#you see this insanely passionate fanbase then you look at the game and it’s this multi company that just doesn’t gaf and shits in the fans

[stari-hun]

I love talking about reverse 1999 and how the characters act and why cause Bluepoch put so much effort into setting up the world and making it believable that these characters ARE people. They have all the nuances and inner conflicts a person has and to guess their actions you have to start by asking yourself what the average person would do or feel in their situation. I really enjoy that part of it and it also makes a much more compelling story because when they put so much effort into making everything matter the fandom and players make connections because of it. Something that might’ve been in there as an insignificant plot point for the characters becomes an important piece for the fanbase.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Hi there, love your metas. Wanted to bring something else to your attention which I think is severely overlooked by the HP fanbase and that is Harry's quidditch skills. I mean, the boy made it to the team at 11, and McGonagall herself was an excellent quidditch player so her eye would obviously catch the best potential players which means he exhibited some serious skills when he caught that rememball.

I think it was in the second book (?) when that bludger went crazy and literally broke his arm and it was raining cats and dogs yet he still managed to local and catch the snitch. Imagine catching a high speed tiny flying ball with a broken arm. He won the quidditch cup for Gryffindor after a decade or so. He was also a very firm quidditch captain and had impressive authority over the players in his team and the ones who came for tryouts. He was in control of the situation and was not standing around awkwardly like in the movies.

He caught Ravenclaw's tiara while flying through a room being engulfed by a raging inferno, he defeated a whole dragon by imagining it as a mere opponent team. He was complimented by famous professional players, I think he would've flourished very well if he pursued quidditch professionally. I think he is one of the best players in the series, What's your take on this ?

Hi, thank you! 💖

Yes, Harry is so incredibly naturally talented in Quiditch. Even if we look at his first-ever game, his broom is jinxed and Harry succeeds in holding on until Hermione sets Snape on fire and then catches the snitch in his mouth, like, that's pretty insane for an 11-year-old.

And yeah, the crazy bludger was in second year, enchanted by Dobby.

Book Harry is so incredibly superior to movie Harry in every way. Personality, skills, humor, intelligence, talent, magical prowess, just being an interesting engaging character — everything.

I think Harry could definitely give Krum a run for his money in terms of Seeker skills, definitely if he had the same training Krum surely has. He has insane natural talent.

Harry could've probably been a very successful professional Quidditch player, one of the best ever probably, I just don't personally see him going for it. Mostly because I don't think Quidditch is as important to him at the end of the books as at first. I mean, Harry loves flying, he isn't actually all that passionate about professional Quidditch.

He doesn't have a favorite Quidditch team, he doesn't follow match results, he doesn't really care if Gryffindor wins or not when he's the team's captain in his 6th year. Sure, he'd rather they did, but we don't see the same heat and obsession with it we see from Oliver Wood or Angelina Johnson. He isn't as intense about the sport as Ron or Ginny. Ron actually knows the broom market and follows it, Harry, not so much.

Harry loves flying for the freedom, for the sensation, for the rush, he doesn't actually care for the professional game. Harry is an insanely talented Quidditch hobbyist to the misfortune of all Quidditch teams in the UK and Ireland who would've loved to have the Boy-Who-Lived who happens to be the youngest Seeker in a century on board.

[unknownteapot]

In light of Courtney mentioning they would possibly want to direct a movie some day during the Q+A, what do you think a Smosh movie would look like with this current cast? Would it be similar to the original Smosh Movie? I'm imagining something similar to Smost the Sitcom Live, like a sitcom comedy maybe? Anyway you don’t have to answer, I’m just curious 🤗

anon, you are NOT ready i was BORN for this question and i'm about to type up a storm so strap in!! thank you for sending it in!!! me being a yapper + film student is not boding well for me rn...

i completely see what you mean about a sitcom/comedy type thing, their vibes during ssl were immaculate, but i also think if they *were* ever going to make a movie it'd be something vastly different from what they've done before just to keep it fresh and give people something never seen before. which is why..

i propose to you: a horror comedy about the cast getting stuck at the smosh office overnight (more below the cut)

hear me out HEAR ME OUT god im so passionate about this. this type of premise would avoid the cast having to play characters per se, they'd kind of just play 'themselves' so it's easier for the existing smosh fanbase to transition to this new movie format without it feeling gimicky/overproduced- the movie begins with just a typical end-of-video outro into the camera for smosh games (maybe only main cast and not freelance? bc full cast might be too many people for a movie idk) and then cuts out to the cast getting off the soundstage like hehe good shoot whatever whatever. but. wait a second. why is it past midnight?? quickly they're realising everyone's gone and its WAY late and they're locked in. all the clocks have stopped around the office. phones are all out of service (but show a weird little digital snake symbol as foreshadowing to something ;)

so now they're like uh-oh. what the fuck do we do. and promptly the cast splits into groups/pairs that all deal with this in their own way the movie would cut back and forth between. maybe amanda and angela deciding to steal alcohol from the kitchen and then snoop on people's desks?? finding out ian has a love locket of anthony in his drawer?? damien grows mushrooms under his desk??? olivia collect's people's candy wrappers?????? idk it could be ANYTHING which makes thsi SO FUNNY to me

BUT this is where the horror comes in, because suddenly people start going missing. and its not fun and games at all. the air feels weird, its like 3 am, everyone's losing their shit a little bit. they start regrouping to see who they can find "hey have you guys seen Angela?" "No, but Courtney just went missing too." "Guys I don't feel well.." AND LITTLE BY LITTLE. THEY START SEEING APPARITIONS. SMOSH CHARACTERS. WHO HAUNT THEM.

like i'm sorry. tell me it would NOT be hilarious for Mental Illness to come haunt the cast in an eerie ghost form??? Augustus??? insulting the cast (but hitting truths about them) making them think about their life decisions??? COURTNEY FREAKING MILLER???? JUST YELLING???? TELEPORTING AROUND THEM AND SCARING THE SHIT OUT OF THEM>?>>>>??? god the jumpscares they could do with this insane INSANE. BIZANKA???????????????? im

BUT NOT JUST SMOSH CHARACTERS- fnaf characters in their eerie ass suits, chica demanding Amanda why she held the door so hard that one time and didn't let her in meanwhile everyone is terrified and somewhat sobbing

so now its CHAOS, they're trying to stick together to avoid getting haunted, they're trying to find their missing friends, they're running around to the footsteps of animatronics, when suddenly they find a door to some storage closet open. they walk in.

there they are!!!! all their missing friends lying passed out on the floor and.. what's this strange hissing noise and why is it kinda foggy in there.. "Oh my god!" Amanda yells out in relief that none of this was real (or was it), "There's a gas leak at the smosh office!" And then promptly passes out. So do they all. THE END.

maybe a post-credits scene of ian and anthony coming into the office in the morning and finding a MESS and them all passed out like god. we gotta put baby gates in here or some shit. they keep messing stuff up!! OR BETTER. they dont know about the cast at first and look at each other with knowing smirks like "wanna go get high :)" and then they head towards where all their friends are passed out and we find out it was actually their secret 'gas leak' spot where they get high on the regular from the gas. ian pouting like "damnit. they found our secret spot :(" anthony shruggs like "oh well" and then they prance around the room trying to huff the gas like idiots and also pass out.

more insane ideas idk how to incorporate yet:

a comedic bit where Amanda bonds with Chica from fnaf and reads her tarot cards (amanda would SO be the person to chat her up after getting over her initial fear and be like 'hey, you just need love, honey. i get it, we've all been there') and its this insane horror yet adorable moment where these two world collide?? BONUS: if the rest of the cast hide in a corner and look at her like "how is she doing this???"

Tim the IT guy actually turning out to be a hologram that haunts all the computers with snake graphics (from that one smoffice sketch 'it could happen to any one of us!') and actually gets his energy from sucking out ram from people's devices

Props and shit moving!!! just so much potential

INNOVATIVE FORMAT:

AND a great way to introduce horror elements could be through this whole 'found footage' thing- you know how in some movies you find like someone's security cam recording etc etc. they could SO integrate elements of that because the smoffice is primarily for content creation so there's LOTS of cameras everywhere

"Hey uh.. guys I think this camera's still rolling." And its us watching footage of that room through it MASTERFUL. or people recording tiktoks and we watch through their screen recording but we see stuff in the background moving before they do YEAH. the HORROR OF IT. god i love movies

okay for everyone's sanity i will now stop i was actually not expecting to type this much- anon who sent this ask, i owe you everything!! im now obsessed with this idea i wish this was real w o w

[ariarose2222]

Can crowdfunding build a community for creatives?

Yes, crowdfunding can build a community for creatives. A community is very easily built as long as certain conditions are met. First, the medium which connects the community has to attract significant interest and second, people have a reason to connect with other people who share similar interests. Humans are social beings and naturally tend to group together if they have similar interests, birds of a feather flock together. Just take a look at platforms focused on hosting fanbases such as Amino and you will find an insane amount of communities grouping together no matter how niche their interests might be.

But how does crowdfunding for creatives work?

Usually, creatives will set up a donation campaign on websites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo for people to donate to in order to fund their project. They can range from games and movies to published works. In return, people who funded the project may receive early access, rewards or other perks but ultimately, they get to see a project that they find worthy of investing money in come to fruition. For example, if I see a donation campaign for a game that I find very interesting and would like to play, I will donate money to fund the development and in return I get to try the game before it is officially released and give feedback to the developers. This creates a bond between the creator and their crowdfund donators. When multiple donators connect not just with the creator but also with each other, a community will inevitably start forming.

Notable crowdfunded creative works.

Looking at the list of crowdfunded projects with the highest amount of donations on Wikipedia, in the top 20, there is one video game (Star Citizen at $714M), one TV series (The Chosen at $68M), one movie (The David Movie at $60M), one publication (Surprise! Four Secret Novels at $45M) and one book company (Dragonsteel Entertainment at $41M). Considering that these creative works have to compete with a lot of campaigns to fund high stakes blockchain projects, the general population’s interest in paying to see a piece of creative work come to life is quite substantial.

People like investing in creatives but how does that build a community?

When a lot of people are funding a project, it means that a lot of people are interested in it. This guarantees that crowdfunded creative projects will meet the first condition stated earlier that there is a significant interest in the project. Arguably, crowdfunded projects are better at building a community than projects funded from other ways. Crowdfunded projects that succeed means that there are enough people interested in it to keep it alive whereas projects funded internally could risk lack of interest from the public.

Star Citizen’s community over on Reddit currently has 425k members with 807 of them currently online and 11 new posts within the last hour at the time of writing. This is definitely pointing towards the ability of crowdfund campaigns at building a community.

Now that the main question is answered, what are the effects of a crowdfunded creative project?

The first stakeholder that benefits from crowdfunded projects is the community. They get to see something they like get created from start to finish and they might even get some perks for backing a crowdfund campaign too.

The other stakeholder that benefits from successful crowdfund campaigns are small creators such as indie game studios, amateur filmmakers and small-time artists. Financial support from the donations will allow them to access far better equipment and facilities, enabling them to compete with larger corporations. Through crowdfunding, small creators can grow their passion projects into bigger ones and establish themselves in their respective industries.

Conclusion and final thoughts

To reiterate the answer, yes crowdfunding campaigns can absolutely build a community for creatives. It allows them to have guaranteed support from the public and helps them build a fanbase even before they have completed their work. The fans can watch in real time the development of the creative work they invested in and potentially have a hand in influencing the creative decisions of said work. When a crowdfunded campaign succeeds, all parties involved benefit from it.

References

https://crowdfundly.com/blog/7-best-crowdfunding-platforms-for-artists-to-raise-funds

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-funded_crowdfunding_projectshttps://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/new/

https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/new/

[solomonish]

We are both crying over the event spamming. I was hoping. Praying. And I see there is no hope to avoid events lasting forever.

~Naomi

I KNOWWWWW NAOMI AHHHHHH i was hoping so hard. i was hoping that the constant events in og obey me would be to keep the app alive for those who wanted it and that nightbringer would focus on the story. but??? now there's no point to keeping og obm up if they both have the same events at the same time?? and how are we supposed to focus on the story if they release new chapters on the same day events start??

it feels like they were aware that their clunky writing, insane difficulty spike and constant barrage of events killed og obm and chased people away, and they acknowledged that by scrapping the whole thing and retconning everything so they could have a fresh start (which is a sucky way of doing things but i was willing to let bygones be bygones!!! we were willing to look past that!!), AND THEN they insulted us by doing the exact same thing right out the gate with NB. at least if you get stuck on lessons before you can level up your cards, you can skill your way to barely getting a C with a big enough combo....

god. GOD. I'm going to stick around for a little bit and see what happens but i've gotta be honest this is not sparking any joy

and i HATE to be like this. i don't wanna just complain all the time. i missed solomon and lucifer and belphie (and everyone else but those are my main three) SO MUCH. i had so much genuine fun with obey me and i was so interested and passionate in the characters. but the constant content STRESSES ME OUT. like. i understand games need to make money and they need something to drive microtransactions, but we've been saying for years (i think) how obey me is pushing out too much too fast and too low a quality. and they're still doing it!!!!!!

and somebody pointed this out in the tags of my post i think but without otaku boot camp or solomon's summoning sale it's...kinda hard to level up cards. and what are they going to do about the harder lessons if half the devil's tree is locked behind skill levels and they're so stingy with their UR+ jokers? i'd understand making them RARE but there should at least be a slightly easier way to get them. or more raven given out so you actually have a chance at buying them.

obey me has done this thing where it stops just shy of punishing you for not paying money to play the game. like yeah you can play and get enjoyment out of the game for free, but good luck getting a single UR fully levelled up ever. have fun ever getting beyond the 7,000 mark in events. in the very first NB event, the top place got 7 MILLION points. I had a cheat card and played as many levels as i could every day and only got to around 13,000. plus, their fanbase is theoretically bigger than ever! their whole placing system is not fit for a fandom of this caliber. I'm not saying they should make it easier to get first place, but like. it's ridiculous how impossible it is to do anything 100% unless you cough up some cash.

anyway. i went on a way longer rant then i meant to. i'm so disheartened tbh like i didn't expect MUCH but i was hoping they were using this as a learning experience. now i know they were just hoping to get some people to pay two VIP fees for the price of keeping a single app up to date.

[shakethatsassyass]

hi!! are u still active? i see the askbox is opeen sooo.

could i request some relationship of older!GOM like who's the marrying type, what do they like, who sleeps around most, who finds dating bother some etc etc!!! Maybe their ideal types in a s/o as well??? Thank u so muuuuch im so excited if everaaa

Hi! This request is really interesting and here are my dating headcanons for the GOM. You can request another one for their ideal types if you’d like since this ended up quite long 😅

GOM Dating/Marriage Headcanons

a/n: unedited

KUROKO

Come on, obviously this guy is the most emotionally intelligent out of all of them. 

But does he approach the people he likes? No 

But it’s painfully obvious when he does fancy someone

His ears become red. Warning: fair chance of passing out

He does his best to be more assertive though, meticulously planning how to approach his crush

Very very thoughtful, remembers what you told him 128 days, 13 hours, 6 minutes ago about that video you were showing him

When he’s with someone, you better bet the relationship will last for years

Not that he’s boring like that or anything but Kuroko hates the mind games that come with modern dating

But Kuroko’s immensely loyal to some may argue, a fault, I think

Like s/o wants to swerve careers? Kuroko supports

Wants to start a small business? He’s supportive 

Needs to rob a bank/hide a body? He has all the tools already......

