#was completely LOST watching the first 3 minutes of p2

[artificialalienn]

The new eddsworld episodes dont work because they arnt writing them in a format. Its literally “uhh lets do a beach episode, and we will put beach related jokes in” every beyond episode feels circled around the bits (that often fall flat) rather than telling a story.

It was dreadfully obvious to me that surf and turf part 1 and 2 were NOT written at the same time 😬…

Thats why i think the comics are superior. The writing team can make funny jokes. But not episodes(stories) everything (minus the animation) lacks a-lot of enthusiasm and passion

[softtdaisy]

max + “i’m sorry i let it get this bad. you’re right, i should’ve come to you.” <3

Pairing: Max Verstappen x Leclerc!female!reader

Words: 1434

A/n: antsy Max inspired me a lot apparently fsjng thank you for your request love, it was a pleasure to finally write for him  

You never listened to people’s opinion about your relationship. Sure, you could understand that they were intrigued by Leclerc’s little sister dating Verstappen. The sister dating the rival. It was some kind of romance trope that some fans loved, others hated because they were sure you would betray one of them.

But you never listened to these voices. Because your brother and your boyfriend both knew that you weren’t a menace nor some kind of spy social media wanted to make you. You were just a woman in love. And you promised to never talk to each other about cars and strategy or anything related to F1.

Which was what made the situation even worse for you. 

Formula One was heading to Monaco which was at the same time the best and worst weekend for you. Of course you were happy to be home, to see your brothers driving here. Nothing compared with the craziness of the Monaco Grand Prix. But it was the only weekend where you felt conflicted between supporting Charles or Max. 

Thankfully, Max was understanding. “If you don’t support your own brother at his home race, when will you?” he laughed one night when you were in bed together. “But it’s really the only race I can accept to see you support Ferrari.” It was one of your favorite private jokes. How he couldn’t look at the Ferrari merch in your wardrobe and how he was complaining when the scuderia put stories of you on Instagram with your brothers. He would never prevent you from supporting them. But for him, Red Bull looked better on you.

��And I thought red looked good on me.” you replied, pouting. He took away that pout by kissing you softly.

“I prefer when you don’t wear anything.”

You knew the weekend would be harder than you thought when Max started to complain about the car after the first free practice. You met him in the garage, right after he left the car. He looked disappointed and threw off the cap he had been wearing for…two minutes, maybe. “What’s wrong?” you asked him, immediately taking his head between your hands to make him look at you. It took him a few good seconds before his blue eyes softened a little.

“The car is shit, this weekend. That’s what’s wrong.” He sighed before sitting on the chair just right next to you, taking you with him on his knees. It felt more intimate, like it was just the one of you. “It feels like I can’t control it entirely, I almost lost it multiple times! That’s the worst scenario, especially here.”

You felt his fingers tapping on your knees, something he did every time he was anxious and he was trying to find his peace again. So you let him do it and offered him a soft kiss on the lips. You couldn’t reassure him completely, you couldn’t be sure the car would be fine on sunday. You could just support him and love him. That was what you did. But it wasn’t enough.

Max still managed to be P2 on the grid, right next to Charles. Some kind of nightmare scenario, if you were asked. You didn’t even watch the start, so scared they would hit each other. They didn’t. 

Not yet.

After their first stop, Max was ahead. And Charles attacked him, like he would always do. It lasted for two laps. Until Max’s car stopped behaving correctly. When Charles tried to overtake him, the Red Bull went completely off the track. And you knew for sure that it was the same issue Max had from Friday, that he couldn’t do what he wanted with it. Max was out. Charles was on his way to win his home race.

You were in the Ferrari garage, so you couldn’t even go and see your boyfriend. It killed you to know he was by himself there. You sent him some messages but he didn’t answer them. At some point, when it got clear that nobody would overtake Charles less than five laps before the end, you went on social media. And you saw the comments. Apparently, there were rumors that the Red Bull had issues this weekend. You had no idea where it came from. Apparently walls have ears everywhere. 

But the worst part was that some people thought you said something. That the way Charles attacked wasn’t normal, that he probably knew something was wrong with the car. That you told him about your boyfriend’s issue.

You thought it was stupid. Until it became clear that among all the people believing this, there was your boyfriend.

You didn’t see Max after the race. Not during the podium ceremony, where you cried from seeing your big brother. Not during the media panel, like he had disappeared. Not until the party that was planned after the race.

He was there, chatting with some Red Bull mechanic and having a drink. Like he hadn’t been avoiding him for hours now. You went straight to him, leaving Arthur by himself. “Max!” he turned around, more from the habit of looking at you when you entered the room than from wanting him. “I’ve been looking for you all afternoon.” you put a hand on his arm. And he immediately moved to let it slide away.

“Maybe it was a sign I didn't want to talk to you.” You hated that sound. You had arguments before. But never, ever, did Max use that tone with you. The one he used with people he didn’t like. With journalists that portrayed him like a monster. With drivers that were playing with his nerves. 

You noticed the mechanics taking a step back. “What’s wrong with you?”

Max finally turned to look at you. “You. You telling Charles about the car so he can win.” You never thought he would think so badly of you. Imagining you could betray him so easily. You didn’t even have the strength to answer him. You rolled your eyes, trying to keep the tears in your eyes and nowhere near your cheeks. 

If this is what he thought of you, then you had nothing to do here. You didn’t have the heart to party. So you gave Max one last look, apologized to Charles when you saw him, before leaving and going home. 

You didn’t even cry. You just sat on your bed, looking at the wall and trying to understand the hell that happened today. You ignored your brothers’ text, even turned your phone so you didn’t have to watch the screen light up every minute. 

Then it rang. And you ignored it again. 

Then the bell rang. And you thought it was weird.

When you looked at your phone again, you saw the text. “Open. It’s me”. It was Max. And before you even realized it, you were now at your door to open it. And he was really there. Looking miserable. His hair was messy, his eyes were red and his hands were shaking. He was miserable. But not because he was drunk. Because he knew he might lose you tonight.

“What? You discovered new things about my non-existent plan to ruin your race?” you asked with a sarcastic smile before turning your back at him. You knew he would come in, whether you wanted it or not.

You heard him sighed. “I’m sorry…I was wrong.”

“Yes!” you screamed. “Yes you were wrong Max. How could you even imagine I would say anything to Charles? I never did! I never said anything to him or to you about him. You should have answered my text and my call. You should have come to you. So I could have calmed you down. Rather than see me as some traitor.”

You didn’t realise you had closed your eyes until you felt Max’s arms around you. You didn’t push away. You didn’t return the embrace, though. “I'm sorry I let it get this bad. You’re right, I should’ve come to you.” you nodded silently until your head fell on his shoulder.

You stayed like that for a few minutes, you both needed this peace and to calm all your stress and anxiety. You both needed to know you had each other.

“I’m sorry, you didn’t even stayed to celebrate Charles’ win.” he whispered in your ear, holding you even tighter as if you would leave him suddenly to go back there and leave him alone.

“It’s fine.” you replied, looking at him in the eyes. “Charles has plenty of people to celebrate. You need me. And I need you.”

[songofsongs214]

“Anchor”-A Tim and Lucy Novella

Summary: When you’re about to go somewhere that is unknown, what you’re looking for is something or someone to keep you rooted in who you are. This is a bit of an AU but set before the season 3 finale before Lucy goes undercover. 

Hello everyone! SO this is my submission to the Chenfordfanficweek2021 for the “free category”. I’ve been editing and working on this piece for about 4 months now and I hope you all enjoy it. Also, I have to post it here for now, because my invitation to join Archive of Our Own got extended to July 31 😭

Warning: there are mentions of drug addiction, and there's a lot of kissing. So if either of those are triggering for you, I don’t recommend it. Let me know what you think! This is the first fanfiction I’ve written in 15 years, so I know I’m a little rusty but I’m actually pretty proud of it. Huge shout out to @farfarawaygirl for her encouragement to share and her willingness to read over this multiple times and giving me extremely helpful feedback. I hope you still like it after I changed the title 3 times 😛

Lucy Chen was vibrating with excitement. Harper had asked earlier at the beginning of her last shift if she was ready to go on her first undercover assignment. She’d been waiting and hoping it would be soon since she became a P2, but she didn’t anticipate it would be the first month of her second year. She didn’t think she had made enough of an impression yet to be trusted with this assignment.  When Harper had briefed her on the case, she had revealed that she was going under as “The Chemist” again and this time it would be for an extended operation. 

As she was driving down the boulevard, Lucy watched the road as the light from the line of streetlights would flash in and out of her car interior bathing her hands in an orange glow. Lucy remembered when she had been in the station in the room with Sargent Grey as he told her how this was going to work for her. She was instructed that she couldn’t take what belonged to her on assignment. No photos, no hair care products she had purchased with her own money. No jewelry. That last one was what she was the most apprehensive about. She looked down at the opal ring on her finger and twisted it slowly back and forth as she kept one hand on the steering wheel. 

Without these reminders she had started to wonder what was going to anchor her to herself. She wore her ring on a daily basis when she wasn’t in uniform, and it grounded her just like the day she threw it off her finger; it stabilized her when she had the ring thrown back to her from the hands that had lifted her away from her death. 

What if I can’t remember who I am when I’m under? What if I forget that I have a life outside of those circumstances? 

It had been a week since Harper’s offer and 3 days since she had been briefed by Sargent Grey. Nova. She had tried the name out on her lips earlier that day and something about it felt familiar and foreign at the same time. She had been so excited until she saw his face and just like that her excitement was tempered and she felt a sense of dread she didn’t feel before. 

Finally, she had reached her destination. She put her Nissan in park and pressed the button that shut the engine off. She was sitting outside of his house hoping to try and get an answer to a question that had been running around in her mind without fail this entire week. Tim knew she was going under the next day. He had been in the squad room when she told him. She didn’t think he should have heard it from anyone else. So why did he walk away? 

He had worn his stern face not  giving away anything except for the glimmer of surprise and anger she saw in his eyes for a brief moment. 

He’d mumbled “Good luck” and “Be safe” then he walked away without another word. 

That wasn’t good enough for her. She was not going to let him just leave her and pretend that he had no opinion when she knew for a fact he did. 

Which is what brought her to his door at this hour of night. Truth be told it was only 9 pm, but it might as well have been midnight with the amount of nerves that were coursing through her body at this moment. 

She had parked just shy of the driveway as she stepped out of the car and shut the door, pressing the button to lock all the doors without the beep of her key fob. She started walking up the path to the front door and she froze just staring at the outside door. Her palms were sweaty and she started to wring her hands out in front of her. 

Maybe I shouldn’t do this. Maybe it would be safer to just turn around and go home and prepare for a new life with a bottle of tequila instead.

Before she lost her nerve, she lifted her hand and knocked on the door. She didn’t know how long she waited there. It could have been 30 seconds; it felt like 30 minutes. Finally, she saw the light switch on in the living room and Tim opened the door. 

To say that Tim’s face was shocked was an understatement. His eyebrows had shot up with his eyes blown slightly wide open looking briefly disarmed. 

He looked insanely good for him just being home alone.

 Well I hope he was alone. 

She didn’t see any shoes lined up at the door and Tim didn’t look like he was waiting on anyone. 

Tim was wearing the same shirt she had seen him wear on her Plain Clothes Day. His blue shirt looked like he had just pulled it over his shoulder with its wrinkles. He adjusted it so it was pulled forward then his arms were crossed across his chest. 

She opened her mouth, but words failed her. 

He beat her to it and found his voice first, “Lucy?” He said carefully almost as if to test if she was a mirage. 

“What are you doing here? I thought your first day was tomorrow, shouldn’t you be prepping?” He paused and searched her face and stared her directly in the eye

 “Or did you change your mind?”

Tim looked at her with an intense gaze and for a second she could swear she was his rookie again and he was scrutinizing her every thought. Typically, one look from him would spin her out, but she wasn’t his rookie and she didn’t come all this way to fall on her face. 

Lucy looked up at him trying to remember the rehearsed words she had figured out on the car ride here. 

Her voice didn’t sound like her own when she replied, “I’m leaving tomorrow and I wanted a reminder of who I am before I go.” 

She took her eyes away from his eyes and stared ahead of her almost ready to bail all together. She took a deep breath and stood up a little straighter. 

“I needed to see you and I had a question I needed an answer to.” She finished with more boldness than she started as she took a step forward. 

Tim’s eyes narrowed then he put his arms down to his sides placing his hands in his pockets. 

“What answer are you looking for from me?” His voice was a little deeper than it was before. 

Lucy knew this was her now or never moment, she could tell him all of these reasons right here outside of his door while he was on the other side of the threshold ;where she wanted to be more than anything. Or she could show him. 

Lucy took another tentative step forward so she was almost touching his chest with her proximity. By this point Tim’s hand had come out of his pocket, but before he could say anything, she had stood up on her tip toes and reached her hand around his neck and gently pulled him down and pressed her lips to his. 

At first, neither one moved. It was almost as if they were afraid to respond. Then Lucy could feel Tim’s hands on either side of her waist pressing his finger tips in. 

Tim’s lips moved first over hers. He slid his lips in between hers and he tugged gently on her bottom lip pulling it into his mouth. She clutched at the hair on the back of his head as she pushed her head forward slightly being pulled into his proximity even more. 

At some point, Tim had pulled her inside his house and had closed the door. His hands moved from her waist to cupping her face. They stood in his living room kissing just testing the feeling out. Lucy could feel Tim’s hands move from around her face and grip the back of her head gathering her hair tresses in between his fingers. 

Briefly, Lucy slipped her shoes off at the door, so she matched his barefoot appearance. She could hear the quiet thud as the shoes hit the floor and she kicked them to the side away from them without pulling away from Tim. 

Lucy kissed him back with every feeling she didn’t know how to tell him. She teased her tongue at the seam of his mouth and silently asked for permission to enter his mouth and deepen the kiss. He obliged and opened his mouth to let her in. As she continued her ministrations, he moved one hand to the small of her back pulling her flush against his body. 

Wow he’s actually really REALLY good at this. 

Lucy’s hands moved to push Tim’s button down shirt off of his shoulders, but she couldn’t get it completely off of him. He chuckled slightly against her lips,  pulled away, and shrugged it off. He wasn’t gone for long, he pulled her to him within the tense of a breath and Tim removed her cardigan and wrapped his arms around her waist completely. 

Both of them stood with just their undershirts as they continued to test these waters they both had been too afraid to jump into. 

Suddenly, Tim stilled his hands on her hips and pulled back with his forehead resting on hers. 

“Lucy” he whispers it and his warm breath breathed across her lips. 

Lucy tries to say words but all that comes out is a whisper “Tim...that was..” 

He cut her off before she could finish.

“Unexpected?” he chuckles with a lopsided grin she could see. 

Lucy laughs quietly too. She moved her hands from his shoulders back around his neck to anchor herself because she feels like she’s going to fall over. 

“Lucy, I was on my way to see you, I didn’t like how silent I was to you. I wanted to tell you I…”

Lucy didn’t let him finish as she reached up as she pushed herself upward and kissed him instead. She took control this time as her lips glided over his. She nipped at his bottom lip which caused him to shudder and groan quietly. She let go with a small pop and she moved her lips to murmur in his ear

“I wanted to talk too, but you know right now I want to see what the show me kind of guy will do instead.”

Tim stared at her for a beat. His eyes looked down to her lips and back up her eyes. Lucy thought he had decided not to continue. Instead, he started kissing her again. Suddenly, his hands lifted her up onto his waist  holding her with his arms wrapped around her as she straddled his waist. 

He carried her down the hall and took her into what she assumed was his room. He placed her down on her feet and slowly turned her so her back was against his chest. He placed his hand on her hip bone and stroked where her shirt had risen up. Tim had used his other hand to sweep her hair off of her shoulder that exposed her neck to him. She leaned to the side slightly so he could have full access. 

Tim’s mouth feathered kisses down her neck and onto her shoulder. Lucy shivered. Then, he moved his kisses upward to the shell of her ear where he nipped and took it gently between his teeth. 

Lucy squirmed from the intensity of the feelings and pressure building up in her belly all the way down to her toes. Sensing her trying to move away from him, he moved his hand from her hipbone to splay his fingers flat across her stomach firmly, but not too tight. Lucy moaned quietly as she felt the stubble of Tim’s face against her skin. 

Tim says huskily in her ear “So, what question did you want me to answer?” 

Lucy spins herself around so she’s facing him in the dark with only the slivers of moon streaming through the blinds. 

“Remember when I said we didn’t need to talk.” 

