sunny to actually sit/chill with qPhil Chayanne and Tallulah and TALK. Okay?

I am so sad/upset.. concerned of things in seen within the chats and stream. And I make this clear every character is valid their own feelings and pov but we as the audience are able to see more than one pov. And when we CHOOSE to ignore other povs or closed minded things can/have gotten a bit toxic.

"..you have phil chayanne and tallulah.."

Tubbo chat: they don't care...

Hallo?? Qphil cares for Sunny!!! Her God sibblings including tallulah cares!! Just like any other egg. Yes lullah was worried in the beginning but anyone paying attention can actually see they are closer than they were. They are children and sometimes things need time. Happens. Lullah adore her God father, she was there for his bday and talks to him when can. But just like sunny she can choose who she wants to talk and be around. She has a comfort level just as sunny has one. Chill. When tubbo died it was not clear to Phil, even chat was confused but once Creation came up, he understood it was real. He even apologized because seriously didn't know it was real.

On top of having to deal with his friends death he has to assure his kids have cookies. And at that point the cookies were expensive and he could not afford them. Chayanne had to assure him things would be okay. Fast forward this week he has more than enough and can help any egg if need be. Since Tubbos death qphil has had to assure the kids theyvwould get tubbo back and to not worry of sunny because they will make sure she is taken care of. But note he will not force Sunny to hang around, she is free to what she needs to thrive for now.

The miscommunication between these characters is strong. On purpose or not. Story wise I love it but as viewer I don't know... concerned now?

I just want everyone to be better and happier than the day before on the island. And the audiences to be more understanding and open minded of the ccs/characters and admins

Sorry for the novel. Sorry OP

Please never be afraid to send a long ask! I promise that it’s not a bother, and I genuinely enjoy reading people’s analysis/thoughts on both characters and the fandom.

But yeah, I totally agree with you that miscommunication and unintended pov bias are at the core of the issue here! It really sucks to see people who legitimately think that Philza hates Sunny when it just isn’t supported by canon.

Sunny might /feel/ hated or disliked, which makes sense for her pov, but that doesn’t mean qPhilza actually hates her. He’s given no indication that he hates her being around him, his children, or his home. (His only concern about her hanging out has always been the potential safety issue of 1 adult watching 3 eggs.)

So far, qPhilza has always been very direct with his language, so I don’t think there is a reason to assume Philza is secretly lying when he tells Sunny she can stay over or ask for help whenever. He might be stressed about his own capacity to protect and care for three kids, but that doesn’t mean he wants her to be alone.

Everything in canon says that Philza wants the eggs to be safe and happy just like everyone else on the island. Nothing has contradicted that. He might prioritize his own kids the most and sometimes fail to understand some social/emotional situations, but the eggs’ safety is everything to him.

Plus, canon shows again and again that qTubbo trusts qPhilza and loves his godchildren dearly. Tubbo knows that if Sunny really needed help, Philza would do everything in his power to do so. Even if all he can do is direct her to someone more capable of getting resources like bbh. That’s him thinking of and trusting the island’s collective parenting to ensure that the kids have everything they need. Considering he logs on the server an avg of 3 times a week I think that’s fair enough.

I don’t mind conflict between characters, but yeah, fans claiming things that canon doesn’t support can annoy me. Canon pretty much says that Philza /does/ care, but he can do a shit job of showing it. He’s not meeting Sunny’s emotional needs, and I think that can be worked on with communication. There’s truly no reason to assume that qPhilza is maliciously harming Sunny.

[idoltime]

Idol Time’s Second Episode featuring ATLAS’ Sim Haedam (@svtlas), aired on March 22nd, 2024 with the shows returning and permanent host, Everlast’s Cody. Once again, the video earned quick attention and was trending #3 for weeks after its initial release which was a big success for show itself.

Cody appears on screen immediately after the intro is played and the bright Idol Time logo is shown, and similar to last episode, queue cards in one hand and mic in the other, with an overstretched smile replacing the previous blank expression he wore.

“Hi, and welcome back to Idol Time! The only interview show you need to tune in for and quite possibly the best show you’ve ever seen. Obviously hosted by me, Cody!”

“I’d just like to thank everyone for the support on the first episode, like, if I didn’t feel famous before, I really feel it now and all that funny stuff. Now, let’s introduce the second guest of our show ATLAS’ Haedam!”