I just imagine domestic fluff kuroko being the troll that he is. he purposefully hides in the corner to surprise you with a heart attack when you come back home 

KISE

Kise has quite a fanbase, as we all know

Headcanoning is that a word that Kise gets scouted by a Japanese company and becomes an idol for a short while

Kise’s a jack-of-all-trades so I can definitely see him working in different fields and having multiple sources of income

Which means he’s probably met a lot of people along the way

So yes this boy dates casually a lot, mostly just for publicity, and the other party knows it usually. People just come up to him and ask him out.

He has to have MAD respect for the person to even consider seriously or sometimes casually dating them or making the first move, though. Like the person of his interest has to be VERY good at what they do and have banger character

Kise is, contrary to popular opinion, not shallow at all. Personality and a person’s passion/morals comes first. He knows the feeling of being ogled for your looks and how those feelings of infatuation are fleeting

BUT I’D BE LYING IF I DONT SAY THAT KISE 100% LOVES THE CHASE. He’s a fast learner so I bet he also gets bored pretty quickly

If you wanna date Kise, you better not be the jealous type and not be controlling. Someone who can keep him on his toes. 

Fun, goofy, sometimes intimidating lover

AOMINE

Somehow I see him settling down earlier than the others. 

But before that he sleeps around a lot. 

He likes hot women, that’s canon, but like he doesn’t date seriously during his early 20s, just casually. 

Many fics present Aomine as this suave guy who can pick up any person he likes but I honestly doubt that’s the case 

Definitely gets with Momoi at least once, whether they cross the line between bffs and lovers officially is up to Aomine sadly (see Replace novel)

Thankfully, he’s as graceful on the court as he’s not on the dating scene 

So many people approach him on their own, often as fans who, if they ask appropriately enough, gets to go home with him

Boy just wants to have fun

But he never love bombs, and is in no way a manipulative lover

Respects your boundaries and asks for consent 1000%

When he falls in love tho, he falls hard

He might start off with seemingly cold feet and is indifferent but that’s just him actually thinking how to properly take the relationship to the next level considering all his hang-ups

Aomine’s insanely loyal and a committed relationship with him is something that even becomes sweeter over time. 

Once he’s committed, he’s all in: he thinks of marriage, kids, the works

Aomine may look tough but he’s all soft for his s/o

MIDORIMA

He’s a late bloomer in the dating department

Midorima just thinks it’s bothersome. He’s busy with basketball and medical school already. He just doesn’t see what the fuss is about 

But can you imagine if he just falls in love with an incompatible sun sign???

Like an Aquarius or a Libra (Murasakibara’s one)… or god forbid an Aries!!

And he just freaks out and questions his beliefs and does research on the rest of his/their birth chart. Lmao

Takao secretly made Midorima a dating app account and his profile gets plenty of traffic

Midorima knows nothing about this and refuses downright every time Takao tries to set him up with someone

Doesn’t do casual. Period.

You have to be very patient with him he’s the densest out of all of them you might as well just spell it out for him for Midorima to get the hint that you’re flirting

Midorima’s romantic relationships can only ever happen organically so you can’t 1. Force it. 2. Expect him to seek out relations for its own sake

Will either have to be set up by a friend on a date OR

Have some Kdrama destiny shit to occur for romance to get through his head (Doctor Midorima with patient reader AU???

Needless to say Midorima’s a faithful partner in all senses of the word. He’s consistent, hard-working, and responsible. He’s the kind of person who’d literally grow old with his lover and wake up next to them each morning. 

MURASAKIBARA

Another one who doesn’t like initiate dates

No formal conversations of labels or anything like that

He may be a man child at times but no one is more loyal than this giant

You wanna date him? You better know how to cook. Or at the very least love food

He will not ask you out, well not directly anyway

Doesn’t take breakups well

He will sulk for days, someone from the GOM or Himuro or his siblings has to drag him out of the room so he could take a shower

One day you’ll just notice him hanging out with you

Anyway I hc that he gets the most jealous out of everyone in GOM. Like he gets too little attention and you’ll find him pouting like a kid

Mura also really easily distracted, and might even come across quite cold

It’s only because he rarely sweats the small stuff

So sometimes you’d be upset and he wouldn’t notice

WARNING: this could go on for days so unless you tell it to him straight up he won’t know you’re even upset

Buuuuut gets the hang of it after several months

He’s attentive when he needs to be, especially when it comes to his partner’s needs

So fights would rarely occur, unless it’s about his habits

His ideal s/o is a mom. Sorta

There I said it

TL;DR Murasakibara baby in the streets daddy in the sheets

But tbh any established relationship with him would be quite stable, his life would simply revolve around his s/o, food, and basketball

AKASHI

Akashi’s future is all planned out.

Being the only child in his political and influential family, marriage and family’s simply part of his duty. I read somewhere that his parents were most likely in an arranged marriage and that it’s not far off that he would be too, as Masaomi expects, when the time comes.

He sees the appeal in dating around but eventually decides against it because it’s seen as taboo (his family seems to be traditional), though he thinks about it from time to time when he feels lonely :-(

Lots of women (and men) fawn themselves over Akashi, he’s used to it, while he appreciates the support, emotional connection and bond is an important factor for the redhair

So he’s either seeing someone properly or not talking to anybody at all. Akashi’s forward like that.

He’s very discreet about his dating life. Like one day he just announces to the Miracles that he’s engaged to the love of his life and like??? No one knows he was even seeing someone?? Maybe just midorima and kuroko. Maybe Momoi (and by association Aomine)

Akashi haaaas relationships… they’re just very selective and won’t last long if he can’t see marrying them

Eventually marries for love. I just can’t see him tagging along an arranged marriage (like his father expects) with someone if he doesn’t like them

Yes boy do clear that karmic ancestral baggage

If you want to date Akashi, you should probably not be afraid to take the lead too sometimes. He already juggles plenty of responsibilities outside the home, he appreciates if he can just let go of the reins when he’s with his s/o

Bonus bonus if you can hold an intellectual conversation with him. He also takes a keen interest in your hobbies

Akashi’s a generous, kind, faithful, and attentive lover. You’re provided for for life.

[plutowrites]

HEY PLUTO i saw some basketball player eren fanart and it's taking over all my thoughts - 🌻 (giving myself my own emoji so you know who it is when i return)

HI SUNFLOWER BBY, WELCOME WELCOME!!

oh my... you're really enticing me with the whole basketball player thing....hmmm *sighs very very loudly* and yeah so ummm show me the fanart btw..for a friend. she wants to see it fr...

NBA player! Eren Jaeger

normally a shooting guard but does double up as a point guard when needed and was either scouted right out of high school or played college level basketball for one year before being in the draft

i see Eren having a college sweetheart and STICKING by them. the temptations of going to strip clubs and celebrity parties after winning games are strong but that's just not his scene and so he ditches them to either practice on his own some more or chill with you. his teammates try to lure him in by claiming it's mandatory for "team bonding" and shit but Eren just rolls his eyes and declines. he knows exactly how his fellow nba players are and he'd much rather not risk losing you by going.

he always plays with his hair tied back and some pieces sticking to his forehead from his sweat BUTTT he recently started wearing headbands to solve that problem and it looks really hot. im sorry it's true. brownie points for you for suggesting it to him.

you get to go to all-star weekend because Eren's one of the best in the league ofc and you love it because he treats it like a mini-vacation for you two. he doesn't take the all-star game too seriously, he sees it as some time away from the regular season. aside from the actual game, you two are attached at the hip the entire time. You spend most of the weekend going shopping, sightseeing, party-hopping and just dropping so much money.

speaking of money....we all know most nba players get insane salaries and Eren is rich rich. his money is your money. his money is more your money than it is his money tbh. all he asks is that you clear your schedule to sit courtside at all the home games. that's all. he wants to see your pretty face when he drains a three at the buzzer.

he won't beg you to go to away games or anything but he just gets so...moppy when you tell him you can't go to mf oklahoma and then washington dc the next day for his back to back games but you know deep down you're whipped for him and you genuinely enjoy watching him (he's a competitive beast and his passion shows on his face when he plays and it's one of the best sights ever) and so you do end up going to both.

you....ride for your man and he LOVES you for it. like when he can hear you cussing out some people seated next to you talking shit about him because he's good and beating their team's ass he gets butterflies lmao

always getting name dropped in rap songs and you like to listen to them and show Eren and he's all like pshh whatever but he's hype on the inside hehe

he has a really big thing with people using him for his fame and status. he's v selective with the people around him and can smell fakes out pretty easily. most of his close friends are people from his childhood, people who believed in him when he had nothing.

his love for the game is bigger than the league. during the off-season he is STILL involved with basketball. he sets up free camps for the kids in his hometown to learn basketball and literacy skills. what a man. i make him sound so good, you guys need to thank me.

sigh. you gotta deal with his other kind of fanbase. there's always at least one semi-famous fashion nova model sitting courtside trying to get his attention but you never really do anything. you don't have to. they never have a chance with Eren anyways. you can bring it up after like 'did you see that pretty girl beside me who wore that limited edition jaeger jersey and was constantly calling out your name' and he'll just look at you confused and be like 'why would you even ask? there's thousands of people in the stadium and im not going to notice anyone who's not you' <333

goes feral when you wear his jerseys. seeing his name on your back...yeah he goes ballistic.

[giuliano-fan-account]

hxh ch 393

I THOUGHT THAT THEY RELEASED ONLY ON SUNDAYS HELP? WAIT? ANYWAYS so i read this a little later than I wanted to since i thought it released tomorrow but thats okay. 

Its review time!! I have a little less to say this chapter than the last two, but I still have a little word

spoilers, obviously

So, we’re back to Luini... 

Tbh Im KIND OF GLAD THAT HE JUST DESTROYED HIM HE WAS BEGINNING TO GET A LITTLE ANNOYING...

Its interesting to think about it. 

He could have been downright offensive to these three as all of the troupe is still processing the deaths of Shalnark and Kortopi and hes just telling them to discard all of that. 

Imagine if somebody like Luini showed up after Uvogins death/during their requiem.. yea... I have a feeling Nobunaga would be even more pissed.

ALSO NOBUNAGA DOESNT LOOK SUPER WONKY IN THIS PANEL YAY

In the previous chapters and stuff he just looked so strange and it wasn’t bothering me or anything but yaa there he is. 

Luini is the negative fanbase and This guy is the positive fanbase. 

This translation lets people curse and im living for it (also hes doing the funny point pose)

Imagine dying like this..... what a way to go. Also, was he just like this the whole time he was talking to the troupe? Just. his butt out of the wall?? 

Anyways. Luini is always making me think about things I don’t want to. Good riddance. 

WHY IS HE LITERALLY JUST NAMED DEMON AND WHY IS HE A REAL-ESTATE AGENT. I NEED ANSWERES. It might just be this translation for the name, but still.. Real estate agent? Eh. It’s not like all the other occupations are very expected to join a mafia anyways.

Whoever this person is i love them. They are named after a dessert AND they are a pro gamer AAND they have the hxh trademark strange eyebrows.

Also, it took me whoever to know who this guy was but he’s the guy at the stand that Lynch first punched (23 members).

We have a Pro Gamer and a Game Centre Employee. They either get along very well or hate each other with a burning passion. Either way, I want to see if they have a dynamic bc thats interesting.

Oh god please die I don’t know anything about him other than the fact that he is a human trafficker PLEASE DIE HELP. I hope he dies very quickly.

I like this guy he seems silly and i like silly people, so. He’s yet another cheery light haired guy that very vaguely resembles shalnark (the other being Giuliano, i love Giuliano by the way I really like Giuliano, anyways heres a comparison)

Nonetheless please don’t stop making this brand of guy he’s just like me.

Matovelle gets an extra point though because he is probably also insane. 

I love when the characters are so short compared to the others that you can only see the very top of their heads.

I feel like this person is also going to be dangerous... they look like the Hei-Ly underboss (I think??), so im sensing a little bit of a pattern lol. (please bring back the Hei-Ly underboss lady or whoever she was i need her  i  anyways) 

I SERIOUSLY THOUGHT THIS WAS KORTOPI AT FIRST AND I WAS SO CONFUSED BUT ANYWAYS OH MY GOD OH MY GOD I WAS SO HAPPY WHEN I SAW THIS PAGE.

THEYRE ALIVE AND AND I LOVE THE WAY THAT  ZAKURO WAS DRAWN AND AN ANYWAYS I NEED TO CALM DOWN. phew ok... I am beginning to like Lynch and Zakuroa  lot theyre great. 

I feel like theyre getting themselves into yet another hassle. Hopefully this time they won’t underestimate their enemy, that is if they do find them this time. 

This seems like a pretty good deal, but theres got to be a catch later. I’m guessing that may be Chrollos state of mind by the time they find him... Again, given that he looks like this

yea he’s not doing so good. 

Also, this must be a reference of some sort..

PSHHH I HOPE HE NEVER STOPS PUTTING REFERENCES IN HXH. The movie theater was a perfect place to do this.

Im pretty sure that this is Alien but I cant see it very clearly.

It would be so fun to have a concept like the Thing come into play in the succession war... I think that it would be a perfect opportunity for horror. I mean we already have Prince Tserriednich’s first Nen beast. I’m so excited. 

And there he is. Gah I love the framing of this panel. You can see everybody’s face but Hisoka’s, and he’s split in the middle with all the white space of the theater. It gives an ominous feeling specifically towards Hisoka. 

Just an aside here, too, the way Hisokas hair is styled and the way his eyes are drawn looks similar to Chrollo’s the last time we saw him, which is interesting to me. The resemblance isn’t too strong, but It’s interesting to think about.

The way that he just sits down in this panel and immediately starts talking is so funny to me just change the text to anything.

ANYWAYS thats unrelated. I really like this scene. I get the impression  that Hisoka is above it all, and just deciding to comply with what Xi-Yu and Cha-R wants without any true dedication, and I feel like Hinrigh is aware of this because he knows exactly the type of person Hisoka is, so he’s being honest.

I’m also beginning to really like Hinrigh as well because of his intuition, understanding, and efficiency. No wonder he’s the underboss. Knowing and dealing with the type of freak Hisoka is is no small feat. 

Hes trying to mess with him by getting close but Hinrigh is just like ‘Ok.’

This was an awesome interaction though tbh. I want to see more conversations between them since its an interesting dynamic. Hinrigh isn’t directly against Hisoka, which is seen in his disinterest in getting in the way of his and the spiders quarrel, so they agree over that, but he has to keep him under surveillance due to the situation. Everything about Hisoka goes against this, however. He is going to defy this without question, and I am certain Hinrigh knows this, so what does he have in mind to stop him? 

these must be more references. the girl choking the other one seems familiar but i dont know about the others and I dont know what that one is from.

The other part isnt super interesting to me, so I’ll leave it for me to delve back into on another read. I often understand things better on the second time anyways.

.......................... I HAVE NO WORDS. NONE AT ALL CAN EVEN.. I CANT >... I GENUINELY CANT TELL IF THIS IS INTENDED TO BE FUNNY OR SCARY BUT OH MY GOD I   HELP ME  

THIS DOESNT MAKE IT ANY EASIER TO TELL SERIOUSLY IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE COMEDIC OR SERIOUS...

Gosh, these page layouts are great, the shading of the bed on the second one I am enjoying thoroughly, and again with the middle focus and the front and back look at the room... aaahhhhhhghhgg anyways. 

