#the one on viki leaves it open ended

[aahsoka]

these two synopses for dear hyeri have completely different implications

[fauxkaren]

Lovely Runner - 10/10

The Platonic ideal of a fantasy romcom K-drama. Like... holy shit this was so good. The leads were so charming and had great chemistry. The way the story unfolded and reveals happened was so satisfying. The time travel aspect actually held together logically (or at least like it wasn't so egregious that I noticed it and it detracted from the experience). The soundtrack was amazing. The secondary characters were cute. There were fun comedic moments and also some genuinely moving emotional scenes. A lot of dramas will stumble at the finish line, but Lovely Runner absolutely sticks the landing.

Right. So. What is it about? I will do my best to lay out the premise, but I promise that the show itself does an excellent job of holding the viewers hand so it never feels confusing. The show opens in 2009 with Sol in a rehabilitation hospital after an accident where she lost use of her legs. She is angry and despairing until she hears a radio interview with Sun-jae, the vocalist of a rookie band that gives her hope and a desire to keep on living. Fifteen years later, Sun-jae is a wildly successful celebrity who is unhappy in life and Sol is a Sun-jae Super Fan. When Sun-jae dies by suicide, Sol is devastated and while clutching a watch of his that she'd bought at auction, Sol travels back in time to her body in 2008. Given the chance to change the future, Sol is determined to do so.

The show explores the 'what-ifs' of life. What if Sun-jae never suffered the career ending injury that caused him to leave swimming behind and started him on the path to stardom? What if Sol can avoid the accident that paralyzed her? But maybe some things are fate and cannot be avoided. And if you can change one thing, how could that create a domino effect that impacts everything else? The writing is so tight as it takes the audience through reveals and the timelines so I never felt lost or confused.

And like it's not just the writing that is excellent. The two leads are SO GOOD. They have great chemistry (which the show is NOT afraid to lean into!) and are compelling individual characters too. Kim Hye-yoon especially sparkles on screen as Sol. Outside of the leads, the world is populated with memorable minor characters that add even more life and fullness to the world. It was absolutely a joy to watch and I cannot recommend this highly enough. The only downside is that, in the US, Lovely Runner is not on Netflix or Hulu or Amazon so I uh... I had to sail the high seas to watch it. (It was on Viki but I was NOT about to subscribe to yet another goddamn streaming service.)

[absolutebl]

Hiii, I'm glad the ask box is open!

Idk if you already did a rec list on this, but can you recommend me old bls, like 90/2000s? I watched Seven days movies and its really good

Oh yay! Seven Days is the best. Actually, I have never done this. Here's a list of...

10+ BL's rated 7/10 or higher that aired prior to 2018

Just Friends?

Korea 2009 Gaga

This is Korea's first (kinda) upbeat version of a BL featuring already established boyfriends, one of whom is on military leave, trying to decide on coming out, family life, and the future. All of these are themes Korea will pretty much never tackle again, retreating as they would to their bubble. But what a fun little offering this little show was and is to this day. You should watch it.

Love Sick & Love Sick 2

Thai 2014 YouTube

This is one of those BLs that owes almost nothing to yaoi, although it started a number of tropes that are now endemic to Thai BL. What it is, instead, is a well scripted story of bisexual self-discovery and the inherent chaos of loving someone of the same gender for the first time, all wrapped up in hormones, existing relationships, and communication issues. It is high school queer angst at its messiest. Nothing is going to be easy for these boys because queer isn’t easy but also because life isn’t easy… welcome to adulthood sweethearts.

I'm actually considering a rewatch of these beginning of 2024 in honor of the 10 year anniversary if anyone wants to join.

Seven Days

Japan 2015 grey

The asker already mentioned it but still, never doubt my ability to recommend this show. One of the best live action yaois ever made, with perfectly structured angst, fantastic characters and acting, and no problematic tropes (rare in Japanese BL). The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat there’s still some really cute mutual kisses.

Addicted: Heroin

China 2016 Viki

When Chinese BL was good it was very dirty good and when it was bad it was censored. This is the model for that statement: rich kid falls madly for the genius poor kid in his class, starts an aggressive pursuit, includes kidnapping for love, obsession, stepbrother trope, plus some cheating. I love this BL because of what I could have been. Just stop watching it after The Sex Scene. Okay?

SOTUS & SOTUS S & SOTUS Our Skyy

Thai 2016 YouTube

This is the BL that launched a hundred BLs. No literally, it was SOTUS’s international success that pretty much built the Thai BL industry into the juggernaut it is today. People have baggage around SOTUS, I have nostalgia. Trigger warning on bully hazing. Review and discussion here.

Make it Right 1 & 2 (but not Beach)

Thai 2016 YouTube (Cheewin warning)

What to say about this show, the origin of the Thai BL pulps? It’s objectively terrible, and not just the leads but the side couple too - yet I love it. I tend to call myself the “world’s foremost Make It Right apologist.” I recognize the issues but I find it utterly charming, especially Tee’s utter devotion to Fuse the baby bi disaster.

Long Time No See

Korea 2017 Gaga

Catfishing assassins on either side of a turf war who fall in love not knowing they are on opposite sides. Or do they? Good fight sequences, mature characters, high heat, very suspenseful, AND an HEA. If you like KinnPorsche or Kiseki you will LOVE this one.

HIStory Obsessed

Taiwan 2017 Viki

I weirdly love this but you should know what you are in for: that title. It has a stalking theme meets fated mates and quite a bit of dubious consent. Uke obsessed with seme to the point of losing himself and his identity dies after being rejected, and then has a chance to reboot his life. He decides to save himself by never falling in love. But destiny is a bitch, and this time the seme becomes obsessed with him. This one owes a lot to dark Chinese and Japanese BL, but kind of corrects for the expected sad dead finale by ending happily and playing with a ton of BL tropes. The leads have good chemistry, it's higher heat and the first time Taiwan starts to push that, and VERY DRAMATIC.

Some Others you might consider

Candy and Kiss - Japan 2015

Silhouette of Your Voice (Hidamari ga Kikoeru) - Japan 2017

Red Balloon - Taiwan 2017

(source)

[oswlld]

oswlld's monthly wrap up: february

note: i am trying something a bit different this year, so bear with me as i figure out how i want to format this. i wanted to spend more time sharing what i consume, beyond what i rb, and put my thoughts in one place. these posts are okay to rb

--

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid [started 02/04, finished 02/13] I recall an article calling out TJR as one of many authors that are pro-israel and haven’t seen anything that disputes the claim. I don’t have much to contribute to the conversation anyways, so I’ll pass on leaving a review. — After Dark, Haruki Murakami [started 02/06, finished 02/21] What I admire about what Murakami accomplished with After Dark was achieving the right level of simplicity to bring out the tense undertones in the magical realism. I also really enjoyed being invited to float with the story, almost breaking a fourth wall and interacting with the spaces. 4⭐️ in storygraph. — When We Cease to Understand the World, Benjamín Labatut [started 02/24, still in prog] I am only about 50 pages in and I am already ill. Too early to form an opinion, thus I’ll offer a snippet of the book description: “A fictional examination of the lives of real-life scientists and thinkers whose discoveries resulted in moral consequences beyond their imagining. When We Cease to Understand the World is a book about the complicated links between scientific and mathematical discovery, madness, and destruction.” Feels very timely reading this at the same time as watching Three-Body and then Oppenheimer in the next week or so.

High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America, Netflix [started: 02/02, finished 02/07] WOW!! Wowowowowow. Wow. This needs to be a mandatory watch, even though we are at the end of Black History Month. It’s a well curated journey through the slave era to present day, from shores of Africa to all areas of the US. It’s so empowering and inspiring. Don’t wait until June or next year, please educate yourselves and open your heart to this show. — African Folktales Reimagined, Netflix [started 02/02, finished 02/08] I heard about this show through an article posted on Short of the Week last year and immediately put it on my watchlist. What a wonderful choice of directors for this series. Such strong visionaries and visuals. My favorites out of the six stories were Enmity Djinn and MaMlambo. MaMlambo still has a chokehold on me. MAJOR trigger warnings for this series is under the cut. — Three-Body, Viki (also avail on YT) [started 02/19, paused on 02/26] Trigger warnings for this series is also under the cut. With that said, I have a very personal connection with Three-Body Problem, both the novel and the physics problem, so taking this show on has been my entire world. When it comes to tackling my watchlist, shows that have a substantial number of eps/seasons gets split into chunks, so that I can tackle them over a number of months. For this series, I divided the 30-epsiode series into three ten-episode parts that will take me from February to June. I’ll post an official review when I finish over the summer, but for now I will say I very much enjoy having my brain turn into goo after every ep. What an explosive first outing. I will be resuming this show in April for eps 11-20, where I’ll be reunited with my beloved war criminal.

Over the Moon, Netflix [watched on 2/10, DNF] So unfortunate that I started this and could not finish. I hope to get back into it in May, so I can talk about how beautiful it is. Gotta do it for Glen Keane. — Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang, Netflix [watched on 2/11] I…. I think I am going to let this quote from the film speak for me: “In the 60’s, when American astronauts landed on the moon, that was really good news, even in China. But I was sad because I thought I would never make it to space myself. But later on, I realized that art could be my space-time tunnel connecting me to the universe. If there was an opportunity, I would like to make a ladder into the clouds. But the purpose of this ladder wouldn’t be for me to go to space, it would be to encourage a back-and-forth, a dialogue.” I MEANN!!!! Yes, I did go into this film already aware of some of his works but I didn’t really know a lot about him. What I admired most was his joy and child-like wonder when he’s interacting with his art. I loved witnessing him act like he’s 7 yrs old again, especially in that air balloon scene. There’s also a moment when he’s become complacent in his projects, settling on the bare minimum to get a job done. When the art of creating is stripped of the art, what is left of Cai is very clear to the viewer: he is frustrated, he feels suffocated, he’s used. Alternately, towards the end of the film, he brings it back with “Yes, a lot of artists do things that are too commercial. It lacks some compulsive and sincere emotion that should exist in all art. Collaborating with [unknown artists] will always remind me of the pleasure I felt and my original purpose for doing art.” (Fascinating to compare his turmoil with the govt whilst working with Netflix.) All in all, this film did a great job telling a story about the magic in enduring passion projects over time. In this case, his Sky Ladder being a fourth attempt at a impossibly large scale dream project. I feel like my thoughts are all over the place with this film, but I’m still finding new things that really speak to me as an artist. — Your Name Engraved Herein, Netflix [watched on 2/18] I thought I had this gifset on my blog but it turns out I may have just DM’d @forcebook about this and didn’t rb, but anyways I saw this and thought hey this has the potential to ruin me lemme put it on my watchlist. And now over a year later, I finally got around to it. Well… it’s exactly what I ordered, it definitely ruined me. I mean, when they come at me with “Maybe more people would understand me in hell. Make it easy for me and help me go to hell,” what else am I supposed to be but ruined. I want a sequel, I need their reset.

There are more to add to the movies category, due to Oscar season, but I’ll save them for a separate post, with all my thoughts on the films/shorts I was able to catch, for Oscar weekend.

Ella Sings Gershwin, Ella Fitzgerald with Ellis Larkins at the piano [first time listening] One hobby I picked up during the pandemic was growing my vinyl collection. I found this vinyl in 2022 with the intention of finding more from this era/genre. Not much movement since then, since vinyl purchases only happens once or twice a year. Suffice to say, I am so happy that the quality is still in tact and it makes me want to get back into vinyls soon. Current top 3: My One and Only (What Am I Gonna Do), But Not For Me, and Soon — Wicked [relistening] One thing you need to understand about me is that Wicked was my first musical hyperfixation. I used to spend summers on the train to the city to catch the raffle drawings and when my name was picked, it would be the best $25 well spent to be seated front row. And when I was not in the city, the CD would be on repeat in the car on my long drives going to and from home and college. My introduction to YT was watching all of the bootleg clips of every casting. All the Eden Espenozas and Stephanie J Blocks and Kerry Ellis’. All the Kendra Kassenbaums, Megan Hiltys, and Annaleigh Ashfords. And yes, all the Aaron Tveits don’t look at me. I’ve seen almost all facets of this show enough times to start frankenstein-ing together my version of Wicked. All this to say that my love for this show remained dormant for over a decade, until the movie trailer for part one came out. And then *SPLASH* I immediately jump in head first into a slime tutorial just like that. Long ago, I watched Kara Lindsay’s broadway vlogs without having seen her Galinda and now I can say I have seen the light, she’s just as immaculate as I imagined she’d be.

Welcome to Night Vale [recurring/catching up] I typically catch up on this podcast seasonally, since I find that this show is more enjoyable when I binge it. This time around, I have fallen more behind and needed to catch up on 11 episodes. My favorite eps: A Car Crash on Buellton Avenue (Ep 232), Sister Cities: Vermillion Falls (Ep 239), and He is Holding a Knife (Ep 240). I will admit that there was a period of time, maybe four or five years ago, when I dropped the show for reasons I cannot recall now but I am glad that I stuck around.

And now here are some tw to keep in mind:

AFRICAN FOLKTALES trigger warnings: domestic violence/abuse, child abuse, attempt(s) of suicide, drowning, and miscarriage.

THREE-BODY trigger warnings: The plot centers around solving the mystery behind scientists committing suicide on an international scale. Scenes ranging from allusions, thoughts of suicide, to moderate depictions of suicide.

[dreamingsushi]

Till the End of the Moon - Episode 1

As I finished the last episode of Dance of the Phœnix I was on a layover, trying to find motivation for the gym and Youtube decided to switch videos without asking my opinion, casting this show on the hotel tv. I was actually going to watch maybe a BL drama on Viki since they’re usually short and I have a lot of unfinished series ongoing. However, reading the synopsis made me curious about that one, so I decided to check it out instead. So here we are for another journey. It’s going to be a long one, but oh well. I just enjoy costume drama so much. Even though they are so often frustrating. I’m now heading to the gym and this will be my reward for working out.

It starts off pretty well for me. The animation during the opening is very gorgeous, I really like it. The song itself is also nice, which is a bonus too. It went by very quickly, it thought it was merely 30 seconds or so. I don’t listen to openings every episodes, but I like to take the time to do so when watching the first episode of a new series. It usually gives the tone of the rest the drama and it helps to see a little better in what kind of story we are getting into. It doesn’t guarantee the quality, yes I know. Sometimes the OST are good, but the rest is very bad. Anyways, just to say I would recommend taking a look at least once to the opening.

It begins with weird creatures fighting alongside and against some figures that looks human. There’s alose a guy on a big floating throne being referred to as the god of the demons (literal translation, he must be their lord). So far the wigs aren’t so good, especially the white one. White wigs always look extremely bad on younger actors and actresses, in my opinion. The CGI so far doesn’t look that great. Like it’s not bad as it was when it began, but it’s just unpolished. I’m not a fan of the costumes either. I hope they didn’t spend all the money for visuals on the opening. World domination and the end of the cultivators seem to be the objective here.

I really hope that they change the hairstyle of the female lead, I don’t like it when they make the girls have hair going all around their head. But at some point, I’m also so used to the intricate hairstyles of Dance of the Phœnix, if this one doesn’t step up, it will be hard for me to appreciate. Anyways, she’s keeping watch on a map with all the different cultivation sects. Names are going down as they are being destroyed by the lord of the demons. She goes to try and save the old men fighting him. She grabs the artifact he came after. There are way too many special effects. She fights to keep the mirror of the past. She’s not strong enough to beat him (which seems rather impossible to be honest, cause he’s really boosted to the max). But as she’s about to die, the mark on her forehead shines and pushes the demon lord away. Her blood falls on the pendant activating some sort of power, taking her somewhere. There a man speaks to her, saying she could change fate. The demon lord wasn’t always a demon, so she should see him with her heart and remember him. Then start some visions of the demon lord, probably younger, being bullied by other humans. She needs to go back in time to prevent him from becoming a demon. The mirror of the past breaks down. Her brother disciple protects her dans tells to leave him behind. His piece is very nice, I like it. But I guess I won’t see it again anytime soon, because he sacrifices himself to get the dark lord away from Susu (female lead).

Bakc to her people, Susu shows her father the images of when the demon lord was still human. She volunteers to travel to the past to prevent to future to happen as it is now. Her dad is absolutely not agaisnt it. As soon as he sees her mark on her forehead shine, he says that it’s her destiny. Only 20 minutes in and there’s already a chose one. I guess it works. Chinese dramas, especially Xianxia dramas, tend to be rather chaotic during the first episode. It’s really a test to see who’s going to embark on the journey and who will leave without trying to board the ship. I remember I understood nothing of the first episode of the Untamed, it was visually unappealing and yet it was one (if not the) of the best drama I ever watched. So we should give this a chance. I guess war being confusing is quite normal. Anyways, they task her to kill the demon lord before he could become one.

While they send her to the past, the demon lord attacks. I like how they used a buddha to portray the barrier that the cultivators are erecting. Before she leaves, her father gets killed too, the uncle sending her away dies too. Everybody dies and we just started. Good. She’s the only one left. Then before travelling back to the past, she swears to kill Tantai Jin (demon lord’s name).

When she opens her eyes, her mark on her forehead disappeared. A maid comes to her. So she took someone else’s place, she didn’t move her own body in time? I like her new hairstyle better. The clothes are much more nicer too. Seems like she’s a little lady, second daughter of someone influent or rich. Not sure. The lady she ended up becoming was being chased by truants and she fell while trying to escape, causing her to hit her head and faint. Then as the maid, Chun Tao, tells her about it, the truants find them and Susu (now Ye Xiwu) tries to flee by flying, but obviously it doesn’t work, since she’s only human. She tries to fight them back, but as a normal person she’s very weak and she can’t even summon her weapon. One of the men keeps winking at her. But when she’s about to get killed, a man comes to her rescue. He looks exactly like her disciple brother, so she runs to him but he’s cold to her. She calls his name but he doesn’t really react to it. Seems like he’s a prince. He says that he only saved her because he was passing by, so she shouldn’t get the wrong idea. Maybe the original Ye Xiwu had feelings for the prince? Yup. But now he’s about to marry her elder sister instead.