Cody lets a dramatic pause pass before signalling for Haedam to enter the room. He does so with a small smile and raises both his hands to wave excitedly as he walks towards his seat.

“Hello! As you already know, my name is Haedam and I am the maknae of the seventeen subunit ATLAS and formerly a member of X1!” They both clap at Haedam’s introduction before Cody raises the mic to his mouth. “Welcome, Haedam. Anything you’d like the viewers to know about you?” He questions.

“Uhm…I like playing the guitar sometimes, baking, and hanging out with my members. Oh, and I’m really interested in building legos! I also have type one diabetes, I don’t think that's been mentioned before but I’m super excited to be here! I love interviews and stuff!”

Cody smiles in response to Haedam’s energy and flips over to the next queue card for the next set of questions.

“You’ve told both me and the viewers you were a former X1 member, so how was the survival show experience for you?” Haedam sighs, looking a little uneasy at the mention of the topic.

He swallows, visibly uncomfortable, whilst he finds his words. "It was fun....overall i think? but there were definitely parts that were really awful. They focused more about our performances and stuff than anything else. if we were sick... it didn't matter. It sucked. I don't think I would do it again."

Cody silently nods in agreement, knowing exactly how Haedam felt at the time.

“Personally, I think all future survival shows should be banned, period. But nobody’s gonna listen to me anyways, guys, trust me when I say they are not all that fun. Anyways, how’d it feel to place 3rd out of all those people? That’s a pretty high rank.”

Haedam’s face softens at the slight change in topic, seemingly quite proud of himself. "It felt really good! I was so proud of myself! Of course like, it would've been cool to be first but like, I'm grateful to have made it at all."

He grins. “I was honestly so surprised, it felt unreal to know that I had done a good enough job to make it through to the end.”

“How’d it feel when X1 disbanded, was it a big moment for you?” Cody asks.

Haedam’s eyes fixate themselves on the pattern of the floor as he talks, "Woah. I mean, I cried a lot. It was really scary because I didn't do anything wrong and it felt like I was being punished. I made a lot of friends in x1 and it hurt to have them taken away from me."

The room goes silent for a little, with Cody fumbling around with the order of the queue cards until he finally gets them in the correct sequence.

“It must’ve been a tough time for you to deal with, especially since X1 was your first group but you were given a second chance as a seventeen sub-unit. How did it feel when you knew ATLAS would be debuting?”

"I was so happy to have another chance. but i was so scared about it. I had a lot of anxiety because I felt like I had some type of curse, and that maybe my new group would disband suddenly too because I was in it. I love my group members, they reassured me a lot and helped me feel better about it."

“That's great, I’m glad you’re having a better time with ATLAS. But rumour has it, you were rigged into the X1 lineup, is that true?”

Haedam’s face contorts to one of shock, horrified that anyone would ever think that about him.

"I really wasn't rigged in, guys. I promise I have the papers here."

Now, Cody looks around, surprised at Haedam’s last few words.

“Wait—How did you even manage to get something like that?” Haedam shrugs, laughing it off.

“Don’t worry too much about it. I asked for these after X1 disbanded because I felt like it was maybe my fault but it wasn't....if anything maybe I was ranked lower than I should have been."

Cody laughs along with him, “Okay, fair enough. Any scandals you want to talk about?”

“Other than the X1 scandals people don't really make a lot of bad news that trend about me? at least ones that i want to address. So, thank you?"

“You’re lucky,” Cody responds and Haedam lets out a small hum. “Before we end the interview, any extra things you need to say or any upcoming projects?”

Haedam grasps onto his mic. “I wanna say hi to my old X1 members if they're listening! Hi guys! I miss you all! and hi to my hyungs because they're definitely watching! It's supposed to be a secret...but we may or may not have a comeback coming soon. You guys didn't hear it from me though."

Cody’s face brightens, “Well, it is comeback season. Now, some final words for the viewers of this episode?”

Haedam waves frantically and quickly thinks before answering.

“Bye everyone! Thank you so much for listening to me! Please keep tuning into idol time because it's really cool! Have a great day!"

Cody copies Haedam’s wave as they wave in sync, “I couldn’t have said it better myself, see you next episode!” The video cuts to the bright blue logo before fading out into darkness once more.

