#this is a HUGE debate in Japan right now

[papirouge]

Did you know that Miss Japan 2024 was a White Ukrainian?👀

I wonder why the anti woke anti diversity mob didn't clutch their pearls at this one whining about virtue signalling and political agenda ? 🙃

[lookismaddict]

Lookism: Rendezvous 🔞 (Ch. X) || Gun Park x Fem! Reader ♡

Author’s Note: I’M SORRY Y’ALL, I MADE YOU GUYS WAIT FOR THIS CHAPTER FOR OVER A WEEK. Ugh, I hate myself for that. Me @ Myself -> 😡🤬 But hehehe. Oh boy, you guys have no idea how much fun I had while writing this chapter. 😈 I’m not sure if some of you got that True Beauty reference from last chapter. I was debating whether to keep it there or not, but my dumbass thought it was a good idea so I decided to keep it. I thought it was clever in my head. 💀 (I was referring to the drama btw since Y/N is addicted to dramas, but I really liked the webtoon though. I’m a fan. <3) Also, I added actual places again, but there are some things that I’ve added that aren’t offered in the actual places. Just included them for the classiness ✨ Ok enough said. I hope the treat from this chapter will be to your liking. 🖤

NSFW Warning: Violence, Strong language/Cursing, Alcoholism, Sexual Language, and Sexual Content (teasing, sensual touching, fingering, grinding, marking, etc.).

Story Summary: You traveled abroad to help support your mother who is sick, back home in Japan. However, once you reached Korea, everything went downhill until you met a stranger who offered you a deal that could benefit you. But who knew that this special encounter would turn your whole life around…

Gun made sure that he wasted no time. Unexpectedly, you felt Gun’s hand suddenly move towards the huge hole on your dress as his hand slid under your dress, feeling the hem of your panties. Once he found your underwear, his hand then slid underneath its fabric, as it snaked its way down to your warm and wet heat. His hand felt cool when it made contact with your womanhood, rubbing his fingers back and forth onto your clit slowly, making the feeling of ecstasy torture you. Whimpers could be heard from you, which caused you to think of how shameless you were to feel the sense of pleasure from what he was doing to you so easily. It was like you were allowing him to do such things to you, even though your mind could barely keep up with what was going on. You wanted to maintain control of your mind so badly that you couldn’t just let him do whatever he wanted. As you reached around to grab the hand that was working itself onto you, you held onto his wrist while you said through gritted teeth, “S-stop it, you prick…” Gun was entertained to even see you resist him like this, even though you were barely hanging onto your sanity. That defiant attitude of yours just made his sadistic side reveal itself, not ever wanting to stop what he was doing to you. “Are you sure? Do you REALLY want me to stop now? It would be a shame to do so, since you’re already soaking wet down here. I’m being generous today (Y/N), so you might as well enjoy it.” It was obvious that your body was in favor of his touch. Once he felt that you were already wet enough, he then penetrated his own fingers into your sopping cunt, making you gasp and strengthen your tight grip on his wrist from the feeling of his fingers now deep inside of you. While he started to pump his fingers into you, you reacted by reaching your other hand over to hold onto his steadied hand on your hip. You were still hanging onto him from behind, but now you were starting to whine from how good his cool fingers felt when they rubbed against your tight hot walls. Gun’s face was starting to transition into a victorious yet wicked grin, now aware that he is fully in control of your body and your mind. He bent his head over your neck, as he planted moist kisses down the right side of your neck, all the way to your collarbone and your shoulder blade. In response, you threw your head back in pleasure while projecting those sweet moans that Gun loved so much. Simultaneously, your ass pressed up against his groin area, making him groan seductively as his bulge through his pants started to form more solidly. You were unable to think properly due to how distracted you were from the feeling of sweet sensual bliss. While you were whimpering from his hand playing with your walls, he couldn’t help but let out a jeer of satisfaction when he felt the friction of your ass grinding on his private. When his eyes looked down to see the sight of your ass pressed against him on its own, he said in a smug manner, “You must be doing this on purpose, (Y/N). I bet you’re enjoying the feeling of me touching you like this. Do you want me that badly?” As Gun continued to tease you, his digits kept violating your insides, as his eyes looked up at your pleasured expressions while his lips were still on your skin, nibbling and licking up towards your neck. The feeling of his warm tongue on you felt good on your cool and exposed neck, making you call out to him in such a pleasing tone. “Gun…” You moaned even more from his touch that played with your body temperature, tightening your grip on his wrists with your nails now digging into his skin. The reactions that Gun received from you were enough for him to speed things up in your cunt as his fingers began to vigorously penetrate into you.

“Ahhh, Gun~!!!” Whenever you moaned his name, Gun felt addicted to it as if he were addicted to a drug. A stimulant that he would get hooked to, making him want to hear you call out his name in that erotic voice of yours over and over and over. When he felt your walls start to squeeze around his fingers, his lips hovered on your neck as he gave a deep sexy whisper saying, “I’m giving you permission so go ahead. Cum for me, (Y/N).” As Gun helped you edge onto your own euphoric peak, your hands trembled while clawing into his wrists, as you cried out, “Gun, I’m going to… cum~!” And so you did. Your entire body convulsed as you finally gave in to that sweet release onto his hand. While doing so, your walls squeezed so tightly around his digits, that he had wished that his own cock was inside you and that he could’ve felt your walls contracting around his hard member, for a second. If that happened, he would have busted the biggest load of his life, deep into your depths to claim you as his. When he felt your wet juices running down his own hand, he pulled his fingers out of your tight pussy, and eventually from your dress altogther. During your climax, you felt yourself fall as your legs gave out on you. Gun had to catch you into his left arm, as you fell onto his chest like a dainty princess. When you met eye contact with him, he gave you a mischievous smirk, before saying, “Clean it up.” as he held out his fingers filled with your dirty juices in front of your lips. You wanted to say, “I hate you.” or “Go die.” [死ね。] but the words in your head couldn’t come out of your mouth. You were weakened by his sinful touches, so you had no choice but to oblige to his command. Without thinking, you grew closer to his messy fingers, as your tongue started licking the length of his entire digits. You then began to suck on his fingers in such an engaging way, drawing him in with his own horniness intensifying underneath his pants. While Gun observed your tongue cleaning up your own mess on his hand by licking and sucking his fingers off from your stickiness, his mind couldn’t resist the thought of wishing that his fingers was his actual cock at that moment. Your eyes were clearly shrouded with euphoria, like you were hypnotized to do his bidding. After “cleaning up” his fingers now covered in your lewd saliva, he let out a dominant snicker claiming, “You’ve done well, (Y/N). I knew that you’d be a very good student of mine. My favorite trainee, following my every order just like that…” The hand on your hip released, as you felt that hand brush against the side of your hair, admiring how obedient you’ve become to his every command. As his free hand cupped your left cheek, you leaned into his hand with longing, rubbing your own cheek against his hand due to how attracted you were to him. It was clear that Gun was infatuated with your submissiveness whenever he successfully gains control of your mind, which reels him in to do even more sexual things to you. Actions that you haven’t imagined, but always remained on the back of Gun’s mind from time to time. While watching you give yourself in to him, he just wanted to stay like that for a little while longer. However, he knew that was just wishful thinking. When he drew his hand back from you, it was like your eyes were now released from his enchanting spell.

You blinked a few times as you watched him cautiously with your whole body faced towards him to properly look at him, letting go of your grasp on his wrists. By observing him, you saw his hand from below slip into one of his pockets, taking out a pack of mints from it. Instantly, he caught you staring at him with a clueless expression painted on your face, which resulted in him to chuckle amusingly. “I think you deserve a reward for being such a good girl.” When he opened the pack of mints and shook the pack to get one mint out, he closed the container of mints before returning it back into his pocket. Eventually, he popped the mint into his mouth and without hesitation, he demanded you to, “Open your mouth.” You couldn’t seem to disobey that bold yet domineering voice of his, as you did as he told you to do. When he witnessed your mouth opened for him, he quickly grabbed onto the back of your head then pulled you in by the waist to give you a kiss. When his tongue collided with yours in the inside of your connected mouths, you felt the mint on his tongue brush against your taste buds, tasting the sweet minty freshness of the candy. The two of you clashed in tongues, as you greedily tasted his cool tongue on yours, catalyzing the mint to melt in between each other. You didn’t want to ruin his hair by running your fingers through them, so you placed your hands on his solid chest. Eventually, you started to cling onto him by surrounding your arms around his body, brushing your hands along his broad yet muscular back unintentionally in such a seductive way. Gun took it as an invite to continue further, but he knew that he had to stop himself, even though he was highly enjoying this moment with you. You felt his lips begin to slowly part from your own, disconnecting his own tongue from yours while leaving behind a messy line of your mixed saliva. With pleading eyes, you looked at him, wanting more of what he had to offer. Gun’s hold around you started to loosen, as he had to take a few steps back from you. When his eyes looked down onto yours, he said in a gentler tone than before, “I have to apologize for stopping here when things were about to get even better. I have other plans laid out for you for this evening, so we should go.” Before he turned his back from, he caught a glimpse of your eyes. Just that look of lust coming from your eyes really made him regret his own action just now, but he had no choice but to restrain himself. After all, you two had somewhere to be.

You were left speechless at how Gun retreated back to the way it originally was, leaving you there in the room frozen in place. It made you wonder what kind of an important event the two of you have that could make Gun stop himself to continue like that. Right before you were about to leave, you remembered to put your important belongings into your new Chanel bag. Your phone, your wallet, and your lipstick. When you tried to mark down the list of things in your head of what to bring, your eyes suddenly stared at Old Reliable that was hanging from a hook on your closet sliding door. You grabbed onto her in your hands to check what other things you should take from her. While doing so, your hands dug through your own belongings until your eyes stared at it. Yes, that thing. How could you have forgotten? Your hand grabbed onto it, as your eyes behold the small box that held Gun’s special present.

Gosh, how could I have forgotten about this? Agh, I’m so dumb! I need to give this to him at some point. Should I bring this with me? But what if it’s too early to tell him that I…? No. You know what (Y/N), bring it. I have to do this as soon as possible. I must know immediately before things take a turn for the worst!

Just like that, you tossed Gun’s present into your bag. As you were about to leave the room, you almost forgot that you might not be able to make it back in time, so you decided to take the pill a bit earlier than your usual time before you left your room. With just one last few sprays of perfume that Gun bought for you, you finally dashed out the door, shutting the bedroom door behind you. At the speed of light, your feet pattered down the stairs like a little mouse running away from a vicious cat. Gun was already at the door waiting for you as he called out to you in an impatient manner. “(Y/N), hurry up! What the hell have you been doing up there, this time?!” With an apologetic smile, you bowed your head before telling him, “Sorry.” [ごめん。]

With one last look of annoyance from Gun, he didn’t say a word as he opened the door for you to leave the house. You waited for him to shut the door behind him, before you decided to walk side by side. When you looked straight ahead, the Rolls Royce Phantom or “Kuro Maboroshi” was parked in front of the driveway this time, which made you relieved that you didn’t have to ride in that other uncomfortable car. Once Gun unlocked the car, he opened the door for you to take your seat inside. Before entering the car, you smoothed out your dress from behind to sit down onto the leather seat. Once he saw that you were comfortable inside, he closed the door behind you before making his way around the car to get into the driver’s seat. Right when he shut the door, something unbelievable happened.

“Have you guys been playing around in there, or what?”

Startled from the unexpected voice heard from the backseat, you jumped in your seat, which made you immediately turn around to see who was speaking to you and Gun. In an instant, you saw Goo sitting at the back crossed-legged smirking at the two of you. He was still wearing the same suit and tie from earlier, which made yourself question why he was here. Gun glanced at you briefly, already expecting to see that look of flustered shock on your face as he decided to let Goo explain to you while he starts the car. But before he allowed Goo to explain, he replied to Goo saying, “No, you jackass. She was taking a dump and all this time, I had to wait for her to finish.”

What?

Guffawed for only a few seconds, you gritted your teeth then gave Gun a cold stare. You decided to ignore him, allowing Gun to get away with his lie as you turned your attention back to Goo asking, “I didn’t expect you to be here Goo. If you don’t mind me asking, why are you here?” Goo chuckled then replied back with, “The party was boring, so I asked Gun if he wanted to go ditch the party with me. Frankly, I didn’t think that he’d agree so I just followed him out the door of the venue. And when we called for the HNH Group chauffeurs to drive us back, we both got into the car and they sent us home. When Gun got here, I just followed him out the of the car and BOOM, here I am! Joon Goo Kim, at your service!” He gave Gun a salute through the rearview mirror, in which Gun returned a revolted face towards him through the mirror, due to how putridly cringe that was. Goo laughed at his disgusted face as he laid back onto his seat, all nonchalantly. “I didn’t know you two had plans together today. It must be my lucky day. We should all hang out and celebrate HNH Group’s success today, since it’s a pretty major deal. Just the three of us.” Your eyes lit up as you clapped excitedly, while saying, “How fun, count me in!” agreeing to his plan since you thought “the more, the merrier” was the fun way to go. However, you weren’t aware that Gun was STRONGLY opposed to this idea. Originally, Gun’s plan was to take you out to eat since he believed that it was unfair of him to go out and enjoy a party while you just stayed in the house, not being able to go with him. But from how excited you were just now, Gun was willing to let Goo stay for a bit… until he gets annoying, that is.

Once Gun started the car, his foot eased onto the gas pedal, steering away from the driveway then left the huge house behind in the distance. While Gun drove in silence, Goo decided to ask you some personal questions just to kill time until the three of you get to the actual destination.

“(Y/N), I’ve been meaning to ask you this ever since the first time we met. Are you Japanese?”

While viewing Goo from the sideview mirror on your side, you nodded, confirming it to be correct. “Yes, I am. Born and raised proudly from Japan.”

“Where are you from in Japan? Do you live in Tokyo or in the province area?”

“I do live in Tokyo, but not really in the heart of the city. I actually have to commute by train if I actually want to go deeper into it.”

“That’s so cool! Have you been to places like Akihabara and Roppongi? I want to check out those places someday.”

“Oh yeah, I have been to Akihabara. I only go there to check out a lot of game-related products and anime stuff. But I haven’t been to Roppongi yet because they mostly sell a lot of rich and expensive designer materials over there. Since I can’t get anything from there, then what’s the point of going there, you know?”

“Yeah, I see your point. It would be a waste of time for you to go there. And wait, I can’t believe this. (Y/N), you didn’t tell me that you’re into anime too! What shows are you into???”

“Hmmm I don’t know, there’s a lot of good ones out there. I like watching ones that have a lot of action in them. Like for example, Naruto, One Piece, Bleach, Attack on Titan, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, Tokyo Revengers, and the list just goes on!”

“GEEZ (Y/N), you basically mentioned almost every anime that I’ve watched! And I can’t believe you like Demon Slayer too, that’s insane! Who’s your favorite character?”

“If I had to pick between two people, it’d be either… Nezuko or Shinobu.”

“OH, SHINOBU IS MY WIFE.”

“WAIT, NO WAY!!!”

As the two of you talked eagerly about anime and different characters that you commonly favor, Gun became irritated at how you two continued to talk about such nonsense over silly “cartoons”. He couldn’t help but think of how immature the two of you sound, speaking about people who don’t even exist in real life.

“Oh (Y/N), have you seen anime about yakuza before?”

All of a sudden, the word “yakuza” seemed to catch Gun’s interest.

“About yakuza? Well, I’ve seen Nisekoi, and that was cute. And The Way of the Househusband.”

“Yeah, those are good anime. But let’s talk about REAL yakuza, (Y/N). I wanna know what are your thoughts about them because I heard in Japan they can be quite scary if you’ve encountered them out in the streets or if you get involved with them. So, what do you think (Y/N)?”

“What do I think of yakuza? Well… they disgust me. I don’t understand why they have to live like that. Killing people and torturing others just to get money off of ordinary citizens, or even territory for that matter. If it was really a part of ‘how they grew up’, then why couldn’t they just change how they live their lives and NOT resort to lives of crime? Wouldn’t it be easier for them that way? And if they claim to be influential and powerful like that, then why do we have to be forced to fear them? Why do we have to be the ones to suffer because of them? It’s unfair. If I were a yakuza member, I wouldn’t even want to be a part of those kinds of organizations. It’s just wrong.”

Gun’s eyes on the road seemed to be even more serious than before. For a second, Goo focused his attention on Gun from the rearview mirror to see his reaction, making Goo’s mouth turn to a sly smile. All of this was like a game to Goo, like he was playing a mini game of chess to see which side would break first. It was fun and entertaining to him to learn more about you while at the same time, he was able to toy with Gun without even having to do much. What a splendid idea! He should’ve done this sooner, he thought.

“Wow (Y/N), I didn’t think you’d have such a strong dislike for yakuza. Have you ever encountered a yakuza member before?”

“Yes, I have… I must have.”

Goo’s eyebrow raised in curiosity. “What do you mean by ‘must have’?”

“Well actually, the yakuza must have been one of the reasons why I ended up coming here in the first place. There was a guy who I contacted who claimed that he was a part of a job recruiting agency and they said they’d help people go abroad just for work. After that, I went to that job agency place to finalize paperwork and all of that. But when I actually got here in Korea, I got scammed. The guy that I talked to back in Japan actually had a motive to sell me to some shady people instead, and when those people tried to get me, I ran away from them as fast as I could. That was the reason why I was there in that alley that day.”

Gun and Goo were surprised to hear about your story. Now that explains why they found you in that alleyway.

“Man, so I was right. They ARE a bunch of assholes! Ah, but don’t worry (Y/N)! You’re safe with us now. If you want, we could’ve killed them if you want to-”

“No, no, no, it’s fine! I don’t want anyone to die because of me. And even though they’re all pretty much scum, it’s not right for them to die like that. I just want karma to naturally do it’s thing, and let them go straight to jail.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen if you don’t actually do something, but whatever floats your boat, I guess! OH, and by the way (Y/N). Have you ever heard of a yakuza leader named ‘Shiro Oni’ before?”

Gun’s hands suddenly clenched around the wheel in rage, over Goo’s outrageous question. If it weren’t for you still present in the car, he would’ve roughly pulled over the side of the road just to drag Goo out of the car and beat him to death.

“‘Shiro Oni’…? Aw crap, why didn’t I think about that before I gave the car THAT name. Geez… Yeah, why? Almost everyone all over Japan knows about him. He’s notorious over there.”

Goo was confused for a second about that first bit of your reply, but decided to just ignore it as he resumed with his question. “Well, what do you think about him? I heard that he’s really ruthless and scary. Have you heard any rumors or stories about him? I wanna know so badly!”