Lucy feels Tim smile against her lips and he kisses her quickly, then he pulls away while running his hands down her upper arms. Lucy hears him speak and Tim’s voice sounds like it’s all around her. 

“But what about tomorrow?”

Lucy reached up her hands to cup his jaw. 

“Tomorrow, I’m Nova.” But tonight my name is Lucy Chen. and I just want to keep kissing you.” 

Lucy leans forward just hovering over his lips, ”Please Tim.” Her eyes look into his and glance down to his lips. 

Tim looks down at her with a look that she hasn’t had the privilege of seeing until now. His eyes wander over her face and his admiration and fear shines back at her through his blue eyes. He groans out loud as he places his hands tenderly around her face rubbing his thumbs over her cheeks. 

“I want to kiss you, I want to continue this..but you’re leaving tomorrow. And I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again.” 

Instantly, Lucy takes in his words and knows that he’s remembering back to when Isabel had said similar things to him before she walked out on her final assignment as the Isabel he knew.  She had lost herself. She had become someone else. Lucy looks down and steps away from him, but she doesn’t step away too far. 

She runs her hands over her hair trying to smooth it out from his ministrations. She catches her breath as she watches Tim look down and away from her catching his own. 

Lucy sits on the bed behind her and reaches out her hand for Tim to take. Tim wraps his fingers around hers as she tugs him down to sit next to her on the edge. Tim releases her hand and turns on the small lamp on his nightstand that adds a quiet glow to the room which illuminates his face to her. Now, she can see the tension and conflict in his eyes that’s written all over his features that the dark had hid from her before as he had run his hands down her body. 

I was too distracted. How could I have missed this? 

Lucy reached for his hands and held them in hers. He looked down at their joined hands, but he didn't look her in the eye. His jaw tenses. Lucy is thrown by the sadness she feels coming off of him where desire had been before. She lifts one of her hands from his to turn his face towards her with her hand on his cheek. She looks at him with tears shimmering lightly in her eyes that are reflecting his own. 

“Tim I’m not Isabel, I know she volunteered right out of the gate when she could. I was asked to do this assignment because they  trust me to follow protocol. I know you’re looking at me now and you see her, but Nova is an alter ego not someone I want to become.” 

Tim’s expression hardens slightly as he speaks, “Isabelle was known for her professionalism. She had hundreds of successful ops, until me day she didn’t. One minute she was bringing down drug dealers, the next she was she was the one lining their pockets.. and other things..” Tim pulled away from her and turned  his body towards the nightstand opposite of her. 

He continued, ”Some officers in her department said it was her relationship with me that caused her to be more willing to compromise. Her shrink at rehab told me that it was her feelings for me that clouded her judgement and she was already ready to consider those compromises to seem insignificant.”

Lucy had started to tear up at his words. He still held all this guilt that he was somehow responsible for her and for the choices she had made. 

He thinks he’s the reason she failed. He thinks her having feelings for him caused her to fall down into the pit of addiction. 

“Tim, remember when I told you that addiction affects the family of an addiction just as much as the addict.”

He nodded with his head down staring at the floor rubbing his hands together in front of him. 

She couldn’t bear not touching him in some way, letting her physical touch provide comfort to him about a past she hadn’t been a part of, but who she was repeating in front of him. 

Lucy moved herself closer to him on the bed so her thighs were resting against his. She felt a jolt go through her, but she was more interested in this intimacy with him more than sex. She put her arms around his shoulders holding on to him. She hoped her words could help him to see the truth and to start to let go of all the lies inside his head. 

“Tim, I care about you. You are brave, and considerate. You are calculating, but never cruel. You’re never cruel. You didn’t cause Isabelle to succumb to addiction. You are incredible, but you are not that powerful. She was her own person before she met you and even though you were married she was always the one responsible for herself. She took that needle in her hands. She injected it. These were her choices. It’s not your fault what happened.” 

By this point Tim had stiffened and his shoulders slumped forward as he started to shake a little under her hands. There were tears falling down his cheeks.

Lucy reached up and wiped some away leaning her head against the side of his face holding  him. 

“It wasn’t your fault. Going undercover wasn’t the cause of her losing herself, it gave her the opportunity to fall into a hole she had already felt before. Addicts aren’t just created overnight. There are thoughts ahead of time, there are many factors. But hey remember she’s clean now. She has her life; she lived. And you know why? A big reason is because you didn’t give up on her. You helped her.”

Tim cleared his throat and wiped his tears away. He turned to her finally so she could see his eyes. 

“Okay. But Lucy what happens if you’re put in the same position as she was? What if it’s a matter of life and death? How do I know you’re not going to wash out with no one there to bring you back.”

Lucy spoke quietly, “I’m not Isabelle Tim. I’m a different woman and our relationship is different.” 

“Seems pretty damn similar,” he says bitterly. “Except I’m compromising your career now. How can I call myself a training officer again.”

Wow he is so self deprecating. Now he’s trying to push me away. I must have seen him too cleary. 

Lucy speaks up, “I am the cop I am because YOU trained me. Your training has saved my life countless times. To be honest, I never expected to have feelings for my training officer.  And to be fair, I didn’t actually feel the depth of my feelings for you until after I became a p2. I’m not here because you took advantage of me. I’m with you right now because I want to be. I will NEVER regret knowing you. You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re not going to ruin me.”

Tim lifts his head and looks into her eyes. She sees that they’re slightly puffy from his burst of emotion and reaches forward to kiss his forehead.

Lucy follows quickly. “Okay your turn Bradford because I’d say that was a pretty great declaration of feelings here. I’m not sure you could follow that up.”

Tim laughs softly before he speaks. 

“Lucy you were my rookie and I hadn’t thought about you and I together like this. But I remember when you were taken and I chalked up my reaction to guilt and responsibility but the truth is I was terrified that I would never be able to see or talk to you again. Then, when you confessed feelings for me on our last shift, it felt like the world had dropped out below me. I was confronted with what I knew but was unable to acknowledge. Lucy, that terrified feeling I felt when you were buried is how I feel right now knowing you’ll be gone and in danger.” 

Lucy nodded her head and tried to contain the tears that were gathering in her eyes. The weight of Tim’s vulnerability and the reality that she is gone tomorrow suddenly hits her like a punch to the gut. 

At that moment, she reached out and placed his hand around her waist and she tucked herself into his side placing her head against his chest. 

Tim took the hint and pulled her closer to him wrapping his arm tightly around her and rested his head on hers. 

“I’ll be okay. I’m going to come home.”

His hands start to draw circles along her side under her shirt. 

“You can’t promise that, but I appreciate you trying. I’ve been in this position and I want you but If I’m being honest I don’t know if I can do this again.” 

Lucy’s stomach drops with the falling of his words. She turns them over analyzing every syllable. After she lets his words wash over her,  She starts to disentangle herself from leaning into his body and she clenches her teeth to prevent the tears from finally gushing out. 

“Well I should go..”

Before she can complete her task or her words, Tim pulls her onto his lap instead and wraps his arms around the small of her back burying his head in her neck. 

As he embraces her, she no longer stops the tears from falling as they run down her cheeks onto his shoulder. She almost misses it, but she hears Tim’s broken answer “Don’t”.

She’s sobbing before she can stop it. 

He holds her tighter to him as he starts to rub his hands up and down her back. It’s like all of her realizations and Tim’s trauma cascades over both of them as they hold on to each other holding on to this moment for dear life not sure how long it will last; if it will last. 

Tim’s voice is muffled in her ear as he continues to hold onto her. 

“Listen, I can’t change my past or erase the triggers I’m feeling right now. I can’t ignore them but I want to see where this can go. I want to find out what you and I can be. I can’t let you go. I know I shouldn’t, but I want you.”

She lifts her head from his shoulders to see the heat and determination in his eyes. She doesn’t think, she pushes forward and kisses him. 

Tim kisses her back and his hands move from her back and down to her upper thighs with his fingers digging into her pants. She starts to reach for the hem at the bottom of his shirt until she feels him pull away with his forehead resting on hers. 

He’s breathing heavily and his voice is low and strained, “I want you Luce. God knows I want this with you. But I just can’t be with you right before you leave. But when you come back, Tim Bradford finishes what he starts, you know that better than anyone.”

Lucy pulls away to look at him fully in the light. Tim reaches his hand up to brush the hair off of her face and behind her ear. 

“I would like to see it, and If anything this will give me something to look forward to. Hey, your feelings for me are not a liability. They’re an asset. Knowing you’re out there believing in me will encourage me to be the cop I need to be. I’ll remember who I am”.

Tim holds her face with both of his hands and he places his forehead against hers then he whispers to her that makes her heart beat even faster than before if that were possible. 

“If you need someone to remind you that you’re Lucy Chen, let me remind you. You are Lucy, the woman who arrested someone on her first day as a police officer. The woman whose compassion has saved more lives next to me than our guns have. The woman who I will not be able to stop thinking about for the next month. The woman who I am insanely attracted to. The woman who is doing the most meaningful thing with her life and many others are better for it including mine. And I’m so proud of you.”

Lucy stifles another sob. “Wow for someone’s that’s a show you type of guy you sure know how to say it too” 

Tim leans forward and speaks dangerously low with his hot breath hovering over her lips. 

“ Well stick around, I’m full of surprises.” 

Lucy laughs and wipes her eyes. She goes to get off of him ready to go home, but his arms stop her. 

“Wait, I meant it. I don’t want you to go. Will you stay with me tonight? I just want to feel you in my arms where you’re safe. Please?”

He looks at her with a hesitation and a shyness she hadn’t seen from him since she made his first audio book and she encouraged him to not be ashamed. 

Lucy kisses Tim chastely on the lips and holds onto his hair. 

“Okay, I think I can stay. Although I never imagined Tim Bradford would be begging me to stay. I think I like the sound of that” 

Tim smiles against her lips. “Don’t get used to it” as he falls against his pillows and takes her down with him. He spoons her with her back to his chest. He curls one arm around her waist and one arm around her shoulders as he kisses the side of her head. 

She snuggles up close to him pulling the covers over both of them as her eyes start to drift close. She falls asleep to Tim’s voice in her ear telling her how much he’ll miss her and for her to come back home to him.

She started her night worried she was going to forget who she was. And she ended her night wrapped in the arms of the man who has always known exactly who she was. She holds onto him who's always been her anchor. Suddenly, undercover work didn’t look as appealing as it did before, but as her eyes drift shut she realizes she can do this because she knows where she can go back home to.

[sardonic-courtney]

Crowley x Reader. We Met Before. P2/7

Summary: You end up living with Bobby after your parents die. You go to church and meet Priest Crowley and you end up getting along (if you know what i mean). A few years later when Bobby passes you move the the bunker with Sam and Dean and end up meeting Crowley again.

Part 1  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5  Part 6 Part 7

Warnings: Mention of loss, Spelling mistakes, Picture of gun (straight after keep reading), you go to church?

Around 1700 words.

Meeting:

(Around season 5 but not following story at all)

…the day before your 18th birthday. The day you can finally start training and helping on hunts. You fall asleep after the movie and wake up to your alarm reading 8.30am (Birthdate) Sunday. The day you had been waiting for. You could finally start training. Well after Sunday service, it was something your mother never failed to attend no matter what state she was hunting in and you kept that alive, even if you weren’t exactly sure how you felt about religion, but going helped you feel close to your mum again, and after hearing briefly about what the Winchesters had gone though it could be useful to learn a bit more. You got ready and headed to the kitchen where you met with Bobby.

“Happy Birthday kid” he said trying to sound as enthusiastic as possible, even though he had woken up kinda early on a weekend.

“Hey, I’m 18 now, no longer a kid.” You smiled at him.

He shook his head in response chuckling as he grabbed an envelope with a box attached to it. When you received it you could see your name written messily on the envelope in a blue ink, you opened it and to no surprise was a card with (Your fav animal) wearing a hat, just like every year. You smiled and read the inscription inside. Then headed for the black box with a gold ribbon loosely tied around, Bobby had never been the best at bows, but you love the effort. Untying and opening the box you see a silver gun with carvings on, and a wooden handle with a pentacle carved. (Like below but you can change to preference)

“I know it's not much, but it was your dad’s, the boys found it when they…” he trailed of for a second. “when they were searching the nest, I thought it was the best time to give it to you, seeing as you’re so god damned persistent on training.”

“I love it Bobby, thank you so much” You gently lay it on the table and encase him in a hug, which he allows for a few seconds”

“Alright” He said patting your back and stepping away, “just because you have a gun doesn’t mean you are ready to hunt though. Understood?”

“Yeah I know” you reply trying not to laugh at his stern expression.

“Right well there’s some (f/f) if your hungry” he said moving to reveal a plate behind him.

“Oh my gosh you didn’t have to” You say looking at the counter with a neatly plated breakfast. You grabbed it and sat down enjoying the change from the usual cereal or toast, and with a mouth half full asked. “When can I start?”

“Lunch time. We will start with some basics ways to hunt and defend yourself.”

You were about to speak when he interrupted guessing your thoughts.

“You won’t be going on any hunts anytime soon until you are 100% ready. You can help out with some of the research though”

You rolled your eyes, as if you didn’t already help with the research. You finished your food and said your goodbyes, Bobby probably heading back to bed for a nap, you left heading for church to see Priest Peter. He was a nice priest and you got to know him a bit with the visits you made.

You were stood outside the church on time at 9:30 when you friend Lena came up and you started heading in. Lena was lovely, you had met at your first church service and continues to go together ever since. You didn’t really see each other outside, but you grew close nonetheless. She was only a year older than you but sometimes it seemed like she was half her age. She like the rest of people outside your small family didn’t know it was your birthday, and you liked that.

“So (Y/N), did you hear Priest Peters gone away for a while?” she spoke grinning at you, unlike you she didn’t like Peter, said his voice made her want to sleep.

“What, how come? I didn’t hear anything” you replied completely confused.

“Yep, No one knows for sure, but I think it's something about a family member getting married in Australia.”

“So, do we have Marcus today then?” Marcus was as you called him jr Peter, he was still in training and followed Peter around like a lost dog.

“Must do” She replied smiling, she never said it but you could tell she liked Marus a lot more, you took your seats, you sat on the second row back always. It was good for the winter because it was next to a heater, and good for the summer because it was near an openable window. You and Lena sat and talked about pointless things until everyone had sat down and the service started.

The priest walked up, but it wasn’t Marcus or anyone you had ever seen before. It was a very attractive man. He had messy hair, and very short beard on his pale skin. He was slightly chubby and wearing the usual priest get up, but for some reason seemed slightly us of place. Your eyes were drawn to him, it was like you couldn’t look away.

“Good Morning. I am Father Crowley, and I will be covering for Peter whilst he is away at his sister’s wedding.” he spoke confirming Lenas rumor.

He had a beautiful English accent and managed to get everyone's attention without raising his voice. The service went on as usual, although you payed more attention to the man in front of you instead of his teachings of God. Before long, it was over, and you all got up to give blessings and mingle a bit before you were to go. After a while Lena had left having to go run an errand, and you were talking to an old woman you did the occasional job for who lived about 5 minutes away. Just as you finished your conversation and the women went out, your phone buzzed, and you pulled it out of your pocket. 10.45 am, and two new messages.

One from Sam “Morning (Y/N), Happy Birthday, hope you have a good day, me and Dean will try to visit soon, I found a book in the bunker library you will like.”

Another from Dean “Happy Birthday (N/N) good luck training today, have a good one. Me and Sammy will swing round in a couple weeks to check in and make sure Bobby’s not driving you too crazy. Be safe xx”

You smiled as you slid your phone away deciding to reply later. You had been close to the Winchesters after the accident, both becoming brothers to you, Dean was however much more protective of you then Sam was. You looked around and noticed you were the last to leave, as you turned towards the doors you noticed Father Crowley still stood there looking at you.

“Did you enjoy the service?” he asked casually walking over to you.

You hesitated a moment before replying with a simple “Yes”. You don’t know why but he made you feel slightly nervous, not in a bad way, but you couldn’t describe it. You noticed up close his eyes were a sort of green colour.

“Good, I’m new to holding services to be honest with you…”

“(Y/N)” you filled in the blank.

“(Y/N) what a lovely name. Do you always come to church (Y/N)?” He asked lingering on your name.

“Yes, Father every week” you replied composing yourself a little. “It seemed like you had done a thousand services before, I don’t think anyone noticed”

“Thank you, and please just call me Crowley, I’m not a big fan of the whole Father thing” he said smiling. “What were your thoughts on the passage read today?”

“I’m not sure. I think in some ways it………...but it seems a bit………” You gave your opinion and Crowley responded with a grin.

“I agree completely. Well I assume you will be here next week?”

“Yes, I will be, and you?”