[megabuild]

hi how is ethubs toxic for etho? I’m curious, and don’t really care either way lol just wanted to see your perspective (I think you implied it in a post of yours)

so i would personally interpret ethubs as toxic from both sides and it feels unfair when analysing something like that to say "this person definitively had the Worse Experience" because that's not something you can measure- having said that i definitely like to look at etho's more, mainly because it lines up with my own personal experiences and is also something that i don't see discussed very much.

ethubs as a whole can be difficult to read as toxic sometimes because as a viewer you're already aware the two actors are close friends outside of the roleplay and so their constant back and forth and commitment to each other is obviously in part because of that but as characters they very much read to me as dependent to an unhealthy degree. all of last life functions as a push-pull exercise, mainly with bdubs as the one pulling while etho allows himself to get pulled along even into intense danger for them both until he realises bdubs is pulling him off a cliff edge and pushes (the wither fight/telling bdubs he won't give him a life). bdubs demands a lot from him, often pointing to "the good old days" and promising that once etho does whatever he needs to do things will go back to normal- to the point where etho himself starts leaning into that idea, telling bdubs "we can be buddies again!" in their final meeting despite this, again, being a death game where there is no hope for either of them. this could still be read as just a very committed relationship but what sets it against etho for me is that bdubs is (unintentionally) emotionally manipulative- he is desperate to stay with etho, of course he is! and often directs comments towards etho insinuating other people won't get him the way bdubs does (an element of truth- etho is a lone wolf and was never as open with his other allies as he was with bdubs) and, most importantly, telling etho to kill himself in order to join him as a red life or else he will kill him himself. this is bad!

bdubs is also an incredibly reckless character, which isn't really a toxic trait but in their partnership becomes significant as etho is always chasing after him to try and save him- while etho never directly gives him a life of his own he is constantly at ends trying to find lives for him, be that in asking tango, striking deals with scar, or allowing bdubs to kill tango despite having the means to stop him. stuff like when bdubs trades off a life for the enchanter and etho frustratedly says back "i care about bdubs more than i care about the enchanter!" bdubs is constantly working towards a win for them both (and i don't doubt that had it been the two of them left, he would have asked etho to kill him- he does this all through his own warped perception of loyalty) while etho is constantly working just to keep them alive and safe and the two ideals end up clashing a lot.

does all of this make a toxic relationship? not in every case. but to me (again, likely because of personal similar experience and bias) it reads very much like that and i think if etho was more into the roleplay and displayed even the slightest bit of distress it would suddenly look INCREDIBLY apparent. part of the reason it doesn't is because as a character he is used to hiding his true feelings and discomfort in order to survive.

[raveneira]

I just don't get why Ikemoto is drawing AND writing at the same time..... Like it would've been better if Kodachi stayed and wrote the story, Or Kishimoto continues it (which btw he wants vacation lol). Kodachi/Kishi wrote the better story and they had the vision, on the other hand, Ike's writing is literally a fanfiction lol.

Btw, do you think we still have hope for KawaSara, cuz it's looking too rough now? Don't get me wrong, I still ship it, but Idk what to expect lol....

Yeah, whats worse is its not even Ikemoto's fanfiction, he's literally taking actual fanfic/fan theories and makin em canon, and you cant even say its impossible because in the interview he literally gets off track from answering a question to address complaints he was seeing online to defend himself 😭 so this man DOES look at fandom feedback, so theres no way you can say its totally a coincidence that so many fan theories became canon EXACTLY as they predicted it, theres just no way.

Once or twice you could say that it was a fluke, but this is way more times than one, and the fact that he pretty much confirmed that regardless of fans justified complaints about certain things he will ignore them because 'he likes it that way' so ppl will just have to deal with it.

Meaning having any hope of him taking any of the valid criticism to improve is gone, whatever he likes is what hes gonna do, even if it goes against what even Kishimoto himself wants/wanted because it is HIS story now and Kishimoto has no intention on intervening since hes happy spending time with his family now and isnt ready to let that time go again yet, which is understandable and I hope he takes as long a break as he wants or needs, I just hate that his legacy is being tarnished in the meantime because greedy higher ups WOULDNT let the series die and Kishimoto get a break like he asked for.