WHY ARE HINRIGH AND THE OTHER GUY SO TALL (I forgot his name uh oh). It’s either that or the cabins are very small, which is probably the case.

Its funny, this page layout is a little unnerving, and then you just see how short the doorway is ...

Final thoughts on the chapter, Hinrigh is so cool, and this guy definitely is hiding something. I think he’s not a threat himself, but rather is innocent and is being forced to cover something for somebody who is a threat.

A little later than I wanted to post my review but its okay. I’m looking forward to the next one, since honestly I don’t know what it’s going to throw at me. Often times it proves my predictions wrong, but thats okay, it’s fun to think about more. 

It’s nice to know people actually read these too, it’s relieving to write these down to get all of my thoughts out, and I feel happy when other people actually acknowledge them even though theyre often just rambles of things off the top of my head when I read these things lol.

I plan to read and review all of the chapters (if i can)!! 

Have a good dawn, morning, noon, afternoon, day, evening, dusk, night, midnight, or past midnight! (I present to you hisokas favorite movie) 

[whythehellnaut]

The secret brilliance behind Nickelodeon All Star Brawl‘s marketing

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the Nickelodeon fighting game after it was announced, progressing from mild interest to ironic excitement to unironic excitement for it.  So many jokes and memes have been made about it that they’re almost impossible to avoid.  But when I thought about it, I realized that that’s exactly what the marketing team for this game wanted.  The idea of the game is so absurd that no one would expect it to exist, but they figured out a way to make absolutely sure that it would create just the right buzz to get people like me to take serious interest in it.

Watching the trailer again, I figured out that every character they picked to showcase in that minute and a half trailer were carefully and strategically chosen to cater to as many people as they could.  Even the order of their appearance had deliberation behind it.  Here are my thoughts:

Michelangelo comes first, establishing that the game is combat focused.  After all, who better to show off first for a fighting game than a character that has already appeared as a playable character in at least two of them?  Plus, the Ninja Turtles are the oldest characters in Nickelodeon’s library when you consider that they first aired in the 80′s, before Nickelodeon even started making cartoons.  This is a character that everyone recognizes, parents included.

Lincoln Loud comes next, a more modern character that adults might not know but kids will.  This is to quickly lure the kids, who have less patience than adults, into watching the rest of the trailer, assuring them that it won’t just be older characters like the turtles that show up.

Powdered Toast Man comes next to snatch up the other side of the equation, the adults/90′s kids who remember him from the original Ren and Stimpy show from 1991.  I’m not sure if it’s still airing as reruns on Nick today, but considering I hear very little about the show online, I’m guessing not.  This is a bit of a surprise to the adults who thought it’d be a kids’ game, so it lures those folks into staying for the rest of the trailer as well.

Sandy is important to show off early for a number of reasons.  Spongebob is popular among kids and Millenials, and is arguably the only property here as well known as Ninja Turtles, so they’re luring in more fans.  It also serves to imply that other Spongebob characters will join, as, even though Sandy’s passion for karate makes total sense for her to appear in a fighting game, you still can’t leave out Spongebob himself.  Showing her first implies more possibilities of characters to come, proving it won’t just be a festival of protagonists like Jump Force was.  It also shows off their female representation to keep women interested.

Patrick is just a fan favorite to get out of the way before the sponge shows up, so he’s only here to confirm that the game is going to be full of characters that people actually want to see.

Oblina was personally a shocker to me, as I barely remember Ahh Real Monsters from my own childhood, but I remember enough to know that she wasn’t the protagonist, necessarily.  I also know it’s relatively obscure in comparison to Spongebob or Ren and Stimpy, so they proved that they are willing to take characters from more obscure shows that the young kids won’t remember.  This solidified my interest as I could tell that they are doing more to cater to the 90s generation than just confirming Powdered Toast Man.

Nigel Thornberry is arguably their most important addition at the halfway point.  Outside of Spongebob characters and maybe Stu Pickles, I would say Nigel is the internet’s favorite Nickelodeon character to use for memes.  The marketing team had to have known this.  After getting some of the core audiences hooked, they now have the memer crowd invested, ready to spread the word about the insanity of this game’s premise across the internet.  This is exactly what happened, and why the trailer has 2 million views on Youtube right now.

Lucy Loud is shown off quickly to remind the younger crowd to keep watching, and to add a little bit more female representation.

Spongebob is shown off a little bit late, but since we were expecting him to show up, it’s just to make sure the casual fans who only know the big names stay watching.

Helga is an older character, but I recently saw a young kid wearing a Hey Arnold tee shirt at the supermarket, so I’m positive it’s being shown as reruns on Nick today, so most Nick fans of all ages will be excited about her.  Moreover, since she came immediately after Spongebob, who is a protagonist that was introduced after Sandy, a side character from his show, it gives an implication that Arnold will also appear.  Although he is not introduced in this trailer, it allows the fans to speculate that he will soon be showcased, perhaps in the next trailer.  Also, she’s the fourth female character shown, confirming that the game is being fair and inclusive to both sexes and not simply catering to male gamers, like say, Jump Force or Dragonball Fighter Z.

Reptar is another shocker, because although Rugrats is very popular and well known throughout the generations, he is a very, very minor character in the show.  He is literally a fictional character within a separate fictional universe.  The marketing team threw him in to show off that just about any character from any Nick property, no matter how minor or obscure, has a chance of making it into this game.  Again, this forces the fans to speculate about future announcements with even more creative thinking, as we now know that it won’t just be major characters joining the fray.

Zim is a well thought out choice because he caters to a specific crowd that I’d describe as the alternative niche.  That is to say, there are people who are fans of Invader Zim who don’t watch other Nick shows, so they are luring in the folks you’d expect to see at Hot Topic and the like.  It was an edgy show with a feel and fanbase unlike other shows of its era, so it’s important to use him to diversify the roster.  They also showed off Gir as his assist, and although that may deconfirm him as playable, it still pleases the fans, who often prefer Gir over Zim.

Danny Phantom is the only character that comes strictly from the 2000s era, so they are making sure to maintain the attention of the teenagers who watched that show as kids.

Leonardo seems like an odd choice to end on, maybe even anticlimactic, since they started with Michelangelo, but it makes sense when you think about it.  They couldn’t show just 1 turtle, or else it might imply that the game’s roster was small.  But if they showed all 4 turtles, they would have needed to leave two other characters out of the trailer to make room for them, and they didn’t want to make it look like a Turtles fighting game with guest characters.  So having exactly 2 turtles allows them to show off enough characters from other properties, while also confirming unofficially that the other turtles would appear later, since you can’t just have 2 of the 4 turtles in the game.  By leaving it open like that, they’re giving an implication that the roster is going to be huge.  So big that the turtles were just a small portion of it.  They end the trailer this way to leave the crowd speculating again: how many characters will appear in total?

The only characters that curiously don’t show up in the trailer are the cast of the Avatar franchise, who are quite popular.  However, one of the stages shown is clearly the Air Temple with Aang’s glider in plain sight, implying that Avatar characters will be announced later.  Another smart move to instill hope in the fans.

Finally, the Rollback Netcode announcement that came afterward solidified a very important group- the serious/competitive gamers.  For those who don’t know, rollback netcode is relatively new technology that speeds up online gameplay to cut down on input lag, which is super important for fighting games in particular, as they rely on strict timing more than other game genres.  It’s so new, however, that not all competitive fighting games use it.  Popular tournament fighters like Super Smash Bros, Tekken, and Dragonball Fighter Z have not implemented rollback netcode for their games yet, so of all games, Nickelodeon All Star Brawl beating them to the punch is causing a stir.  This is a sign that the devs are putting serious effort into making the game enjoyable online, which could potentially help its chances to be taken seriously in competitive settings.  Only time will tell if that truly happens, but it’s a sign of quality, nonetheless.

So ultimately, this short trailer and announcement manage to cater to dang near every crowd that may want to play it: Kids, teenagers, young adults in their 20s and 30s, parents in their 40s, men, women, memers, casual fans, alternative fans, and serious gamers, and opens up a ton of potential for speculation regarding new announcements.  That’s a fantastic way to start off and explains why this game, which for all intents and purposes should have been nothing more than a thought experiment that people joke about in the car with friends, has been trending so much for the past two weeks.  Congrats to the marketing team for what they put together.

[bonvoyagenoona]

The Road to You (M) | 03: Meeting the Mentor

The Road to You | Masterpost

Word Count: 13,870 | read on ao3

Rating: 18+ / Explicit / Mature

Pairing: Yoongi x Reader, Taehyung x Reader

Summary

Armed with your quick wit, creative passion, talent for storytelling, and innate understanding of your fanbase, you have met every challenge, surpassed every goal, and achieved the unimaginable. Despite the earth shifting erratically under your firmly planted feet, you’ve always had a plan. You’ve made peace with the sacrifices you’ve had to make, and you’ve long forgotten the rejections and heartbreaks that came as a result. Your agent keeps reminding you that you’re at the precipice of something new, that your audience is waiting for your next project with bated breath. This is usually when you thrive. So why do you feel so lost? And who can you count on from your past to help you find your way?

Chapter Excerpt

“You said you’d finally let me read some of it,” he reminds you, grinning. “You were always scribbling in it. I’ve missed reading your writing. And I’ve missed seeing it play out on screen.”

“I believe I said I’d let you take a peek.”

He raises his hands and backs off, but he flashes a smile at you when he does it.

“So then, how do I take a peek?” he asks, sending a shiver down your spine.

You shake your head and rest your elbow on the closed journal. You love this flirty little game that you’ve had going on since that first week of class. It reminds you of what made you fall in love with writing in the first place. The banter. The fun.

Yoongi sits back in his seat, waiting.

Content Warnings: Soft smut hours are oooooopen!, some hard smut too, and some emotional processing of existential crises, no big deal

Author’s Note: Pairs great with Be! 😂💜 How are we doing, ARMY?? Because I’m devastatingly in love with this album! 

Taglist 💜: permanent @purpleheartsfortae​ @btseditsworld​ | the road to you @aliceollormusic​ @tangledsparkles​ @daydreamqueenjaycee​ (reply here if you want to be added!)

03: Meeting the Mentor

You really don’t know how the burgers are so good at this restaurant. You thought the bread was the defining factor, but it was just the easiest to communicate. The subtle nuances are coming back to you. The way they spice the meat. The ratio of barbecue sauce to cheddar cheese. The delightful mix of soft and chewy textures when you bite down. The feeling of a crisp, orange soda chaser. 

“You really love these burgers,” Taehyung comments, watching you.

You must look insane. Your hair sits on top of your head in a messy bun that will hurt to detangle later. You’re in four-day-old sweats. And you’re staring, slightly cross-eyed, at the bite of the burger that you just took. And now, you’re laughing.

Instead of looking concerned or disgusted at you, Taehyung laughs along. “Birdie? Can you hear me?”

“Sorry, I just realized I haven’t eaten a real meal in five days,” you reply.

Taehyung’s up to speed on your writing. In the few short breaks you’ve taken in the past couple of weeks, you hang out, or you call him, telling him about how he’s inspired you, and what idea you’re jumping to next.  He takes it as the highest compliment, and he jokes with you about getting a producer credit on your show.

“And this is with Youngho and Yun around?” Taehyung asks. “Who feeds you when you’re alone in the city?”

You shrug. “I just order out.” And then you wince.

“What?” he asks.

“There’s a sink full of dirty dishes at my apartment, and those are not going to be fun to get back to,” you reply. But then you shrug. “Oh well.” You take another bite of your burger.

Taehyung smiles fondly at you. He watches you reach for some fries and stuff them into your face.

“Do you ever come up for air?”

“I take it in through my skin, like a frog.”

He laughs, and you grin. You love making Taehyung laugh. He always thought you were so hilarious. And he laughs so easily. 

His eyes find yours again, and his face sets back into that fond smile. “Well, when we’re done eating, you should join me at my grandmother’s for a bit. She’s in good spirits today. We might play a board game or do a puzzle.”

Your stomach sinks. You agreed to a celebratory lunch with Taehyung after your whirlwind of writing, but he doesn’t yet know about the rest of the project. How you’ll be gone for a little while. How you want to ask him to wait for you to return. How you’re not sure if that’s a fair question to ask, because you’re not even sure what you’re asking him to wait for. You had planned on telling him here, but it seems like a terrible idea now.

“OK,” you say. “That sounds like fun.”

Taehyung smiles fondly again, and you take another bite of your burger. 

That bite doesn't taste as good as the others.

You follow Taehyung to his grandmother’s, parking next to him and walking with him to her door. You think you see Taehyung try to reach his hand out for yours, but he pulls back. You would have loved to hold his hand. But given what’s about to happen, you’re relieved that he changes his mind.

Taehyung’s grandmother is in a chipper mood, and even though she still thinks you’re one of the door-to-door salespeople from back home, she lights up when she sees you. “I’m not really interested in buying anything today, but if you’d like to sit a spell, my grandson and I were planning on doing this puzzle!”

“Aw, that’s nice of you to invite me,” you say, following her lead.

She ushers you into the living room, where she’s already opened the box and flipped all the pieces color-side up. 

“You got everything ready, Grandma?” Taehyung asks.

She smiles proudly. “I was excited when you called and said you were coming over!”

You all crowd around the table and talk about your day. Sometimes, Taehyung’s grandmother starts shifting the conversation, and you and Taehyung have to play it by ear to keep it moving forward. Sometimes, you’re one of the salespeople. Sometimes, you’re the waitress from her favorite cafe. Sometimes, she forgets you’re there completely. But you’re happy to do anything to give her a sense of fun company, an opportunity to have some semblance of life before.

At the end of the afternoon, as the sun is setting, Taehyung walks you to your car.

“Are you two having dinner soon?” you ask him.

“Yeah, and then I’ll help get her ready for bed.” Taehyung smiles. “Do you maybe want to stay for dinner some time?”

“I would.”

“When are you free?”

“Well…” 

You lean back against the trunk of your car. This isn’t going to be easy. You haven’t quite made up your mind about Taehyung. You’ve been enjoying the past couple of weeks hanging out with him. Lunch dates like these. A couple of movies. More phone calls. The first two activities end with heavy makeout sessions at his place, or in either of your cars. The last activity sometimes ends with more naughty activities, but you still don’t know what it feels like to have Taehyung wrapped around you in the way that would fully satisfy that need. And you’re definitely not going to be able to find out for a little while. 

“My project,” you say. “I need to go do some work on it. Start the interviews that I mentioned.”

“Oh,” Taehyung says, nodding. “OK. Well, where are you going? Back to the city?”

“Yeah, for a bit. I’m actually going out to my old college town first. And some other places.”

Taehyung looks at the ground. He seems disappointed. 

“Tae,” you say, bringing him close to you. “This time with you has been amazing.”

He leans on your body, pressing into you, and tucking your hair behind your ear. “I feel the same way.”

You aren’t sure how to express what you’ve been feeling. Things never get past a certain point with Taehyung, and you aren’t really sure why. At first, you thought it might be due to his duty to his grandmother, which you would completely support and understand. But even when you’ve both been given time and space, neither of you have taken it. Sure, you’ve realized that this trip only slightly delays your progress together, but in all honesty, you’re beginning to resign yourself to the possibility that you may never find out where things with him could go. 

You’ve been in relationships that you thought would never end. You’ve also been in relationships where you saw the end coming. You’ve learned that you don’t want to let the latter keep you from experiencing the former.