Oh! So the bad guy was winking because she hired them so the prince would come and save her. Ye Xiwu original was pretty conniving.

Back home, she asks Chun Tao about Tantan Jin and she says that he’s her father? I must have misunderstood, he doesn’t have the same family name? Anyway, Susu faints upon hearing that. Okay maybe not father, but some sort of uncle or cousin? Thank you Pleco for being a loyal source of knowledge. Okay no, side note, seems like he’s actually her husband. Even though it seems weird he would come and live with her, since it’s usually the opposite. But I will find out soon enough haha. I really need to brush up my Chinese skills. Chun Tao reveals that what he’s the most afraid of is Ye Wuxi. She finds him kneeling in the garden covered in snow. As he looks weak, she thinks she should kill him as soon as possible. But once she’s in front of him, she seems rather troubled and distracted from her mission. But then she remembers that to completely kill him and make sure that no one will become the demon lord, she should find the evil inside of him, so she can’t act rashly. She asks him if he wants to kill her and then his look confirms to her that it is really him. He’s kneeling outside because he went to save her older sister instead of her. She learns that Tantai Jin also likes her older sister. It seems he’s also some sort of a prince, but his father doesn’t care about him?

But that’s it for now. This was a very chaotic episode, so I can’t really say if I liked it or not. However the main lead seems kind of funny. I a have few Scarlet Heart throwbacks watching this with the main character ending up travelling back in time and being the daughter of an official being in love with the prince marrying her sister. Obviously, it’s going to take a different route, but I loved that drama it’s nice to see something somewhat similar yet different. The visuals really improved as son as she time travelled. The costumes are much prettier and the screen feels a lot less overwhelmed by way too many CGI. I think then went a little bit overboard with it. It shows that technology improved, but it’s still far from being seamless and effortless. I would rather see a little less so I can concentrate on the main action instead of being distracted all the time. However I have faith that they won’t have too many opportunities to overwhelm me again like so because for now the two main leads are only humans without spiritual energy, so I don’t think there should be that many scenes with spiritual energy and dark creatures involved.

The ending was very nice too, I like it.

I’m curious to see what is going to happen with this one. 40 episodes isn’t too long, but with the synopsis they gave online it could run in circles quite quickly if the only mission is to kill the guy and spark of evil inside him. See you soon! This recap is already long enough as is.

[gromyb]

DRAGGAN AI EDITING TOOL

THE END OF TRADITIONAL AND LEGACY ENVIRONMENTS AND THE BEGINING OF 'VIKI (FROM I-ROBOT)' 

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE : A NEW ERA

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have revolutionized traditional tech in various ways. They have significantly enhanced automation, efficiency, and decision-making processes across industries. Machine learning algorithms enable computers to analyze large datasets and extract valuable insights, making tasks such as data analysis and pattern recognition more accurate and efficient. AI-powered virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa have become commonplace, transforming the way we interact with technology. AI has also impacted fields like healthcare, finance, and transportation, enabling advancements in medical diagnoses, fraud detection, and autonomous vehicles. Overall, AI technologies have disrupted traditional tech by offering intelligent solutions that augment human capabilities and drive innovation across multiple sectors. 

WHAT IS DRAGGAN AI EDITING TOOL?

DragGan AI is a new and innovative tool that lets you edit images with simple drag-and-drop points. It uses generative adversarial networks (GANs) to synthesize realistic images that follow your input. You can manipulate the pose, shape, expression and layout of any image with just a few clicks. Here are some of its advantages and features compared to other editing tools like Adobe Illustrator and Canva.

Image--> 1st is the one and original image that was enhanced to Image 2. The girl did not actually smile. {So Comedians don't have to make you laugh anymore, then can just us DragGan to drag and drop smiles.}

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/KamE0liLXSrDyKrMTwv7bbgZjtrJet9yOUJczvaWBgjIMsTyqbf3oZmJj9OWI-L_YWPf_z_OsqNxrAvMd4-QmG0nJ2V753V0U2XAH6p3oo1lCQ6oAVb89Y6NeWyzSGMvqw=w1280

ADVANTAGES OF DRAGGAN AI EDITING TOOL

[NOTE :  Please be aware of the links available below as .exe file is still no launched. The links will take you to a third party source site which we do not own or have any business relation.]

Easy and intuitive interface: You don’t need to learn complex Photoshop techniques or use multiple tools to edit your images. With DragGan AI, you can simply drop a point on an image and drag it to the desired location. The tool will automatically adjust the pixels and fill in any gaps to preserve realism12.

Powerful and flexible editing: You can make significant changes to your images with DragGan AI, such as rotating them in 3D, changing their dimensions, altering facial expressions, and adjusting reflections23. You can also use a masking feature to select specific parts of an image that you want to edit while leaving the rest untouched4.

Generative and creative output: Unlike Photoshop or Canva, which only manipulate existing pixels, DragGan AI uses a pre-trained GAN model to generate new pixels that match your input. This means you can create images that look realistic but do not exist in reality, such as a lion with its mouth open or a mountain twice its height4.

Features : Point-based editing: You can add one or more points on an image and drag them to change the structure and appearance of the image. For example, you can add two points at the corners of a person’s mouth and drag them further away to create a smile4.

Masking feature: You can use a brush tool to highlight the parts of an image that you want to edit while masking the rest. This allows you to focus on specific regions of interest without affecting the background or other elements4.

Animation feature: You can also animate your edits by clicking on the Start button. The tool will show you how the image changes from the original state to the final state as you drag the points. You can save your animation as a GIF file4.

HOW TO INSTALL AND USE DRAGGAN AI EDITING TOOL

At this time, it is not recommended to officially install or use the DragGAN AI editing tool. However, some developers have made efforts to install and experiment with it. In this tutorial, we will demonstrate how to install and run the DragGAN AI code using a GitHub version on an Ubuntu 22.04 server with specific hardware specifications.

Please note that this DragGAN AI setup has been tested on Google Cloud with a Tesla T4 GPU, 2vCPU, 7.5GB RAM, and 50GB disk space. Secure boot is disabled. If you have a different GPU, you can install the appropriate Nvidia driver for your specific GPU.

It's important to be cautious when experimenting with unofficial versions of software, as they may not be stable or fully supported. It's always recommended to use official and supported versions of software for reliable and secure usage.

For Installation on Ubuntu via github click here https://www.cloudbooklet.com/draggan-ai-editing-tool/

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/vOcIXbbT0GrdQMao9PzUNk5JSsXnBZ-gfcdtng4-mI9dDKOY1oVv9xOyIA6UeNpV98vnxxSkUF0fSAB6jFSZCnb_psL2ivz8d_lYMK3AwiDKpGKZTJgBt-Z7aAXxQXvPmA=w1280

DOWNLOAD DRAGGAN AI EDITING TOOL

DragGAN is currently being developed and is not yet ready for download. The creators have stated that it will be available in June 2023. To stay updated on its release and availability, you can sign up for their email list. By joining the mailing list, you will receive alerts and be among the first to know when the program is ready to be downloaded.

CLICK IMAGE TO SEE YOUTUBE VIDEO

A point was added on the lion’s mouth and dragged downwards to open it.

Two points were added on the car’s front and rear wheels and dragged sideways to change the angle.

Two points were added at the corners of the person’s mouth and dragged further away to create a smile.

Date: 05-27-2023 | Sources : . diphupoly.in ; 2. jagranjosh.com ; 3. ubergizmo.com ; 4. indianexpress.com ; 5. english.jagran.com ; 6. analyticsvidhya.com

GRAPHIC DESIGNING TOOLS FOR BEGINEERS

Adobe Illustrator is a professional vector graphics editor that allows users to create and edit scalable artwork. Here are some advantages:

Advanced Vector Editing

Illustrator excels at working with vector graphics, which are resolution-independent and can be scaled without losing quality. It offers precise control over shapes, paths, and anchor points, allowing for detailed editing and customization.

Extensive Toolset

Illustrator provides a comprehensive range of tools for drawing, painting, and manipulating vector artwork. These tools include the Pen tool, Shape Builder tool, Gradient tool, and many more, enabling users to create complex illustrations and designs.

Industry-standard Software

Adobe Illustrator is widely used in professional design and illustration workflows. It integrates seamlessly with other Adobe Creative Cloud applications, such as Photoshop and InDesign, allowing for a smooth design process.

Canva is a web-based design tool that has user-friendly interface and a wide range of pre-designed templates. Here are some advantages:

Easy-to-Use Interface

Canva is designed for users who may not have extensive design experience. It provides a simple drag-and-drop interface, making it easy to create professional-looking designs without much effort.

Templates and Stock Assets

Canva offers a vast library of templates for various design types, such as social media graphics, presentations, posters, and more. It also provides access to a wide range of stock photos, illustrations, icons, and fonts, making it convenient for users to find suitable assets for their designs.

Collaboration and Sharing

Canva allows users to collaborate with others on design projects by inviting team members to edit or comment on designs. It also offers easy sharing options, including direct links or downloads in various formats.

#digitalmarketing #webdevelopement #interiordesign

[my-only-way-tocooperatewithlife]

One more drink VII. -Pierre Gasly series

Thank you for all, for the likes and the additional comments.😊 And for the followings ♥ Wish you all a lovely day ♥

Pairing: Pierre Gasly x fem!reader

Warning: swearing, language, mention of depression, alcohol usage

¤ Masterlist ¤

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After that whole day with the guys we have spent the upcoming days with their presence. We spent most of the days out on the yacht, walking around in the small city. Trying every restaurants and bars we could find there. The nights were between going to a bar or a club but we usually liked to spend the time at their place down the shore.

Although our vacation was slowly comming to an end, just two more days left of it. I was currently sitting on the edge of the pool in my flowy short and a bikini top at the boy's apartment enjoying the sun as I was reading a book, when someone crouched down next to me and grabbed gently on my shoulder. I was startled for a second been grabbed out from my fantasy land of my book and I felt a lip closer to my ear.

"Chérie, the girls are actually about to leave. I can drop you off at home, but I have planned something for the night." He wishpered in my ear slowly. I turned my head to the side looking softly at him, and I raised my eyebrow waiting for an explonation. "What would it be?"

" I thought that we can go out somewhere, for a dinner. Just the two of us. The past few days we bearly had a chance to be together. The others will just go somewhere else, they can entertain themself. What do you say?"

" It sounds perfect. When should I be ready?"

" What about 7?

"Sounds like a plan" I smiled at him and he leaned closer pressing his lips on my forehead, and standing up.

I was standing infront of my bed looking at the three different dresses laid out on the sheets. I have had no idea what to wear. Everything felt like it's not good for a dinner with someone you are pining over that much.

"Do you need help with something?" The girls popping their head through the door, and I looked back at them with a helpful look on my face. They padded next to my bed and looking at my choices. "I like that dusty rose coloured one, or the olive green one." Viki pointed at the two silky material dresses.

"I like the olive green one better, it compliments your hair. And you tan skin. And it has a sexy cut in the back. Oh that slit on the thighs. And it's shorter too so your incredible legs can be seen also." Roxy picked up the dress shoving it in my hands. "Try it on, until we will find the shoes for it." She shooed me in to the small bathroom connected to my bedroom.

When I was finished it was nearly 7. That olive green dress was the right choice, I felt sexy but in a modest way. I put on a small white gold chained necklace with a small heart charm on it. I just put on my small black high heels that the girls have chose for me when I heard a knock on the door. Roxy was already opening it letting Pierre in. I stood up from the couch when I was finished and run my hands through the dress to roll out the creases on it. I let out a breath and I walked out to the way of the door.

Pierre was having a conversation with my friend when I stepped in the hallway and they both turned to my way. They lifted their heads to my direction and Pierre immediatelly got quiet. He was looking at me with widly opened eyes. I started to feel intimated by his graze and I looked down on my feet, shifting from one leg to the other. Roxy nodged her elbow into his side to wake him up while she asked. "Isn't ske looks beautiful?"

I lifted my sight from my feets back to his face, his graze was going up and down on me but stopped at my face as he looked deeply in my eyes.

"You look incredible." he stated quiet and extended a hand for me to grab it. A small smile was playing on his lips"Shall we go ma belle? " I took his hand and I walked closer to the entrance. His arms sneaked around my waist, holding my closer to his figure.

"Have fun guys!" Viki stepped next to Roxy at the door, looking at us as we were walking away from the house.

" Bring her back by ten young man!" Roxy shouted after us with a laugh and I just waved back at them with a giggle.

He reserved a table at one of the fanciest restaurant on the whole island. This place was totally out of my budget. I was studying the menu and tried not the let my face show any emotions about when I saw the prices on the card. He noticed my apprehensive look and grabbed my hand on the table giving me a small squezze.

"Chérie, don't look at the prices. I want to spoil you tonight." He ordered a champagne, with a name that even if I would try for many times I still could not manage to say it correctly. And also he ordered the most expensive dish on the menu. I have to admit, that pasta he ordered for me, was one of the best ones I have had in my whole life. I did not realise I was moaning while I have had bites till I looked up from my plate and I saw him leaning back in his chair with an amused look on his features.

After the dinner we were wandering around the shore listening to the waves at they were crashing on the rock. I had my heels in on of my hand whil Pierre grabbed the other hand and interlocked our fingers together. "I still can't believe the sky in here. It's incredible." I stopped as I was having my graze lock on the above shining dots. I took a seat on the sand and put both of my hands behind me. Pierre sat closely behind my body, his legs were next to mine, I leaned back to his chest and let out a sigh. He laid his head on the crown of mine and supported himself with one hand behind him while the other was drawing shapes on my uncovered thighs. My heart was pounding fast in my chest and goosebumps were going on in waves everytime his fingers touched my skin.

" I have a question for you" He started breaking the silence between us. I leaned to the side, turning my upper body a little bit so I can see his face better. Initiating him to continue. "What would you say about if I would invite you to Spa?"

"Spa?" I asked back with a surprised tone.

" Yes, to Belgium."

" You want me to come to the next race?"

"I mean last time you said yourself too, that you had no chance to watch the race and I would like to make it up to you." I turned fully to face him, as I was sitting on my knees, putting both of my arms on his shoulders as I looked deeply in his now dark blue shining eyes. I had a small smile on my lips, as I was waiting in silence. He looked really nervous and I found it really cute and flattering.

" Pierre, I would love to go and see you on a race." I answered slowly, his smile got bigger as he grabbed on my waist pulling me closer to his body. Our faces were just a few inches away from eachother and I could not stopped myself. I let my hands run through in his hair based at his neck and pulled his head closer to mine laying my lips on top of his.

They were soft as I have imagined before. He quickly intensified the kiss by pulling my closer, squeezing our bodies together as his tongue entering my mouth. I could still taste the champagne on his tongue. His hands wandered down on my back tickling my skin as my dress had a low cut back to it. One of his hands stopped at my waist while his other hand cupped my butt. I let out a low aroused moan on his lips and I could feel him smiling. He lifted me up so I could straddle him, I grabbed on his shoulders as I lowered myself on him causing him to growl in my mouth. As I have expected he was an incredible kisser. My dress was rolling up on my thighs letting my thong nearly visible. I rolled my hips down on his crotch, I needed some friction on my core as I felt burning inside my whole body. I felt under mine core his hardening through his black trousers. He grabbed on my waist digging his finger into my hips and lifting me up a bit and broke the kiss with heavy panting.

" Mon amour you are killing me" He was breathing heavily on my lips as I was also trying to cath my breath. He leaned closed placing open mouth kisses on my neck going down near to my collarbone. I tilted my head back to give him more space as I let out a long sigh with a small moan. "You took my breath away when I saw you in this dress." He murmured while his lips still on my neck sucking slightly at one point. I arched my back so he can nibble on that sweet spot on my neck. "I can't keep my hand off you, tu me rends complètement fou tu es si désirable. you drive me absolutely crazy, you are so desirable" I grabbed his face and smashed my lips on to his when I saw red and blue lights which was followed by a small siren. I jumped off Pierre in my scare trying to get myself together. Pierre jumped up grabbed my hand and my shoes and started to pull after him running down on the beach. After a few meters away he stopped. I looked at him and we burst out laughing as I hunched down on my knees trying to catch my breath.

"Jesus we nearly got busted dry humping on a beach. It would look really good in the news for you." I swiped off a tear from the corner of my eye.

" Will it be always like this with you? Some type of law enforcement is following you everywhere? " Joked with me, as reffering to the last time we shared an intimate moment.

"Életem my life, you need to get prepared if you really wants to stick with me" I winked at him.

" Challange accepted mon amour." He grinned at he pulled me closer by my waist and connected to our lips in a kiss.

“As far as I know the guys went out and they might sleep at yours.” I sighed as we headed back to our place.

“You can sleep at my place too” suggested as he pulled me closer draping his arm around my waist.

“Yes that sounds better. My feet hurt anyway, I don’t know why I let the girls to decide my shoes.” I rolled my eyes as I was still carrying the heels in my hand.

“Because your cute little butt looks better with it if you walk in heels. And second you looks more divine with him.” He kissed the top of my head as he gave a little pat on my butt.

“My cute little butt looks good any other way too, don’t try to convince me to wear more high heels, I despise them…”

“True. And I’m not gonna force you into anything. You are hot either way.” He winked at me as we reached their place. The lights were partly on, and as we walked into the place we saw many beer and wine bottles around. Some takeaway boxes there were left out on the dinning table. “Seems like the guys had some fun over with your friends. “ he pulled me down on the way as we were looking for them but they were nowhere to be found. I went to open the guest bedroom where we stayed before with the girls, the only light which made the room a little bit lighter were the one coming from the hallway. I was about to take a step forward to see if my friends are sleeping when I saw two naked figures on one of the beds. I quickly stepped out bumping into Pierre. “What’s going on?” He asked and tried to go into the room but I grabbed his arm

“Don’t! Two people are in there, maybe sleeping but definitely naked.” I explained to him and he just answered with a oh.

“Come.” He grabbed my hand and started to pull into his room. “You can sleep in here. And I can take the couch. “ he started to gather his clothes from the bed making some space for me to sleep.