“Peter will still be away so it will be me again for at least another 2 weeks. Would you perhaps like to meet up after service for coffee and discus some more of your views?”

“Sure, I would love to” you replied trying to hide your smile, “I better get going though, goodbye Crowley.”

“Until next time” he nodded as you left to go back home.

Meeting up next week? For coffee? You thought as you walked along the path. Okay (Y/N) don’t think to much into it, he just wants to talk about the service. Oh, why did I agree, I don’t want to sit and talk to a priest about the bible, although I do want to talk to this specific priest more. Why am I even worrying about it it’s not like it’s a date, can priests even date? I wouldn’t even want it to be, he seems nice and he is attractive, but if he can date he's probably already married he did seem a bit older. It's probably a group thing and he just invited me along to go with them, of course that makes sense.

You finally arrived though the front door and are greeted with the sound of yelling coming from in the house.

“…no, you idjit, you’re supposed to give them the second number if you want the FBI………. Just don’t mess up again your lucky I have common sense.” He put the phone down just as you walked in the room.

“What was that?” You asked sitting on a chair.

“The wheelers, giving out the wrong numbers again. Your back later than usual service run over?” He asked looking at his watch.

“No just stayed to chat a bit after, it was a new priest.”

“Ahh I see, well do you want to watch a film seeing as its your birthday we could go get some snacks and rent a movie?”

“No way, you’re not getting out of this one, you said we would train at noon, its 11:30. We can watch a film after.” You looked up at him and he frowned.

“I don’t know kid, maybe we should wait another year.”

“Nope no chance, I’m going to get changed and then we can start.” Bobby looked unimpressed so you added on a “Please.” Giving him puppy dog eyes.

“Fine all right, alright go change we can start today”

“Yay thank you” You yelled heading up the stairs to get changed.

 A/N I don’t really know what a service looks like because i haven't been to one for ages, so apologise about that. Sorry if your names Lena as well don't worry show wont be mentioned much. Thank you for reading hope you enjoyed it. :D

[formula365]

Making the pendulum swing - Turkish GP review

There are a lot of reasons motorsports fans love a race in a wet track. For one, rain is a great leveller, reducing the advantages of superior machinery and enhancing driver ability. Another reason is that it is fun to see some of the greatest drivers in the world have to wrestle with the steering wheel; reduced grip, at least to this level, is not a desirable outcome for every single race, but to have it on occasion makes for some great entertainment. And some spins are always a bit of fun to watch.

But the main reason why racing in the wet is so exciting is the unpredictability. These are special races, in which the logic of faster driver in a faster car will win does not (always) apply. Everybody loves an underdog, and these races are the biggest opportunities for unexpected winners in modern F1. Wet races can also provide plenty of changes in momentum, with the pendulum swinging in favour of one driver or another; if someone looks like being in control by lap 10, they might be out of it by lap 20 and back in it by lap 40.

This is exactly what we had in Istanbul this Sunday. Particularly in the first half, several drivers seemed to have the upper hand but, for one reason or another, they ended up falling down the order or, at the very least, could not compete with the eventual winner. In different periods of the race, Stroll, Perez, Verstappen and Albon all seemed like having the perfect set of circumstances to win the race. But Stroll couldn’t keep his tyres from graining, Verstappen and Albon spun out of contention and Perez decided to roll the dice and take the old tyres to the end, sacrificing pace for track position.

Perez’s strategy almost worked. Yes, he was significantly slower than several drivers behind him, and almost lost a place in the podium on the last lap, but he did manage his tyres superbly, as he usually does, to finish in a fine second place. It was, however, not enough to deal with the one man that continues to rise and astonish with how he makes the pendulum swing towards him.

Lewis Hamilton knew after qualifying that he didn’t need to do much in the race to clinch the world title. Bottas had struggled even more than he had, and was three places behind. Stay out of trouble, avoid crashing early and ensure Bottas finishes behind. The Finn made his job even easier by spinning on the opening lap and falling towards the back, from where he never recovered. A scoreless Bottas meant the title was in the bag. Hamilton didn’t need to push.

But he still went for it. He was stuck behind Vettel for a considerable period of time, which meant the Racing Points were too far down the road. As the pendulum swung between different drivers ahead of him, the champion-elect never really seemed with a shot of winning. But Hamilton bid his time and once he had clear air, he saw there was still an opportunity. And he is not one to waste opportunities. He clearly wanted to win the championship in style, not simply have it fall on his lap. In the past, he hasn’t often had the change to secure the title with a win. He wasn’t going to let that go this time around.

In the end, while all the other drivers who were there, or nearly there, made mistakes and lost their cool, Hamilton disappeared down the road, finishing a whopping 30-seconds-30 ahead of the pack. It was another demonstration, as if we needed more, that he does stand head and shoulders above everyone else on the grid. The young pretenders will have to wait a bit longer to dethrone him, because he shows no sign of losing his ability with age.

I try to not focus too much on the winners of a race, and not to write too often about Hamilton, but he makes it really difficult not to. He is a unique talent in the history of the sport and we should very much enjoy watching him while we can. Although there is plenty of talent in the coming generation, we might not see another driver like him for a long while.

Talking points * On Saturday it seemed impossible that we could see a Hamilton win. The Mercedes were completely out of pace, and it was Racing Point and Red Bull who had the fastest cars. It was an intense qualifying, that finished with a first pole for Lance Stroll. The Canadian gets a lot of stick because of his father’s money, but he does have bags of talent and he showed it on Saturday. The race might not have gone his way (Racing Point reporting there was damage to his front wing which caused the excessive tyre graining) but he should take comfort that, after a tough couple of months, he showed what he is capable of. He should use Saturday as a motivator to finish the season strongly. * Saturday also provided another concerning moment in terms of safety. At the start of Q2, drivers were sent out on track while marshalls were still in a run-off area, with a crane, recovering Latifi’s car. If your heart went racing back to Suzuka 2014, you were not alone. Race direction justified it by saying they had been informed the crane would be gone by the time drivers reached that point of the track, but there is no justification to even take that risk. A delay of 2 minutes would have been fine. After the issue with the marshalls on track at Imola, this is the second race in a row with less-than-optimal decisions from race direction. We should hope it’s not a trend, but Michael Masi appeared defensive afterwards and said he didn’t think anything should have been done differently. More than the decision itself, his reaction after the fact is not a good sign. * Wasn’t it great to see Vettel up on the podium again? He has had a torrid year, but had a quietly good race and was there to take advantage of his teammate’s error on the final chicane. It was probably his last podium in red, to leave a slightly sweeter taste to the end of his years with the Scuderia. * It was also great that he was there congratulating his great rival on another title. The respect Seb and Lewis have for each other is exemplary, both of them clearly aware of the hardships they had to go through to reach the very top. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see them go toe to toe more often in their careers. It should have been the great rivalry of this generation. * Sergio Perez’s form since it was announced he wouldn’t stay at Racing Point: P5, P4, P4, P7, P6, P2. And those P7 and P6 would have been P5 and P3 without strategy stumbles from the team. It’s ridiculous if he’s not on the grid next year. * McLaren continue to do what teams that reach the top do well: maximise their results and score valuable points even when their car is not the fastest. Both their cars started behind both Racing Points and Renaults, and yet, of those four drivers, only Perez finished ahead of them. Sainz had a bullet start and kept a cool head to finish P5, just behind the group fighting for the podium. His teammate had a horrible start and was last off the line, but recovered brilliantly to P8, and had a blistering pace towards the end, setting a fastest lap that was a second faster than the next best one. The car’s development might not have gone the way they hoped, but in every other aspect, this is a team firing on all cylinders. * Bottas had a nightmare race, seemingly incapable of keeping his car on the road. The team revealed he had suffered damage in a first lap contact with Esteban Ocon which could help explain his miserable day. Regardless of the causes, P14 is not a results anyone expects at Mercedes. At least now he is free to race the last 3 GPs without the title in his mind. I wonder if a pressure-less Bottas might put up some more of a fight in the coming weekends. * The two Red Bull drivers missed out on huge opportunities this weekend. After the first round of pit stops, the race was arguably Verstappen’s to lose, and, well, lose it he did. He was too greedy when trying to overtake Perez and destroyed his tyres in a spin, which forced to a second stop that effectively ended his race. If he was miserable after missing out on pole, I can’t imagine how he must have felt after the race. As for Albon, he is very much running out of time to impress the Red Bull hierarchy. After Verstappen spun, he was in great position to at least claim a podium, but like the Dutchman, he couldn’t keep his car on the road, and opened the door to Hamilton. To make matters worse, the driver who is apparently being considered to replace him finished second. Red Bull have said he will have until the end of the year to grab that seat, but one has to wonder how much can he genuinely do in the last 3 races after missing out on so many opportunities before? * What a tremendous qualifying from Alfa Romeo. Their pace disappeared on Sunday, but on Saturday Kimi and Gio were two of the stars, putting their cars in Q3. That this happened on Sauber’s 500th Grand Prix entry was only fitting; they couldn’t score points, but there was something for the team to celebrate about the weekend nonetheless.

* Renault’s topsy-turvy season continues. After 2 podiums in 3 races, they leave Turkey with just one point and their hopes of reaching third in the constructors’ championship dashed. They should do well in the final races of the season, as the power hungry Sakhir and the long straights of Yas Marina will favour their car, but if they want to be in the mix up front, they need to better understand the car and what makes it work (and what doesn’t). They have shown they can put together a competitive car, but they can’t win titles if they don’t show up every weekend.

[sidlyrics]

WHAT’s IN? - July 2007 - Keyword Q&A

¡A partir de la letra de la canción que da título al single "Natsukoi", elegimos palabras clave e hicimos preguntas en formato preguntas y respuestas! Tenemos una serie de respuestas que desbordan con la personalidad de cada uno de los miembros, llenas de eventos recientes pero también recuerdos, historias interesantes.

♪Noche P1. ¿Qué hacías ayer por la noche? M: Flexiones. S: Me pasé una hora en un timo de bar en Kitasenju. A: Miré la luna con Shinji. Y: Dardos.

♪Llovizna P2. No tienes un paraguas pero de repente comienza a llover cuando estás en una cita. ¿Qué haces? M: Besarnos. S: Hablar sobre el amor en una cafetería hasta que pare la lluvia (congelado). A: Abrazarla. Yo me convertiré en su paraguas. Y: En primer lugar, buscar un refugio frente a la lluvia.

♪Alzar el vuelo P3. ¿Qué hizo que tu corazón alzase el vuelo últimamente? M: Alguien a quien aspiro parecerme envió flores a nuestro concierto. S: Nuestro mánager me di software de FF. A: Completé mi equipamiento de Onazuchi. Vi a NIN (Nine Inch Nails) in Japan. Y: El McDonald's de cerca de mi casa ahora está abierto 24 horas.

♪Hilo rojo P4. ¿Puede verse el "hilo rojo"? M: No se puede. S: Sí. A: Como si yo lo supiera. Y: Puedes verlo ligeramente.

♪Resfriado de verano P5. Has pillado un resfriado de verano. ¿Qué haces para recuperarte pronto? M: Solo dormir. S: Darle vueltas a un negi en torno a mi cabeza. A: Dormir. Y: Ejercicio, ¿no?

♪Llamada telefónica larga P6. ¿Cuándo fue la vez que más hablaste por teléfono? ¿Con quién fue? M: 3, 4  horas. Mi novia por aquel entonces. S: Unas 5 horas. Con mi novia de cuando era estudiante. Pero, básicamente, no me gustan las llamadas telefónicas. A: No llamo o escribo a menudo. Pero hablé con Yuuysa durante 4 horas una vez. Y: Allá en bachillerato, unas 4 horas (con mi novia de aquel entonces).

♪Aprendido por experiencia P7. ¿Una cosa qué te haga pensar "ahora soy más sensato"? M: Apostar. S: Beber mucho. A: Hacer mosh. Perdí un pendiente. Y: Jugar a las tragaperras.

♪No puedo dormir P8. ¿Qué haces cuando no puedes dormir? M: Esa cosa. S: Final fantasy. A: MonHan (Monster Hunter). Y: Seguir bebiendo.

♪Esperar en vano P9. Cuando quedas con alguien y llegan tarde, ¿cuánto tiempo puedes esperar? M: Es complicado después de una hora. S: 5 minutos. A: 1h. Y: 1 minuto. Porque se me da mal pasar el rato.

♪Comprar un CD basándose en la portada P10. ¿Hubo alguna vez en la que compraste un CD por su portada y resultó ser música que te gustó mucho? ¿Cuál fue y de quién? M: Nada en particular. S: Sí. "VANING VISION" de X Japan. A: "Elva" de Unweitten Low [Unwritten Law] Y: Nunca lo he hecho.

♪Preocuparse P11. ¿Qué es algo que te preocupa mucho últimamente? M: Cosas relacionadas con la ropa. S: El pitcher Kuwabara de las ligas menores. A: Demasiadas noticias malas. ¿No se puede hacer nada? Y: El estado de las actividades de DEEN.

♪Invitación P12. Tienes muchas ganas de salir a beber hoy, pero a tus compañeros no les apetece. Invéntate una frase que te haga pensar "¡seguramente vengan si digo esto!" M: Tengo algo importante que contaros... S: ¡Os invito! A: ¿Deberíamos volver a Gonpachi...? Y: ¿Queréis ir a por sashimi del bueno?

♪Cumpleaños P13. ¿Qué regalo de cumpleaños comprarías para tu novia? M: Un reloj y un beso. S: PS3. A: Investigaría previamente sobre lo que le gusta. Luego lo compraría. Y: Polvo de oro encontrado tras una búsqueda desesperada en las montañas.

♪Discusión P14. Por favor, cuéntanos una discusión que te haya causado una gran impresión. M: Nada en particular. S: En el parking en mitad de la noche. A: Me puse encima y le pegué a alguien delante de una comisaría... O sea, nada de nada. Y: Nada en realidad.

♪Lo siento P15. ¿Si tuvieras que "disculparte" por algo aquí? M: Hoy llegué 8 minutos tarde. Lo siento. S: Siento lo de hoy. A: Cuando Mao-san se estaba echando champú, subí la temperatura del agua. Lo siento. Y: Siento lo de hoy (Shinji).

♪Ver de nuevo P16. ¿Algo que viste que pasase dos veces últimamente? M: El peinado de Aki. S: El pitcher Kuwabara de las ligas menores. A: Un flier que decía "¡hemos superado a Mos Burger!" Y: La forma de un OVNI.

♪Un esfuerzo inútil P17. ¿Una experiencia que te haga pensar "fue todo para nada~" cuando la recuerdas? M: Los días que siguieron inmediatamente a mi mudanza a Tokyo. S: Hay una cosa. De cuando tenía más o menos 20 años. A: Nada realmente. Y: Si te refieres al ralentí que sucede después de conseguir un BIG CHANCE en una tragaperras, entonces sí.

♪Querer quedar P18. ¿Con quién tienes más ganas de quedar? M: Egashira 2:50. S: Hotei Tomoyasu. A: No es una persona, pero el perro de la casa de mi primo. Y: Amigos de mi ciudad natal.

♪Fuegos artificiales P19. ¿La mejor situación para ver los fuegos artificiales según tú? M: Los cohetes en el mar de noche con mi novia. S: Verlos en yukata, lejos de la multitud. A: Quiero ver el Festival de Fuegos Artificiales de la Bahía de Tokyo desde un helicóptero. Y: Fuegos artificiales de algún festival de fuegos artificiales, visibles a ratos desde el tejado de un edificio.

♪ Anticipación P20. ¿De qué tienes más ganas ahora? M: De saber qué pasará con los Gogouki a partir de ahora. S: El pitcher Kuwabara de las ligas menores. A: El bajo customizado de Aki de ESP. Pronto se va a terminar el prototipo. Y: La secuela de Dragon Ball.

♪Atrevido P21. ¿Un incidente que te haga pensar "qué atrevido"? M: Perdí la opción de doble oportunidad tras ganar la primera. S: Mi amigo Koeto. Es tan atrevido que no puedo contarlo. A: Me compré una chaqueta de cuero y unos vaqueros de DIESEl sin pensar. Me sorprendí después (risas). Y: El hecho de que me pasé 4 horas caminando hasta casa desde Shinnihonbashi.

············································

From the lyrics to the title track "Natsukoi", we picked out keywords and formed questions in Q&A; format! We have a lineup of answers overflowing with each of their personalities, full of recent happenings and also memories, interesting stories.

♪Night Q1. What were you doing last night? M: Pushups. S: Spent an hour at a rip-off of a bar in Kitasenju. A: Looked at the moon with Shinji-san. Y: Darts.