“I know we haven’t really defined this,” you say, “and I’m not saying that we need to. I just---”

“Then let’s not,” Taehyung says, taking the news a little easier than you expected.

“OK,” you say, still not sure what that means.

“Let’s leave it open,” Taehyung suggests.

“...Open?”

He takes your hands in his. “Birdie, I’m going to miss you. But it sounds like you have work to do. And I…” His eyes follow the line of your arm down to your fingers, which he’s gently feeling with his, interweaving them into braids and undoing them again, touching every square of your delicate skin. 

“I have some things to think through.”

You’re immediately curious about what exactly Taehyung needs to think through. But he quells your curiosity with a deep, meaningful kiss. He lifts both of your hands and puts them over his head to let them rest around the nape of his neck. He wraps his arms around you. He smushes you against your car, his chest pressing up against your breasts as he towers over you and dives back in for another wave. You feel his thumbs move across your bellybutton as he grasps your hips and pulls them to his. 

The kiss feels stronger than all the others you’ve shared. 

You playfully wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that you’re about to go talk to all of your old boyfriends.

And then he pulls away. He looks softly at you, with a melancholy smile.

“When do you leave?”

“In a couple of days.”

He nods. “I don’t think I’ll be able to see you before you go. But you can call me. Anytime. For anything. Even if you’re just bored.”

“I will.”

Taehyung kisses you on the cheek and takes a step back from you. “OK, then. You should get going before it gets dark.”

You sigh.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

“Why haven’t you asked me when I’m coming back?” you pout, feeling a bit childish.

Taehyung laughs, and he steps back into you, kissing you one more time.

“Because you don’t know the answer to that yet,” he guesses rightly. “And I don’t want anything to loom over you while you write. But I’ll be looking forward to your calls.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Especially if they’re later at night.”

You smile. 

He hugs you tightly. “Be careful.”

“I will.”

He watches as you get into your car, and you watch him waving in your rearview mirror as you drive away, the image of him blurring as tears form in your eyes. 

The drive is the same as you remember, though driving away from Youngho, Yun, and Mi-cha is harder than you expect. You promise that you’ll see them when you get back and spend more time with them before heading into the city. Youngho and Yun are excited for you, but Mi-cha cries out for you when you get in the car, and Yun tells you later that she doesn’t stop until she falls asleep that night. 

Your lip quivers as you choke these fresh tears down. You’re always heartbroken whenever you leave home. But in a way, this project, this trip, might help you find a piece of home that will stay with you wherever you go.

You pull into your first destination: the car wash. This journey brings the prospect of new understanding. Renewal. The car wash feels like a necessary step in putting your best foot forward. You make a mental note to tell your father about this new meaning. You can imagine the proud grin on his face now that you’re the one making these observations for yourself.

Before you pull fully into the machine, you park and walk a quick perimeter around your car. You kick the tires to make sure they’ve got enough pressure. You grin to yourself, thinking about the last time you saw someone do this, and how you’ll be talking to them in a few hours.

As you pull up to the machine, and the chain latches on, you wipe your eyes and reach for your phone. You pull up a playlist that you’ve made to get you in the mood. You’re going to be driving for hours, and you need to get back into the headspace that you were in when you were a college kid. All your old favorites stream through the cabin of the car, and eventually, you’re singing along to each track, laughing at the ease with which you remember every lyric and rhythmic quirk. 

The music brings a wave of nostalgia, and sooner than you expect, the sights around you start to build upon it. 

The university’s flags along the lampposts greet you with friendly waves in the breeze. The main road is full of students crossing to get to their classes, and your heart goes out to one student who’s still in their pajamas, desperately trying to make the green light so as not to be late for class. 

You know that student. More often than not, you were that student.

You turn the corner and see your freshman dorm, still in need of several repairs. It looks like the kind of place where you would learn how to shotgun both beer and weed, and you smile to yourself at the memory of doing both. 

The rental that you’re staying at isn’t that far away from it. You park and grin at how funny it is to be here, and how fond you feel. You loved your time here, but you weren’t planning on ever setting foot on this campus again. Neither did he, and you smirk to yourself at how hilarious it is that things have panned out this way for him. For both of you.

You sprawl out on the bed and decide that it would probably be smart to take a quick nap. But before you do, you pull your journals out of their special suitcase, and you can’t help but get lost in more memories.

You flip to the pages about that mysterious TA, starting from the beginning. You laugh heartily as you read what you wrote. 

September 12th

Loving college so far. Missing home. Missing Jimin, obviously. Making some friends, though. My roommate Dae is definitely cooler than I am. She has a pixie cut and all sorts of piercings and tattoos. She keeps inviting me out and dressing me up in her clothes. At first, I felt kind of like a pet project of hers, but honestly, I’m having more and more fun when we go out with her friends.

The one thing that probably isn’t going well right now is my screenwriting class, which is the one class that I absolutely cannot drop. My grades are perfect, but the professor in that class might as well be nonexistent. Instead, we’re at the mercy of this super strict TA. He’s only a senior, but he thinks he knows everything. He sits on his desk when he teaches, like he’s trying to be cool or something. I went to his office hours to ask a simple question, and I gave one tiny critique about class, and I’ll never forget what he said: “Listen, missy, why don’t you just let me worry about that?”

Are you kidding me? “Missy”?! 

What a massive asshole. 

You chuckle. You read on, and you notice the dates on the top line, the pages separated by surprisingly short gaps in time. You’re entertained by how things between you change so quickly.

October 30th

This TA is into me. 

I think. 

OK, fine, I still can’t tell.

I’ve gone over it and over it with Dae, and she keeps saying that you can always tell. That your gut tells you.

Well, my gut is telling me that it’s been two weeks since my blind rage has transformed into a rabble of butterflies, and they haven’t gone away. I know how rare that is for me, but I don’t know if I’m just romanticizing it all. I’ve been to his office a few times to get feedback on my show idea, and even though we got off to a terrible start at the beginning of the semester… I don’t know. I feel like I leave class with even more new ideas. New experiments. Ways to play with form. Topics to dig into. Honestly, he’s captivating. Challenging. Encouraging. Funny that all of this inspiration comes from a guy who barely says twenty words to me each time we talk.

You grin to yourself and notice that this journal entry was written the day before everything was officially set into motion with him. You lie back in your bed and let the memories of the rest of that year wash over you.

Halloween really isn’t your thing. Parties really, really aren’t your thing. But Dae really, really, really wants you to come. She’s whirling around your dorm room, climbing back and forth between your two beds and punctuating her pitch for this party with flourishes of makeup on your face, taking a curling iron to your hair every so often and running her fingers through your strands so wonderfully that eventually, it’ll be impossible to say anything but “yes” to her.

The costume that Dae decides to go with is a punk rock zombie. The night before, she dyed her hair -- and your dorm sink -- pink. Now, it’s styled it into a short mohawk. Her skin is covered in a pallid gray, and she’s used her lipstick to draw lines of dried blood down her chin. She’s dressed in ebony, silver-studded leather pants and a tight, onyx tank top. Even in zombie form, she’s the raddest person you’ve ever seen.

That means the spare costume, a pair of butterfly wings paired with an iridescent mini-dress, is now yours. It’s hanging on the back of the door. You stare at it, the anxiety rising in you. You’ve never worn something so tiny and short. Your eyelids are uncomfortably dotted with glitter and glued-on gems. Your fake lashes are so, so heavy. 

You squint up at Dae, sitting obstinately under your covers, the anxiety frothing from your mouth.

“I think I should stay in,” you insist.

“Don’t chicken out on me now,” Dae pouts. “You look amazing.”

She holds up her compact mirror to your face, and you do admit that you look amazing. 

“Wow, Dae,” you sigh. “You did a great job.”

“So don’t waste it!” she laughs, slapping you on the arm and getting up to grab the costume.

You slip into the butterfly dress, try not to breathe too hard so as not to rip the seams of the dress, and walk arm-in-arm with Dae out of your freshman dorm and across campus. You pass by the frat houses. So many people are already plastered and wandering around in a stupor. Some of them are popping out of bushes, screaming and scaring each other. Some of them are tucked into corners, making out. Some of them are like you, merely passing by on their way to the next party. 

You reach one of the upperclassmen apartment complexes, and you meet Dae’s friends from her business classes. You think it’s hilarious that someone like Dae, who prides herself on being so counter-culture, is in the marketing program. But the way she’s pitched the party to you and gotten you to come out is a testament to her skillset. 

Everyone’s doors are open, and people are traipsing from apartment to apartment for different vibes. Some apartments are loud and dancey. Some apartments are chill and more focused on food, snacks, and conversation. Most apartments are a little mix of both.

The group starts with a party room, where karaoke is going on in full force. 

Dae clambers for the mic next, and she growls “I Wanna Be Sedated” by the Ramones. Everyone sings along. You hear people trying to guess her name. You hear people making plans to ask her out. By the end of the first verse, everyone is infatuated with the punk rock zombie. 

You smile as Dae points at you and sings the second verse. You’ve never been that kind of girl, the kind who draws attention like Dae does. It’s a thing to behold, Dae on stage, basking in the glow of attention and desire. And it’s nice to feel the warmth by proxy. It makes you feel a little special.

And then, a voice asks, “You up next?”

The cup you’re holding is still quite full, so you nearly spill your drink onto him when you startle and turn to him. 

It’s weird but not weird to see Yoongi outside of the Creative Arts and Communications building.  He’s wearing exactly what he wore to class today, save for a pair of black cat ears on his head.

“No,” you laugh. 

“Can’t sing?” Yoongi asks, smirking as he raises his beer bottle to his lips.

“I can sing,” you defend. “Just don’t want to. You can go next.”

Yoongi shakes his head. “Can’t sing,” he says, making you chuckle. 

Dae finishes her song and jumps over to you. “Hey!” she cheers, breathless. 

“Great job,” you say, high-fiving her. “I think you’ve got about twenty people who are about to ask you for your number.”

“Damn, that’s lower than usual,” she says, still panting. She takes your cup and takes a sip of punch as she looks over at Yoongi. She looks back at you and hands you the cup. And then she looks back at Yoongi. 

She smiles. It’s her planning smile, and you aren’t sure if you’ll like what’s about to happen.

“Are you the TA she’s always going on about?”

Yoongi smiles at you like he’s caught you in some act, and you blush and stare at the floor, making a mental note to spray Dae’s side of the room with your perfume that aggravates her allergies.

“What has she been saying about me?” Yoongi asks gleefully, fully turning to Dae. 

Dae’s grin is so wide that all of her sparkly white teeth are showing. “She says you’re cool, smart, and imaginative, but to be honest, I don’t see it.”

“You don’t?” Yoongi asks, amused.

“No. Your costume’s a bit lacking.”

Dae digs out her black eyeliner pencil from her purse and hands it to you.

“Do me proud,” she says with a wink, “and text me when you head home.” She leans into you. “That is, if you’re heading home!”

You laugh together, making Yoongi arch an eyebrow, and Dae scampers off to find the rest of her group.

Yoongi turns to you and takes another sip of his drink.

You feel so, so nervous. But you try to channel some of Dae’s energy and confidence.

“Well?” he asks.

“You heard her,” you say. “We’ll need a place to sit.”

“My place is chill,” he offers. 

He turns and leads you out the door, and you follow him, trying to hide how excited you are.

You walk side-by-side with him down the walkway, thankful for the respite from all the laughing, yelling, and booming music. The night air feels good on your skin, but it is a little cold. You shiver, and your butterfly wings shake.

Yoongi laughs when one of them tickles his upper arm.

“Been partying a while?” he asks you.

“This was our first stop,” you say.

“Hmm.” Yoongi nods. “You were right to skip Greek row. Everyone’s a mess by this time.”

“We passed by on our walk over. We saw the debauchery first-hand.”

Yoongi laughs.

You reach one of the quieter apartments, where people are sitting in their costumes and playing board games, eating snacks, and just hanging out. People greet Yoongi when he enters, and they smile at you as you follow.

He leads you to his bedroom, and he pulls out his desk chair for you to sit. He plants himself on the edge of his bed, and he waves you in.

You look around at the posters and figurines decorating his space. Lots of movie posters, which is to be expected. Lots of basketball paraphernalia, which isn’t. And there’s a half-smoked blunt sitting in an ashtray on his nightstand.

“You want?” he asks, following your eyes.

You shrug.

“Come sit,” he offers, setting his drink down and picking up the ashtray. He digs out a lighter from the drawer, and you sit in his chair, setting your drink next to his.

He lights the blunt and turns his head to exhale the smoke away from your face. You’ve only really been smoking for a couple of months, thanks to Dae’s stash and tutorial, but you already love everything about it. The taste of it. The smell of it. You like how it quiets the negative, nit-picking thoughts in your mind. And you like how it makes everything just feel that much better.

You tell him so, and he smiles. 

“Same. And my writing gets more exploratory when I’m high,” Yoongi admits, handing you the blunt.

You nod knowingly. You’re finding the same goes for you, too. 

You take a hit, and he watches the smoke stream out from your lips. You hand him back the blunt, and then you pull out the eyeliner that Dae gave you.

He eyes the pencil and frowns at you. “Really?”

You give him a jokingly reproachful look and say, “You heard what my roommate said. We’ve gotta do something to spruce up your costume.”

He arches an eyebrow again, and you want to tell him how you’re quickly becoming a fan of that expression on his face. And just his face in general.

You lean forward and start drawing a black, upside-down triangle on his nose.

“Did you know I lived here?” he asks, his eyes watching yours.

“No idea,” you say truthfully.

“Happy surprise, then,” he replies, making you grin and blush.

He stares into your eyes.

“Did Punk Zombie Roommate do your makeup?” he asks.

“Yeah,” you say, starting to sketch some whiskers onto his left cheek. “What do you think?” You lean back and model your look a little for him.

“Cute,” he whispers, reaching up to touch one of the glued-on gems by your eyes. You make a note to thank Dae for her service. You giggle, and Yoongi smiles, his cheek puffing up and ruining the line you’ve just sketched.

“Hold still!” you exclaim.

Yoongi laughs, and you lick your thumb to erase the smudges he’s created. When your thumb makes contact with his skin, he bites his lip.

He takes your hand in his, and then he drags your thumb down his cheek, holding it at his chin.

“I’ve been thinking about you,” he tells you, suddenly looking nervous.

“Me too,” you admit, the butterflies swarming around in your stomach.

“You’re the only one who ever comes to office hours,” he says.

“Then why do you still hold them?” you laugh.

“I just told you,” he replies simply.

You think of Jimin briefly. He’s the only other person who has been this intimate with you before. You wonder if it’s too soon to be entertaining a crush like this. Mere weeks ago, hadn’t Dae awkwardly caught you crying about him in the middle of the night? The conversation that you had with her afterwards, an incoherent hodgepodge of your sobs chased by her empathic whimpers, led to you becoming new friends. It’s just now occurring to you that this is why Dae is always bringing you around everywhere, and why she so masterfully set you up with that eyeliner-whisker move with Yoongi. But is Dae right to encourage you to let him go? Especially when you yourself aren’t sure you can?

At first glance, Yoongi’s so different. More adamant. Kinda rude sometimes. And those new characteristics helped you put a solid barrier between these two arias in your seemingly expanding relationship repertoire. But in this moment, you’re learning that it’s a bit of a front. He’s more like Jimin in that he has the kinds of traits that you value. He’s actually pretty gentle. And kind. And he’s staring at you with a softness in his eyes that you would take completely seriously, if not for the fudged whiskers and cute cat ears. 