“No, please I don’t want to push you out from your own room. Sleep in here.” I helped him with a few shirts. “With me.” I looked into his eyes and his face immediately softened. “I swear I’m not snoring” I joked with him and he kissed my forehead.

“Good, I might tho.” He chuckled as he stated to hang his shirts up on the hangers. “ I will make the bed, until go and have a shower. You can find spare towels there too. Until I will use the other bathroom. And here” he grabbed a T-shirt and gave it to me. “Your pj just like last time” he smirked as he turned back to the wardrobe.

I finished with the shower pretty quick and I put on the “Liked by Pierre Gasly” shirt on without any shorts just my panties and walked out. He was already laid out on his bed, busy with his phone so I can stare at him for a little longer.

He was only wearing his black boxer, so his thick thighs and his absolutely hot abdomen was fully on display for me. He looked so mouth watering.

As soon as he saw me coming out from the bathroom he put his phone down smiling at me with a cheeky smile. “ I can get use to this. You just only a T-shirt, especially my T-shirt and the text states truth also.”

I walked closer to the bed, and I got on all fours, crawling closer to him. We have had a deep eye connection and I could see his eyes darken. He was watching me every move I made. Still having that cheeky smirk on his face until I put my hands on his thighs and crawled closer.

“ I can get used to this also. Having you, half naked, in a bed. Would be better if it would be my bed.” I touched my nose to his.

“From now on, I will walk around this just to see that sparkle in your eyes.” He kissed the tip of my nose. His hands were wondering on my thighs up till my waist. I felt the heat on my cheeks rising from his words and they way of his eyes looked at me, and also feeling his fingers brushing the skin on my body.

“You know very well that you won’t just make me happy but most of the women on this earth.” I giggled as I laid down next to him.

“Yea probably, but I care about this red hair who I have to share my bed with so I hope you did not lie about snoring ma belle.” He leaned above me and pressed some kisses on both of the apples of my cheek.

“Not snoring, but kicking definitely. So I would like to say sorry before anything happens.” I smiled innocently at him

“I’ll might tie your legs down then.”

“Gasly, I did not know you are into bondage stuff.” I tried to look serious and as soon as I said it out he snorted and started to laugh. His cheeks had a slight rosy tint to them.

“Good night Gina.” He leaned closer and kissed me. I grabbed the back of his neck and tried to deepen the kiss. “Bébé.. “ he murmured on my lips.

“Good night Pierre.” I broke the kiss and turned to the other way having my back facing him as I tried to hide the huge smile on my lips.

“Oh gosh the girls will love this if I will tell them tomorrow” I thought as I closed my eyes and felt a strong arm came around my waist and pulling me closer to them. Pierre laid one last kiss on the crook of my neck.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

A Little LOKI Theory Post

*SPOILERS FOR LOKI E1-3 BELOW CUT*

I am loathe to admit that I love the new LOKI TV series, mainly because of the Mobius/Loki dynamic, the interesting sci-fi plot, and just... I so far surprisingly like every episode. This was the show I had such low expectations for, because I didn’t really like LOKI – I felt he was the Moriarty of the MCU, overused when they didn’t need him, and making me annoyed by an actor I love.

EXCEPT I’m also a sucker for character-driven, psychoanalysis stories, like all these D+ Marvel shows are, and it’s leaving me super shocked about me liking characters I didn’t before. I’m fully invested in all these characters now.

I think the only reasom I really wanted to see this show for was because it ties directly into the next Dr. Strange movie, so YEAH, I’m in love multiverse and time travel things, so it was inevitable that I would enjoy this show, I think.

AND of course, I’ve theories and speculations because there’s a lot to work with, and I LOVE stories like these, so I decided I would take some time out and stretch out my meta-writing grey cells. And I wanted somewhere to have my theories/ideas written out before they come to fruition, because DAMNIT I have headcanons and hopes and dreams.

So here we go, spoilers below cut. Please note I know nothing about the comics aside from what other theorists and reviewers have mentioned:

The TVA are “the bad guys” but I think it goes deeper than that... Like the whole Timekeeper thing is really sus. I think it’s only one Timekeeper, who is Kang the Conqueror, who maintains the Sacred Timeline to ensure that he stays in power to PREVENT the Multiverse War which I think he knows happened to stop him. I also think Renslayer is behind all of this suspicious thing; I learned that in the comics Renslayer is a love interest for Kang, so like........... SUS.

AND I think Multiverse War they talked about in the beginning of the show IS the Multiverse War they’re ABOUT TO HAVE. This is a show about non-linear time, and there’s hints about multiverses in the next Spiderman, and Dr Strange is LITERALLY called “Multiverse of Madness”. Wild Theory: Maybe Doctor Strange IS one of the Time Keepers following the Multiverse War.

Loki initially wants to learn the enchanting that Sylvie does for his own selfish gain, and I think he was lying about breaking the TempPad so he would force her to open up. HOWEVER, I think he had a sudden change of heart after learning about the TVA’s Variant Staff; we already see him sort of fond of both Mobius and remembers Casey’s name, so I feel like that he will end up using this knowledge he gained very differently.

Further on this point, they established in Ep 3 that TVA agents / staff need actual real memories to “manipulate” them. So, I think Loki will use this power he learned from Sylvie (I mean, she explained to him how to do it, and this show is really good at using the “Chekov’s guns” given to us) to bring Mobius to “his side”, and TOGETHER they take down the TVA and make it what it should be. Mobius is very dedicated to the TVA, so I really do forsee that it will be Loki “freeing” Mobius as the catalyst to swaying to siding with Loki until the end. He’s a good man with a big heart for humanity, so I think he will totally side with freeing everyone else.

On that note, I think the reason Mobius is fascinated with the nineties is because he’s a variant jetskiier pulled from the nineties. I suspect in his original timeline he probably had a jetski accident and died, but in the Variant timeline, he survived, and out of pity I think Renslayer “saved” him and recruited him. The TVA wiped his memories after he couldn’t cope with the fact that he was SUPPOSED to die.

ALSO still on Mobius, I think every time he keeps questioning too much, he gets his memory wiped, which would explain why he never remembers leaving the cup stains on Renslayer’s table.

I think there’s more to Miss Minutes than meets the eye. Another theory I had was that she was similar to VIKI in iRobot, essentially running the company to her programmed “laws” after the TimeKeepers passed on. So like there’s no TimeKeepers at all, but there was at one time, and Miss Minutes was left to her own devices.

Another theory similar to this, is the Doctor Who episode, The Long Game, where everyone wants to be promoted to “Floor 500″ because it’s rumoured to be a paradise and is the top floor no one has ever returned from; It turns out it’s run by an alien that feeds on the human or something similar, and the people who went to the top floor ended up frozen husks of who they were. Not saying it’s this exact thing, but more the idea that everyone thinks what’s upstairs is a magical wonderful benevolent corporation looking out for what’s best for everyone, but instead it’s one evil thing doing stuff for their own purpose. Eh.

Another rogue theory: Mobius IS a Loki variant, which is why he’s obsessed with Loki himself, knows Loki better than Loki knows himself, and either knows and omitted it, or DOESN’T know but naturally is intrigued by the Loki Variant and him always finding out the truth is WHY his memory keeps getting wiped, and why everyone is always squeamish about having a Loki around. Mobius mentioned that Loki is the one Variant they have stopped more Lokis than any other Variant....

On that thought: IF Lokis are the most common Variant they capture, I think a LOT of the TVA are Loki Variants, trapped in the forms they were presenting as when they were brought in, and because magic doesn’t work in the TVA, they CAN’T turn off the glamour, had their memories wiped, and in turn could now be Codenamed Casey, or Mobius, or B15........ An abstract theory, but I think it’s interesting.

And another, since I learned that it is in the comics: Mobius is a clone drone. This one saddens me and I really hope he’s not. Because I love Mobius.

I think Sylvie was a Variant who worked for the TVA, but somehow had an awakening and wants to free everyone else... the only thing against this theory is her seeming surprised that her magic stopped working when she arrived at the TVA. If she was an agent, she would know that magic doesn’t work within the TVA.

And I think this series will inevitably – if the rumours of a Season 2 are true – have the Mobius / Loki dynamic solving Time Crimes... a.... Holmes and Watson if you will. :D HAHHA.

So yeah. This list will change obviously for the next 3 weeks, and I had a lot of fun with this so I will probably keep it up.

Some things I hope happen by the end:

A giant “probably not going to happen because this is Disney”: I hope they pay-off the “bisexual” confirmation by the end of this... highkey with Mobius (damn it I ship them okay), but lowkey just even a passing remark about anyone LOL. I really ship Lokius, okay. I need this dynamic in the MCU

PLEASE DON’T KILL CASEY, we love Casey. #FREECASEY

I’ll be really honest here, I will effing GROAN and be a not-happy Steph if they do the ship that I think they’re gonna do: Sylvie x Loki. Which is weird to me that Disney would be okay with self-love, but the OBVIOUS initial dynamic of Loki x Mobius is too much, “look we gave you bisexual Loki, aren’t you happy enough??” Just. I dunno. It’s weird / a pet peeve of mine that a lot of online reviewers are bitching about “woke” Disney the one time they ACTUALLY FINALLY let a title character say they’re queer, but are all “UWU SYLVIE AND LOKI ARE GONNA GET TOGETHER BECAUSE LOKI LOVES HIMSELF UWU”. Even though Loki spent legit more screen time with Mobius, and literally did everything he told Sylvie that he wouldn’t do around people he doesn’t trust around Mobius ALREADY?? It’s like they already forgot about the first two eps. LEGIT the whole dagger=love metaphor LITERALLY happened in the previous two episodes, but alright chiefs. Anyway. Sorry, it’s stupid to be bothered by it. 

We’re gonna get that heart wrench moment that the other two shows had, and I TRULY BELIEVE it’s gonna be between Loki and Mobius when Loki tells / shows Mobius the truth. LOOK I JUST WANT MORE OF THEM OKAY. And I need my heart ripping moment in this show within the next two eps LOL. We got one in WandaVision. We got one in FATWS. GIVE ME ONE IN LOKI. MAKE ME LIKE LOKI.

Anyway, so that’s my rambling. Thanks for taking time out to read all this. I miss theorizing, and this show is perfect for me to do it. I’m not AS good at these shows as I was with Sherlock, but it’s still fun, because it’s new and my brain is full of headcanons and idea things. I’ll write again after Ep 4, I think. <3 Thank you lovelies for letting me do this!

[cybernaght]

Guardian rewatch: episode 12

We start the episode in the Snake Tribe territory, which is supposedly still somewhere within the confines of the Dragon City. It is baffling that it took citizens of this place so long to figure out that there are mysterious beings and demi-humans living among them, it truly is.

While the scene is mostly centred around the conflict between Zhu Hong and her tribe, and the ominous warning of the war brewing, it also does a really lovely joy of showcasing, yet again, the fierce loyalty not only she, but Guo Changcheng have to the SID. This boy remains the most precious muffin of a human.

At the SID, Sang Zan is learning to write under a loving watchful eye Wang Zheng. The once fierce and ruthless warlord is now the softest archivist. On a separate note, I am not sure how good of an archivist he might be considering that he is evidently illiterate.

Anyway, it’s heart-warming to see those two happy together. I sure hope nothing terrible happens to them in the future.

Our actual power couple, on the other hand, have done a full reversal into the relationship they had in the beginning; only it’s somehow even worse now. Shen Wei, who properly messed his cover up during the last adventure, has his guard up as he is being questioned in relation to a case. Zhao Yunlan, who grew to see this man as a friend and partner, is no longer amused by secrets, nor intrigued by them. He is now furious at their existence, upset at what he must perceive as lack of trust on Shen Wei’s part.

Shen Wei serves Zhao Yunlan a cup of tea with a side order of avoidance, hoping that by ignoring the subject of himself it will go away.

When in the previous scenes together they were always across the desk from each other, or next to each other, leaning in closely, body language open, there is now a rift between them. It’s awkward; neither of the men want to be here, but their needs are the opposite to each other, and neither of them are willing to back down.

Shen Wei goes on explaining in great detail his connection to the case and to the victim, despite Zhao Yunlan’s attempt to change the subject with a very unsubtle, “your body surely recovered fast”. The latter then proceeds to stubbornly talk about Shen Wei’s archaic ways, which earns him an incredulous “Are you even listening to me?” from the professor. The incredulity is wonderfully misjudged, considering the circumstances.

“I only want to hear you tell the truth”

We rarely see Zhao Yunlan open and vulnerable. I can’t off the top of my head remember him ever being open and vulnerable with anyone who is not Shen Wei. Zhao Yunlan operates on false bravado, aggressive charm, weaponised smiles. But with this man, he purposefully lowers his guard. I trust you, he seems to say, and I always have. Why can you not trust me?

Shen Wei gulps.

He then continues talking about the case, which is the last straw for Zhao Yunlan, who explodes, smacking his palm hard on the desk.

Shen Wei startles, looking hurt. I just… don’t understand what he was expecting. Once again, this is a man who, from Shen Wei’s perspective, has unmasked him on the first day they met. This is a man who has been poking and prodding him for weeks. And I get that it is hurtful when someone you care about does not respect your boundaries, I do, but truly honestly hoping that the same someone will just accept the relationship terms that have never even been discussed is a little bit unrealistic, especially when Shen Wei is not divulging anything.

Shen Wei is bad at communicating. Which is, I suppose, not news to anyone.

“It seems that Chief Zhao still hasn’t given up on suspecting me.”

“Not suspicion, but lack of understanding.”

Zhao Yunlan is trying very hard. He is trying to close the rift between them: by pulling the chair over next to Shen Wei’s and settling down on it, by reminding Shen Wei how much they have been through together, by telling the man that he is being perplexing. Shen Wei, on the other hand, has raised his barriers all the way back up, smoothly explaining that he is just a normal man who ends up being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He has got a polite smile playing on his lips, his mask fully in place.

Zhao Yunlan does not even pretend to have believed Shen Wei, he gives up on the conversation with a dejected “Fine, forget it.”

He makes his excuses and pulls his phone out to make a call to Wang Zheng to check up on the rest of the team. Just as that happens, the SID gets attacked by the magical sound waves, and Zhao Yunlan sprints into action.

Shen Wei calls after him, and then asks to come with. Considering they have just spent some very awkward time together, more or less fighting about Shen Wei lying an awful lot, Zhao Yunlan would be well within his moral rights to reject help. He doesn’t, however. Even now, the trust he has in Shen Wei  - in his good intentions, in his friendship - is unwavering.

At the SID offices, Tan Xiao is using his sound device to get past the two ghosts energy beings, and break through the safety measures protecting the Hallows. In other news, apart from being susceptible from curses or poisons slipped through the letter box, the SID HQ also does not have anything that might stop a human from breaking into it. How those people survived for this long is a mystery.

A point of complete diversion from me: I am currency watching a contemporary drama entitled To Dear Myself. It’s about young professionals in Shanghai who get their lives broken in about ten different ways; Zhu Yilong’s the leading man; there will definitely be a lengthy think-piece on it here. But the reason I’m bringing that up here is that it also has Chen Weidong, the actor who plays Tan Xiao, as a contextually neurodivergent rich boyfriend of one of the protagonists.

It’s kind of surreal seeing him here; there’s only been about two years between the filming of those two shows, but he looks so different. Oh, and, he is very  good as well.

Back in the world of Guardian, we see Sang Zan shaking off the sound attack and attempting to stop Tan Xiao. He does not succeed as such, but manages to pull a string which activates the Indiana Jones-style set-up with loaded crossbows. It’s very silly; I kind of love it.

While evading the arrows, Sang Zan flings the Awl up in the air, Zhao Yunlan catches it. How close is the University to SID? He took about five minutes to get here! The chief gets a barrage of premonitions which include Zhu Hong knocked out in the future, as well as in the present, and a little sneak-peak into the Disaster Wedding incident.

He then proceeds to pass out into Shen Wei’s slow motion embrace.

There is nothing wrong with this. This is beautiful.

Shen Wei checks on Yunlan briefly, but Tan Xiao goes on the offensive, which deserves him: a) a shot of dark energy right into his chest, which flings him across the space, b) the meanest of Hei Pao Shi’s death glares. This is the moment Tan Xiao earns an uncharacteristically rough treatment he’s going to get at the end of this episode.

She Wei carefully places unconscious Zhao Yunlan next to the wall, calling out his name. We can only presume that the lab has a second exit, as Tan Xiao manages to get away despite the two men currently being more or less in the doorway.

An indeterminate amount of time passes, and Zhao Yunlan wakes on the sofa, Da Qing in human form miaowing at him, his team and Shen Wei nearby. The team goes into a full debrief mode: Wang Zheng reports that she is generally able to repel sound waves, but was taken by surprise; Da Qing and Lin Jin speculate about the shield being affected by the waves as well, since an apparent Undergrounder managed to get through it.

Zhao Yunlan notes that the sound waves ability seems to be doubled, and used for both attack and suggestion. He notes that the powers can be numerous, while grinning conspiratorially at Shen Wei.

Shen Wei quietly despairs. He probably genuinely thought that this conversation was truly over. He takes a few seconds to come to terms with Zhao Yunlan actually teasing him about him maybe being an Undergrounder, before composing himself and stating that compound abilities don’t actually exist.

Da Qing, who doesn’t necessarily pick up what this conversation really is about, but does note that *something* is up with those two, comes to his own conclusions, asking Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan to stop flirting.

Lin Jing comes up up with this.

“Comrades!”

Thank you, Viki subbers, for notifying the audience that the word “Comrade” is also a slang for “gay”.

Lin Jing springs to his feet, saying that he needs a sample test of a human consciousness - presumably to create that clever brain chip of him which would make one immune to the wound wave powers. Zhao Yunlan very theatrically feigns a big scary headache to see whether Shen Wei would volunteer to take the test in his stead to spare him the pain. It’s an underhand move, but it works nonetheless.  

We briefly return to the Snake Tribe, or, more specifically to Zhu Hong’s Fourth Uncle asking whether she is still mad at him, while she is forcibly restrained and bound to a pillar. What is it with this show and binding people to pillars? In reality, the one bound to a pillar is actually Guo Changcheng, which the Fourth Uncle doesn’t pick up on even through Xiao Guo is not actually wearing the clothes Zhu Hong arrived in. Zhu Hong springs the trap, plies her uncle with the same wine, and then goes to regroup with the others, leaving Xiao Guo behind for the time being, because, I guess, it makes more sense for Zhu Hong to be alone when she gets hypnotised later in the episode.