The story really did peak under Kishimoto and Kodachi's writing direction, the second the story shifted entirely in IKEMOTOS direction you saw the quality DROP and the story become a directionless convoluted inconsistent mess.

As for if I still have hope for KawaSara...to be honest I dont know anymore, the reveal that Ikemoto is 100% writing and that Kishimoto himself doesnt even know where the story is headed anymore and is just as much a reader as the rest of us, and even if he does give input, he lets Ikemoto have the final say, has gotten me unsure of what to expect anymore.

Under Kishimoto and Kodachi's writing they were pretty strongly hinting at building more on Kawaki and Sarada's relationship, his bond with team 7, to really drive home his betrayal later so that it'd have some real weight and impact from all their build up. So the potential for KawaSara was very high from what they were setting up.

But Ikemoto? yea I dunno what to expect from him, but if where the story direction changed is anything to go by [which Ikemoto confirms was all his doing and its a completely different direction than the one Kishimoto and Kodachi had planned] its safe to say hes tryna push bsa, either that or troll like a mf just to keep those viewers engaged since this manga is tanking more and more every chapter and the biggest supporters are shippers who just wanna see Boruto and Sarada get together for eugenics.

I wont say KawaSara has lost yet or that its hopeless, the ship hasnt been definitively killed off yet, theres still a possibility this is just another NS situation, teasing what the ppl want just to keep em readin till the very end where he finally says alright now for the real endgame once he no longer has anything to lose by pissing off bsa lol

Even if Im unsure about KawaSara at this point in time, Im still fairly confident in BoruSumi even tho alot of ppl have written her off just cuz she doesnt have a hug scene [NH doesnt either anywhere in the manga but NS does] or a reckless attempt at saving the other [according to KK Sarada and Boruto both would've died if not for the other shinobi arriving when they did so she didnt even save him fr so this argument is invalid]

They also downplay her feelings just because shes more reserved and rational than Sarada, which is kinda the point of opposites attracting and balancing eachother out [Minato being the quiet calm level headed one while Kushina is hot headed and loud] whereas Sarada and Boruto are both portrayed as hotheaded rebels apparently, their kinda the same person atp but thats another topic for another day.

Point is KawaSara is up in the air, but BoruSumi shouldnt be counted out yet, lack of screentime and interaction didnt mean jack shit for NaruHina, SaiIno, or ChoKarui, so lets not pretend its the ship killer for BoruSumi.

Lets also not pretend that SS didnt also go through one hell of a rough patch cuz they did, and they still became canon in the end, so again lets not pretend these things are ship killers alright because they aint, the real meat of the story hasnt happened yet, and Kawaki is supposed to be getting more development soon so lets see how that goes and who its with first and judge further from there.

[asherlockstudy]

ok I'm sorry I know I ask a tonne of stupid questions, but I really do value your opinion on these things, so I wanted to know two things, if you'd be able to answer them: (also my sincerest apologies if you've already answered these in previous posts since I've read most of what you've written, but I read it about 2 years ago so I don't remember it all) 1. What's your opinion on the last scenes of TSoT wherein Sherlock looks around at everyone before leaving the wedding?

2. Do you think John's violent tendencies have been simmering beneath the surface the whole time? As in, do you think we've been seeing him be violent ever since the first seasons but we all were fine with it until it was directed at Sherlock?

(sorry for the long ask by the way, love your work!!!!! thank you!!!)

Hello, thank you for your nice words and sorry for the late answer! It has been crazy.