♪Drizzle Q2. You don't have an umbrella but it suddenly starts raining when you're on a date. What will you do? M: Kiss. S: Discuss love at a cafe until the rain lets up. (freezing cold) A: Hold her close. I'll become the umbrella. Y: First of all, find shelter from the rain.

♪Soar Q3. What made your heart soar most recently? M: Someone I aspire to be like sent flowers to our live. S: Our manager gave me FF software. A: Completed my set of Onazuchi equipment. Watched NIN (Nine Inch Nails) in Japan. Y: The McDonald's near my place is now open 24 hours.

♪Red thread Q4. Can the "red thread" be seen? M: Can't be seen. S: Yeah. A: Like I'd know. Y: You can see it faintly.

♪Summer cold Q5. You caught a summer cold. What will you do to recover quickly? M: Nothing but sleep. S: Wind negi around my head. A: Sleep. Y: Exercise, right!

♪Long phonecall Q6. When's the longest you ever talked on a long phonecall? Who was it with? M: 3, 4 hours. My girlfriend at that time. S: About 5 hours. With my koibito back when I was a student. But basically, I dislike phonecalls. A: I don't call or text often. But I talked to Yuuya-san for 4 hours once. Y: Back in high school, about 4 hours (my girlfriend at that time).

♪Learnt by experience Q7. What's something that makes you think "I know better now"? M: Gambling. S: Heavy drinking. A: Moshing. I lost a earring. Y: Playing slot machines.

♪Can't sleep Q8. What do you do when you can't sleep? M: That thing. S: Final Fantasy. A: MonHan (Monster Hunter). Y: Keep drinking.

♪Waiting in vain Q9. When you arrange to meet up with someone and they're late, how long a period of time can you wait? M: It gets hard to after an hour. S: 5 minutes. A: 1h. Y: 1 minute. Because I'm bad at passing time......

♪Buying a CD based on its cover Q10. Was there a time when you bought a CD judging from its jacket, and it turned out to be music you really liked? What was it and who was it by? M: Nothing in particular. S: Yes. X JAPAN's "VANING VISION" A: Unweitten Low "Elva". [Unwritten Law] Y: I have never done that before.

♪Being concerned Q11. What's something you're very concerned about lately? M: Clothes-related. S: Pitcher Kuwabara from the minor league. A: Too much bad news. Can't something be done about it. Y: The state of DEEN's activities.

♪Invitation Q12. You really want to go drinking today, but your bandmates aren't up for it. Come up with a phrase that makes you think "They'll probably come if I say this!" M: I have something important to tell you... S: I'll treat you! A: Shall we go to Gonpachi again... Y: Want to go get some good sashimi?

♪Birthday Q13. What birthday present would you get for your girlfriend? M: Watch and a kiss. S: PS3. A: Research on what she seems to like beforehand. Then buy it. Y: Gold dust found by desperately searching in the mountains.

♪Quarrel Q14. Please tell us about a quarrel that left the most impression on you. M: Nothing in particular. S: At the carpark in the middle of the night. A: Straddled and kapow'd someone in front of the police post... I mean, nothing at all. Y: Nothing really.

♪Sorry Q15. If you had to say "sorry" for one thing here? M: I was late for 8 minutes today. Sorry. S: Sorry about today. A: When Mao-san was shampooing, I turned up the heat of the water. Sry. Y: Sorry about today. (Shinji)

♪See again Q16. Something you saw happen twice recently? M: Aki's hairstyle. S: Pitcher Kuwabara from the minor league. A: A flier that said "We surpassed Mos Burger!" Y: The form of an UFO.

♪Fruitless effort Q17. An experience that makes you think "It was all for nothing~" when you remember it? M: The days that followed right after I moved to Tokyo. S: There's one. When I was about 20 years old. A: Nothing really. Y: If you mean the idle spinning that happens after hitting a BIG CHANCE game on a slot machine, then yes.

♪Want to meet Q18. Who do you want to meet most now? M: Egashira 2:50-san S: Hotei Tomoyasu-san A: It's not a person, but the dog at my cousin's home. Y: Friends from my hometown.

♪Fireworks Q19. The best fireworks viewing situation to you? M: The sea at night　Sparklers with my koibito S: Watching in a yukata, away from the crowd. A: I want to watch the Tokyo Bay Fireworks Festival from a helicopter. Y: Fireworks from some fireworks festival, visible every now and then from the rooftop of a building.

♪Anticipation Q20. What do you anticipate most now? M: What will happen to the Gogouki from now on. S: Pitcher Kuwabara from the minor league. A: The Aki-model bass from ESP. The prototype is due for completion soon. Y: The sequel to Dragon Ball.

♪Bold Q21. An incident that makes you think "That was bold"? M: Missed the double chance option after winning the first. S: My friend Koeto-kun. It's so bold I can't say it. A: Bought DIESEL's leather jacket and jeans on impulse. I was surprised later (laughs). Y: The fact that I spent 4 hours walking home from Shinnihonbashi

English: Gurakko Español: Reila

[fanfictionquotess]

Rec List: The Umbrella Academy

Part 1  Part 2 I’ve been hit hard by cupid’s arrow and fell in love with The Umbrella Academy. It’s all I’ve been reading this past week. So, I’ve decided to start compiling my rec list now.  Everything listed in this rec list are gen fanfics.  I most likely will only ever read gen fanfiction for this fandom (unless I see a particular Klaus x Dave or Agnes x Hazel fic that catches my interest). In addition, this list only includes completed works. I’m also going to include an all encompassing drug-content warning because Klaus Hargreeves. 

Total Fics Recommended Thus Far: 26 This is my second Rec List, so feel free to let me know what you think of the formatting and whether or not I need to make adjustments (like splitting it up into two parts bc this is more than I expected). 

As always, my inbox is open to rec list requests.

 Is the sadness everlasting? (love, I think it is) by ArmedWithMyComputer

Words: 3161   Chapters: 2    Post-S1

Summary:  A look into what Klaus' newly discovered ability could mean for the siblings.

---

Things Aren’t Quite the Same by oscarwildechilde

Words: 6632   Chapters: 1   Pre-S1

Summary: Ben reads to Klaus when the dead get too loud for him to beat. He’s always there for him, and always will be.Ben and Klaus’ friendship and the start of Klaus’ problems.

---

Simpler Times by  bucketbarneslove

Words: 5181   Chapters: 1    Pre-S1

Summary: On one of the last nights that the Hargreeves siblings get to be anything close to normal, Klaus suggests they have some fun. His idea? Heading over to the 24/7 doughnut shop and getting absolutely trashed on sugar.

---

Ghosts of You(th) by SilvertonguedClotpole

Words: 10,110  Chapters: 1    Post-S1, e10 au

Summary:  It was a mausoleum, and right now it was probably the best chance they had at hiding from those chasing them. But of course, a mausoleum isn't just a mausoleum to Klaus. It was a hell. And his siblings were about to see a true glimpse of what it was like being Klaus Hargreeves.

When they're forced to hide in the cemetery, the siblings get more than they bargained for when they have to fight to remain hidden, and fight to keep their brother from toppling over the edge.

---

For the Record by aye_of_newt

Words: 3645   Chapters: 1  Post-S1, e10 au 

Part 1 of Vague AU

Summary:  Diego finds Klaus' police record.

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I know That Everyone Gets Scared by MidnightRavenFromTheClock

Words: 2945   Chapters: 1  

Summary:  What if the Hargreeves siblings did a little better?

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Some have names but most do not (If you find one, please let me know what piece I've lost) by  Brain_Brainson

Words: 3235   Chapters: 1    Post-S1

Part 1 of  Real Names, Fake Names, Chosen Names

Summary:  Five has only been around for a week but already Klaus won’t leave him alone.“You need a name,” he says, hanging upside down from the couch.

“I have a name,” Five says.

Comments: Did anyone say Non-binary!Five?

---

I've been searching for my Father (I can not explain why he grows old) by  Brain_Brainson

Words: 5481  Chapters: 1    Post-S1

Part 3 of  Real Names, Fake Names, Chosen Names

Summary:   Despite being the perfect fairytale villain, Five doesn't actually hate their Dad.

Comments: Somehow I missed p2 and need to rectify that immediately In all likelihood it’ll also be recommended.

---

Secrets I have held in my heart (are harder to hide than I thought) by  Brain_Brainson

Words: 7732  Chapters: 1      Post-S1

Part 4 of  Real Names, Fake Names, Chosen Names

Summary:  Your Family is caught up in some emotional bullshit and everyone is ignoring each other and it’s making you feel things you don’t wanna feel?Well, what the fuck do you do then?

Comments: I really love their portrayal of Luther.

---

Something of a Success by magikfanfic

Words: 3130  Chapters: 1     Pre-S1

Summary:  Klaus is the first to know.

Comments: CW for Major Character Death. In particular, our boy Ben.

---

A Little Family Bonding by dirkygoodness

Words: 1954   Chapters: 1

Summary:  Each and every one of them flaked on world-saving as soon as it was out of his mouth.So instead of getting up and being productive Five jumped down to the local liquor store and stole two bottles of whiskey for himself. If everyone else wasn’t going to give a shit, then maybe he’d give it a try too.

---

Whatever It Takes by Galliumite

Words: 1033   Chapters: 1   e10 spoilers

Summary:   A One-shot in which the probability map in episode 5 of the show gives a name that Five doesn't want to see. And that leads Five to responding to Luther's threats towards Dolores slightly differently.

Comments: An interesting AU idea. 

---

Ordinary by Fourfivesix

Words: 987  Chapters: 1   Pre-S1

Summary:  Klaus wishes he was ordinary like Vanya.

---

The Boy At The End Of The World by Devilbaby

Words: 2093  Chapters: 1

Summary:  There's no crying in the apocalypse; water is too valuable a commodity to be wasted on tears and sorrow. The world didn't care about his suffering, so neither did he.

A character study about Five, why he is who he is and why he does what he does.

---

Your Father Isn’t Here by GiuGiu

Words: 2388  Chapters: 1    Pre-S1

Part 2 of TUA Kid Fics

Summary:  “We wanted to be bird feeders.” Number Four grinned, leaning over to pick a chia seed off of Number Six’s ear.

“Like the one we made during crafts.” Number Six elaborated, pushing his brother’s hand away from his face. Grace had used last week’s recreation time to make peanut butter bird feeders with her children. She had carefully written the report asking for permission, justifying her choice with data about gross motor skills and basics of biology instruction.

This had not been in her contingency report. She would need to be more thorough next time.Or, raising seven four-year-olds while having limited free will isn't easy.

Comments: Grace-centric and beautifully written.

---

Just In Case by starsandsupernovae

Words: 1171   Chapters: 1

Summary:   Vanya and Five are kids and it's cute and happy and then it's not

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Blood Like Lemonade by Ford_Ye_Fiji

Words: 2860  Chapters: 1

Summary:  Hunting high and low to seek revenge, Brand new moral code, got made reluctant renegade. Leaving empty souls when he avenged, Evil spirits flowed he drank the blood like lemonade.

-Five's sordid past comes to light in, quite possibly, the most unpleasant way

Comments: Really cool idea to explore, personally.

---

breathe in, exhale (the blood flood) by doc_boredom

Words: 852  Chapters: 1

Summary:  Diego Hargreeves held his breath and counted to five. Not second by second like a normal person would, but minute by minute, until his lungs threatened to explode.

-Also known as Diego Hargreeves carved my heart from my chest and I let him do so willingly.

---

show me how to struggle gracefully by Karturtle (karturtle)

Words: 3197   Chapters: 1  Post-S1

Part 1 of you ask me where i've been(like i ask you where you are)

Summary: Ben watches his family as it heals, and starts to do a little healing himself.

---

love you without any strings attached by Karturtle (karturtle)

Words: 4739   Chapters: 1  Post-S1

Part 2 of you ask me where i've been(like i ask you where you are)

Summary:   Ben and Klaus have been a pair ever since Klaus was old enough to drag his brother into mischief.

---

I’ll never dance again by The Séance (TheHavok)

Words: 322   Chapters: 1

Summary: ONE SHOT, Klaus Hargreeves badly dealing with losing his lover.

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bright by classyfanperson

Words: 1133   Chapters: 1    Pre-S1

Summary: There's no reason Klaus can't have pretty things, even if he has to steal them.

---

Every Mountain You Climb Takes Me Further Away by siriuslyrose

Words: 3061  Chapters: 1   Pre-S1

Summary:  In 1989, Sir Reginald Hargreeves adopts seven babies from around the world. By 2007 only one remained.

They all left for slightly different reasons. But for all six of them it was The Monocle that forced them out the door. Ironically, he was also the reason his Number One never follow them.

This is the story of how the Umbrella Academy went from Six (Seven) members to One.

---

Elide by Willowcatkin

Words: 484    Chapters: 1

Summary: And even when her home crumbles to nothing around her, no one will hear it. Debris born from grudge that stems deep into its foundation falls. Rocks and ash drift like stardust, muffling and soft like sound through water. The walls that used to block out the notes, amplifying them and distorting their intricately crafted meanings, collapse and fold like the delicate flutter of a butterfly’s wings.  

Comments: One of my personal favorites. I always love characters studies written with such nicely flowing prose.

---

And Then There Were None by friedlieb_ferdinand_runge

Words: 1005  Chapters: 1

Summary:   They were all broken in the end.

---

if you must mourn (don’t do it alone) by AndreaLyn

Words: 2120  Chapters: 1

Summary:  They're putting the grief in Hargreeves.

or “How the Hargreeves family moved on (except for the one who refused)"

[for-gold-and-glory]

Weekly Events for Feb 11th - Feb 17th

Monday: Maintenance! Tuesday:  The Kestrel Run Part 3 - Head Like a Sinkhole @ 8:00pm EST - Sea of Clouds Wednesday:  Amidst Bending Boughs Pt 2 @ 7:00pm EST - East Shroud Thursday:  A Silver Gil Theatre Movie Night @ 8:30pm EST - Mist W6, P36 Friday: Epoch Valentione Day @ 9:30pm EST - Mist W11, P2 Saturday: The Final Purge: Interlude 1 @ 8:00pm EST - Castrum Aquilonis Sunday: Allagan Colloseum - Mi’ihen’s Pit Part 2 @ 3:00pm EST@ The Habisphere, Azys Lla Sunday: Sins of the Mother - Chapter 3, Part 1 @ 8:00pm EST - Moraby Drydocks

---

  Tuesday:  The Kestrel Run Part 3 - Head Like a Sinkhole @ 8:00pm EST - Sea of Clouds -  Barely surviving their encounter with a deadly Aces High Gang, the crew of the Phoenix have made it into the Cascading Maelstrom… and they aren’t alone! The crew must think quickly and hope that they can survive Cassian’s shortcut through a deadly storm! Status: Accepting 1-2 Members, message THE SHONEN WHISPERER  Type: Action/Adventure GM: Cassian Mercer Wednesday:  Amidst Bending Boughs Pt 2 @ 7:00pm EST - East Shroud -  The time has come to move further into the depths of the shroud... But seeing as a cult has been mucking about, will this perilous trek become even more perilous?! Status: Open, please join us! Type: Action/Adventure GM: Aedwen Tyrer Thursday:  A Silver Gil Theatre Movie Night @ 8:30pm EST - Mist W6, P36 https://sylastair.tumblr.com/post/182438006655/golden-gil-enterprises-presents-a-silver-gil -  “ Join Crescent & Golden Gil at the newly designed Silver Gil Theatre! Be prepared to eat pizza and popcorn while watching Eorzea’s most moving tale of love, rats and mawwiage! Grab your Valentione’s Day date, a friend, or come alone for a night of snacks, romance and R E V E N G E ! (But mostly romance). Status: Open RP, please check the link Type: Social GM: Club C + Golden Gil Friday: Epoch Valentione Day @ 9:30pm EST - Mist W11, P2 https://epoch-tavern.tumblr.com/post/182392737034/february-15th-epoch-will-be-hosting-our-first -  Epoch will be hosting our first annual Valentione Date Auction!  One last chance to find that special someone as the season comes to a close.  Doors will open at 9:30 PM EST, and will remain open until everyone who registered has been auctioned.   The auction is for a 90 minute date, which is to be completed within one week.  Anyone interested in being auctioned must fill out the form in advance. Status: Open Rp, please check the link Type: Dating Auction GM: Epoch Tavern Saturday: The Final Purge: Interlude 1 “ En Prise” - @ 8:00pm EST - Castrum Aquilonis - Trust no one. With the assassination of Zheng’s superiors, the Fustarium find themselves completely alone and vulnerable. But they have a plan. Things have been set in motion that will switch the Black from playing defense to launching a full out offense. But first there are other dangers to consider - with the Purge officially declared, the agents will find, it’s their family that is targeted first.  Status: Open to members of the Fustarium Type: Action/Adventure GM: Aegir Hlerson + Guest GM! Sunday: Allagan Colloseum - Mi’ihen’s Pit Part 2 @ 3:00pm EST@ The Habisphere, Azys Lla http://for-gold-and-glory.tumblr.com/post/182403072745/friday-allagan-coliseum-miihens-pit-prologue - While searching for a lost crew of explorers, the adventurers found themselves transported to an abandoned Allagan Colloseum in Azys Lla. Well, it was abandoned by the Allagans at least. It would seem the mechanical and chimerial abominations tasked with running the facility are still alive and still under the impression they have a show to put on. Facing increasingly difficult and horrifying competition, the unwilling gladiators fight continue to fight for their lives. Victory is impossible! Is escape possible? Status: Open RP, please join us Type: Action, Tournament GM: Lirilith Maellan Sunday: Sins of the Mother - Chapter 3, Part 1 @ 8:00pm EST - Moraby Drydocks - We have our weapon, now it’s time to find a heading. The Serpent Reaver Aegir claims to know a man who navigates the southern seas. He is a merchant that can be found in a rowdy sailor bar in the Drydocks. Finding the man will be easy, getting out of the bar alive... might be a challenge.  Status: Open RP, please join us! Type: Action/Adventure GM: Aegir Hlerson