Honestly, it’s easier to not think about too much about this scene, so let’s return to the main characters.

Lin Jing is just finishing the experiment on Shen Wei, who is lying on the lab bed in his undershirt, seemingly asleep. I would assume that Shen Wei has gone into some kind of a meditative trance to try and affect the way his own brain works and emulate the human activity. He does not stir when Zhao Yunlan walks over, and call him.

“Shen Wei? Professor Shen?”

Having received no response, Zhao Yunlan leans in to…

... Count this man’s eye lashes? Admire the effects of his skincare routine?

Oh, no, sorry. Here’s the excuse.

Thank you, Guardian, for this moment.

As Shen Wei wakes up and rises, he lets Zhao Yunlan know in no uncertain terms that he did see through his ruse.

“You don’t have a headache anymore?”

This snaps Yunlan out of gazing at Shen Wei with barely contained lust to pretend that his head indeed still hurts. Considering that Shen Wei does not look concerned, and knowing that Zhao Yunlan’s health and well-being is his number one priority in life, we can conclude that he did know that a headache was just an excuse to get Shen Wei out of his shirt check Shen Wei’s brain activity. Our professor collects his things and leaves with a brief goodbye.

Lin Jing is staring at the readings, checking that the computer has worked properly. Noticing that something is wrong, Zhao Yunlan asks, “Did you see live pornography in his head or something?” Not that I blame his for his mind being the gutter, but also, wow Zhao Yunlan’s mind is in the gutter.

Lin Jing dismisses the idea of mind reading as a whole, and shares his findings that Shen Wei’s consciousness was unwavering, like a dead man’s. Unfortunately for Shen Wei, whatever it was that he did to appear human has not worked well at all.

Zhao Yunlan smirks.

Outside of the SID building, Shen Wei is still frozen in place, contemplating his future actions as he is thumping the Pendant of Pining.

“Should I tell him after all?”

Yes, Shen Wei, you should.

“If I tell him, will that put him in danger?”

I am afraid the the good ship Zhao Yunlan Being In Danger sailed the day Zhao Yunlan became Lord Guardian and Chief of the SID.

(Am I again getting unreasonably frustrated with a fictional character of a show that aired several years ago? You bet I am.)

What follows in the episode is a brief interlude of Zhu Jiu being horrible to Tan Xiao, and making inappropriate comments about him and Zheng Yi. We also learn some of Tan Xiao’s backstory, which expands on his character and explains that the reasons he felt so protective of the little girl was because she reminded him of a sister he once had.

Back to SID offices.

Zhao Yunlan is doodling Shen Wei and the Envoy as he tries to reconcile the two in his mind.

It does sound like he still has doubts that the two are the same person, despite the overwhelming pile of evidence that made him draw to this conclusion in the first place. If anything, it is quite surprising that it took him this long to figure out that the enigmatic mysterious handsome professor and the enigmatic mysterious handsome Envoy are the same person. It is also curious that he seems to think the Envoy is much taller.

Da Qing watches his friend’s mental agony in absolute bewilderment.

Very shortly, they will get a ping for the sound wave energy from somewhere close to Zhu Hong’s home and rush to the scene to find that Zhu Hong has, indeed, been put under mind control, as she attacks Chu Shuzhi.

Here’s another piece of fight choreography for me to tear into.

Okay, good things first. I really like that the actors are doing their own fighting. Jiang Mingyang is generally looking good in combat, and his reactions continue to be on point. Gao Yuer is very flexible, and her kicks are great.

The fight itself however, is another example of the time/money constraints.

The opening punch is… fine. They do lock arms for a split second, which indicates that Zhu Hong properly swung that in rather than stopping the energy, but they are also out of distance, so safety-wise that’s okay-ish, and at full speed it looks alright . But the way Lao Chu is sticking his thumb out and then wraps that around Zhu Hong’s wrist just gave a full body shudder. This is how one gets they thumb dislocated (which I have never done myself, but I hear is very painful) and/or gives their partner a nasty bruise. For anyone out there who needs to hear this, if you ever perform a fight, please tuck your thumbs in line with your fingers and avoid hurting yourself and others. Doing otherwise adds nothing apart from a small but completely avoidable risk of injury.

Then there is this kick-punch-kick combination.

The three moves in isolation are good, but they don’t flow together, at all. I think, and this is pure speculation, that the sweeping punch in the middle was actually meant to follow the previous two moves, then the kick would come next, leading into Chu Shuzhi restraining Zhu Hong. That first kick (which is the same as the third kick, shot from a different angle) just does not belong there as a follow-up to the two punches. I can speculate that it was cut there because it looked cool - which it does - but it also sacrifices any hope this fight had for coherent storytelling.

Then there is a capture and a swivel, very similar to the finishing move used in Zhu Jiu/Sang Zan fight in episode 11. Zhu Hong gets pressed against the tree, and the team shows up to sedate her and bring her back to the headquarters.

Tan Xiao and Zheng Yi watch this scene unfold at a distance, as Zhao Yunlan appears behind them. The SID chief calmly lets Tan Xiao know that he’s been abandoned by Zhu Jiu, and the other man offers no resistance to being captured.

The narrative brings us to the boxing ring, introducing us to it as Zhu Jiu’s energy farm, and then briefly cuts to SID, where Chu Shuzhi realises that they have not retrieved Guo Changcheng. The puppet master springs into action, leaving Lin Jing to wonder since when his friend is so protective of the rookie. If he paid attention, he would have noticed that Chu Shuzhi was protective of the rookie since day one.  

We then move to the interrogation of Tan Xiao, which is happening in the hospital set, with Zheng Yi tucked into the hospital bed, even through it was never established that she would need medical attention, and, considering that she would have no issues walking out of the hospital very shortly, she clearly does not. Here, we see some more flashbacks, detailing Tan Xiao and the girl’s backstory, the abuse she suffered, and the bond the two forged. The young man is admitting to all the crimes he had not committed to protect her, and Zhao Yunlan is honestly moved. He sounds almost regretful when he lets Tan Xiao know that he will still be persecuted for his crimes.

Right on cue, Hei Pao Shi portals in.

Zhao Yunlan greets him with a customary “long time no see”, but the most acknowledgement he receives from Shen Wei is a side-eye which does not even focus on his face.

In fact, the Envoy is doing as much as he can to avoid even turning to Zhao Yunlan. He simply announces his purpose to the room in general and teleports Tan Xiao away. It’s easy to see what he is doing. In Shen Wei’s mind, the less communication he has with Zhao Yunlan as Hei Pao Shi, the better are his chances to separate his two personalities in the eyes of the other man. That said, showing an abrupt and uncharacteristic change of behaviour is the opposite of suspicious.

Even Da Qing notices the change Hei Pao Shi.

“Lao Zhao, what did you do to upset him? You used to do small talk, not anymore?”

Zhao Yunlan smirks, replying that he knows the reason why. He then notices the little girl crying, and goes to comfort her the only way he knows how, with a lollipop. When that does not work, he gestures for Da Qing to leave with him, and returns with a familiar black cat and an adorable “ta-dah”. It’s so sweet it makes my teeth hurt.

As this is going on, Hei Pao Shi is being his glorious over the top avenging self. For one, he is actually floating above Tan Xiao, which I don’t think he ever seen him do before. He then proceeds to throttle the young man, lifting him in the air and throwing him back on the ground.

He does so in order to shake the sound wave equipment out of him, sure, but it is easy to assume that Tan Xiao also brought the Envoy’s wrath onto himself by his misguided attempt to hurt Zhao Yunlan earlier that day. It’s deliciously petty; we know that the best way to earn Shen Wei’s ire is by threatening his companion. And, to be fair, Shen Wei had a bad day: this is as good a way as any to get some of that ancient anger out of his system.

As Hei Pao Shi realises that the man he arrested is a simple human armed with some clever technology, and the real homicidal Undergrounder is the girl he is protecting, so does Zhao Yunlan. Even miles away, even when they are having arguments, their analytical brains still work in sync. And, as plot twists go, this one is neat, albeit not entirely unpredictable.

Unfortunately, realising that the girl is dangerous, brings along a realisation that Zhao Yunlan left his friend in her care. He rushes to the hospital to check on Da Qing, finding the ward empty. If this was Zhu Jiu’s plan all along, it’s a good one: having access to a brainwashed SID member would also spell easy access to the headquarters and the Hallows - which is exactly where Zheng Yi leads Da Qing, taking the Hallows and leaving the Yashou to go into a berserk mode as he imagines or remembers Zhao Yunlan/Kunlun saying “I will abandon you”

Next up, episode 13: The Disaster Wedding.

——

Notes.

Every time Shen Wei lies my brain supplies me with Why You Always Lying song. Every. Single. Time. Which means I sing it a lot around the flat, to my partner’s great chagrin.

Whoooo boy and I thought the Episode 10 recap was the crackiest one I’ve done.

[magicofsimplestories]

#MyWillowCreekTeens

I will close the door, but I will open up my heart And everyone I love will know exactly who you are 'Cause this is not goodbye, it is just 'til we meet again So much has changed since you've been away Ed Sheeran, Visiting hours

There’s just one downside to holidays - apparently they come to an end too fast. The streets of the town flooded with costumes the other night are tidy and calm now. It’s Monday again. It’s time to go on. 

Nina’s way to school lies by the local church. The pointy red roof is shining warmly in the feeble autumn morning sun rays. The graveyard behind the church is silent and empty. 

Or... wait a second.

Marcus?

It has been three years since his best friend Connor passed away - a disease. Three years already...

“I hope you are in a better place now, brother”

“Thanks for being here, Nina. I feel much less lonely”

“Me too”

There’s just one downside to holidays - apparently they pass too quickly leaving nothing but the everyday reality in their stead. The reality that can be both pretty and ugly, colourful and grey, comforting and scary, fair and unfair. It’s real in its controversy, that’s the only thing about reality without a reverse side. Beautiful, isn’t it?

“What time is it?

“Almost nine”

“Time to go, right? Better not be late for the Language class”

"Yeah, time to go”

[Next]

----

Vikie’s notes: Incredible skateboard poses by @pixeles​. 

Mary Jane Skatepark by LadyMoooo (Gallery). 

Newcrest Wedding Church by piescream_t03ld (Gallery).

[library-of-bees]

The Undercity is so dark. So dull. Full of pain and suffering. At least in comparison to Piltover. I climbed all the way to the top of this bridge, and for what? All I see is the world I left behind. The world I miss being apart of. One step is all it would take. One step to fall back down to where I came from. One step to fall back down to the world I shouldn't have left years ago.

"Poixion!"

"Yes?"

"He's.. he's dying."

I'm right here. I just have one more jump then I'll see him again. But how would he react? I'm basically a crime lord now. I've changed. Would he still care about me even though everything is different now?

I want to run.

But I know that if I do I'll always regret not seeing him at least one more time.

Jumping across the gap between buildings I grab onto the window sill and open the window. Hoping no one is in the room visiting I climb in.

"Poixion? What are you doing here, what do you want?"

Glancing up I see Jayce standing, ready to fight. I chuckle.

"Relax Jayce, plus shouldn't you be quiet? Viktor is resting." I say as I motion towards my brother laying on the hospital bed.

His eyes widen and I can see the realization set in. It's too late to turn back now.

"Amira? You're.. you're here. You're back."

Slowly walking forward I sigh.

"I never wanted to leave. But I was worried this was dangerous." I open the capsule I have dangling around my neck. "It's a red hex crystal. It's not dangerous or anything from what I could find out about it on my own, it's basically the exact same. It just turned red during one of my experiments. I didn't want to end up getting you or Viktor in trouble for something that I did, so I ran off. I'm sorry."

I close the capsule and look down at the floor when I feel Jayce put a hand on my shoulder.

"I appreciate how you wanted to protect us, but if you told us we wouldn't have been mad. Honestly Viktor probably would've been more impressed than anything."

His smile is reassuring, so I hug him.

"Jayce? Is that.. Amira?"

I look over to my brother, he looks unsure of what he's seeing

"It's me Viky." Slowly I walk over to him. "I heard the news and I wanted to see you. I'm sorry I ran off, I just.."

He grabbed my hand.

"I'm just happy you're alright. Being Poixion is dangerous. You could've gotten hurt, Ami."

He was worried.

"I promise, I won't leave again big brother. I'd rather be at the lab studying and making things. I want to help people with Hextech. I want to help you."

Jayce put his hand over mine and Viktor's.

"We'll both help you."

Viktor smiled.

"We'll figure out something, we have to."

[eurodynesass-moved]

Happy Birthday

It is Viktor's birthday. V, Jackie and Misty drag him out to celebrate, promising a surprise to come. 

Ao3

— — — — —

There was something about the way she got out of the car that really had Viktor stuck in place. At first, all he saw were her dark metallic heels, followed by long, freckled, sun-kissed legs. The heels had long straps that were wrapped a few inches up her calf, a glorious braid of black against her smooth skin. When she finally stepped out from behind the door, it was as though Viktor had been punched in the gut.

V wore a silky black blouse that overlapped in a v-shape at the front, dipping rather low between her breasts. It was tucked into a black leather belt that stopped just short of her skirt—a deep magenta fabric that flowed and danced around her legs graciously. As if that weren't enough, her lips were a dark shade of pink that only complimented her skin, with eyes shaded as dark as night.

"Well, well," she beamed at him, taking a few steps out to greet him on the sidewalk. "If it isn't the birthday boy."

Whatever reservations Viktor felt about going out with the trio, it all went away the moment V gently kissed his cheek. She cooed a word or two about leaving a mark, her thumb brushing away a bit of lipstick from his face.

"Hey, Doc!" Jackie called from the driver's seat, "Misty on her way?"

"Uh, yeah," he replied, finally ripping his eyes off V to look at his friend. "She'll be out in a minute."

"We'll be sitting in the back," V told him, then took one good look at him and nodded approvingly. "Lookin' real good, Doc."

Vik shifted his weight from one leg to the other at her comment. In his eyes, all he'd worn was an unbuttoned suit jacket over a white button-up, slightly neater black pants and the fanciest shoes he owned—he hadn't dressed up like this in a long time. A few straps around his wrist, his gauges still in, his glasses on as usual—he thought he looked normal, and yet her words made him feel as though he stood out.

"Not as good as you-both," he quickly added, not catching the little smirk she gave him. He then cleared his throat, about to say something when another voice pitched in from behind him.

"Hey, you're both here!" Misty called, heavy heels sounding with each step. Misty had gone for a dark purple top and darker jeans, fitting her theme of low tones. She wore a thinner choker this time, a small silver rune dangling from the center, and heeled boots to finish it all off.

There was a whistle coming from the car as Jackie adjusted the collar of his own shirt. "Amigo," he called to Viktor, "I think these ladies are way too good for us."

"Oh, stop it," Misty replied, walking around the car to meet him as Jackie stepped out. He gave her a quick kiss before adjusting the seat so that she could hop in the back.

Vik, on the other hand, had looked back at V, Jackie's words still playing in his mind. "Come on," she motioned him to follow, walking ahead to move the passenger seat. He would have been a liar if he said that he did not catch the view of V climbing into the back. Of course, he looked away as soon as he caught himself staring, but the image certainly burned his cheeks.

Once they were all finally strapped in, Jackie started driving and they began talking. The whole evening was planned, according to him, with a surprise at the end for Viktor. He hadn't felt that sense of anticipation in his gut in a while, but he was excited. It had been years since the company around him saw it fit to celebrate—well, anything, let alone a birthday.

Ever since Jackie and Misty met, the atmosphere around the Esoterica had become livelier. Ever since Jackie introduced them both to V... even more so. Whatever quiet life he had been building was slowly crumbling away, but that wasn't a bad thing. Not even in the slightest.

"So, what's this surprise?" Vik asked at one point.

Misty leaned over from the back, poking him in the bicep. "If we told you, it wouldn't be a surprise. Trust me, you're gonna love it."

V chuckled beside her, "Yeah, so hush up and let us spoil you today. You deserve it."

"Especially after lettin' V's tab get so big," Jackie snorted.

V jabbed a hard knuckle into his arm, earning a scold about not bothering the driver.

—

After a short drive, they had arrived at a restaurant that looked rather pricey. It wasn't exactly far from Watson, but it did not look like the average street diner, that was for certain. The exterior was lined with cool neons and synth plants, and the interior was more of the same.

Having walked in, Jackie mumbled to a woman about a reservation, the four of them being lead to a table shortly after. The restaurant was lit in cool hues of blue and pink, the booths separated nicely and rather clean. Jackie and Misty immediately sat down beside each other, leaving Viktor to motion V to sit down first.

She gave him a sweet smile and thanked him for it, making his heart jump a little. Since when was he so susceptible to the little gestures from a pretty woman? Ah, who was he kidding? Even if some of the clients he had were not too bad on the eyes, none of them could compare to the sweetness and kindness that V possessed. He had to stop thinking about it, he was tuning out of the conversation far too much.

—

The dinner itself had been very pleasant. A variation of synth meat stews and dishes, all paid for by the three of them, thankfully passing on any birthday-specific services. They spent just over an hour, eating, drinking and talking. Their conversations spanned from things in their daily lives to funny stories each of them had to share—a lot of the ones from V and Jackie involved being scolded or patched up by Viktor.

Then, there were the moments where Jackie tried to convince Viktor to tell V and Misty about certain boxing stories that he had told him during their training. Whenever Viktor would be modest, Jackie embellished. While the ladies listened to them both, Misty was the only one at that table that noticed the way that V's eyes were locked onto Viktor, how she had propped her head up with her hand and listened closely to every detail, always asking for more. How her smile grew in tiny fractions at every bit of excitement.

It only made her even more excited for the grand finale of the evening—but that was still a ways off. After they were done, Misty raised her hands in the middle of conversation, catching everyone's attention.