TSoT last scene with Sherlock looking around: I don't think there is something very significant in this moment, except it shows Sherlock's vulnerability and his need - even HIS need - to actually connect with people. Sherlock has done the hard job, be a best man and then also inform the Watsons they are expecting. The momentary sorrow in his face that can not be hidden freaks out John as usual, who makes a heteronormative joke and then drags Mary away to dance with her. Sherlock pretends well and he actually intends to keep pretending for the rest of the night. He looks around for a familiar face to connect, to dance with. He sees Janine and he actually makes a move towards her, to join her in her dance. So, he tried to join in, to have fun despite the obvious imminent deterioration of his relationship with John that this marriage and then also a child would bring. He wants to do well by John and be a proper best man until the end of this night. Janine, however, has already found a dancing partner and shows him she's "taken". Sherlock takes the hint and stops in his tracks, this time does a rushed low-key embarrassed scan of the room and decides to leave. I don't know if this was the typical heteronormative-plot-alternative-targeting-the-casuals (besides, viewers had to believe Sherlock was attracted to Janine for the early scenes in His Last Vow to make sense before Sherlock's eventual reveal that his attraction was only a scheme) or just a little moment of a platonic rejection that was just the cherry on top for Sherlock that night, but obviously he wasn't really heartbroken because Janine danced with somebody else. The point is that it came fresh right after the serious ordeal, John's marriage to somebody else, and it worked like a nasty reminder: you get rejected, this love and socializing thing that works so naturally for everyone else does not work for you. Sherlock is reminded of this seconds after the charged discussion with the Watsons and it just seals the deal. Sherlock looks around half-heartedly but this time he has taken his decision. Surely it's not him to chat someone up or just dance and blend with others casually. Sherlock decides he did his part and he becomes "Sherlock Holmes" again. He leaves the party, wearing his cold otherwordly detective persona once more.

John's violent tendencies: I have written two metas which tackle this topic a bit. One of them is John's Choices. It's not exactly what you are asking but it explains why John has become what he is by The Lying Detective. However, I also intended at some point in time to make a post series exactly about what you are asking. I even made the first part of such a series; The mysterious John Watson - Part 1. Unimportant fun fact because I am getting nostalgic now: this is the second meta I ever wrote. So, you know, A LOT of time has passed and apparently I made such thoughts about John's violent side ever since I first watched the show. (The paragraph about TLD was added much later.) For some reason I never wrote the Part 2 and I can't do it now because I have forgotten how exactly I wanted to go about it in the beginning. In any case, my first part is pretty much a standalone (albeit not very thorough, it is more introductory) post and there I completely agree with you that John always had violent tendencies but we have a habit of forgiving him. Before meeting Sherlock, he is an unpleasant, sullen, miserable man. Once he met Sherlock he was able to channel his violent tendencies to a noble reason, that of solving a crime and bringing the villain to justice. Before Sherlock, he volunteered to the war because he thought this was an acceptable, healthier way to channel his aggression. John is a darker character than most fans believe. Sherlock has his moments of darkness too. They are destiny for each other because they know how to bring out the better self from one another and decompress the pent up darkness and aggression in somewhat healthy ways. They are broken people who get fixed when they are together in a stable enough friendship / relationship. When the relationship is threatened though, so is this fine emotional balance that keeps them at check. Now, what made John have a dark side in him? Probably what also made his sister Harry an alcoholic. Problematic upbringing.

[tubbytarchia]

My very not so condensed overview as to why Mizakai is such a nuanced #deep Yugioh pairing (AKA Mizakai propaganda)

Mizakai is really fucking good and I need everyone to understand this

If anyone out there is on the fence about Mizakai please allow me to convince you to the best of my ability

Right off the bat, Mizael is supposed to be fighting for the Barian World yet he focuses on his rivalry with Kaito instead from their first encounter, and why was Kaito there anyway? An average viewer might say it was because they're both Galaxy-Eyes users but WRONG it was Mizael's homosexual pull. Shark was literally rearing up to duel Mizael when Yuma no longer could but then Kaito flew in like "no, me". And let me remind you how Zexal I ended: Kaito proclaimed that he had no reason to duel once Haruto was safe - he only ever dueled for him - to fight, while Yuma taught him how to duel for fun. And Kaito's first proper appearance in Zexal II where he duels is the episode he turns up to face some gay sassy blond when he didn't need to. So a bunch of homosexual banter, bla bla, and at the very end before their duel can conclude, as the last thing, Mizael gives Kaito his name

What happens the next time they meet? Kaito calls out his name <3

Anyway Sargasso time!!! All the Barians put into effect a card that causes damage to every player, but they also each have a card to protect themselves from said damage. Mizael however doesn't use it, because he wants an even fighting ground with Kaito. Later, when they observe Yuma having an epic 13yo breakdown for awhile, at some point Kaito decides 'that's enough of that' and instead asks Mizael "where are you looking?" (ep 98) like ok sir. Don't forget that Kaito and Yuma are literally friends too but this ain't about Yuma!! He can deal with this extremely traumatizing event on his own, Kaito's given him enough encouragement already

So Mizael is just soooo down bad and so desperate to just finish ONE singular duel with Kaito and is doing everything he can to make that happen. So naturally after killing 2 children, an autism creature and Kaito's ex, he goes to the Moon to duel Kaito because this matter simply can't wait. But he had the right idea because this is just the right place to duel anyway, and tension is significantly stronger in space than it is on Earth!