[f1]

FP2: Leclerc leads Ferrari 1-2 in second practice at Monaco after Ricciardo brings out red flags

Charles Leclerc finished fastest in the second practice session ahead of the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix, with Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez completing the top three on a hot day in the Principality. Daniel Ricciardo was garage-bound for the first 10 minutes of FP2 with McLaren working on the rear of his car. Soon after emerging, the Australian brought out a red flag having lost the rear of the car and smashed into the barriers at Swimming Pool. The session was resumed with under 40 minutes to play. WATCH: Daniel Ricciardo’s FP2 ends in the barriers after crash at the Swimming Pool complex Before Ricciardo’s off, Perez went fastest with a time of 1m 14.001s, while the Ferraris were the only pair to run hards early on, the rest beginning on mediums. After the red flag, softs began to come into play and the time attack began, the digits tumbling until Leclerc set the fastest lap of 1m 12.656s, Ferrari team mate Sainz just 0.044s behind in P2. That left Red Bull’s Perez third by 0.379s to Leclerc and Verstappen 0.447s behind his championship rival in P4. Norris had a near-miss at Turn 1 after putting in a lap good for P5, 0.638s off the pace, with Mercedes’ George Russell a tenth behind in P6 having brushed his wheels at Turn 5, before complaining of a loss of power late on. Pierre Gasly took seventh for AlphaTauri as the last driver within a second of P1. 1 Charles Leclerc LEC Ferrari 1:12.656 2 Carlos Sainz SAI Ferrari +0.044s 3 Sergio Perez PER Red Bull Racing +0.379s 4 Max Verstappen VER Red Bull Racing +0.447s 5 Lando Norris NOR McLaren +0.638s Fernando Alonso was over three-tenths off the AlphaTauri in eighth, his team mate Esteban Ocon only managing a lap good enough for P18 in the other Alpine. Sebastian Vettel had an early near-miss at Swimming Pool, almost mirroring Ricciardo’s accident but putting in a spectacular save to carry on and finish ninth – AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda just 0.07s back to round out the top 10. Tsunoda and Kevin Magnussen, 11th, were investigated for an alleged unsafe rejoin and also an impeding incident in FP2. HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from the first practice session in Monaco as Leclerc tops the timesheets Lewis Hamilton finished 12th, nearly a second behind team mate George Russell, while Valtteri Bottas took P13 for Alfa Romeo. The Finnish driver had his MGU-K replaced after he missed FP1, Bottas spending much of FP2 on medium tyres – like his team mate Zhou Guanyu in P15 – with Alex Albon splitting the Haas drivers in his Williams. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll took P16 ahead of Mick Schumacher, the Haas driver’s MGU-K and gearbox having been replaced for this session after he stopped at the pit entry in FP1. Behind Schumacher was Ocon for Alpine and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi in P19 – McLaren's Ricciardo 20th, having failed to set a time. FP3 and qualifying are next up on Saturday afternoon in Monaco, Leclerc having led both practice sessions ahead of his home Grand Prix. Tap here to subscribe to F1 TV for enhanced race coverage, exclusive shows, archive video and more 2022 Monaco GP FP2: Ricciardo ends his Friday running in the barriers after heavy crash in second practice via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[neni-has-ascended]

7 Urban Legends from the Persona Series and the Real World!

This is the script to a video I uploaded onto my YouTube Channel as a Halloween Special. If you want to see the actual video, click here. 

If there is one theme that has drawn itself through the entirety of the Persona series since day one - Jungian psychology and demons non-withstanding - it's the series' repeated use of ghost stories and urban legends as a narrative device and sometimes even as a gameplay element. 

Literally, the first scene in the very first game has our main characters trying their hands at what amounts to a room-sized Ouija board. No surprise, given how popular these sorts of stories are in Japan - I mean, there IS a reason Japanese horror movies are pretty much considered a genre all of their own. This theme also makes a lot of sense considering it in association to the games' borrowings from Analytical psychology, since rumors and myths of all kind can be seen as an expression of the country's collective cultural unconscious, very much in-line with Jung's ideas. This interpretation is only helped by scenes such as one in Persona 2 where Nyarlathotep outright calls rumors the collective wishes of the people, or a page of the P3 club book, where Ikutsuki claims that information spread on the internet has been an important tool for feeding the collective death wish Erebus embodies, or the scene in Persona 4, where Izanami claims the Midnight Channel was her way of reflecting mankind's own desires back at them--- I think my point is clear, right?

So yeah, how about we take a look at some rumors from the Persona Universe and their roots in real life urban legends?

#1 "Persona-san" VS "Square" (Persona 1)

Literally the first thing we saw in any Persona game. Ever.

Hidehiko Uesugi coaxes his pals - this includes you and the majority of your future party members - into playing a game that involves 4 people standing in the corners of an empty room, one after another walking over into the next corner, tapping the shoulder of the next person, calling for "Persona" to "come", then the person who's shoulder has been tapped moves to the next corner, rinse-repeat. Eventually this results in awkward CGI- I mean a ghost girl appearing, lightning striking everyone and, bam, Philemon hands out Personas like butterfly Oprah.

This little 'ritual' is very directly based on a ghost story from real life Japan, however, unlike the Persona version, where the rumor claims the game's purpose is to predict the future, in the original story the shoulder-tapping carousel's purpose was very explicitly NOT DYING.

Context: The story called “Square” begins with 5 members of a hiking club going up on a mountain and getting lost in a blizzard. One of them gets hit on the head with by rock, dies. The others manage to carry their dead comrade to an empty hut, sit there for a while, then decide "Well, body count of 1 is quite enough for an after-school activity, dear chaps, let's try to not get ahead of ourselves!" So they keep each other awake by walking from corner to corner and, what else, tapping each other's shoulder. Only after a few rounds of that, the last one of them, let's call 'em "D", realized: 

"Wait a minute. If A is in corner B, B is in corner C, C is in corner D and D is in corner A... Then WHOSE SHOULDER DID I JUST TAP!?"

Eventually, they decided that this mysterious fifth person -let's call 'em F- was their dear, fallen friend, who'd come back from the dead to help them out with staying awake and alive by... lightly tapping someone's shoulder. Because that's what friendship is all about!

And no, I have no idea what this has to do with Philemon. Or Personas. Or anything. But hey, at least the ghost in this one is benevolent! That's more than I can say for pretty much anything else on this list!

#2 "Joker" VS "Satoru-kun" (Persona 2 IS)

The Persona 2 duology has no shortage of creepy rumors, given that there's an entire game-mechanic that involves gathering and spreading stories around town, however, none is quite as unsettling and familiar as the one that pretty much kicks off the plot. And when I say "familiar", I mean "familiar" to Japanese players, because, again, this one is based directly on an actually existing Japanese Urban Legend.

In Persona 2 IS, "Joker" is an entity that one can contact by calling their own cellphone's number and chanting "Joker, joker, come here." Joker will then appear behind the caller and grant their wishes, unless they don't have any, in which case he'll pretty much just steal their minds and erase them from our plane of existence. Neeaaaaat. There's another version of JOKER in EP who's pretty similar, except this one only grants wishes that involve murdering people, but we're not gonna focus on that one right now.

P2 IS' Joker is based on the urban legend of "Satoru-kun", which goes as follows: Grab a 10 Yen coin and search a payphone. You can't use any other types of phones or coins, it has to be a 10 Yen coin and a payphone. Satoru is very specific like that. Anyway, once you've located both of these, call your own cellphone wait for the call to connect, then try not to feel too embarrassed about yourself as you chant "Satoru, Satoru, come to me" into the payphone.

By the way, this is also where the "Persona, Persona, come to me" chant from the previous number on this list comes from. That one wasn't originally in Square.

Anyway, once you're done chanting, you hang up the call and turn off your cellphone completely. If you did everything correctly, within 24 hours you should start getting calls from "Satoru" on your turned-off phone, informing you where he is right now. Once he says "I'm right behind you", you can ask him a question, any question, and he'll tell you the correct answer. Anything! There's only a few things you gotta watch out for: 

A) Never turn around to look at Satoru.

B) Never be a smartass and ask Satoru a question you already know the answer to, and finally 

C) Never ask Satoru more than one question. 

What happens if you break any of these rules? Ohhh, you'll just get mysteriously spirited away. To hell.

#3 Reiko Kashima (Persona 2 EP)

I'm cheating a little with this one, since it's literally just a real life ghost story that *happens* to appear in the game as a sidequest, but I just liked it too much to not mention it. Japan has a rich, fascinating culture of school ghost stories, which has spawned equally fascinating academic discourse in the field of Japanese Studies. A common trend among Japanese ghost stories is the appearance of female ghosts appearing in weird places doing terrible things to people for various reasons. This is one of those.

Reiko is a ghost without legs. How she died varies depending on who's telling the stories, but the most popular version seems to be "After World War II American soldiers raped her, then she jumped onto a train track and killed herself." (A KIDS’ GHOST STORY!!) 

Anyway, she'll appear to you when you enter the bathroom, often at night. She'll ask you "Where are my legs?" You're supposed to answer "At Meishin Expressway." She'll ask you "Who told you that?" You'll say "Reiko Kashima did." If she's feelings especially persistent that day, she'll also say "Give me your arms" ("I'm still using those!"), "Give me your legs!" ("I still need those.") or "Do you know my name?" (Trick question. The right answer is "The masked demon of death".) If you answer any of these wrong, she'll dismember and kill you, so the two of you can go on tour together! Oh, also, it's said she'll appear to you within one month of first hearing about this story. You're welcome.  

#4 Fuuka's Revenge VS "Hikiko-san"

In Persona 3, your first encounter with one of the most adorable members of your party also happens to be one of the creepiest friggin' party member introductions in all of the franchise. Before you ever even get to meet her, Junpei's theatrics and the Shinjiro Aragaki rumor mill are so nice to inform you that Fuuka is considered A) dead B) a ghost haunting Gekkoukan High School and C) responsible for inflicting two of her worst bullies on the mortal coil with a hefty bout of Apathy Syndrome. Of course, it quickly turns out that  none of this true and actually she's just been trapped in a parallel dimension filled with blood hungry monsters for the last couple of weeks (Because that's, y'know, so much better) but the spread of those rumors at Gekkoukan isn't surprising, given how common this exact kind of Ghost Story is around Japanese schools.

One such example is the story of "Hikiko-san". She appears on rainy days, wearing a tattered white Kimono and carrying no umbrella. Behind her. She is dragging something that looks like a mannequin on first glance. If you look closer, it's actually a kid. If you happen to meet her, she'll knock you out, and drag you behind her, on and on, until you finally die, then, she'll dump your corpse somewhere. Now, here's the good news: Hikiko only targets school bullies. So hopefully all of you guys should be safe! ...Hopefully 

(If you’re, in fact, not safe, I’m seriously judging you.). 

Hikiko is actually the ghost of a girl who was either bullied to death or into suicide. Either way, the place where she dumps her victims tends to be the same one where she herself died. Her motivations is to rid the world of the very bullies who've made her life hell. So remember, kids: If you don't want to get brutally murdered in one stormy, stormy night, play nice.

Fun fact, there's a theory that the story was originally derived from a short-story titled "Fukiko", which is my reason for thinking that this might be the one that specifically inspired Fuuka's rumor in the game. Also, Hikiko's full name is often given as "Hikiko Mori". ..."Hikikomori". Very subtle.

#5 Cursed/Magic TV Shows/Websites (Persona 4 with a side of dancing)

Okay, these ones are so numerous and varied, I really couldn't pick out just a single one, even if I tried. 

Both, the Midnight Channel in Persona 4 and the Cursed Video in Persona 4 Dancing All Night are based on a long-lasting trend of urban legend about screens or radios showing or playing things that aren't supposed to be there, and causing effects to the people viewing them that are either extremely desirable or extremely bad. 

One example I found are a story about a man who found a Quiz Show at night on a channel that was meant to show Anime. In said quiz show, people admitted to doing various, awful crimes. Finally, the man himself was asked about 'his' crimes by the quiz show. When he refused to answer, he was tossed off his balcony and died. 

Another example is the story of the "Red Room", a pop up that will appear on your computer after you attempt to research the story. Well, sucks to be me I guess. It says that after you attempt to close the pop-up several times, it will ask you if you 'like the red room'. Then, you'll kill yourself and paint your own room red with your blood. So if I go on another 6 months hiatus after this, you'll know what happened.

#6 High School... of YOUR death (Persona Q with a side of Dancing and Arena-ish...)

This one.... has got to be cheating, but I found it relevant, so hear I go. Of course, Persona Q is full of school ghost stories, I mean, one of its major plot points is about a literal School Ghost (spoilers?) but the one that stands out to me the most is the legend claiming that those who hear the long idle school bell strike shall die - a story very similar to another rumor from early in Persona 2 IS, where hearing the school bell while wearing the school emblem would result in one's face getting terribly disfigured. This story is--- sadly not one I could find a direct real life equivalent to.  (cry) BUT! I do have something else.

Dalies and Mentlegen, the Tale of the Dream School.

There's a guy, let's call him Kei. One night, Kei has a very strange dream. He's wandering around a school he doesn't know, full of closed paths he can't go. The school is built like a Labyrinth that goes nowhere and the hallways seem to be going nowhere, which Kei finds very strange indeed. Now, unfortunately for Kei, he neglected to retrieve the key for the emergency exists and leave through there, because that might just have saved him. Instead, he stumbled upon a room of dismembered, dancing students. Yes. Dismembered AND dancing. It's a weird school like that. Anyway, at that point, Kei's fate was sealed, he stayed trapped in the dream world forever and never woke up. The end.

Stories like these are a nice potential source of the Persona series liking for school hallways turning into an impenetrable maze of death, as well the tidbit about "never waking up" in the cursed video's rumor from Persona 4 Dancing All Night.

I, on the other hand, can only wonder if this means that I should be very worried about my recent tendency to flash back to the horrors of my high school years at night. Again. If I disappear, you know where I am.

#7 Magic Message Boards (Persona 5)

And finally, for the grand finale...! Drumroll, please... 

The rumor... Is YOU my friend! Yes, you! The Phantom Thieves! Oh, wait, you thought I meant the real you? Eh, no, sorry. You're just... someone, I don't know... (JK I love you) CARRYING ON!

While Persona 5 is, for the most part, surprisingly light on the traditional sort of Ghost Story we've been getting used to from previous installments. It gives us one big Urban Legend right there in the premise: You, the Phantom Thieves, as an unexplained, supernatural force, granting the pleas of the oppressed and punishing the very minds of those corrupt. How do you contact this mysterious power for its aid?! Why, via an internet message board, of course! An urban legend of the modern age, indeed. 

Reflective of current trends or not, the way how the world's belief in the Phantom Thieves strengthens and weakens their power over Tokyo over the course of the game -something that is actually measured with an in-game meter- is very reminiscent of how rumors work in Persona 2, and while you may now say "The Phantom Thieves aren't an urban legend in the game's world, they're one hundred percent fact!" Well, the same is true for almost everything else on this list now, isn't it?