"Alright, alright. Now for one of the reasons we've come here tonight. Your gifts," she told Viktor as she reached into her purse. From it, she pulled out a small, soft object wrapped in pretty metallics. A moment later, she also handed him a small, box-shaped gift that was wrapped in reds and golds.

Viktor gave them a sheepish smile, shaking his head. "You've all already done enough."

"Just open them!" V told him, nudging him softly with her elbow.

Starting with the first gift, Vik unwrapped it, revealing a small, blue velvet bag. As he opened it, he pulled out two objects from within—a pale white crystal and a worn coin of intricate design and a hole in the middle.

"That one's from me," Misty told him. "You were talking about your shop not feeling right, that it felt heavy for you at times. Selenite's supposed to cleanse your energy and that which surrounds you. It'll help the clinic feel a little more welcoming to you. The coin, I had to track down for weeks. There aren't many of them around anymore. It's an old, ancient symbol of luck, something we all could use a little of."

He held the objects in his hands, shutting his eyes briefly as a small chuckle rumbled from him. Vik looked back up at Misty with sincere gratitude. "I told you that a long damn time ago."

"And I never forgot," she winked at him. "Use them well, Vik."

"Thanks, Misty," he smiled, holding them close for a moment before securing them back in the back for safety. He tucked the bag in his jacket, giving it a small pat.

"Now open mine!" Jackie pointed at the little box.

Doing exactly that, he unwrapped the beautiful paper carefully, revealing a small, transparent plastic case with a figurine inside it. Viktor recognized it immediately and laughed, digging it out to place it on the table. V grinned as she saw the little cat with its bobbing arm, beautiful swirls and markings carved into its pristine ceramic surface.

"You can add that to your collection on your desk," Jackie suggested, grinning widely at the doc.

"You never miss a thing, do ya, Jack?" He looked up at his friend, holding out a hand for a quick clasp. "I'll put this one on the highest spot I can find."

"Damn right, mano," he chuckled.

Viktor nodded in appreciation, unable to hold back his amusement. He felt a hand rest on his shoulder and glanced to his left to look at V.

"As much as I'd love to have all the eddies I owe ya in hand right now," she joked, "my gift to you comes a little later. It's somewhere else, so we'll have to go there after."

"That the surprise?" he raised a brow.

"You'll see," she promised sweetly.

"You know you guys didn't have to do this, any of it, but... Thank you," he looked at each of them with sincerity, and a load of joy in his eyes that he tried to keep in check. "You've made this old man's day."

"Happy birthday, Viky," Jackie replied.

"You deserve every bit of it, for everything you've done for us," Misty added in, reaching out to squeeze Vik's arm gently. "Your day's not over yet though."

Something stirred within him, wondering just what in the world V could have planned.

He'd get his answer soon enough.

—

A couple of hours later, the four of them had gone back out to the street, walking toward the cars. Once they arrived, however, Jackie and Misty stood beside each other, hanging back a little.

"This is where we leave you," Jackie told them, wrapping his arm around Misty.

"You're not coming?" Vik asked them.

"This part's just you two," Misty winked at him, nudging her head toward V, who was walking around to the driver's side.

When Viktor looked at her, all she did was give him a knowing smile, something to tell him that this was all part of the plan. He raised a brow at her and she winked at him too, getting into the car without a word. Swallowing that lump in his throat alongside all the bubbling anticipation within, he turned to the other two and gave them one more nod. They bid each other good night and the couple started walking away, leaving Viktor to join V in the car.

What he hoped would be a conversation that would get him answers was a lot of V telling him to be patient and that he'd see what his gift was soon. On the road, they continued some of the conversations off from dinner, and somehow they managed to go right back to talking about his boxing experience.

They had just entered a highway that had been leading them away from the city, when V finally asked him. "So, am I ever going to see those boxing skills in action?"

"You see me train all the time," he pointed out.

"Well, not... all... the time..." She replied, her voice suddenly a touch softer.

That was the voice she'd have when feeling a little embarrassed. What on earth did she have to feel embarrassed about—

"But!" She broke the silence, catching his attention again. "If I can't see a proper fight, then I'm gonna have to eventually see some of those recordings of yours."

"What would you want with an old fighter like me?" he brushed off with a chuckle.

"Hey, it's either that or we spar and I get to see it in person."

He felt his breath catch, something in his core bursting at the thought of sparring with her. Not only would that have put him in such... compromising positions with her, but he would not want to hurt her. Though if she were to beat him up, he wasn't entirely sure he'd mind—

"We're here!" V suddenly spoke, excitement bubbling in her voice. She bounced in her seat once or twice before unbuckling her seat belt. "Come on!" She nudged him, hopping out of the car immediately. He could hear her rummage through the trunk quickly before walking off.

Viktor looked around to see where she had taken them. As far as he could see, they had taken a dirt path over to a flat outcropping just outside an old, abandoned store. There was a low wall surrounding what seemed to be a dusty, overgrown parking lot. It was a curious spot, to be sure, but none of all those little details mattered when Viktor finally stepped out of the car and spotted where V was headed.

In quite a similar fashion to the area on Misty's roof, there was an out-of-place shade that had been set up securely, under which was a little sitting area. As Vik moved closer, he looked at every little detail and just wondered if the three of them had to bring all of it over somehow. There was a rug, rather worn but far cleaner than the ground, under every bit of furniture. At the center was a makeshift table made with an old wooden cable spool. It was painted on with a design that could only come from Misty.

Facing out toward the open slope was a couch, worn down but covered with a colorful blanket. Beside it on the left was a small stack of wooden pallets with a few pots of synth plants on them, as well as a few, small portable lights. There were also two arm chairs, one of which seemed to have something on it. As he got closer, he realized it was a drink cooler.

He did not have much time to say anything about what he was looking at, as V fiddled with what looked to be a small radio that wasn't there before. Soon, a sweet and slow song began playing halfway through at a comfortable volume.

Turning it in, she put it down on the table, walked over to him and slipped an arm around his. "Before we say or do anything, come here," she said, leading him carefully over to the low wall. Standing there in the dim light, he looked out into the wide open space.

The city was far off in the distance, the buildings all stacked in wonderful dark silhouettes and bright neon lights. It cast a beautiful glow against the night sky, alongside the advert beams above. The outskirts were plain and scattered with old shops and stops, highways or dirt roads. Where they were was rather high up, and it could see almost everything.

"So..." V took a shaky breath, sounding rather nervous. "You said a while back that you wished you could get some fresh air for a while, away from the cramped up streets of the city. We put together this spot not only for tonight but... To always have that place to go to when the roof isn't enough."

Vik could no longer just stare at the city. His eyes were focused on her. "I told them not to tell you, because I wanted to surprise you with it here, today, like this." When he did not say anything, she shifted, arm pulling away as she motioned toward the seat behind them. "I also brought some drinks, some music..." V began to fiddle, wringing her hands together.

He was certain he had never seen her that nervous or restless.

"So... Surprise!" She exclaimed in a soft, quiet call, beaming a bright smile at him.

Vik let out a laugh, stepping closer to her. "You went through all this trouble just for me?"

"It was no trouble because it was for you," she admitted. "Not to say we won't be stealing this spot from time to time, too..."

"V, I... Sweetheart, I don't know what to say," he looked at her incredulously, unable to hold back the elation he felt. He stepped even closer, and she did not seem to mind.

"Say you'll have a drink with me?" V offered, closing the distance between them and placing her hand on his arm.

What the hell was he doing?

There he was, in a beautiful little spot that was so personal, with a gorgeous view, standing next to V. V. The woman he had not been able to stop thinking about for months. His heart hitched in his throat, his breath wavering, he could not think of a better way to try. A better way to show her how he felt.

"V..." He spoke, his voice unable to rise above a whisper. She looked at him with sweet adoration, a look he had always cherished. Viktor slowly cupped her cheek with his hand, waiting for her to brush him away or move, or tell him it was a misunderstanding. She just... Stood there, her smile growing. Surely she didn't—

She kissed him.

She went on the tip of her toes and kissed him.

His hands moved to her waist, pulling her in real close as he felt her soft lips move against his. V wrapped her arms around his shoulders, kissing him with such passion that he was sure the world would slip out from underneath him.

When they had a moment to pull away, he considered saying something, but there was a look she gave him. That look, he could not make heads or tails of. Her lids were dropped, her breath quick and unsteady, her lips slightly parted and her beautifully freckled cheeks were a faint shade of red.

He could not help but kiss her again, a small sound coming from her in response that sent tingles through his chest. Once V stroked her fingers along his neck to bury them in his hair, it was over for him. He pulled away just barely, sighing against her lips with his eyes shut. He leaned his forehead against hers and finally looked at her again.

She glanced between his lips and his eyes, her own smile growing. "I've been waiting to do that all day."

"Have you, now?" Viktor raised a brow, but his insides were not as cool and collected.

"I have," she winked at him. "If you hadn't kissed me, I decided I'd do it myself."

"I don't think I could have waited any longer if you hadn't," Vik laughed softly, his breath caressing her skin.

She let out a chuckle and moved in for another kiss. This time, her tongue grazed his lips and he gladly parted them, letting her in. He was reveling in her taste, in her sweet scent, in everything V. Something within him stirred as he felt her body pressed up against hers but he tried not to entertain the idea. Not yet, anyway.

He wanted this moment to last a bit longer.

As they pulled away, V placed one last kiss on his lips and looked up at him, gently swaying her body to the music that was playing—he couldn't help but do the same.

"Happy birthday, Viktor," she cooed.

"Probably the best one I've had in a while," he admitted, running a hand through her hair. "Thank you, sweetheart."

He noticed her smile grow wide at the word, her blush returning to her cheeks as she kissed him and made him wonder just how long she had been feeling that way about him. His heart did not remain still, and he didn't expect it would for a while yet, so he savored the feeling. Savored the music that swirls around them, the low lights and the beauty of the landscape. He savored her gentle touch and sweet words, unable to stop smiling.

It was the happiest he had felt in a long time.

[absolutebl]

Hi. Thank you for your blog. I really love it. I've recently become hooked on BL Dramas and binge watched a lot of them whilst I was stuck at home with covid for a couple of weeks (Bad Buddy, Why R U, To My Star, Light On Me, My Love Mix-Up! & TharnType) I love a good romantic comedy and was wondering if you have a top 10 list of BL dramas that have the best comedy in them. Thanks 😊

Ooo, a fun ask. And thank you for the compliment. 

So most BLs are romcom adjacent now. Since the lighter hearted "Thai style" has come to dominate the genre. And specifically following the American style classic romcom beats and tropes (e.g. Lifetime, Hallmark, or 80s Hollywood heyday) is actually pretty rare. But here are some...

Top 10 BLs that are RomCom-esk!

These are the 10 I think most closely would be called a "rom com" if they were to be spat out by Hollywood.

In no particular order... 

1. My Love Mix-Up! AKA Kieta Hatsukoi AKA Vanishing My First Love (Japan - Viki) 

Honestly this is pretty much Japan giving us a classic yaoi romcom. It's very Japanese about it, so lots of slapstick but it is quite funny and spastic and full of caricature, meme-able moments, and awkward encounters. The only way it's not a romcom is that it didn't end on a kiss. 

2. Cherry Magic AKA 30 Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard (Japan - indie subbers or Crunch)  

A bit softer on the extremes of humor than Mix-Up but equally charming. It has adult characters and an office setting so it is smack dab in the romcom wheelhouse. In this one a lot of the humor comes from hearing everyone’s thoughts. Also, doesn’t end (quite) on a kiss, but almost. 

3. 2gether & Still 2gether (Thailand - GMMTV’s YouTube) 

I think you can safely call this a romcom. Is it actually funny? You decide. But I think that the drunk scenes in both seasons are comedy GOLD. Win is an under appreciated physical comedian. 

4. Puppy Honey (Thailand - GMMTV’s YouTube) 

Okay so, it’s two parts and the first is mostly het, and the second is about 50/50 but I think it qualifies. And the whole think has that slightly absurd edge that makes in romcom-esk. 

5. Why R U? SiafahZon (Thailand - Viki) 

I wanna say that the SaifahZon’s story arc in Why R U? is a romcom (or intended to be) but FighterTutor is not? So 50/50 split? Does that count? Eh, I don’t have many options so it’s going on the list. 

6. YYY (Thailand - search me) 

This is more of a farce than a romcom, especially the special (aborted second quarantine season) and it is ... odd. It’s kind of BL does Diary of a Tootsie or something. I don’t know, I’m always confused by this show. (Origin of YoonLay tho.) 

7. Secret Crush On You (Thailand - sigh) 

This is definitely an attempt at a romcom. I forgot about it because I DNFed and I really did NOT like it. But yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s what it’s trying to do. 

8-10. GMMTV’s Failures 

You’ll notice there are quite a few from Thailand that didn’t make it. I think they missed the mark even though they were trying for romcom (Fish Upon the Sky, Thonhon Conlatee, even Enchanté). GMMTV seems particularly bad at romcoms, although they will keep trying. (Don’t get me wrong, I like Enchanté, but it’s not very funny even when it wants to be.) The success of 2gether drives GMMTV to try to recreate that magic (when really they should stick to SOTUS style BLs, more drama than comedy, like Bad Buddy). I say this knowing humor is subjective but none of these really made me laugh consistently. 

I’m leaving these ends spots open to add more in the future, I hope. 

Sirs Not Appearing On This List

Love Stage!! both the Japanese version (not recommended) and the Thai version (currently airing) I think would qualify. If the Thai version goes well I’ll come back and add it to the upper list. But I have to reserve judgement, as this is a very difficult yaoi to adapt for a modern audience. 

Ossan’s Love both the set of Japanese movies and the newer series from Hong Kong are kind of romcom soaps. So dramadies? Soapymas? But I don’t personally like them at all. 

I would probubly put Gen Y into this category too - soapy romcom. 

This kind of BL is always uneven - they aren’t sure if they want to be taken seriously or laughed at or laughed with. 

There are a couple of self titled BL sitcoms airing right now, Oh! My Boarding House (Korea) and that one from Thailand I can never remember the name. I wouldn’t call them romcoms tho. 

In general Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Mainland China seem to take their BL too seriously for comedy, although there may be some shorts out there. 

It could be argued that 49 Days With A Merman is going there but I find the characters backgrounds a little too dark, and don’t really enjoy the humor that’s beens showing up. Also it’s still airing now, so may not be a BL in the end. 

I have a few gay romcoms on this list: Old Guard Queer Cinema for BL Lovers

(source)

[rotblut]

Luniiiii the way we obsess over the saaaame thingsss!!! Like how the school2021 couple has consuuuumed me! More interesting than the main couple!!! But also not complaining because 10000973873 times better than all the stupid dramas with all the stupid love triangles!!

Also the GIFs look back to amazing!! Love youuu💞💞💞🌸🌸

.

OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG LOVE 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 ARE YOU READY FOR EP 5-6 2 more days omg shaking already crying and screaming,... i need someone to talk to about this not to be a mess but i am and i gotta scream about it to someone babes omg  ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

(ep1+2 really looked like they pushed the dumb love triangle 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀but ep3+4 was like *fok a love triangle we’re giving everyone love* and all of a sudden my eyes and everything opened up like the chakra was flowing) 

thank you for the gif feedback like i wish viu would have subbed school2021 because fokn viki is always pushing out the nastiest files like the quality is trash for small 540px gifs also i hate the aspect ratio of this drama so much. 

(the lead romance and male lead is trash i love my yihyun but i gotta ignore her in this for my sake)

lemme put down a list of things i want them to show us in the next 4 eps:

picking her up and giving her a ride on his motorbike or like he sees her alone on his bike and goes to her and then they ride off to some other place or to get her to the orphanage

eating together at lunch

(this maybe for ep 14-16) her eating at his home with his mom+big bro and feeling whole and secure and the first time she ate a meal made by a mom idk i want some drama and that his mom loves her and is cute with her and stuff and she feels all warm but also she’s a tsundere so

(ep 10 maybe) her being in his room 

him visiting the orphanage and seeing the pic of them with the rest next to the door of her bedroom 

him inside her bedroom and them talking or something 

comforting each other and a hug/backhug or them brushing hands 

something with hands gotta happen again for sure 

him getting annoyed at all the boys being around her and never leaving her alone so he’s telling them to *fok off*

taking care of each other

fake date but it’s totally a real date

her crafting him something out of wood (maybe a new keychain fok the old one he has) 

what is on your wishlist for scenes with them? let me know about your galaxy brained ideas thank you 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖

anyway if school2021 baited me into watching this for MY COUPLD and they do not end up together KBS CAN DIE FOR REAL!!!!!!!!!!!! getting the weapons ready if IF they decide against it which is unlikely BUT 

anyway love you  💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 write me back on wed-tues once you finished the eps plsssssssssss  💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 also tell me you gonna watch theone&only too  💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 sending love and hugs 

[heartofsnark]

Can You Feel The Sun? (Chapter Six): Do I Sink or Do I Float Now?

Notes: Still posting my little backlog of chapters!~  In this one we get Maelstrom, along with some Vik and Misty interactions that were really fun to write of course heavy on our precious boy Jackie too. 

Word Count:  9004

Chapter Warnings: Canon typical violence, cursing, installation of cyberware.

If you haven’t yet, you can read the previous chapter here!~

With a tightness in her chest and a heavy sigh, V answers Dex’s call. She’ll play it by ear and maybe wait until they’re in person to drop the news about Evelyn. The client really had to drag her into this bullshit, didn’t she? 

“How're things lookin', Miss. V?”

“Client had a recording that helped us out, Konpeki Plaza.”

“Beautiful. T-Bug already called, said she's workin' her magic. And the Flathead?”

“On it now and quick question, how are we getting into Konpeki?” 

“Through the front door, how else? I'm no leadhead. Ain't gonna leave no trace for them to follow 'cause we gonna do this clean an' on the hush-hush,” Dex confirms her beliefs, she needs cyberware, something. 

“Got it, on my way to get the Flathead, now.” 

“T-Bug says no chance at the chip without that bot. To work, then, Miss V.” 

He hangs up and V leaves Lizzie’s bar, night air cold on her exposed skin. She’ll swing by her apartment, drop by Vik’s, and then meet up with Jackie at All Foods. V makes a beeline to her car, starting a call and patching a call to Jackie through the radio speaker. 