You smile. “You could just ask me out on a date,” you offer.

“I would,” Yoongi says, setting your hand back in your lap and letting go. “But… I can’t be that forward yet. If you get what I’m saying.”

Of course he can’t, and you knew that. He’s your TA. But he’s trying to tell you something. He’s trying to explain that he does want something to happen. It just can’t be the kind of something that you had with Jimin, bold, and out in the open. 

You have to wait. 

And the wait will burn. 

Your alarm rings, and for a moment, you panic. You check the time. You’re relieved to know that you got a couple of hours of sleep, and though you pressed snooze twice, you still have plenty of time to get ready.

You’ve packed outfits for all sorts of occasions, but this one is special. You pull on tight, black jeans and a white tunic. You check your makeup one more time. You ruffle your hair and spray some extra hairspray to make sure it doesn’t fall flat when you walk across campus to the designated classroom.

When you reach the door and catch your reflection in the little sliver of a window, you’re glad that it hasn’t.

And when Yoongi sees your face in that little sliver of a window, he laughs sheepishly, making you smile. He has his glasses on, and you melt instantly. He looks so professorial. Which would make sense for the dean of film studies. 

His students turn back to follow his gaze. He waves you in, and you slip into the classroom. 

“Well, hi there, Professor Min,” you say, walking to the head of the class and joining him by his desk.

Some of his students gasp and recognize you instantly. Your heart is warmed by the fact that most of the ones who do recognize you are young women. 

Yoongi gives you a polite hug but mumbles into your ear, “Hey there, missy,” ending in a bit of a growl as he squeezes it out of his embarrassed grin. Your skin forms goosebumps when you hear your nickname in his deep, playful voice, a tone that you’ve only ever heard him take with you, and that’s gone as soon as it leaves his lips. 

When you called him to set up a meeting, he asked if you’d be interested in speaking to his graduate class. You remember blushing when he asked you. You’ve spoken at tons of seminars and panels. You’ve even given introductions and speeches at awards shows. But it still means the world to you that Yoongi thinks so highly of your talent that he’s hoping you’d share some of it with his proteges. 

Yoongi introduces you as an old friend first before he gives a rundown of your professional credits, and then he sits at his desk chair to listen.

You take Yoongi’s trademark pose on his desk and flash him a bit of a mocking smile over your shoulder. The students laugh immediately, which tells you he still does this. He rolls his eyes, and then you turn back to the students, having won the rest of them over with this tiny move. 

And then you open the room up for discussion. 

His students ask you tons of great questions. How you got started. Whether it was everything you expected. What surprised you about your journey. When one eagle-eyed student notices your Yoongi journal on the desk next to you, they ask what you’re working on now. Yoongi pretends like he’s reaching for the notebook, and you snatch it away, making everyone laugh. 

You find a way to give the students a vague taste of what you hope will come of your next project. That whatever you create, you just hope it provides a sense of your roots to people. To home.

His students are so easygoing and intriguing, undoubtedly an aspect of being under Yoongi’s tutelage, and they each personally thank you for the opportunity to have a discussion with you. 

One shy student, a young woman who could have easily been you a few years ago, waits until the room has cleared. Then, she walks up to you and shakes your hand. She asks you a couple of questions about resumes and internships, and then she takes a deep breath.

You’ve been in her shoes before. You get the sense that she could have spent the next few hours detailing how and why and what your show has meant to her, easily pointing out the jokes and reflections that you’ve buried into your scripts so that only the kindred spirits would find them. But she also knows that it would be impossible to get you to fully understand, just as it would be impossible to get anyone to fully understand what’s going on in her mind. So, she chooses to express gratitude instead.

“Your show really, really meant a lot to me,” she says quietly. “Thank you for sharing it.”

“You saying that means a lot to me,” you say. “Thank you for sharing that.”

You clasp her hand in hers, and you both know that you’ve bonded through the inexpressible. 

She beams, and then she gathers her things to leave. She bounds out the door, but not before chirping, “Have a great evening, sir!” without so much as a glance at Yoongi.

You turn to him. 

“Sir?” you mock. “I bet you love that shit.”

He looks back at you, his hands resting behind his head as he leans back in his chair, and his eyes following your silhouette, up from your ass in those tight jeans sitting on his desk, up the convex curve of your hips, the concave curve of your waist, up the bends of your arm and shoulder, and then to your face. His teeth bite his lower lip as he beams at you. He licks his lips and lets his mouth hang open as he pauses before he speaks, a habit of his that is still so incredibly attractive in the way it draws you in, feeding your anticipation of what he’ll say. And then the words slide out of him in that low, entrancing voice.

“...Hazelnut lattes?” 

You smile.

You walk and talk across campus to the coffee shop where you used to spend hours and hours writing your scripts. The main Yoongi journal, your map for tonight, is tucked under your arm as the two of you travel through time.

You settle at the bar by the window, and you fall back into things surprisingly easily, but maybe that’s because you’ve talked on and off over the years by phone. He’s an industry insider, so he’s already familiar with how you rose to the top of the TV and film scene. Even as you recapped the highlights for his students during your talk, you know he barely listened to what you were saying as he just sat in his chair, smiling knowingly while watching you. 

That’s the thing that you like best about Yoongi. He already knows so much. He seemed to know so much about you on some kind of existential plane before you even really learned about one another. 

So, he’s never been one to ask you all the same questions that everybody else does.

Instead, he asks you how you are. 

And you tell him more of the truth. More of the turmoil. More about the things that didn’t pan out. 

Yoongi had always been more of a confidant to you than the others. For the short time that you were together, you told him your deepest fears. You told him your most hidden secrets. You broke down crying in his arms when you felt like you weren’t good enough. Like you had no talent. Like you had made a gigantic mistake in pursuing this path. He always reassured you that the path was not traversable through talent. It also took real courage to walk this path. And he told you that you could do it because you had both. 

Without his guidance, you probably wouldn’t have even taken your first, albeit shaky, steps.

His smooth voice guides you through the not-so-smooth path that he’s taken, too. Even when he’s talking about the unexpected things in life, he always sounds so sure. You knew he was a professor, but you aren’t caught up on all the details. You know that he graduated and got into a prestigious film academy. You were there to see him off. But since then, he had learned that he missed teaching. He describes the painstaking process of shifting his strategy, applying and completing a PhD program in pop culture studies, and after that, the doubly painstaking process of applying to and getting professorships, all while finishing his dissertation on barriers to representation of Asian communities in Western media. He found it hilarious that the professor he had TAd for as a senior had recently left, making Yoongi a shoo-in at your alma mater. Now, he offers consultations for industry leaders while also building out the film program at the university as dean.

“But all that’s boring,” he says, even though that couldn’t be further from the truth. “Let’s talk about why we’re really here.” 

He reaches for the journal you’ve set on the table.

“Now, now,” you chide playfully, stopping him again before he’s gotten the journal all the way over to his side. 

“You said you’d finally let me read some of it,” he reminds you, grinning. “You were always scribbling in it. I’ve missed reading your writing. And I’ve missed seeing it play out on screen.”

“I believe I said I’d let you take a peek.”

Yoongi raises his hands and backs off, but he flashes a smile at you when he does it.

“So then, how do I take a peek?” he asks, sending a shiver down your spine.

You shake your head and rest your elbow on the closed journal. You love this flirty little game that you’ve had going on since that first week of class. It reminds you of what made you fall in love with writing in the first place. The banter. The fun.

Yoongi sits back in his seat, waiting. 

You take a deep breath. “Everyone’s been asking me about what I’m working on next, but for a while, I had absolutely no ideas. Remember when I called you a few months ago?”

“Yeah, you said you had just watched three documentaries about these salmon tunnels that help get fish back to the shores where they spawn.” Yoongi laughs. “I had no idea what you were talking about.”

“Well, it was probably because I hadn’t left my apartment in who knows how long by that point.”

Yoongi’s eyes meet yours, and he looks serious.

“Messy bun?”

“Yup.”

“Sweats?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Insomnia?”

“For weeks.”

Yoongi sits back again. “Maybe we shouldn’t have met here,” he says, raising his eyebrows and looking around the coffee shop as you take a sip of the hazelnut latte that he bought for you.

You smirk and swallow your sip. “I’m OK now,” you explain reassuringly. “Back on track. And with a new idea. And I’m glad we’re here, because I think the sense memories are actually helping me capture everything.”

“Is this where I come in?” Yoongi asks. 

“Yes, hopefully, if you’re into it,” you say. “I’ve just been so distracted and off my game, and I feel like checking in with you might help me turn this into something real.” 

“It’s already real,” Yoongi reminds you, making you grin. 

Given your success, talent, and reputation, Yoongi still isn’t sure what you’re doing here, or why you needed to meet in person. You’ve told him that you’ve got an idea and a new show bible, but you need his help getting started in some way. So, he waits until you’ve gathered up enough courage and conviction to share where you’re going.

“The thing that helped me get back on track is that I went home for a little while,” you say. “My childhood home. To see and spend time with my brother, sister-in-law, and niece. And while I was there, I ran into my high school boyfriend.”

“They guy you had just broken up with before we met?” Yoongi asks.

“Yeah. And I ran into someone else. Another old friend.”

“An old friend like me?” Yoongi asks, smiling a little.

“Sorta,” you say, a fond smile forming on your face as you think of Taehyung. “Bumping into them made me think about my old relationships, and I guess this project is about that.”

You forgot how open Yoongi’s listening face is. His jaw is set slightly ajar like it usually is when he’s thinking, but his eyes are much wider, almost as if he’s trying to absorb every single detail. He hears what you’re saying, but he also notices the way your mouth moves when you say it. He learns what you’re feeling, but he’s also triangulating it with the way your eyes are poised when you share it. He’s focused on you, but he also knows that the stage you set for this scene is just as important, and he tries to assess what’s important to you based on what you focus on versus what you tune out from the coffee shop around you. And as he understands more and more of what you’re aiming to do, he nods and crinkles his eyes.

“I think this will be good for me to do,” you say. “I just feel like I lost everything when the show ended. My skills. My team. My friends. My fiance.”

His eyes grow even wider when he watches you drop that last bit of information. You forgot that he didn’t even know you were engaged. You think of Taehyung not knowing that you dated Jimin. You wonder if your entire life has been this compartmentalized.

“Well, how do you think I can help?” he asks.

“I’m not exactly sure yet,” you say. “But I know that whenever I talk to you, I learn something vital for moving forward.” You stand and smile. “So, what do you think about grabbing dinner and helping me hash this thing out?”

Yoongi chuckles and stands. 

“If you’re looking for more sense memories, I know just the place.”

Grades are posted.

You don’t even care what they are.

The point is that they’re posted. 

The semester is finally, officially over. 

Dae gets the notification a millisecond later than you do, the blue, bell-shaped icon popping up with a ding! in the top right corner of her laptop screen. 

Before she checks her classes, she moves her eyes from that icon to your stone-cold face. 

She grins and asks, “Are you freaking the fuck out right now?”

“Why would I be freaking the fuck out?” you ask. But you know the answer to your question. Because you really are freaking out. 

The reason you ask anyway is that both nature and nurture have given you the tendency to mask your true feelings about any given thing for the sake of collective harmony and polite conversation. You’ve learned to gauge how people respond when you turn the question back around. It gives you an indication of how much people really want to hear what you have to say. That’s why you retreat whenever you feel anything strong. Jimin had shown you bits and pieces of what open communication could look like, but you hadn’t yet learned how to let go of those chains disguised as manners. In some ways, you still haven’t. 

Dae knows you know the answer to your question, too. She rolls her eyes and lowers her laptop screen halfway so that she can see your entire face from her spot, lying on her stomach on her bed. She’s cut from the same cloth that you are, but she isn’t going to let you use that as an excuse to get out of talking about it. She isn’t going to say anything. She’s simply going to wait.

And you’re tired of waiting.

“Yes, OK?” you say. “I’m freaking out.”

“I know that I’ve only hung out with him a handful of times, but with the way he looks at you and talks to you, I wouldn’t be surprised if he were on his way over here to pick you up and fuck you right now,” Dae says, wiggling her eyebrows.

“I’d let him if he did,” you let yourself mutter, and Dae squeals. You laugh gleefully together. Dae entertains your crush with the kind of uncontained teenage fervor that you had only really seen on TV shows. You like how present she is when she talks to people. How she mirrors their emotions back to them to make them feel seen, but also maintains her own stance and opinions. She’s really one of the most remarkable people you’ve ever met, and making her squeal and laugh are quickly becoming two of your favorite things to do.

Then, there’s a knock at your door.

Dae looks at you excitedly, her eyes so wide that she almost looks like she doesn’t have eyelids. 

“That can’t be him,” you whisper, rolling your eyes. “It’s probably your friends picking you up.”

Dae shrugs and turns to the door before setting her eyes back on you. “Why don’t you open the door and find out?”

“Wow, really?” you ask. 

Dae’s closer, but you know damn well that she’s going to force you to get up and answer it.

You stand, make a show of crossing the room, which makes Dae laugh again, and you open the door.

To your surprise, Yoongi’s standing there, his hands in the kangaroo pocket of his hoodie, and his eyes widening when he sees you.

“Hey,” you say, completely caught off-guard.

“Hey,” he replies. 

Yoongi also looks a little flustered, but then Dae breaks the silence with another enthusiastic, “Hey!” 

You and Yoongi laugh, and you angle back so that Yoongi can see Dae grinning and waving at him. He waves back, and he looks so dorky that you can’t help but make heart-shaped eyes at him when he does it. Dae catches your expression, and you know she’s going to give you hell for it later.

“You busy?” Yoongi asks.

“She’s completely and totally free,” Dae calls over to him, cupping her mouth with her hands.

He looks at you to confirm, and you smile and nod. 

Yoongi runs a hand through his hair. “Well, uh, so… I don’t know if you saw, but grades are up.”

“Mmhmm.”

“So…” 

Yoongi scrunches up his face and looks at you. “Well, if you’re free right now, would you maybe wanna go watch a movie? Or get something to eat? Just… y’know, hang out?”

“At your place?” you ask hopefully, your mouth watering at the prospect of food, but also of something more. You were tentative about admitting it to Dae, but you weren’t kidding when you said you’d let Yoongi do things to you. 

Yoongi smiles. “Sure. Let’s go.”

You grab your coat, shoot Dae a nervous smile as you leave, and follow Yoongi across the street to a sandwich shop. Yoongi swears they have the best halal chicken and rice. You make small talk when you approach the shop window. You figure that Yoongi must go there a lot because he doesn’t even need to order for the cook to know exactly what he wants, and the cook and Yoongi shake hands before you leave.

Yoongi’s apartment is exactly the same as you saw a couple of months ago. You had taken great care to commit everything that you saw to memory on your way back out to the party. The way all his clothes were hung up neatly in his closet. And generally just how neat everything was. Even his blunts.

You notice now that the basketball memorabilia are Jordan and Iverson posters and figurines. There are ten or so movie posters pinned to his wall, but none of them are scary movies. You smile to yourself when you remember the conversation you had during his office hours of how much he disliked scary movies. 

But the only thing that’s really any different is the smell of food wafting from the bag that the two of you picked up on the walk over. 

He takes your coat, and he hangs it up in his closet.

You reach for his chair, but then he places his hand on top of yours and gives you a questioning look.

You raise your eyebrows. Maybe you’ve jumped to the wrong conclusion about what this is. Maybe you’ve already overstayed your welcome.

“Bed’s more comfortable,” he says, setting the food on his desk and nodding over to his mattress. 

You smile, and you sit on his bed, bouncing a little when you land. He stands in front of you but bends down, hands moving toward the floor as he says, “Here.”

You aren’t quite sure what that means, but you absolutely want him to do whatever he’s about to do.

He reaches for your foot, and you give it to him.

He unties your shoelaces and slips off your shoes. He looks up and smiles at you before he turns back to reach for the food on his desk. 

And something inside of you springs into action. 

You grab the collar of his hoodie and pull him toward you. He cries out and falls on top of you. When he turns to you, you kiss him deeply, his eyes widening like they did when you opened your dorm room door. 

But then he settles into your kiss. 

It’s shy at first. So tentative. You’re both primed by your previous roles as student and TA. You both have played by the rules for as long as you needed to, seeing him only during office hours and settling for your pinkies or your knees or your elbows almost touching as you both read and reviewed your work, or keeping things to group hangouts that end with you and Dae walking home together instead of you and Yoongi pairing off. There are weeks of pent up excitement and restraint that built this moment, but it doesn’t come gushing out in a flood. It appears like stars, one-by-one, as day slowly fades into night. 

And it’s such a simple moment, too. Not as ostentatious or calculated as you might have expected from him, given his proclivity for showing off in class. 

He deepens your kiss by meeting your tongue with his, flexing and weaving it through your lips and into your mouth in such a way that thrills you all over. He senses how nervous you are and starts to slow down, showing you ways that you can respond to his moves, teaching you how to communicate with him. 

It all starts to click and hit a groove, and now, your bodies are moving together. He whispers, “Is this OK?” with each new step. Like just before he nudges your knees with his to ask you to spread them apart. Or before he sinks back down onto you, lying between your legs. Or before he starts to move his hand from your cheek, down your neck, and then down to your chest.

You let out a soft grunt, and you both look into each others’ eyes.

“What are you thinking?” he asks, smirking at you.

You beam at him. “That you have no idea how badly I have ached for you to kiss me and touch me like this. How many times I imagined it. How I still had no idea what was coming.”

Yoongi hums quietly at what you’ve said. He takes you in, admiring the way you look in his sheets. And then he leans down and kisses you again.

Soon, there isn’t a need to ask. You both know this is what you both want, and you’re smiling excitedly into your kisses as you help each other undress. You like the pile of clothes you’re making. Your sweater wrapped up in his hoodie. Your tights intertwined with his sweatpants. Your shoes lying next to each other, one of them lying on its side. Your bra and panties on top of his boxers. This minor, messy mound of items thrown haphazardly onto the floor tells you that you’re both free now. Free to be yourselves. Free to explore what you could be together.

His kisses travel down your neck, and he plants himself at your collarbones while he rubs his hands together.

“Why are you rubbing them together like that?” you laugh. “Are you, like, plotting something?”

“I’m making them warm,” Yoongi chuckles, and your heart does a little flip.

He places them on your body, and they start traveling down your waist, grabbing at your flesh as he goes.

“Do you like tickling?” you laugh again, squirming deliciously with each touch.

“Yes.” 

He pokes at you more, delighted at your cute squeals.

And then he places his hand against your pussy, and he grunts at how ready you are for him, your engine revved and your juices flowing. 

“How many times have you done this before?” you ask.

“Do you always ask so many questions?” Yoongi says, and you know he’s only teasing.

“I’m just a little… inexperienced,” you explain.

Yoongi lifts his hand from you and looks at you. “Is this your… your first…”

“No,” you’re quick to say. “But, well, I’ve only had one boyfriend.”

Yoongi smirks. “You don’t have to have a committed partner to have sex.”

You smile shyly. “I know. But I’ve only been with him.”

Yoongi nods. “Well, do you still want to… um…” He clears his throat. “We don’t have to. I wanna do whatever you wanna do.”

You sit up and pull Yoongi back down to you, kissing him and wrapping everything you can around him. Your arms. Your legs. Your body. Your breath. 

He moans, and he places his hand on your pussy again, rubbing his fingers around your eager clit. You’re no longer squirming because things tickle. You’re squirming because things ignite.

He strokes your thigh with his free hand as you kiss, and you feel like he’s almost breaking you in, easing you into this because he now knows that it’s still new to you. You come two or three times, you’ve already lost count, but he persists. He takes his time, never changing his pace just because you might want him to. It’s like he knows better, somehow. It’s like he knows that if he stays the course, he’ll take you somewhere that you’re going to enjoy. 

And you trust him. That trust is rewarded when he slips his fingers into you and pumps his hand in and out, flicking his wrist in different ways that are the perfect way every time. It’s rewarded when he climbs down and places his tongue where his fingers were, making you come so hard that you moan like you’re in pain, because that’s the only thing up until now that you’ve felt that extremely. And it’s rewarded again when he grabs a condom and slides his length into you at the same tempo that his fingers and tongue had moved.

His dreamy eyes hold a complicated look. He’s concerned and wants to make sure you feel good. Safe. He’s also having fun, getting to be a part of this with you. But he’s also just so curious. He just saw you come from the way he moved his fingers, but he wants to see what you look like when he moves you with his tongue. And he definitely wants to see what you look like now, as he draws a chilling, resplendent orgasm out of you with his long, thick cock, his shaft covered in your slick, sweet ambrosia.

He flips you over, and you’re so exhausted and spent by that point that you don’t think you can feel anything else. But when he slides into you again, grabbing your ass and pushing your hips into the mattress, your eyes alight because he changes up the pace and force with which he enters you. 

“Jesus, how many times are you gonna make me come?” you whine, and he snickers.

You shake as your final orgasm washes over you, and when he sees you still, he lets himself take his own release. He sighs and leans over you to catch his breath, holding himself up with his palms pressed against the mattress on either side of you. You reach for his wrist and bring it to your lips, kissing the back of his hand as he straightens and brushes your hair back.

He pulls out of you, and you hear him rustling in the room behind you, throwing his condom away and grabbing a towel to gently wipe you both down. He hums a little when he runs the towel along your skin, and he cradles you against him as he rests against the pillows next to his headboard.

You can’t believe how good that felt. You can’t wait to do it again.

You lie in bed with each other, all smiles. 

When you wake up, Yoongi isn’t beside you.

You don’t remember falling asleep.

You try not to immediately jump to the conclusion that you are some one-night stand that he’s been chasing all semester. Yoongi just doesn’t seem like that kind of person. But mostly, you would feel embarrassed for falling for a trap. 

You reach down and feel blindly for your clothes, and it’s not until the hem hits your thighs that you realize you’ve put on Yoongi’s hoodie by mistake. But you get up anyway and pad into the hall. 

Though you don’t know what time it is, you know you’re in the hours that you’re never sure whether to classify night or day. You hear the coffee maker gurgling, and you hear Yoongi clear his throat from the living room. You look over to the kitchen and smile to yourself, silently taking the mug from the counter and pouring coffee into it.

You tiptoe into the living room and see Yoongi wearing nothing but his boxers, facing away from you, sitting at the card table that he and his roommates use as a dining area. He’s listening to music on his headphones and typing something on his laptop. You see the familiar color patterns and logos of your shared favorite scriptwriting software, and you smile to yourself. 

Yoongi jerks back when he sees your arm set the mug of coffee down on the table, but he settles when you embrace him from behind, looping your arms around him and resting your forearms against his bare chest, and pressing a kiss onto the nape of his neck.

He slides his headphones off of his ears, the music spilling slightly into the room as he sets them next to the mug.

“For me?” he asks.

“I know you take it black,” you say. “You’re always rushing into class with a mug or a plastic cup.”

He places a kiss on one of your wrists. 

“Did I wake you?” he whispers, as he holds your wrist to his lips and leans back and into your touch.

“Is that why you’re working out here?” you ask.

“Yeah, I woke up and wanted to write, but I didn’t want to be too noisy.” 

“I didn’t hear a thing.”

“Neither did I.” He turns around and looks at you. “You scared the shit out of me just now.”

You chuckle, and he takes a deep breath in. He undoes your arms and pulls you around from behind him. He scoots the chair back and grabs your thighs to have you straddle him.

Now that he can see you, it registers that you’re wearing his hoodie, and when you sit on his lap, it registers that you’re wearing nothing else. He moans as you sink onto him, and you kiss him, rocking your hips as you angle higher and higher to devour more and more of him. 

Yoongi pulls away and smiles at you. “It’s really late, and you’re really turning me on,” he mutters, kind of a compliment, and kind of a warning.

“Have a sip of coffee and then do something about it,” you say, smirking.

He shakes his head and laughs. He wraps his arms around your waist so that you don’t fall off his lap when he reaches forward for the mug you’ve brought him. He brings the mug to his lips and takes a drink of his coffee, and then he arches his eyebrow before holding it out to you. You smile and take a healthy sip. 

And then he picks you up and carries you back to his room.

From the beginning, you know that it’s so much more than just sex with Yoongi. You learn how deep in your feelings you really are when one day, you’re sitting at your favorite coffee shop near campus, squinting at your screen and frowning. Before you even realize what you’re doing, you reach for your phone and call Yoongi.

“Hey, missy,” he greets you, making you smile warmly. “We still on for tonight?”

“Yeah, yeah,” you say, “but can I quickly run a couple of ideas by you? I can’t tell if I’m overthinking this treatment that I’m writing.”

“You called me because you were stuck?” he asks.

“Yeah, can you help me?”

He pauses, and at first, you think he’s about to say no.

“I like being the person you call when you’re stuck,” he says meaningfully, and your heart swells.

He meets you at the coffee shop, and you walk over to that halal place that he loves so much. The cook brings you two orders, and you sit on the curb as you eat and talk.

“We need more places to just sit and eat around here,” Yoongi complains, looking at the run-down road.

“Focus,” you say, handing him his drink and patting the spot next to you. 

He sits next to you, and you both start digging into your meal. 

“Is this about the script about writers?”

You nod. Everything show or movie that you’ve watched that claims to be about the writing process is really more about the industry as a whole. Actor- and producer-type characters get the bulk of the attention. Writing is harder to show on screen because of how it plays out in real life. No one wants to watch long bouts of silence where a bunch of people just type and stare at their laptops all day.

“So why are you having trouble?” he asks.

“Because I’m not a writer?” you say, as if it should be obvious to Yoongi already.

“Are you writing?”

“Yes, but---”

“Then you’re a writer.”

“But I’m not a real writer,” you explain. “I’ve never been in a writer’s room. I haven’t even thought about internships or summer programs or---”

“First of all, you are a ‘real writer’,” Yoongi says, using air quotes. 

“But---”

“Second of all,” Yoongi presses on, “you’re having trouble because that’s not what you’re really writing about.”

“What do you mean?” you ask.

“You told me the setting,” Yoongi says. “A writer’s room. A room full of people like us, right?” 

“Yeah.”

“What is the show about?”

“I don’t know. I keep thinking… slice of life. Dubliners, y’know, James Joyce. But also Sylvia Plath. And Mad Men?”

“OK, so you’re giving me influences,” Yoongi says.

“Right,” you say, sighing.

“Take a moment to think about it,” Yoongi says. “What is the show about?”

“Stuff we deal with as writers?” you try. “Y’know… learning how to be better at our craft, figuring out how to break into the industry, all the personal relationship stuff that happens along the way…”

“You’re telling me plot points, and maybe some characterizations,” Yoongi says. “These could be episodes. Right?”

“Yeah.”

“Dig deeper, missy. What is the show about?”

You think for a while, but then you sigh. “Fuck. I don’t know anymore.”

“Yes you do,” Yoongi says. And you hear it in your head before he says it out loud. When he does, you chime in.

“Every story is about you.”

You both laugh, but you recognize that he’s made this same exact point to you the night before when he noticed you scribbling down your latest journal entry. He observed the fervor with which you were writing, and you bit back the impulse to tell him that you were happily writing about him. But the conversation led to a revelation, like so many of them do. He told you about his philosophy that your scripts should feel like you’re writing in a journal. It should feel that deep and personal. Though you need to provide consistency in order to be coherent, a writer’s job isn’t optimizing people’s lives and character traits and immediately tying them up into neat little bows. If that were the case, then there wouldn’t be a story to tell.

“OK, then,” you say. “It’s about me.”

“What about you?”

“My fears,” you admit. 

“Fears about what?”

“About not belonging in the writer’s room in the first place, I guess.”

Yoongi nods. “OK. Now we’re getting somewhere. What else?”

You stare out at the street, watching cars drive by, and students walking, and the sun setting. You let Yoongi’s question really sink in, and all sorts of answers start to bubble up. 

It’s about ideas. It’s about how something, like a TV show, can be made from seemingly nothing. How almost anyone could do it. But most importantly, it’s about what it’s like to be the kind of person who so easily conjures amazing storylines and dialogue in her head, rife with passion and intrigue and excitement, yet who still has no idea what life is actually like. The frustration that comes with reality not meeting expectations. The disappointment that comes with having to temper them for your own survival, and how it feels like you must deny parts of yourself to let other parts flourish.

“What else?” Yoongi repeats.

You come back from wherever you traveled to, and you turn to him and grin.

He smiles back.

“Was that enough?” he asks.

You nod, and you kiss him exuberantly, chicken and rice smearing all over your faces.

Yoongi laughs and uses his sleeve to wipe your mouth before wiping his own. 

“Yes. Thank you for listening to me,” you say.

“Thanks for sharing,” he says, shrugging.

It goes on like this for a few, blissful months. Talking about your influences. Your creative processes. Helping each other try on new things. New shapes. And not just for your work. But for your hearts. Your bodies. Waking up tangled in Yoongi’s bed, surrounded by the smell of his perfectly rolled blunts. Waking up in your twin bed, smushed together and lazy when Dae’s away. Weekends here and there spent naked and in front of each others’ notebooks and laptops, all of these vignettes in one long work that you’re writing together about TV and movies and cinematography and scripts and editing and directors and writers and philosophy and meaning and life. You love this, working on your projects, and telling each other where you are in your stories. Not just the ones you’re writing, but the ones you’re living. 

What you have with Yoongi is decidedly romantic, full of the passion and connection that exists unspoken but skyrockets when fueled by Yoongi’s way with words. And maybe even your own. 

But it all unfairly ends on a spring day that’s too sunny and flowery for something as sad as what’s about to happen.

The last semester ended with a new beginning. This one will, too. Unlike last time, you won’t get to watch it unfold with each other.

“Make sure you follow-up on the internship applications that you haven’t heard back from,” he says, throwing a backpack into the backseat of his hatchback.

“I will.”

“And keep pulling the thread with that main character in your script about the writers working for the TV show,” he says, loading the last of his luggage. “She’s nearly there, but it’s like we talked about. You have to be willing to showcase her faults as much as her successes. Less Mary Sue, more Martha.”

He loves that you’re the kind of writer who instantly picks up on an Edward Albee reference. He loves that you know that he’s cleverly disguised life advice in a writing critique. And you love that he loves that.

You’re turning Yoongi’s film academy acceptance letter over in your hands, watching him do a final walk around the perimeter of his car, kicking the tires to make sure they’re road-ready.

“Also, if you’re ever going to drive a long distance, it’s a good idea to check the pressure of your tires. You tend to ride them until they’re already a little flat,” he says, finally turning to you.

You gaze at him, tears pooling in your eyes. “Any last words of wisdom?”

His heart sinks at the sight of you crying. He reaches out for you, and he pulls you into him.

“You shouldn’t have come today,” he says quietly.

You frown.

“I just mean that it’s… no one’s dying, y’know? And… seeing you like this is…”

He takes a deep breath.

“I just feel like we’re breaking a butterfly on a wheel,” he explains.

You think of how all this started with butterflies.

“You watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind enough times and I guess you become an Alexander Pope aficionado,” you tease.

He scrunches up his face, touched. “You always find my references.”

“You always write them into the perfect places,” you sigh.

He wraps you up in a warm embrace, hugging you with his entire body. 

You share one long, deep kiss full of everything you have left to say.

And then, he whispers into your ear.

“Keep my number, and I’ll keep yours. Let’s promise to tell each other when they change. OK?”

You nod.

And then he’s gone.

And you wonder how many more times you’re going to see ambition marching ahead of the other things in life. 

The chicken and rice is better than you remember. 

The last time you saw this place, it was just a brick wall with a window. Now, it’s that window, with a line of college students leading up to it, plus a whole restaurant, with groups of friends and family eating inside, and a couple of cute, small tables on the patio. 

As you and Yoongi sat down at one of those small tables, Yoongi told you that the cook has retired, and the cook’s son owns and manages the restaurant. In fact, the cook’s son joined you as Yoongi was updating you, and he and Yoongi shared some greetings and well-wishes before he disappeared to get two of Yoongi’s usuals.

Your knees keep knocking into each other, so Yoongi slides his left foot between yours, your legs alternating and interlocked. You’ve been sitting alarmingly close like this as you’ve been chatting and eating.

“Did we even get around to eating the first time?” you joke, making Yoongi blush and look away.

“Why don’t you check your journal and see?” Yoongi jokes, still averting his eyes and taking another bite of food.

You laugh. “You are dying to read this, aren’t you?”

“C’mon.”

“I highly doubt there’s anything about the food in that night’s entry.”

“Humor me.”

You open the notebook and look for the entry you wrote about your first time with Yoongi. You scan the pages and smile at your words. And then you find that he’s right.

It’s unfair, you think. He still knows you so well, yet everything he does still disarms you.

You quote, “We didn’t get to the chicken and rice until the next morning. It’s delicious. Definitely the best spot on campus to eat. But I bet it’s even better when it’s warm and fresh.” 

He smiles, self-satisfied. “So?”

“It is better.”

“Does it say anything else about that night?” Yoongi asks, wiggling his eyebrows playfully.

Your eyes settle into his, and you tilt your head. You feel the way you’re lighting up from within. It’s less like meeting an old friend and more like meeting a celebrity. He’s always been so astonishing and unreal, even in his humility.

“It does.”

His eyes sparkle. “Read on, then.”

You rub the inside of his thigh with your knee.

“Why don’t we write some new pages instead?” you say, looking at him.

And it’s nice to see him look disarmed for once.

The walk back to the place you’ve rented out for the night is a blur. You just remember smiling tight-lipped and walking arm in arm, laughing every now and then without saying anything, and exchanging knowing looks.

When you step inside, his lips are immediately on yours, and his arms are around your waist.

You try to lead him to the bedroom, but he notices the stacks of journals in your open suitcase. Being a writer, he can’t help but be distracted by all those collected thoughts sitting there like that.

He turns to you and raises your eyebrows. “Those aren’t all about me, are they?”

“No, c’mon,” you say, biting your lip and tugging at his sleeve.

Yoongi smiles and watches you. He kisses you again, and then he runs his hands through your hair, smoothing it as he places his hands on your shoulders.

“I need to ask. What is this project really about?”

You try to avoid crying, but you feel the twinges already happening in your cheeks. You’re scrunching up your face, and Yoongi’s doing his best to stay strong as he watches your expression twist from one of bliss to one of turmoil.

“Because I want to fix things,” you say. 

“What things?” Yoongi asks.

You take a deep breath, but then you shake your head.

“Buck up, missy,” he encourages you. “Be brave, like you already are. Help me understand.”

“I want to…”

You sigh and let tears fall.

“I want to fix me,” you finally admit. 

Yoongi holds you and listens as you get your thoughts out.

“I’m tired of feeling like I lose everything,” you say. “Everything I’ve written about is over. And when I look back on it all, the only common thread I can see is me. So I must be the problem. I must be why I can’t get things right.”

He holds your face in his hands. “If that’s how you feel, then I’m sorry. I can’t help you.”

“What?” you ask. “Why?”

“Because there’s nothing to fix about you,” he says. “You’re perfect.”

He brings your face to his and kisses you meaningfully. He pulls away, and he looks around the room, trying to decide which door is the main bedroom. You smile, and you pull his arms around you, guiding him toward the bed.

You kiss as you undress, hurried by your want for each other, but not rushing. Your bodies transfer blinding heat back and forth, your hands and lips nearly branding each other as you hold each other close. 

He lays you down on the mattress, and for a moment, he looks exactly like he did all those years ago, concerned with making you feel safe and free. But then you pull him toward you, and you show him what you’ve learned since.

You push him down onto the bed and lie on your stomach next to him. You take his long, hard length inside of you. He reaches out for you, any part of you that he can grab and hold onto, but as you sink your throat down and around him, he lets out a flurry of gibberish and moans that forces his head back onto the pillow. He tries to hang on for as long as he can while you gobble him up, and before long, he whines and sits up, cueing you to release him.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” he mutters, rolling you onto your back. “All this time? All those phone calls and meetups, and we never---”

“Do you always ask so many questions?” you joke.

Yoongi adorably pouts before he snuggles between your legs and kisses you the way he kissed your mouth, his lips spread open so that he can devour you. His tongue makes its way around your entrance, and then it finds that special spot, your clit reaching back out for him with such a strong need that you can barely feel anything else, not even the way his hand grasps yours or the way his other hand is massaging your breasts.

He watches you, curious to see if the faces or moves that you make are the same or different. He smiles when he makes you come quickly because he learns that it’s both. You’re the same in that there are certain movements that are exact copies of what he’s seen before. You’re different in that there are certain movements that come from other experiences, and instead of feeling jealous or uneasy about them, he’s curious about them. He’s even thankful for them. He doesn’t know why you’re feeling so down about yourself in this moment, but he knows that everything you’re feeling right now, a combination of what he’s doing and what others have done for you, is good. And there can never be too much good in this world.

He runs his hands up and down your waist, his thumbs flicking across your nipples as he moves up to meet your lips with his. He places his knee between your legs, like it sat between your legs at the table at dinner, and you grip his thigh with yours. He smirks down at you, and you start to move against him, both of you grinding your hips against each other. You reach down to grab his length and stroke it, and he groans with pleasure at the feel of your hand on one side of him, and your soft thigh on the other.

By the time he slides his cock into you, you’ve lost track of the amount of times that he’s made you see stars. But you know you need him just one more time. With him, you’ll always want one more time.

You ride him harder and harder, and he stills for a moment to experience it. He moans and presses his forehead against you, kissing your chest and stomach, and you run your hands through his hair as you move. You’re glad that, for as much comfort as you give, being here like this, reassuring him that the tiny yet transformative bit of time that you shared together was worth it, that you can still give him something new to discover about you, too. 

You settle in one place on the mattress, gasping for air, and he retakes the lead. He pumps into you, harder and faster, and you wonder if it’s because he knows you can take it now. God, and the way he pumps into you. So smooth. Never losing full control. He wants to save that for when it’s really time. He is a mastermind. 

He even knows the way you’ll respond to him, too. Daring him to push even further. Daring him to challenge you more. You remember feeling like this with his words. You had forgotten how much more powerful he actually was with his body.

He’s most disarming with his eyes. When you’re close, he locks his on yours, and he licks his lips, making you close your eyes and wonder where the hell he gets the audacity to give it like this to you after all this time apart. When he looks at you like that, even when you just feel his eyes tracing your body, you feel like someone is breathing fire onto you.

He jerks his hips up, and you arch back. He wraps himself around you, slamming into you harder than ever, and you cry out as you both come, shuddering against each other.

You don’t know how much time passes until you finally, finally catch your breath.

As you lie in bed, you come to the sobering realization that Yoongi will leave soon. It’s not that he doesn’t want to stay. It’s never that. Or maybe it is. But you get the sense that it’s more that he’s kind of already given you everything that you need from him. 

You have minutes, not hours, for the last thing that is left. 

So you try and soak up as much of him as possible while you’ve got him. 

“If I’m so perfect, then why didn’t we end up together?” you ask him.

He takes a deep breath and thinks about it.

“Because you being perfect isn’t the only thing that determines that,” he says, and you know he’s right.

“What are the other things?” you ask.

“Well, that depends. The situation. The context. You know.”

“What were the other things for you?” 

You look at him so sincerely that his heart is breaking trying to have this conversation with you. He knows how perfect you are, and how perfect this whole picture looks in your mind. 

He holds out his hand. 

You think he’s gesturing to the warm and cozy place that you’re in. But to him, he’s gesturing to nothing in particular.

“If this were what I wanted, trust me. I would have wanted to share it with you,” Yoongi says.

You gaze at each other from the pillows that belong to neither of you, in the bed that belongs to neither of you, in the house that belongs to neither of you, in the time that belongs to neither of you. You’re two explorers that are bound by the mere desire to travel and nothing else. And for you both, that’s enough.

“Can I ask you a question?” 

You blink. Yoongi never asks you questions for himself.

“You said you were engaged.”

You nod. “For a little while. But I wasn’t for too long. And now I’m not.”

“I’m sorry that it didn’t work out for you.”

“Don’t be. It’s OK.”

He nods. “Well, if things were different... If I were different… and we had… if I had… would you have…?” 

His eyes look questioningly at you.

You’ve never seen Yoongi struggle with words. 

Ever.

And that tells you that he means what he’s not saying just as much as what he is.

You slip out of bed and pick up the Yoongi journal.

You climb back into bed and snuggle next to him as he wraps his arm around you.

You flip to the entry that you wrote the day after you saw Yoongi drive away.

And you hand the journal back to Yoongi.

April 21st

Yoongi’s gone.

This one hurts more than the last. I didn’t even think that was possible.

You don’t come back from something like this. You are left forever changed.

Even so, I couldn’t go through with it. I didn’t know how to tell him that I care for him in a way that I still can’t describe. I don’t have the words. The things I felt for him transcend all the definitions I know, and it hurts that he didn’t have more time to teach me.

I don’t know if he’ll ever know that...

That if he stayed.

That if he asked me to go with him.

That if he had asked me to be his.

That if he ever asked me anything.

I would say yes without needing to think twice.

I wouldn’t even need to think in the first place. 

A soft sigh escapes Yoongi’s lips.

You share one more longing kiss.

He pulls away, smiles, and kisses you on your forehead. 

“You’re going to create endless beautiful works of art. You know that, right?”

And you think you see tears form in his eyes before he rolls out of your grasp and reaches for his pants on the floor.

← 02: Supernatural Aid | 04: Crossing the Threshold →

The Road to You | Masterpost

[give-grian-rights]

I love the dream smp, i watch all the perspectives like i do with the hermits... its just.. i cant bring myself to watch George, i mean i like him i do! It’s just.. he’s really bland and kinda boring to me

I’m glad I waited until today to post this, after a conversation I had earlier. But I... Full-heartedly agree

First off though? You’re INSANE how on earth do you manage to?? watch?? Dream SMP from all perspectives????

Wilbur’s alone is 26 hours worth of content. TOMMY’S HAD OVER  6 DAYS OF STREAMS. It would take Six days, back-to-back, to watch his stream. and now it’s probably at 7 days, because I did that math last month.

But onto the main point of your ask. George is... yeah. Now that I’ve found Sleepy Boi’s, Dream Team has kinda fell on the burner for me.

I love Sapnap, he’s chaotic and energetic and full of dumbassery. He’s skilled at PvP and enjoyable to watch.

Dream’s a skilled player and engaging to watch. He’s got an iconic laugh, and just generally a personality easy enough to watch, most days.

But?? George??? I don’t know. He’s fine. He’s?? cute??? but that’s like. the thing he’s got going for him. I like his voice, and I think he’s pretty good at the game. But most times he doesn't seem interested in what he’s playing.

This got long,, so for an explanation of my thought process and in-depth feelings on George and his relationship with his career, read more. Includes some major speculation and critic of his internet personality. 

The thing that really.. kinda pushed me away from George, was what i realized seeing his reaction to the original Warriors animatic. He didn’t remember any of the important scenes he was in- he looked confused, and like he didn’t have a clue what was going on. He was there and he just.. didn’t remember shit. He might as well have been a complete outsider, watching it.

Legitimately it feels like?? George is just so completely uninterested in what he does. He missed the election. He missed the Festiva. He forgets what storylines he’s been apart of- and of what he’s involved in!

I actually have a memory disorder. i didn’t even know my own birthday, or days of the week until i was 12. 

Even with that, I could sit there and tell you the entire plotline of an eight-hour-long roleplay from four years ago on Roblox. and... George??? isn’t invested enough to show up, or remember anything he did, or promised, or was promised, in Dream SMP.

If George just wasn’t interested in the roleplay aspect, and wanted to play casually on the server, that’s more than okay and chill. But no, he keeps siding himself with one part of it, agreeing to become what WOULD be a big important role. He then doesn’t show up, or remember jackshit about it.

If I’m being completely honest, I feel as if he’s the same way with content making. This is where I feel i’m getting into controversial take territory- if I weren’t there already- but if it wasn’t for Dream, and the influence, attention, and monetary gain brought from him- I don’t think George would be on YouTube.

George’s videos are fine. I watch them. But it’s never George that makes them enjoyable. They truly feel like just.. additional content for Dream fans.

While I full-heartedly believe Sapnap has the personality to hold his own on the platform without the contribution of attention brought to him by Dream, I don’t think George could say that.

You never really get to see George’s personality. George doesn’t do much. He’s there, sometimes making snide remarks, going along with what’s happening. but he doesn’t care, or remember, or interested in it at all.

Remember the Pizza Hut vlog? Yeah. That was George, meeting a friend. We don’t need to see it. He doesn’t owe fans anything. but instead of outright saying hey this isn’t gonna be posted, or hey this is happening i’m just not happy with how my editing on it’s been, he just isn’t doing anything. 

My thoughts on why that might be? Because George doesn’t know how to edit the vlog in a way the fans would expect from him. His Minecraft videos follow traditionally the same style as any of Dream’s videos. but he’s with Wilbur, and it’s a vlog. And he doesn’t know what to do with that. That’s what my opinion is, pure speculation of bits and pieces I saw from Twitter.

I’ve seen the posts from George stans. I’ve seen the.. extremists, who take their fave cc’s and talk/treat them incredibly uncomfortably. And I’ve seen people who think that somehow, George can/should rise above, both Dream and Sapnap. And I don’t think that’s gonna happen, not ever.

Maybe George does have some big passion for video-editing and YouTube, but I certainly don’t see it in his general attitude, behavior, and the way he engages with his audience.

He doesn’t seem interested in having a relationship with boundaries and in-jokes, or making original and engaging content to obtain his own fanbase. He doesn’t portray a personality that can hold it’s own. 

I think he’s here because he gets attention, and because he wants the money. and I don’t think that’s anything wrong. I’m not here calling him selfish or whatever else- I think he’s there for monetary gain, and that it’s fine. Because you have to make a living somehow. But he’s so set on being unproblematic, and following what’s expected or asked of him.