The Persona series is and has always been a story about thoughts altering reality, and what thoughts are more powerful than those passed on from person to person, shaping a story so well-known, it already seems real at times! In a way, Nyarlathotep was right, rumors, myths and Urban Legends are reflections of how we, as a collective perceive our world, how we fear it, and what we want from it.

Now, if only the collective unconscious could keep me from suffering the dire consequences of all this forbidden knowledge I have uneart- *disappears spookily and suddenly*

[wanna-17]

KCON IN AUS FANACCOUNT

i haven’t written a fanaccount in so long and i usually do them on my main blog but i’ll do it here as this blog is active. just a warning, that this will be pretty long so i’ll do headings so you can scroll to the parts you’re interested in. here it goes!

CONTEXT 

so i went to kcon with my sister and my friend. my sister went on friday only cos she stans exo and my friend went both days bc of exo and wanna one (she actually had day 1 p2 only but then upgraded to combo p1 last minute through a good deal) we all got p1 eventually. when they announced kcon at first i was really only into exo, wanna one and pentagon and knew the other groups songs. but i commited to p1 and checked out all the groups adn i fell for all of them HARD as i watched a lot of variety shows and got to know their songs and music. i became a hardcore monsta x stan omg i even watched their survival show and all of monsta x ray.

TLDR; hi touched WANNA ONE, monsta x, pentagon and sf9!!! selfie with kevin woo

THURSDAY: CHECK IN 

i cheked in for my friend and sister and the funny thing is, they’re really only interested in exo and/or wanna one so i basically took all their benefits. so at first we had audience passes for all groups (except wanna one and monsta x lmao) and hi touch for victon, wanna one and girls day. i love victon though (saw them that day but will talk about it later). i first traded my victon hi touch for a sf9 hi touch. there was this super kind girl who was helping everyone trade and she was super sweet. there was someone wanting a girls day hi touch and they had victon. the trading girl advised me to trade cos sf9 are in higher demand than girls day so it’ll be easier to trade. i wanted a monsta x hi touch. so the girl tried to help me it didn’t work so i was getting really stressed as i had 2 sf9 hi touches with me. after 2 hours of running around like crazy i managed to trade one of the sf9 hi touches plus cosmic girls and girls day audience for a monsta x hi touch. wanna one and monsta x hi touch were both in high demand and people were selling them for hundreds (highest i heard was wanna one hi touch for 800) i was super lucky to have gotten wanna one hi touch on first go and also got the monsta x hi touch even though it took a while. i’m super grateful though bc tbh im probably the only person at kcon who got both monsta x and wanna one hi touch without paying any extra money. 

SEEING VICTON 

so as everyone knows i’m really multifandom so i was able to get into victon fairley well before the concert, like i could recognise about 4-5 members. as i was trying to trade my hi touches everyone started running towards a direction so i kinda walked there to check out what was happening. when i got there victon were sitting like at the bus stop and they were being filmed by staff and it was the video that was played on friday night!! they’re so cute and lovely. they kept waving at us.  especially sejun and seungsik. after that they headed back inside qudos and we were able to walk alongside them as long as we kept a distance they were super nice and kept waving at fans. i have a really good video on my phone, so let me know if you wanna see. also tbh, when i was watching their shows, i didn’t find them like HELLA ATTRACTIVE like only just attractive but seeing them so up close and in real life, they are so so beautiful, 100000x more handsome in real life. i was really shook. 

FRIDAY 

SF9 HI TOUCH 

my sister and i got to the venue just before 9.30 and i lined up for sf9 hi touch. it was a pretty long line but managed to get an okay spot  at around centre fourth row. im tiny so i couldn’t see well. we waited for about half an hour and my bae kevin woo appeared i love him so much. and he is literally the most beautiful and genuine guy ever. i’ll make a separate heading just to talk about kevin at the end omg. so sf9 they came in and it was pretty hectic but they’re all so beautiful and hwiyoung did push ups for the mission. then it was time for hi touch and i was not prepared at all. i watched for a while before going up. i was undecided about my bias between rowoon and taeyang but it got confimed to taeyang. i took soe pics of them interacting with fans and they were super sweet and handsome. when i went up to hi touch, youngbin was first and he was like lowkey my bias candidate too and hes just so beautiful and smiley?? i legit remember nothing but i think youngbin said thank you. rowoon was at the end and i told him i watched his drama and he gave me two thumbs up i have no idea if he actually heard me lmao. also told chani i love his dramas but he looked like a lost puppy so cute. i honestly don’t remember anything else but they were all super smiley and happy and some probably said hello or thank you. after i got down from hi touch all the original lines got messed up as expected so i ended up in the front right in front of taeyang and he literally glowed in the room. he kept staring and smiling at me and he waved a few times. oh yeah inseong another bias candidate was like WHATS UP and he was so happy. all the boys were in a good mood and spoke english really well. zuho’s gaze is really strong and mesmerising. also jaeyoon smiled and looked me in the eye. i really appreciated sf9 cos they made every attempt to look at each fan in the eye even though time was so short. it was really funny bc one girl kept making big hearts at the members and some made them back, i was so envious of her courage because i always blank out at hi touches. 

VICTON AUDIENCE 

so i was lowkey regretting trading my victon hi touch since i saw them on thursday and was like: they might remember me bc i was so close plus they’re so friendly and handsome. victon were the most friendly with their fans out of all the boy groups hi touches (yes lmao i got to watch all the boy groups and did 4) the pace was slow and security was chill. i guess it’s because they’re relatively new so not as many crazy fans. they were so genuine and patient and giving a lot of fan service to the fans. i instantly regretted not keeping my victon hi touch. they’d grab the fans hands and look them in the eye, bow and talk. most groups would just bow and smile and quick hi five. they were really amazing 

PENTAGON HI TOUCH

so lol my friend that upgraded to p1 (literally the day before) actually got a pentagon hi touch when i checked in for her so i used it as she was at home and gave my sister the pentagon audience pass. i had planned what to say to some of the members as i love pentagon. when they came out, i was blown away their visuals are so on point.  my bias is hongseok. i didn’t get a great spot but could see most of it. so as for hi touch, it was really embarrassing because i was wearing thongs (had heels in a plastic bag for the concert so i looked really trash and hobo) as i was going up the stairs I TRIPPED bc the girl behind me stepped on the back of my thong as i was going up the final step so it fell off and i almost lost my balance. i was already standing on the stage so i literally had to bend down to the bottom step to pick up my thong and put it back on and i think pentagon saw me bc the girl that was behind me was like apologising and made sure i was still in front of her lmao. i had a complete mind blank because i was so so embarrassed plus my thongs were orange and did not go along at all with what i was wearing. a part of me hopes that they saw me trip so at least it’s memorable and funny but in the moment i couldn’t look them in the eye or anything. yanan was first i mustered up my courage and said ni hao and jia you (hello and fighting in chinese lol) and my imagination tells me he said xie xie (thank you in chinese) he was so so handsome. dont remember order but hui and yuto both said thank you and their voices were low and it was so handsome??? kino was super smiley and happy and cUTE. i planned to tell hongseok that i was his fan since mix and match but i literally said half the sentence and he was already looking at the next person. lol tbh was slightly disappointed bc he was pretty stoned and doing the classic bow and hi five thing haha. 

RED CARPET 

lining up was a mess, basically some girl whose just a fan started a raffle thing early in the morning. but it wasn’t even official by promoters so it got scraped because after pentagon hi touch people started lining up and then that girl was suddenly like those with raffles come here and she tried to get them to the front but everyone else started telling her off lmao my sister went on fire and eventually that didn’t go ahead. im so glad that didn't go ahead bc it was basically against the rules. kcon officially stated that lining up for red carpet would start at a later time but ppl were getting there at 4am or camping out which is basically illegal anyways. so then all the different sections were separated to get into red carpet. my friend and i were very close to the front of  the line so eventually we got to the front row of our section. it was such a disorganised method lol. all the groups came on and everyone was just really handsome but tbh we were really far away even in front row so like after exo (2nd last group) everyone rushed to line up for entry into concert. it was chaotic. i was also in heels at this point and was running around like crazy. 

CONCERT 

my friend and i got in and like p1 is mostly behind platnium except for the end part which is like super close to second stage. so i ended up there at like row 3 or so my feet were killing me but luckily the girls in front of me were around the same height as me so i could see fairly well when idols were on the second stage (the front one). it was very difficult to see the main stage tho. kevin woo came out mc’ing for pre show and some dancers performed. lmao at this point my friend and another girl we met were basically sitting on the ground chilling. 

the concert finally started and sf9 were first. i couldn’t see much at first as they were on main stage BUT THEY CAME AND DID EASY LOVE WHICH I LOVE LOVE SO MUCH. i have a really good fancam of it ksdhqkdhqek and like idk guys they’re so beautiful. like i’ve watched sf9 vairety shows and im so glad i was in mosh so i was closer and could recognise them like if i were far away i probably would struggle too. they did a lot of fan service too. taeyang is so gorgeous he’s my bias for sure lmao

pretty sure pentagon were next THEY WERE SO GOOD TOO. i honestly dont remember much was trying to find hongseok and yanan . then it was victon i think, they were really great too but didn’t see them that well. it was kinda sad cos when hanse introduced himself there was obviously very little screams compared to sf9 and pentagon. i tried to scream but it wasn’t able to like echo through. 

GIRLS DAY QUEENS TBH bc i know them and all and was getting excited and then they did expectation and that was like my jam when it came out. hyeri and minah gave so much fan service and they’re so amazing and on point live i love them. 

omg chanyeol and seola did stay with me AND THAT IS ONE OF MY FAVE OSTS SO I WAS SO HAPPY AND IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL AND I APPRECIATED IT SO MUCH lowkey felt bad tho cos everyone screamed whenever it was chanyeol’s part and most people didnt know it was seola. it was amazing tho defs one of my highlight performances on the night. 

so then the first 3 boy groups covered the top songs, so hard carry (MMY AHGASE HEART) fire and monster. they were so good

ALSO MC SEGMENTS. SUHO AND SEHUN WERE FIRST AND I DID NOT EXPECT THEM AND I SCREAMED SO HARD AND ALMOST CRIED. inseong and rowoon were the perfect pair, inseong’s english is amazing and they’re so funny. and they danced to like gangnam style, TT and gee. i can’t remember if there was a third set of mc’s

omg so when exo were about to come on I RAN OUT OF STORAGE AND NEARLY STARTED CRYING i had to delete my fancams from bts as well as the previous covers of hard carry, monster and fire cries. EXO WERE SO GOOD I CANT EVEN COMPREHEND IT WHEN THEY WERE DOING TENDER LOVE CHEN CAME OVER A LOT AS WELL AS KAI AND SEHUN i barely saw xiumin and suho. BAEKYEOL CAME OVER A LOT TOO. KAI WAS ACTUALLY SUPER CLOSE MY BIAS IS YIXING BUT SINCE HE WASNT TEHRE KAI IS MY BIAS AND OMG KYUNGSOO ALSO COULDN’t MAKE :( i have really good fancams of sehun, chen, kai, chanyeol and baekhyun KJHSKJWDGKJ

so for the ending, pentagon were on our side the most and e’dawn omg had his hoodie up and he was so effortlessly HOT he kept making peace signs and waving. jinho was there too. made eye contact OH AND I MADE QUITE A BIT OF EYE CONTACT WITH KAI DKUHQU CRIEs there were more interactions with so many ppl like waves and stuff but honestly don’t remember. sehun was the cutest, he was i think the last to leave and was waving at like everyone sobs my boy and yeah i was wearing heels during entire concert, red carpet AND sf9 hi touch so my feet were ded

SATURDAY 

UP10TION AUDIENCE

so i got there later at like 11.30 lmao right before up10tion audience where i’d help a friend film, i actually could have gotten a free up10tion hi touch but my friend likes them way more so my original friend with the pass sold it to her. while waiting in line, i made a friend who was super cool and chill and we kinda fangirled in the same way if that makes sense. like we got along well, liked kpop for similar amout of time and she wasn’t like a super delusional fan and just very nice and chill and we love the same groups soOOOO we clicked well. we were like very near the back of line and we were both filming for our friends anways so we just chilled at the back waiting for up10tion I LOVE XIAO THO we grabbed a chair and stood on it for like 20 seconds before being told off my security. XIAO WAS SO HOT THO WTHH HIS HAIR???? he’s so beautiful 98 liner forever omg i couldn’t take my eyes off him. yeah so we were just chilling at the back.

MONSTA X HI TOUCH 

well before up10tion had even started lines for monsta x and wanna one were already happening so rip me. i was near the back ish of the line and struggles i really wanted a front row spot but it was obviously impossible since all my audience engagements were back to back. i also made a friend and we got a selfie with kevin woo. lined up for a while and got in. i ended up like right on the side where i could see them come in but crap view of stage. THEY ARE SO SO SO BEAUTIFUL IN REAL LIFE freaking hyungwon TBH blew me away. my bias is changkyun and he was so cute when coming in and making his random movements. his english was just aksudkuqdkqu. ok so for actual hi touch, shownu was first and i blanked out bc hes so gorgeous. hyungwon WAS SO HAPPY like he was so smiley and made eye contact and everything i think he was my fave person to hi touch??? maybe??? i told wonho not to lose weight (in light of what happened recently on his v app) but unsure if he even heard or understood me bc he was just nodding and smiling so beautifully at me. i told changkyun he’s my favourite but dont even remember if i got to finish my sentence or not or whether he even heard or replied to me. kihyun was gorgeous i dont know if i said i liked his voice (that was my plan lmao) or just a hello. i think i generally just end up stuttering a hello or thank you. minhyuk was last and he didn’t look that happy???? he’s probably tired tbh. so when monsta x were exiting i was like on the barrier near the stairs again with the new friend i made. so when monsta x did their end greetings they came down to hi touch front row fans again my arms are short so i missed out on some. i know i definitely got another hi touch from changkyun SOBS MY BABY BOY, wonho, hyungwon and possibly shownu too. i know i missed kihyun and was devo

WANNA ONE HI TOUCH

this was a nightmare lining up omg as soon as i got out of monsta x, the line for wanna one was already ridiculously long and i was contemplating on not even lining up. i also didn’t get to make friends with fans bc the people around me were in their 30s/40s so it was difficult to communicate or chinese fans which were so annoying cos they were constantly letting others in and out there was so much pushing in. thai fans as well omg wth. tbh i was paranoid for all of the audience engagements bc they suddenly had a new rule where no water bottle allowed unless sealed but for friday i openly went in with my 1L water bottle and no one said anything. it was all fine the day before but for up10tion no water bottle was allowed so i gave it to a stranger in monsta x line and when i got out she had left it in a visible spot next to the bin. but for monsta x and wanna one, the security guard allowed water bottles it was just so inconsistent and stressed me out. 

for wanna one, pushing was crazy when entering. once again i ended up like next to the stairs where they would go up so i couldn’t even see the stage rip. it was such a hard a wait but omg they finally came out and i couldn’t believe it they were so gorgeous. daehwi was being so extra and some were waving. everyone sang happy birthday to guanlin. tbh im most disappoiinted in wanna on hi touch bc they didn’t even do missions beforehand??? and the hi touch was super rushed security guards were so pushy and violent and there was no time to do or say anything some fans might have even missed out on a hi touch with some members. like i understand that security was probably much tighter as wanna one are super popular so they dont want the members getting hurt and stuff. i was just so upset because i had a crap view and also didn’t get to say what i planned to. like guanlin was first so i said happy birthday in chinese but i dont think he heard or even if he did i dunno if he replied. i told seongwoo i love you but like there was literally not enough  time to process their replies, they were all smiling though. i think i told jihoon i love him, i had the best thing planned to say to daehwi but he was bowing and gazing at me and i kinda blanked for the 1931319th time that day, his smile is so beautiful. i either told daniel to be healthy or that he was my favourite but looking at him so up close was too much for me. i dont even remember what happened for every other member they were just smiling at me and hi fiving. some probably said thank you and hello and stuff. omg minhyun tho SO BEAUTIFUL he was in such a good mood and gave me a really hard hi five and his smile is so beauiful. the moment i got off the stage, regret swept through me, i’d planned to do the jisung clap to jisung but i was so scared of security like tbh even if i did it, what could they do to me? at most push me but at least jisung might remember me lol. the wanna one hi touch was so bad and rushed and after it ended wanna one just left. they walked past again but unlike monsta x they didn’t hi  five any one but maybe thats the instructions they were given. i was honestly disappointed, i’m glad i didn’t spend money for a wanna on hi touch though bc it was just dumb and ppl were selling audience passes for like 200

CONCERT 

omg i was actually in the same spot as the previous day except on the other side cos they swapped sides. the only problem was that there was this super tall girl in front of me and she had heels on too...that was really annoying cos she completely blocked my view :( at this point i was feeling pretty gross and dizzy and even more annoyed as i couldn’t even see the damn stage. 