“Jackie,” she signs one handed as she drives, “Met the client. Her name's Parker. Evelyn Parker.”

“OK. Whatcha waitin' for? Gimme the deets. Who is she? What's she like?”

“Shady as fuck. Doll, I think, fucks Yorinobu Arasaka and now she wants to fuck him over.” 

“Don’t seem that odd.” 

“She’s...off, Jackie. Hiding something, big, I just. Don’t trust her, don’t think she’s a bad person, just… not to be trusted.” 

“Yeah, sounds like nerves talkin' to me. Makes everyone seem suspect. Stress can kill you, y'know.”

“Yeah, yeah, so you tell me.” 

“What about Militech?” 

“I met with the corpo.” 

“V… “ 

“Hear me out, woman gave me hell and a spiked chip, wanted me to pay on Militech’s dime but the chip would have fried Maelstrom and left us cleaning up the mess.” 

“Of course, I told you, V.” 

“But, I managed to crack it. Maelstrom plays nice, I got a clean ten grand off of Maelstrom. Chrome snorters pull bullshit; we fuck them and send a middle finger to Militech while we’re at it. We can talk it out more when we meet.”  

“Alright, waitin' for ya at All Foods, ya know. Not gettin' any younger.”

“Well, grab something to eat, going to be a while longer.” 

“Chingada madre, V, what now?” 

“Konpeki Plaza, hotel we got to get into. They have a no weapon policy and way Dex talks that the only way in, is through the front door. “ 

“And?” 

“And, if shit goes sideways, I don’t want to be caught with my pants down,  in a gunfight without a weapon. Need cyberware, something they can’t confiscate, so I’ll be ready for worst case scenario. So, I’m grabbing my savings and making a trip to see Vik.” 

“Stress stress, all you do is stress, but I’m glad you’re finally spending your fucking money. What you trying to get?” 

“You’ll see when we meet up, who knows, might end up using it on some Maelstrommers.” 

“Hehe, see you soon, V.” 

V hangs up and parks outside her megabuilding, sliding her mask off and into her bag before running in. She keeps her head down and doesn’t talk as she rushes to just get her stash of cash out from under the bed. Willing the elevator to move faster and annoyed when she presses her hand to the intercom to unlock her door and it takes a second too long for the lock to validate her SID chip. She opens the under bed  compartment, finding her money stash next to her toy stash. Then it’s back out to her car and driving out to Vik’s. 

She parks in the same place Jackie did that morning, keeping her head down as she wades through the crowd, trying not to stare at the strippers in the club window across from Misty’s store and avoiding eye contact with Gary; the slightly crazy homeless man who likes to yell about conspiracies.  V peeks into Misty’s shop and smiles when she sees the woman at the little register and desk. Her face lit by the cyan neon sign advertising her prices for chakra readings. 

“Hey, V.” Misty smiles at her, she’s the cutest little thing, granted she’s a bit taller than V. A short airy chin length bob of bleached hair, heavy black makeup, and big green eyes. 

“Hey, Misty,” V signs as she walks in, her choker translator already turned on

“Heard you and Jackie have a new job.” There’s a hint of something sad to her voice, a pain to her eyes. 

“You don’t seem excited.” 

“Just...worried; bigger jobs, bigger risks.” 

“I know, I’ll do my best to watch out for him, promise.” 

“I know you will, V.” 

“You’ll have to read our cards when you get the chance.” Its become a tradition, the little peek into the future easing some of Misty’s nerves. 

“Please, Jackie’s heart chakra was a little out of whack and his aura needs tending. Keep him away from mean reds, if you can.” 

“I’ll do my best.” 

“Speaking of which…” 

“Oh no.” 

“You need to let me adjust your chakras, V!~” 

“Yeah… I don’t know about that one…” 

“Your crown and throat chakras are so messy, heart chakra too actually, you’re just spiritually kind of a wreck, V.” 

“You can tell that just by looking at me.” 

“I could tell after my first conversation with you.” 

“Funny, I’ll think about it. For now, I got to see Vik.” 

“He’s in the clinic, go on in.” 

V gives Misty a pat on the shoulder as she walks around and goes out the back door of the older woman’s store into the alleyway behind it. A soft meow rings out, just before the stairs that go down to Vik’s is a little sphinx cat with big golden eyes. The merc crouches down and scritches it’s back, smiling at the cutie, softly meowing back at it. Its such a cute kitty. One more little pat and she separates herself from the cat and goes down the stairs to Vik’s clinic. She’s not sure how Vik can stand to stay in the dank basement level clinic all day, but she’s thankful he’s always easy to find when she needs him. Through the little metal gateway door she can already see him at a workbench, watching a boxing match on a small TV. 

“Viky! How’s my favorite ripper?” She greets him as she walks through, grinning as the older man spins his chair to look at her. 

The ripper’s eyes drop down for a second seeing the box she has held to her stomach with one arm. He smiles softly, the expression forming wrinkles around his eyes. He’s an older man, dark hair just starting to thin on the back of his head. Tattooed forearms with memories of his boxing days and tinted glasses on his nose. 

“Good to see you too, V. It's been a while. To what do I owe the pleasure today?”

“Got a new gig, new fixer, sure Jackie’s already talked your ear off about it.” 

“Dexter Deshawn…  Known quantity, from the Afterlife. No denying you're movin' up…” Vik tells her but there’s a drag in his voice, V is starting to get the distinct impression that no one is as excited for this as her and Jackie are. Hell, she’s not even as excited as Jackie, Evelyn’s offer still heavy on her mind. 

“Something you’re not telling me?” 

“Keep your guard up, that's all. I've heard some things about Dex. He's not as "chill" as he makes himself out to be.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she nods, Dex doesn’t seem to shady at the moment, but she trusts Vik’s opinion, “as for right now, plan is for me and Jackie to get into a hotel, pretend we’re guests. Hotel’s got a strict no guns policy, so… need a weapon they can’t take off of me.” 

“That so? You finally caving and getting the projectile launcher?” 

“No, I was thinking Mantis Blades, actually. Quieter, if shit goes off the rails it’d be better to have something that doesn’t tell everyone where we are.” 

“And you get to add two more blades to your collection,” Vik teases, knowing her affinity for swords, knives, and daggers over firearms. 

“Hey, doesn’t hurt to stick to what I know, besides with shit getting real… need better tech.” 

“Well alright,” Vik stands and kicks away his wheeled seat, walking towards his work station, and getting the injector, “but lemme guess- hasn’t paid you yet.” 

“No, but, I brought what I got. I know it’s not enough but, if you’re fine with me paying so much now and the rest later, I-” 

Vik puts a hand up and stops her from pushing the little box of cash at him, a soft smile on his face. Jackie likes to say Vik has a soft spot for her, sometimes she doubts it but when he gives her that soft almost kind fatherly look, she can’t help but think Jackie might be right. 

“Keep it.” 

“No, don’t be ridiculous, I should at least give you something upfront, I-” 

“We'll work something out later. Right now I'm just out to make sure you get back in one piece. Keep that back for now and we can figure it out once you get paid, alright?” 

“Got no idea what I did to deserve you, Vik.” 

“Who knows?” He laughs and shoots an injection into his forearm, to help steady and loosen up his organic hand, flexing the fingers on his ripper glove, “go ahead and get comfy.” 

V nods and puts her cash stash in her bag before climbing up into the doctor’s chair, taking a deep breath. Even with Vik, the only doctor she trusts, she always finds herself nervous in his chair. She’s slowly grown more accustomed to the importance of cyberware and tech in Night City, but it still just feels overwhelming at times to think of carving out pieces of herself for it. V is fairly sure other than monks she’s one of the only people past the age of eighteen who doesn’t have optics, kids carving their eyes out as soon as a doc is willing to do it. This is important, she needs to be prepared for the worst case scenario, but she is about to have a significant portion of her arms removed to be replaced with swords. The gravity of that still sits heavy on her chest. 

“Jack in and lay those major league arms down for me.” 

Vik pulls up two tables on each side of the chair and V lays her arms down for him, trying to steady her breathing. Her eyes linger on the brand on her left wrist, the one that marked her place within her nomad clan.  She wonders if that part of her arm will be taken off, skin removed with synthetic Real Skin stuff.  He sits in his little wheeled stool, looking over her scans. 

“Looks like you’ve actually been taking your meds.” 

“Got an alarm on my phone now, nearly forgot just this morning,” she switches to spoken English, though her hands twitch to sign, she doesn’t want to move them just in case. 

“Whatever helps, last thing you need is your body trying to kill itself.” 

“But it's so good at that.” 

“Oh I know it is,” he pushes himself to get to the other side of the table, pushing a sharp injection into her arm just below her elbow, “a bit of anesthetic.” Then he pushes her sleeve up higher, so he can reach her bicep, another shot. 

“What’s that one?” 

“Anti-anxiety, though judging by the wide eyed look on your face, it’s gonna take a second to kick in.” 

“Oh, yeah… sorry.” 

“It's okay, know this ain’t your thing. Most arm cyberware is fairly invasive, but I got some tricks up my sleeve. Do my best to give you the tech you need and leave as much ‘ganic material intact as I can.” 

“I know, I trust you.”

Slowly, her body numbs. The strong anesthetic spreads into her blood and impacting every inch of her. Her breathing feels more stable and her heart rate seems to slow back to normal, a sense of calm coming over her. Vik is a good man, she knows that, he’d never do anything that isn’t needed and wouldn’t ever try to hurt her. He starts to roll out the tech to carve her arms open and put blades inside. 

She closes her eyes and lays her head back, because she doesn’t want to see, it will just freak her out more. Put her trust in fate and more importantly Vik to take care of it. V feels nothing, only soft whirrs of tech. 

“Feel anything?” 

“Never do. Ask me that every time, you know. Not as if things are gonna be any different today.”

“Sure thing, kid, I mean not like there's any risk of a stroke or paralysis. But... heh, what do I know? I'm just a doctor.”

“Okay, okay, I getcha.” 

“You got your contacts with you?” 

“Yeah, in my bag.” 

“Once we get your blades in, I’ll take a look at them, think we can bump them up with some Kiroshi tech.”

“You’re the best, Vik.” 

“So, I’ve heard.” 

“Oh, nearly forgot, you’ll get a kick out of this. Coach Fred in my building wants me to do some fights.” 

“Does he now?” 

“Mmhmm, really tried to sell it too, he believes in me. Dude, I’m fucking five feet tall, but okay.” 

“Well,” Vik chuckles, “to be fair, you may be small, but I’ve seen you take down guys twice your size.” 

“That’s merc work, Vik; don’t think they’d let me stab my opponent in the ring.” 

“That is usually frowned upon.” 

They make small talk as he works, the chatter easing her nerves, the little traces of anxiety the medicine can’t touch. Vik tries to convince her she could hold her own in a boxing fight, though unlike Coach Fred, it feels less like a sales pitch coming from Vik. From him it feels more like a dad trying to convince their kid they’ll be good at soccer if they just get out there and try it. 

“Alright, we’re done, kid. Take a look.” 

V takes a deep breath and does just that, Looking down at arms that still seem to be very much her own but with silver detailing from her knuckles to her elbows. They look nice, the Mantis Blades and Projectile Launcher are the better looking arm cyberware options in her opinion. Like accents, little detailing, rather than making arms look more tech than flesh. It’s her nails still, painted her favorite bright blue, she can still see her freckles. And when she twists her forearms she finds her brand still there. 

“Wow, really did save as much skin as you could.” 

“Mmhmm, still you, just a few added touches. The blades act on intention and reflex, stand up and give it a try. Just don’t cut anything I need.”

V gets out of the chair, taking a few steps to the most cleared off portion of the room. Vik scoots himself back on the stool. Just what she’d need, to finally get cyberware beyond the basics and end up accidentally gutting her favorite ripper. With the thought and a tensing of her forearms, the blades extend out. 

“Woah.” 

She marvels at it, the way her flesh has opened up, can see the metal compartment almost where the blades were stored and hidden inside. Carefully, she retracts the blade in one arm to touch the other. Curiously she touches where the skin meets metal, nerves in the flesh still, but when she touches inside of the compartment she feels nothing. She presses down into the steel and when she does so hard enough, she can feel it start to put pressure on real organic tissue. She pulls her fingers away and retracts the blade; extending and pulling them back a few times, getting the feel for them. 

“Take it you’re a fan?” 

“Its so cool.” 

“Still wish you got the Launcher instead?” 

“Maybe a little bit,” she tests out signing, thankful the metal additions don’t interfere with her ability to do it, “I’m good with knives and katanas, so having a cannon in my arm would add a bit of variety.”

“Maybe your next job.” 

“You can take them out and do that?” 

“Mmhmm, now-a-days even the military grade stuff is designed to be adaptable, you can rip ‘em out and change it up whenever you see fit. So, you can have whatever new tech you want when you want it.” 

“The innovations of consumerism, huh?” 

“Something like that,” he laughs, “hand me your contacts and I’ll upgrade them for you.” 

She does just that, watching him take the contacts and put them in a device. While he tinkers with those, V keeps playing with her new toys. Making sure she knows exactly what will and won’t trigger the blades. Flexing alone won’t extend them, folding and twisting her forearms. It requires the intention too, linked to she assumes her neural plants and cyberdeck.  Which means she should be able to hug someone without decapitating them, a skill she does occasionally enjoy having. Even if Jackie says her hugs are half ass.  Got to hug people like you’ll never see them again, because in Night City that might be the case; according to him. 

“All done, test them out,” Vik hands her back the contact case and she carefully places them in. The interface lights up for a moment, adjusting to the new tech.  She looks around, her vision a bit clearer. 

“Image looks clearer.” 

“Installed threat detection and weak spot detection tech too. Anyone who isn’t known to you, who the soft picks up as an enemy sees you, it’ll highlight them and tell you what their weak points are.” 

“That’s awesome, I don’t know what to say Vik, this is incredible.” 

“Figured, if you needed the blade for some hotel, you’d probably have to ditch the mask. So, it doesn't hurt to bump up the contacts.” 

“Yeah...oh…guess your right, can’t play corp hotel guest in a mask, can I…” 

“Just now realizing that?” 

“Maybe… but more importantly. The blades, the contacts. I don’t know what to say, Vik, I…”

“Say you’ll take this and remember the dosage. Two whiffs now and another two in an hour,” he hands her a medicine inhalant, “mild stim. Should boost neurotransmission in the short term and muffle some of the side effects while the implant takes.”

“Thanks Vik, seriously, I owe you big. You sure you don’t want some cash up front? I really don’t mind, I-” 

“Won’t hear it. Go on, kid. Show 'em what you're made of,” he grins at her, rolling back over to his desk, “And once you hit the big leagues, don't forget where you came from.”

A part of her wonders if it’s meant as a joke or a serious concern, knowing how much he seemed to worry about her getting a job from Dex. No matter if she hits the major leagues, Vik will always be her go to ripper. She comes up behind him where he’s gone back to watching TV and throws an arm around his neck in a sort of hug, squeezing him close. The kind of hug Jackie would mock, but full scale embraces are still...weird. 

“Couldn’t if I tried, Vik, thanks again.” 

“No problem, kiddo,” he pats her hand where it sits on his chest, “grab your candy and get going.”  

V giggles, and  pats his shoulder as she pulls away. She wonders if any of his other patients end up grabbing candy from the bowl on his desk. If Vik does the same joke with anyone else now that she kicked it off, a part of her hopes not. She grabs a handful of honeyed candies, popping one in her mouth as she leaves his clinic through the metal gate. The cat is still there when she gets back out to street level, she gives it a few more scratches, then takes the pathway back through Misty’s shop. 

“Vik take care of you?” The bleached blonde greets V as she comes in. 

“Sure did, I got swords in my arms.” 

That gets a giggle out of her, V showing off the indentations and designs of the Mantis Blades. Misty runs her fingers along them, smiling at the merc. 

“Very nice, take it you’re off to meet Jackie, now?”  There’s still some worry in Misty’s eyes, a sadness to her tone. 

“Yeah, got to get a combat bot. Shouldn’t take too long, Maelstrom isn’t anything we haven’t handled before. You know that.” 

“I do, I do,” Misty fiddles her fingers together, “its not them I’m worried about, it’s just this whole… thing with Dex and this heist. Just got a bad feeling. The bigger your jobs get, the more risks, you know. I’m sorry...sure you don’t want to hear me whine.” 

“Hey, hey,” V touches Misty’s shoulder, “its not whining. You love Jackie, it’s only natural to be worried.” 

“Thanks, Jackie thinks this job will set us up for life, that he’ll finally be able to take care of me like I deserve… “

“And what do you think?” 

“That is dreams are gonna get him killed one day and he doesn’t seem to care…” 

“He cares, he does. He just...thinks the risk is worth it, that if he does this he can build a better future.” 

“I know, just can’t shake the feeling he’s flying too close to the sun, I guess,” Misty says, wrapping her arms around herself. V knows that anxiety well and can’t say she even has the best feeling about this job. But, this is too good of an opportunity to pass up. 

“Hey, want to go ahead and do that tarot reading? Might make you feel better, see what the fates got in store.” 

“Yeah,” Misty smiles softly, “I’d like that.” 

Misty grabs her deck, the one V and Jackie picked out for her, as the merc comes around to the other side of the table. Jackie and V will be with each other the whole time, so if V’s future comes up clean, it means he can’t be too bad off. If nothing else, it offers a little distraction from anxiety and it won’t kill Jackie to wait just another ten or so minutes. 

“If my future’s clean, Jackie’s won’t be too bad. Guy’s always had better luck than me, anyway.” 

“I think he’d say otherwise,” Misty laughs, shuffling the cards, “now, focus on the recent past and what you expect in the future.” 

First card down, a man walking towards a cliff with a dog trotting along after him. 

“The Fool, that’d be you.” 

“So the cards think I’m an idiot, cool,” V rolls her eye, not missing the shadow of a smile across Misty’s lips. 

“The Fool symbolizes the beginning of a journey. You brim with enthusiasm, yet remain unaware of both your capabilities and the threats you face.”