Que Kaito telling Mizael of his past as Mizael struggles to come to terms with it. As he is conflicted though, Kaito sees right through him and understands him better than he himself could. All this time Mizael was seeking to duel Kaito to prove that he's the real dragon tamer, when in this duel, as Kaito is dying, he without hesitation declares Mizael the true dragon tamer without Mizael having to beat him, or before the duel even concludes (which Mizael simply cannot fathom). And as practically a dying wish, Kaito asks "Mizael, if we were to meet again, wouldn't you tell me, what happened to you?" before he makes the finishing blow and yet, kind of reverses the odds as he ends up dying instead of Mizael despite every other duel ending in the death of the person that lost. Kaito in his dying moments breathed so much wind into Mizael's wings for him to "keep fighting for what you believe in".

But what does Mizael believe in? Well, Kaito was teaching him to believe in people just as he had been taught to. Mizael might have been the true dragon tamer, but in his pursuit trusted no one but dragons. He was raised by a dragon before his people failed him, and seeing as they had, Tachyon then protected Mizael from any further evil of mankind. As Tachyon can seal up into a weird bento box, seemingly shielding itself in the process, it shielded Mizael. How could Mizael ever accept that Tachyon was his curse? But Tachyon had been cursed by Don, just as Mizael had. No matter what they fought for then as a result, they stuck together of their own beliefs. But what made Tachyon Mizael's curse was that it stopped Mizael from moving on from the past. Even as time passed (and even if Barians don't age), Mizael's mindset never changed until Kaito came in to reap him of this shield that Mizael had put up. With Tachyon's effect of rewinding time, Mizael hoped to change the past, but Kaito showed him a future, thus removing his curse

Kaito taught Mizael that he was (or even is) human, a fact that Mizael does not want to accept one bit, literally shown visually as Mizael is forced into his human form, in rage then transforms back into his Barian form, only to be reduced back to his human form by the end anyway. And note that he STAYS in this form, he doesn't change back again!! Which is especially driven home when you see Nasch literally right there, Mizael's last surviving comrade, and yet he stays in his human form, as if to show that he is paving his own path now. And he is, because he's free of his curse. He's technically still a Barian but in a metaphorical sense, his curse has been lifted thanks to Kaito. Mizael was still fighting for the Barian World even if his focus shifted to some blondie, but in his final duel, he isn't dueling for the Barians, he's only dueling for himself. He gives it his very best shot to defeat Don on his own terms and, you know, despite the bullshit that Don pulls, Mizael doesn't look all that upset to die. I think that even as he was dying, he had found some fulfilment and was content to leave the rest to Nasch and Yuma

And speaking of Yuma - in his dying breaths, Kaito bestows Numeron Dragon onto Mizael (And don't forget that character A giving character B their card is basically a marriage proposal in Yugioh. Even within Zexal, think Yuma/Trey and Yuma/Shark among other instances). What does Mizael then do? He bestows the card on Yuma - The person who had taught Kaito to believe in people, just as Kaito had now taught Mizael. Sometimes Zexal is so beautiful in how it comes full circle, it makes me want to cry, and Mizakai comes in SUCH a circle it is INSANE.

When Kaito had nothing to defend anymore, he lost his reason to duel - but he refused to let Mizael lose his reason, even as Mizael had lost everyone except for Nasch, and so Mizael found a reason to duel (by virtue of finding what he really believed in)

I couldn't find a better place to put this but also just how visually beautifully tragic it is that Mizael, who can't for the love of him stop yapping, in his endless stubbornness, cannot bring himself to say anything as Kaito dies right before him with a smile on his face. All Mizael can do then is cry

So of course Mizakai would be a goldmine in a post-zexal scenario too. I'm gonna yap about more headcanons rather than canon stuff but bear with me