sf9 started and they were amazing as usual, then it was up10tion I COULDNT EVEN SEE ANYONE OR ANYTHING COULDNT SEE MY BIAS XIAO AND HE LOOKED SUPER FINE AT AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT. then it was cosmic girls and omg this girl near me had the highest pitch screams ever and she’d do a high pitch scream every 5 seconds my eardrums were legit about to die and then this guy behind me spat all over me when cosmic girls came out...it was so unpleasant lmao

THEN WANNA ONE SDHKSDUKSYUKD everyone pushed even more forward when wanna one started. they played like a video but i couldn’t even see the screens :( they did energetic first and it was on main stage so i couldn’t see a single thing. then they did wanna be my baby and they walked to the front stage halfway through and i could see like a teeny bit. then they did pinata time and INTRODUCED THEMSELEVES GUANLIN WAS ON MY SIDE and daehwi is legit the cutest he was straight up like: guys this isn’t on the script but it’s guanlin’ birthday so let’s sing happy birthday. daehwi is like friend goals he’s so caring towards everyone and his english is the nicest and most soothing thing ever. everyone was screaming so much and pushing and it was really hard to see. but then they did like pinata time where it was like younger boys vs. older boys team and younger boys had to be sexy THEY DIDNT COME OVEr tO MY SIDE AT ALL but i saw some fancams and woojin full on did the thigh move and daniel was cringing hahaha and daehwi was being extra as usual. the hyungs came over more AND THEY HAD TO BE CUTE AND DANIEL WAS LIKE ALMOST SITTING ON THE STAGE IN FRONT OF ME AND POSING AND HE WAS SUCH A CUTE BUNNY he’s so extra and everyone was pushing so hard :( jisung did the peace sign and he’s so cute. i like legit did not see half the  members for the whole concert :( 

OH YEAH SO MONSTA X BLEW MY HEART AWAY THEY WERE SO PERFECT AND LIKE WHEN KIHYUN AND CHANGKYUN WERE MC’ING KHKWHWKU their english. they’re like my two biases (kihyun and hyungwon are bias wreckers tho) and like wonho came down to propsal to the girl that was sorta near us so all of monsta x were crowded around my side of stage and they WERE SO CLOSe their performances were amazing lowkey wish they did newton BUT THEY DID HERO AND FIGHTER WHICH IS AMAZING AND EX GIRL I LOVE MONSTA X SO MUCH. and changkhyun was being al greasy he was like to the girl: angel, why are you here? what about heaven I NEARLY CRIED OMG HE SSO BEAUTIFUL LIYWFDHKWYF wonho is super fine and kind i just love them so much 

BUT OMG AT THE END YOUNGBIN AND THE REST OF SF9 WERE ON MY SIDE AND YOUNGBIN STARTED TAKING FANS PHONES AND TAKING SELFIES WITH THEM OR VIDEOS AND MY ARM WAS JUST TOO SHORT AND HE WAS SO CLOSE TO TAKING MINE BUT I MISSED OUT KHKJSDGKWULICUSLU 

alright this was such a crap fan account BC SO MUCH HAPPENS AT KCON AND ITS SO HARD TO REMEMBER EVERYTHING MAY ADD MORE THINGS LATER but if you read the the end you are a legend

and yes i said hi to kevin woo like every time i was in audience engagement and also got a selfie with him!! he’s honestly the sweetest and kindest guy ever and super chill!! and honestly like monsta x were so so amazing 

ok i think i need to end this here lmao i will post my hi touches and my selfie with kevin woo on my blog too!! ^^ thank you guys1! 

oh yeah ok and like i hardcore stan every group that was at kcon now bYe 

[natsuhikoshidou]

Invisible Ch.6 - Daring Nightlife (Summary)

souhei uses his powers for good

this ones pretty wild. tw for drug use, kidnapping and implied sexual abuse.

Read Ch 5 p2 | Read Ch.7

The chapter begins with Souhei and Riina getting back from a procurement. Souhei realises that, though he’s still unable to do acrobatics like Riina, he has finally caught up to her. Riina is also changing a little. She now seems to be warming up to people more.

Riina and Souhei go up to the rooftop as usual. When welcomed by Shibata, Riina responds too, unusually.

Once they finish handing the goods out, Souhei realizes the party is beginning; Shibata and his friends are playing limbo; Jirou and the other cooks are making food. He notices that Seiji is going down the ladder to the roof, though. Souhei follows after him.

The hallways in the building are dim. Eventually they end up in an atrium, Souhei calls out to Seiji, who is now sat on a bench with his legs crossed.

Seiji says he’s not going upstairs today. Souhei reminds him of what Seiji said when they first met, that the invisible city is a place of freedom.

Seiji laughs, saying that when they first met Souhei was much more gentle, and that the city has changed him. Souhei says he just left a bad impression, but Seiji disagrees, and says that when they first met he thought Souhei was interesting.

When Souhei asks what he means, Seiji says that the fact Souhei didn’t smile when they first met is what made him interesting, elaborating that he doesn’t like “people that grin and laugh when you first meet them. I loath those kinds of guys” and that he feels like “guys who laugh hospitably at first meetings are, without a doubt, scheming something deep down.”

Souhei doesn’t seem to understand and calls Seiji closedminded. Seiji agrees, and tells Souhei about all the different kind of closedminded beliefs he has

“[...] I say 'Guys who walk at high speeds have lots of pride', 'people that aim for pride embody inferiority complexes', 'some guys who complain are good for nothing crap', 'some guys who are too polite are idiots deep down'. Ah, there's also 'guys who frequently change their email addresses have personality problems.'"

The last one seems to make Souhei laugh a lot. After he’s calmed down, they can hear the people on the roof again.

Souhei says that at school they’re taught not to have these kinds of beliefs, but people still have them. People that have these beliefs can learn and grow from them and people who don’t are often pretty shallow minded. As they sit in silence for a while, he looks at Seiji, then asks:

“Why did you come to this city?”

About 2 years ago, <<clouds>> had begun to get more popular. Because of that, a scout that worked at the concert venues they used introduced them to an agent and said they should think about debuting soon. The band had always wanted to take the indie route though, as it’s generally more easier.

However, the group of 5 split into two halves- the guitar and drum players wanted to debut and the keyboard and bass didn’t. Seiji didn’t care either way, so as the deciding person, he remained neutral. The band continued, but he began to feel like the two groups were hiding something.

The relations in the band also began to fall apart, the bass player was the leader, but he was in the ‘status quo group’. Both groups didn’t talk to one another. Because Seiji seemed to think they were hiding something, he called the record company himself.

It turns out that the record company only wanted Seiji to join by himself. He suspected that the ‘debut group’ was persuaded to convince him to join them. In order to get rid of the ‘obstacles’ (i.e. the ‘status quo group’), the ‘debut group’ signed the contract without consulting anyone. 

When this was brought to light and the contract was cancelled, they were told the band would have to pay a fine. What they had from selling merch and doing concerts wasn’t enough, so Seiji took the matters into his own hands.

He decided to go to the record company alone and sign the contract. In exchange, the fine would be forgotten about. As soon as he left the building though, he got a phone call from the drummer. Though he was usually pretty quiet, this time he had completely lost his composure. He told Seiji that the keyboard player had stabbed the guitar player in the face.

The keyboard player stabbed the guitar player under the eye and ran away. He was arrested 3 days later; they tested both of them positive for drugs. After the guitar player left hospital, he was arrested too.

Seiji learnt afterwards that the guitar player was getting drugs from the keyboard player occasionally, and the reason they didn’t want to debut was because that information would have been made public. 

This was broadcasted on the news. However, they used the member’s real names instead, which is why Souhei doesn’t remember it. Seiji says that luckily the record and production companies managed to keep their names and even the name of the band confidential. The mass media seemed to acknowledge that it would be a struggle for Seiji, who had just joined. 

On the way back from the police station, the drummer cried like a kid. He was the youngest in the band, he still had dreams. That’s when the band seemed to fall apart.

However, a few days later the scout called Seiji, saying that it would be impossible to debut like this, and that he should get rid of his contract. Seiji told him to fuck off and then ended the phone call.

After that, Seiji secluded himself for a while. Feeling like there was nothing he could do, he realized that he had become an invisible person.

Seiji then asks if Souhei will tell his story. Though Souhei says it’s not as interesting or serious, Seiji says that it’s ok.

So Souhei tells him. Unlike with Riina, he tells Seiji everything, including the bullying, his relationship with his aunt and growing up without parents.

However, when he finished speaking, he had become like a fire burning palely. "Well, that Hijiri guy..... he's a piece of shit." Seiji spoke with a spitting tone. "He did something really horrible..." "No-" Souhei was surprised. "-I'm in the wrong... I hurt him, after that, I betrayed his anticipations."

But he shook his head.

"That guy can only see things from his own point of view, he's a narrow minded guy.  People that don't guess what other people's situations are are stupid idiots. Whatever reason he has, a guy who was your friend wouldn't go that far."

It was just like Seiji was mad himself. Souhei looked at him dumbfounded. He hadn't met anyone until now who would get mad for him like this.

"I won't betray you." Seiji said all of a sudden. "I won't hurt you like that guy Hijiri."

Souhei turned away. He thought, I'm glad it's so dark in here. I don't want him to see my face right now.

"-I won't betray you either. I won't use you."

I only have to say that, he thought.

After a while Seiji stood up.

"Right, let's go." "Where?" "The rooftop, of course."

When the two get to the rooftop, it looks like the party’s already in full swing. People were anticipating Seiji, who begins to play his guitar with the flute and bongo player as is custom now. Souhei goes to sit out of the crowd, but Seiji calls him over

Seiji tells Souhei that he should come invite Riina to dance. He tells Souhei that Riina also wasn’t somebody who originally lived in the outside world, and that she was born by invisible people here. He also says that it seems her parents died, and that she’s the same as Souhei. Souhei understands her a little more now.

Souhei approaches Riina and watches the dancers with her. 

"Everyone looks so happy."

Looking at her profile, Souhei's mind was set.

"...Do you want to dance?"

Riina seemed taken by surprise. Souhei saw her eyes opened bigger just a little. The beating of his heart was drowned in the surrounding noise, Souhei pretended to be calm.

"Come dance." with only a few words, he held out his hand.

Riina's eyes stared at that hand. Souhei choked like he felt a hole in his lungs, finally she answered in a small voice.

"-Ok."

Then those two hands touched each other, the fire continued to burn until late.

One day, something makes Souhei finally think about how long it’s been since he turned invisible.

Usually procurements are done during the daytime, but today he and Riina ended quite late, he sees from the antique bookstore by the alleyway to the city that it’s 8:50. As they’re about to go back to the Invisible City, he sees someone in the distance.

A figure in a crowd of people. When they pass to the left, he notices that the figure is being followed by a few men, and then a minivan.

Riina notices that Souhei’s distracted. Souhei says that he forgot to pick up a book he wanted to get, and gives the backpack to Riina.

"Can I return later? When I return I'll go to the rooftop straight away." "I'll come, too." "I'll be fine by myself. Anyway, Jirou told me he was baking a cake today. It might be gone by then." "Cake." Riina stood up straight like she was shot by lightning.

A fact he learn recently is that she seems to be fond of sweet things. Sweets and confectionery items received from the residents as a gift in return for procurements all disappeared in her mouth.

Souhei then turns back the way they came and follows after the figure.

The figure he saw was Haruka. 

He follows after Haruka for about 10 minutes. Eventually they end up near the district where she and Hijiri live (and where Souhei also used to live). They ended up at a park with a grove of trees at the side, which is where the men hide. Souhei hides by the minivan, which drove with them.

Suddenly, one of them jumps out infront of Haruka, saying “Good evening!”. He’s blond and has a face like a monkey. Haruka answers politely (and in shock), “G, Good evening...”

Next, a man with a cap approaches Haruka from the side. “It’s warm today”. Haruka doesn’t seem to be aware of the danger, “Yes, it is. It seems warmer this year”

Haruka soon becomes surrounded by four men, the one on the other side being a ‘beansprout man’ (big head but lean body) and the one behind her being the parka man, who wears a white parka. Then, Haruka seems to sense the danger.

The monkey man approaches her from the front, covering her mouth with a handkerchief. As he does, the cap man restrains Haruka from behind, and then puts her over his shoulder. The monkey man supports her front half.

The parka man then waves his hand, signalling for the car to start, and begins to draw near Souhei. Souhei understands- they’re going to kidnap her.

He runs out and tackles the beansprout man, pushing him to the side of the road. Souhei then pulls him up from the nape of the neck, his whole body losing it’s power. He cries out in pain.

Souhei then approaches the parka man, kicking his junk with all the power he can muster. “his voice came from his mouth like a broken brass instrument.”

The two men with Haruka put her in the trunk of the car. The cap man runs over to the men and the monkey man watches over her. 

As the cap man runs past Souhei, he pulls on his ear causing him to cry out in the voice of a tenor singer, which makes Souhei laugh. He punches the cap man in the abdomen, and then pushes his head to his knees a few times. He lost some teeth and his nose seems broken, he collapses into the shape of the 大 kanji.

The monkey man is now holding a knife out in front of him. From over his shoulder, Souhei can see that Haruka has been gagged and tied up with her hands behind her back. There’s a yakuza-looking man who is now sitting with her, looking around restlessly. Souhei assumes he’s in charge.

Souhei approaches the monkey man from the side and kicks him in the face. Surprisingly, he didn’t fall over. He seems more confused about where it came from. Souhei then punches up at the monkey man’s chin, he read from a book once that that’s a vital area. 

Though Souhei’s hand hurts, he rushes over to the minivan. He sees that Haruka’s gotten her hands free and is now looking around. 

The yakuza guy is trying to crawl back into the van, making some weird noises as he does. Souhei tries to pull him out from the van, but the yakuza man is resisting. Souhei catches a glimpse of the inside:

When Souhei realised the nature of the inside he lost his words. The rear seat had been removed and in the wide space that had been made everything was laid around-  An SLR and video camera, handcuffs, rope, a polaroid camera, and a couple of photographs-

Souhei's head became more and more hot. He was so mad his eyes seemed to get dizzy. Much more power now filled his arm.

Using all the power in his body, Souhei pulls the man out from the van as he begs and screams. At first the yakuza guy is apologizing, but he soon gets up and goes into the van. He comes back out with the handcuffs and locks himself up, throwing the key away into the nearby grove. He also throws the car keys away. Souhei thinks he’s gone insane.

Souhei rushes back over to Haruka. She’s sat in the trunk still, her blazer opened, watching the yakuza man. 

Souhei became worried. Was that too much of a shock for her?

Watching her as he couldn't do anything, Haruka appeared outside the car, and looked around at the surroundings in silence. Then, she slowly put her feet on the floor and stood up. However, it seems she lost the power of one leg. She lost power and seemed to collapse

- In the spur of the moment Souhei held Haruka's hand.

Haruka regained her composure, and looked at her own right hand in surprise. Souhei caught his breath, and stood stock still on the spot.

I went and did something outrageous. I touched her. I'm not allowed to let a person from the outside world know about invisible people's existence.

Haruka looked at her right hand again. She rubbed her fingers together, occasionally concentrating her eyes like she was trying to find for something on her right hand.

The lukewarm mood after she left from the grove of trees, eventually Haruka took her eyes off her right hand and slowly opened her mouth.

"....Souhei?"

Souhei backed away.

It was a shock like his heart had been grabbed.

How did she know? Why did she say my name? Her right hand? I don't understand.

Haruka looked straight through him. However she couldn't see him. She couldn't hear his voice.  But Souhei felt violently embarrassed. He didn't understand why. If there was a hole nearby he wanted to crawl into it, that was the unbearable embarrassment he felt.

Then he turned around and ran away, and ran back to the Invisible City like that.

On the way back from school, Haruka sits on the park bench alone. 

The last time she saw Souhei was a month ago. Two days after she saw him, her home phone rings. It’s Kazuho. She was starting to get worried about Souhei leaving home.  

Haruka tells Kazuho that she saw Souhei when she was on her way home from prep school. Kazuho seems surprised. Apart from that Haruka doesn’t know anything else.

Haruka then thinks to call her other childhood friend, Hijiri. After his ‘surprise attack’ the other day, she still hasn’t forgiven him and doesn’t know how to talk to him, so she doesn’t.

A few days later, the police show up to her house and ask her about her eyewitness report. Nobody knew anything about Souhei. A month passed.