“So...the cards think I'm an idiot.” 

“Just a little bit,” Misty teases, laying down the next card, “The Wheel of Fortune,. The danger is greater than you think. It will come suddenly, without warning. Conflict is unavoidable.”

“Fair enough.” 

Another card down, this one upside down. 

“The reversed Chariot reveals that such danger is tied to your love of risk. Do not aim too high, V.”

“I’m short, got nowhere else to aim.” 

Misty looks up at V under her brow, despite the hint of a smile, the meaning is clear. This is serious and V should take it with some level of seriousness. But, if she’s honest, V’s just happy to see Misty smiling at all. 

“And finally, The Magician… interesting.” 

“Why’s that?” 

“You may meet someone fascinating, someone charismatic. Maybe even someone you will grow to love?”

“Ew.”

Misty laughs as V makes a face at the word love and how Misty dragged the word out; the implication clear and gross. Why the fuck is fate concerned with V’s romantic life when she’s about to pull off a heist on Ara-fucking-Saka. 

“You can’t ‘ew’ fate, V!” Misty scolds her between giggles, smile now wide and bright. 

“I can when fate is being fucking gross.” 

“Love isn’t gross, V. It's beautiful.”  

“Ew.” 

“Get out of my shop,” Misty laughs and rolls her eyes, putting the cards back in her deck. 

“Talk to you, later.” 

Misty waves her off and V leaves out, content that she lightened Misty’s mood if only for a moment. She avoids eye contact with Gary as she makes a beeline back to her car, putting her new contacts back in the case and that in her bag. As useful as they are, she’ll use her mask for the Maelstrom job. For the usual reasons; enjoying her anonymity and well, people tend to take her a bit more seriously when they can’t see her baby face.  

V pulls up outside of All Foods, an abandoned food plant that Maelstrom has turned into their newest HQ.  Jackie is already parked sitting on his arch, poor guy has been waiting on her for entirely too long.  She puts her mask back on and hops out, walking up towards him, seeing his posture brighten up when he spots her walking down the street. 

“About time, V. Mi madre always said patience pays off, but christ.” 

“Sorry, a lot of shit to take care of. Most prepwork we’ve ever had to put in.” 

“Well, fill me in.” 

“Ran through the BD with the client and T-Bug, know where the chip is and where we’re trying to get too. But we need the bot from Maelstrom to nuke the hotel’s subnet and make sure we don’t catch lead from a turret. Dex paid them for it, but we got no idea if they’re going to honor that.” 

“He paid up front, hijole.” 

“Yep, I met up with the Militech rep too. Gave me the spiked chip, but I reworked it. Got a chip with clean eddies on it and a newly...adjusted… chip that will spike Maelstrom and Militech.” 

“So, what’s the play?” 

“Doubt they’re going to just honor the original buy, but if they play nice, figured we return the favor. Give them the clean eddies and call it done.” 

“But Maelstrom don’t play nice.  Gang world ain't too complicated, Might's right, the strong survive. Either you fuck others, or you get fucked.”

“Then we fuck them over right back, they want to play dirty, give them the spiked chip and take what we want. Spike chips in my left pocket, clean one in the right,” she pats her pockets, “so if you see me get the chip from the left, get ready.” 

“Understood and the new chrome?” 

“Mantis Blades, like I said, hotels got a no iron policy and if shit goes wrong, I want to be ready. And, hell, if Maelstrom plays dirty, I might get a little practice tonight.” 

“How the hell you swing those?” 

“Vik, gave me chrome on credit, again. Too nice for his own good, I swear.” 

“Pff,” Jackie laughs, “only when it comes to you, chica.” 

“Don’t know why.” 

“Told ya, he says you got a good heart. Probably give you a second one for free just for that.” 

“Enough, enough; lets get this taken care of.” 

“Into the borgbeasts den, then.” 

“Onward.”  With that Jackie climbs off his bike, leading the way and she follows behind. 

“I hate these 'borg fuckers. Just had to be them…” 

“Gang like any other,” V tells him. 

Night has fallen over the city, lit by streetlamps and fires in a trash can. Northside all but abandoned, one of the only places where the night isn’t colored by neon citylights. They walk past trash and shrapnel, towards the door. An intercom button on the wall. 

“Take the Valentinos. They follow God and the Santa Madre. Honor means something to 'em. You know what they want, how they get it, and what pisses 'em the fuck off. With Maelstrom, you just never know.”

“Think you might be a touch bias?” 

“Heh, maybe,  go on, let 'em know we're here.” 

With the V presses the intercom button waiting for it to ring, a few moment pass before a low growl of a voice finally responds. 

“Hm, don't know you.”

“Dex sent us.” V is increasingly thankful his name is easy enough to quickly finger spell. If they keep working with him, she may have to come up with a name sign though. 

“Main room. We been waiting,” the Malestom member tells her and the front doors slide open. 

The first room is dark with only a fluorescent light and the red glow of active turrets within it. There’s a distinct stink of mildew, rot, and mold. The stench of it choking V as she steps in after Jackie. 

“Cozy place. Could use a few plants, though,” Jackie makes a snide remark, as his heavy steps ring through the room, tech lines the walls and is stacked up on shelves, “Oh yeah. They look damn well prepared.”

“Food factory turned into a fucking armory, lovely.” 

“Gear from the Jacked convoy, gotta be… Must've been all over it like maggots on dead meat.”

“Everything’s marked Militech,” she confirms as they take a corner and walk down a short flight of stairs. 

“Psycho borgs chromed out with military-grade hardware worth millions... Should be fun.”

“Yeah, a real party.” 

They take a turn past a cluster of steel lockers, grime coated, with old abandoned anti-contamination suits still inside. Another turn past a neon red lit elevator shaft, the old factory is a mechanical maze. No doubt a reason why the chrome gang picked it; walls covered in their graffiti. They walk up another staircase; mines on every step, deactivating before them. 

“Anti-personnel mine,” V comments, “directional shrapnel spitter.” 

“Subtle…” 

Around a corner, through another passageway, and up another flight of stairs. Each step echoes, the entire place dark except for blips colored by red and the odd white fluorescents. Jackie stops when the steps lead to a door. Nodding his head at it, giving V the go ahead to open it. She rolls up the shutter door and is suddenly blinded with bright stark white light, chill curling around her and creeping through her thin cropped top. It makes sense, the former meat packaging plant needing a room to stay cold. 

“Stay cool… They’re just tryin’ to spook us,” Jackie tells her as she steps forward. 

Bright yellow forms patterns across the metal floor, spot lights, and stacks of crates marked Militech. Security cameras and she sees the first glimpse of Maelstrom members since they’ve stepped into the plant. One sitting on a crate, armed and watching with their signature red glowing optics. Another on a platform over seeing them. 

“Get in the elevator, fuckin’ sheep,” the Maelstrommer barks at them. 

“Thought those cabrones only swiped a couple crates, not a whole fuckin’ semi,” Jackie comments under his breath as they walk past the crates and to the end of the room. Double doors open up to a freight elevator. 

“This is going to be a hoot, ain’t it?” The doors to the elevator close and it starts it’s journey upwards. 

“It’s all right, keep chilled, V. Remember, we're on their turf.” 

“Yeah, because I’m the one who loses their chill.” 

“I’m always chill-” 

The elevator comes to a stop before Jackie can finish his though, the door on the other end opening and a Maelstrom member staring at them. He has the red glowing spider like optics and little mechanical dreads on the back of his head. What’s visible of his arms and chest is a mishmash of scar tissue and metal.  Over his shoulders, she can see two other gang members. One holding a shotgun and the other plugged into a netrunner chair, glowing under the light of red screens. 

“What do you want?” He’s the guy who spoke to them over the intercom. 

“Got a bot we need, model MT0D12, Flat Head. Our fixer already paid for it, we’re just here to pick it up.” 

“Hmm, names Dum-Dum,” he points to the side with his gun and starts to move back into the room, “Now, couch. Plant it.”

She walks into the room, and it seems like this could go well. They’ve been mostly chill, gruff sure, but nothing bad. In the center of the room just before a large roll up garage door is a table and two torn up red leather couches. Another Maelstrom member sits on the table. She doesn’t hesitate, sitting down on the couch closest to her, looking at the bright vending machine the gangers have graffitied over. Dum-Dum puts one foot up on the other couch and follows his line of sight to Jackie, who moves a little slower, his arms crossed as he moves next to the other couch and only stands. 

“Ahh, well, shit. Goes for you too,” Dum-Dum tells him and she expects Jackie to listen, he said himself this is their turf and they should keep try to stay chill. 

“I'll stand.”

Or… he’ll let his pride get the better of him and refuse.  Its hard to read the emotions on a Maelstrom member's face, so chromed you can tell what the hell is going on. But the shift in volume is telling enough. 

“This so fuckin' hard? Fuckin' ass on the fuckin' couch!”

“Make me,” Jackie says, voice low as he gets into Dum-Dum’s face. As much as he can while being nearly a head taller than the Maelstrom member. 

“Thought you'd never ask. Sit your ass down 'fore I plant a bullet in your skull.’

“Jackie,” she signs with one hand and pats his shoulder,  catching his attention, “think it’d be best to just sit down, keep everything chill, remember?” 

“This ain't gonna end well but… shit…” And with that Jackie finally sits down, sinking into graffiti covered red leather. 

“Well, all right,” Dum-Dum gets a drug inhalant from his pocket, sitting down on the table in front of V and offering it to her,  “Come on, gotta lighten up. Take a hit.”

The inhalant is red and purple; if she had to guess, Black Lace. An upper that’s high is said to feel reminiscent of manic Cyberpsychosis. Corps used to feed it to their troops by the gallon, cuts off pain receptors and made everyday men into unstoppable killing machines. 

“Appreciate the offer, but weed’s the hardest shit I touch,” V dismisses the offer as politely as she can. She knows it’d endear her to them, maybe, but… drugs aren’t really her thing. And when it is, she prefers mellow to mania. 

Dum-Dum huffs the inhalant, dipping his head back and smoke billowing from his nose. Then exhaling a steady stream of it. She can see Jackie cringing and trying not to breath in the aftermath of Dum-Dum’s high. 

“Whatever you say, straight edged princess.” 

The member sitting next to Dum-Dum moves as nother brings out a large Militech case, black with a yellow lock. It’s put down on the table with a heavy thud. 

“Here we go. The Flathead, model MT0D12.”

“Need to see it.” She’s not going go off of good faith, assuming it’s all there and works. 

“Suit yourself.”

He opens the case and she sees the spider like bot inside, it's almost cute, Dum-Dum shakes the control shard at them as he talks. 

“Fuckin' tricked out this thing. Dynamic, thermo-optic camo armor.”

He puts the control shard into a slot at the base of his skull, all but the middle of his optic eyes going dim as the bot comes to life within the crate. It stands at attention, moves it’s head and shimmies it’s legs. Just a cute mechanical spider; why did they make military combat tech cute? 

“Full cognitive immersion with a Raven controller.”

The bot goes invisible which is impressive, but V’s eye is drawn elsewhere. A steady creak and she sees the garage door behind Dum-Dum is starting to roll up. Screens and the back of a leather chair, a man sitting down visible. She can’t truly tell, but if she had to wager a guess, Royce. 

“Pimped out, prototype actuators made of titanium-vanadium-Kevlar composite.” 

Dum-Dum continues to sell them on the bot as the door fully opens behind him, the chair turning and her seeing that she was right. Royce, the newest Maelstrom leader looking into the deal with the same glowing red optics, though his set so far back in his skull he’s missing gray matter. 

“'N' watch this,” Dum-Dum says he sends the bot to move around the base,  “Fully integrated link, too, so when the spider starts crawlin' up walls, danglin' from ceilings…” He starts to sound sick, his stomach churning as he sees the view of the bot. 

“Could lose your lunch?”  V can’t help but tease, Royce is up now, one hand on the garage door. Like he’s waiting,  ready to pounce the second he hears something he don’t like. Those red optic staring V down. 

“So, what you think?” Dum-Dum asks as he returns the bot to its case.

“Exactly what we’re after, we’ll take it.” 

“Preem, sure, yeah,” Dum-Dum puts the control shard back in the case, “let’s see your cred.” 

“Brick already got paid for it.” 

A metal boom rings out, those words snapping Royce into action as he punches his fist against the door. Stomping forward and Dum-Dum jumps, rushing off the table as Royce marches towards V. 

“Brick got it…heh,” the red shine of metal, a gun pressed to her head, “I don't see any fuckin' Brick around here, do you?!”

“Fuck Brick then, lets cut a new deal,” she doesn’t hesitate, refuses to flinch or show fear. 

He presses the gun in tighter, leaning down into her face, the red optic nearly blinding. So close she can see the scars around the tech and just deeply imbedded they truly are, He lets out a low hum as he leans in, testing her and she doesn’t pull away, doesn’t break eye contact. Then he pulls back. 

“Hah! Now that's good business sense! All right, you want the Flathead? I better see some eddies.” 

She reaches into her left pocket. She would have done this clean, would have paid and been on her way. But Royce wanted a fight, wanted to put iron to her head and try to shake her down. So, she’ll burn his whole goddamn operation to the ground. 

“Got them right here,” she hands him the credchip. 

“Just like that? Without battin' a fuckin' eye?! Hahah!”

“Need the bot, just take the cash and hand it over, no trouble needed.” 

“Look at this fuckin' girl scout! You know all your knots, got all your badges?! Hahaha!”

“Hilarious, you want the money or not?” 

“Y'know, ya never did say who sent you, never did say who you're workin' for?” 

“Yes, yes I fucking did, Dex.” 

“Dexter DeShawn… The lard ass who punching-animal-fucked half of Pacifica? Mean he ain't dead?”

“Swear to god, I’m going to blow my own brains out before you can! You want my fucking money or you want to bore me to death?” 

“Fine,” he starts to grab the chip when there’s a shake in metal, a rumble and an alarm starts to blare. Walls of the factory shake, the faint sound of gunfire. 

“What the…? Shit Militech!” Dum-Dum yells out, they must have known the corp was on their tail. 

“Rusty fucking cunt,” Royce curses and the Maelstrom members start to rush out and V moves; grabbing the Flathead case and stuffing it into her backpack as soon as eyes aren’t on them.

“Shit, Militech got antsy” Jackie tells her over the alarm. 

“Who gives a shit, we got-” 

“Hey!” Dum-Dum yells back at them, from a higher platform, and for a moment she thinks he’s going to fight them for the bot, “lets get the fuck out of here, follow me.” 

Her and Jackie exchange a look, V just shrugging, if he wants to help out why not. V quickly climbs up the yellow ladder up to the platform, following behind Dum-Dum, Jackie not far behind her. Dum-Dum opens a door and it opens into what a room with consoles and the stench of meat hanging in the air. 

“Ay, huele feo, this meat! Ack.. I can taste it,” Jackie sounds like he’s on the verge of puking his guts up. 

“Production line, besides, thought you liked meat?” 

“We'll ride the line. Flip it on.” 

V follows behind Dum-Dum, climbing up a set of crates and onto a scaffolding. The production line is blocked, unmoving in years she’d assume. But on a console is a large red button lined with yellow, she punches it and metal sheets moves from the way, production line whirring to life as red lights color the metal passageways.  Dum-Dum jumps across the small gap and climbs down the ladder. 

“Hey, Doo Dum or whatever your name is, why you even helpin' us??” Jackie asks as V jumps the little gap and platforms but skips the ladder, jumping down the short distance. 

“I'm not. Helpin' myself. Soon as the shootin' starts, I got two walkin' bullet sponges with me. Sponges who'll shoot back.” 

The three walk through the narrow corridor, production line billow steam at them as the pathway opens up to another raised section of scaffolding, a section of it missing and allowing them to drop through and down onto another that surrounds a large hangar, gunfire rings out. Malestrom and Militech soldiers screaming at one another. 

“C’mon let’s go!” 

“You say come on one more time!” 

Dum-Dum rushes down the platform and into the thick of it, quick to fight alongside his fellow Maelstrommers. And god, she’s not a fan of the gang, but watching soldiers with military grade armor and equipment trying to shoot down the group of mini-borgs… Maybe she just hates corps that fucking much.  They could sneak out, let Maelstrom and Militech tear each other part, run with the bot and the eddies. 

“That whackjobs got no chance,” Jackie says, “maybe we give ‘em a hand.” 

“Lets.” 

And she jumps the banister of the platform, landing clean onto a Militech soldier’s back and extends her Mantis Blades. They slice cleanthrough his neck and he goes limp underneath her, bleeding onto the production floor.  V is up the next instant, running full charge into another man’s chest, knocking him off his center of gravity, landing on his chest and stabbing her blade through his heart before he can throw her off.  Back on her feet and fighting in the next moment. 

There is no stealth here, no technique or strategy, just kill or be killed. She moves quick, swinging a blade up to slice a soldier navel to throat. Bringing a blade clean down into another’s shoulder. Takes another’s legs out and they slice clean off, the tactical armored clothes like butter to the Mantis Blades. 

A Militech boot lands square on her chest before she can slice through them, the kick knocks the air from her lungs, staggering her backwards Her head collides with a metal door, Mantis Blades retracting as she hits the ground. The Miltech worker points his gun at her. But before his finger can pull that trigger, a machete is brought down into the junction between his shoulder and neck, ripped back out in a spurt of blood. The man goes down, Jackie behind him. 

“Got you, chica.” He says, pulling her up, a layer of blood has started to stick to both of them. And as she gets to her feet, she catches a glimpse through the window in the door. Bright red lights of servers, a large computer. 

She looks past Jackie into the room, a large swath of Militech agents taken down. Maelstrom still battling the few left in the area. She doesn’t know what will be waiting for her when she breaks through, Meredith’s promise of seeing her soon if V pulled anything like this. 

“C’mon,” V opens the door and quickly yanks Jackie into the server room. 

“The hell are you doing?” 

“Want to check something, bargaining chip, just in case,” 

Blood coated fingers swipe open the computer screen, pulling up the messages and files Maelstrom has saved. A message named Transports- LOA catches her eye, any Nomad worth their salt knows LOA is used by corps who intentionally “lose” their cargo.  She opens it, the message from Anthony Gilchrist telling one of the gang members how to get their hands on the convoy. Meredith has her mole.  V jacks into the console and downloads the fill to her neural implants. 