Two characters mending together is always such good hurt/comfort shit but ohhh my god Mizakai... Compare Mizael's and Kaito's traumas and imagine how they would handle them in one another's presence. Mizael would probably project an immense amount of his frustration onto Kaito subconsciously or otherwise, but with how understanding Kaito was, his patience to deal with it must be limitless. Mizael seeks the Kaito that would challenge him - just as Kaito would challenge him to duels in Zexal II, he wants Kaito to challenge what he says, and it would take time for him to adjust to the fact that Kaito isn't some miracle noble being - he's human just like Mizael, as selfless and self-sacrificing as he is, and what he did or does for Mizael is from this tangible human care - something Mizael needs time to come to grips with, as he's still new to this whole "being human (again)" thing. Another wonderful place to bring up the Galaxy-Eyes', as Mizael is just as "noble" as Kaito. He always fought for what he believed in but he got lost along the way with the cursed Tachyon, whereas Kaito chose Photon (who was always pure and never cursed) to fight alongside him (even if he acted somewhat selfishly in taking people's souls etc, he was doing it for someone he loved) (harkening back to the idea of Kaito freeing Mizael from his curse (and the idea that Mizael's curse was his own personal dilemma, not the fact that he was a Barian, even if that was the case literally speaking)). In the end they both had their Galaxy-Eyes' to ensure that they were never truly fighting alone, even with Don's curse in Mizael's case. Just as they valued an even fighting ground in duels, Kaito wants to even it now too to stop Mizael from putting him up on a pedestal to such a degree that it frustrates him, because they're really not so different

Anyway Kaito is a sickly little victorian man, seeing how bad of a state he was in all throughout Zexal and especially by the Moon duel. You could argue that the Numeron Code is perfect and would bring everyone back in a perfect state, but I say there is no perfection, nothing is ever "perfect", as everything is always in motion and changing (but that's getting too semantic and philosophical (but then, what is Yugioh if not that?)). If the Numeron Code really did bring everything back "perfectly", wouldn't it erase the character's traumas and stuff too, instead of just bringing them back to good physical health? So my point is, Kaito is still a sickly little victorian man, but fighting is all he knows. This plays into why he went out to duel Mizael as well - it's... all he knows!! He needs to fight and if there's nothing to fight then he works. Just as he was denied rest or nourishment in his training and number hunting, he is hardwired to deny those things to himself. But now imagine how it makes Mizael feel, when he sees Kaito tired or even fainted. He absolutely cannot allow Kaito to die again (even if Kaito is sure that this photon illness aint gonna get the best of him), because he already struggles to forgive himself for what he did.

Kaito doesn't know all of his past, yet it damn near feels like he knows everything about Mizael, and did everything for him, even arguably dying in Mizael's stead. What else would Mizael want to do but to return the favor? To want to learn about Kaito and to be able to understand his troubles, and not only help care for him physically but also help him deal with past trauma once he begins to get over his own. Mizael, who is so deeply emotional and vocal practically forces his troubles upon Kaito, but as he starts to figure himself out, he convinces Kaito to talk to him, and shows him that it's okay for him to be emotional. Because Kaito very much suppresses his emotions and would rather bury his troubles at the back of his mind rather than deal with them healthily. He's much more prone to making quick easy decisions and adjustments for the sake of others, like for example forgiving his father because it's easier than not, even though he has a lot of complicated feelings that he just refuses to dwell on

Basically they switch roles lol and there's just something really beautiful and poetic about that. Even if that way, Mizael ends up adopting this selfless patience that so greatly frustrated him about Kaito in the beginning

Kaito had never once stopped fighting for the people he loved, until Mizael came around and Kaito made the choice of his own volition to face him. But when did anyone really dedicate themselves to Kaito that same way? Well, Mizael sure would!! And Kaito likes how tangible Mizael makes him feel through affirmation and touch - grounded in the reality that he himself seems to be at a disconnect with, the same reality that he brought Mizael to. He reaped Mizael of his shield and basically forced him into this new ironically alien world, but he was here for Mizael to land safely, and Mizael wants to be there to help him stay grounded. If Kaito needed a friendly face in Heartland Tower to make it bearable to even still be there, or if he needed someone to give him a reality check mid breakdown, or if he needed someone to bring him coffee and carry him to bed, then Mizael would be that someone

In conclusion: