#this takes place after 2 when he's already chairman but kinda new about it

[yourbestpalpercy]

(This is an early version of the next part of Leaf’s story. This has been removed because I figured it was too early for Leaf. This story is unfinished and noncanon to Leaf’s actual story)

Leaf rested in her bed, growing comfortable in her bed fully. She actually felt a little fluffy! Then again, her soft bed always made her feel like that. In the sky, the moon shone brightly in the sky, surrounded by all of its stars. Oh the moon…

Leaf loved the night. It was always so serene and calm. Deep glittering blue danced around her mind alongside deep green like mint leaves perhaps. Or, like the leaves of a carrot!

…That was a weird thing to think about…Leaf didn’t even like carrots. The only time she ever ate them was when they were snuck into her mother’s beef stew.

Ha! Isn’t that a funny thought? A rabbit eating beef stew! Haa…what was she thinking about again…? Oh right, the moon…the stars above…the sun slowly rising, bringing purples, pinks and blues with it…the- waitamoment.

A rabbit?

Did Leaf just call herself a rabbit?

But…Leaf’s not a rabbit. She’s a human! …Right?

Right…?

Leaf stretched out her tired legs from their rest, moved onto her back slowly as she noticed the sun shining slightly through her window. Her blanket was on the other side of the bed but she still felt rather…fluffy. It also felt like her hearing was much, much better than before.

“Mggh…hm?�� Leaf finally sat up, slowly opening her eyes.

Paws…?

Light green paws at that…why did she have paws?

Leaf quickly hopped out of her bed and awkwardly walked to her bathroom to look in the mirror. She felt strange and she could already tell that she was no longer human. Her paws felt strange under the gloves, causing her to try to take them off. No avail.

Slowly, Leaf walked into the bathroom and looked at the mirror. She wasn’t much tinier than she was as a human. Her new fur was light green. In fact, she was pretty much green all over! Except for a few splotches of light pink near her eyes and paws. One of her ears was folded over and was shaped like a leaf.

“...I think it’s weird how comfortable I already feel like this…” Leaf said, almost defeatedly, tugging on her other, upright ear. Leaf wrapped her arms around herself as she walked out of the bathroom, shutting off the light. “Guess I really, really won’t be going home any time soon…”

Leaf walked back to her bedroom and grabbed her phone. Flippy’s contact was always available. Somehow, no matter what the dog was doing, he always found time for something else. Part of Leaf felt a little jealous of Flippy’s availability but she was mostly glad he managed it. So, she contacted Flippy.

1…

2…

3…

4…

5…?

6?

7.

No answer.

Leaf sighed. Guess he wasn’t available right now. Melody? Melody was almost never by her phone. Doubt she’d respond now.

Mr. Toshio? Hm..

Leaf called him up. He almost never left his shop. In fact, Leaf was pretty sure his shop was his home.

1…

2…

3-

Wait!! There was that meeting with The Chairman! Maybe she could contact one of the Cogs? …Misty? Holly maybe? …Belle?? Belle was a literal phone! …But could she even receive calls was the main question!

Uggh…Leaf’s mind was racing. If she had been expecting to randomly become a toon, she would be more prepared! But-...honestly, she was kinda expecting that she would die before that. She was a human in a cartoon world after all.

1…

2…

3-

“Uhm…hi Leaf,” Misty’s voice muttered through the phone. “You know you could just visit me in person, you’re pretty close to the boatyard after all.”

“Oh! Uh- well, I would’ve but I’m…” Leaf stared down at herself, messing with her paw a little, “Not quite myself anymore. I-I’m not ready to go outside yet.”

“What do you mean, Leaf? Is something wrong…?”

“Very wrong–. Super duper wrong I suppose! …Could you come over, please…?” Leaf’s ears went down rather quickly.

“Uh…sure, 920 17th Floodwood, right?”

“Mhm. I’ll wait for you here,” Leaf hung up the phone, placing it back on the charger. ‘I guess I could mope some more while I wait…gosh, will she even recognize me? I barely even recognize myself!’

Leaf just…flopped onto the couch and covered her eyes. Maybe…just…rest…a little…

Leaf was woken up by a gentle knock on the door. “Mmh-...come in!” Leaf stood up and dusted herself off a little as Misty opened the door and closed it behind her. “Leaf? You around?”

Leaf waved slowly, revealing herself to Misty. Misty flinched and stepped back, “You uh- didn’t tell me you had a roommate now-...”

Leaf sighed, “Misty. I am Leaf. I uh…guess I finally turned…in…in the middle of the night…” Leaf frowned. Her ears stayed far down.

“Are you still neutral?” Misty asked, approaching Leaf carefully, “...No, that shouldn’t be my question. Uhm, you think you’ll be able to use more gags now?” Misty asked, trying to sound hopeful now.

“...Maybe, I’ve always..kinda wanted to use that huge geyser gag! It would be kinda cool now,” Leaf returned the smile. “I just wonder how Robert will react. He sent me a letter yesterday requesting I come in. I’ll bet he’s expecting a human like who I was yesterday not…a weird…rabbit toon like I am now…” Leaf stared at her hand and pulled her fluffy ears over her face again, staring at their colors.

“Well, if it makes you feel better, I like your new colors,” Misty smiled.

Leaf slowly returned the smile.

“Though uhm, I think you should be a lot more concerned about The Chairman somehow knowing your address despite me being the only Cog who knows where you live exactly and I know he certainly didn’t get it from me…”

“Uh-...I just assumed he sent a letter all over til it arrived to me. Like a note being sent around a classroom?”

MIsty chuckled at this, “You didn’t hear this from me but that sounds pretty accurate to something he’d try…”

Leaf only chuckled

[daigodojima-chan]

I've been a fool

(Daigo/Reader fic I wrote because there's not enough content for this absolute dumbass)

Summary: Reader rightfully ghosts Daigo and he comes to a realization.

Or, alternatively, Daigo says "I love you" twice.

Please answer my calls.

It’s shorter than the other emails he’s been sending you the past few days, and you wonder if his patience is finally running thin. Then again, it’s not like his frustrations matter since he’s made it very clear he doesn’t care about yours.

You don’t care that he’s affiliated with the yakuza. You don’t care that he’s definitely involved in some shady business dealings, although he insists on keeping you out of the loop. As long as you get to see him at least once a week and talk on the phone every night, you don’t mind that Daigo is constantly out and about, away at work.

You do mind, however, him entertaining several women at one of the more upscale cabaret clubs in Kamurocho. The image of your Daigo, hands thrown across the back of the couch while two beautiful, sparkly-eyed hostesses cuddled up to him and gazed admiringly at his relaxed face, dusted red from the many drinks clearly had, was permanently burned into the back of your mind. You couldn’t even bring yourself to blame the girls for being taken with the man because hell, you felt the same.

Or at least, you used to.

Now, all you feel is betrayal when you think of his face. Your gut twists sharply, and the hole that’s been growing in the pit of your stomach only continues to eat you up from the inside.

Your phone pings again. Another email.

Please, love?

Daigo, despite his mysterious nature, has always been surprisingly excellent at communication when it comes to more personal matters. You remember him saying something about things unsaid ruining relationships, so he makes sure to express his affections for you as often as possible. He never fails to makes you blush, and despite being with him for several months now, you still find yourself caught off-guard whenever he calls you loving pet names.

Tears prick the corner of your eyes as you angrily snap your phone shut. You scrub your face with your sleeve and toss the phone over to your nightstand. Each day, you convince yourself you’re over him. Sometimes, you believe it.

Tonight, you can’t even entertain the idea.

Your phone begins to buzz. Sighing, you head to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

---

When he shows up at your doorstep two nights later, you’re flabbergasted to say the least.

You’ve never given him your address. He’s always insisted on you sleeping over at his fancy apartment, so you haven’t had the opportunity to bring him back to your place before. He’s dropped you off in the general vicinity, but you don’t recall actually telling him which apartment is yours.

Then again, this is Daigo Dojima you’re talking about. Of course he knows how to get the information he needs without hassle.

He says your name suddenly, snapping you back to reality.

It’s only then you realize he’s holding a large bouquet of red roses in one hand and clutching a small bear from one of the UFO Catchers in the other. He’s wearing a puffy white jacket over his dark-gray dress shirt, which you recall telling him is your favorite.

His face is unreadable as he holds out the presents for you to take.

Wordlessly, you accept them. You’re not rude and, more importantly, the bear is too cute to resist.

“Can I come in?” he finally speaks, his voice calm and steady as if everything’s just peachy between the two of you.

No, you want to say, but the dumber part of you—the one that misses him terribly and is admittedly overjoyed to see him so suddenly—overrides your common sense. You push the door open wider and Daigo eagerly lets himself in. Already halfway to the kitchen, you hear him lock the door. While you find something to place the flowers in, Daigo toes off his shoes and places them near yours by the entrance.

You end up depositing the flowers into an empty plastic container that normally holds cereal, and just as you convince yourself to turn around and face him, Daigo grabs you and tugs. Gasping, you find yourself maneuvered onto the tatami-covered floor and the next thing you know, a very handsome face is hovering over yours.

“What, are you going to kill me?” is out of your mouth before you can stop yourself. The corners of his mouth twitch upward but he doesn’t let himself smile.

“If you keep ignoring me, I might.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t have to ignore you if you kept your hands to yourself,” you spit back, and Daigo at least has the decency to look ashamed. He glances off to the side for a few seconds, clearly struggling to find the words to say. You don’t know this, but he spent the past week rehearsing what he wanted to tell you, what he wanted to apologize for. Unfortunately, he forgot everything he practiced the second you opened the door and he caught sight of your perfect face.

He eventually manages to mutter, “Sorry.”

Well. There goes that speech.

You look like you’re about to give him hell for that half-assed response, so he quickly backpedals. “I know, I know. I’m a fucking dumbass and I don’t deserve you.”

Tell me about it, you think, mentally rolling your eyes. You don’t say anything though, and he takes this as a sign to continue.

“I wasn’t thinking. There was a time not too long ago when I just… did that. Every night. It didn’t feel good but I didn’t know what else to do. The other night was…” he trails off, his eyebrows furrowing as he recalls the events of that fateful evening. He remembers how you walked up to him with that heartbroken expression on your face that almost made him drop the bottle he was in the middle of pouring. He remembers suddenly feeling trapped, hyperaware of the women on either side of him rubbing his shoulders and back. He remembers you quickly grabbing one of the full champagne glasses and dumping the contents over his head. Even now, he can still hear Majima’s howls of laughter, can recall the sensation of cold, fizzy alcohol soaking his hair and drenching his expensive suit. He vividly remembers barking at his men to leave you alone while you made your hasty escape.

Then Daigo thinks about how the pain that followed your sudden absence caught him off-guard. How he’d been startled by the emptiness he felt when you wouldn’t answer his calls or respond to his emails. He hated the disappointment that flooded his system whenever he checked his phone between clan meetings and found nothing from you. He didn’t realize how much he needed those cheerful messages until you stopped sending them.

It hit him last night, and that was why he wanted to see you now even though you clearly wanted nothing to do with him.

“I love you.”

The words hang in the air between you for a few minutes. Daigo’s eyes never leave yours, which have grown wide in shock at the abrupt declaration. A blush begins to form on his face as the seconds tick by without your response.

Finally, you reach up to lightly smack the side of his head.

“Shut up. That’s not funny,” you scoff, furious that he would stoop so low to get you to forgive him. You never pegged Daigo as someone to manipulate you like this, but you never thought he’d be the type of guy to openly flirt with strangers while your back was turned either. Maybe you don’t actually know him as well as you do, and the thought makes your heart clench.

Daigo growls and, without warning, drops his head and crushes his lips against yours.

You gasp in shock and he takes that opportunity to capture your bottom lip between his teeth and lightly pull. Kissing him back just as fiercely, you let your hands come up to clutch at his back, but the material of his puffy jacket makes it difficult to do so. Instead, one of your hands slide up to grasp the back of his head and you lightly tug on his hair. Daigo groans lowly, pulling away to catch his breath.

“D-Daigo,” you mutter, eyes closed as the man begins to trail open-mouth kisses along your neck.

“I’m here,” he whispers against your warm skin. You swallow and you wonder if he feels it.

His earlier words haven’t left your mind since he said them. You let out a shuddering breath. “Did—do you mean it?”

Daigo doesn’t verbally respond. Instead, he lifts his head and stares you down with those warm eyes of his that drew you to him in the first place. You can’t bring yourself to look at him and focus on a spot on the ceiling instead.

He calls your name and you warily shift your gaze to his now-smiling face.

“What?” you mumble, your cheeks flushed as you took in the infatuated expression on his very handsome features.

But you already know.

“I love you.”

[2jaeh]

THREE DAYS  I  LEE TAEYONG

When your over controlling boyfriend invites you and his best friend to a three day resort did he not see trouble approaching? especially when said best friend has been trying to get in bed with you since the moment he met you.

Genre: mature theme, slight smut

warnings: cheating, suggestive masterbation, slight public scenes, cursing. 

words: 3k

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“Are you sure it's okay for me to tag along ?” Taeyong spoke into the phone as he threw a dress shirt into his already overflowing suitcase. “Okay cool, well I`ll see you guys at the resort then.” Taeyong sighed as he cut the call and took a good look at himself in the mirror. He wondered if he was too overdressed, or not dressed enough. He bit down on his lip and looked at the caller ID, his best friend Inseong holding on to the person Taeyong desired most, Inseong`s girlfriend. 

He had no idea when this “crush” began, if you could call it that at this point. Inseong and Taeyong had been casual university friends for a while but it was after graduation, when they both got hired by the same corporate office did they really establish a close friendship. 

Taeyong and Inseong did most things together, whether it be catching up at music events or a sunday afternoon golf trip. But if he were being honest, the real reason he loved hanging out with Inseong was because he knew he’d bring her around, the girl who had stolen his heart without having the slightest clue. 

DAY 1 : FRI

“Taeyong is afraid he is going to third wheel” Inseong chuckled as he concentrated on the open road in front of him, casually looking over at you scoffing down a bag of jelly tots. 

“Youre working though” you stuck your tongue out at him, “Im gonna be just as alone as he is.”

“I guess you are” Inseong let out a sigh, “I don't understand why the dude cant get a date though he’s pretty good looking right?”

“Uhm yeah he's attractive.” Attractive was an understatement. You will never forget the day Inseong introduced you to Taeyong, It was around the time you two just started dating about two years ago, and you had never seen someone that good looking up close before. It wasn't the fact that you didn’t find your boyfriend attractive, you loved Inseong and he was a good looking guy but Taeyong, he was different. 

Taeyong barely spoke to you but he was always polite and had a warm aura unlike the rest of Inseongs friends. He was the one you got along with most and because of that Inseong had a habit of inviting him on many of your trips, much like the one you're venturing on now. 

You stuffed the empty snack packets into a trash bag as Inseong pulled into a very fancy resort one you weren't quite familiar with. Inseong was actually on a work trip that involved meeting with potential clients and partners, this did not include Taeyongs sector but their boss allowed him to bring you two along as a treat. Inseong’s firm absolutely adored him, which made sense because he was practically married to his job. 

“I'm going to get the room keys” Inseong placed a peck on your cheek and you watched him jog off to the front desk while you meandered around the foyer of the hotel. 

“y/n” you heard a chirpy voice call from behind you. Turning you were met with those bold black orbs and that ever so charming smile.

“Taeyong” you grinned back pulling him into a tight hug that drowned you in his rich scented perfume. 

Taeyong wasn't sure if you noticed his fingers linger on the small of your back. He would always leave you small signs but you’d never notice. His bright eyes dulled for a second when your attention turned back to Inseong who returned with the room keys. 

“Oh you're here great! y/n and I are staying in the room next to yours, do you mind taking her up ?” Inseong said, handing Taeyong both sets of keys. 

“What? You’re not coming up to see the room ?” you asked, a little hurt that he was already ditching you on this trip. 

“Sorry honey they want to do a meet and greet and tour of the resort, i'll be up as soon as it's over” Inseong gently stroked your head and you watched him walk off with one of the resort employees.

“I guess it's just you and me then” Taeyong smiled although regretting his words when he saw the fake smile grace your face and made your way over to the elevators. Taeyong was all too familiar with this scene. Inseong being busy, he excludes you from the rest of his corporate friends and eventually calls on him to babysit you. He wondered if you resented him solely because of Inseong’s habits. He tried his best to always make you feel comfortable even if it put him in the most uncomfortable position both mentally...and physically. 

“Well I'm going to take a nap so I'll see you around I guess” you pressed your lips together and took the room key from him. 

“Are you not gonna eat anything ? We could go down for Lun-”

“I'm good Taeyong, I'll see you later okay ?” Taeyong watched as you disappeared into the room and it felt like he had been punched in his stomach. 

DAY 2 : SAT

Taeyong lay in bed utterly exhausted after barely getting a wink of sleep courtesy of the screaming match that happened last night. Although muffled, Taeyong already knew it was about Inseong coming back at around 3am. ‘What meeting would go on until that time especially on the first day’ Taeyong thought as he rubbed his bare chest and stared up at the ceiling. Inseong loved his job and he loved socializing with people who shared that interest. To him coming home at that time absolutely plastered was normal, because it was part of his work lifestyle. 

Taeyong groaned and turned onto his stomach, burying his head into the pillow as he heard your sobs replaying in his head from the fight. He was tired of sitting around not doing anything when he knew for a fact he could treat you way better. At moments like this he didn't give two shits about Inseong, especially after he got the new promotion and made a new friend group of pretentious assholes. Taeyong wanted to be with you by your own choice, he wanted to hang out with you without Inseongs name attached to the reason you two were together. 