“What’s up?” 

“Militech rep wanted to find her mole. She tries to get payback, I got intel,” V jacks out of the terminal, “lets go.” 

They rush out of the server room and throw themselves back into the fray, slicing through Militech soldiers, as if they were never gone. V goring a soldier with both blades as Jackie blows the brains out of the last one. 

Dum-Dum leads them through the rest of the plant, turns and curves and stairways, a maze of metal. The three cutting their way through Militech soldiers one body after the other, clearing the room after room. Until they open a door at the top of a stair case, showing what may have once been a massive garage portion of the plant. 

“I’ll melt your fuckin’ skin off!”  Royce screams and laughs from inside a Militech armored exoskeleton, using it to fire off a massive gun that bursts flames around the feet of the soldiers. They shoot and fire at Royce along with a large automated robot

“We gotta help him!” Dum-Dum yells out, rushing into the fray to help his boss, Royce cackling as the soldier try to shoot him. 

“He's fuckin' happy! That's almost contagious!” Jackie laughs, him and V jumping in to help. 

Dum-Dum, Jackie, and V focus on the soldiers; trying to get their fire off of Royce, so he can focus on the heavy duty robot blasting back at him. Pure reflex as bullets fly, blades slash, and body after body falls down at their feet. Chaos, adrenaline; Royce’s manic cackling making them want to laugh too. Last bit if human soldiers down,  Its all on taking down the hulking robot that, it’s armored outside burned and damaged, but not destroyed by the heavy fire Royce blasts it with. V sheaths her blades within her arms, getting her gun from it’s holster and firing round after round into the tech. Jackie and Dum-Dum do the same; five guns, it sputters and sparks, one finally piercing the core of its circuits. The heap of metal collapsing. 

“Khe. The hell're you still doin' here...?” Royce scoffs when he sees Jackie and V are still there. 

“Helping, apparently,” V signs in response, she doesn’t expect much in the way of gratitude. But a little acknowledgement that her and Jackie did a lot of heavy lifting here would be nice. 

“Take your fuckin’ bot and go.” 

She was going to anyway, not caring about nor needing his permission to steal what they need, but the fact that he’s giving it to them is not lost on V. Maybe it’s his own odd way of showing gratitude for helping tear through Militech soldiers. Or maybe he’s just too tired to give a fuck. 

“I'll walk 'em out,” Dum-Dum offers.

“You here to kick our asses out” 

“Huh? No. Wanted to let you know I like your style,” he points them down a hallway, a door marked exit, “here you go.” 

“Can’t fucking believe that guy,” Jackie grumbles as him and V start out the towards the exit. 

“What is your problem with him? First the couch and now this?” 

“Don’t like the fucker’s tone,” Jackie says opening the exit door, “guy rubbed my dick the wrong way.” 

“Well, maybe you should stop letting random dudes rub your dick,” V teases him for his choice of words as they finally get a breath of fresh air, well, as fresh as Night City air gets. 

“Fuck- oh shit.” 

“Oh fuck.” 

Outside the All Foods gateway is Meredith Stout, surrounded by Militech marked vans and a handful of guards. They block the only exit, standing between the mercs and their vehicles. Meredith’s eyes land squarely on V; lips pulling back in a sneer, eyes brimming with contempt. 

“That the Militech bitch?” 

“Un-fucking-fortunately.” 

“You.” Meredith all but snarls, glaring V down as the mercs walk closer, standing before the corpo. 

“Me.” 

“Hmm, bet you didn’t expect to see me here, did you? Thought you could fuck me over, kill your tail and you could just do whatever you wanted?” 

“You gave me a spiked chip, were going to leave me cleaning up Militech’s mess. You tried to fuck me over first.” 

“And somewhere at the start someone fucked the corp, but in the end the corp always wins. Try as hard as you want, all you’ve done is proven I got nothing to lose by getting rid of you.” 

“Oh but you do,” V’s word make Meredith’s eyebrow raise, “I mean, if you want to know who your mole is.” 

“You know?” 

“Yeah, Maelstrom was so busy trying to fight off your men, didn’t even notice me looking through their computer. Got the file on me, could send it to you, but if you’re just going to kill me, not much point.” 

“Send the file and I’ll let you go.” 

“And how do I know you won’t blow my brains out the second it goes through?” 

“You don’t, but you do know I’ll kill you if you don’t send it.” 

V rolls her eyes and her mask interface lights up as she sends the data to Meredith; the corpo woman’s eyes glowing a bright blue light as it transfers. 

“I fucking knew it,” Meredith blurts out, “Gilchrist you sack of shit.” 

“We good?”

“I got what I needed… you know, this was pretty clever of you.” 

“Was it?” 

“Throw me off, get me to attack the plant, get Maelstrom on your side, but get the info to keep Militech happy too. Bet you’re ten thousand eddies richer and got your bot, didn’t you?” 

“Maybe.” 

“Mind like that, maybe a couple years down the line, you could be standing where I am.” 

And V’s stomach churns, her actions being compared to corporate skullduggery and backstabbing. V did what she had to and in the end she didn’t side with the corp. She bites the inside of her lip and she glares through her mask at the corporate cunt. 

“Think I’d rather ride a sandpaper dildo, actually.” 

Meredith scoffs, “let them through.” 

The sea of Militech soldier parts; the two mercs allowed to walk through. Jackie all but collapses, leaning against his motorcycle, there’s still blood sticking to his hands. She’s still coated in a heavy layer herself. 

“Not going to lie, wasn’t sure we’d make it out of that one. But, hey; no begging, no debt, eddies in a pocket and we got the bot. That’s the way to do biz, V.”

“We make a good team, plus I’m starting to think we’re just really lucky.” 

“Ain't you a ray of sunshine. But, V, it ain't a matter of luck. You decide, chica. Remember that, part of why I love this town. The city of endless opportunity. And brotherly hate. But if you got the cojones and know how to use ‘em, you can do damn near anything.”

“Or die trying.” 

“Even then you go out with a bang! And the street'll talk, the street'll remember. Win-win.”

“Rather the street talk about me while I’m alive to hear it, but maybe that’s just me; so what next?” 

“Call up Dex, let him know we got his bot for him.” 

V does just that, pulling up Dex’s contact and calling him, patching the call into Jackie’s too. Her friend’s optics glowing as the holophone rings. Dex answering after just a moment, puffing away on a cigar in the video panel. 

“How're things lookin’, Miss V?”

“Managed to grab the bot.” 

“And how’d it go? Run into any trouble? And what about the Militech angle, Bug told me you hacked some sort of cred chip?” 

“Course there was trouble, but ended up not even needing the chip. Was ready to spike Maelstrom, when Militech got antsy. While they were ripping each other’s throats out, we got the bot and an extra ten thousand eddies for our trouble.” 

“You got some balls, Miss V.”

“So, what now?” 

“Now, we get to work on doing the job I hired you for- grabbing that biochip. Get some sleep, you and Jackster. Because tomorrow, we start prepping for the real heist. Have a car picking you up in the morning.” 

With that, the fixer hangs up, Jackie and V exchanging looks. 

“What you think he’s got in store for us?” 

“I don’t know, we’re gonna have to play corpo to get into that hotel, should be interesting.” 

“Either way, I’m off for the night,” Jackie says, climbing onto his arch, “hasta luego, V.” 

She waves him off, watching him drive off down the streets of Night City. Her body and mind feel tired, limbs heavy and still caked with blood. But, she’s not sure how well she’ll sleep tonight. Nerves and excitement, there’s no telling what tomorrow will hold. 

[dirtykpopsnaps]

Watching Dramas- Cha Eunwoo

Warnings: Slight spoilers for True Beauty

Contains: JinJin’s sister, Y/N, and why she doesn’t watch Astro’s kdramas

Requested: no

Words: 2, 055

A/N: Okay, this fic doesn’t really relate to Eunwoo much, but it also kind of does, so??🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

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Outside the shop window, the street is filled with people underneath umbrellas. Large drops of rain splatter the window and blur the street outside. Inside the shop, everything is nice and warm. Customers chatter happily with their friends, talking about millions of different things. ���Are you serious?! You haven’t seen it? I thought everyone had at this point!” Across the table, my best friend, Hayoon, is talking animatedly. I laugh lightly, shaking my head.

“I don’t watch any of their dramas,” I tell her honestly. Immediately, Hayoon’s jaw drops open.

“None of them?! You know these people and you don’t watch their dramas?!” She asks in shock. I smile softly and laugh again.

“I see enough of them on a day-to-day basis. I don’t need to see them in my dramas, too,” I giggle.

Right now, Hayoon is talking to me about this new drama, True Beauty. She’s absolutely obsessed with it and has been following it since it aired. I listen to her talk about it, but I know that I won’t be watching it myself. Although it sounds like a nice story, the drama has one cast member that I refuse to watch...Cha Eunwoo. Also known as my brother, JinJin’s, group mate. Ever since JinJin joined Astro, I haven’t watched any of the dramas that the members star in. As you just saw, Hayoon is definitely surprised that I don’t want their dramas.

Across the table, Hayoon rolls her eyes. “Why not?,” she whines, “It’s so good!”

“I’m sure it’s a good drama, but I don’t watch them,” I say plainly, shrugging my shoulders.

“But why?! Just because you know them?” She pouts.

“Well, I kind of have a bad habit of ‘falling in love’ with characters from my dramas and stuff. I don’t wanna put myself in the situation where that character could be played by someone I know,” I shrug lightly. Hayoon sighs at me, shaking her head. “Besides, it’s weird to see them like that,”

I say, scrunching up my nose.

“But...the shows are so good!” She pouts. I nod my head lightly.

“I know they are. I just have trouble watching these guys that I know, act. I mean, I used to love watching Boys Over Flowers. It was one of my favorite dramas. I thought the little F4 were so cute. And then JinJin joined Astro, I rewatched Boys over Flowers, recognized little Moonbin and it all just went downhill from there,” I giggle. Hayoon’s jaw falls open and she stares at me.

“Do you have a crush on Moonbin?!” She asks in shock.

“Oh, God, no. I meant that all I could see was my friend as a little kid and it kinda ruined the separation between the character and actor,” I explain.

Hayoon and I talk between ourselves, picking lightly at the food we had ordered. Even as we’re finishing, Hayoon still hasn’t dropped the subject of True Beauty. “Well, I don’t care. I want you to watch it with me at the sleepover tonight,” she says.

“Hayoon, no, no. I really don’t want to,” I protest, trying to reason with her.

“No, we’re watching it. It’ll be your introduction to Eunwoo’s acting,” she smiles. I sigh defeatedly, resting my head in my hand.

“Fine, I’ll watch it. But, it’s gonna be weird,” I mumble in annoyance. Hayoon squeals loudly, doing a little dance across the table.

“You’ll love it!” She smiles, getting up and starting to throw our trash out. I help her clean up and we grab our umbrellas before leaving the shop.

Quickly, Hayoon and I make our way through the streets back to her apartment. The rain splatters loudly on our umbrellas, falling down in pools around us. By the time we get back to her apartment, my shoes are absolutely soaked. I groan in annoyance and take them off, trying to find a dry spot by the door. Hayoon opens up the door and we both head inside. For most of the night, we just goof around and talk. We watch some videos on YouTube and even some kpop game videos, like ‘Save One Drop One’ and ‘Kpop Dating Game’. It’s just a fun little sleepover.

About an hour or two before we decide to go to sleep, Hayoon shoots me a look. “Time for True Beauty,” she giggles, grabbing her laptop. Instead of watching it on TV, Hayoon decided that we should start from the first episode and watch on Viki. She opens up the site and signs in, humming happily. Once she’s on the site, she finds True Beauty very quickly and clicks on the first episode.

For the most part, the show is actually very good. It’s an interesting story and Hayoon and I keep stopping the episode to talk to one another. About halfway through the episode, Jugyeong is standing at the edge of a building. I stare at the laptop with wide eyes, not able to tear my eyes away in case I miss anything. Suddenly, someone comes onto the roof of the building and pulls her off the edge. All you can see is the outline of a guy, but I make a guess and laugh, covering my eyes. Hayoon sighs in annoyance and stops the episode. “Really, Y/N? You’re gonna miss it!” She whines.

“It’s Eunwoo! I don’t wanna watch it,” I laugh. Hayoon pulls at my hands, trying to force them away from my eyes. Finally, she just sighs and lets the episode play again. I listen instead of watching the parts with Eunwoo.

When the scene seems to have passed, I look through my fingers. “Is he gone?” I ask, watching the laptop again. Hayoon sighs, nodding her head.

“Yeah, Suho is gone,” she sighs, resting her face in her hand. I giggle at her and continue watching the show. As we watch, I realize that I like the show a lot. Just as the show is ending, I’m actually able to watch a scene with Eunwoo without feeling like cringing internally. As the credits roll, Hayoon smiles happily and pats me on the back. “See?! Eunwoo is a good actor!” She squeals. I nod my head lightly.

“That was a pretty good show. I’ll need to keep up with it,” I smile. Hayoon squeals again, throwing her first in the air.

“Yes, success!” She says.

Looking back at her laptop, Hayoon sighs. “We should go to sleep, it’s late,” she says. I yawn loudly, agreeing with her.

“That’s probably a good idea. I’ll need to go to the studio tomorrow and work,” I say, grabbing some blankets and pillows. Hayoon flashes me a throwing smile.

“The studio? As in...,” she starts. I roll my eyes at me, hitting her with the pillow.

“Yes, as in with Astro. I always sit in on their practices,” I remind her. Hayoon giggles loudly.

“Tell Eunwoo that he’s hot,” she laugh. I roll my eyes, hitting her harder with the pillow.

“Oh, shut up. I will tell him no such thing,” I groan, laying down and covering myself with the pillow. A short silence follows.

“Then...maybe tell Moonbin,” Hayoon says, bursting into a fit of giggles again. I groan, covering my ears.

“Stop talking about my brother’s group mates like that,” I whine, holding back my laughter.

—————————

In the morning, I’m woken up by a loud ringing nearby. I groan, rubbing my eyes and grope around for the source of the noise. Finally, I pick my phone off the floor and answer it without checking who it is. “Hmm?” I mumble sleepily.

“Did you just wake up, Y/N?” JinJin’s voice asks. I sigh lightly, pressing the phone closer to my ear.

“Yeah, Jin, you woke me up,” I say. He sighs at me and I hear a rustling as he adjusts the phone.

“We’ll be at the practice studio, okay?” He questions.

“Alright. I’ll get there soon,” I say. JinJin ends the call and I sigh, throwing the blankets off my body. Next to me, Hayoon rubs her eyes sleepily.

“Was that JinJin?” She asks. I nod my head lightly, grabbing the bag of clothes that I brought here before we went out to eat yesterday.

“Yeah, it was. He was just telling me that they’re heading to the studio,” I say, pulling out some random clothes and gathering them in my arms.

When I have all of my clothes, I press the bag against the wall again. I walk into the bathroom and quickly change, checking my hair in the mirror. When I come out, Hayoon is in the kitchen, looking around for some breakfast. “Do you want something before you go?” She asks, looking over her shoulder at me. I shake my head lightly.

“No. I’ll probably get food for them on the way to the studio. They almost never eat before practice,” I tell her. Hayoon smiles and pulls me into a tight hug. I hug her back and grab my bag, waving goodbye before I head out the door.

On the way to the studio, I stop by a street vendor and order some street toast. The vendor gives me a very strange look when I order 7 of the same item, but he finally just hands me the toast. I give him some money and thank him before making my way to the studio. Every once in a while, someone will stare at me as I carry all the food, but no one really talks to me. I’m able to make my way to the studio without much problem.

When I finally get to the building, I head inside and the receptionist points me to the right practice room. Everyone in the building basically knows me, so they always help me whenever I come in. I walk down the hall of practice rooms and step into the room where Astro is practicing. Thankfully, everyone is already on break, so I just walk in and set my things down. Calmly, I walk around the room and hand out the street toast. JinJin raises an eyebrow at me. “What’s this for?” He asks curiously.

“For you to eat, doofus. I figured you guys didn’t grab breakfast because you almost never do,” I sigh, rolling my eyes at him. JinJin chuckles lightly and takes the sandwich, hugging me softly.

“Thanks, Y/N, you’re the best,” he chuckles. I pull out of the hug and give the last sandwich to Eunwoo, smiling.

“And, the last sandwich is for Lee Suho,” I giggle.

At the mention of his character, Eunwoo laugh lightly. “I thought you said you don’t watch our dramas,” he asks, eyeing me and smirking. I shrug my shoulders.

“Hayoon insisted, so we watched the first episode last night,” I explain. He takes a bite out of the toast, then swallows and smiles.

“What did you think?” He says, smiling widely.

“It was...interesting. Hayoon got annoyed with me because I kept hiding my face whenever you came on. But, by the end, I was almost able to get through your scenes without cringing,” I giggle. The members all laugh loudly and Eunwoo pinches his nose, scrunching up his face.

“That’s really not comforting,” he laughs. I shoot him a bright smile.

“It was good,” I say, patting his head lightly.

Across the room, Moonbin speaks up. “So, does that mean you’ll watch some of my dramas soon?” He asks excitedly. I shoot him a skeptical look.

“We’ll have to see about that. I literally couldn’t even rewatch Boys Over Flowers because you were in it,” I remind him. Moonbin pouts, crossing his arms.

“Hey, that’s mean!” He pouts at me. I laugh loudly, walking over and pinching his cheek.

“We’ll see, Bin. Maybe we can watch together and I can hide my face in your chest whenever you’re on screen,” I laugh. He rolls his eyes, pushing out his bottom lip.

“Maybe,” he says.

Calmly, all of the members eat their street toast. After about 15 minutes, JinJin calls everyone’s attention and practice starts. I sit on the wall, watching all of them practice dance moves and singing the songs. Eh...maybe I will watch some of their dramas. ‘I’ll just have to sit down and watch with them so we can all cringe’ I think to myself. Now, *that* sounds like a plan.