Last night, Haruka felt Souhei’s presence. She didn’t tell anyone, scared that they would laugh at her. But she definitely felt like somebody held her hand, and someone definitely saved her from being kidnapped last night.

-If that was Souhei, I wonder why I couldn't see his body? It's like-

Haruka suddenly looked around at the surroundings.

There were fountains in the distance. An old couple was sitting on the right bench, they peered at the flowing water without talking. Nobody else was here.

She slowly closed her eyes. The traces of sunlight on the inside of her eyelids left speckled patterns, those disappeared when she waited a little, her sense of hearing became a little more sharp.

The sound of the water fountains, the cries of the cicadas, the sound of children's voices an running around in the distance, like the play equipment squeaked from their weight, the cars driving beyond the fence, and also bikes, airplanes flying in the sky- mixed in with the countless noises, she heard the unique sound of shoe soles breaking into sand nearby.

Someone's here- Haruka was slightly nervous. One step at a time, slow like a big animal, she noticed the noise gradually filled the distance towards her. Concentrating, the noise besides this one disappeared in the distance.

Now. Haruka made up her mind and opened her eyes. But nobody was there. Was it just my imagination? No, it wasn't. I'll take a chance. Then she spoke.

"Souhei?"

Souhei stood still on the spot, taken aback.

Haruka, sitting alone on the bench, suddenly closed her eyes and completely stopped moving, he began to feel nervous.

Hereupon it seemed she was waiting for that, she opened her eyes and called out his name. The name of him, who had turned into an invisible person.

He retreated back a couple of steps unconsciously. Did she feel that,

"Souhei, wait!"

As Haruka said that, it was like Souhei's feet had been planted and he couldn't move. Does she know? How did she know?

Haruka stands up and begins to walk around blindly as she calls out to Souhei, her hands held out in front of her. Souhei can’t move at all.

He can’t reply, he can’t move. Haruka soon walks right next to Souhei, he gently touches her hand. Haruka is surprised, and asks if that was him.

Souhei separated their hands and approached the bench. Haruka's satchel for school was placed there, he raised it up. When she noticed that, a small scream came out. It must look like her bag was soundlessly floating through the air.

He worried about what he was going to do now, Souhei simply said "I'm sorry" to Haruka, and opened her bag. As he made sure to snoop around the inside of her bag as little as possible, he fumbled and pulled out a pencil case and notebook. He remembered the pencil case. It had light green and pink stripes on it, it's something she's been using since elementary school.

Souhei pulled out a ballpoint pen and wrote letters on the notebook.

How did you know?

He then put that on the bench, waiting until Haruka read it.

She asks “Are you... Souhei..? Are you here?”. Souhei writes I’m here. Haruka asks for clarification, telling him to write down what they did in their summer holidays in grade 8. Souhei laughs, and writes Glass-making. Thanks for the photos

Haruka asks if he can’t speak, he writes that he can but she can’t hear it. She then fumbles around the bench, making sure not to sit on him before she sits down across him.

"I wonder why can't I hear you?" I don't know. That's how invisible people are "Invisible people?" Haruka said. "...Right, obviously. How did this happen?" I don't know that either. I just noticed I am. "...Can you turn back to normal?"

Souhei was at a loss for a reply. Right now he didn't have any feelings of wanting to return. For now he wrote I don't know how to turn back.

"Have you always.... been near me?"

Haruka tilted her head with pure eyes. Souhei realized the intention of the question and hurried.

No, last night was by chance he wrote on the notebook in a hurry. The letters became a little messy.

However, Haruka smiled with a grin.

"I thought so. If you had always been nearby, I think I would have noticed faster."

He was relieved that she didn't seem angry. He was certainly dumbfounded by her perceptiveness. Souhei just wrote There's somewhere I've been hiding.

When she read that, Haruka opened her mouth after hesitating a little.

"....Souhei.... you're alive, aren't you?"

Souhei was taken aback.

The unexpected question surprised him. However, this was certainly a question that needed approval. When he realized he had become an invisible person, he had the fear that he might have become a ghost.

I'm alive he wrote.

Haruka still couldn't hide her look of anxiety, Souhei had made up his mind to take her hand. He then put it on his left chest.

After holding it there for a little while, Haruka's blank face changed into a smile. ".....So you are."

The old couple that passed infront of the bench didn't pay any attention Haruka. So much so that Haruka put her hand on Souhei's shoulder next to her. He was surprised, she was now touching his ear. She stroked his cheek. She pushed the tip of his nose with her thumb. She patted over his forehead, combing through his hair with her hand.

When she reached her hand out to the nape of his neck Haruka seemed satisfied, and finally withdrew her hand. Souhei was glad that she touched his chest first. If she touched it now she would think it was something other than a heartbeat.

'I'm alive, right?' Souhei wrote. "...Alive... right-"

Unexpectedly, she raised her head when her voice paused, Souhei was taken aback. Haruka's eyes had become wet. Then, immediately, tears started going down her cheeks, she cried sorrowfully.

"I was really worried... I was always thinking about where you went... Maybe you, d....d.... died.... when I thought that, I was so scared, I couldn't, contact..... H-Hijiri....., I had no one to.... ta, talk to......"

Souhei stayed still, unable to look at her.

The tears that fell down her cheeks formed drops of water on the notebook. It smudged the ink of the writing. Souhei realized it had been a really long time since he saw Haruka cry. No, this might even be the first time. Ever since she was little she was a strong and rational girl.

Right now, that Haruka let her tears fall down and down, without wiping them away. With her eyes closed, her heart indicated she desperately tried to make them stop. But they continued to overflow.

When Souhei noticed this he reached his right hand out to her cheek. He wiped her tears with his thumb. When she felt that touch Haruka raised her head and opened her eyes.

Then she closed them.

Souhei was drawn in. Then the moment they touched, though her shoulders shook faintly, Haruka didn't run away. Her lips were cold, they felt really nice. Something that smelled really nice tickled his nose. Though he didn't know what that smell was, he felt it was something it was something he wouldn't forget the rest of his life.

Like his fingers popped a soap bubble, that kiss lasted only for a moment. Then, he could finally meet eyes with Haruka. However, of course, she didn't notice that.

A faint smile appeared on her quivering lips.

"This is bad. A month ago, Hijiri did the same thing...." She cast her eyes down in embarrassment. "Doing this with both of you... I'm no good."

He saw that moment from behind- wait, what should I say.

Souhei wrote I'm sorry on the notebook. "...Why are you apologizing?" This was bad for Hijiri

Haruka leaned her head to the side, he saw her troubled face.

'Why Hijiri?'

When she answered Souhei thought of a question. Then he picked the pen up again,

Weren't you going out? he wrote. "What!"

Haruka raised her voice. Her long hair swayed.

"We weren't doing anything like going out. That day, I came here on the way to meet you, and at the park entrance I happened to meet Hijiri. That... kiss... that I told you about right now happened unexpectedly."

This time Souhei was surprised. Hijiri said he was going out with Haruka. He heard it himself, so he decided to stand back from Haruka.

"Did Hijiri maybe tell you that? That was a lie. Since then, he hasn't been in contact with me at all."

Haruka was puffing with rage, but she seemed to immediately abandon that and laughed.

"...It looks like I really can't complain after all."

I was deceived... Dumbfounded for a short while, Souhei put his strength into the hand which held the pen. He ran across the notebook quickly for his own pleasure.

I'm gonna kick Hijiri's butt

Haruka laughed out in an unusual voice.

[nohshinwoos]

Do you remember how hyped we were for ep9's Fredag clip in season 3? We had been going through all the motions bc first the ep was supposed to be like 45 minutes long and then they changed it back again, so everyone kept complaining and was crying over the fact that they couldn't fix Evak in six minutes, not after everything that had happened. But they did. They did the impossible and fixed Evak in the most beautiful way possible. //p1

And now, in season 4 we all couldn't care less about the clip. It's really a shame (pun not intended) that they stopped caring about the show and, more importantly, Sana. //p2

ahh, i wasn’t here when season 3 was live so i don’t know! but i can imagine how much of a rollercoaster that week must have been. because i remember watching ep9 for the first time and crying because of how ep8 ended. i watched season 3 all in one day, so basically that day was an emotional rollercoaster with so so much crying!

and yeah, it really is a shame (haha, pun not intended here either) that they aren’t caring that much about the show anymore. that’s also the feeling i’ve had all through this season, that they just don’t care anymore. and that’s even more of a shame, how season 3 really felt like it was Julie’s baby - like it was something so fragile about it. and that she really cared for it with all her heart and soul. and s4 feels like the complete opposite of that. it’s as if she doesn’t care about sana, at least not the second half of this season. the first three weeks of this season was, for me at least, good - but then it just went downhill. and even more downhill after the hiatus. and now it’s like it’s so far down, i honestly don’t feel like they’re gonna fix it. i have lost all hope, i’m not gonna lie. i don’t see how, in a week from now, we will have all the answers and it will feel like this season was sana’s season. it was never sana’s season. the first three weeks might have been more about sana than anyone else, but overall this season has not been about sana.

[distantdramaturgies]

Let's snail together #networkednarrative

Tagged #networkednarrative we show you some work that resulted form a course with Tomáš Procházka at DAMU:

Curtain opens just a bit. P1 sticks their head through the gap.

Performer1 (P1) speaking normally and dramatically slowing down speaking during the following text. At the end of the text, speaking tempo is only a 10th of normal speaking tempo):

Dear audience! Snails! Think about it, snails! You know. They have, like, they have the house and the body and the slime. Dear audience! Like: Hello dear audience! Have you ever thought about snails? Like: Dear audience, have you ever thought about snails? Dear Snails! Snails! Snails! Snails! Dear audience, have you ever snails? Dear audience, have you ever slime? Dear audience! Snails, house, body, slime. Hello! Hello hello, welcome! Hello dears! Hello Snails! Hello: Hello! Like: Dear! Like: audience! Hello audience, hello snails! Slime. sli sla slime. Slo slo slo. Sni sna snails. Sno sno sno. Dear audience! Snails! Hello hello hello! Hello! Hello hello hello. Snails, snails, snails, snails! Snails! Snails, snails, snails! Snails! Snails, snails! Snails! Dear audience! Hello!

Curtain fully opens. Still in super slo mo, P1 looks around the stage.

From off stage...

...a desk,

...a big pot,

...several clean see through containers filled with water,

...a hotplate/portable stove,

...some starch/agar agar are carried onto the stage at normal speed.

While this happens P1 still in slomo goes towards the desk, around it, so they stand behind the desk, facing the audience.

Arriving there, P1 switches to normal speed again.

P1:

Dear audience, have you ever thought about snails? They have, like, they have the house and the body and the slime. Dear audience! Let's make some slime. First we need to heat some water.

Pours the water one bottle after another in the big pot.

Slo fade in: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4wdcryNBcNCLR0bfDPlCtn?si=da25c6f7651f4f62

Let’s get that cooking, won't we? I guess we are here together for some time.

So how are you guys?

You know, I always like to have a little chat while cooking ;)

So many charming faces looking at me.

Such a handsome audience.

What a handsome audience.

whispers: What a handsome audience.

normal: Such a handsome audience.

How are you though?

P1 one continues to flirt and banter with the audience, trying to really get them to respond. They engage in a charming conversation until the water boils. There can be long and awkward pauses.

Whenever a member of the audience tries to ask question disturbing the atmosphere, P1 with an award winning smile can say something like:

Aw, but that's not what we are here for and you know it. :*

When the water is almost boiling:

How come when I wash my hands and I dry them, they are still wet?

Video projection of Dr. Mike’s answer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsDhjbcxdpM at 5.18-5.55

P1:

I think I am nervous.

Let's continue with the slime.

Once the water boils you can add the starch.

Be sure to stir well.

Now it needs to cool down a little.

…

So nervous. It all needs to cool down a little.

P1 leaves the stage. Music stops.

P2 enters, stirs the pot of slime for around five minutes, shyly looking into the audience from time to time and then leaving again without having said a word.

P3 enters.

P3:

I lost my house. How am I supposed to hide now? Go away. Go away, all of you. I am such a slug. I am not even funny, am I? Am I funny? Don’t tell me. Such a slug. Shit, I mean, slime. Such a slime. Look at all this slime!

Short black. The slime pot gets replaced by another slime pot with the slime already cooled down.

P3:

Look at all this slime!

Puts one arm in the pot. Everything is dripping with slime.

Slime slime slime. Slime slime slime. Slime slime slime.

Continues to cover themselves with slime.

Slime slime slime. Slime slime slime. Slime slime slime.

P2 enters with a big piece of fabric. P3 lays down on the floor.

P2:

Slug slug slug. Slug slug slug. Slug slug slug.

P2 wraps the piece of fabric around P3, so P3 has a somewhat sluglike shape. P2 also pours some slime over P3.

Slug slug slug. Slug slug slug. Slug slug slug.

P1 enters. Carries something that can function as a snailhouse. Maybe a big empty carton box.

P1:

Snail snail snail. Snail snail snail. Snail snail snail.

P1 puts the carton box over P3.

Snail snail snail. Snail snail snail. Snail snail snail.

P3 slowly crawls around the stage. P1 and P2 make sure P3 leaves a trace of slime behind.

P1 and P2 quietly chanting:

Snail snail snail. Snail snail snail. Snail snail snail. Snail snail snail. Snail snail snail…

P4 enters. P4 speaks very fast and in a very high voice. During the following monologue P1, P2 and P3 continue to walk around the stage.

P4:

The snail speaks very slow and in a very deep voice. The snail thinks very slow and in a very deep voice. The snail thinks about frogs. So much and so often about frogs.

mimics snail: Frogs, frogs frogs. Frogs, frogs, frogs. Frogs, frogs, frogs.

Where do frogs live? If slugs are snails without houses, what would frogs with houses be? Turtles?

If a snail could fly, would it be a bumble bee?

Turtles are somehow like a hoodie?

Turtles without houses are disgusting.

Turtlenecks and Hoodies

A turtleneck without arms is a sock.

A shoe is a snailhouse for a foot.

What is a foot with slime: slippers.

If a snail was a cake it would be a cinnamon roll.

If a snail was a body part it would be…

A head without a snailhouse is a brain.

If a slug was a bodypart it would be...

If a rabbit had no skin it would be a jumping slug.

Let's sing all together: Who can catch the jumping slug!

...

If humans would have snails instead of dogs they would be very slow.

If humans were slugs, what would snails look like?

Leeches are like slugs but they are vampires.

What would a herding dog for snails be?

If snails had legs, they wouldn’t use them.

Imagine a snail flatshare, where several snails live in one house. Imagine a snail dormitory.

If flowers would be snails, would slugs then be grass?

If slugs were flowers, would snails be trees?

If cars were snails, streets would be very slimy.

Haha: what is a snail in the oven?

…

A french dish!

And what is a snail in freshwater?

…

A freshwater snail.

What if snails were Victorian lovers?

A: Oh, yes, so I am a snail from the house of, like from my errr, my house, from the ones with houses, from the snails.

B: I am the slug. From the house of, …, no house, there is no house, I am a slug.

...

If I was a real estate agent for snailhouses, I would do this now:

P4 grabs a shirt/blouse and a suit jacket, maybe a tie from somewhere and dresses in them. P4 takes out a laser pointer and a folder with important looking documents. A powerpoint presentation with a catalogue for different snailhouses starts. P4 speaks in a completely different voice and rhythm. P4 presents the catalogue of prefab. snailhouses in a very competent and professional manner. P1,2 and 3 slowly leave the stage. After some time some performers come onto the stage and calmly start cleaning real snailhouses while crouching on the floor.

P4:

The most graceful snail is gonna win this house!

Who is a graceful snail?

continues speaking like a dog owner speaking to the performers cleaning snailhouses

Who is a graceful snail? Yes, who is a graceful snail? Who is? Are you? Are you a graceful snail? Yes you are, yes you are! Such a graceful snail!

everyone tries to be a the most graceful snail ...

And we have a winner! We have a winner! Now you win a house!

the winner is happy and grateful

And you others: Be ashamed! Be very ashamed of yourselves. Go clean up this mess. Clean it up!

P4 and the winning snail leave the stage. The others start to clean the stage but are very slow. This happens for 5-10 minutes, maybe the music from the let's snail together playlist continues.

5-10 minutes pass. The cleaning ones clean

P1 come on stage, walks slowly to the middle, a bit awkward

P1:

Yes, so I think this might actually take a while. Errr. yeah. So, you are free to leave, I mean, I am also happy to just stay here and chat a bit, but actually that's all we prepared for today. So. Yeah.

If the audience leaves, the show is over. Otherwise P1 and the audience chat for 20 more minutes, then music fades out and black.

by Levin