Just as he was lost in his thoughts Taeyong’s ears perked at the sound of Inseong leaving the room and the sound of the shower running. 

“No fuck not now please not now” Taeyong groaned as he felt shudder overcome his body and his underwear became slightly restricted. His mind raced with thoughts of you. It all came to him so quickly he barely noticed that his hand was already down his sweatpants as he buried his face further into his pillow. He wished he was with you. The things he would do to you were unspeakable. He wouldn't give a shit if Inseong walked through those doors finding him on top of girlfriend, he didn't care. 

You finished drying yourself off and put on a cute yellow sundress that hugged your curves, showing off the two piece bikini that Inseong told you not to wear around the resort especially when he wasn't with you. This was payback for the way he treated you last night. Not only did he ditch you in a foreign room for an entire evening, he also returned drunk out of his mind and blamed you as usual for not taking care of him. You wanted to at least enjoy whatever you could from this trip and if it meant looking hot and hanging out with Taeyong, then so be it. 

You made your way next door and rang the doorbell patiently waiting for your assigned babysitter. Taeyong swung open the door, dressed in only in a pair of black harem pants and a towel on his neck that he used to dry his hair. You took in the site of his bare chest, drinking in his pretty figure that matched his gorgeous face. 

“I'm sorry I was gonna go down for breakfast I was wondering….i’ll just wait outside”  you stuttered and you heard Taeyong giggle

“Come inside y/n.” 

You walked inside his room and it was surprisingly neat in comparison to yours. You felt kinda embarrassed at the state of your room even though most of it were Inseongs doing anyway. 

Taeyong continued drying his hair as he watched you scan his room, his eyes already on your figure in that goddamn sundress. His only thoughts were ripping it off until he noticed you were staring right back at him. 

“Your hair is sticking up a bit at the back, here let me help you” 

Taeyong watched as you approached his figure and reached up to neaten his hair. He really admired his will power to keep his hands off your body as you inched closer and closer to him. 

“Thanks” he smiled sweetly masking his dark intent and threw on a loose hawaiian shirt gesturing towards the door, “shall we?”

The two of you had a decent day lounging around the pool area and took a stroll on the beach before heading back for lunch. You never expected to bump into Inseong and his colleagues during lunch and the way Inseong looked at your outfit, you knew you’d never hear the end of it. He practically ignored you the entire time while he and his friends chatted away, even going as far as introducing Taeyong to a few of them but not you. 

Just before you and Taeyong made your way to the elevators to retreat back to the rooms, Inseong jogged over and tugged on your wrist. 

“I know we had it out last night but was all of this really necessary ?” Inseong gritted his teeth as he looked over your skimpy outfit. 

“I thought it was cute, not everything I do is to ruin your perfect life Inseong” you rolled your eyes and pressed the button to signal the elevator. 

Inseong let out an exasperated sigh and released your wrist before massaging his temple. 

“Just dont pull this kinda shit at the dinner tomorrow please, the chairman is going to be there.”

You and Taeyong watched as Inseong stomped away and Taeyong noticed that for once instead of beating yourself up about Inseongs reaction you seemed somewhat proud to piss him off to that extent. 

“I'm sorry you're always in the middle of all of this Taeyong” you apologized as the two of you stepped onto your floor and made your way to the rooms. 

“It's okay y/n it's not your fault, and besides I think you look ridiculously hot in that dress” he replied and licked his lips as you felt your face heat up with his bold words. “Also,” he continued as he scanned his room key

“I think you should own it, wear something sexy tomorrow, not for Inseong but for yourself and maybe a little for me.” 

DAY 3 : SUN

You looked at yourself in the mirror, smoothing out the classy black velvety dress you had saved for a night out. The dress was intended for a Valentines date with Inseong but that never happened because he had a more important meeting to attend. 

As you made final touches to your outfit you wondered if subconsciously you did also dress up for Taeyong. God the way he looked at you when he told you to wear something sexy, you hadn't felt flustered yet intrigued like that in a long time. 

You put on the final touches to your make up and made your way down to the banquet room. You already felt a bit awkward as you noticed a few people stare at you and whisper until you saw Taeyong. You barely noticed Inseong sit directly in front of him, all you could see was Taeyongs dark eyes taking every bit of you in. 

Inseong’s eyes though we're different. He looked annoyed but still got up to help you into your seat which was weirdly next to Taeyong instead of him. But then it dawned on you when you noticed that the name card next to him was the chairman. 

Typical. That was all he cared about in the end. 

Taeyong’s eyes were still on you as you took your seat, unbothered if Inseong even noticed at this point, he was in awe. Did you dress up because he told you to ? Did you dress up for yourself and maybe, just maybe for him ?

“You look gorgeous y/n” he whispered, his deep voice sent a shiver down your spine. You brushed your hair behind your ear and nodded a thank you, trying to keep your focus elsewhere. Although Taeyong was conversing with the people at the table something made you feel as if you still had his full attention. 

You almost jumped when you felt his cold fingers trace circles on your knee, his focus was still in his conversation but yours was solely on his movements. Taeyong lightly squeezed your thigh to test the waters, a smirk he indefinitely couldn't hide graced his face and he allowed his hand to move higher. 

You gulped as he began to move, completely entranced by his touch as you felt him trace more circles on your upper thigh until his hand settled in your lap. Taeyong moved his chair closer to you and the table in order to obstruct the view of a passerby or any suspicious eyes at the table. 

“You work with Inseong right?” a man said to Taeyong as he laced his fingers with yours under the table.

All of it was so incredibly promiscuous but it gave you an adrenaline rush and Taeyong knew you were completely on board when you squeezed his hand back and bit down on your lip. 

Taeyong grabbed your hand and placed it in his own lap, allowing you to feel exactly what you were doing to him at this moment. You sucked in a breath as you palmed him and he gave your thigh another squeeze, this time much harder, rougher than before. 

Eventually into the night you decided to excuse yourself and Inseong preferred it anyway. You couldn't believe how oblivious he was to the closeness of you and Taeyong that it only angered you even more of how he would really choose these fake people over his girlfriend for the night. 

As you made your way to the elevator you didn't even realise Taeyong had already followed you there, putting on his usual laid back demeanor. The two of you stepped into the elevator and it was silent. You wondered why he was so quiet especially after pulling that stunt during dinner. Completely confused you grabbed your room key but before you could scan it Taeyong blocked your path, scanning his room key and pulled you inside his room not giving you any time to process this. 

He was all over you, his lips his hands his body, you felt almost every part of him as he pressed you against the wall. He used his knee to separate your legs as he planted open mouthed kisses on your neck, practically growling into your ear when he heard a moan escape your lips. 

“I-I didn't do anything in case someone from dinner saw us” he explained as he found the hook of your dress but stopped to look in your eyes, “are you okay with this?” 

You answered him by practically ripping open his white dress shirt and ran your hands down his body. Taeyong smirked and moved you to the bed, ridding himself of his shoes and trousers before attacking your neck once more. 

“I'm sorry if this all moves too fast I literally can't help myself” he growled once more as you got undressed and the sight of you in your scantily clad underwear made him lightheaded. 

“Well its best we hurry the fuck up before that asshole comes back” you sighed as you pulled him on top of you. 

“Fuck I dont want to hear about him, youre mine right now” Taeyong groaned and skillfully unclipped your bra and rid you of your lace panties. You bit down on your lip as you watched him pull down his boxers and free his member, licking your lips unconsciously. 

“Don't worry baby you can suck it next time” he teased and without warning pushed himself into you with one brisk movement. The room filled with both of your moans as Taeyong’s hips slammed into yours, while one hand laced his fingers with yours while the other was wrapped around your throat. 

“Oh my God Taeyong” you cried completely in ecstasy thanks to the way Taeyong handled you. He was animalistic yet not hurting you in any way. His eyes burned holes into yours as he moved his hips faster and faster until you came undone and he followed straight after. 

Taeyong quickly cleaned you up and kissed you softly, his touches were much lighter as he held your face in his hands moving his lips gracefully against yours. 

“I'm going to end things with him Taeyong I can't take it anymore” you rested your head on his chest as he stroked your hair. 

“I know baby just do whats best for you, and just know I actually do like you like really fucking like you” he replied and he felt you smile. 

“You fell for me in three days ?” you giggled against his chest. 

“No baby i've liked you since the day I met you, these three days were for you to finally come to your senses.”

[vetrubius]

ANONYMOUS AFFECTION

CHAPTER 2: DECEPTION POINT

W.C: 1,666

Summary: Y/N L/N is a 24 year old bartender who owns a small bar. The usual life of hers is about to change after meeting the Hero Associations Chairman, Izuku Midoriya. She’s in charge of the afterparty of the Sports Festival for the Hero Association. Watch her as she falls in love gracefully with one of the strongest hero.

A/N: Chapter 2, y’all! Planning to do a little smau too in the consequent chapters.

Warnings and genre: Angst, Fluff, Cigarette smoke, Alcohol, Cheating, mention of gun once, headache, phone conversations, texts.

The two of you sigh looking up at the smokey ceiling. “That was good,” you say, exhaling the smoke. “Maybe it’s been a while that’s why.” he hypothesizes taking the cigarette from your hand “when was the last time we fucked anyway?”. “I guess it’s been a week” answer rolling to face him. His yellow hair falling on his sides, the lips parted slightly to remove the smoke through his mouth, his yellow eyes staring up at the ceiling. He looked so sinful. But it seemed like he was in a different state altogether. Thinking about something else. “Hey” you whisper near his ear, licking the lobe of it. “You seem to like doing that for some reason. It’s….ugh” his body shivered down to the last bit. You could sense his arm hair rising and his cock slowly but painfully erecting again. He decided to latch on to your lips and bite your bottom one hard. “Somebody’s wanting some more.” he growls against your chin.

Your intimate moment with Denki is broken by your phone ringing from the hall. “Ah don’t go,  babe” he whined “I’ll be back in a while, wait.” You say gently smiling at him, giving him reassurance. You got up quickly, grabbed your dressing gown and sprinted towards the noise point. Just a second before you reach, you see the phone on silent again. “Iida..” you murmur as you see three missed calls from him. At… 3 am? Shouldn’t he be sleeping right now? You don’t waste any time calling him back, making your way to the small balcony and simultaneously tightening the drawstring around your waist. 

“Y/N?” 

“Hey, are you okay?” 

“Yeah, I called to tell you that the boss agreed for the afterparty at the bar.” 

“That’s really great!  Was it tough convincing him about the small place?” 

“No, not one bit. He was kinda into the idea.”

“Alright. That’s a plus one. Thank you Iida. You really saved my ass here.” 

“Nah, there’s a slight problem.”

“What?”

“He wants me to organise it on the 25th of November.”

-silence-

“Isn’t that a week?”

“Yeah”

“I need an advance payment for that. I’ll forward you my bank account details. And if I have any problems, I’ll call you.”

“Alright, will do. Why are you up right now anyway?” 

“If you know, you know. I hear cars behind you. Still at work?”

“Shifts getting over at 8 am.”

“Iida, you should make time for Uraraka.”

“Why do you say so?”

“Don’t you think she’ll be getting lonely? She needs you too, you know?”

“I know but she gets it. Anyway, get back to your...ahem….work” 

“You too! Do good and take care.”

“Bye-bye!!” 

As soon as the call ended, you felt the sudden urge to go back to the bar. You’d come to Denki’s place to hook up a lot of times, majorly because your room was a mezzanine right above the bar. So the two of you would never get any privacy. But right now, all you cared about was going back and attending the bar. You made your way to Denki’s room and opened the door slightly. “Den-” your eyes were met by him fast asleep with soft snores. You took your clothes, your white shirt and trousers, rolled them and dumped them in your handbag. “These will need washing, I’ll just take something from his closet.” You took the white t-shirt and a pair of track pants, and made your way to the bathroom. Tying your hair up into a half ponytail, you get out of the washroom and go to his room again. 

You put his blanket over him and exited his house with only one thing in mind. The bar. 

The walk from Denki’s house is barely 20 minutes and you love the city more in the early morning where you see either drunks or joggers. You unlock the bar gate and step inside being welcomed to the darkness again.  It’s not like you mind it but you would feel better coming back home to someone. Someone other than an empty stage and ghosts of your customers. As you finish washing the empty dishes and taking another smoke break, you start making your way up to the mezzanine. Your thoughts of sleeping are disrupted by the metal door bell ringing, showing the door opening of the bar. “I’m sorry we’re clo-” you announce, annoyed as you turn to see who the person was. The two stare into the strangers' green eyes. His green hair in motion with his face, his hands scavenging to remove the mask off his face and get as much oxygen he could consume.” 

“Hey, are you okay?” you start making your way down the steps towards him with concern. He put a finger up, gesturing you to wait. After he’d caught his breath, he stripped his mask off his face completely and looked at you. “I know you’re closed but there was this weird guy chasing me, I needed a safe space,” he said “could I have a little water please?”. Great. There goes your sleep. Tossed right in the dustbin. But right now you need to take care of him. “Ah fuck it” you murmur as you fill a glass of water from the sink and make your way towards him. 

He was as tall as you but his muscles were definitely popping. “Thank you so much.” he said chugging the water down, handing you the glass back and grinned. You have to admit he was pretty cute with that devious grin. “What are you doing out so late anyway?” you asked going behind the bar and sitting on the barstool, indicating him to join you on the table. “Well, I was jogging and as I said before, I saw this weird guy chasing me. I’m pretty sure he had a gun or something.” He said as he walked over and made himself comfortable on the stool, his eyes scanning the large shelf of bottles behind you. “Yeah, I’m the bartender and the owner of this place. Just stay for 15 minutes and leave. I’m tired” you say as your head dips between your crossed arms on the table and you feel your eyes drooping against the cold granite. “Thank you for letting me be here. My name is-” is the last thing you hear before your flake out.

.

.

.

“Y/N?” Iida shakes you gently. “Y/N, wake up.” he said, patting your head slightly. “Mhm….” you stir,  groaning while twisting your body and feeling your numb hands. Still faded out, you look at Iida with the drool dripping down on one side of your face. “Time?” your raspy voice manages to choke. “It’s 11 am. You didn’t pick my calls up so I figured that you forgot to open the bar for breakfast again. Wake up, there are customers outside,” he said, signalling the door “oh, and here’s a note I found under that glass there” he shuffles through his pocket and hands it to you. “Anyway, I don’t have time. I’m already late to wake your stupidass up.” Iida said, walking towards the door. “Have a nice day.” is what you manage to choke out before rushing to brush, change and keep the bar running again. You kept your note on the nightstand, as you went ahead with your day. I’ll read that later. 

.

.

.

.

12 midnight rolled by quicker than you thought. You bid farewell to the last customers and put the closed board outside the bar. Your day had been hectic; the usual breakfast people, cleaning floors and washing dishes in the afternoon, making a list of the things you needed at the party while contacting people and other things while dealing with a splitting headache. Taking care of this place really covers the exercises you don’t do. Wrapping things up, you made your way to your room and recollected the note Iida gave you. You entered the room and turned the lights on and looked at your phone and desk. Picking up the paper, you start reading it. 

“Hey, I didn’t get a chance to thank you since you passed out of the table lol. Anyway, here’s my number, text me once you wake up: +81 xxxxx xxxxx.” 

Keeping the paper down, you pick your phone up to text him and you’re greeted with multiple texts from Ochako, Iida and Denki which you ignore and type in the number in your new message.

While you’re at it, you decide to open Denki’s text too.

After you press send to Kaminari, you think a little. Maybe I should surprise him a little. You wear your garter and stockings on your legs and slip on your track pants, and an olive lacey bra and throw on a hoodie. You take a big chug of whiskey kept on the bar shelf once your feet hit the ground floor. “Oh, he’s definitely in for a treat” you giggle and talk to yourself as you make your way downstairs and out the door. 

You walk in the cold listening to Rude Boy by Rihanna (because why not) to pump yourself up for getting your back injured tonight. You make a left towards Denki’s lane and skip a little. Maybe I’m actually having feelings again. I guess this might work. You giggle realising how much Iida would disapprove of it. Maybe scold you a little for being irresponsible for letting yourself develop a little something for each other. But he’d wish you all the happiness in the world nevertheless. 

You make your way up in the lift to his apartment. The doors part open and you see a new pair of shoes outside his house. Damn, he didn’t tell me he had guests. You unlock the door and walk into the house. Your eyes are greeted by clothes thrown all across the floor. Womens clothes. You freeze. The sounds coming from the room verifies your thoughts. Someone else? You try to process your scattered thoughts and move your numb body towards the door. Each step feels in sync with the moans from the room. You push the door a little to see inside. Only for your eyes to drop to her.

series masterlist

[of-sand-and-steel]

republic city part i

okay this isn't REALLY a full explanation of the previous post but i do think the main reason* republic city is a terrible place to live for a lot of people is that some of the councilmembers vote on purpose to make it suck. hear me out:

*the following discussions are supported by subsequent comics canon but i absolutely don’t think bryke cared about anything more than the aesthetic of republic city at the time that lok was on the air lmao

(a) it's earth kingdom territory. king kuei may be fine with it after the events of the comics, but there are still a whole class of earth kingdom elites wondering why their land is now in the hands of a bunch of teens and twenty-somethings. of course the earth kingdom's appointed councilmember is going to be a quiet revanchist, making the united republic look as ungoverned and lawless as possible to spite them, as well as to provide pretext for taking the land back by force whenever the monarchy gets around to it. (we see some of this reasoning in the fight for earth kingdom succession in book 4 of lok, and kyoshi deals with similarly corrupt officials during her time as the avatar.)

(b) the northern water tribe leadership has a personal vendetta against katara and her family for just so many reasons, and the united republic is, more than anyone else's, sokka's pet project. (sure zuko and aang are why it exists in the first place, and the beifongs are the force behind its growth, but we see sokka in lok as the political face and chairman of the territory.) as revenge for his family preventing the north from colonizing/reabsorbing the south, their designated councilmember is there mostly to tarnish his family's reputation by making sure republic city looks like a savage, unattractive backwater—just like they pretend the southern water tribe is. (again we see VERY messy echoes of this reasoning in book 2 of lok, and it helps explain why the north is represented by just a blatantly shady crook in book 1 instead of literally anyone else.)

“but of-sand-and-steel,” you might say, “that’s only two of the five votes on the council. surely the other representatives would want republic city to be a shining beacon of international brotherhood!” well, unfortunately,

(c1) a case study: in “imbalance,” aang tries to shut down a factory that is poisoning the environment and upsetting the spirit of general old iron, but he is immediately shut down by the claim that the factory is a symbol of fire nation and earth kingdom cooperation. clearly, it’s more about wealth and exploiting the environment than international brotherhood, but the implications for the future of the city are thus: in decisions that make money for powerful families (e.g., the satos, the beifongs), people with good intentions can be bullied into supporting inequality and environmental destruction with claims of international cooperation. and when a good amount of the families benefiting are ethnically fire nation (thanks, colonialism!), it becomes easy to pry off that councilmember’s vote.

(c2) a corollary: meanwhile, you can see how easy it would be to block good laws if two councilmembers who happen to be acting in bad faith accuse the others of imposing different values onto the people who live there. propose a public school system? good luck agreeing on the curriculum. maybe you want to ensure children don’t go hungry? kinda problematic to have people with different cultural values decide what our families do with our kids. are you trying to make sure people have homes? to live in? that’s communist fire nation propaganda. haven’t you people done enough?

(d) gang violence in republic city exists because benders are an oppressed class, actually. this post is already too long for this particular hot take. i’ll make it later, if someone reminds me.

these are things i enjoy overthinking about, to be clear. it’s nowhere *near* necessary to care this much about the politics of a fictional city in a fictional universe where people have genetic superpowers and a twelve year old saves the world. but i think in a lot of ways, legend of korra was asking kids to think seriously about politics without thinking seriously about its own political vision. and as an adult with new knowledge it’s fun to engage in fandom to answer questions that i’m, again, positive the writers themselves did not care about in 2011 or whatever. so if you’re anything like me, i hope this post makes a little gear turn in your brain, and maybe you’ll start thinking about things and we can all have a niche, low-stakes discourse about it

[kittysgalarkai]

Journal Entry 14

Hey guys, it’s been a few days and me and the team are currently training outside of Stow-on-Side, so I’m going to catch you up on what’s been happening.

When I arrived in Hammerlocke, Bede was somehow already there. I guess he either didn’t sleep that night or got up before I did, because that was a pretty long walk from Motostoke. But I’m getting sidetracked. He was already there, and bragging to the Chairman about how he beat Hop. The NERVE of him! I was about to call him out and stomp him into the dirt before Mr Rose’s assistant led him away to talk about something! I swear they’re in cahoots with something bad in mind…

Anyway, after they left, the Chairman noticed me and started talking about energy and the Wishing Stars that Bede was apparently gathering, like the two that dropped for me and Hop back at the Professor’s place. So he takes me into the stadium and tells me it also functions as a power plant, drawing in power from wishing stars and power spots through the region to convert to electricity. There was a bit more he was saying, but his assistant came back and dragged him off. He did direct me to go to ‘The Vault’ though.

On the way there, I ran into Leon, who looked like he was really lost. Apparently he came across Hop and saw that he was really down in the dumps. Bede must have really been rude about his victory (I’m beating that cotton swab into a pulp next time I see him). Leon wandered off again after that to go to a meeting with the Chairman, he probably still hasn’t found his way there yet…

I got to the vault and Raihan was waiting there. He was… A little condescending when he greeted me. I mean, yeah, he probably sees a lot of people, but it’s kinda rude to look them up on your phone when you can’t remember their names instead of asking them! Anyway, he leads me into the vault where Sonia’s waiting, studying 4 tapestries telling the story of Galar’s founding. Unlike that statue in the Budew Drop Inn, there were 2 heroes depicted instead of one. I’m starting to get the feeling that these might have something to do with that pokemon me and Hop saw in the Weald… I, um… Wasn’t entirely paying attention to the rest of what Sonia was saying because I was still pissed about Bede and plotting his next beatdown.

Shortly afterwards, I was on my way out to Route 6 where some Team Yell shmucks were blocking trainers to not disturb a sleeping sillicobra. I wasn’t planning on bothering it anyway, but the only way to get them to move is to trounce them in battle, so I challenged them, Hop showing up just in time to give me a little backup. Honestly, I could have handled them myself, but I saw the look on his face… He REALLY needed a pick-me-up after what Bede did.

So after we chased those yahoos off, Hop went on ahead to Stow-on-Side, and Opal appears from seemingly nowhere to comment on our battle before wandering off herself, leaving me to take my time training. While I was doing so, I caught a heatmor named Haggis. Nice to have something that was native to home, but I already had Karrot, so Haggis is training with the others. Shortly after, Karrot and Marion evolved again! Now they’re a Cinderace and Corviknight!

We’re still doing a bit of training, and have been camping out near this researcher lady, Cara Liss… She’s researching a new fossil revival method and seems pretty shady, but I don’t think she means any harm. So I’ve been sharing my curry with her and this other gal camping nearby… Mostly Cara though, because this other gal insisted on using fried food to make the curry. I don’t care if it’s healthier here than it is back in Unova, fried food still turns my stomach upside down. >.<

Anyway, I’ve been yammering long enough, so take care, and look forward to my next entry!

[soulerflaire]

So I beat the story of Pokemon Shield yesterday, and now I’ve had time to think about everything. Spoilers below the cut. Also super long post.

First I wanna focus on gameplay.

Overall, fantastic Pokemon game. I liked a lot of the new Pokemon, I felt there was a really good variety of Pokemon available throughout, graphics were good, the gym missions were (mostly) clever and (mostly) fun.

I heard people had complaints about the starters, but I like them. I picked Scorbunny and was terrified he’d end up Fire/Fighting, but Cinderace (and all the starters) remained single-type. I think their designs are cool! I love Rillaboom’s drum and Cinderace’s soccer fireball attack. I like Inteleon the least of the three, but I still think his design is neat. It is basically finger guns: the Pokemon, which is funny, but not particularly interesting to me. I’m glad I picked Scorbunny.

I liked the set up of the Gym Challenge, though the pacing was a bit weird. Not sure if that was me or the game, but I felt like there was very little story between each gym. That led to me doing several gyms in rapid succession, then spending 3 hours in the Wild Area doing nothing, then tackling another set of gyms. But the gym challenges were fun! Except the fire one. I hated that. And the battles themselves felt awesome! The crowd cheering (especially in the final part of the music, oh my god that was so good), the huge Pokemon, the dialogue, it all made for a match that felt like it mattered. Even if I one-shot all their Pokemon, the match still felt meaningful. It wasn’t just stomp and move on.

I think the Wild Area was a cool experiment, but either make the whole game like that, or don’t have it. It feels like the Safari Zone; an area disconnected from the rest of the game, with the express purpose of catching Pokemon and nothing else. Except it’s so huge and seems to have every single Pokemon in the game, so long as the weather is right, that I feel like there was no point in catching Pokemon anywhere else. Why bother even touching the tall grass when I’m travelling through the regular world, when I can just catch whatever would be in there in the Wild Area later? And frankly, I never really got punished for that mentality. I can just catch them all in the Wild Area later. The only hurdle is they all turn level 60 after you become champion, which I have very mixed feelings about. I would like to hear their explanation for doing that, tbh.

Max Raid battles feel really cool, but god damn, Nintendo, you have got to get a better connection system. Half the time, I can’t find any raids to join because there are no shout cards popping up and the button to get new cards isn’t there for some reason. Even when I can see the cards, most of the time I fail to join, either because the raid already started or the person cancelled the raid. There’s only a 3-minute window to join, and with the infrequent appearance of cards (with no timestamps) I have no idea if any of the cards I see are even from the past 10 minutes, let alone past 3. And the NPCs are randomly selected and use their moves randomly, so once you get to the 5+ star raids, you cannot use them at all. One of them is a friggin’ Magikarp that uses Hydro Pump for no damage and misses half the time anyway. Why!? That was funny exactly zero times!

The music, however, I have zero complaints about. Fantastic soundtrack! I love the gym battle music, and the Team Yell fight music, and the Wild Area bagpipes, and the legendaries fight music, and just pretty much all of it. If they release the soundtrack, I’m buying it immediately.

Graphics were good. I wasn’t blown away by them, but it’s a pretty game.

One thing I noticed is how rushed things started to feel towards the end. Initially, the world feels enormous. Routes are long and winding, and it really feels like exploring things. But the further into the game you go, the shorter the routes get. And there’s no Victory Road at all. Just an extremely short route called White Hill, with, like, 6 trainers and a couple grass patches. You take a train to the White Hill Station, and if you look at the map, you see you ended up skipping an entire mountain and a stretch of land twice the length of the actual route. Kinda feels like they planned to do something with all that space, but cut it later on. The forest that they did the 24-hour stream of, Glimwood Tangle? It’s tiny. Like a third the size of Viridan Forest. It’s gorgeous, sure, but I spent more time exploring the first town than I did in that place. The final town certainly looks enormous, but then it turns out you can’t access half of it, and a huge chunk in the middle of the part you can access is taken up by the rail station. Which has nothing important inside it. Just a generic mart and some NPCs to talk to. There was honestly a lot of stuff the seemed like it was gonna be something later, and ended up being nothing. If it’s all content that got cut to release the game sooner, that’s extremely disappointing. Frankly, I wonder if they bit off more than they could chew, turning Pokemon into a console game. They clearly were trying to make it worth being on console, but ended up running out of time.

Now for the story. This is probably the first Pokemon game I feel this way about, but honestly: I loved the characters, but found the story to be pretty lackluster.

Hop has a wonderful character arc, where he’s boastful and energetic, but slowly loses confidence as he keeps losing Pokemon battles, and falls into a depression after a particularly hard defeat. He seems to pull out of it after encouragement from friends, but then he spirals into it again when you beat him in the finals. He spends most of the endgame putting himself down and saying he can’t do anything to help, but as you travel together stopping the Dynamaxed Pokemon, he perks up again (thanks in part of Piers being a really good Dad despite having no kids), and all this culminates in him saying he’s realized being champion isn’t really for him; instead, he’s gonna become a Pokemon professor and travel around helping people and Pokemon wherever he can. It’s really sweet, and I like that we see a rival who actually does get upset that they keep losing to you all the time, without turning them into a villain. Hop is never not your friend during all this; he’s just sad and needs so many hugs.

Marnie was a lot more fun of a character than I was expecting. From the official art, I thought she was gonna be the super reserved, stoic character who gets angrier and angrier as she loses to you over and over. But she’s actually outgoing and fun, and loves battling the player even if she loses. And her brother Piers is just as good at subverting expectations. He’s all dressed up as a super punk rocker who’ll be a terrible influence on everyone, but he’s definitely the Tired Adult of the group when you’re travelling around trying to fix things, and he’s a good Dad friend. Team Yell is much less creepy now that I have context. Piers is a gym leader, and Team Yell is the gym staff that he asked to go help cheer Marnie on during her gym challenge. They’re overzealous, but they’re just trying to help her. Some of them even start cheering for you instead, once Piers acknowledges your skill.

Bede can go fuck himself. I know they tried to give him some kind of backstory or whatever, and some vague punishment/redemption with Opal making him the new Fairy Gym leader, but dude’s a dick, through and through.

I could go on and on about the characters, but this post is already getting too long, so I’ll talk about the story itself now. Through most of the game, you get hints that something bad is happening or going to happen, or something is going wrong, but every time one of those hints pops up, the adult say “Let us handle this, you focus on your gym challenge.” And that kind of bothered me at the time, because it’s like if you get the guard station outside Saffron City and start to argue with the guard, then Lance shows up and says “Hey, why not skip down to Vermillion City? I’ll take care of this.” And that’s the end of it. Next time you try to pass through, it’s open and there’s nothing wrong. You know something is going on, but no one will let you near it, so you just keep going on your gym challenge.

Later you find Leon (the champion) in an argument with Chairman Rose (owner of every corporation in the region) about an energy crisis. Rose says we need to start dealing with it now, Leon says it won’t happen for a thousand years, why do we need to bother right now. Then of course the Chairman triggers the Darkest Day right before your championship match with Leon, ranting about the energy crisis and whatnot, then you have to go stop the super powerful legendary Pokemon he released for Real Reasons That Definitely Make Logical Sense And Don’t Need Explained No Sir. At first, I thought this with a super shitty take on the energy crisis, that we’ll run out of fossil fuels and not have renewable energy ready. But if that’s the case, it’s extremely clumsy, because 1) no owner of a corporation gives two shits about anything a thousand years from now and 2) they had the guy warning everyone about the future crisis also be the guy who almost destroys the whole country. I chalked it up to being rushed and tried not to think about it too hard.

But now I’m thinking differently. There’s something Leon says, after the whole Darkest Day thing is averted: he’s gonna start thinking about the future now, and start working on ways to make the future better (or something to that effect). I think maybe the “moral” of the story is that we shouldn’t just let problems be until they come to a head, and we shouldn’t rely on others to take care of the problems. We relied on the adults to handle things in a reasonable manner, and it nearly led to the apocalypse. So maybe that’s the point? Don’t rely on others to take care of things; if you see a problem, try and fix it. And likely specifically talking about climate change and the destruction of the environment. Galarian Corsola is a bleached, dead coral for a reason.

If that’s the case, then A+ for message, D- for execution. But it’s Pokemon, I know they can’t get too serious about things. But it mostly led to a story I didn’t really enjoy, full of characters that I loved. While I would prefer to finally have the remake of Gen 4, I wouldn’t be sad to see a Sword and Shield 2.

[tuckermouse]

OHSHC x Reader: 1

It was inevitable, sure. But it wouldn’t be taken lightly.

My dad was transferred to Japan for his job and frankly, it’s been hard to adjust. I mean, come on. The culture is so different-cool and fun too, but I’m not quite ready to admit that yet-and the language? It took forever to learn. Despite all that, moving wasn’t unfamiliar to me. This was just a level up, after all those years of only moving state to state. I was disappointed, as my parents promised that we would no longer move once I was in high school. Yet here I am, ready for my first day at Ouran. I’m not one to brag or anything like that, but I was luckily accepted into the school on scholarship. This scholarship covers tuition cost and books, but not uniforms. Frankly, I am not disappointed in missing out on that. Those banana peel dresses would be the death of me, and I’m not quite ready to die (despite the numerous jokes I may or may not make).

My phone buzzed and I looked to see a message from Mom. “Thanks for making lunches, sweetheart!” my mom texted. I already forgot that I made lunches for my siblings-two of them. My third sibling is only a toddler so she doesn’t have school yet. The other two are 8 and 6, making me the oldest. I replied, “no problem,” before getting into my car. It’s old, but it works. That’s all that matters to me. I started the car and drove to school...with all those damn rich people.

Once I got there, I parked and gawked at the size of the building. That, and the fact that it was pink. That’s...interesting. Before I could even stroll in, however, two people linked their arms with mine. “Hello, scholarship student,” they began, “welcome to Ouran. Need a tour?”. I glanced to my left and then to my right. Identical twins were wiggling their eyebrows back at me. “Not right now, but I do need to get my class schedule fixed. Can you two lead me to the guidance office?”

They looked surprised for a moment. “It’s unusual for Ouran,” began one, “to screw up a schedule,” finished the other. “Let us see!” They snatched the paper away. “Hey, we have the exact same schedule! There’s nothing to fix here!” I laughed at their antics. “Well, I’ve already taken Biology and Geometry, and I don’t plan on taking either again.” They stared at me like an animal at the zoo and said, “Wow, you really ARE an honors student.”

“Thanks...can you take me now?” I responded a bit nervously. I don’t need recognition, it’s embarrassing! Kinda! “Absolutely!” they exclaimed as they began to drag me to the office. “Woah woah woah, guys that’s okay, I can walk myself-”

“Here!” they interjected. And here it was. “Thank you both so much, I’m sure I would have gotten lost.” I looked at the one to the right first and then the left. The one to the right responded by smirking, and the one to the left responded through his eyes widening. I already can tell a difference between them, point (Y/N). “Of course, it’s always pleasure-”

“-to help a maiden in need.”

“Need a hand with anything else?” they said in unison while getting way too close to my face. “Anything at all?” they asked, winking. “No, that’s okay. I’ll be off now. See ya!” I said rather loudly before rushing into the office. I felt how hot my face was. Gosh, they push my buttons.

“And what are you doing here?” an old voice croaked rudely. I looked up to see an elderly woman sitting at a receptionist desk and glaring at me. “Oh! Good morning, I’m new here and I needed my schedule fixed. Is there a way that I can-”

“Oh, you Americans think you’re so smart and entitled. Psh, you go on now before you keep wasting my time.” I was so shocked at this small woman’s harshness. “I-I’m sorry ma’am, but I need this fixed-”

“You’re still here? Go to the other office. This isn’t the right one for that nonsense,” she spat. “Oh, o-okay,” I mumbled before sprinting out. I slowed to a walk and became consumed in my thoughts. How could I find the other office? This place needs one of those maps like the ones at the mall. How can I possibly find my way around-

“Hey!” a male voice rang as I felt a force hit my front. I ran into a person on the first day. A rich person, probably. Oh, no. “Oh my gosh, are you okay? I’m so sorry, I was lost in thought and I wasn’t paying attention and-”

“It’s okay, princess. It was only an accident. What had you worried so?” I followed the smooth voice to the owner and saw-wow-a tall blonde looking at me with his blue eyes. Who knew so many handsome young men went here? “Well, I was led by identical twins to the guidance office so I could get my schedule fixed, but the woman there was super rude to me and basically called me a stupid, entitled American and coldly told me to find the other office. Now I’m here,” I concluded, smiling up at him. “Those shady twins! They should know by now where to take you!” the boy began, “I’ll take you to my father, he’s the chairman. He’ll be able to help you and take care of that mean lady!”. He grabbed my hand and led the way. I blushed at the gesture but decided to ignore it. It’s friendly, just as the twin’s teasing was. When we finally reached the chairman’s office, the boy knocked on the door. “We’ll get this solved, princess” he smiled at me. “Thank you so much,” I replied. The door opened to reveal a man that did in fact look like the boy’s father. “Why, hello, Tamaki. I see you’ve befriended the new honors student.” Before Tamaki could respond, I said, “So your name is Tamaki? I’m (Y/N).”

“My boy didn’t introduce himself?! Oh my, how rude that is. Did I not teach you better?” the older man cried. Tamaki sulked as he tried to explain, “I was too busy trying to help her! She needs her schedule fixed and the receptionist called her mean names!”. The chairman looked a bit surprised. “Is this true?” he questioned, looking at me. “Yes, she said that as an American I am stupid and entitled...but I don’t want any trouble! I just want a corrected schedule.”

“Well then, step inside my office. I’m Mr. Suoh, and as you already know I am the chairman here. I will surely have that woman out by the end of the day, and we’ll get you a schedule right now. Good thing you came in early, (Y/N)-chan.” The chairman offered a rose to me. I took it, a bit shocked that he used “chan” to address me and wondering where he got that rose from. Seeing this, Tamaki pouted. I chuckled at his reaction before saying, “please, I really don’t mean any trouble with the woman. Maybe she was having a bad morning.”

“She spoke rudely and unprofessionally to a student. Regardless of where you are from, you are as much of a student here as anyone else. You’ve gained entry on wit and intelligence alone, and you deserve to be recognized for it. Her behavior is not tolerated here,” Mr. Suoh spoke, suddenly serious. I nodded and whispered a quick “thank you,”.

“Now about that schedule...”

“So you have every class with us except math and science. You’ll be with the year 2 students!” the twins exclaimed, gazing at my schedule. “I guess so. Would it be alright if you two allowed for me to join you on your way to classes?”

“Of course, (Y/N)” the twins responded. They’ve already introduced themselves, but I couldn’t help but to continue to scroll through the list of characteristics I’ve taken note on so far. Hikaru has a deeper voice and Kaoru has a raspier voice. Hikaru tends to be more mischievous and starts sentences first when the two aren’t speaking in unison. Kaoru is a bit calmer, quieter, and more observant. The homeroom president began announcements. “...and welcome our new student, all the way from America: (L/N) (Y/N)!” I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard my name. Crap! The president gestured for me to come to the front. I sighed and walked up to the front of the class. “Hello,” I said, mustering as much confidence as I could, “I look forward to learning more about you all, the culture, and the school. I’m sure we’ll have a great year!”. The class clapped while some people started to whisper to one another. Great...

The first few classes were...interesting. It was the first day, so I wasn’t assigned much homework yet. However, now it’s time for the twins and I to go our different ways. “We will miss you greatly, (Y/N),” they whined. “Oh, hush. I’ll see you two at lunch?” They brightened up, “yeah! See ya!”, and off they ran. I chuckled before realizing that I had no idea how to get to my next class. Naturally, I was just a few seconds after the bell walking into class...which is full of second year students. This is exactly what I fear in life. “Nice of you to join us, miss (Y/N),” the teacher said. “I’m very sorry, I got lost,” I explained, a bit flushed. “It won’t count against you as you are new here. While you’re up here, introduce yourself.”

God, no. “Okay...” I said despite my inner thoughts screaming to just say hi and sit down. “My name is (L/N) (Y/N) and I am a first year here. I transferred from America if you can’t tell from my accent. I look forward to getting to know you all and having a great year!” I said, smiling at the end while hoping to win some people over. Wow, I need friends. “Thank you, now please take a seat next to Tamaki,” the teacher gestured to the blonde waiting at his seat in excitement. “(Y/N)! That was great!” Tamaki said to me. “Thank you, I was pretty nervous.” I glanced around the room and saw people occasionally looking at me before whispering to a companion. This is my worst nightmare. As I was looking around the room, my eyes met with grey ones looking intently in my direction. There was a boy with raven hair and glasses perched a bit too low, perhaps for dramatic effect. He then turned away. “Oh, that’s Kyoya! Wanna go meet him?” Tamaki asked enthusiastically. “Um, okay. If he doesn’t mind.” Hearing my confirmation, Tamaki grabbed my hand for the second time that day and led me over to Kyoya. “Kyoya, isn’t the transfer student cute? She’s gonna do just fine here, isn’t she?” Tamaki said dramatically. I blushed at this and said, “Hey, I’m only a transfer student. Thanks, though.”

“Ootori Kyoya. Pleasure to meet you, miss (Y/N),” the raven haired boy spoke while smiling rather...artificially. His hand was held out towards me, so I shook it firmly and said, “The pleasure is all mine, mister Kyoya.” If he was going to be purely professional, maybe that’s how he liked his friendships. So I thought I’d give it a try. “(Y/N)...”

“Yes, Tamaki?”

“Call me mister Tamaki! Just once!”

“What? No!”

“Oh, come on! Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaasssse!”

“Pllllleeeeeeaaaaassssseee!”

This boy with his damn puppy eyes was about to break me. “Fine! I don’t know why you’re being such a weirdo about it...mister Tamaki,” I grumbled. “Yes! The princess finally did it! Just for me!”

“Actually, she called me mister Kyoya first. It was originally just for me,” Kyoya said, smirking at the elated blonde. Just like that, Tamaki deflated. “You’re so mean, Kyoya!” Tamaki claimed before pouting. I laughed and said, “Good one” to Kyoya. He smirked at me as well. When Tamaki didn’t move for a solid minute, I went over to check up on him. “Tamaki, we’re going to be late for lunch! Let’s go eat,” I said, touching his shoulder as he crouched. Suddenly standing up, Tamaki was filled with determination. “To the cafeteria!” he pointed heroically. I wasn’t falling for it. “Let’s go. Romeo,” I said, beginning to walk with Kyoya.

Once we were at the cafeteria, I was shocked at the sight. School food never looked better. I was so used to seeing the gross pizza and slimy fries that I grew accustomed to just bringing my own lunch. Regardless, I probably couldn’t afford the food here anyway, so a packed lunch still served a purpose. “Aren’t you coming?” Kyoya asked. “This is just...bizarre,” I said, still dazed. “This is quite normal here at Ouran. After all, this is a highly elite school,” Kyoya responded rather posh-like. I rolled my eyes at this and scoffed. “I promised Hikaru and Kaoru that I’d have lunch with them. Do either of you know where I can find them?”

“We eat with them, princess. Come with us!” Tamaki said, pulling me along. This made some girls turn and glare. Jeez...it seems he has a fan club. “Oh, (Y/NNNNNN). We miiiissed yoooouuuu,” the twins said as Tamaki, Kyoya, and I approached the table. “Leave my (Y/N) alone, you shady twins!” Tamaki exclaimed, launching the three into a little debate. I turned to Kyoya and asked, “Are they always like this?” Kyoya then replied, “Usually, but it’s best to ignore them. This is Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai, two third years. Honey-senpai, Mori-senpai, this is (Y/N). The new transfer student.” I saw the two third years as they sat at the table. The smaller boy cutely said, “Hello, (Y/N)-chan! I’m Honey! Would you like a piece of my cake? Oh, and can I have the strawberry? That’s my favorite part. Maybe we can go halfsies?” I smiled warmly at the boy and said, “Thank you, Honey-senpai. I would love some of your cake.” Then I looked up at the much taller and much more stoic boy. “I assume you’re Mori-senpai?” I asked. He nodded and said a small, “yes”. I smiled at him and I swear I saw the smallest bit of a smile on his lips. This made me smile more. “Speaking of senpai, (Y/N), you should call ME senpai! It only makes sense, as I am your strong and noble upperclassman! Now go on! Call me senpai, princess!” Tamaki exclaimed whilst gazing at me in anticipation. “Sorry, Tamaki, but I don’t think I should feed your ego that much,” I said, jokingly. Tamaki began to sulk as the twins began to laugh. “That was-” “-too good!” they said. Tamaki snapped, “You two hush! She will call me senpai one day! I know it!” and the three launched into another playful argument. I laughed at this. “Here’s your piece. (Y/N)-chan! It’s not really halfsies...I got too hungry while you were talking. So it was quartersies until I got even more hungry...now its eighthsies? I’m sorry...” Honey said, sadly. “There’s nothing to be sorry for, Honey. Thank you for sharing! It means a lot to me,” I said genuinely, smiling at my upperclassman. His eyes widened a bit until he giggled said, “No problem!”. Mori gave me a pat on the head. Huh, those two are quite the duo.

It was about time to leave lunch, and on the way out I spotted a girl without a uniform eating alone outside. Perhaps she’s also an honors student? “I’ll catch you guys later,” I said before walking up to her. “Hello,” I said, “I’m (Y/N). What’s your name?”

A bit taken aback by the sudden visitor-aka me-the girl said, “Haruhi. I’m in your homeroom.”

“Really? Cool! Do we have any other classes together?” The girl nodded, “Every class you have with those twins, I have with you as well.”

“I’m terribly sorry I haven’t spoken to you before, but at least we know each other now! Us ‘commoners’ have to stick together!” I said. Haruhi laughed and replied, “You got that right.”

Glad to make a new friend, I suddenly remembered that the bell will ring soon. “Now let’s get to Literature, I heard the teacher is super strict.” And so the two girls walked to class, happily chatting along the way.

Note: None of these characters are mine, I just want to write about them. I thought this chapter was getting a bit too long so I cut it off there, even though it’s a bit of an awkward place to stop. Each line is a text break that means that a period of time has passed. 

[8requiems]

The God of Bath Review

This review, by current standards at least, could be considered a “Quality Drop”, but i still wanted to post it anyway.

With that said, I hope you like the review!:

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Intro Sequence

It’s official description reads:

“Heo Sae, wants to be the best person in spa massage and scrub, has battles with others.”

And if you want to suck out all the nuance, then that is the simple premise on which all 30 episodes of this manhwa are built on but let’s spruce this up a bit

“God of Bath” follows Heo Sae, a narcissistic jobless college grad that’s found himself indebted to a loan shark because he keeps trying to chase the chic city life of Seoul, South Korea. After being bailed out of his debt by the Chairman of ‘Geumja Public Bath’ because he has the hands of Taemirus also known as the God of Bath. Heo must work off his debt by participating in the ‘Bath Star M’ contest, the winner will be crowned the best “Ttaemiri”, given 300 million won in prize money and a luxury Sedan

Side note: Ttaemiri - a professional scrubber who scrubs down in bathers in a public bathhouse

Setting: 

The primary location of ‘God of Bath’ is the ‘Geumja Public Bath’. A giant Pyramid in the middle of a town, also I know I’m colourblind but is it just me or does the colour look oddly like...hmmm(*sound of running water*).

The comic skews heavily in using 3D renders coupled with some drawn over assets and while these shots aren’t my favourite they’re hardly the point. Most of the art in God of Bath seems to serve the purpose of giving you an appreciation of the world Heo Sae envies and wishes deeply to be a part of. It sets the stakes for what he stands to lose if he loses the Bath Star M contest. Thus = This could be due the fact that regardless of which type of comedy I categorized this webtoon as, it’s still a comedy, and I didn’t start reading so I could find exceptional art, but the poor 3d models somehow compliments the art that is actually drawn. Maybe its the simplistic art and lack of drawn detail. Whatever it is, it works.

Characters: 

God of bath is home to a cavalcade of characters.

First there’s Heo Sae - The Humbled Narcissist: 

( ^ Chapter 1)

He is a narcissistic college grad, who  in the 8th grade decided to move to Seoul Korea to put distance between himself and inheriting his late father's bath business. He is a trend chaser and deeply cares about keeping up appearances. Despite giving off an egotistical demeanor, he is still a respectful person.

Then we have Kang Hae - A Traditional Professional:

( ^ Chapter 3 )

Kang Hae is a traditional Ttaemiri, who is diligent and is strict about safety. Kang Hae is introduced as Hae’s ideal endpoint if he devotes himself to “Tae” the art of scrubbing. He is an earnest individual with no sympathy for those that look down on Ttaemiri, or the dreams of others. It’s revealed during the second round of the ‘Bath Star M’ contest that the chairman had to retire after hurting his right arm protecting Kang. An example of this would be when he responds to Hae downplaying the skills of Ttaemiri in an attempt to not look as shameful about his loss in the Bath Combat (Chapter 4)

And then theirs his Kanh hae’s Rival, Kim Seonggong - The Icarus of Ttaemiri

( ^ Chapter 16′s Beginning Art )

Is an Elite Ttaemiri, whom unlike Kang Hae, seemed to have grown up under normal circumstances, but chose to become a Ttaemiri regardless. During a bath seminar, he debuts a “bath paddle”, which is a curvy white knife, to scrub off the dead skin of a homeless man. After the demonstration, Kang asks Seong why he is so eager to succeed. Kim responds in kind, “People tend to reach higher places… Should there be a reason for that?” Because of his desire to succeed, he can be seen as an opportunist. As he will tend to as many VIP’s as possible, postponing the regulars he would usually scrub.

Immersion: 

Now, right off the bat, It may seem weird to be discussing Immersion in relation to the comedy genre on webtoon, but hear me out: 

Generally there are two ways comedy is portrayed in webcomics,

Stories where consequences are never/very occasionally carried over into the following episodes, think Garfield

Stories where consequences are carried over and the character roster is unchanging, think

‘God of Bath’ falls under the latter, meaning that although its jokes are a major selling point of the webcomic itself, it still has an ongoing plot that you can attach yourself to and enjoy. Although I have read webtoons like ‘God of Bath’, I found myself forgetting that it was mainly categorized as a comedy. This isn’t to say that it isn’t funny, but the webtoon treats the plot as important as the humour it presents. 

      2. Execution (Is it funny?): 

When thinking about the execution of ‘God of Bath’, we’d naturally have to think about 3 things. The jokes considering that it's under “Comedy”, the “Arc” that Heo Sae goes through, and the logistics of anything “bath” related that this webcomic is asking you to accept (which I will explain why it is important to any degree in a bit).

But first, the funny ha ha moments. Naturally, no matter how objective I want to be about this section. Whether or not this webtoon is funny is completely up to YOU, the reader. That being said, throughout the time I was reading these 30 episodes, I found myself often smiling. Referring back to the art, the way Creator Ilkwon draws Heo Sea is unique enough to the point where I can’t help my face just lock into a grin.

Moving on to Heo’s unintentional journey towards bettering himself, “God of Bath” is surprisingly realistic with the way certain situations unfold in the story, despite it being a comedy. In the span of 30 episodes, Heo is somehow completely unrecognizable when compared to his chapter 1 counterpart. Honestly, there is way more nuance in this webcomic than it really should have. I say it like it's a negative, but it's honestly just unexpected. Especially since the webcomic doesn’t wear a message on it’s sleeve.

Finally, the logistics of anything bath related. If I’m going to be honest, if God of Bath’s “logic”, wherever there is, when it comes to scrubbing was 100% false, I wouldn’t really bat an eye to it. Because scrubbing is more of a device used to progress the plot rather than as a selling point for the story. Which is weird considering that all bath related activities is what makes God of Bath, ‘God of Bath’. The fact that Geumja public bath is able to disguise itself as the centerpiece of the webcomic instead of Heo’s arc in the comic, all the while both being enjoyable to read regardless, makes the Webtoon succeed, and properly deserve being among the list of Originals on the site.

        3. Style:

I already touched upon the quality of the webtoons setting, so the main focus will go towards the art of the cast themselves and how it translates towards telling the story. 

‘God of Bath’’s art can be summarized through this one panel of Heo Sea (Chapter 3):

Although Ilkwon Ha has a decent grasp on how to draw his characters, it never stops him from drawing absurd versions of the cast. But more importantly than that, he doesn’t always stay consistent with the way he draws gags. There are multiple combinations or versions of some gags that it never really feels repetitive. 

An example of this would be of when Heo Sae takes a selfie.

Chapter 1

Vs. 

Chapter 8

There are countless amounts of this specific panel sprinkled throughout the 30 episodes, but I can’t help but crack a smile seeing it regardless.

Here are some more examples of Ilkwon Ha blurring the line between a gag drawing and a normal panel.

( Both of these panels come from Chapter 6 ) 

Gag panels aside, I have come to like Ilkwon Ha’s intro panels. Seeing them somehow feels refreshing every time I read a new chapter. I think it’s because the art is usually ‘peaceful’ or ‘calm’, which you could even say matches how customers feel after being scrubbed down by the Ttaemiri in Geumja. I don’t know, that's just me spitballing.

(All 3 of these images come from Chapter 1) 

Originial Opinion: (If you want to elaborate on how 3D models are used throughout the webcomic, go for it. I don’t really have much opinion on it besides the fact that- it exists).

In Retrospect: I was going to leave tis review untouched for when I posted it since I did this a while back and it shows a good sense of progress for me personally, but I just wanted to say that the 3D models kinda grew on me, and somehow contribute to the Webcomics style despite being so clearly out of place.

Conclusion:

Overall, after reading ‘God of Bath’, it could have truly succeeded as an episodic series. The story concept alone gives it enough creative freedom in expanding the “Bath World”.

But most important of all fleshing out the characters more.

At the very least, seeing how Seonggongs’s path towards greatness would have unfolded. Because no matter how much I dwell on his character, it feels like his arc as a character was incomplete. Or rather, it feels like there was missed potential. 

THAT BEING SAID, the webcomic itself was very complete, seeing as how it was about Heo Sae’s values and how those values change throughout the comic.

I should also note that APPARENTLY, there was going to be a movie adaptation released in 2015, but due to the main lead (Kim Young-Kwang) finding a successful role in “Pinocchio”, it got shafted. Which sucks because while I was writing this I was thinking about how this should get an animated adaptation like ‘Tower of God’.

All in all, I definitely suggest you give ‘God of Bath’ a chance, because it just may surprise you how,  before you know it, the webcomic is already pulling you into its odd, yet realistic world.

[optimisticweird]

As stated in my previous post, I’ll be sharing in here the things I did, and of course, the photos from my supposed backpacking trip which turned going home trip for the reason that I couldn’t get rid of my reluctantancy, or hesitancy, rather,  and my fear to go alone because the local tourists spots are kinda far from where I was.

1. Taking a different route and a different ferry.

It took my friend/ now roommate a couple of times to convince me to go home with her to our province and to take her route (Cebu – Baybay) and try a different ferry because I thought the ferry we’d take would make me regret the day I was born 😁 since its travel duration (6 hrs) is twice longer than that of a fast craft which I always take. But kidding aside, when I finally got in, to my surprise, it turned out to be one of the best things ever invented and I couldn’t contain my happiness and amazement, although I had a couple of things running on my mind at the same time.

It is totally different from the fast craft from the Cebu – Ormoc route I take. The fast craft is small and it only has seats so people can’t lie down if they want to, while this one is big (probably thrice its size) and it doesn’t only have seats, but also decks (beds). There is a small prayer room, and a vip room for the staff. Everything I love having in one place are here — TV, aircon, CR, comfortable bedspace, and cafeteria, except the wifi, and it’s already a good deal for me because it’s cheaper even though it travels overnight. Going home is closer and cheaper from Baybay as well, but most importantly, the chance of me getting seasick is very low because even though it is slow, I cannot feel that it’s moving on the surface of the sea since it is a big ferry.

In the picture I look like I am upset or sad, but that’s just my face when I’m serious as I have an RBF. I was watching TV then. (I’m sorry I forgot to take photo of the ferry. 😦)  This experience taught me to not be afraid to try or to risk esp. when someone is or other people are there to support, and if not for my friend, I wouldn’t have experienced it and wouldn’t have been able to save much on fares. So nice of her. I couldn’t be more thankful for her kindness. ☺

2. Meeting new people.

She offered to stay at their house since it was around 4 am when we arrived and still dark so I went with her.

Staying at other people’s house isn’t something new to me but I still kind of find it hard at times to adapt. Good thing her family is nice. They were hospitable. They let me eat their food and use their stuff like the wifi and bed. It just felt like I was home when I was there. I also learned a lesson that is we don’t need to really know a person to give them help because anyone who’s in need of it is deserving.

I took this photo outside their house at around 5 am. I had missed this kind of sunrise.

Other photos from Baybay.

3. Visiting VSU (Visayas State University)

Before heading to my hometown Dulag, I made sure I’d get to visit this university which is popular in the province for its branches, the quality of education they provide and of course, its vast area.

I first learned about this when I was in 4th yr high school because some of their staff went to our school and they introduced to us their school and what courses they offer. I was totally amazed with their map on the brochure and since then I had been dreaming to get there.

Good thing a friend of mine whom I met and was one of my close workmates at a previous job and is studying there offered to tour me around. We met around 5 pm because she had exams on the day, so we only got to stroll around the upper part of the university but even though I didn’t get to see the whole area, I was already happy because another bullet has been checked off of my list.

By the way, there is where I’m planning to enroll this coming January but I’m still not sure if I really will be able to. Wish me luck. 😊

4. Visiting mom’s (stepdad’s) place

I headed here the day after I visited VSU because I had decided not to go for my plan to go check the other local tourist spots alone. I don’t know if it is only me, but sometimes I overthink. It makes me conscious when people start looking at me just because I’m the only one taking pictures. (Stupid, eh? 😁 Pardon me. 😊)

So I visited my mom, stepdad and sister in a barangay in our municipality. My mom’s partner isn’t really someone I like for her not only because the idea of having a stepdad never came into mind before, but also for the fact that his children don’t really like my mom even when their mom has already passed away just like my dad. However, there’s not much I can do for now. I cannot take them away from him because it’s not going to be easy as they are not like teenagers, and I don’t have my own place yet here in Cebu which I could let them stay and it’s not as if they would even like the idea of moving here. He’s actually okay and nice though, yet I still wish my mom didn’t entertain him. Call it selfishness or whatever, but I think some people could actually understand where I’m coming from.

Anyway, aside from the reason I mentioned on my previous post that I was afraid my uncle (mom’s only brother who really hates me for what I did) might visit there and see me and hurt me, I also don’t like staying there so I opted to stay at my another uncle’s (my late father’s brother) in another barangay. But before I headed there, my mom and I had a catch up talk. I also gave her shirts (from ukay ukay) I brought from Cebu as they are really cheap here but still good. (I’m not much a fan of ukay-ukay, though.)

5. Staying at my uncle’s place and visiting our abandoned house.

Their house is close to ours (my late father’s house) and I used to go there when I was a child so it wasn’t my first time to stay there and sleepover. They are also the immediate people we would run to every time there was a problem at home and when we needed help. They have always been welcoming esp. now that my uncle is the chairman of the barangay.

My aunt knows that I don’t like staying at my mom’s so she welcomed me. Her daughter who is my age and has been one of my best friends since we were kids was also there so staying, using their stuff and eating their food just felt normal. It was as if I was home. They gave me the same treatment that my friend’s family in Baybay did, so I was able to contemplate on my options and relax although the phone signal was very weak I could barely get online.

We have to cross this river to get to our houses so my uncle had built this improvised bridge.

      So my supposed backpacking trip turned into a staycation trip, staycation at other people’s places. My bad. 😁

When I was there, I took the chance to visit our abandoned house as I really had missed it. I felt sad upon seeing it because its roofings are still good but then its other materials are slowly rotting. Weeds are surrounding it but it’s still liveable. I wonder if mom is willing to let other people use it, or if there are people who would love to stay there.

This is our house and our more than 15 year old well.

This house has a lot of memories I’ll forever keep in my heart and I would love to pay it a visit every once in a while in the future so it should be maintained, I thought to myself.

6. Taking my younger sis to Tacloban City.

It’s the only the city that’s close to us (There are two other cities — Ormoc City and Baybay City in Leyte, by the way.), so I decided to take my sister out on a date because I know my mom barely takes her when she goes to the town and esp. to the city.

So I took her to the mall, had window shopping yet we bought some groceries and we dined at Jollibee. We couldn’t make the most of our visit, though, because the weather was bad and when we arrived home, it was already 9 pm which is already late in the province (’cause it’s too early for the people in the city). But at least we got to spend some time together and that’s what matters.

7. Having fun at Camp Cawayan Resort.

The day before I headed back to friend’s in Baybay, I, together with my only one younger brother (who stays at mom’s sister, because my other younger brother who stays at mom’s brother was busy and we didn’t get to take our youngest sister ’cause we weren’t sure she can swim and we were in hurry as we just rented the motorbike we used,) and 2 cousins went here as I’d been itching to swim in a swimming pool like I always do.

I really love plunging into any body of water because not only it is refreshing, but also I get to improve my swimming skills each time and I become more confident with myself when I’m in the water. (Also, the supertyphoon Yolanda wayback in November 2013 made me realize more than any occassion, about the importance of swimming.)

8. Taking a look at our barangay.

Before leaving for Baybay, I went to the center of our barangay to take a ride to our town proper, but while I was waiting I visited my two aunts whose houses are close to this momument. I checked on them and had some catch up talk.

I used to hang out and play around this monument of General Roxas (which our brgy is named after) with my childhood friends when I was a kid.

This is where I studied Grade 1 until Grade 5. (General Roxas Elementary School) 👇

9. Roadtripping (not literally, though 😁).

On my way back to Baybay, I was lucky to be seated on the front seat of the van because it’s my favorite spot as I get to enjoy seeing the views of the places we pass along and I love it more when there is a good music in the background.

  View this post on Instagram

What do I love about road trip? It is this. 😊 #roadtrip #travel #leytephilippines #destinationsph #countryside #nature

A post shared by Erma Lazada ♡ (@lazada.erma) on Nov 2, 2017 at 10:38pm PDT

I was so glad that there’s not so many houses on the national road from Dulag to Baybay because I find the nature’s view more appealing when I’m riding on a van, although it seems like it’s boring in those places, and it is what I love about the country side. The view of the mountain ranges, the seas, the rice fields, the vacant lots, the coconut trees and especially the sky fills my soul with so much peace.

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So, that’s it. I hope you learn a thing or two from it. Thank you as always for reading. 😍

Making the most of a failed trip. As stated in my previous post, I'll be sharing in here the things I did, and of course, the photos from my supposed backpacking trip which turned going home trip for the reason that I couldn't get rid of my reluctantancy, or hesitancy, rather,  and my fear to go alone because the local tourists spots are kinda far from where I was.

[the-baddest-bitch]

Mr. Han Will See You Now - Chapter 2

The Clock Strikes (Ding, Dong)

Rated 14+ for extensive cussing

Read Chapter 1 here:

Jumin’s door was open when Yoosung arrived at the office, as it usually was. (Yoosung still didn’t know exactly what time he showed up, even after almost 5 months of working for him.)

Jumin immediately called him into his office, also like usual, to give him his list of tasks for the day. The only thing not like usual was the beautiful woman lounging in Jumin's office.

Putting her attractiveness aside, Yoosung wondered what exactly she was doing here. She didn't have the air of a businesswoman at all, and she didn't have a briefcase or anything with her. He also doubted that she was here for any advertisements, since Yoosung was the person who arranged those type of things. So….why is she here? It was actually starting to piss him off a little bit, and he wished he didn’t know why. It shouldn't matter to him if Jumin got a girlfriend. Shouldn’t. If only it didn’t. Yoosung had started developing a crush on him, and he desperately hoped it was fleeting. He didn't even understand for himself why he had the crush. Jumin was a total asshole. (He wasn’t really, but that’s what Yoosung often told himself in vain attempts to quash his feelings. It didn’t work.)

He swallowed his irritation at her presence and addressed his boss first.

“Good morning, Mr. Han.” Jumin averted his eyes from the woman and looked at him.

“Good morning, Assistant Kim.”

All in all, it was an abnormal situation, given that Jumin wasn't Chairman Han, and would never bring his girlfriend to his workplace. But still, his boss was utterly nonplussed. Yoosung did his best to act unaffected as well, though it was difficult not to sneak glances at her every once in awhile; she really was quite stunning.

“What’s my first task today, sir?” Yoosung fought to keep his expression neutral and his gaze focused on Mr. Han, but it was a fierce battle. He only half listened to Jumin’s words, more focused on the woman. He felt his anger flare at the appreciative gaze she sent towards his boss. His attention snapped completely to Jumin when he called his name.

“Is something amiss, Assistant Kim?” Well, shit.

“N-n-no, sir.” He shook his head frantically from side to side. “I apologize.” Jumin nodded.

“If you say so.” Jumin turned towards the woman. “Please excuse my assistant, he’s quite young.” The woman laughed as if it was the funniest joke she’d ever heard, and not-so-slyly reached over the desk to touch Jumin’s hand. To his utter disbelief, Jumin smiled at her and didn’t retract his hand. Yoosung quickly turned away and excused himself before any of the many emotions he was feeling had a chance to show on his face. Neither person seemed to care about his abrupt absence.

He trotted over to his desk and plopped down, barely bothering to pull his chair out all the way. Hardly two seconds later, he realized his grave mistake. He had forgotten the stack of papers that Mr. Han wanted him to take care of. Shiiiiiiit. I’ll look so incompetent if I go back in there now. Shit! And she’s in there. Should I just swallow my pride and go?

Luckily, one of his problems was solved when he heard quick, tapping footsteps approaching. Another problem arose when he realized it must be her. They were the only three in the office, and she was the only woman.

Yoosung quickly opened his briefcase, hoping she’d simply set the papers on his desk and then leave. Since the universe never seemed to rule in his favor, she did not simply leave.

“Umm, excuse me. You left these in Jumin's office.” Jumin? She calls him Jumin? Who are you, woman?

Yoosung shoved down his anger and spoke in a professional tone as he turned around.

“Yes. Thank you.” He didn't want her reporting anything bad back to his boss, so he kept as polite as possible.

“You're welcome!” She turned to leave and Yoosung let out a premature sigh of relief.

“You know - and this is just between you and me - you're a very handsome young man. And you're hardworking. I’m sure you'll make a wonderful husband.”

 “Oh. Ah. Um. Thank you…” The woman giggled. It was a very pretty sound, quite like the rest of her. Yoosung gave as polite a smile as he could.

As soon as she left, he dropped it. Now he was confused. If she was dating Jumin, why would she flirt with him? Did that even count as flirting? He wasn’t often flirted with, but he was pretty sure it did, given all the hair tossing and batting of eyelashes she'd done. Well shit. I have to tell him. I can't let Mr. Han be with a cheating woman. He already hates gold diggers, this kind of thing will make him hate women altogether! But...when? I can't now, that'd be weird. Plus I just got to work, so I can't take a break. Damn.

Yoosung continued working at a solution as the other employees trickled in. Some of them he made conversation with, others he didn't. A surprising amount of people at the office liked to spread rumors about him; namely how he got to be Jumin Han’s assistant at such a young age. Those were the people he didn't talk to.

When his lunch break finally came, he took his chance.  He knocked politely on Jumin's door, and waited. Jumin called him in after a moment, and he opened the door.

He quickly prepared himself mentally, in case the woman was still there, and went in.

He cheered a little inside his head, relieved that he wouldn't have to fake niceties again.

“Yes, Assistant Kim?”

“I apologize for interrupting your work, Mr. Han.”

“What do you need?” Jumin seemed impatient today, and a bit more irritable than usual.

 “U-um. That woman. From earlier. Who was she?” Jumin sighed.

“Is that what you came to talk to me about?” Jumin shook his head ruefully. “I will never understand young people and their constant need for romantic relationships.”

“What sir? Oh! No, no. It's not like that.”

“If you say so.”

“I do! I swear! But, anyway. Who was she?”

“Her name is Seo-Yeon.”

“I see. But, well, who is she?” Jumin looked at him blankly.

“Seo-Yeon.”

“Okay, uh. That’s not what I meant, but that’s okay. Anyway, I think she was flirting with me, and I just thought you might want to know.” Jumin raised an eyebrow.

“Why would I want to know that? Your romantic relationships are your business, Assistant Kim. If that's all, then please leave.” Jumin made a slight shooing gesture with his pen. “We both have work to do. I've allowed this since it's our lunch break, but please don't waste our time with silly conversations.”

“Yes, sir-Wait. So you two aren't together?” Jumin shook his head.

“That was my sister. She was in the country for once, and Father wanted me to show her around the office.”

“...Oh.” Well, shit. Now he looked even more like an incompetent fool.

“Yes.”

“Well then. Please excuse me, Mr. Han. Please forgive me for bothering you.” Jumin nodded slightly at Yoosung as he backtracked sheepishly to the door.

“I-I'm very sorry sir.” Yoosung tried to hide the embarrassment written on his face as he retreated back to the safety of his own desk.

His day just went downhill from there.

As he was leaving the copy room, he bumped into some guy who was entering.

He'd dropped all his papers, of course, and the coffee he'd been carrying covered them both.

“Ah! I'm so sorry!!” Yoosung quickly knelt to retrieve them.

“You little shit! Watch where you're going, for Christ's sake.” The man glared at him, and Yoosung shrunk back.

“I'm really, really sorry. I should’ve been paying more attention. I’ll pay for your dry cleaning. Or a new shirt.” The man looked down at him.

“Damn right you- Hm. Wait a sec. I might consider letting you pay me with something else.” Yoosung furrowed his brows in confusion.

“What?”

“You've got a real cute face, you know?” The man caressed his cheek. When Yoosung cringed away in disgust, he pinched it.

“No, thank you. I'm not interested.” The man narrowed his eyes at Yoosung.

“Wait a minute. Aren’t you Jumin’s assistant?” Yoosung nodded slowly, not sure what his position had to do with anything. The man scoffed. “I get it. You're his bitch, and now you're too good for the rest of us.” Yoosung blinked.

“Uh, what? That's not...that's not our relationship at all.” I kinda wish it was, but that'd just cause problems, sadly. The man sneered.

“Sure, bitch. Just get out of here. Just sayin’, he obviously didn't hire you for your skills.” The man gestured at his soaking shirt, and pushed past Yoosung.

He took the asshole’s advice and left as quickly as possible. What the hell was that about? I understand that coffee stains, but come on. That was just weird. I'm “Jumin's bitch”? How did that rumor get started? Honestly? He treats me exactly how he treats the other employees. Is it just cause I'm so young?

He couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling that talking to the man had given him. Sure, he liked Jumin, but it was probably just a crush that would pass. And Yoosung “obviously wasn't hired for his skills”? What the hell? What else could he have been hired for? C&R wasn't that kind of place. He kept trying, in vain, to push the event from his mind, but he just couldn't.

The next week was definitely not the best. He couldn't count how many people had bumped into him or “accidentally” knocked papers out of his hands in the halls. He didn't know how many people gave him sidelong glances and then looked away right after he caught them, as if they hadn't done anything. He had no idea what he'd done to upset so many people. Someone had even scrawled his cellphone number in one of the stalls in a bathroom. Things escalated to a breaking point when he found a note laying on his desk after he came back from his lunch break.

It was just a plain white envelope, marked only with his name, and he had no idea what it might be.

He figured he should read it immediately, to make sure it wasn’t anything important, so he opened it. He had a slight feeling of apprehension - all that happened this week hadn’t been conducive to any feelings of comfort. His eyes roved over the words, and his apprehension was taken over by confusion as he read the words “Die, Assistant Slut” and an address. He realized in horror that it was his address. It curled beneath his shaky hands, and he felt a photograph underneath the paper. He slowly unfolded it, and it was just as he feared; the picture was of his apartment door. They, whoever ‘they’ were, hadn't just found his building, they'd found his actual apartment.

It was that moment when Jumin texted him. So, he went to his boss’s office, shaking slightly, and unknowingly still gripping the paper in his hands. How could someone have gotten his address? It was listed in the company records, sure, but those were classified, so that only the really high higher-ups could see them. Did someone...follow me home? What the hell have I done to deserve this? I don't want a fucking stalker!

He knocked on Jumin's door, as per usual, and opened it.

“How can I...how can I help you, sir?” Yoosung took a deep breath.

“I need you to look over this plan.”

“Alright.”

Jumin started to explain it in more detail, but Yoosung didn't hear a word. Nothing felt real. It didn't feel right that he should still be here, acting like nothing at all was different, when quite a few things were different.

Yoosung finally recognized a pause in Jumin's speech.

“Uh. Yes, Mr. Han. Please excuse me.” Yoosung turned towards the door, planning to try and calm himself in the bathroom.

“Assistant Kim. Wait a moment.” He turned back towards Jumin.

“Yes, sir?”

“What was the last thing I asked you? Before this question.” Shit. He knows I wasn't listening.

“...Did you ask me if I understood, sir?” Yoosung cringed at his own question. Now it was obvious he hadn't heard a word, without a doubt.

“I did, but the fact that you had to ask me that shows that you did not, in fact, understand.” Yoosung gulped and averted his eyes.

“Look at me, Assistant Kim.” He did.

“This isn't like you. Why are you so distracted? Being distracted won't help you keep your job.” Yoosung swallowed and nodded.

“Yes, Mr. Han. I'm sorry. It's just that, recently, some of the other staff have-no, that doesn't matter. Today, I found this note on my desk.” Yoosung passed the note to Jumin, who had a quizzical look on his face.

Jumin raised his eyebrows as he read the short note.

“Is this...some sort of prank done by your friends?” Yoosung shook his head.

“No. I-I don't really have any friends here that are close enough for that.”

“I see. Do you know who did this? If it wasn't by someone you're close to, this could be a serious threat to your safety.”

“No, I've got no idea who would've done it. I don't know how they found my place either.”

“This must be formally addressed. This type of behavior will not be excused. I never thought I'd see this type of nonsense in my own company, but I suppose every place has its bad apples.”

“But sir, what if-” Jumin raised a hand.

“No. This is unacceptable. I will handle it, so go back to your work. Let me know if anything else happens.”

He was afraid to protest anymore, so he did. And nothing else happened for the next few days.

Then, Sunday night came.

Yoosung was in his small kitchen, cutting up onions with tears in his eyes, when his doorbell rang.

Was I expecting company? Or mail?

He wiped his hands - and eyes - and went to look through the peephole. He saw no one, so he opened the door to check for a package.

What he saw lying on his doormat was indeed a package. Of the suspicious, unmarked box sort.

He lifted the lid off it, and at first, didn’t completely understand what exactly he’d been sent. Then, the smell reached him and he knew.

Yoosung gagged and tripped backwards, almost falling, in an involuntary reaction to the dead animal on his doorstep. He could hardly even tell what it was, since it was so horribly mangled. He stood back up on shaking legs and spotted a paper attached to the animal. He didn’t want to touch it, but he figured he should see whatever it was that whichever sick bastard killed the poor thing wanted him to know.

As he bent closer to it, he saw that it was - or used to be - a tabby cat. He got as close as he dared and picked the note off gingerly. The smell was overpowering, and he gagged again.

He unfolded it, trying to avoid the dried blood that spattered it, and had to read it twice before he fully absorbed the contents.

Dear Yoosung Kim,                                                                                               This is what we do to little pussies that run and tattle to their bosses.              P.S. Heard that you want to be a vet. Have fun fixing this mess.

He dropped the note and stepped quickly back into his apartment. Was that...was that a threat? Holy shit. What if whoever left this is still out there? Oh shit. He slammed the door and fumbled with the lock, fear suddenly overtaking all other thoughts.

Yoosung slid down to the floor, leaning against the door. He started to feel like he was going to hyperventilate.  

He remembered what Mr. Han had told him earlier that week. ‘Let me know if anything else happens.’ He patted himself down, looking for his phone, without luck. He realized he’d left it in the kitchen while he was cooking. Yoosung quickly double checked the locks and raced into the kitchen.

Jesus Christ. He thought. What the fuck is wrong with these people? Am I honestly that horrible?? That a poor, innocent cat had to die?

He saw it lying on the counter, next to the knife he’d been using to chop onions, and grabbed it. He turned to the living room, but thought twice and grabbed the knife as well.

He flipped through his contacts with shaking fingers, and finally found the correct one.

The phone rang, (and rang, and rang) and Jumin picked up after what felt like an achingly long time.

“This is Jumin Han.” Yoosung felt grounded at the sound of Jumin's voice, and a bit of the tension and fear he felt dissipated. Not enough to make him feel better about the situation, but enough to lighten his load. He set the phone on speaker and put it in front of him, on the floor.

“Hello, Mr. Han. It's Yoosung Kim.”

“Do you need something?” Yoosung was grateful for his boss. He was quite lenient with accepting calls from Yoosung late at night. It made the blond very glad, but he didn't quite get why. Jumin had even told him that he hated receiving calls at night.

“Um, yes. Yes sir. It's about th-the note thing.” He wished his nervousness didn't show as much as it did.

“Did something else happen?” Jumin's general deadpan gave way to - what sounded like - the beginning of anger. Which was unusual, since Jumin didn't often get angry, or emotional at all, about anything. He always said that being emotional was a waste of time and energy, so why would he be getting emotional over something that happened to Yoosung?

“Yeah. There's a-a,” Yoosung paused, taking a breath to steady himself once more. “A dead cat on my porch.” He trailed off at the end, despite his best efforts.

“...What?” Jumin sounded borderline confused and incredulous. Yoosung repeated himself.

“So that is what you said. Did you see who left it?”

“I've got no idea. They just rang my bell and disappeared. They might still be out there somewhere. I don't know.” Yoosung's words sped up as his breathing because uneven. He gripped the knife tighter with both hands, until his knuckles became white.

“I see. I don't think they'd still be near you, waiting for you to call the police on them, so I believe you should be safe. Nonetheless, they know your address, and they've become aggressive.” Jumin paused, and Yoosung knew he had his thinking face on. “Driver Kim will pick you up. Be ready in half an hour, at most.”

“...Huh? Um, what do you mean, sir?” Jumin sighed, and Yoosung could practically see him pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I mean that you are going to come live with me.” Yoosung blinked, apprehension temporarily forgotten, as Jumin's words sunk in. He was going to live with him? His boss? His crush? (He wasn't sure it could even be called a crush anymore, since his feelings for him had grown ever more as the days went by.)

“I-I-I couldn't possibly do that. That's completely inappropriate for our relationsh-” Jumin cut him off.

“You most certainly can. The behavior of these other employees is the only thing that's inappropriate in this situation.” Yoosung stayed silent, thinking about Jumin's words, and trying to find another acceptable rebuttal.

“But...Why do I need to live with you?” He cringed as soon as he said it, and hurried to amend himself. “I-I-I mean. I could go live with another person, and not have to trouble you?” Yoosung realized it still wasn't the strongest argument.

“Do you know anyone else with a state of the art security system and on-call bodyguards 24/7? If so, please feel free to ask them.” Dammit. He was completely right. Of course he was! He was like a lawyer. He never asked questions he didn't already know the answer to.

“I…” Yoosung knew it was useless refusing now. For some reason, his boss just refused to give up. “Alright. Thank you for your kindness, sir. You really don't have to do this.” And that was the thing. He didn't have to. So, why was he?

“Yet, I am. You're the second best assistant I've ever had, and I don't want to lose you.” He supposed that made sense, since receiving threats in the workplace would definitely drive some people to quit that workplace. He sighed.

“What time did you say Driver Kim will be here, sir?”

“Half an hour. At the most.” Yoosung nodded, though no one was looking.

“I suppose I'll see you soon, then?”

“Yes. Be careful.”

“Thank you, Mr. Han.” Yoosung ended the call. He was about to be stuck in an awkward  predicament. On one hand, he'd be living with the object of all his sexual and romantic desires for an indeterminate amount of time. Anything could happen! On the other hand, that person was his boss. Anything could happen.

~

Yoosung ended the call, and Jumin smiled a small, secret smile to himself. The circumstances were rather unfortunate - and quite terrifying, in Yoosung's case - but the outcome was all that mattered. He'd be living with his favorite and most useful subordinate for an indeterminate amount of time. Hopefully, he'd finally he able to get to the bottom of all the irrational thoughts he'd been having lately. Best case scenario, he'd do something about them. Worst case scenario, he'd be forced to get rid of them. Needless to say, he was hoping for the former.

~

The second he arrived at Jumin’s penthouse, Yoosung felt that things were going to change. Drastically. He didn’t know if it was just him being paranoid, or if his gut instinct was right.

He looked at the familiar - and completely normal looking - door, wondering why he didn’t want to go inside. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been in Mr. Han’s place before! His boss often had him come over to pick up Elizabeth 3rd, or to drop off Elizabeth 3rd, and occasionally to catsit Elizabeth 3rd. It’s different this time, Yoosung. You know it is. You know how strong your feelings for him are. You have to be careful.

Yoosung felt like all hell would break loose as soon as he opened up the door.

He turned the knob, putting aside his irrational thinking. Jumin was sitting on his couch - still in business-wear - with a book in his hands. He hadn’t been reading it. He’d just been holding it in his hands, waiting for the door to open. Waiting for him to arrive. Yoosung couldn’t fathom why he’d sit, holding a book, without reading it. Especially in anticipation of his assistant arriving to his house. Mr. Han sure is an odd duck...Oh, Jesus Christ. I sound like my mother.

“Hello, Mr. Han.” His parents had painstakingly drilled politeness into him, so Yoosung broke the semi-awkward silence first.

“Hello, Assistant Kim.” Jumin stood up as he said it, leaving his book on the couch.

“You can leave your things by the door. I’ll have someone get them for you.” Yoosung nodded, and gently set down his suitcase, only for it to fall over with a resounding thud. He looked at it in dismay, but didn’t pick it up.

“Will I be sleeping out here, sir?” Jumin scoffed. Yoosung didn’t understand why.

“Of course not. You’ll be sleeping in my room.” Yoosung swore he felt his heart stop for a moment. Bitch say what?

[radicals-laboratory]

 Alright more character rambles!

So content after the break!

Alright, now Radical won’t have his Doctorate anymore! He’s gonna just be plain Rad now lol, and he still has most of his attributes - arrogance and perseverance! But now, the story will start with his career as a researcher, instead of the weird “Oh fuck you’re getting crazy now so let’s send you to a vacation where you won’t be able to properly show your abilities and interact with anyone else!”

On the course of his research, he will be able to interact with other ponies, like Wayward Jolt, Dr. Magnus, maybe Tesla? (Lol he gets revived), and he could meet with his sister more. They’ll still probably have the same attributes as well...

On the details of the story, Radical will be starting research on something new. One of the possible starts is that he could be transferred to the crystal empire to start research on crystal properties. He’ll have to deal with 1) Being alone, 2) Looming deadlines, 3) Different cultures, and 4) Clashing with other faculty. He still might see Wayward Jolt, probably? Since they’re both in the same field, it’s plausible that they applied to the same grant. This would allow Rad to have an anchor of sorts - since they’ve known each other for years since college days. But she’s gonna be quite busy, most of the time, so she’s not gonna be there all the time, bcause she’s responsible, and she’s not gonna put off her work until the last minute haha

Another thought is to maybe have him do research on his graduating university, but in here lies the problem: As an alumni of his university, he’s familiar to the faculty and the faculty’s familiar with him - there’s really no room to grow as Radical has all he needs to function. It’ll be the old story all over again lol

Doesn’t have to be the crystal empire though, but it has to be something new.

How does Radical go about with his work though? He usually doesn’t prepare, but he always gets to pull things off. He’s quite spontaneous. But he’s not a genius. (Only almost lol) When things become more complicated it’s not rare to see him get stuck or be baffled. Normally I’d say he’d work on it until he gets it, but I don’t really think so. With his arrogance, he might probably wave it off as something he doesn’t need to know? Mostly because most of the things that he doesn’t get aren’t his field...but now with research, he’s not supposed to know all answers...this is where his confidence is challenged, and through this he develops his ‘ability’ to force himself to work? That’s a thing that I wanna make sure he has lol. He doesn’t want to depend on others’ help, for two possible reasons. The original one is what he says, which is long the lines of “I don’t trust other people doing competent work”, but the recent one is something like “I need to prove myself”, which is definitely something he wouldn’t say out loud. I’m probably leaning to the latter, since it fits more with the setting and his mentality as well: “If you’re not on top, why bother?”

Yeah...he needs to be sent out there outside of his graduating university, because if not they’ll just reinforce that thought on him, and he’ll always think that he’s on top, because he is, on that place.

He’ll rub off the wrong way for most people, too. With his arrogance - a lot of people will probably resent him, but he doesn’t really show it needlessly? Like he’s not a sociable person anyway, so most people who see him will only see a beige pony with anime blue hair lol, but the people he will work with will see him as boastful at the start. He’s not going to change until he’s been proven wrong. Research will do that - and make him realize he doesn’t know everything. Along the way, as well, but the details can be spared until the next ramble I guess

How about Wayward Jolt? She’s really systematic with her decisions. Everything in the right place, in the right time. She’ll take the most efficient route, and she’ll know solutions to most of the questions. She is a genius, but she didn’t top Radical when they were studying together. Why? Two possible reasons: 1) Wayward Jolt might feel that it’s pointless? Like she’s been studying from the start, but why? Radical’s much more passionate than Jolt for sure. It’s a mixture of both pride and genuine interest actually for Rad. The second reason would be because “Radical may not be consistent, but when he puts actual effort he’s actually better” and all that. Feels like a copout tho, and just makes Radical feel like a “hero” from an anime lol. 

Strangekind? She is also a prodigy, and relishes on her successes. But she’s really protective of her brother. Why? Does she have flaws? Yes - she’s also a bit arrogant like Radical, but she has the skills to back it up. Hmm...maybe she can’t relate to a lot of people - and therefore she’s mostly alone in her life. That’s probably why she’s protective of her little brother as well - he’s like the closest thing she has. Doesn’t really have a special someone yet, so...

For the most part of uni, Strangekind took care of Radical...but Radical kept kinda suffocated of sorts? Being under her shadows and all that, Radical needed to prove himself, but upon his sister’s insistence he agreed to just live with his sis. But things get a little too out of hand as she meddles with everything he does, like courseworks and all things.

So that’s how it’s gonna go for main characters. What about the others? Tesla? Starflash? Magnus? etc.

Dr. Magnus would surely be his mentor. But I’m not sure if I should put him in his past university or this current one. Feels like if he always has his mentor with him he’s not gonna grow as much as well, or at least, he’s not gonna push himself...Yeah, old uni he goes.

Tesla? He was supposed to be Radical’s friend but is he really? If Radical was that of a jerk, then why would you put up with him? ...probably to just mooch off whatever he’s doing? Nah...he could be just a tolerating pony, and he’s just a side-character anyway tbh. He’s not important...Or I could use him again...as a rival?

Speaking of rivals...I don’t know if I want to include a singular rival for Radical or just the whole university as his rival. But I can’t have the whole institution against him...Well okay. Then the chairman of the faculty will play a huge role here. He’s going to be a middleman for the most part. He’s going to be like Aslaksen from the Enemy of the People (LOL I CAN’T BELIEVE I STILL REMEMBER THAT). “Everything in Moderation”. Then I need to make another character...oooh that’s going to be interesting haha

Synthesis Petal’s in his own world lol. Not a fain of Radical, but he doesn’t need to interact with him tbh. So he’s a bg pony lol.

Starflash...doesn’t fit atm. Talking with Melody, starflash’s character doesn’t really make sense atm. So I need to change her. Would she be in love with Radical? If so, then how? I still might go with her manipulation skills, but that’s gonna have to be far out of the arc. What will she bring to the table? Hm...I don’t wanna go about it too much atm. Too much development planned.

Speaking of development...Radical obviously develops. Strangekind kinda does - in that she has to let go of Radical. And from then on she could go on her own story, but that’s like a side thing. She’s too brash...but it’s not like she wants to be. She just can’t relate...ahaha. She needs her own set of friends, too! Oooohh more characters to make!

Wayward Jolt though...my idea for her is that she’s doing this because she’s obligated? Or that she doesn’t matter. Ohhh. maybe she’s been run down into the ground, being tired. She could be the one in the gifted school instead, and years of studying and overwhelming pressure wore her down, so she doesn’t want to do it now...but it’s the only thing she knows how to do. So her research is lackluster compared to Rad’s, but it’s good enough, even though she can do much better...But what can she do from here? Ohh...possible conflict idea!

Like Radical and Jolt are the two characters that are new from the institution. While Radical has the...ahem...radical ideas, he’s really not a good fella to be with, and the ‘rival’ ponies would always compare him to jolt, which Radical would get frustrated because jolt’s work is clearly less impressive than his. He doesn’t let it get to him at first, especially because Jolt’s his best friend, but at one point he could bring it up in an argument of sorts. And from there, Jolt could start questioning herself more now. She didn’t have to - she would have the mentality of “Do first, ask questions later” or “Doesn’t matter if I like it - I have to do it”. She’ll start doing worse now, and Radical would slowly realize, and then...hmm...this is gonna be really important. She could either quit, or at least take a vacation..or something. lol no this isn’t gonna be the same kind of vacation as the old story.

Lol I say radical obviously develops, but at the end I forgot HOW he develops. How tho? First, he becomes more friendly...a bit, but he goes into a crisis as to reaching the end of his wits. He shuts himself off, and if left alone he’ll work himself into...well...ahem. So Jolt has to have a really good friendship with him...but that’s already established...maybe I shouldn’t have them be friends from the start, and make that develop, too? Could make it more interesting - that maybe they didn’t know each other too much in the uni in the first place?

Scribbles? Kinda unnecessary in the original story, but I guess she could be an ‘episodic’ character that only appears once importantly, but she’s not too important right now.

Also...I kinda wanna make magic a part of the story...I dunno why, but it seems kinda dull without the ‘unknown’ element.

Okay, that’s it for now haha. So I know I have to make characters now, a lot lol. Radical’s background is kinda better now. High school’s not a necessary thing for him now, because...the old Radical’s development actually happened during highschool and the whole thing is actually kinda boring now. So that could be transferred to Jolt to support her character. Some chapter ideas have been laid out, like Strangekind suddenly appearing to be with Radical and meddle, or Radical and others getting into a fight and the current chairman having to split up, and all that. Or something... The direction of character development has kinda been established as well...and maybe the setting? Hmm...that might require some drawing, but eh, that could be for another time!

[preciousmetals0]

3.28 Million Lost; Micron Moves; Cheesecake Blues

3.28 Million Lost; Micron Moves; Cheesecake Blues:

Denial, Seems It Had to Come

I warned you it was coming. I warned you it’d be bad.

Relied on me to say it all. (Any Sevendust fans out there? No? Oh well…)

Weekly jobless claims arrived today, and they were record-breaking. The U.S. Department of Labor reported that 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week.

That’s 15 times the number of people who filed two weeks ago … and five times the previous record of 695,000 claims set in 1982. It was more than the peak number of claims during both the Great Recession and the Great Depression.

3.28 million Americans out of work — all because of the coronavirus (or the panic along with it).

The situation is so bad — How bad is it? — that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell appeared on the Today show to reassure Americans that the U.S. central bank is on our side.

“The Federal Reserve is working hard to support you now and our policies will be very important when the recovery does come,” Powell said.

The Takeaway: 

Let’s think about the situation for a minute.

The head of the U.S. Federal Reserve — the guy who’s responsible for the country’s most powerful financial institution — felt it was necessary to reassure the American people on a popular morning show.

On one hand, that’s somewhat comforting … Powell taking time out of his busy day to tell everyone that it’ll all be OK.

On the other, it shows just how badly the situation has deteriorated. We now have the head of the Fed offering reassurance, not some lackey.

Oh, and those 3.28 million jobless claims? The market shrugged them off.

It seems that most of Wall Street believes that the worst is now behind us. Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group, summed up the Street’s opinion pretty well:

We all know the pain being felt and the economic damage being caused by this damn virus but because we are so close to getting past the worst of the spread, we need to start getting creative about what the restart will look like.

So close to getting past the worst of the spread?

The U.S. is about a month behind Italy in terms of COVID-19’s spread, and Italy hasn’t even peaked yet. We’re three months behind China, and it’s just now seeing the end of community spread. Both countries went into complete lockdown. While individual states have gone this route, the U.S. as a whole has not.

As hopeful as I want to be … as hopeful as Wall Street wants to be … we aren’t close to getting past the worst of the spread.

As the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, put it: “You don’t make the timeline, the virus makes the timeline.”

But … but the $2 trillion coronavirus rescue bill!

Yes, I hear you out there … protesting my negativity again. The Senate’s bill will blunt the impact, to be sure. But it can’t stop what’s already happening. Despite reassurances that everything will just bounce back … that this isn’t really a long-term economic problem in the U.S. … let me tell you now: It is.

What? You think the U.S. economy could just hire back those 3.28 million out-of-work Americans tomorrow if the coronavirus magically disappeared? Nope. It doesn’t work like that.

But, while the U.S. economy is going down, down in an early round, sugar we’re going down swinging. And Great Stuff will be your No. 1 with a bullet. A loaded market complex … cock it and pull it.

Now, here’s the thing — and listen up, all ye positivity seekers!

Just as the virus chooses the timeline for this whole crazy shebang…

Only you choose your investing timeline. Only you decide if you keep hanging in there.

If you ask expert Charles Mizrahi, the situation is crystal clear. You could either:

Capture peak gains like 300%, 500% and 600%.

Or let the market turmoil and the virus’s impact eat away your financial future.

Gains like those? In this kind of market?!

Yes, dear reader — there’s potential in any market. See, according to Charles: “What you do in this current meltdown will make all the difference on what your net worth will be in the next five years.”

So, while other folks around you join the fleeing fearful, you have a chance to gain a leg up. In fact, Charles Mizrahi thinks this moment is so crucial he recorded a special video presentation on how to leave all this market panic behind.

Click here now.

The Good: Remote Connections               

Investors are falling in love with Micron Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MU) in a hopeless place today.

The flash memory maker beat Wall Street’s second-quarter earnings and revenue estimates and issued solid third-quarter guidance.

In fact, Micron appears to benefit from COVID-19 lockdowns around the world. In its post-earnings conference call, the company highlighted rising demand for PCs, notebooks and other devices as more people work and study from home.

Furthermore, Micron noted additional demand in the data center market, as companies push to beef up cloud computing storage and performance amid spiking remote demand.

While now is clearly the time to be cautious about buying anything in the market, Micron is one company to keep on your short list of potential winners in this brave new world.

The Bad: 1 Bourbon, 1 Scotch, 1 Beer

Wanna tell you a story about the Cheesecake Factory Inc. (Nasdaq: CAKE) blues…

I read the headlines one particular Thursday and saw that Cheesecake Factory had lost its jobs. But that don’t confront me, long as I get my money next Thursday. Next Thursday come, and they didn’t have the rent … and out the door I went.

Seriously though, the Cheesecake Factory just sent a letter to its landlords that it won’t pay rent in April due to the coronavirus. Here’s an excerpt from a letter to landlords from CEO David Overton:

The severe decrease in restaurant traffic has severely decreased our cash flow and inflicted a tremendous financial blow to our business. Due to these extraordinary events, I am asking for your patience and, frankly, your help.

And it’s not just Cheesecake Factory acting kinda funny … everybody funny … now you funny too. Retailers, from clothier H&M to fast-foodie Subway, are all struggling to make rent.

If anything reinforces the idea that the COVID-19 situation is far from over, it’s retailers not paying rent. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s time for a few drinks.

The Ugly: Old Junker

Growing up in rural Kentucky, I lived through the great Ford versus Chevy wars and endured many a heated argument on the topic. “Ford Don’t Make Junk” was among the many stickers plastered on the windows and tailgates of F-150s for as far as the eye could see.

Turns out, those bumper stickers weren’t quite accurate. Today, S&P Global Ratings cut Ford Motor Co.’s (NYSE: F) bonds to junk status. The ratings firm lowered Ford’s credit rating to BB+ (junk status) and said that it may lower its rating further as the coronavirus’s impact spreads.

S&P isn’t alone in its “junk” rating on Ford, however. Moody’s Investors Service cut its credit rating on the Big Blue Oval twice in the past month, citing a “credit shock” for automakers across the board.

But Ford has an answer … it plans on reopening production at key plants in April, including its Dearborn, Michigan, and Kentucky truck plants, its Kansas City Assembly Plant’s transit line and its Ohio Assembly Plant.

That’s all fine and dandy, but I’m pretty sure the United Auto Workers Union will have something to say about this. And it won’t be pretty.

You Marco, I Polo … it’s Reader Feedback time!

Let me just say, you guys have been busy … or maybe you’re just bored after being locked in your homes for days on end.

In the past week, Great Stuff received a veritable flood of comments with two common themes: You absolutely despise bailouts (especially for airlines) and you don’t think the market rout is over.

Let’s dive right into your comments:

The Unfriendly Skies

NO BAILOUT TO THOSE WHO BOUGHT BACK STOCK

— Stan B.

Airline bailout NOT. Only if that Airline assists our American citizens stuck away from their respective residents need to get home. Not for anyone just traveling. Bailout? Why do they need it as they have gouged the travelers for transporting their necessary luggage to the tune of millions of dollars of profit while still collecting their usual air fares. Why should we bail out these huge corporations. Use that money to help the smaller companies to keep their doors open. I personally am sick of seeing billions bailing out these high corporations that only turn around and use that money for the top management so called golden parachutes. Stop this madness of government bailouts.

— Peggy B.

Pigs to the trough, as usual. And, why should it shock you that R’s have no problems throwing tons of money at pillars of industry? Well, not exactly industry. Finance! That’s the magic word The Graduate should have been told. Not “plastics,” “finance”.

— Joe S.

Let them go under.

— Tony C.

Wow … the sheer vitriol dripping from your comments is … honestly, it’s a bit impressive. I don’t know whether to be proud of you or to start locking my doors.

As I’ve said several times here in Great Stuff, I don’t like stock buybacks — at all. It’s a company telling me they have nothing better to do with their money … nothing to invest or reinvest in. No new ideas to grow.

And now, those companies are paying the price. Well, somewhat of a price. A lot of them just got bailed out by the government … again.

It’s Not Over

Still doesn’t feel like the bottom.

I don’t see enough anger / despair that would mark the point at which all the buyers are exhausted.

Love your work – thanks!

— Gary W.

I believe it’s not over till people go back to work… I am a supplier to GM, laid off until the 13th… even then I could be laid off longer depending on how orders rise or fall… at the time of the layoff orders were down 15% before the virus hit…

— Timothy C.

Most of your subscribers, I’m sure, want rosy pictures. Most investors do. They want to catch the bottom of the V. This time it’s an L, though.

By end of May most airlines in the world will go bankrupt. Restaurants, bars, gyms, taxis. Hotels, travel agencies, tourist attractions. Shops, malls, import/export companies. Trucking, railways, bus liners. Cinemas, museums, stadiums…

Investment banks with derivatives exposure, ETF spinners, trading houses, oil companies, automakers and aerospace are in trouble. Possibly miners too. And schools.

But investors want to believe that the FED is going to fix it all. Thing is, we should hope the FED doesn’t try. If they do, we’re all going to wake up with 1000s of $ in our pockets, and nothing to spend it on.

The ONLY moneys (FED or fiscal) that should be spent is on buying test kits from Russia, respirators from Elon Musk, hospital beds and walls. The ONE thing we need is a victory against the virus. Nothing else.

— Dan W.

Dan the man, you hit the nose on the head … or something like that. And Timothy, you are absolutely right.

This is what Great Stuff has said for a while. You can pass a $2 trillion spending bill to help things along, but it won’t magically rehire 3.28 million workers filing for unemployment. It won’t stop the virus from spreading.

Hunker down, dear readers. It’s going to be a rough ride. But, if you stay tuned in to Great Stuff and BanyanHill.com, I promise to keep telling you like it is and help guide you through the storm.

Finally, a shoutout to Angela O., Christine P., Phil G. and the others who have offered Great Stuff support for telling you the truth. Sticks and stones … you know. Thank you all!

Have you written in yet? What’s stopping you? Drop me a line at GreatStuffToday@banyanhill.com and let me know how you’re doing out there in this crazy market.

That’s a wrap for today. But if you’re still craving more Great Stuff, you can check us out on social media: Facebook and Twitter.

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Editor, Great Stuff

[goldira01]

Denial, Seems It Had to Come

I warned you it was coming. I warned you it’d be bad.

Relied on me to say it all. (Any Sevendust fans out there? No? Oh well…)

Weekly jobless claims arrived today, and they were record-breaking. The U.S. Department of Labor reported that 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week.

That’s 15 times the number of people who filed two weeks ago … and five times the previous record of 695,000 claims set in 1982. It was more than the peak number of claims during both the Great Recession and the Great Depression.

3.28 million Americans out of work — all because of the coronavirus (or the panic along with it).

The situation is so bad — How bad is it? — that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell appeared on the Today show to reassure Americans that the U.S. central bank is on our side.

“The Federal Reserve is working hard to support you now and our policies will be very important when the recovery does come,” Powell said.

The Takeaway: 

Let’s think about the situation for a minute.

The head of the U.S. Federal Reserve — the guy who’s responsible for the country’s most powerful financial institution — felt it was necessary to reassure the American people on a popular morning show.

On one hand, that’s somewhat comforting … Powell taking time out of his busy day to tell everyone that it’ll all be OK.

On the other, it shows just how badly the situation has deteriorated. We now have the head of the Fed offering reassurance, not some lackey.

Oh, and those 3.28 million jobless claims? The market shrugged them off.

It seems that most of Wall Street believes that the worst is now behind us. Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group, summed up the Street’s opinion pretty well:

We all know the pain being felt and the economic damage being caused by this damn virus but because we are so close to getting past the worst of the spread, we need to start getting creative about what the restart will look like.

So close to getting past the worst of the spread?

The U.S. is about a month behind Italy in terms of COVID-19’s spread, and Italy hasn’t even peaked yet. We’re three months behind China, and it’s just now seeing the end of community spread. Both countries went into complete lockdown. While individual states have gone this route, the U.S. as a whole has not.

As hopeful as I want to be … as hopeful as Wall Street wants to be … we aren’t close to getting past the worst of the spread.

As the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, put it: “You don’t make the timeline, the virus makes the timeline.”

But … but the $2 trillion coronavirus rescue bill!

Yes, I hear you out there … protesting my negativity again. The Senate’s bill will blunt the impact, to be sure. But it can’t stop what’s already happening. Despite reassurances that everything will just bounce back … that this isn’t really a long-term economic problem in the U.S. … let me tell you now: It is.

What? You think the U.S. economy could just hire back those 3.28 million out-of-work Americans tomorrow if the coronavirus magically disappeared? Nope. It doesn’t work like that.

But, while the U.S. economy is going down, down in an early round, sugar we’re going down swinging. And Great Stuff will be your No. 1 with a bullet. A loaded market complex … cock it and pull it.

Now, here’s the thing — and listen up, all ye positivity seekers!

Just as the virus chooses the timeline for this whole crazy shebang…

Only you choose your investing timeline. Only you decide if you keep hanging in there.

If you ask expert Charles Mizrahi, the situation is crystal clear. You could either:

Capture peak gains like 300%, 500% and 600%.

Or let the market turmoil and the virus’s impact eat away your financial future.

Gains like those? In this kind of market?!

Yes, dear reader — there’s potential in any market. See, according to Charles: “What you do in this current meltdown will make all the difference on what your net worth will be in the next five years.”

So, while other folks around you join the fleeing fearful, you have a chance to gain a leg up. In fact, Charles Mizrahi thinks this moment is so crucial he recorded a special video presentation on how to leave all this market panic behind.

Click here now.

The Good: Remote Connections               

Investors are falling in love with Micron Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MU) in a hopeless place today.

The flash memory maker beat Wall Street’s second-quarter earnings and revenue estimates and issued solid third-quarter guidance.

In fact, Micron appears to benefit from COVID-19 lockdowns around the world. In its post-earnings conference call, the company highlighted rising demand for PCs, notebooks and other devices as more people work and study from home.

Furthermore, Micron noted additional demand in the data center market, as companies push to beef up cloud computing storage and performance amid spiking remote demand.

While now is clearly the time to be cautious about buying anything in the market, Micron is one company to keep on your short list of potential winners in this brave new world.

The Bad: 1 Bourbon, 1 Scotch, 1 Beer

Wanna tell you a story about the Cheesecake Factory Inc. (Nasdaq: CAKE) blues…

I read the headlines one particular Thursday and saw that Cheesecake Factory had lost its jobs. But that don’t confront me, long as I get my money next Thursday. Next Thursday come, and they didn’t have the rent … and out the door I went.

Seriously though, the Cheesecake Factory just sent a letter to its landlords that it won’t pay rent in April due to the coronavirus. Here’s an excerpt from a letter to landlords from CEO David Overton:

The severe decrease in restaurant traffic has severely decreased our cash flow and inflicted a tremendous financial blow to our business. Due to these extraordinary events, I am asking for your patience and, frankly, your help.

And it’s not just Cheesecake Factory acting kinda funny … everybody funny … now you funny too. Retailers, from clothier H&M to fast-foodie Subway, are all struggling to make rent.

If anything reinforces the idea that the COVID-19 situation is far from over, it’s retailers not paying rent. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s time for a few drinks.

The Ugly: Old Junker

Growing up in rural Kentucky, I lived through the great Ford versus Chevy wars and endured many a heated argument on the topic. “Ford Don’t Make Junk” was among the many stickers plastered on the windows and tailgates of F-150s for as far as the eye could see.

Turns out, those bumper stickers weren’t quite accurate. Today, S&P Global Ratings cut Ford Motor Co.’s (NYSE: F) bonds to junk status. The ratings firm lowered Ford’s credit rating to BB+ (junk status) and said that it may lower its rating further as the coronavirus’s impact spreads.

S&P isn’t alone in its “junk” rating on Ford, however. Moody’s Investors Service cut its credit rating on the Big Blue Oval twice in the past month, citing a “credit shock” for automakers across the board.

But Ford has an answer … it plans on reopening production at key plants in April, including its Dearborn, Michigan, and Kentucky truck plants, its Kansas City Assembly Plant’s transit line and its Ohio Assembly Plant.

That’s all fine and dandy, but I’m pretty sure the United Auto Workers Union will have something to say about this. And it won’t be pretty.

You Marco, I Polo … it’s Reader Feedback time!

Let me just say, you guys have been busy … or maybe you’re just bored after being locked in your homes for days on end.

In the past week, Great Stuff received a veritable flood of comments with two common themes: You absolutely despise bailouts (especially for airlines) and you don’t think the market rout is over.

Let’s dive right into your comments:

The Unfriendly Skies

NO BAILOUT TO THOSE WHO BOUGHT BACK STOCK

— Stan B.

Airline bailout NOT. Only if that Airline assists our American citizens stuck away from their respective residents need to get home. Not for anyone just traveling. Bailout? Why do they need it as they have gouged the travelers for transporting their necessary luggage to the tune of millions of dollars of profit while still collecting their usual air fares. Why should we bail out these huge corporations. Use that money to help the smaller companies to keep their doors open. I personally am sick of seeing billions bailing out these high corporations that only turn around and use that money for the top management so called golden parachutes. Stop this madness of government bailouts.

— Peggy B.

Pigs to the trough, as usual. And, why should it shock you that R’s have no problems throwing tons of money at pillars of industry? Well, not exactly industry. Finance! That’s the magic word The Graduate should have been told. Not “plastics,” “finance”.

— Joe S.

Let them go under.

— Tony C.

Wow … the sheer vitriol dripping from your comments is … honestly, it’s a bit impressive. I don’t know whether to be proud of you or to start locking my doors.

As I’ve said several times here in Great Stuff, I don’t like stock buybacks — at all. It’s a company telling me they have nothing better to do with their money … nothing to invest or reinvest in. No new ideas to grow.

And now, those companies are paying the price. Well, somewhat of a price. A lot of them just got bailed out by the government … again.

It’s Not Over

Still doesn’t feel like the bottom.

I don’t see enough anger / despair that would mark the point at which all the buyers are exhausted.

Love your work – thanks!

— Gary W.

I believe it’s not over till people go back to work… I am a supplier to GM, laid off until the 13th… even then I could be laid off longer depending on how orders rise or fall… at the time of the layoff orders were down 15% before the virus hit…

— Timothy C.

 Most of your subscribers, I’m sure, want rosy pictures. Most investors do. They want to catch the bottom of the V. This time it’s an L, though.

By end of May most airlines in the world will go bankrupt. Restaurants, bars, gyms, taxis. Hotels, travel agencies, tourist attractions. Shops, malls, import/export companies. Trucking, railways, bus liners. Cinemas, museums, stadiums…

Investment banks with derivatives exposure, ETF spinners, trading houses, oil companies, automakers and aerospace are in trouble. Possibly miners too. And schools.

But investors want to believe that the FED is going to fix it all. Thing is, we should hope the FED doesn’t try. If they do, we’re all going to wake up with 1000s of $ in our pockets, and nothing to spend it on.

The ONLY moneys (FED or fiscal) that should be spent is on buying test kits from Russia, respirators from Elon Musk, hospital beds and walls. The ONE thing we need is a victory against the virus. Nothing else.

— Dan W.

Dan the man, you hit the nose on the head … or something like that. And Timothy, you are absolutely right.

This is what Great Stuff has said for a while. You can pass a $2 trillion spending bill to help things along, but it won’t magically rehire 3.28 million workers filing for unemployment. It won’t stop the virus from spreading.

Hunker down, dear readers. It’s going to be a rough ride. But, if you stay tuned in to Great Stuff and BanyanHill.com, I promise to keep telling you like it is and help guide you through the storm.

Finally, a shoutout to Angela O., Christine P., Phil G. and the others who have offered Great Stuff support for telling you the truth. Sticks and stones … you know. Thank you all!

Have you written in yet? What’s stopping you? Drop me a line at GreatStuffToday@banyanhill.com and let me know how you’re doing out there in this crazy market.

That’s a wrap for today. But if you’re still craving more Great Stuff, you can check us out on social media: Facebook and Twitter.

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Editor, Great Stuff

[myhahnestopinion]

The Night A CANDID SEXUALLY-LIBERATING CLOCK Came Home: AMITYVILLE 1992 - IT’S ABOUT TIME (1992)

Happy Halloween, everybody! As we reach the end of another October, we also reach the end of this second installment of The Night X Came Home. This year, to celebrate the big day, I want to introduce a film that is truly special. I think I’ve done it, guys. I hereby present my nominee for the dumbest movie title in all of film history. Yes, you can forget your Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo’s and your 2 Fast 2 Furious’s. There is no movie title more groan-worthy, more baffling, more laughably bizarre, more beautifully blunt than this one. I present to you: Amityville 1992: It’s About Time.

Amityville 1992: It’s About Time is, indeed, about time. It revolves around a family being haunted by an ancient clock. There’s something charming about how upfront this movie is about this premise. Not since 1977’s Death Bed: The Bed That Eats, another delightfully inept horror gem, has a movie title felt so compelled to just lay out its central conflict for its audience. Just imagine, if you will, the producers’ meeting surrounding the naming of this film:

“Gentlemen, it’s about time for another entry in the profitable Amityville Horror series,” says the chairman. “Now, how do we convey to our audience that this film has something new to offer compared to the prior entries?”

As the rest of the board members mumble among themselves, one fresh-faced executive sits in the back of the room, his mind overcome by a single thought. He stands up suddenly, startling the rest of the board. “Say that again,” he says to the chairman.

“Say what again?” the chairman responds, confused.

“What you just said.”

“How do we convey…”

“No! The other part!”

“Gentlemen, it’s about time for…”

“Guys, I’ve got the perfect idea,” the young executive says, as a smug smile creeps onto his face.

And so, Amityville 1992: It’s About Time was born. And yes, this was definitely a case in which the title was designed first, and the plot crafted to fit into its absolute marketing genius. Now, of course, the true genius of this title stems from the fact that it can be read in multiple ways. One can of course read it as a blunt declaration of the film’s subject matter, but it also works as an exclamation that “It’s about time!”, as in something is finally happening that should have happened a long time ago. See, it works because it’s about time… for another Amityville movie…?

Wait, no, that doesn’t work on two levels. It had only been 2 years since the franchise’s last installment, and no one was really clamoring for a fifth entry. And by throwing the year of release in the title, for unknown reasons, it actually makes it look like you’ve already made one thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-one of these Amityville movies, in which case it would most definitely not be about time for another one! To top it all off, the film doesn’t even take place in Amityville.  Not a single element of this perplexing title works, outside of the embarrassingly proud declaration that this movie is, in the most general sense, about time. But even then, just barely.

The film opens on a house. No, not the iconic 112 Ocean Avenue Amityville house, with the gambrel roof and the quarter-round windows that almost look like eyes. No, we are left with that house’s stouter, blockier cousin, with two small square windows and an arched doorway. In a bewilderingly miraculous bit of incompetent production design, the attempts to make the construction of this house resemble a face, mirroring the original’s structure, is both extremely obvious and entirely unconvincing. But, hey, the “face” of this house is still more expressive than half of the actors in this crap.

Jacob Sterling, an architect, returns to this half-faced house, a package in his arms. He is greeted by his teenage children, Lisa, an agreeable teen dressed in overalls, and Rusty, whose attempt at edgy attire is as flagrant as the title of this movie. Also there is Jacob’s ex-girlfriend, Andrea, an art student who was looking after these children while he was away on a business trip. Jacob enters the house and opens the package to reveal an antique clock. “It’s what our house has been missing,” he says as he places it on the fireplace mantel. Yes, Jacob, some would say… IT’S ABOUT TIME this house had a clock on its mantelpiece! Ha ha ha ha!

Guys, these aren’t going to stop, so if you can’t handle it, better stop reading now.

Anyway, Jacob talks with Andrea about their past romantic relationship. Despite having broken up and Andrea dating another man, Jacob invites her to spend the night. “I don’t know,” she replies. “I hate having regret for breakfast.” Well, hey now, regret ain’t so bad! Just add a little sugar, pair that with your toast and orange juice, you got yourself a well-rounded breakfast! Pack up the leftovers, send it with your kids to school!

“What did your mom have for you today?”

“Oh, just regret.”

“Yeah, same. Wanna trade anyway?”

Well, turns out Andrea doesn’t mind the taste of regret after all, because she ends up sleeping with Jacob. During the night, the clock drills into the mantelpiece, firmly cementing itself. This is both an relevant and irrelevant plot point.

The next morning, Jacob goes for a run around the suburban neighborhood. While passing an undeveloped section, his watch breaks, because remember people, it’s about time. Suddenly, he spots an old woman and a dog. The dog lunges at him, tearing into his flesh with his sharp teeth and ripping his legs to shred. Cut to the hospital. The doctor comes up to Andrea and says, “He’ll be okay. He’s just suffered some discomfort.” Some discomfort? That dog completely eviscerated him! Well, I suppose that given the state of health care in this country, probably is best to downplay a dog shredding your legs apart to some mild discomfort.

So, Jacob becomes confined to house rest, and begins obsessing over his new architecture project. He starts building a model of a suburban neighborhood, with tiny model houses that resemble the Sterling home. “I’m thinking too small,” he mutters to himself when evaluating his model work. He violently pushes all the model homes off onto the floor, shouting, “It’s too small!” Yes, the suburb needs to be at least… three times bigger than this!

While Jacob works on his neighborhood, his edgy son Rusty is just too cool for school, so he skips to go… hang out with an old woman…? Huh, didn’t expect that. I guess he is kinda edgy!

Rusty tells this woman, Iris, about a weird event he experienced in the house last night. He flipped a lightswitch, and the room with the clock in it was transformed into a torture chamber from the 1800s. Both Iris and Rusty obviously conclude that there is something evil going on in the house. “It’s like that Skull Crusher song,” Rusty says, quite edgily. “Evil rules, it has it rules, and the world’s your oyster, grab her and hoist her.” Um, sure, yeah, the situation is exactly like those lyrics. There’s evil… and oysters… and hoisting…

Unfortunately, before Rusty is able to hoist his oyster, he is questioned by the police after a swastika is painting on a neighbor’s house. Amityville 1992: It’s About Hate Crimes!

Andrea begins staying at the house in order to care for Jacob as he recovers, but, while there, strange things start happening. Black sludge starts forming on the floors. Hours to some are minutes to others. Her boyfriend starts hanging out around the house, taking baths, and wearing a bathrobe about. …Okay, the strange element of that boyfriend subplot is supposed to be a scene where the boyfriend hallucinates Jacob confronting him at gunpoint, but, let’s be honest, this man wandering around his lover’s ex-boyfriend’s house all alone in his bathrobe is weirder than an evil clock hallucination. Amityville 1992: It’s About Taking Baths In A Stranger’s Home!

The most dangerous aspect of this haunted clock has yet to be revealed though! Because Andrea is now using her bedroom, wholesome daughter Lisa is sleeping in the living room with the clock. The clock ticks too loud for her to sleep, so she gets up and walks over to examine herself in the mirror. She blows her reflection a kiss, but suddenly the reflection begins to run its hands over its body in ways that Lisa never did and never would dare dream of, being the well-behaved daughter that she is! Reflection Lisa reaches its hands out, through the mirror, and begins caressing regular Lisa’s breasts, before sliding its hand down lower on her body. Amityville 1992: It’s About… well, you know. Lisa is seduced by this reflection’s power, but, come on, let’s be honest, who among us would go for a little mirror reflection action if given the chance? I mean, let’s be honest!

So, having been awaken to the wonders of the clock’s powers, Lisa becomes a full-blown sexual deviant, replacing her wholesome overalls with a short dress and suit jacket combo. Wow, this clock truly is an evil foe! Like Hello Mary Lou! Prom Night II before it, Amityville 1992: It’s About Time shows a profound understanding of the most terrifying thing that can ever exist. Say it with me now, everybody! Women… in… control… of… their… sexuality!  Quickly, we must stop this clock before it gives autonomy to more of our daughters! Won’t somebody think of the children?!!

Having now seen the true extent of the powers infecting his house, Rusty returns to Iris to pinpoint the source of the evil. Recalling the details of the red torture room he saw to Iris, they are able to discover that the clock once belonged to a schoolteacher who wished to become immortal. “He had a habit of choosing the best and brightest of his students and eating them,” Iris reveals. Eating the best and brightest of the class? Now, I don’t know much about rituals to become immortal, but based on all the schoolteachers I’ve known in my life, I feel like they would be much more prone to eating the unruly troublemakers of the class instead.

While Rusty learns of the clock’s origins, Lisa is putting her newfound sexual liberation to evil use, seducing her boyfriend Andy. Following a trail of removed articles of clothing back to her garage, Andy discovers Lisa dressed only in his varsity jacket, lying in the middle of a train set. Yes, she’s seductively laying in the middle of a model trainset. “Choo, choo. All aboard,” she says in a suggestive tone. Hey, give her a break! It is her first attempt at seducing someone ever!

And, as it turns out, this horrible punny line works on Andy, who walks over to her, only to find his food stuck on some black sludge on the floor. The sludge melts his body into goo, and he goes down the drain, in what is a perfect metaphor for the quality of the Amityville franchise.

Lisa and Jacob are completely under the control of the clock’s dastardly influence, and so now it is up to Rusty and Andrea to stop them. Rusty heads up to his bedroom and finds Lisa on the floor, covered in blood. “It’s so horrible,” she stutters.

“What is?” inquires Rusty, as he picks her up off the floor.

“That your my brother,” she responds, as she licks the side of his face.

Amityville 1992: It’s About Incest!

The bedroom door slams shut behind him. “Open it!” he shouts angrily, and Lisa begins to slowly take off the varsity jacket she’s wearing. “No, I mean the door!” Rusty responds.

I don’t even have words for that moment. I’m just going to present it to you, make of it what you will.

As his sister pins him down and attempts to kiss him, Rusty grabs the plug for his electric guitar amp and jams it into Lisa’s nose, electrocuting and killing her. Sure, whatever. That’s not how electricity works, but this film isn’t about electricity, it’s about time, dagnabbit! Plus, there’s some phallic/penetration symbolism that could be gleened from this amp-plug-into-nose bit, but analyzing this movie in depth for symbolism wouldn’t really be worth my… time… Man, this film really is all about time! I’m wasting my time on it! Argh! You got me, evil clock!

While this incest thing is going on, Andrea confronts Jacob downstairs. Fully under the influence of the clock, he pins her to the wall. “This is about power!” he tells her. Wait, this is about power? I thought it was about time? Amityville 1992: It’s About Power, I Guess! Grabbing Jacob’s large architecture compass, Andrea stabs him through the legs, immobilizing him. “Time!” he shouts, while withering on the ground. “I need more time!” No, fairly certain you need new legs, dude.

So, with Lisa  and Jacob taken care of, attention turns to the clock. “It’s time!” Andrea cries, as she grabs a T-square and charges at the clock! Oh, wow! How riveting! The whole movie has been building towards this conflict! How will our dashing heroes defeat this… inanimate object… Huh. Yeah, why was a clock the villain in this again? Something, something, about time…?

Yes, the climax has all of the riveting action you would expect from a battle against a clock. They can’t just throw the clock on the floor, because it has drilled itself into the mantelpiece. Told you that was a somewhat relevant plot point. So, the clock starts fighting back. It spins its hands, and turns Rusty into a baby. It spins them again, and pushes Andrea away. Andrea swings at the clock with the T-square, hitting a gas pipe instead. She then lights a match, engulfing the clock, and the screen, in flames.

We’ve travelled back in time to the beginning of the movie. Rusty is back to normal age. Jacob is well again. Lisa no longer has any independence as a woman. Everything is back the way things are supposed to be for the Sterling family! Andrea retains all her memories though. Just like in the film’s first scene, Jacob comes in with a package, and opens it to reveal the clock. Andrea instantly picks it up, and smashes it to pieces, storming out of the house. “What the hell was that all about?” Jacob asks, puzzled.

“It’s about time,” Andrea responds.

Just… slow clap, everybody. Slow clap for this movie. Slow. Clap.

This has been Amityville 1992: It’s About Time. I don’t know what more can be said about this film that wasn’t already there in the title. That’s all you need. True, the title doesn’t convey everything. Only by watching this masterpiece can one understand the dangers of unmovable clocks, of taking a bath in a stranger’s home, and of sexually liberated women. This are the things that will forever haunt my dreams now. For those not capable of stomaching the terrifying horrors that await within this movie though, do not despair! For this film has so wisely given us a title that is so candid, so beautifully blunt, that one only needs to read it to feel as though they have had a satisfying experience.

Amityville 1992: It’s About Time. It truly was about time.

And, so, it is also time for this volume to come to an end. I hope you’ve all enjoyed joining me on this strange and often painful journey into the weird world of horrible horror. Despite being exposed to far more incompetent plotting, illiterate scripting, and incest than any person should ever be exposed to, I believe it has been another successful year. Can’t say I’m not ready to take a break though, for the sake of my sanity. But, worry not, for it won’t be long before it’s time for The Night X Came Home to come back yet again.

Amityville 1992: It’s About Time is available on DVD.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE!!