“Uhhh… Hm… The last time I heard about him was from old people warning me to stay away from anything or anyone related to Shiro Oni. They were mostly neighbors who told me about such things. There was a time when they told me that Shiro Oni was a man not to be messed with, since he’d bathe the streets in blood, making people fear him to even go outside of their own homes. He claimed certain parts of Japan as his own territories, because of how he’d wipe countless gangs through sheer will and violence. Even a few of my old co-workers from one of my previous jobs had mentioned him before whenever I’d work night shift and have to close down the ramen bar near the train station on my own. They’d tell me all the time that I have to be careful late at night or else I might get kidnapped while walking down the streets by myself. There were rumors going around that Shiro Oni’s group must have been responsible for the kidnappings of young and healthy looking people in the streets at night and they’d kidnap them just to sell their organs. They’d mostly sell organs from healthy males but if they found any beautiful women, then they’d keep them for Shiro Oni’s pleasure. Ugh, just talking about him makes me sick…”

Goo’s face had a wicked grin at how entertained he was, just by looking at Gun’s tense reaction from the backseat. The situation that was playing out right in front of him was pure GOLD to Goo, as he continued to push this conversation further.

“Really? I had no idea! I thought he sounded cool when I first heard about him, but he DOES sound like a sicko! Yuck, what a creep! Although I’m curious… if Shiro Oni was here, right now, what words do you have for him if you were to speak to him face-to-face?”

On purpose, Goo clearly emphasized to Gun indirectly for his revolting past that Gun barely even talked about to Goo. At least now, Goo got to learn more about Gun from a source who has lived in Japan all her life. This perspective makes it even more interesting to learn from, as he was barely getting to the good part of his little game.

“I’d tell him to go fuck himself because whatever he’s been doing is just wrong! What is he even doing in his life that makes him think that it’s okay to hurt people, and to commit excessive crime like that?! How unbelievable! I would’ve smacked him across the face if I ever saw him in person! God, it just makes me sick that someone like that secretly has Japan on the palm of his hand, as if we ALL belong to him. What are we, his PAWNS? I mean, come on Shiro Oni. At least be a decent person and just let people live in peace. That’s all we fucking ask for! Why do we have to settle for his bullshit territories? He doesn’t even protect people. He makes us FEAR him. That man is as selfish as the DEVIL HIMSELF!!! A no-good, ruthless, trashy, half-assed, no-brained, piece of sh-”

In an instant, the car jolted forward with such a huge amount of force, that you and Goo almost fell forward from your seats, which caught you both by surprise. Gun said, “We’re here.” as he immediately turned off the car’s engine and unbuckled his seatbelt. You looked at him in surprise from his abruptness then slowly nodded at him replying, “Oh, o-okay…” You could feel your heartbeat pounding anxiously from how terrifying the car just halted, as your hands were still shaking while trying to unbuckle your own seatbelt. Without looking at you, Gun got out of the car then slammed it behind him, which created a cold gust of wind to fly onto your face. He still went back around to open your door for you, like a true gentleman. Once you got out from your seat entirely, he slammed that door shut as well. At the same time, Goo got out of the car with a yawn, then closed the door himself. He turned to Gun who was waiting for him to get out of the car as he placed a hand on his shoulder saying, “Gun, how come you didn’t open the door for me too? I thought we were besties.” Goo gave Gun a fake pout, which made Gun furrow his eyebrows in irritation before roughly shrugging Goo’s arm off of him. Feeling displeased, Gun locked the car and stormed off ahead in silence to lead the way, leaving you and Goo to group together while following a few feet away him. From his actions so far, you could tell that Gun was in a bad mood, but why? It doesn’t make sense. Out of wonder, you questioned Goo, asking him, “What’s wrong with Gun all of a sudden? I think I might have said something that might have triggered his anger.” Goo waved his hand in a relaxed way stating, “Beats me, and it’s fine! I don’t think you said anything wrong. Gun is always like that, so don’t worry about it!” While looking at Goo’s usual grin, you gave a hesitant nod as you and Goo followed Gun into a humongous yet towering building that’s named, “Lotte World Tower” which made itself known through its sign. The building was so tall, that you could barely even see the top from where you were standing at, by the entrance of the hotel. Even by squinting, the top of the building was invisible to you.

Holy crap. What is this place? The building is so FREAKING TALL!!!

While looking around with your mouth wide open in awe, you assumed it was a hotel. A fancy one too. The Lotte World Tower reminded you of that other place that you and Gun went to, which was the Lotte Hotel. As soon as you entered the excessively huge building, you were speechless to even speak a single word. Because…

What… In… The… World…?

It was like you’ve been taken to a whole other world! A new place of existence! You were greeted with a sign that said “Lotte World Mall” as you entered deeper into the building. Profoundly, there were no words that popped up in your head to even describe how marvelously lavish this building was from the inside. The walls were plated with gold, in which you could see your reflection as you walked by wherever you go, reflecting a kaleidoscope of every angle of the mall. The lights were glowing through the warm color of gold as well, illuminating every pathway there was to it, in this maze of a place. The amount of branded shops, floors, and escalators there were in this place, and the amount of people moving around was enough to make you feel overwhelmingly nervous. Your hands started to perspire at the sight of this place looming over you, making you believe that you could possibly get lost at any moment if you weren’t careful of your surroundings. You were relying on Gun up ahead, in which all your eyes had to do was just follow wherever he went, and he’ll guide you from afar. However you saw him stop right in front of you, which made you approach him in puzzlement. “Um, Gun…?” As you reached for his back, he turned around and…

It wasn’t him.

The face of the middle-aged stranger in front of you made you focus on him for about five seconds until he turned to walk away from the opposite direction of where you came from, realizing that wherever he was going was the wrong way. As you let that man go, you stood there in the sea of people, not knowing what to do. You were lost, and you were following the wrong person this whole time. But how could that have happened? You swore that you were just right behind him. But wait, what about Goo? Your head turned around to check to see if Goo was still with you, but he was nowhere to be seen. Just like Gun, who was supposed to be your navigator. The both of them were gone.

Panicking, you quickly got out your phone from your purse to call Gun. As you pressed “Yuzuru” on your Contacts then pressed “Call”, you brought the phone close to your ear as you waited for the rings to proceed to an answered call. However, while you were listening in on the rings, the automatic voice message system cued when it said, “The person that you are trying to reach is not available right now. Please try again later.” That didn’t stop you from trying to call another time, making you wait another minute for the phone to be picked up.

Come on, please… pick up the phone, Gun!

With no luck, the voice message system replayed itself again. It was obvious that you were starting to get frustrated about this whole situation, making you pace back and forth at that same spot that you’ve been standing on in the last ten minutes.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit… I can’t get a hold of him! I can’t call Goo either, I don’t have his phone number. And if I ask Kouji for Goo’s number, then Kouji must be suspicious of me. Fuck… what should I do?

While you were pacing back and forth, a hand suddenly grabbed onto your wrist. Your eyes lit up, expecting it to be Gun who came to retrieve you as you turned around to face him. But… it wasn’t Gun. Again. This time, an older man who appeared in front of you came with two of his goonies standing beside him. The new stranger seemed to be somewhere in his forties, wearing an expensive Ralph Lauren Men’s suit and tie. His bodyguards, however, looked like old gangster thugs with their old suits and their gold chains around their neck. One of them even gave a toothy grin, showing off some of his gold teeth while the other had a huge scar run down his left eye. The gentleman in front of you who still had his grasp on your wrist gave a malicious chuckle, asking you in a flirtatious way, “Hey Gorgeous, you seem to be a bit lost. And I just couldn’t help but approach you because you’re so beautiful. I was just on my way out from “The Lounge” with me and my fellas here. How about you come with me, and we can have a little bit of fun for the night, huh? How about it?” You shook your head urgently while yanking your arm away from him. “Er, no thank you. I’m meeting up with a few close friends of mine. Ah, actually, I just remembered where I was supposed to go. I best be going now…” You turned on your heel to get away as soon as possible, but right when you took a step away from them, the persistent man’s grasp returned on your arm. This time he was holding onto your bicep, in which his hand started to clamp tightly around you, causing you to wince in a bit of pain. Your head turned back to see a disgusting snicker on the creep’s face. Even his lackies were sneering beside him at how desperate you were to escape. “How cute. A little feisty kitten playing hard-to-get. Where are your ‘close friends’ at? If they were supposed to meet up with you, then they should have been here by now. So where are they?” His hold on you started to increase in strength, tightening his grip which made you grit your teeth in pain. “O-ow, sir… that h-hurts… let go!” While you tried to wriggle your arm away from him as hard as you can, his grasp on you wouldn’t loosen as the creep started to walk back towards the entrance of the mall. When he was dragging you with him without your consent, the three creeps chuckled while watching you struggle to free yourself from the maniac’s strong grip on you. Fearfully, you pleaded aloud while calling out to the people behind you saying, “HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME! THIS PERVERT IS TRYING TO KIDNAP ME!!! HE’S TAKING ME AWAY BY FORCE- OWWW THAT HURTS, STOP THAT!!!” The man’s mug remained the same with that sadistic pervy expression on his face. He didn’t even bother to glance at you from behind himself, explaining, “Oh be quiet, you bitch! These people won’t help you. They’ll just think that you’re one of my ‘scores’ that I’ll be having for tonight. Just a bitch fussing over an increase for money, just because I didn’t offer you enough to spend the night with me. They wouldn’t even notice at all, since you’re dressed in that slutty little dress of yours. I bet you wanted to get attention in the first place, to pick up men such as myself. You LIKE the attention don’t you? You little who-” In an instant, the man’s words halted to a complete stop. Without warning, you felt that man’s grasp suddenly let go of your arm. With a hint of interest, your head turned to see for yourself, until your eyes met with Gun who was standing there in between you and the creep who was supposedly dragging you away. His bodyguards’ jaws dropped in shock, at how hard Gun was gripping their employer’s wrist so tightly for him to let go of you.

As Gun’s gaze pierced the older man’s eyes while still holding onto him, he asked in a very low yet harsh tone, “Do you want to die?” [죽을래?] The old man gritted his teeth, trying to pull his hand away from Gun’s firm grasp while yelling out, “Unhand me, you fiend!” The maniac’s gaze shifted to his sides to try and make eye contact with both of his goons saying, “Don’t just stand there you idiots, and HELP ME!!!” Gun’s demeanor remained unfazed when one of the crazy guy’s bodyguards suddenly grabbed onto his collar then pulled his other arm back ready to punch Gun in the face. When his fist was about to crush Gun by the nose, the bodyguard’s fist was caught by a new hand that just popped into the scene out of nowhere. His eyes traced where the hand came from, in which the hand actually belonged to Goo Kim. You clasped your hand onto your mouth, astounded from how smooth Goo’s catch was. While watching him turn his head to look at you straight in the eyes, a delighted grin grew on his face when he exclaimed, “Oh, (Y/N)! There you are, we’ve been looking all over for you! I see you’ve met some new ‘friends’ while you were away from us. Have they been bothering you?” Gun’s eyes were now focused on Goo’s face, as he said, “Where the hell have you been? I thought you were right behind me this whole time.” Goo snickered, talking back to Gun stating, “Oh you know me, always arriving in style! You’re not the only one who wants to look cool in front of a bunch of people too, you know…” Goo’s eyes moved towards the thug who he was still holding on to. The bodyguard’s facial expression became distorted with fury, which caused him to tug his fist away from Goo while taking a few steps back from him. Goo smugly smiled at the bodyguard who was glaring daggers at him. He pushed his glasses back in a very intellectual way, giving a smart-ass comment saying, “My, my, we’ve got a gorilla over here. When did they release him from the zoo? And oh look, there’s another one too! There must’ve been a special event at the zoo…” Gun saw that Goo was already riling up the two idiots in front of him, which signaled that he now needed to take matters into his own hands but in a mature way, enough to dismiss the attention that had been surrounding them ever since they got there. Since the asshole in front of Gun had already released you, Gun allowed him to be set free as he instantly let go of him. With a strong “Hmph!” from the man, the asshole gave a mad grin, bellowing out to Gun with insane eyes as he purposely yelled out loud with a crooked finger pointed at him, “Are you now regretting what you’ve done, BOY? Don’t you know who I am?! I’m an influential figure, you know! I’m WAY too important for you to even give me this kind of treatment! DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! MY NAME IS MR. CHO DANG, AND I OWN A FAMOUS ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY! I’M A MAN WHO’S EVEN CLOSE WITH HNH GROUP’S CHAIRMAN! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT, YOU IMPULSIVE WANNABE?!” After his long speech, the guy crossed his arms while huffing his chest proudly at what he just announced in public. Gun’s eyes remained indifferent, still maintaining that serious eye contact that he has on the man’s face. Without saying anything, Gun took out his phone from his pocket then dialed through it before holding the phone up to his ear. From where you were standing, you faintly heard the phone ring a few times until someone picked up the phone saying, “What do you want, Bodyguard Cosplayer? I’m in the middle of something right now.” You immediately heard the sound of Kouji’s voice through Gun’s phone. “I’ll give you money if can do this quick favor for me. Don’t ask, just do it. I’m in a middle of something as well, so if you don’t get on it in the next five seconds, then I’ll hang u-” Kouji’s voice became rushed as he replied with, “Alright, alright, I’ll do it! Just send me the money via KakaoBank (Korean version of PayPal or GCash) once I’m done here. So what do you want?”

Gun smirked, aware that Kouji would never say no to a request that offers a huge sum of cash. “I want you to do a little background check on someone who claimed that he’s affiliated with HNH Group. His name is Cho Dang, and he owns an entertainment company. If he really is connected to HNH Group, then check all records and digital documents of any contracts made with this man.” There was a long pause of silence on the other end of the line, as Gun stood there, patiently waiting while still holding onto the phone on his ear. Meanwhile, you glanced at the guy standing in front of Gun who was once proud. Now, his facial expression changed as his face converted into a very tense expression, tapping onto his own arm with his index finger while his arms were still crossed. The long awaited answer came as you heard Kouji’s voice say, “Where have you heard of this guy? He’s nowhere to be seen on the records at all. Actually, I dug into him through extra sources and right here, it says that he owns a money loaning company. But it seems to me, that this guy is literal trash. He’s actually some kind of… loan shark…” When your eyes traveled to Gun’s eyes, they were now focused on the face of a man who currently has evil intent in his eyes. Gun let out a cold chuckle as he said cooly, “Is that so? If that’s all, then there’s no need to dig any further since that’s all I needed to know. I’ll send the money later today, so you don’t have to pester me to give it to you.” Kouji clicked his tongue in a bothersome way, which made him scold Gun in demand. “Hey, you better send me the money within twenty-four hours or else I won’t be doing these dumb ‘favors’ for you anymore!” Gun’s hand then returned his phone back into his pocket. And with that, you knew…

This bastard is fucked now.

Goo suddenly walked beside Gun with the same evil glint in his eyes as Gun’s. Standing side-by-side, they currently looked at the three dumb-looking morons with strong malicious. “Apparently, Cho Dang isn’t affiliated with HNH Group at all.” Goo snickered as he playfully replied to Gun asking, “Reeeeally? How interesting. I thought he said that he was a company owner of an entertainment business.” Gun jeered in amusement as he said, “No, not at all. He works as a money loaning business owner. But actually, he isn’t just a business owner of that caliber. He’s also a LOAN SHARK.” People around you were starting to murmur to themselves, while flashes of camera lights began to blink around you as if they were coming from paparazzi. While bystanders have been taking photos or videos through their phones from watching the whole scene play out, the three bafoons were now sweating in nervousness due to Cho Dang’s cover being blown. Cho Dang gritted his teeth, stepping forward while clenching his fists saying, “WHO THE HELL GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO ASSUME WHO I AM?! I’M CHARLES CHOI’S CLOSE BUSINESS PARTNER, DAMMIT!” Goo chuckled at Cho Dang’s persistence, still trying to woo the crowd over by standing his ground. “Look at him Gun, this nutjob of an old fart is still trying to play Charles Choi’s favorite…” As Goo said that, Gun let out an intimidating laugh, as he took out his phone again then scrolled through it. Eventually, he held it out in front of Cho Dang and his two lackies, watching their eyes widen in horror from how they screwed up. Big time. Curiously, you leaned to the side of Gun’s extended arm, as you now could see what he was showing them. On Gun’s phone, was a picture of both Gun and Goo standing on both sides of an old man with a piercing gaze, staring into the camera like the cameraman was dead on the spot if he didn’t do his job right. The old man in the picture, who you assumed was Charles Choi, stood in between Gun and Goo while exuberating a powerful stance. Gun finally let out a few comments towards the three as he stated, “You see, as Charles Choi’s personal bodyguards, it is not only our personal responsibility to keep him physically safe, but ALSO to keep him safe from anyone who would tarnish his image like this…” Gun slowly took a few steps forward towards them, who were still paralyzed in fear. As he leaned in close to Cho Dang, he whispered to him, making it audible enough for him and his own bodyguards to hear. “If this were to become an issue to the public’s eye, then I’d suggest that you leave Seoul now and never come back ever again. If not, then we will be the ones to hunt you down ourselves and make your lives a living hell. And once we find you, we’ll be sure to dump your bodies where no one will ever find them. Somewhere unpredictable, untouched, and unnoticed. Deep into the dark abyss where you trash, belong…” All of the faces of those three turned pale as a ghost, even yours! You’ve witnessed Gun being the scary trainer that he is when he gets mad at you over the simplest of things, but you’ve never seen him so dead set on ACTUALLY killing someone. With such a transparent look of murderous intent on his face, Goo even joined in on the fun, as Goo wrapped an arm around Gun’s shoulder while taunting them in a wicked way, “Hey, you forgot to mention another important thing. This will be unlikely of course, but if we CAN’T find them, we’ll just come and look for their friends and family. AND THEN beat them all to death! Wouldn’t that be fun??? I wonder what their mothers would think if we’d just come for a visit and have a nice ‘chat’ with them. Even their kids too! Hell, they can bring the whole family with them! A whole ass reunion. We’ve got the right connections to find out who they’re associated with anyways, so let’s just start now!!!” The three of them shook their heads in desperate need. In an instant, Cho Dang dropped to his knees and groveled towards Gun and Goo while his bodyguards frantically panicked behind them, trying to pull their boss up from the floor.

Cho Dang held both of his hands up to Gun and Goo, as if praying to them for them to stop this cruelty. “P-please… I beg of you… I-I d-d-didn’t mean to cause any trouble! I-I-I was just trying to f-fend for myself! You know how us people are s-struggling in poverty, right? Us f-folks got to do what we got to do! P-p-please don’t do this! Y-you can just file a c-case for s-s-slander or something, if that’s what you want! Just… please! D-don’t k-kill us, or our f-f-family!” Goo gave a questioning look while playfully replying with, “So… if not you, and not your family… then what about your friends? You didn’t mention them. Does that mean we get to kill THEM instead? Actually, among you three, you’re all still technically ‘friends’. So, there’s no way out of this even if you tried. You’re all FUCKED!” Goo’s face turned into a devilish grin, as he let out a sinister chuckle. All of their eyes widened in an even heightened fear for their lives, which made you somewhat feel sorry for them for ever messing with you, Gun, and Goo. Gun’s eyes shifted towards you to see what you were up to, and that expression of pity on your face says it all. He was a bit irritated that you still felt sorry for people like them who were the ones who messed with you in the first place. However, he knew deep down that if he DID end up killing those three, it wouldn’t gain him anything but hate from you, for being so cruel. Gun’s eyes were now back on Cho Dang, in which he gave a disapproving sigh then strongly shrugged Goo’s arm off of him before he approached Cho Dang. Goo was taken aback from Gun’s sudden action, as he gave Gun a displeased look, watching him intently from behind. Gun’s hand grabbed onto Cho Dang’s shoulder, and right when he touched his shoulder, Cho Dang could feel the overpowering pressure of Gun’s strength. Cho Dang winced from the overwhelming feeling of his shoulder getting crushed by such monstrous power, as he watched Gun lean in closer to him, frightful for his life. Gun gave a serious whisper as he told Cho Dang, “I’ll let you go today. But if we ever cross paths again, you’d best expect the worst to come. I don’t want to hear any pleads for mercy when I come for your head. And one more thing…” Cho Dang couldn’t hold himself up to Gun’s level, making him bend on one knee, due to the force that Gun had exerted even more, now crushing his shoulder. Gun’s cold dead eyes leveled with Cho Dang’s, as Gun spoke to him in a threatening warning, “If you lay a hand on my woman again, I’ll surely cut off every part of your body while I watch you bleed in agony until you beg me to kill you instantly. Starting from your fingers… Then your toes… Then your remaining limbs… Your torso… And all the way up to your last remaining part… Your head. Don’t forget that, and remember my words until your last dying breath.” With one last shove, Gun stood up properly to brush his suit afterwards and to straighten his own tie. Consequently, Cho Dang fell backwards onto the floor, which resulted in his two cowardly steads to rescue him from the floor just to rush away with Cho Dang from you, Gun, and Goo. Seeing that the issue had been resolved, the crowd that Gun and Goo had gathered suddenly began to disperse into different directions, resuming whatever they had planned for the night. Goo stretched tiredly as he said, “Damn, that took us forever to deal with those pricks! We should’ve been at that place by now…” Gun‘s eyes were now fixated on you, causing him to walk towards you with his usual intimidating gaze that never failed to make you feel inferior in front of him. As he stared down onto your gentle eyes, his face maintained that expressionless portrait of his, until he decided to grab onto your hand to lead you away into the direction of where the three of you were supposed to go. Goo was even shocked to see Gun take your hand like that. However, that look of surprise didn’t last long for Goo, since he realized that he’ll be the third-wheel for tonight. How annoying.

With a bewildered look plastered on your face, you looked down at his hand holding onto yours, struggling to keep up with him from behind as he guided you down the busy commotion of people as you cried out, “Gun, wait! Why are you being so forceful all of a sudden?!” Gun glanced back at you as he said from your front, “If I let you go off on your own, then you’ll get lost again. Do you know how bothersome it is to have to try and find you all the time? It’s like I have to put a leash around you just to know where you are.” Your eyes looked at him apologetically for the trouble you’ve always caused as you said in a softer tone, “I’m sorry for always causing you trouble…” Gun pulled you into an empty elevator, with Goo following you two from behind. After the doors slowly closed in front of you, Gun pushed the Level “81” button for it to go up to its rightful floor. While you were waiting, Goo glanced at you and Gun. His eyes trailed down your arms until they stopped right at your hands that were intertwined together. Goo let out a jeer, as he said, “I get that you missed her Gun, but you do know that it’s just the three of us now, right? Are you guys going to hold hands until we get there? How cute~” Goo’s teasing words caused you to look down and at the sight of your hand still connected with Gun’s, you started blushing madly, panicking inside your head at such a rapid state, creating quickened paces of your heart beating from within your chest.

Oh my god… AGH, I’M FREAKING OUT! HE’S STILL HOLDING MY HAND! WHAT IS THIS? IS THIS A SIGN? Wait no- there’s no way! He’s just holding my hand because of how annoying I am. Yeah, that’s it… UGH. MY HAND IS STARTING TO SWEAT. THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING!!! CALM DOWN, HEART, PLEASE…”

Gun looked down at how his hand was still interlocked with yours, making him pull back his hand away from you. When you felt the slow release of his hand, your eyes took a glimpse at him, as his gaze was focused straight ahead on the door. For some reason, you felt a little disappointed that he decided to let go of you. It was wishful thinking, but you thought that if only he could’ve held your hand a little bit longer, then maybe…

. . .

Right after the elevator ride, Gun led you and Goo to a very fancy bar called “Bar 81”. Once Gun met with the waiter, the waiter took you three to a bar counter on the side where the three of you sat together side-by-side, with Gun on your left, Goo on your right, and you in between. Just by looking at the huge bar around you, it exuded high-class luxury. Many customers were seated everywhere, with dazzling dresses and fancy suits that would have cost them a fortune. They definitely got the dress code down to the last detail, which made you impressed at how well dressed everyone was throughout this very wide room. Even the interior was magnificent, leaving your mouth agape in wonder, displaying hints of gold and black faded into its walls and its furniture. There was a second floor to the front of the bar counter, with clear glass borders that encased numerous seats full of powerful people drinking and eating rich tasty food. Despite the grandiose atmosphere, the mood of the bar was quite relaxed with its smooth jazz music playing softly in the background, which made you relieved at how non-intimidating the bar was once you entered into the lush scenery. In your seat, you leaned into Gun and whispered curiously, “What is this place?” Gun handed you both menus for you and Goo to take then explained, “This is a bar called ‘Bar 81’. It’s well-known for its best champagne collection and its finest drinks. The bar is also a part of the Signiel Seoul, the hotel.” You whistled impressively while sliding the menu towards Goo on his side, until you realized, “Wait. You said it’s part of a hotel? We’re in a HOTEL now?! There’s a HOTEL on top of a mall??? How big is this place?!” Gun nodded affirmatively to your understanding. “Yes, that’s correct. This building is the tallest building in South Korea. Not only is it the tallest building in Korea, but it is considered to be the sixth tallest building in the world.”

What in the hell…?

When the bar tender from behind the counter approached you three, he gave a brief explanation of tonight’s specials with their featured “midnight cocktails” and their “bubbly gold champagnes”, then proceeded to state that they have every fine quality liquor there is, on their shelves. Before asking, “What would you like to order?” Gun simply said, “I’ll have a whiskey on the rocks. Preferably, the ‘Monochrome Joker’ straight from Hanyu Ichiro’s Full Card Series.” Struck with pure confusion, you raised an eyebrow at him, not knowing what the hell he was saying.

Um, is he speaking the right language? Because… what the fuck did he just say? What’s a “Monochrome Joker”? Is that a favorite of Batman’s? Like, what’s going on here…?

The bartender gave a nod, confirming that he got the order before facing you asking, “And for you Miss?” Unsure of what to order, your eyes scanned through the menu since your mind wasn’t set on a drink yet. This was your first time drinking alcohol, so you had no idea where to start. Eventually, you gave up on trying to find the right drink for you so you decisively answered, “I’ll get whatever he’s having.” while pointing at Gun, sitting next to you. From both sides, you heard Gun smirk and Goo snicker to themselves, which made you give questioning looks towards them on either side of you. The bartender said, “Alright Miss. And for you, sir?”, finally turning his attention onto Goo. Goo had a daring grin on his face, as he slid the menu towards the bartender saying, “I’ll go with any drink from The Emerald Isle Collection.” Gun’s eyes glanced at Goo with contempt for some reason, in which you caught his side-eye from the corner of your eye. Gun’s action really made you question why he looked at Goo like that for a second. The bartender happily nodded while saying, “Excellent choice, sir!” Before taking the menus from Goo first, following down the line with you next then Gun at the end. After obtaining the final menu from Gun, the bartender gave his last few words before taking care of your orders saying, “Thank you for your orders. There will be free appetizers that come with your drinks, which will consist of a tray of biscuits with provolone cheese, slices of apple smoked ham, olives, fruits, and our fresh raw salmon spread on top of slices of our Focaccia bread. I’ll come back with your drinks. But first, I have to make sure that they’re working on your appetizers. Please excuse me.” When the bartender disappeared into the kitchen of the bar, your head confronted Gun, then at Goo, asking the both of them, “Okay, explain. What were those reactions for?” Gun turned his head to face you with an arrogant smile that was already painted on his face. “You really have no idea what you just ordered. I’m guessing this must be your first time drinking then.” Goo chuckled while shaking his head and crossing his arms. “(Y/N), you really didn’t think this through, huh?” You were starting to get annoyed at the both of them not explaining thoroughly for their haughtiness. “Alright, one of you better explain to me why the two of you are acting like this.” Gun sighed saying, “Do you know how much alcohol is in it?” You stared at him blankly. “Um… what do you mean ‘how much’? There’s a measurement for them?” Goo let out an entertained laugh. “Of course there is, dummy! Every bottle of alcohol comes with a percentage on there, of how much alcohol each drink has. The higher the percentage, the more alcohol it has in it.” Gun joined in saying, “With that said, you decided to order something that has 54.9% of alcohol in it. Are you a fool?” Your face shifted into animosity as you hissed at Gun, “And how the hell was I supposed to know that?! Like you said, this is my ‘first time drinking’. I wasn’t even aware that there were measurements to liquor, and now you’re calling me a ‘fool’? What are you, an alcoholic?!” Gun scoffed to the side by replying with, “I can’t believe you didn’t even know. Have you ever been to a market before, or a convenience store? They sell alcohol almost everywhere and you’re telling me that you had no idea that they measure alcohol? Unbelievable…” You rolled your eyes at Gun, exclaiming, “I don’t have an addiction to alcohol like you do. That’s probably why I wasn’t aware of it until today! And, God… you are so annoying and judgmental all the time! At least be mindful of others, and don’t be such an ASS ABOUT IT!!!” Gun’s eyebrows knitted into irritation while crossing his own arms arguing back, “If you don’t want me to be an ‘Ass’, then learn how to use that fucking brain of yours! Sometimes you don’t even think. What are you, a dog?”

Goo bursted out into laughter at how chaotic this conversation had gotten so quickly. At first, he was hesitant whether or not he should come up with an excuse to ditch you two since he didn’t want to be caught up in your little “romance”. But, he took it all back. This was COMEDY GOLD. And Goo was glad that he got to stick around to you and Gun ruthlessly going at it with each other.

“A ‘dog’, huh? Oh, I’m sorry. Is that why you want me to be put on a leash? Because I’m your little ‘pet’? Is that it?!”

“Don’t throw this shit back on me, (Y/N). It’s YOU who’s not thinking straight! I always have to chase after you because of the dumb shit you always pull, and you’re probably even worse than an actual dog!”

You gasped, making you grit your teeth in ire. “How dare you say that I’m worse than ‘an actual dog’!! At least I don’t go around bossing people, telling others what to do! Do you know how annoying that can be for people? ‘(Y/N), pick that up and make sure to throw it in the trash’! ‘(Y/N), clean that bowl! Oh wait, actually- put it in the dishwasher! You’re too slow!’ Like what the FUCK?! WHO DOES THAT?! At least be sensible to the people around you, DUMBASS!!!”

Goo was hollering in his seat even louder than before, as he pounded his fist onto the bar counter a couple of times while dying from laughter. Goo had never witnessed a lady, such as yourself, to go AGAINST Gun in any way, shape or form. It was like watching a hilarious comedy for Goo. He understood the feeling of having to tell off Gun sometimes, but it was definitely a rare sight to see a woman do it for him. Whew, so much fun and excitement, all in one day! “I CAN’T BREATHE- YOU GUYS ARE TOO HILARIOUS!!!” While watching you two bicker amongst yourselves, eventually his laughter died down when he had the sudden urge to cough, leading him to wipe his own tears from his eyes from crying excessively. At the same time, the yelling from you and Gun ceased, as you both quickly looked away from each other in frustration. Since you both couldn’t bear to look at each other due to how infuriated you two felt, you thought of how much of an insufferable bastard he can be. Even at times like this when you two were okay for a minute, you and Gun would end up breaking into a meaningless argument. Right when the argument declined, the bartender came back with your drinks. He handed each of you a fancy cocktail glass. For you and Gun, you both received a glass that consisted of a big spherical ice, mixed with a brandy colored drink in it. On the contrary, Goo got a flat drink with no ice, as he wished to be the daring one for today. Gun definitely needed a drink from whatever the hell he had to go through in this day so far, as he took a heavy sip from his rare and expensive liquor right when he got it in his grasp. Goo on the other hand, was very excited to drink his as well as he delightedly said, “It’s here! Time to taste if this is actually good or not…” When he took a sip, Gun turned to Goo’s direction as he said, “Hey, Goo. You ordered something even more expensive than what I ordered, so you better finish it. I’m only willing to pay for you for today, because this is my way of owing you back.” Gun’s eyes also caught you staring at your drink, as he said, “And you too, (Y/N). Don’t you dare waste it. If you don’t like it, then suck it up and drink it…” Goo smirked at Gun after he took a sip from his own. “You’re lucky I liked it. If it was trash, then I would’ve thrown it into a bush either way.” Gun glared at him before saying, “You bastard…” before taking another sip from his drink. As you kept staring at your fragile cocktail glass in front of you, you ran your index finger around its rim, hesitant to even taste it. Gun noticed your hesitance, then decided to give you tips for drinking. “Just taste it first. And take it slow, since this is your first time. If you drink it all in one go, then you’ll end up drunk in no time. Get a few bites of food while you’re drinking too, it’ll help you withstand the taste if you take multiple sips. To be honest, I won’t be surprised if you get drunk right away from taking one sip…” You flashed him a dirty look filled with contempt, as your cheeks flushed furiously. “W-what? I haven’t even tried it yet, and you’re already shitting on me for getting drunk too early?!” Goo chuckled as he asked Gun, “Hey Gun, how much do you want to bet that (Y/N) is a lightweight? I’m betting that she’ll last about an hour!” Gun smirked doubtfully, taking another sip from his drink. “You’re on. I’m betting thirty minutes. I’ll be wagering for ten billion won like last time, so you better give me my money when you lose this one.” Goo snickered while taking a gulp from his drink. “Deal. I’m going for ten million won on this one too. Whoever wins, gets the money!” You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. It was absurd that they were betting on how fast you’d get drunk right away, which caused you to have a strong sense of loathing for these two.

These assholes. How dare they take me for a fool? Betting on how fast I get drunk, RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME?! YOU’VE GOT TO BE JOKING!

While still hating on them for their outrageous deal, you finally took a sip from your drink. At first you felt the taste of the bitter scotch go through your tastebuds, which made your face scrunch up in a displeased way. As the liquor went down towards your stomach, you felt it burn the back of your throat, which made you shiver a bit from how unpleasant your first taste of alcohol was. You brought the back of your hand onto your lips to wipe your mouth from the leftover whiskey still lingering on your mouth, while coughing onto your hand to try and get the uncomfortable feeling of the burning whiskey in your throat to subside. Gun gave a scornful chuckle at your first reaction to the taste of alcohol. He was amused at your reaction, watching you handle the liquor so badly that he couldn’t help but smile through his glass, as he takes one sip for himself. On your right side, Goo laughed at your terrible resistance to its taste, as he leaned his head to the side while asking, “You okay (Y/N)? Do you need a chaser with that?” Coughing, you looked at him inquisitively. “A ‘chaser’? What’s that?” Gun shook his head at your lack of knowledge, as he began to explain. “A chaser is another drink you take immediately, after you take a sip from a strong liquor. It usually helps to try and reduce the taste in your mouth. For example, soda is a popular chaser to drink. But, if you can’t handle the taste, I don’t mind ordering you one-” You look Gun deep into his eyes, grabbing onto your drink to take a big gulp of it right in front of him with a straight face. Goo whistled impressively, awestricken by your determination to go without a chaser, which ushered him to give you a genuine compliment. “Woah, you see that Gun? She doesn’t want YOUR chaser. Don’t you believe in her? Because (Y/N), that was so badass! I’ve never met a chick who’d drink a strong one without a chaser before. Let alone, how you handle this guy…” Goo gestured towards Gun, who was now drinking in silence. Goo continued, asking you teasingly to obviously annoy Gun, “I feel bad for you (Y/N). Isn’t he such a pain in the ass? How do you even tolerate him? You know, if he keeps bothering you, that offer of mine that I gave you is always open…” Taking a sip from your drink, you heaved out a sigh, saying, “Yeah, he is a major pain in the ass. And I just learned how to do it while being with him. However if I accept your offer, Goo, then it’s like I’ll let him win if I just give up and go. Just because he gave me a hard time, doesn’t mean that I’ll give up easily. I’m sorry, but I still won’t accept your offer.” Gun was listening in on your conversation between Goo, and as he heard your response, he snickered. Deciding to join into your talk with Goo, Gun said tauntingly, “You heard THAT, Goo? She won’t back down like how you hoped for. Better stick to watching over that pig…” Goo rolled his eyes, while drinking from his glass. You turned back to Gun and asked, “So, about this drink… why is it called the ‘Monochrome Joker’? And I remembered you said it’s from… uh… Haru Ichigo-” Gun let out a disappointed sigh, correcting you with, “You mean, Hanyu Ichiro? And yes, it’s from Hanyu Ichiro’s Full Card Series. It’s a set of rare Japanese whiskey, that was distilled since 1985. Since the Hanyu distillery stopped operating in 2000, it became such a rare set, that it was sold in an auction for $1.53 million dollars in Hong Kong. Within this series, each bottle represents a card from a full deck, but it includes two jokers in this set of Japanese liquor. But specifically, a Monochrome Joker bottle is one of the rarest in the set, along with its other duplicate. To complete the set, it was the final bottle to be prepped and it consists of a colored version and a black and white version, for the bottles. I was surprised that this bar got their hands on such rare items when I looked into it. Whoever owns this bar must be influential…” While Gun explained your eyes lit up in high fascination as you asked excitedly, “Woahhh, that’s crazy! And how did you find out about this?”

Gun crossed his arms, as he smiled appreciatively at how intrigued you were at the topic of Hanyu Ichiro’s rare whiskey. “Well you see-” As he was about to explain further about his discovery, you were alerted by someone calling out, “Oppa~! Is that you?!” from behind you three. Instantly you, Gun, and Goo all turned your heads around to see the commotion of who was yelling from a few feet away. Approaching towards the three of you, was a beautiful blonde woman waving at your direction. She was stunning, dressed in a very tight yet revealing mini-dress. Her dress was very fitted, which extenuates every curve on her body, including her hips. Even though her dress was very compressed, the mini-dress that she was wearing exposed her cleavage, showing off her chest area and what she had to offer. The woman’s locks were very long and softly curled, which extended up to her lower back. Her face was heavy with makeup, with her one-inch fake lashes and her very noticeable red velvet lipstick. The bag she had strung over her shoulder was a black cushioned YSL purse, and her black heels belonged to Prada. Ultimately, the gorgeous woman stopped in front of the person who she was calling out to. And that person HAD to be… Jong Gun Park. When the woman halted in front of Gun, she gasped while covering her mouth in a surprised manner. “Omo, I knew it! It IS you Oppa! How have you been?” Her hand reached out to touch his strong arm, starting from his bulky bicep gliding down to his forearm in a seductive way. Gun didn’t give much of a reaction, replying with a very straight face nodding, as he said, “Yes, I’ve been well. What are you doing here?” You watched as the woman giggled while pointing behind her, “I’m here with my friends.” Behind her were two stunning women as well. One woman was wearing a very sexy royal blue dress while the other woman wore a forest green dress. Both of them were seen giggling at each other, at how Gun glanced at them for a split second before his eyes returned to the blonde woman in front of him. “I see.” The mystery woman in front of him suddenly wrapped her arms around his right arm that was free, making sure his arm pressed against her breasts that were erupting from within her dress. “Oppaaaa, why didn’t you call me? You know how much I missed you~” Gun’s eyes remained indifferent, aware of what the vixen is doing. He said, “I forgot. My bad.” The sight of the woman clinging onto Gun all of a sudden, made you clench your hand around your glass in irritation, as you turned around to ignore them.

Geez, what are they even doing? Tch…

Goo caught onto your annoyance, as he turned around as well from the provocative scene. He sneered to himself saying, “Ah, NOW I remember where I’ve seen her before.” The voice of Goo made you focus on him instead, inquiring in on him, in a very low whisper, “What do you mean? Do you know her too?” Goo chuckled then nodded before taking a sip from his drink. “Yeah, I do. Gun and I went fishing on a big yacht before. When we were on our way to a yacht while walking down the dock, she and a group of her friends saw us entering the boat and they called out to us, asking if they could come join us. We didn’t really thought much about it since originally, it would just be the two of us fishing. But I guess, ‘The more, the merrier.’ It would’ve been even more boring if it was just the two is us, so we let them join us. As far as I remembered, she was the one sticking to Gun the most. He must’ve caught her eye that day. I think her name was ‘Amy’…? Well, she didn’t really catch my eye either. She was just a part of the junkies in the group. They all looked the same to me. However, (Y/N), you should be careful.” You raised an eyebrow at Goo. “Why is that?” Goo took another sip from his drink before continuing, “I don’t think you know much about THIS SIDE of Gun. Or maybe you have, I don’t know. Just don’t be fooled. That bastard did sleep around for a bit. The pervert would usually go off with beautiful women and hook up with them in hotels and it used to be a side hobby of his. It doesn’t matter who their names were, or if they were prostitutes or not. If they’re beautiful and they fit his ‘standards’, then he’d be willing to give it to them if they wanted. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he hooked up with that woman during that time in the yacht, but if she came onto him like that, then it is to be expected…” While listening to Goo, you were starting to engulf in irateness as he continued to explain Gun’s promiscuous past. Although this made you pissed off at what Gun had done before, you felt your grip on your glass starting to tighten in exasperation.

Now I get it. I remembered that Gun said that he did bed multiple women before. Thanks to Goo’s insight, my eyes have opened a bit more. So… what? I was just an “opportunity” for him to just, TAKE A CHANCE WITH? Are you fucking serious?! God, how could I be so dumb?! OVER SOMEONE LIKE HIM? (Y/N), HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY GIVE YOURSELF TO SOMEONE LIKE HIM??? GEEZ, YOU WEREN’T THINKING AT ALL! Letting your emotions get the best of you… SCREW HIM, AND THE GIFT! HE CAN JUST GO TO HELL FOR ALL I CARE!!!

Involuntarily, you took multiple sips from your glass all at once, which made Goo’s jaw drop so quickly. “H-hey, (Y/N)! HEY! Don’t drink everything! You’re going to lose my- I mean, YOU’RE GOING TO GET DRUNK TOO SOON! STOP THAT!!!” He tried grabbing onto the glass out of your hand, but you turned your back towards him, as you downed the whole glass of whiskey. You wiped the excess liquor off of your lips with the back of your hand once more, until finally, the bartender came with the tray full of food. While Goo was still panicking over the amount of alcohol you just consumed, the bartender set the tray full of food in front of you and Goo, since he noticed that Gun was busy chatting with the blonde woman who was still clinging onto him. Once he set it down, he asked, “Is there anything else that I can get for you?” You nodded as you held your index finger out to him, signaling a “One.” Tremendously, you felt a gradual wave hit you. Like a dizzy high, starting to take its toll on you. You then answered the bar tender by saying, “C-can I… get a refill… please?” The bartender nodded as he took your empty glass then said, “One moment, Miss. I’ll have to replace your old glass with a new one, if that’s alright with you?” Your vision was starting to fill with blurs of light and black spots, but you managed to reply back. “Y-yes… it’s… fine…” The bartender nodded once more, indicating that he got your permission to take your glass, in which he strolled to the kitchen with it. “Oh… god… what time… is it… now…?” You took out your phone from your purse, then peeked at it to see that it was now, eight thirty-five at night. You sighed while facepalming yourself. “Ugh… it’s a-almost nine…” Unconsciously, you set your phone down facing upwards, stretching your arms out before crossing your arms onto the counter, to rest your head onto them. Goo, who was still observing you nervously, now had a trickle of sweat running down the side of his head. “Well, shit. Looks like I fucked myself up big time…” He knew that he just screwed himself over, and now he regretted ever telling you about the history of Gun’s sexual lifestyle. Now that he owes Gun a shit ton of money, he was now starting to think of a plan to get himself out of there. Goo checked to see if Gun was still talking to Amy, and he for sure was. “Tsk, damn this prick. If only that woman didn’t show up, then I wouldn’t have to talk about her and his shitty life.” Frustrated, Goo placed his hand on your arm, shaking it to try and get you to sit up straight. “Hey… hey, (Y/N). Get up, you shouldn’t be laying on the counter like this. Sit up properly this time. Please? Do it for me here…” With a miracle, you stared up at Goo in a daze. But when you heard him tell you to sit up, you obliged by suddenly straightening your position on your chair again while shaking your head, hoping to recover your consciousness to the way it previously was. “O-oh… sorry Goo… I d-don’t… feel too well…” Goo sighed, picking a few pieces of fruit from the platter with a toothpick on the tray, then handed it to you. “Here, eat this. It’ll help you feel better. Just keep eating, to help keep your senses up.” Spaced out, you took the pierced fruit, then popped it in your mouth, munching onto them. While eating the fruit Goo gave you, you grumbled with fruit still in your mouth saying, “Themks… Goo… Mmm… tis’ taste… goob…” Goo released a tired huff, as he covered his eyes with his hand in shame, depressed at how much he really relied on you to win him a good amount of cash. He cursed himself for being too “nice” sometimes, which led to your tipsy self that will soon result into an even worse state of drunkenness. “Geez, what have I done…?”

Returning back to Gun and Amy’s interaction, Gun was starting to feel irritated at how this woman was still unable to let go of him… Literally. Gun didn’t even remember her at all, as he decided to play along with whatever was going on. He believed that it was best to wait patiently for her to go, but it didn’t look like she’ll be going anytime soon. By coming up with a “Plan B” for this scenario, he thought of a brilliant idea that’ll get him out of this situation. He then took the woman’s arm in his hand then, slowly pushed her grasp away from him. The woman was rambling on about how lonely she felt by not being able to see Gun ever since that yacht event they had, until she paused in confusion at Gun’s sudden push, irking her to release him from her grasp. The woman hesitantly asked, “O-Oppa, is there… something wrong?” Gun cleared his throat as he said, “I enjoyed the ‘chat’, but I brought important people with me today. I shouldn’t keep them waiting, since that is quite rude.” Sharply, he turned around as his right hand slid smoothly over your left hand to take your hand in his. You felt the sensation of his immediate touch, as your hand directly let go of the toothpick full of sliced ham. Your head sharply turned to look at his hand entangled with yours, with a tight squeeze. The look on your face was caught off guard, with a tint of red warmth emitting from your cheeks, as he tugged onto your hand to turn around to face the woman in front of you. When the two of you turned around, he was still holding onto your hand as he held out both of your hands that were entwined with one another, to the blonde woman. The blonde woman’s face was appalled to see Gun holding onto your hand. As a result, her attitude changed to a complete 180°. She scoffed while holding onto her hip sassily, saying, “Ah, I see you’ve found yourself another woman to play with. Fine, I’ll let you two have your FUN. But Oppa, if you ever get bored of her, come and find me. ‘Kay?” She said, with a flirtatious wink. You furrowed your eyebrows in an irritated fashion, as you snappily pulled your hand away from Gun’s touch. You grabbed onto your toothpick with ham, then got out of your seat, brushing your dress from behind before starting to walk towards the blonde female. Goo felt a bit of wind brush against him, as he uncovered his eyes to see you get up from your chair, strolling towards the sharp-tongued woman. Gun was taken aback from your emergence, while Goo became intrigued at what’s about to go down. Creeping towards her, you looked at her dead in the eyes with a very chilling smile, which made the woman’s hands ball into fists from how nervous you were starting to make her feel. The intimidation was working until you stopped in front of her, face-to-face. With that sinister smile still displaying on your face, Amy looked at you in a disgusted manner as she said, “What the fuck are you trying to do? You Bi-” Once you saw that her mouth was opened, you grabbed onto the top of her head then shoved the toothpick full of ham into her mouth to shut her up. Alarmed, Amy’s eyes widened at your sudden force of action, when you told her in a commanding tone to, “Be a dear, and chew on it. And while you’re doing it, listen closely…” Anxiously, she obeyed you, already trapped in your frightening trance. You leaned close to her ear then whispered, “Don’t you dare, lump me in with your kind. I’m not just some ‘woman’ that he can just use. And ‘bored’, you say? Women like you are all the same. No wonder he didn’t call you back at all. He probably got tired of you after giving yourself to him a bunch of times. You may be just another girl for him to get at, but at least I don’t desperately cling onto him when he didn’t ask to be touched in the first place. So now, I suggest you leave. As you can see, I’m not in the best of moods right now…” Without giving a sense of care, you shoved her back, which caused her to stumble backwards. You almost caused her to fall back onto her back, but her friends rushed in to catch her from dropping to the floor.

When Amy felt her friends catch her from behind, her head looked up to see you strut back to your seat to sit down. While gritting her teeth in humiliation, she finally managed to stand up properly. With a final aggravated stomp on the floor from how you just embarrassed her, she turned to the opposite direction as she said to her friends, “Let’s get out of here.” before snobbishly stomping off, out of the bar. With a huff back onto your seat, you saw that your drink has been refilled. You didn’t notice how Gun and Goo were just staring at you in amazement, not expecting THAT side to come from you. Gun was the one who was surprised the most. He always witnessed your ferocity, but he has never seen you express that side to anyone else, but him. Gun knew that you were usually soft and kind-hearted in nature when meeting new people, but this was truly a unique sight to behold. Goo, though, found it enjoyable to see you push back that woman. He believed that it was a way of payback, since he viewed that woman as the source for his future money loss. And with that, he was grateful that you got revenge for him indirectly, even though you had no idea about what was going on in his head. Gun decided to thank you since all this time, he’s been trying to get Amy off his back as he said, “(Y/N), thanks for sending her off like tha-” While listening to him, you took multiple gulps from your drink, then drop the glass onto the table in an aggressive way. Without bothering to make eye contact with him, you still felt bitter towards him by saying, “Shut up. I didn’t do that for you, Asshole… Ugh, I need to take a piss…” Hastily, you got out of your seat again, then looked around to find the “Restroom” sign. From afar, you saw it straight towards the very end of the bar, as you left Gun and Goo without saying a word to them about your motive for a bathroom break. Once you left them by themselves at the bar counter, Goo let out a dumbstruck chuckle, as he said, “You really raised one terrifying woman, Gun.” Gun took a silent sip from his glass, before agreeing, “Yes, you could say that.” Goo took a swig from his drink then asked, “Also, why do you let her wear those types of dresses? Even the ones that are a bit revealing? You do know that it would just gather unnecessary attention on her, right? Wouldn’t it be a pain for you if other people decided to try and take her away from you?” Gun smirked as he said, “That’s the point. They can stare at her and come at me all they want, I don’t care. But don’t you get it? It’s just a sign to let all those bastards know that they can’t have, what’s already mine…” Goo was confounded by Gun’s response as he said, “You really are a crazy prick. It’s scary how she changed you in just only a month…” Goo mumbled that last part to himself, allowing Gun to breathe in peace from the questions that he kept throwing at him. While Gun was drinking, he heard a notification ping from your phone, along with your phone screen to visibly light up in view. Your phone on the bar counter caught Gun’s attention, as he caught a glimpse of what the notification was about. When he did so, he was stunned to see the name “DG” on the notification, when it popped up from the screen. The preview of the message read:

“Hey (Y/N), I apologize for the late reply. My schedule has been pretty hectic lately, but I am glad that you got a new phone. Have you listened to the albums yet that I have recommended to you? I bet you’d like…”

The phone screen dimmed until the it was completely off again. Gun remembered that DG gave you his phone number, yet you decided to text DG first, but never him? Gun became vexed at how you decided to reach out to DG yourself, just to talk to him. With that, Gun sipped on his drink until you groggily returned back to where they were seated at. Coming from the way you were already walking, Goo knew that you were borderline drunk now, but not entirely. Your sense of direction was a bit of a mess, as you redirected your way back to them, a bit wasted and unsure. When you walked, your knees were all wobbly, and you could barely hold yourself up in those heels now. He didn’t want to stick around for the possible “clean up”, so he decided to excuse himself. He told Gun in a cunning tactic, “Hey Gun, I have somewhere to be. Logan is calling me to help take care of the Workers, so I got to bounce.” Gun raised an eyebrow as he said, “But no one called you.” Goo ignored him as he hopped out of his seat, then began to stretch nonchalantly. As soon as you got back, Goo gave you a last greeting, waving at you before he had to go. “Bye (Y/N), I wish you a goodnight!” Stunned, you stared at him until you said, “Um… w-what was… that…?” Goo laughed, then made his way over to Gun for a brief moment before actually heading out. “Guess you won this one. I’ll send the money to you whenever I feel like it.” Gun glowered at him then said in a strict tone, “You better not forget to send me the damn money.” Goo waved him off in indignation saying, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. See ya.” And eventually, he stormed out of the bar, finally leaving you with Gun alone. When you hopped back onto your seat, you saw that your phone was still on top of the table, as you returned it back into your bag. Reaching over to your drink, you then began to guzzle down from it again. Simultaneously, Gun became annoyed over how you gave DG a bit of your time and attention to him, regardless if it was through text or not. But, as he turned to look at you, he couldn’t stand to see you in such a hammered state, leading him to say, “Don’t you think you’ve had a lot to drink already?” When your eyes made contact with his, you shook your head then said, “Sh-shut up and just… leave me alone…” By watching you bring your drink to your lips, Gun finally had the impulse to snatch your glass out of your hand, making you gasp. He laid down the glass on his left side, enabling you to be unable to reach it from where you were sitting. “H-hey, give it back!” You tried reaching out for it, but Gun had to block you with his arm to try and get you to quit looking for it. “No, that’s enough! Look at you, you’re slurring your words and you could barely keep up with the walking. That’s not going to fool me…” You pummeled your fists onto his arm, yelling at him, “I-I… said… g-give it… b-back… you… Jackass!!!” Gun still wouldn’t budge, watching you hopelessly struggle to retrieve your glass of liquor. Gun shook his head, displaying a look of bother from his face while trying to hold you off, until finally you gave up. “Even when you’re tipsy, you can still be a handful. What a disaster…” Straight away, you reached out to him in a muzzled way, “Gun…” When he heard you call his name, he crossed his arms, looking at you with tired eyes before answering with, “What is it now?” You looked into his eyes, then frowned at him. “Y-you’re such… a… Sh-shit… Head… D-do… you… know… that…?” Gun snarled at your immoderate rudeness. “You’re really pushing it, (Y/N). I’ll allow your insolence for today, since you’re not in your right mind. So, as long as you understand, I won’t tolerate yo-” Instantaneously, without thinking, you grabbed onto his tie then forced his face to come closer to yours until your lips met with his. Gun’s eyes widened in perplexity, unable to wrap his head around what was going on. While still holding onto his tie, you kissed him unknowingly with passion, compelling him to match the pace of your kiss with his. It was as if you were unaware that you got this handsome man under your spell.

Gun eventually became needy, as his hand snaked its way behind your exposed back, pulling you into him to deepen the heated kiss. As his tongue began to assert itself onto yours, the both of you could taste the lingering palate of bourbon, to mix within your mouths. As you and Gun continued to share that intimate make-out session, the two of you didn’t care if all of the other customers around you were staring at the two of you, gasping and watching with shock on their faces. Even your bartender’s mouth was wide open at how surprised he was when he entered back into the bar from the kitchen, holding a tray of clinking champagne bottles. Doing such a heinous act in public was like a sin to them, but for you and Gun, it was like magic. You both couldn’t help but get lost in the moment, when the two of you were already grabbing onto each other in fervor. Automatically, your hand trickled up towards the nape of his neck, running your fingers through his hair. However, you stopped yourself from going any further, pulling your lips back from his as a trail of saliva accumulated from both of your lips due to the feverish exchange that you had with Gun. While twirling his tie around your finger playfully, your eyes locked onto his while whispering, “S-sorry, you were… t-talking… too much. I… j-just couldn’t… resist… sh-shutting you up like that. You were… honestly… s-starting to… piss me off, th-there… Jong Gun Park…” Gun’s pent up sexual frustration was starting to rise from within him. In a hurry, he took out his pocket then threw out a stack of cash on the bar counter for the bartender to come pick it up, before taking your hand in his to guide you out of the bar without saying a word. A worried look appeared on your face, wondering why was Gun in such a hurry.

Gun booked a hotel room for you two from the front desk of Signiel Seoul. Not just because he had alcohol in his system, but because he wanted to spend the night with you and resume what you started at the bar, including what occurred from earlier today back at home. His mind was wrapped around so many conflicting thoughts in his head, that they kept clashing within him like a bunch of rocks crumbling against each other during a landslide. He believed that tonight would be the night that he’ll determine where you two both stand in this little game of yours that you’ve sparked inside of him. Meanwhile, as you followed him with your hands still linked to his, your head couldn’t properly process what was happening at this very moment. Your head was spinning and you felt your body was starting to react to the alcohol that’s flowing in your bloodstream. You called out to him in a plea, “Gun, w-where… are we going…? And s-slow down… I can’t… k-keep up!” Gun’s grip on your hand grew tighter as he responded with, “Just shut up and keep walking, we’re almost there.”

At last, Gun stopped right in front of the door to the authorized room. He took out the card key from within his pocket then held it up to the automatic sensor. Once Gun heard the beep followed by the clicking sound of it being unlocked, he twisted the latch of the door then opened it. He released your hand since he had to hold the door out for you. Walking in cautiously, the lights of the room automatically turned on right when you stepped into the room. Your eyes took in the view of the whole entire room, in which your jaw dropped at how humongous this place was. Gun permitted you to explore for a bit, knowing that your childishness would get the best of you when it comes to places such as these. As he gently closed the door behind him, he followed you from behind during your zooms of excitement. Burst of energy surged right through you as you visited each room, ignoring the drunken feeling of dizziness inside you and the pain from your heels from walking throughout the night. While running around the whole entire space, you first passed through the living room with its gigantic windows, white modern couches, and its wide flatscreen TV. Next, you sped towards the dining area where a fancy outstretched table stood there with low leather silver seats surrounding its center and more windows displayed the view from outside. After that, you dashed towards the bathroom to peek inside it from outside the doorframe, and you were absolutely speechless. You’ve never seen such a big bathroom in person before, with its round granite bathtub on the side, it’s silver chromatic shower across from it, and its bronze vanity station positioned right near the huge windows overlooking the scenery outside. You decided to leave the sightseeing to the final room, which was the bedroom. Alas, while making your way to the final room, your eyes widened at such a pretty sight to behold. The bedroom definitely fit the rest of the interior with its modernized design and its sophisticated color scheme. Its bedside lamps were dimmed, which created this soft and relaxed mood. The whole room captured your attention, especially the scenery from the window, inducing the objective to rush towards it. From below, you got the whole panorama of the city below you, including the entirety of the Han River extending out into the distance. The cityscape was glorious, with its twinkling city lights and its metropolis landscape that never cease to amaze you. While you placed both of your hands on the window, you energetically jumped at the sight of it all, as if your sluggishness suddenly disappeared for that very mild period of sprinting. While going crazy over the view, you hysterically laughed at how impressed you were by the cityscape from such a high elevation. “WAHHH, TH-THIS IS… AMAZING! SO P-PRETTY!!! I CAN… SEE EVERYTHING… FROM UP HERE! AHAHAHA, THOSE P-PEOPLE… OVER THERE… LOOK L-LIKE ITTY… BITTY ANTS! HEY GUN, Y-YOU SHOULD… COME CHECK THIS OUT! THE VIEW IS AMA-”

Without warning, Gun took your wrist from behind you, and turned you around to face him. His body was now pressed against yours, as he slammed both of his forearms onto the sturdy glass window from behind you, forcing you to lean against the window. Both of your sides left no openings for escape, in order to cage you within his close proximity. Your eyes made contact with his Ultra-Instinct eyes, that are now exposed from the glasses that would normally hide those captivating eyes of his. Surveying the wide and lavish room around you, you spot his glasses sitting on top of a bedside table near the bed. Now noticing the actual features within the room, there was a huge mirror facing the right side of the big silver double sized bed, which stood as the sliding doors to the closet. There was even a cushioned bench that was parallel from the bed, standing in front of it. Gun observed your eyes as they eyeballed the room, resulting in him to demanding you to, “Look at me.” In an instant, your eyes were drawn back to his once more, with your heart pattering like it’s about to burst any minute, making your ears ring and your face starting to burn up. Awaiting what Gun has to say, he finally continued to speak. “Are you even aware of what you do to me? In all honestly, it frustrates me to even think about how much influence you have over me. You’re annoying, stubborn, and you can be stupid at times…” He leaned in close to your neck, suddenly pressing his lips against your smooth skin, causing you to lightly moan every time his lips go down on your neck to your collarbone. With that deep enticing voice of his, he resumed. “But you know what pisses me off the most? It’s when certain bastards don’t know what’s MINE…” Promptly, he sank his lips onto your collarbone, then started sucking on that spot harshly. His left arm surrounded your waist to hold onto you firmly, as his right arm coiled around you until they reached your back. His fingers trailed down your exposed skin sensually, emitting very erotic moans to escape through those pretty lips of yours. When his hand identified the strap that was connected to your dress, he unhooked it from behind you while he upheld the position of his lips on your neck. Along with the feeling of his soft hair brushing against your cheek, and the sharp painful sensation of his teeth digging into your skin from sucking too hard, made your body heat up more and your hands to extend and hold onto his shoulders, trying to maintain your sense of balance from falling. Your head started to spin even more, and you weren’t sure why. Was it the pain and pleasure mixed in with the alcohol in your system? This feeling wasn’t able to be debunked at all, especially not during this time when Gun was in control. The stinging sensation of the mark that he was still trying to carve onto your skin, made you cry out, “Gun! It h-hurts… s-stop it!” You tried pushing him away with your hands now on his chest, but his strength was overpowering yours. It was like Gun’s body had a mind of its own. Constricting his arms more forcefully around you with his mouth burying itself onto your neck desperately, it was like he was trying to paint a picture of ownership onto your body. When he pulled his head back, he marveled at the sight of a very noticeable purple hickey that was molded onto your collarbone. In a hushed tone, he unraveled his right arm around you, feeling that bruise lightly with his thumb saying, “Beautiful…” You stared up at him, not knowing what to even say in this situation. Mentally with what little consciousness you had, you were confused and angry, like you were left in the dark to even know what’s REALLY been going on in that crazy head of his. But physically, your body says otherwise. Its temperature began to rise exponentially which was included into the alcohol’s effect, and you were starting to get aroused from just the feeling of Gun’s touch a moment ago.

Conflicted and frustrated with yourself, you felt that your body had betrayed you over someone who was actually a womanizer, such as himself. Your eyes burned onto his with equivocal hate, which made him smirk at the sight of you looking at him like that. “What? You didn’t like it? But you were moaning not too long ago. Just let your body and mind be honest with me…” Gun came in for another time, as his lips collided with yours. This time, he took the lead. During the kiss, you felt his tongue exploring the inside of your mouth, lightly biting onto your tongue then sucked on it just to tease you. His right hand then felt around for your bra strap, as he unlatched it. Both of his hands then grabbed onto both your dress and your bra’s shoulder straps through the dress. With a strong pull from both sides, your bra and dress glided off of you so swiftly, as he made them fall onto the floor, right where your ankles were. His hands then made contact with your soft and suckle breasts, massaging and twirling the flat ends of his thumbs on your nipples, causing them to erect into peaks. You reacted by moaning into the sloppy kiss that you were having with Gun, in which he continued to play with your body. His mischievous hands occupied themselves as one of his hands shoved itself down your panties then began to caress your wet folds from underneath, making your whimpers more audible than before. On the other hand, he still kept his greedy touch on one of your plump breasts, as he began to pinch your nipples, which caused you to yelp in pleasure. Your moans were uncontrollable, as you let Gun experiment with your body. The feeling of this heat and pleasure that has now taken over your body made you let go of the previous thoughts that you’ve had towards him. Gun realized that you weren’t being rebellious anymore, as your eyes were now at ease and filled with bliss. He didn’t want you to release just yet, as he removed both of his hands off from your body, leaving you panting, barely able to stand still in your heels. While taking a few steps back, he said in a very assertive tone, “Strip for me (Y/N), and keep the heels on. That’s an order.”

In a clouded reverie, you nodded and obeyed his every word. Gun’s eyes focused on you, watching you hesitantly slide your own underwear down then tossed it off to the side, along with your dress and your bra that was on the floor. The same with him. One by one, Gun removed every layer of clothing that he had on him. His hands went for his coat first, as he tossed it onto the ground. Next, his expensive Dior suit that he carefully had to undress from himself. Afterwards, you watched him grab onto his tie to slide it off from his neck, in such a tantalizing way that it made you blush from how strikingly handsome he looked. Then, he unbuttoned his long-sleeved buttoned white polo shirt, revealing his scarred chest, shredded abs, and his bulky arms with fascinating arm tattoos. The thumping of your heart became louder and clearer in your ears, envisioning what he’s about to reveal next. Now, it is time to unravel the main package. Gun unbuckled his belt in a provocative manner, while keeping his hungry eyes on you. Unzipping his pants, he let them drop to the floor, before untangling himself from them and throwing them over his head. It is finally down to his briefs. “I’ve been meaning to do this with you earlier. And now…” He slid his briefs off, exposing his stiff yet girthy member before you. The sight of his whole veiny length made you reminisce what Gun was actually capable of in bed, making you gulp from the sudden sense of danger nearing. “I won’t let you sleep tonight. I’ll give you such unimaginable pleasure, that you’ll only be thinking of me…” Slowly, he advanced towards you with carnal desire shrouded over his eyes. His focus on you was so intense, that it made your legs shake at how domineering this man was. When he stopped right in front of you, he grabbed onto your chin and tilted your head up towards him, requiring you to gaze into his lustful eyes.

“Turn around, (Y/N). Don’t make me say it twice.”

[End of Ch. X]

[ankimodaisukiq]

Dress Code, Diversity, Humanity, and Music

free/without ankimo magazine

Yeah umm don't shout rude stuff in the crowd 😭😭😭 common sense don't be like A-san

original link:

This is Shiren.

I'm writing this note urgently right now.

It's about something that's been a bit of a topic on Twitter—during the Nagoya live show, there was a guest (let's call them "A") who loudly stated, "We don't need the acoustic set." I thought I'd address this from my perspective and decided to write about it.

Along with this, I want to share my thoughts on broader topics like "What is a person?" and "What is music?" (Yeah, huge themes).

Please keep in mind that what I'm writing here is just my opinion. It's about what I, from my own position and values, see and feel. I'd be happy if you could read it calmly, considering it more as a debate rather than swallowing it whole or rejecting it all because some parts might not match your own views.

I'll write in detail because cutting corners might lead to misunderstandings.

First of all, "Please don't shout unnecessary comments during live shows" is something that basically everyone already understands and follows without being told. So I might end up repeating obvious things here.

(And this intro is already getting long!! Sweat is dripping from my forehead lol)

This is still just an introduction, but keep in mind that this is a matter of "dress code" and "profit and loss." I'm not trying to talk about "justice," "what's right as a person," "morality," or "common sense."

Those concepts—"justice," "what's right," "morality," and "common sense"—are ambiguous definitions that change depending on the times, environment, culture, and individual circumstances.

Even during the pandemic, there was a lot of debate around those topics, like the so-called "self-restraint police" criticizing restaurants for staying open during uncertain times when no one knew how compensation would work. People would easily say, "How could you open your store at a time like this!?" I get what they were saying, but it costs money to keep a business alive, and for some, closing down once could mean never recovering. Everyone has their own desperate sense of "justice."

But that's not the kind of shaky concept I'm talking about here. I'm talking about "dress code" and "profit and loss," something that applies equally to everyone.

Now, about the issue with A-san.

Apparently, A-san was talking loudly enough for others to hear, but I personally didn't hear anything. If I had heard it, I would've started the mission to get them out of the venue as quickly as possible so we could restart the show.

In my own calculation of profit and loss:

1. I could leave A-san alone, letting them stay, and ask others to endure the discomfort (for those who could hear them, it might have been hard to enjoy the show).

2. I could have A-san removed, making them lose out significantly but allowing everyone else to continue as usual. It might take some time, though.

Given those two options, I would've chosen the second—if I'd heard them, I would have asked them to leave.

As for opinions on the setlist, of course, everyone is free to have their own. If a young, hot-blooded person says, "No acoustic set! Let us go wild with every song!" I’d just think, "Oh, you're full of energy! 🤘" and leave it at that.

For example, after the live show, if someone shares on Twitter or a blog, or with friends, "I didn’t need the acoustic set, I wanted to go wild the whole time!"—well, that's their freedom. (Though I’d appreciate it if they also mentioned what they did like about the show.)

My favorite bands, like X JAPAN and JAM Project, always have an acoustic set as part of their live shows, and I enjoy it. If I were to compare it to a meal, it's like the pickles that come with a set meal. I personally love when the pickles in my meal are tasty.

A live show is something everyone in the room participates in. It’s not just the band performing that makes it; the behavior of the audience is part of creating a shared space.

In some restaurants, there’s a dress code. You have to wear a jacket, or you can’t enter without a collared shirt—things like that.

Likewise, "Please don’t shout unnecessary comments during the live show" is like an unspoken dress code. They don’t need to explicitly state, "Don’t expose yourself and headbang in circles 🌪," though that would also involve legal issues. (At home, you can listen however you want!)

If someone can’t cooperate in creating that shared space, they can’t stay in the venue.

Especially now, there are rules asking the audience not to shout during shows. To blatantly go against that and complain just doesn’t match up in terms of risk versus reward! If you break the dress code twice, immediate removal without a refund seems pretty justified. Still, how you balance risk and reward is up to each individual, as long as you can accept the consequences.

Anyway, that’s the end of the background. It was just a bunch of facts.

Now we’ll get into more complex territory, along with my thoughts.

A-san lacks basic social skills. Whether they struggle in daily life or people think, "Oh, this person is hopeless," I’m not sure.

Music is one form of entertainment that people of all statuses, personalities, races, and education levels can enjoy equally. When music moves your heart or body, it’s a pleasure that reaches a very primal part of being human.

Many other forms of entertainment are influenced by money or environment. From that perspective, music has a very low barrier to enjoyment (though attending a live show can cost money). But as far as music itself goes, it’s accessible.

It’s a blessing that even someone socially disadvantaged like A-san can still enjoy music, an equal form of entertainment.

Just like music itself, I also want to keep the barrier to my own music as low as possible. I want everyone to enjoy it. I’m just one person, so within the limits of what benefits me, of course.

That’s why I hope A-san can learn to internalize the concept of a "dress code." It’s for their own good. Whether it's at Unlucky Morpheus' shows or other bands' shows, I hope they never mess around like that again! 🌪

[childofaura]

The localization/censorship debate and why people need to do their damn job

… I know I’ve been making too many posts for someone who’s supposed to be on break. I may have to modify it to “I won’t be engaging with anyone right now and I may just pop in once in a while to talk about issues going on”.

Because right now, this issue is pretty important and as you all know, I hate censorship or dishonest localizations. That was my big issue with Fire Emblem Engage, and you can find my post with the video from Censored Gaming here: https://childofaura.tumblr.com/post/711372254663131136/so-as-ive-been-playing-engage-with-the-japanese

ANYWHO, there has been a MASSIVE shitstorm in the anime/localization community happening the past week or two. This has actually been brewing over several years but it’s now been gaining traction. And right now I’m here to divulge it to Tumblr so people understand what’s going on. Putting a Read More because this could get lengthy.

So as far as I can reach back to see where this recent maelstrom of drama has started, it began with this recent announcement:

(Sorry, had to post the IMDB article, the official tweet doesn’t mention AI)

Now personally, I still stand firm by my AI stance, but I don’t defend official localizers. If I can make the decision, I’d go with fansubs; I’ve watched Ginga Densetsu Weed and currently am watching the OG Urusei Yatsura anime with fansubs (fansubs are charming and I appreciate the context they provide with translator notes. Yeah we all clown on the “According to keikaku” meme but it’s harmless to the overall sub).

Personal note aside, this has caused many localizers to start flipping their shit on Twitter, and somehow infamous “localizer” Jamie Marchi, the one who was responsible for the cringy and insecure “pesky patriarchal societal demands” and the infamous rewrite from “But we’re girls” to “But I don’t like girls” (which from general consensus comes off as a homophobic rewrite), catches wind of this. And she goes apeshit over people calling out her horrible line rewrites:

Constantly ignoring better suggestions, the story’s own canon, and just generally throwing a huge hissy fit over the fact that people (like me) don’t fucking like their product being tampered with.

All of this was sent to a Youtuber named Asmongold TV. I don’t know who he is, I’m not familiar with him, but apparently he’s got a pretty big following, and a big Japanese following too. Thus, this video was made:

And this caused a HUGE outreach; even people in Japan are taking notice and this is spreading like wildfire:

So now it looks like people are REALLY taking notice of this issue that’s been underlying the anime/manga community.

My thoughts on it:

This is why people who inject Western culture, slang, or politics into subtitles should have just stuck to their fucking jobs. This isn’t a general statement to all localizers because I know there’s probably a few who actually care about preserving the context of the original media, but this is what happens. You have shitty players in this game who not only ruined it for themselves, but for EVERYONE. This was self-inflicted. And I’m glad that it’s starting to spread like wildfire, because accurate translations should be expected and the norm. We shouldn’t even be here in the first place.

[mecchantheotaku]

so i said i might explain my voices designs and i decided now that i'm calmed down a bit that i'm gonna do that now

i know a lot of you won't be interested so i'm putting it under a cut

for hero, i designed him after the "beginner hero in a JRPG" staple. i've seen a lot of people designing him after a more experienced hero, but if you've seen his personality he does not act like anyone with experience. he's very naive. so i designed him more after a beginner. also fun fact: under that shirt he's actually decently ripped, but you can't tell unless he takes it off.

for contrarian, i decided to design him with the idea of "asymmetry" in mind. and there's no cheated angles whenever i draw him, his bangs are always drawn with the longer one on that side of his face no matter which way he's facing. the very first thing i came up with was him having heterochromia though, that was a given.

for cheated, i decided to design him with a "rough" feeling, more towards him than anything. in my hc he has notoriously bad luck, hence the tiny scars on his arms. also, his t-shirt is blocked in the image, but it says "fuck off" and he actually has several t-shirts all with different rude slogans on them.

with smitten, the design element was pretty obvious. he's the dashing prince charming to the damsel's dainty princess. he also has more detailed eyes than the others to add to the "anime" feel of that route. i was debating giving him pink elements to contrast the blue of his outfit (and because he is the fruitiest straight guy ever) but nothing i thought of looked right so i scrapped that idea.

with paranoid it's hard to really explain what i was going for, but a smart outfit that was clearly put on in a rush just made sense for him. i absolutely knew he had to be both really tall and really skinny though.

with skeptic the vibe i was going for was "noir detective" but without the hat. he's also the only voice to wear glasses because of the symbolism that comes from giving a character glasses: a tool that literally helps you see clearly.

for hunted, he absolutely had to be the smallest of the voices. i gave him huge eyes both to contrast this and because it suited his reactive personality, but now that i look at it i realise they look kind of childish on him (maybe the other voices tease him for it or something lmao). for the outfit i was going for a mix of practicality and just whatever looked right for him. plus he's barefoot because in my hc he dislikes shoes.

now come on, stubborn HAD to be big and buff. it's kind of a rule in this fandom lmao. for his clothes i went simple. the sort of clothes you'd wear at the gym. i debated giving him scars but decided against it because cheated already had that going for him. maybe he has one huge scar across his chest that's only seen if he takes his shirt off.

broken's design is honestly the one i like the least because i can never get it right. i wanted him to look like a depressed basement dweller who doesn't even bother to look after himself, but it's surprisingly hard to draw. i even wanted to give him a proper beard but i don't know how to draw them, so i just gave him a five-o-clock shadow. i am proud of what i did with his eyes though.

for opportunist i made him fashionable and quirky-looking, inspired by the hosts at host clubs in japan (which are infamous for exploiting regulars, which suits him to a tee). i also gave him a mainly purple colour scheme because purple is often seen as a powerful but devious colour. also fun fact: he very rarely stops smiling in my hc, and when he does stop smiling you know shit's gotten real.

and for cold, i went a bit literal with his name and gave him a big coat and boots for all occasions. originally his hair was going to be white but i didn't like how it looked so i made it light brown instead. his eyes were the first thing i thought of when designing him. i like designing more robotic characters with the highlights in the middle of their eyes, and that was perfect for him.

[hopeymchope]

The riveting, disturbing world of 'Babylon'

I just finished the anime 'Babylon' from 2019, and my mind was all kinds of messed up by it. Honestly, after all the horrific and edgelord-y crap I've seen in anime/manga, it's sort of comforting to know that I'm still capable of being shaken and unnerved by some of this shit.

The title is generic AF, so let me give you a brief overview: Babylon is 12-episode anime series adapting a trilogy of novels by Mado Nozaki. Note that these are full-on novels, not light novels — but they aren't available in English as of me writing this. So for that reason, I can't speak to how adapting each novel into four half-hour episodes was handled. I'm sure that numerous cuts had to be made. I can only speak to what I know of the novels from other people who've read them. I'll get into some of that a lot later on.

The story focuses on Japanese public prosecutor Zen Seizaki, who starts out the series investigating false advertising at a pharmaceutical company before stumbling into a conspiracy that initially seems to be manipulating his city's politics. But Zen digs deeper still, and he finds it's far worse than just that. Countless lives are on the line, and humanity's shared moral compass faces a huge possible shift that appears to be occurring naturally... but the spread of this new perspective is, in actuality, FAR from natural. One character likens the events to "ideological terrorism," and that strikes me as a pretty good summary. Ultimately, the antagonists are technically — at least in all visible senses — moving within the confines of the law to enact their intentions. In that case, what can government authorities, lawyers, and police do to stem the tide?

The series doesn't try to argue that government authority is 'innocent' or 'incorruptible' in ANY way... but it does seem to believe that figures of authority USUALLY play by the established rules of legality. .... At least in Japan.

So hey, let's start up front with some exciting news: It's an anime about adult characters living adult lives and doing adult jobs! And despite that, it's not an office romance, NOR is it a romance between an adult and a teenager or ANY of that stuff! Shit — this isn't even a comedy! That puts 'Babylon' somewhere around "EPIC" in terms of anime rarity. Every episode begins with a content warning and a suicide prevention hotline number. That should give you some fucking idea of how dark we're going here. But the primary focus of 'Babylon' isn't revealed until the very end of episode 3. So... I'll give you the chance to bow out right now if you don't want to know the exact nature of the threat. It's hard for me to discuss it in too much depth without spoiling it. I won't spoil anything OTHER than the major subject matter revealed at the end of episode 3, though!

You still here? The content warning hints at the most important component of the story: The central focus is on suicide. Specifically, is suicide inherently immoral? Or should people have the right to decide when their lives end? Is there any gray in the middle of that? Etc. Suffice it to say that there's a major trigger warning for suicide in this series. Not only because characters kill themselves with disturbing regularity, but because there are also multiple scenes that are just long philosophical debates about when suicide is or isn't moral... as well as who or what defines the guidelines of our personal and societal morality, is there any such thing as pure good or pure evil, etc.

And I'm not complaining — these scenes are really interesting! Although characters do tend to take WAY too long to bring up really obvious aspects of these debates for my taste. Like, when someone raises the question of why suicide is illegal, it takes multiple episodes of off-and-on chit-chat before someone cracks wise about how you can't exactly prosecute or arrest someone who commits suicide FOR OBVIOUS REASONS. I'm not sure why that wasn't the FIRST thing to come up, but I guess I just think differently than this author. (FYI: Another character points out that the matter of 'legality' extends to whether police and emergency services are compelled to stop/respond to possible suicide threats, if you're curious how the ongoing debate is justified.)

Some of the heady debates are portrayed via trippy-ass visuals that only we, the viewers at home, can see. Which is kind of goofy, but it's an interesting way to keep things from becoming too static during the philosophical discussions.

Clearly, they're not shying away from tough topics. But the side in favor of allowing people to commit suicide is hardly playing fair, either. They're forcing the issue in the worst possible way: Controlling people to kill themselves, convincing fucking CHILDREN to kill themselves, and more. So as a viewer, you obviously WANT them to lose the debate. But they aren't entirely arguing without merit, either. That's part of what makes it so disturbing: Sometimes they make some horrible kind of sense.

The elements that make the series discomforting aren't just in the subject matter discussed or in the touchy debates. The primary antagonist (or... are they?) is... oof. How can I describe them without spoiling anything about their identity and what they do? Suffice to say that their abilities border on supernatural, and as the series progresses, those abilities become increasingly impossible to counter. Apparently they are framed as being explicitly NOT supernatural in the novels, but in this anime, they appear to lean closer to being some kind of superpower — a really gross and upsetting one.

To make matters worse, before we see this antagonist fully utilize their abilities, the experience of being on the receiving end of their powers is compared to fucking rape in a way that... really made me feel like it was justifying objectification of human beings - even underage ones!!!! - as nothing more than sex objects. Like, it actually PISSED ME OFF. But... look, I gave the show some time to justify its bullshit, and I'm glad I did — that conversation became much less offensive in retrospect, after we learn/see a lot of said antagonist's true nature. (Note that I said it became less offensive. It is still disturbing as all hell, which is the intended response.)

You can tell that I'm STILL trying to avoid a lot of spoilers in this thing. There's just so many twists and turns, and it's consistently extremely compelling stuff. I don't know that they entirely stick the landing on this bird, though...

There's just too many questions left open at the end for my taste. Too many hanging chads. What are the motivations of our antagonists? One of them — the one who appears on-screen the most — at least appears to be the "just want to watch the world burn" type, though even THAT is pretty unclear. And the other major antagonist is kept mysterious for the entire run! They serve as a major figurehead for a pro-suicide movement, and we have no flippin' idea what their motives are! Furthermore, the series ends on what could be called "ambiguous" at best or "a goddamned cliffhanger" at worst.

And there are no more books! The author has written other books since completing this trilogy and has given no indication of ever intending to go back! It just... leaves us there, twisting in the wind!

KNOW THIS: The post-credits scene in the last episode was made up for the anime by the anime production team. Nothing like exists in the original novels or the manga or anywhere else. You might as well consider it non-canon. Which is great news, because it sucks all the life out of the preceding confrontation.

But even with all that baggage, I can't say I wasn't riveted. I can't stay I don't recommend it, honestly. It's very well done up until that point. And I don't even completely hate the ending! ... Maybe I just hate the post-credits scene, I guess. ..... No, WAIT, we sit through multiple episodes of a character pondering their position on the suicide issue, only for their big moment of revelation to be... LITERALLY THE FIRST THING I THOUGHT OF AS A COUNTER-ARGUMENT TO THE VILLAINS. So that. Yeah. That kinda sucked.

But the actual climactic scene? The final moments? They're engrossing... and open to interpterion in a way that isn't without merit!

Oh, and consider this: The manga version of the story? It ends on the second novel, concluding with a much happier version of the events that wrap up that part of the story here. There is no third novel — that final part where the stakes become global never arises. Sadly, I don't think the manga adaption has ever been translated into English. But if you find a scanlation or something, let me know! I'd like to see the happier ending. At least I'd feel more closure than I got here.

[duckielover151]

Strong World and Sexism

This is a debate I've seen around the fandom but haven't really participated in yet. I'm just shy of the 400-episode mark, so that has something to do with it. But it's been on my mind lately and was something I really couldn't ignore in the Strong World movie, which I saw tonight.

(I want to just throw in here that, as a whole, I really enjoyed this movie. It feels super fitting that the music got this huge upgrade... right after Brook joined the crew. And it looked fucking amazing. Like, did this movie make it into theaters outside of Japan? I feel like that's kind of a recent thing for anime movies... but if it didn't, it should have. I may be a decade (or more) late to everything, but I hope other fans got the joy of a theater experience for something that looked and sounded this good.)

The story was the only part that was a little weak. And that weakness mainly came from the misogynistic vibes I was getting.

Where to start? I guess I'll start with how Naruto was a huge cornerstone of my love of anime, growing up. A show that is well-known for how terribly its female characters are written. Honestly, it's become a big point of reference when judging other anime on that point. And One Piece has avoided a lot of the issues Naruto has.

While being a show that largely designs its female characters in a way that... shows off their physical assets a bit more? However you want to describe it. The girls who are meant to be seen as attractive tend to follow the same design scheme: big boobs, unreasonable curves, very little clothing to cover them.

And I want to mention that because it's something I've seen held up as an example of One Piece being sexist... and I have to disagree on that point. I don't feel like design alone is enough to be sexist. It's all about how a character wears their design. The women I've met in One Piece are all confident and powerful enough that they can dress however the hell they want. It becomes sexist when it doesn't feel like they're in control. And it's a huge selling point for me that Robin and Nami pull their weight on this crew. Robin is as effective a fighter as any of them. They literally could not survive without Nami's navigational skills, and she's begun doing her part in the battles a lot more too.

(Now, I'm not saying there are never over-the-top moments with the outfits especially... There's a scene in this movie where Nami makes an effort to pull her shirt down to cover her stomach... but doesn't seem to think twice about how her shorts don't cover her butt. Which is... Whatever. That much is fanservice, plain and simple.)

What bothered me in this movie is that it really shoved the girls into damsel in distress roles. Even Robin-- who barely has any lines in this movie-- has a moment where she's overpowered and captured. There's a distressing amount of... 'The boys get to be badass while the girls need to be rescued' in Strong World. The entire plot revolves around Nami being kidnapped. And that could have gone a lot worse... She does manage to rescue herself and only returns to her kidnapper as a way to try and sacrifice herself so they'd leave her crew (and entire island back home) in peace. And even then, she's still working to undermine his plan... At no point does she ever completely give in.

I think that just stings a little extra because it's coming right on the heels of something very similar happening to Nami on Thriller Bark. (She gets kidnapped by an enemy who tries to force her to marry him.) Which really isn't a trend I want them to continue. It's a little disappointing to see it doubled down on, because it really isn't a problem I felt the show had leading up to this point. I can't imagine them taking a huge step back with the sexism after 400 episodes of the girls being strong and respectable enough to overlook any fanservice... But I guess I'll be on guard for it.

I guess I just want to say that for how old this series is... The way it treats its female characters has actually been a really pleasant experience.

[fattestwriting]

Mt. Lady, but a villain makes her mutate and become half cow (half tan cow to be exact), which she's uncomfortable with? Now she's grown a muzzle, some udders, weighs a lot more, and is gassy/horny as hell. This new mutation replaces her regular quirk btw. (Weight: 500 pounds, Vore: No, Gassiness: She's very gassy, but that's about it. Not physically destructive.)

"Hold it right there, Mad Cow!"

Mt. Lady found herself facing off against a new comer in the villain business, an evil doer who's quirk seemed to be exclusively turning things into cows, which like, didn't seem like a big deal until he turned the moon into a giant cow. So now it was up to Japan's biggest and hottest (debatable) hero to stop him.

"Foolish woman, nobody can stop me, MAD COW, from... Doing the. Thing. I'm doing... NOT EVEN POOR PLANNING, AND DEFINITELY NOT YOU!"

He shot Mt. Lady with a brown beam of light, which seemingly did nothing to the giant heroine, which gets a sigh of relief from her.

"Not so tough now, big guy? Now come on, I don't have time for this- huh?"

Mt. Lady stops her persuit as she notices herself suddenly begin shrinking to her normal size. At the same time, she feels herself begin to change. Her feet and hands started mutating, becoming more callus and less maneuverable. She could feel a tail beginning to sprout from her ass, and her head began to grow into a muzzle. Most jarring of all, she felt a great pressure surround her tits, like someone was fondling her. They then began to change, shifting down her body to her belly (which was also becoming much thicker, as was her entire body) and merging into...

"AN UDDER???"

"Haha! Your transformation into an even bigger cow than you already were has almost completed! Now nobody can stop me and my unknown dastardly plan! Muahahahahaha!"

Mad Cow ran off, to never be seen again as Mt. Lady finished changing. She was a cow, well, mostly. Her facial structure, posture, and body shape all stayed the same, but she was extremely cow like at the very least. When the transformation finished, she noticed two things. Firstly, she was extremely horny, and secondly, her bowels were very full.

She caught a glimpse of herself in the reflected surface of a nearby buildings window, and she got even hornier. She was thick, and in all the best places. Her tummy was huge and soft and her ass was enormous. She began rubbing herself off immediately, in the street. She couldn't help herself.

As she continued to make herself wetter, her bowels finally went into action.

*PPPRRRRWWWWWFFFFTTT*

Every time she would stroke herself she would shoot out a fat fart. All the while, her udder was pumping out a constant stream of milk. This went on for hours, with her ignoring the passing civilians and, eventually, press. When she finally came, she released a fart of magnitudes never before seen.

*FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPPPTTTTTTTTTTTTT*

It knocked back the reporters and the citizens who had stopped to watch her, and it smelt terrible. It was like rotting milk. As the people around her choked on the cloud, she got up and began walking home, still fingering herself.

Later, at her home, she sat down on her couch. She was still fingering herself, having come another several times. The entire place was soaked in her milk and stunk of her farts, staining the home forever, even if they could fix her. As she came for yet another time today, she heard the TV reporter speak.

"-in down town Shibuya today, a strange sight was found after an attack from Mad Cow. Our very own Mt. Lady was found pleasing herself in public before releasing record breaking wave of flatulence. The public is now wondering, will she ever recover from this incident, or should we forget about Mt. Lady and ready ourselves for Mount Lady. More at 6."

[xtruss]

Why We Fight: US Openly Salivates Over Ukraine's Vast Untapped Titanium Reserves

The US and its allies set the stage for the Ukraine crisis by sponsoring the Maidan coup in 2014, which sparked a conflict in Donbass and escalated into a full-blown confrontation involving Moscow last February. One heavily underreported facet of the West’s Ukraine policy revolves around Kiev’s immense mineral wealth.

Ukraine could provide the United States and its allies with the titanium they need to build the fighter jets, warships, tanks, missiles, and other weapons required to confront Russia and China, sources on Capitol Hill with ties to the military-industrial complex have told US media.

“Ukraine has really significant deposits of rare earth minerals, and if we play our cards right could actually be a really attractive alternative to Russian and Chinese sources, which is where a lot of dependency currently is,” one anonymous congressional staffer said. “As there are increasing debates throughout the West about why it’s in our interest to keep supporting Ukraine, I think this is one of the arguments that you’re going to start hearing more,” the person said.

Titanium is also a “key vulnerability” for the US, a source with knowledge of the US defense sector said. “We’re talking about our ability to produce more planes, we’re talking about our ability to produce munitions. They all rely on titanium, and we’ve allowed ourselves to grow reliant on foreign suppliers for these things. Russia has previously been one of those primary suppliers,” they added.

US Faces Uphill Battle Against China’s Rare-Earth Dominance, Experts Say!

The US depends on imports for over 90 percent of its iron ore, and does not maintain titanium in its National Defense Stockpile.

A “nascent effort” is said to now be underway to study, develop, and use Ukraine’s “vast resources” of titanium and other mineral wealth. The Eastern European country is one of only a handful of nations in the world capable of producing vast quantities of titanium sponge – the basis for the metal – with others including China, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan. India also has a fledgling titanium sponge industry, although its production is measured in hundreds of tons, not thousands or tens of thousands required to satiate the West’s thirst. In addition to weaponry, vast quantities of titanium are required for the production of commercial aircraft, prosthetics, certain paints, surgical tools, telecommunications equipment, and more.

Ukrainian government officials are openly touting their interest in becoming a resource colony of the West.

“We today have titanium and we have lithium, both are in great demand and they’re going to be even more in demand in the future,” Oleg Ustenko, advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said. “My understanding is that the majority of these deposits are not even tapped. The business opportunities in this sector are really huge…We do not see our role only within the EU, but also in terms of the world supply. I do believe that it’s a really important role which might be played by Ukraine. But again, for that, we need to make sure we are in postwar conditions,” the aide stressed.

Germany Says EU Companies Should Stop Providing Funding to Mines in Russia - Reports

While US officials salivate over Ukraine’s minerals, US media also pointed to the implications of Moscow getting its hands on these resources, and the “boost” to Russia’s global influence that would be afforded by control over the “increasingly strategic resource.”

The battle for Ukraine’s titanium has come up repeatedly in discussions by US business outlets and Washington-based think tanks in recent months. Last September, the Atlanticist Center for European Policy Analysis think tank proposed developing long-term contracts with Ukrainian suppliers to "create an enduring material foundation under the process by which Ukraine could become more closely integrated with the West, in terms of both defense and economics."

Titanium is only one of dozens of natural resources which Ukraine has been amply blessed with, and which Western interests are looking to get their hands on. Others include the country’s vast chernozem (lit. "black soil") fields – highly fertile agricultural land rich in humus, phosphorous, and ammonia compounds, plus other metals like iron ore, coal, and uranium.

Poland, Baltics Pushing for Ban on Russian LNG, Sanctions on Bank Used for Gas Payments: Reports

US hedge fund giant BlackRock signed a memorandum of understanding with Ukraine’s Economy Ministry on playing an "advisory role" in the country’s reconstruction in November. Last month, President Volodymyr Zelensky and Blackrock CEO Larry Fink discussed “channeling investment into the most relevant and impactful sectors of the Ukrainian economy.”

Zelensky has a long history of working with Black Rock – a major holder of Ukrainian sovereign debt, and other foreign investors and global banking and financial institutions. In 2020, Ukraine’s parliament moved to partially lift a decades-old moratorium on the sale of Ukraine’s chernozem-rich farmland, paving the way for foreigners to potentially be able to buy the land outright instead of leasing it, pending a national referendum. The lifting of the land sale moratorium has been a key condition of multi-billion dollar International Monetary Fund "development loans" to Kiev.

“Ukraine No Longer ‘Sovereign and Independent Country,’ Opposition Leader Says”

Last week, Zelensky personally thanked BlackRock, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs for their support for Ukraine’s war effort, as well as the US military-industrial complex. “Everyone can become a big business by working with Ukraine in all sectors from weapons and defense to construction, from communication to agriculture, from transport to IT, from banks to medicine. And I believe that freedom must always win,” he said.

[majycka]

Hmmmm 3 ships???

Def gojohime (they're thematic foiling is very sexy to me)

Nobamai (you can pry them from my cold dead hands, it so fun for me writing them in fics)

Zutara! (just cuz iits insane how this ship i love is still hotly debated till today)

First ship:

Im a bit embarrassed to tell this but its the jack x elsa ship that started it all LMAO all the fanfiction, yt videos, fanarts..its this ship that introduced me to that idea sksksk

Last movie:

Silence(2016)! It’s about these priests going to historic Japan where during that time, they persecuted christians converts. Ngl I’m not rlly there for the religious aspect of the movie but I find the history intriguing cuz it’s such an antithesis to my religious background.

Also gonna add an extra movie, Hereditary(2019) (since I'm having massive brainrots from this film lately after rewatching it) First saw it in theaters. Never really get the message lol but def left a huge impression on me. Saw someone mention the influence of Hereditary to JJK. Decided to rewatch it and boom, I absolutely love it now!

Last Song:

Bored by Deftones :D

Currently reading:

Just some college readings right now >.< which I actually just skim through them lol.

Current consuming:

One piece! (i just started my op era yall!!) jujutsu kaisen and bleach!

Currently craving:

Cake! Mango cake!

9 people you would like to get to know better

Thank you @hxhhasmysoul for the tag! ^w^/

3 Ships:

Hmmm. That is a tough one to pick. Hmmmm. I mean, I already did a post with my fav jjk ships, sooo. I’ll just list off my fav ships from other fandoms!

Hmm. Now what would they be… I would say… Akechi X Joker from Persona 5. I’m always a sucker for enemies to lovers! XD

Chrom X Robin from Fire Emblem Awakening, I remember loving that ship a lot when I was a teen.

And… I would say for the last one… it probably would be… hmm. I guess I’ll say Xingqiu X Chongyun from Genshin Impact. I found them very cute and silly.

First Ship:

Oof, now this be a call back from wayyyyy back when I was a kid. I remember as a really young kid I would ship Ash and Misty from the Pokémon anime.

Now I do found it sort of interesting how I ship fictional characters together through romantic lens. But when it comes to me feeling romance towards other people? Nonexistent. Lmaooo~ X3c

Last Song:

Show by Ado

Of course it would be J-pop because my taste be wack. =w=;

Last Movie:

I don’t really watch movies that much, mostly because I’m a broke introvert, but the last movie I did watch was recommended to me by @hxhhasmysoul!

The movie was called “Sound of Noise” a movie about a tone deaf cop trying to stop a group of anarchic band members whose performance are terrorizing the city.

It was a good watch! And I enjoy it a lot! I would give it a shot if any of you guys are interested in it!

Currently Reading:

Hmmm. Would online pages/blogs count? 0v0;

Because I’ve currently reading this one old website about Drow Society, since I wanted to get more familiar with D&D lore and the society of all the races. Also, like one of my customize characters in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a Drow (a good Drow since I’ll always play a good route in the game) soooo I was curious!

Currently Consuming:

I’m assuming this means what I’m consuming media wise. Right? Then… it’s obviously Baldur’s Gate 3.

I’m currently have like over 290 hours on the game, and still planning of playing more of it!

Currently Craving:

I’m currently craving for Chongqing Chicken or it’s other name, La Zi Ji the Sichuan dish! ^w^

It’s sooooo good!

Tagging 9 people! Again, do it if you guys are interested! No pressure! ^w^/

@wrathofnature, @himi-wiz, @melodiclune, @sabrondabrainrot, @tinyballerinadancer1, @olasketches, @majycka, @bewwy, @burningliquors

[iamdeku]

Probability: Teacher!Deku x Reader

“Teacher deku falling for another teacher! Thank you I love you'r writing it's so cute” I love this request! I work as a teacher so this was a lot of fun for me to do, haha. I’m sorry it’s so late! I hope there’s enough romance in this one for you. I’m a little rusty, so go easy on me. Warnings: I did not proofread. It’s midnight and I have work tomorrow so I have nothing to say in my own defense. Might delete this later honestly but hey at least it exists. Also the formatting on this one is slightly stupid because Tumblr sucks.

You loved your job a lot. You had always liked kids, but you also knew from a pretty young age that you wanted to be a hero. Being able to do both was your dream, something you had never even known to hope for until Principal Nezo had shown up at the tail end of one of your missions, a knowing smile on his face parallel to the confused wrinkle of your sweat smudged brow.

“I’d like to offer you a job.”

7 words that had changed your life. You guessed 7 was a lucky number after all. Then again, maybe luck had nothing to do with it. Most things came down to probability.

“So, class, who can tell me which is better? Relying more on your powers or relying more on your individual skills?”

Several hands shot up. You had anticipated this. From the beginning of the year, you had noticed your students took very different approaches to their powers and there was a hot debate about whose approach would lead to them being “the best”, Japan’s #1 hero.

“Kori, what do you think?” You point out the young girl, her hair as white as the ice her powers produced.

“Relying on your powers will give you the edge you need to defeat the enemy. They’re what give us that individual edge. Without our quirks we wouldn’t be heroes at all.”

You couldn’t help the small smirk that crossed your face.

“Well, there’s one more person I’d like to ask. Deku?” You looked up at the man standing in your doorway. “What do you think?”

For being the number one hero in the country, Midoriya could be terribly shy when put in the spotlight. He blushed from the bottom of his neck to the roots of his deep green hair. He had probably hoped to go unseen until the end of the class when you two traded places and he gave instruction while you observed.

You were still on probation and one of the conditions of being a new hire at U.A. with no prior teaching experience was that one of the senior faculty had to sponsor you. Midoriya had been kind enough to volunteer, so you observed his classes when you weren’t teaching your own. Right now though, an outsider could have mistaken your roles for being reversed with the way Midoriya looked like he was training to manifest an invisibility quirk.

“Well, uh…” He recovered quickly, flashing a huge smile. “The thing is, neither is more important. If you forget about one or the other, you’re bound to fail sooner or later. Some villains will have quirks that give them an advantage over ours, which is when it’s important to have a strong sense of your individual skills and power outside of your quirk, things like using your environment to your favor and being skilled at physical combat. However, our quirks can give us a powerful advantage when used correctly, and it’s very difficult to fight villains with powerful quirks using raw human skill alone.”

“Very good, Deku. I couldn’t have said it better myself.” You glanced up at the clock, seeing you were nearly out of time. “Alright class. Your homework this week is to write me a paper about the advantages of quirk-based fighting styles versus quirkless fighting styles and report back to me. Also, keep an eye out for trick questions. I might give you a pass, but Aizawa will not. Now get out of here!”

Your students quickly started packing their things, getting ready to head back to the dorms or to their next class. You were almost done for the day. Midoriya had one more class to teach and then you were off the hook. You were thinking about going out tonight, a reward for the long week you had been through. Fridays always sucked a little bit. The student’s attention span was never as good as you wanted it to be.

You cleared your desk off quickly, making space for Midoriya to take over. You shuffled your pens into the cup at the edge of the desk, snatching the slim black water bottle off the corner before heading for the back of the classroom. Sometimes you sat closer to the front so you could see what Midoriya was doing better but you knew today was one of his lecture days, meaning all you had to do was listen. You loved lecture days because it meant you could get a little lazy. Technically no one could prove you weren’t listening and if you hadn’t had enough coffee, well…there were no guarantees.

Midoriya stopped you on your way back though, a warm, broad hand coming to rest lightly on your shoulder. You had always liked the way he touched you, unobtrusive, gentle and kind.

“So…” he started. “Today’s the big day.”

You nodded, excitement filling you at the reminder.

“How do you feel about your probation period finally being over?” he asked.

“Honestly?” you asked. “I’m torn. It’s going to be awesome being able to run my classes independently, but I think I’ll miss getting to observe your classes and have your guidance.”

Midoriya averted his gaze, teeth grazing his lower lip. “Well, about that…”

“What?” you asked, alarmed. “Is something wrong? Was I supposed to continue my observations? I didn’t get enough hours, did I? I knew it.”

“No! No, that’s not it at all,” he reassured you. “I was just thinking it might be nice if we didn’t have to stop spending time with each other.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I was thinking now that I’m no longer going to be your mentor it wouldn’t be completely inappropriate of me to uh…ask you out?” He stammered through the words, ever awkward.

You were taken aback by the proposal. You had always harbored a secret crush on the hunky pro-hero, but he was so quiet you never would have though that he had returned the feelings. Despite you drooling over him every class he had never made any advances. You had sort of given up on him halfway through the year, assuming he would never see you that way.

Your heart fluttered in your chest, long-held crush reigniting.

“Um, I would, I would like that, if, I mean, if you would like that, of course, because obviously I care about what you like and if you would like that, also,” you stammered.

Damn. You sounded even more awkward than he did.

You were rewarded with a smile anyway, Midoriya’s whole face lighting up at your response.

“I would like that very much! Should we go this weekend? I know a good place we could to Saturday. You know, if would like that also,” he teased.

“I would in fact like that also,” you said, regaining your confidence.

“Good. I’ll pick you up?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“What are the odds I would get to mentor someone as wonderful as you?” he asked, smiling softly down at you.

“The probability seems pretty good, actually.”

[danggerine]

i made the mistake of reading the notes on a lot of trans naoto posts so now y’all get responses to some of the bad takes i keep seeing. buckle the fuck up

• “naoto’s arc is about sexism specific to the japanese workplace and calling her trans erases that to fit it into a western lens!!!”

you guys do know that there are japanese trans people right. like i agree that there are lots of issues with workplace sexism and gender roles in japan, but there’s also lots of issues with transphobia. y’all do know that you do not have to be white and/or live in a western country to be trans, and that queer stories and issues are GLOBAL stories and issues right.

• “naoto isn’t a man, she just pretended to be one to get respect in a male-dominated field, if you say she’s a trans man you’re ruining that whole character arc about accepting your true self!”

here’s the thing! the way that character arc was done was fucking transphobic! the trope of a woman going into disguise as a man for safety/respect/etc is tried and tested, it shows up literally everywhere, and the trope itself is not inherently transphobic. HOWEVER, when persona 4 incorporates Really Obviously Trans elements into that trope, like chest binding and literal gender reassignment surgery, then we have a problem, because now you have a cis character going through a trans narrative in the name of insecurity.

p4 does everything it can to embody the typical narrative of a young transitioning trans guy: binding, changing your name, revising official documents to be known as a man in work and school records, dressing masculine, and forming a shadow literally based on transitional surgery. plus the stuff naoto’s shadow says isn’t about being “a weak little girl” or “no one will ever take you seriously when you’re just a little girl” like you would expect it to be for someone who’s arc is supposed to be about dealing with misogyny, it’s all “you’ll never be a real man,” “you can’t cross the boundary between the sexes,” “no one will ever see you as you are” comments. you know, textbook trans guy insecurity. but the game backtracks on that and says naoto was just insecure about being a female detective and wanted people to take them seriously, and that they should get rid of these feelings and accept their true, female self.

and this is where the problem lies. when you write an obviously trans-coded narrative, but make the character experiencing it an insecure cis person or someone trying to avoid discrimination, you say either 1. trans people are really their assigned gender and are just insecure, but accepting the gender they were given at birth will make them happier and more confident or 2. being a trans man is a way for cis women to escape misogyny. 1 is obviously stupid and has been talked about by plenty of people, but 2 is a BIG problem and a wild assumption to me. being a trans man is seen as an “out” for naoto, or a solution to a problem, as if once they’re a man they’ll face no discrimination whatsoever, when in reality things like getting their gender marker changed in official documents that would allow them to go by “he” and wear the boy’s uniform at school and passing well enough to be seen as a boy in public would be a HUGE ordeal that includes a lot of stress and rejection and danger. realistically, naoto is putting themself in a really precarious position, because if they are exposed as actually afab to the media, to the detective agency, or to the school, they are set for a hell of a lot of ridicule, discrimination, and potential physical danger. but persona 4 doesn’t reflect this at all, because it’s transphobic and thinks that being trans is the easy way out for cis women experiencing misogyny!

• really any argument that boils down to “naoto is a cis woman in canon whose struggle is about sexism, not being trans”

like i already addressed enough of this, i think, but what really gets me is that kanji’s arc is fucked up in a lot of the same ways naoto is and no one is clowning on posts about kanji being gay? his shadow is a very clear (and offensive) gay caricature, and his narrative is very much one about a mlm guy experiencing homophobia from his peers and acting out because of that. and yet the game backtracks to saying “oh no it’s not about liking men, kanji is insecure about his femininity and softer hobbies because of toxic masculinity” and then literally uses naoto to refute his queerness because “look the only guy kanji was ever shown as attracted to was ACTUALLY a woman all along and now that kanji knows she’s a girl he can be openly attracted to her!” in canon, naoto is about as cis as kanji is straight, and yet EVERYONE is on board for portraying kanji as gay in fan works like it’s not even a question, but there has to be a huge debate anytime anyone wants to call naoto trans. legitimately, i think i’ve seen someone argue about kanji being mlm on a post...once? ever? meanwhile every post about naoto being trans has to have a horde of discourse, i’m literally already prepping for the bad notes this post will get because y’all cannot leave this ALONE

in conclusion, i am not saying that everyone has to think naoto is a trans man or forcing anyone to stop liking a character in the way they want or anything like that. i am saying that the naoto’s canon character arc is transphobic and if you’re trying to fight with trans people about how they want to reclaim something that uses a lot of their experiences, don’t.

[libraryofruinaofficial]

Understanding and Explaining “The Veil”

So, the Veil has been a topic of debate for a bit now and people keep citing a certain Twitter post about its “proof” as ~not a real thing~ due to taking its root in the Victorian era. “It’s a veil, not a blanket,” some people say, “it’s not blocking you or anything”. These same people will then go on to talk about the power in egregores, completely oblivious to the implications they’re putting out there in conjunction with the ideas they’re pooh-poohing. To us, from our perspective, the Veil is a real and pesky thing, and yes, it’s much thicker in some places than others, and some people get a free pass. Why are we writing this? Well, for one, the concept is hugely important to convey if many of our other posts are going to make any sense. Secondly, modernity isn’t a synonym for “fake” and that shit needs to be uprooted and disposed of right the fuck now. Third, and perhaps most importantly, to be informed is to be aware, and to be aware is to open the doors for removing unwanted influence in your own life and practice.

What is The Veil, anyhow?

Well, see, that’s the tricky part, isn’t it? If the definition were already set out for us, I don’t think we’d be in this situation. While it is certainly a relatively new concept in terms of historical references, there are descriptions and legends of beings like elves and dwarves retreating into the hills and forests and separating themselves from humanity that some will point to as evidence of the Veil being a recent magical construction brought about by human action. Others cite things like the prevalence of yokai in modern rural Japan, and Celtic countries having very present taboos on faery trees and monuments being moved, touched, or destroyed, and the prevalence of strange happenings around the world as counter-evidence to the existence of such a thing.

Typically, the Veil is understood as some sort of barrier between the physical and the more-than-physical. (Most things aren’t physical in one way or another, so “nonphysical” feels arbitrary to us, but people still need a point of reference.) It either seems to keep magic out, or keep humans out, depending on who you ask. It does generally seem to be a product of modern, post-industrial human life and the relentless push to destroy the idea of the unknowable, though. It’s some force or another that people don’t really seem to agree on the origin of that acts to separate things for some reason or another. Seems confusing, but we actually have a solution based on research and experience.

We define the Veil as a construct of a subtle nature fueled by bias that serves to limit the expression and experiences of certain more-than-physical events and forces to varying degrees in a given locality, but may be acted upon, pushed aside, or removed outright by other events and forces, either temporarily or permanently. This separates it from shields, wards, and other things that are meant to keep some things out based on harm or need but allow other extranormal experiences to occur.

Personal Veils and Collective Veils

So, if some people with high magical talent and certain capabilities can just run into spirits and elementals and angels and what have you on the daily, and they claim the Veil isn’t real or isn’t a big deal, and then if a group of brain-dead, mundane, ignorant humans have a really fucking weird experience in one location but go back to scoffing at the idea of aliens and landwights when they go back to work the next day, what gives? What’s the reality of some magic-dampening force acting on the world, if any?

Well, the answer is, Veils (yes, there are more than one, as implied in our definition) vary in range and thickness based on a metric fuckton of factors, and we’ve broken them down into a few basic categories. We have Personal Veils (also known to Chaotes and derivatives as the “psychic censor”) and Collective Veils. We also have individuals with the ability to Unveil, or are Veil-resistant or Veil-removing by nature, as well as locations with the same properties. Some events and occurrences can also temporarily or permanently move Veils from a person or place. Spiritual or Nonhuman Awakenings can be a partial permanent Unveiling of a person, for example.

Personal Veils exist over people who just can’t deal with magic and the supernatural. At this point in time, practically every human and too damn many so-called “nonhumans” have them, and as a result they don’t experience magic as part of their existence, It’s a bit like curating your social media feed, or only listening to certain radio stations, or in extreme cases, delusional thinking. You ignore a whole set of circumstances based on a set of specific factors, and this can generate spiritual or magical force that acts to blacklist yourself against anything extranormal.

Collective Veils occur when many people with Personal Veils reinforce this network of spiritual/magical negation. These can occur around locations, families, and even concepts or realms of study. There are absolutely spirits in neurology labs and particle accelerators and anywhere their adjacent fields of study are, but since a lot of people with Personal Veils congregate in places like that, they can accidentally Veil other things as well.

Unveiled, Veil-resistant or Veil-removing Individuals are typically magic workers, who, for any number of reasons, just don’t have issues with losing “visibility”. This may be a hereditary gift, a result of spirit initiation, gained via practice, or just so happen to be that way. Many people have specific ways they remove Veils, such as Sighted people having good more-than-physical visual skills, and actual energetic empaths (so not Karens crying about how much a news story hurt them before they go back to their lifestyles of exploitation, but people who genuinely pick up on and process subtle energy they come into contact with whether they want to or not) are usually Unveiled in terms of sensations and emotional data gained by nonstandard means.

An Unveiled individual is typically Veil-resistant, at least in some specific areas of experience and with one or more senses. Even people who are born Unveiled can revoke that through a number of means, indoctrination and fear being the prime suspects. Veil-removing is another skillset entirely, and can be achieved through magic or by accident.

Unveiled, Veil-resistant or Veil-removing Locations and Objects are your sacred sites, hauntings, cursed relics, and so forth. These are locations or objects that just have the right vibes in place to ensure contact with Anywhere Else and can even force the most staunch and unwavering of debunkers to question their motives and understanding in their presence, even if it’s just a tiny bit. These locations and objects can be created, and it’s usually easier to Unveil a place or thing, even on accident, and keep it that way since they can’t automatically put it back if they don’t like it. (Some places probably can, but we have yet to meet one. We’d be curious to talk to them and wonder if they have identity crises like beings with Minds and Brains do.)

Veil-removing objects are likely magical implements of some sort, and this may simply be a side-effect of whatever enchantments or ensoulments are placed on them or linked to them. Veil-removing locations will serve to act on whoever enters that vicinity to make them temporarily more susceptible to things outside their accepted worldview and spectrum of comprehension.

Why does this matter?

Basically, what this means is that whether the Veil is a self-created thing, a result of pockets of belief “overwhelming” supernatural and metaphysical phenomena, or something else, the issue still stands that many people feel there is something in the way of freely-flowing magic, and that alone is reason to consider its reality. Some people may simply live in areas that are either not as dense in ambient magic or have been Veiled by human interference, or perhaps it’s an issue of their own senses, but people inside and outside spaces catering to Nonhumans of various types have lamented the seeming loss of deep magic in the world at large.

The Veil may be a thing inside some peoples’ heads, like an advanced psychic censor, that can come together to form a larger local Veil that may seem like a feature of the spiritual and metaphysical environment. It may be a geographically-linked thing, where some places are seemingly immune to it, or it may be something else entirely.

Regardless of the origin of the Veil, and the arguments for or against its existence, another issue exists regarding what exactly should be done about it, if we take the idea that the Veil is, in fact, a real energy barrier or set of barriers that makes it harder for people to access other realms, forces, and entities. Some groups, like the DKMU, feel the Veil is something that needs to be destroyed at all costs, and that people being contacted by various entities and unable to deny their existence even if they’re scared shitless by waking up to a seemingly-physical phouka rummaging through their garbage and then vanishing without a trace, that’s simply collateral in the grand scheme of things, and those people should get used to it as much as they’re used to raccoons and squirrels doing the same and should learn to make astral rodent traps if it pisses them off so much.

Others, like the authors Willow Polson and D.J. Conway, feel the Veil is a necessary safety feature, keeping the magical beings away from the humans for their safety and vice versa, citing the human tendency to conquer and dissect as being reason enough the worlds should stay separated. Arguments resembling the sci-fi notion of “non-interference” with a developing species (which has been adopted almost wholesale by New Age groups interested in ET contact despite the fact that it finds its origins in Star Trek) have been raised as well, stating that humans simply aren’t ready to accept a wider existence, and the Veil exists to keep humans from destroying everything in a fit of panic and further aggravating the denizens of the multiverse, who end up creating more astral “no-fly” rules for humans, which can get in the way of people with diplomatic work and actual roles to play and jobs to do in the cosmos.

Our take on the Veil is simply that it’s real, at least in some form, and the uncontrolled spread of it is a problem. We’re sure temporary Veiling and safe havens against the supernatural are needed, but the whole world certainly shouldn’t be one. We do tend towards creating breaches, portals, gateways, entry points, gaping holes, and so on between worlds and dimensions, yes. But the way we see it is that it’s another important part of the ecosystem and that barricading everything and creating a sterile environment dominated by one energy type is just plain unhealthy.

[namjoon-koya]

Helloooo!! I need to say you are pretty amazing and I instantly fell in love with your works sooo if that's alright May I request a oneshot with All Might's daughter! Pro-Hero! Reader( like the world has the strongest six heroes and reader is one of them. I dunno something like that.) They didn't have the best of the relationships, since he was number one hero he was never there for her and after the fight with the big bad they had a huge fight and she left everyone and became the strongest hero. She meets with everyone like 10 years(?) later and sees hoy fatherly he acts to Izuku but she doesn't hate Izuku, she actually loves him like her brother. Something angsty and fluffy would be great!

Thank you in advance luv! Have a nice day!

P.S: Can we send more than one request at the same time?

A/N: thank you so much for the kind words!! I really appreciate you enjoy my writing:) and yes, but I might be a little slow on request since I have a lot of them right now.

Pairing: Toshinori(All Might) x daughter reader.

As a child you were envious of other children who had good relationships with their parents, even with your friends you couldn’t help it. You saw parents pick up their children after school or be there when a sport or festival was hosted at your school, but unfortunately for you your father was never there. You tried understanding the best you could that he was a hero and people needed him, but for once you wanted that connection with him you wanted to experience what other children felt being with their parents.

Years passed by and you never got to tell him how you felt until his fight with All for one, you saw how badly the fight had taken a total on his body. You tried your best to tell him to listen to sir nighteye, but of course he was stubborn and didn’t want to listen. He didn’t have a successor yet to have one for all and insisted that everyone still needed him, that people still looked up to him as a symbol of peace.

“What about me?! Don’t you understand how I need you too? You’re the only person I have left dad please listen to me…” You pleaded to him with tears in your eyes, but he didn’t listen or even turn around he only continued to leave the hospital.

After that incident you left to study abroad you couldn’t stay in Japan anymore, knowing that your father might not come home one day scared you. Thankfully there were good schools in America which helped train young heroes, and one of your father’s old friends was kind enough to let you stay in his home. You had zero contact whatsoever with your father, whenever your birthday came around he made sure to send you cards; but you never had the courage to call him or at least send him a letter.

After graduating from school you started your career as a hero and did a pretty damn good job at it, you didn’t want people to know you as All Might’s daughter so you tried your best to make a name for yourself, and you did. You got recognized for your courage and how powerful your quirk was and quickly climbed up the ranks of pro heroes, for a few months you debated on going back to Japan you wanted to make amends with your father and put the past behind you.

With a few encouraging words for David and Melissa you finally went back to Japan, you only told Gran Torino about you coming back to Japan which he replied with a “Finally it was lonely without you.” You only laughed in response, once Gran Torino saw you he ALMOST cried. You were no longer that little girl he saw going to grade school excitedly to make new friends, he saw an amazing and strong women who proved herself as a strong hero to society.

Once you both arrived back at his apartment he started telling you everything that happened when you left, but when he got to the part about your father finding a successor for one for all you were left dumbfounded. You never thought he would find someone, but you felt relieved that he did “So… who is it?” You asked “maybe you should go find out for yourself, the kid goes to UA and plus I think Nezu and Toshinori would be happy to see you.”

When Gran Torino mentioned your father’s name you frowned you weren’t sure if you were ready to see him yet, but if you didn’t he’d probably find out on the news outlet that you were in Japan. “Okay then ill see you later.” You didn’t need help finding UA, you were planning attending UA after middle school… until you went to study aboard after the whole all for one incident. Once you arrived at UA you felt nauseous did you really want to go through with this? Unfortunately you didn’t get a choice the gates of UA opened and you saw Nezu standing there with a smile.

“I’m upset you told Gran Torino that you were coming back to Japan, but not met.”

You let out a nervous laugh “I’m sorry… I was just nervous that’s all.” Nezu’s frown disappears and gets replaced with a smile “If you say so Y/N so… I guess Torino told you about your father’s successor?” You manage a small nod “well perfect timing they’re actually training right now.” With that Nezu leads you to another building.

Arriving at the location you watch as different students use their quirks, you watch in amazement as one student is able to use a hardening quirk and then another one who’s able to release acid from her fingertips “They’re pretty amazing.’ You whispered to Nezu not wanting to interrupt the class “they are just like Midoriya over there.” He says pointing to a green haired boy, you watch as he activates his quirk. Your eyes then land on your father who was observing and helping some students, he would often look over at Midoriya and smile at him your heart softened seeing his smile.

“Its nice to see him smile like that, I don’t think I ever saw him smile like that.” You knew Nezu was looking up at you almost like if he was asking you to elaborate on what you said “Y/N—“ “No I’m not mad, I’m just happy to see him doing fine and finally taking care of himself. That kid really changed him didn’t he?” Nezu stayed silent, but he knew you were right Midoriya did change him. “Anyways I just wanted to see how he was doing, I need to go take care of other things I’ll see you around.” You leave the building.

You sighed you really thought you were ready to face your father, but you couldn’t even call out to him… maybe I should just go back to America you thought to yourself as you started leaving UA. “Y/N wait!” You turned around and saw your father running over to you “D-Dad?! Stop running you shouldn’t strain yourself that much.” You said walking over to him to met him halfway “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back to Japan?” You looked down at the ground “I-i don’t know I guess I wasn’t ready to face you yet.” You admit.

“Y/N… I’m sorry that I was never there for you back when you were a child. I should’ve been there for you and I was a terrible father not realizing how you felt after my fight with all for one…”

Even if the apology was short it was something you wanted to hear for a very long time… “I forgive you, but you still have a lot to make up for.” You said giving him a cheeky smile “and I promise you I will.” You nod in agreement “So.. you found a successor?” “Trust me the kid has heart.” You laugh “I was watching him during practice so I believe you, but I think I want to get to know him more.” You start following Toshinori back to the building “he probably knows you… I saw that you made it into the top ranks of pro heroes.” He says.

“I did.” “I’m proud of you Y/N you worked hard to get where you are now…I’m just upset that I wasn’t there to support you.” “It’s okay dad really, but as long as you support me now I think I can live peacefully.”

[stargazer-sims]

Journal Entry #44 (part one)

Yuri

To borrow a phrase from Victor... Worst. Day. Ever.

This whole horrible chain of events started on Wednesday, two days ago, when one of our firm's clients decided to have a go at doing their own social media communications without consulting us. Needless to say, the results were problematic. They thought they were being clever and funny, but the entire swath of customers they'd offended with their casually racist attempt at humour hadn't thought so.

Following a veritable tsunami of negative feedback overnight, the client called my boss, Mr. Tanaka, in a panic on Thursday morning, demanding that he do something about it. Mr. Tanaka is still guiding me a little, but it’s technically my file, and it’s one of the more significant ones he’s given me to work on since my promotion back in the summer. Naturally, the proverbial stone always rolls downhill, so despite Mr. Tanaka taking the initial call, this problem also quickly became my problem.

After getting his ear practically chewed off by the client’s representative, Mr. Tanaka called me and filled me in on the situation. He told me that I needed to be on the next train to Kyoto so that we could meet with the client rep and do some damage control.

The next train to Kyoto was this morning — Friday — but I decided to drive instead. That may have been the only blessing in this disastrous day, but I'll get to that.

It's not a super common occurrence, thankfully, but one of our clients going rogue, doing something foolish and then forcing us to clean up after them does happen often enough not to be surprising. It's annoying, but dealing with it is part of my job, and I accept that I have to take the bad with the good.

Having to go to the city on short notice to deal with a client-made situation wouldn't normally be an issue. The problem with going to the city today was that today was also the first day of competition for the Yukimatsu Peak Cup, which is a qualifier for the All-Japan Snowboarding Championship. Victor was competing, of course, and I'd promised him I would come and watch him. Now, because of this sudden crisis at work, I couldn't be there.

He was not happy at all when he found out, and I couldn't blame him for being disappointed. I was disappointed, too. I'd wanted to see him compete as much as he wanted me to be there to cheer him on.

We didn't speak to each other much last night, each of us brooding in our own little bubble of resentment and self-pity. In hindsight, I realize we shouldn’t have gone to bed without at least trying to talk about it, but I guess neither of us was thinking clearly enough to suggest that. We each slept in our own rooms. I hate it when that happens, especially when it's because our communication has broken down or we're not getting along.

This morning, I woke up feeling awful. I was in enough pain that I seriously considered not going anywhere, even though I knew that wasn't really an option. Unless I was literally too ill to function, I would be at the office. This wouldn't be the first time I'd be relying on painkillers and willpower to survive a work day.

Victor stayed in his room when I got up, which was unusual for him. He didn't even come out to ask if I was okay, though I'm certain he must've heard me being horribly sick in the bathroom next door. Usually, he'd be right there, making a huge fuss over me and asking me a zillion times if there was anything he could do, but this morning, I was on my own. I fought the urge to cry as I stood under the hot spray of water in the shower, already despising everything about this day that had barely begun.

The medication was starting to dull my pain by the time I'd fixed my hair and finished getting dressed. I didn't feel better, exactly, but at least I believed I could manage.

I looked at my snowflake bracelet sitting on top of the dresser and actually debated with myself for a second whether or not I wanted to put it on. In the end, I wore it because despite feeling ignored and a little bit angry, it seemed petty just to leave it lying there conspicuously for Victor to see the next time he came into my room.

Downstairs, I found Victor in the kitchen. He must've left his room while I was in the shower. He was brewing a pot of tea, and he didn't turn around when I entered.

"Morning," he said. "I made breakfast. Are you going to eat?"

"Will it be a problem if I don't?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Do what you want."

I stared at him, even though his back was toward me. "You're not even going to try to convince me?"

"No," he said. "What'd be the point? If you don't feel like eating, you don't have to. I'm not going to harass you about it. I don't want to complicate your life any more than it is already."

I sighed. "Victor, you don't complicate my life. Why would you say something like that?"

"You said I'm unreasonable."

"When did I say—"

"Last night," he said. "Remember, when you were telling me about your stupid work meeting, and I said I wished you didn't have to go to the city today?"

"I said you were being unreasonable because you were acting like I'm doing this on purpose," I said. "I actually want to see you in the competition, you know. If it were up to me, I wouldn't be going to Kyoto today, but it's out of my hands."

"It is not," he said. "You do most of your other work meetings by video conference. I don't see why you couldn't do this one that way. At least you'd get to come and see me in my first event this morning."

"It's not up to me. Mr. Tanaka asked me to go to the office. What could I do? Besides, even if I could do it by video conference, the meeting with the client is this morning."

"You could've told your boss you had a prior commitment."

"Going to your snowboarding competition is not a prior commitment."

"Yes it is," he said. "You promised."

"Is that what this is about, me not being able to keep my promise?"

He finally turned around, and his face looked exactly like Yuki’s does when we tell her she can’t have cake before dinner. "What did you think it was about?"

"Victor, you're being immature," I said. "I know you're upset and I'm sorry, but my clients and my job are important."

"More important than me?"

"No. I didn't mean it like that. Of course you're important. You're the most important, but you need to understand that some things take priority sometimes. I really am sorry I can't be on the mountain with you today, and I'm not breaking my promise because I want to."

"Okay," he said. "I get it."

"Do you?" I asked, because his tone and his body language suggested that either he didn't get it, or he did but refused to accept it.

"Yeah, I do. I just don't like it. I think there could've been a way around it, like asking your client to be flexible or something. I mean, it's their own fault they're in the mess they're in. It'd serve them right to make them wait."

"You know that's not how it works."

"It's stupid," was his response.

I had to agree that it was. Victor wasn't wrong about it being the client's own fault either, but I'm not high enough up the chain to point that out to them and still have a job at the end of the day. I said, "I don't want to fight about this any more."

"We're not fighting," he said.

"What are we doing?"

"Having a conversation. Expressing our thoughts."

"Okay," I said. "If that's what we're doing, then my current thought is that I don't want to leave with you angry at me.”

“I’m not angry.”

“Can you tell me how you’re feeling, then? Because you seem angry to me.”

“I don’t know," he said. "Disappointed? Sad and annoyed and… kind of angry too, I guess. I know it’s not your fault and I'm not mad at you. I'm just upset by the situation. Like, I get that your job’s important, but this is important to me and I really wanted you to be there."

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t know what else to say. I'll be there to see you in your other events tomorrow and Sunday, and there'll be other competitions this season. I'll come to as many as I can. I pr—“

“Don’t,” he said. “I don’t want you to promise me anything else.” He looked away. “It’ll hurt too much when you end up not being able to do it.”

“Victor—“

“I have to get ready,” he said. He turned abruptly and headed for the stairs. “See you when you get back from Kyoto tonight.”

“What about your breakfast?”

"Don't worry about it."

“No going on the mountain without eating breakfast," I reminded him. "That’s the rule.”

“I know. I’ll eat before I leave.” he said, already disappearing up the steps and out of my sight. “Don’t miss your train. Take your meds, and remember to eat something today. Protein, Yuri. Not useless carbs.”

“Okay, no carbohydrates. And I’m taking the car.”

“Okay, cool," was the disembodied acknowledgement.

“I love you,” I called up the stairs. “Be safe.”

He didn't reply, and I silently questioned whether or not he'd even heard me. I tried to convince myself he hadn't, because I don't think he's ever missed an opportunity to tell me he loves me. In fact, he's usually the first to say it and I'm the one to respond.

Of course I knew he loved me without needing to hear him say it. One disagreement wasn't going to change everything we'd created together over the past five years. We don't argue as much as some couples do, but it's not as if we never fight or disagree about things, and we've always worked our way through it, both during the time our relationship was long distance and during the two years that we've lived together. If we didn't love each other, we wouldn't try to fix things when they go wrong. One or the other would've walked away long ago.

The drive into the city felt interminable. The moment I arrived at the office, I wanted to text Victor to let him know I got there, but I realized that he was probably on the mountain already and wouldn't have his phone. He doesn't usually take it with him to competitions, and if he did bring it for some reason, more than likely his coach would have it.

With that in mind, I slipped into the empty conference room where our meeting was going to take place, and texted Victor's coach instead. Her name is Sakura Fujimoto. I think I've mentioned her before, and I'm sure Victor has as well.

Victor and Sakura met one another only a few weeks after he came here. They met on the mountain, of course, and the two of them had bonded over their passion for snowboarding and the fact that they were both high-level competitors.

For the first little while, it seemed they just hung out casually and sometimes trained together, but the nature of their relationship changed last season when Sakura injured her back during a competition. Apparently, the doctors told her that it'd likely be a career-ending injury at her age. She hung up her board — named Senbazuru, in case you thought Victor was the only one who names his snowboards — and found a full-time job, which happened to be at the fitness center in Kiyomatsu. She was thrilled when Victor started working there last summer too, and that's when they hatched their plan for Sakura to get back into the game by coaching him.

Sakura replied to my text, saying that she was indeed with Victor, and they they were going to watch Seiji in his first freestyle event. She said the event order had been switched, so that the women's parallel giant slalom would be in the morning and the men's event in the afternoon. I told her that I didn't know how long I was going to be in the city, but if I could, I'd try to get back in time.

«Tell Victor I said not to break his neck» was the next message I sent to her.

Her response was an annoyed face emoji and «That's not funny. I'm not telling him that.»

As much as I didn't want to admit it, her reply hurt, like a sharp little jab in the center of my chest. Belatedly, it occurred to me that she had no clue about our little pre-competition ritual. Maybe Victor told her we'd had a disagreement, and now she thought I was being a smartass.

I considered asking her to pass her phone to Victor so I could call and talk to him, but just as I was about to do that, the door of the conference room opened, and my boss walked in with a white lady who looked like she'd had a couple of sleepless nights.

She was the representative of our client, and her name is Helena Flatt. I had to suppress the urge to ask if there was a correlation between her surname and the success of her attempt at humour.

Honestly, I did try feel even a tiny shred of sympathy for her, but no matter what, I couldn't. This woman wasn't only ruining my day, but undoubtedly Victor's as well.

«Tell him I love him» I hurriedly texted to Sakura, and then I had to put my phone down as Mr. Tanaka greeted me and gestured for the frazzled Ms. Flatt to sit across from me at the table.

My phone was on silent, but I didn't hear it buzz with a new reply from Sakura. I wondered if she'd given Victor my last message.

[thuun]

I had a dream that Americans started getting really upset and about Kabuki because, "it falls under the Drag umbrella" and they started using the 👺 and 👹 emojis derogatorily against all drag performers and eventually all LGBT+ people. Queens started embracing Kabuki imagery and there was a huge debate in the anime fandom about wokeness and if Kabuki was an example of westerners "corrupting Japan with gender nonsense" and I think that is a pretty succinct distillation of the stupid energy going on in the world right now.