George doesn’t want to be left behind by Sapnap and Dream. He knows that he’s made a name for himself, just by who he’s friends with.

He wants to make that into something, into something stable. But he’s doing that by making more videos of him with them. He’s not taking that, and using it to his own platform, like he could.

He’s not a super-talented and invested player, given his chance to shine. He’s a skinny, white, British boy with a silly laugh and passive enough to either not care- or be oblivious of- the fact that he’s essentially being fetishized as gay, and that’s what’s giving him a career & platform. 

George is fine. I don’t have a problem with I'm. I don’t love him, but I watch him. I hope I’m wrong, but, I don’t think he’s on the platform for the longterm.

[ikeservant]

Hello hope you are doing well!!! Can I ask for hc for Kenshin, Ieyasu, and Hideyoshi (or anyone else you want) discovering that MC is a hardcore otaku who thirsts over anime/otome boys😂😂? Maybe Sasuke gotta help explain to the warlords what even anime/otome is XD Thank you all the time I love your stuff!!!

Ahh thank you so much!I love this prompt lol! I’m dummy weak thinking about a bunch of 1500s warlords finding out in the future that people write headcanons/fanfics/fanart of them dream about fictional dudes. I’m people 😂. Also put what genre/type of anime they’d be into if they were able to be introduced to anime and manga.

Kenshin: Probably thought that Sasuke and MC were siblings because of her using similar weird words and fangirling during the weirdest times. Sasuke would explain to him how from their time that stories and tales were widespread and had vivid illustrations that people would gather around and develop a fanbase. Would be very confused to see keychains and anime merch from MC’s bag from the future. When he asked why there were decorations of 2D men, MC excitedly explained how they were all “best boys” and tell their stories and tales, meanwhile Kenshin was glaring daggers at these fictional men that pose a threat. “Kenshin your yandere side is showing. You are the bestest boy and you’re the only one I want to wifey up.” He’ll have to ask Sasuke what half of that sentence meant, but he was pleased that he was the 3D man that she chose. If MC could bring back some manga/anime for Kenshin, he’d be in love with any war/gore and action based ones. Not necessarily for characters but how cool the action and fight scenes are and wants to try them out with Sasuke (run Sasuke).

Ieyasu: Was very confused when they first met and MC was very eager and pushy to get to know him better. “Why are you following me, you weakling?” “I know you’re a tsundere. You’re hard on the outside but gooey on the inside. I’ve played so many routes with tsunderes that I shall uncover you in no time. Just like the simulations!” *cue Ieyasu thinking MC is absolutely insane and going the complete opposite direction*. Eventually MC grew on him and he did end up softening up and falling in love (JUST LIKE THE SIMULATIONS! SCORE FOR MC). Would find a lot of the terminology MC uses weird but still made him want to learn what it meant.  Did not know what “I ship it” meant when MC chuckled that when he started complaining about Mitsunari, but rest assured will gag when he finds out. Startles MC when they’re laying in bed and he says “I.. ship us.” awkwardly trying to use her weeb terminology, earning a kiss for this cute tsundere 😉. If MC could bring back some manga/anime, he’d be very intrigued with complex characters and plots that have both dark and light elements and have an overall empowering message. Relates to characters that have a tragic backstory but endure and grow stronger and roots for them in the end. (Might imagine MC as the love interest but don’t tell MC that)

Hideyoshi: Now the first thing coming out of MC’s mouth when he decided to trust her and smile at MC while offering to be friends and help carry the vase she was carrying was “A-am I witnessing gap moe in real life?” with a look of utter awe. This confused the heck out of him, “M-my name’s Hideyoshi. Who’s Gap-Moe?” Eventually would get used to the random terminology, although very confused. When he saw the anime themed keychains and wallet in MC’s purse and asked about it, he should’ve prepared tea because that was a looong lecture that he understood nothing of but found it adorable how excited MC was talking about it. “Wait so what are fangirls?” “You know those girls in town that rush to you and gush over you? Those are fangirls. My fangirl group just goes after fictional guys.”, making him confused even more while also lowkey wishing MC was his fangirl and wondering if he is a fanboy for MC (spoiler alert: he IS. And he’s a fanboy for Nobunga). Made him realize how much MC made his kokoro go doki doki (this is the most otaku trash phrase I’ve ever said). If MC could bring manga/anime, he’d love anime where good trumps evil and heroes defeat villains because he loves imagining defeating injustice and having a happy ending for Japan while defeating the cruel enemies and rivals around Nobunga. Also loves emotional/heart wrenching love story manga and anime that make you cry and get hit hard in the feels with the characters b/c he’s such a romantic with a big heart. Would hug the hell out of MC after finishing of any of those types of series while saying that he will always love her‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚

Bonuses b/c I thought they’d be fun:

Shingen: Literally finds anything about MC fascinating, and the fact that they’re passionate about fictional stories and are so emotionally touched by them made him love that MC had a big heart, even for fictional characters. Gets a lil jealous when MC starts fawning over specific fictional dudes. When MC and Shingen are a couple and she starts talking about one of her fictional baes he’d probably literally sweep her off her feet and say something cheesy like “But can he do this” and swoop in for dat kiss. Would probably find his own meaning in the terminology and use it. “This is my waifu, my goddess, I am her biggest fanboy.” is how he’d probably introduce MC as (swoon). If MC could bring manga/anime, he’d be a hardcore sucker for romance anime and would reenact many of the romantic scenes, even the confession scenes. “Shingen we’re married. This is the 45th time you’ve confessed to me.” “But not like from this anime (´•ω•̥`). Would also like detective/mystery series bc he likes unraveling mysteries and plays behind the scenes.

Yukimura: “Not another Sasuke-speaker.” Would be hanging out with MC and Sasuke and listening to the weird terminologies. Would also probably make fun of MC at first for her fantasizing about fictional men and having merch of them saying “Is that cuz you can’t get a real life man?” (cue the heated arguing). Would eventually be intrigued by some of the story plots MC tells him and would eventually fall for her nerdiness and everything. Would ask Sasuke for help on coming up how to confess to MC like in the anime and otome games she talks about (A for effort, my boy). Would be a blushy puddle but puff his chest out if MC fangirled over him. If MC could bring anime and manga, he’d freaking LOVE superhero anime bc he just wants to save everyone and do whats right and he just looks like the type of dude that loves superheroes and superpowers and gets pumped when the hero defeats the bad guy.

Mitsuhide: Would be curious about these strange, foreign words MC says, even though its just fangirl lingo from 500 years in the future. Would probably tease MC if they had any keychains or small merch of anime characters. “Why have a pocket-sized man to love if there’s a full sized one right here.” 😉. Would find it very creative that there’s so many diverse stories and characters. Loves when MC gets excited talking about story plots, gets a lil jealous and tries steering the topic away from thirsting over the dudes. Would probably confess his feelings by saying “Is there a real life story about a kitsune falling for a foolish mouse and they become lovers for eternity?” “Not that I know of.” “Want to make that story happen?”. Would love speaking modern slang and otaku terms with MC because its like their own little love language and it also pisses Hideyoshi off since he doesn’t understand wtf they’re saying. If MC brought manga/anime, would love psychological based horror, seeing how characters react to scary situations and what’s the mental breaking point to madness, or plots with mind games and outwitting opponents bc he’s all about that big brain and likes seeing characters creatively outsmart enemies. Likes characters that are morally gray/antihero that do good but do so in unorthodox ways bc he relates to them (and is secretly smug if MC says they need more love bc it feels like she’s saying that about him too). Likes stories w/ bittersweet endings because he likes seeing the beauty in things while acknowledging the harshness and cruelty of life as well.

[yunxies]

do you know any lesser known medias (such as ina11, transformers, what u usually like) as u have lots of great interests when it comes to shows, etc and im interested in hearing more? im trying to get into more things and its kind of hard finding more media.

oh i’m flattered to hear that! hmm i don’t consume very much media and tend to just get into one thing and hyperfixate on that for months at a time but let’s see...

kaitou joker - a really fun manga turned anime (i haven’t read the manga but i’ve heard people say the anime is better) about flashy bright-colored phantom thieves. wacky, super entertaining concepts, coupled with a surprising amount of depth and emotion. it’s zany and childlike and EVERYONE has a tragic backstory. in any case it’s really fun and engaging, i don’t post about it much here bc it’s not super on my radar but it’s an absolutely underrated gem of a show (and probably less popular than other stuff i’m going to post about)

elsword - i’m only into this one secondhand and mostly just piggyback off my friends’ posts but this one is a korean mmo, i don’t know much about how the actual game goes but the characters are all super compelling from what i hear about them from my friends. the character designs are all really good as well

lobotomy corporation - again, only into this one secondhand. it’s a game inspired by scp stuff where you work for a corporation in a post-apocalyptic world that extracts energy from monsters, and you have to allocate resources, appease the monsters, contain them when they rampage, choose how many of your employees to sacrifice, etc. it sounds really good and fun and i love the characters. i really wanna play it but i don’t have the time ;_;

megaman x - okay so this isn’t exactly unknown but like transformers it’s not, like, in the mainstream fandom spotlight so i guess it counts. really good video game series about robots at war that you can analyze for all sorts of deep themes about morality, pacifism, etc, etc. also x and zero are gay. stan axl

gundam build fighters - the gundam franchise is really famous but this installment less so, it takes place in a world where the rest of the gundam franchise is fictional and people do battles with their little gundam plastic model merch. obviously it’s very, exists to sell toys, but like yugioh it has a really fun uplifting vibe of people just being passionate about their hobbies and having fun with that, it’s really sweet

kamen rider - again mostly secondhand hbfdgj can you tell i’m reeeeally bad at getting around to watching/playing things but i like this one. japanese live-action superhero show that’s been ongoing since like the 60s, every year there’s a new series with a new plot and main character. it seems really fun a lot of people are into it. i like ooo and w because i love ankh and philip. insanely popular in japan so idk if it counts as lesser known but yknow

danball senki - by the same company and director as inazuma eleven and it’s a lot like inazuma eleven except with tiny remote-controlled fighting robots instead of soccer. i’m not very far in but already they’ve used these tiny remote-controlled robots to stop an assassination attempt on the prime minister sfhgldg akihiro hino at it again. i only know like three people who have seen it but everyone says it’s super good so i’d check it out

yugioh spinoffs - idk what you followed me for so maybe you know these already but while the original yugioh is super popular the spinoffs are less known, there’s still a huge fanbase but they aren’t really in the collective nerd consciousness as much, anyway they’re all really good. i recommend gx, 5ds and zexal (OH GOD ZEXAL) the most, arc v is universally panned as a disappointment, have heard mixed reviews on vrains but i’m not very big on it. but gx 5ds and ZEXAL!!! are really really good (gx has a loooot of filler in the first half though and zexal also kind of does)

princess tutu - I KEEP FORGETTING PRINCESS TUTU because it’s not really an Interest in that i get the urge to create fanworks for it but it is one of my favorite shows of all time, it’s about fairytale characters who are trapped in a story made by an author who loves tragic endings, and need to escape the tragic ending and forge a new one. it’s also about ballet, and ducks. i admit a lot of me liking it is because it hits on a whole bunch of my personal favorite tropes/aesthetics but it’s also really good in general 

animorphs - OH MY GOD I FORGOT ANIMORPHS. please read animorphs. i know it’s a meme to make fun of the covers but it’s genuinely one of the best ya series of all time it gets soooo deep into exploring and deconstructing all the realistic implications of the whole “plucky teens fight an alien invasion” setup, fair warning it gets BRUTAL and there is an entire genre of tumblr posts that are just people who only know the covers discovering how brutal it is but it’s sooo good. you can read it legally for free online

vsinger - i guess this counts? a line of vocaloids made by shanghai henian that have more lore and background to them than the other vocaloids who are kind of just a design, a name and an age. like for instance tianyi is an alien who can detect peoples emotions using music and can only communicate in song. so you have a bit more character stuff to play around with. i’m mostly just there for longya he’s sexy. gatling is a good song

also i’m really interested in this webtoon called ga dam hang seol it looks so good and interesting but the translation team consists entirely of one friend of mine who is always really busy and so the translation is only 5 chapters and updates very sporadically cries but just in case you’re interested you can read the comic here and the translation is here

well i think that’s about it that’s the accumulation of the past few years’ interests! also in a few years be on the lookout for a very cool and interesting novel whose title i haven’t decided on yet appearing on tapas (poses)

[thefloatingstone]

heyo amigo! one question, specific asnwer: you talked once about the issue that there isnt much of new people and more content of Undertale. but thats actually not true. i think everybody is forgetting that there are artist but who just started like with drawing, writing, etc. and are unpopular. They just need a bit of support so they could shine too. i know how hard it was for other artist (who are amazing at art) at the beginning. so helping the little ones would be quit cool (1/2)

(2/2) But what about the content? is there still things to draw/write which havent been done yet? i dont thing so (if we exclude AUs) (which i can understand) or is it good to see one idea but from two different perpectives? sorry if i ask you too many questions or if i am coming as rude. this just furstrates me..

I don’t actually remember saying this? It doesn’t sound like something I’d say tbh. If anything I’ve been saying that the fanbase has settled down away from the kinds of fans who are WAY too passionate and cause fandom drama and the kinds of people that make people say Undertale is a “toxic fandom” even though, by now, those people have long ago moved on to whatever is the NEXT big new fandom for them to get super invested in. The fans right now are either people who have been here for a long time and are far more chill, or new fans that never checked out the game when it first came out or who stayed away when the fandom was everywhere and considered annoying, and who now feel safer checking it out.

And I disagree completely X’D

Again, I was BIG into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles cartoon from 2003….

….and I joined the fanbase in 2009. SIX YEARS after the show first aired and like 2 years after it had officially ended. And of those 7 seasons only 4 of them were good and the fanbase tended to ignore seasons 5 - 7 completely. like COMPLETELY tho.

and there was STILL an active community (heck there still IS an active community) and many of them had new stories, situations, ideas and plots. Sometimes the plot was similar, but it would still end up being very different despite basically starting as the same idea at first, just with how the persn who wrote it’s imagination worked.

Heck I myself showed up and did basically COMPLETELY unique content for the most part just because I was focusing on a smaller side character that nobody else was as interested in before.

(Hello old shitty art from 2008)

And I can already hear you say “But TMNT has been around since the 80s!” and to you I say “no! THis was NOT a fanbase for ALL of TMNT. This was ONLY focused on 2k3!”

I could join a fandom SIX YEARS LATE and there was STILL new content being made for it.

Not to mention the MLP fandom.

THIS is FIM Fiction. https://www.fimfiction.net/

an ENTIRE WEBSITE dedicated to My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic fanfiction. JUST that. Nothing else.

I have a story up on there. a 150k+- word story about Discord and Fluttershy being friends and going on an adventure. And do you know why I wrote it? On this website dedicated specifically to MLP fanfics and with 96,586stories currently hosted on it?

Because nobody else had written a proper fic about Discord and Fluttershy being friends and having angst about it or going on an epic quest together and I was so frustrated I wrote one myself!!!

(And this was when the show had 3 seasons total)

Undertale is a singular game, this is true, but I do not believe for a single second “there’s nothing left to write/draw.” because I myself have a TON of writing prompts, art ideas, comic ideas that I just do NOT have time for that I have not seen ANYWHERE or anything like it at all.

What about the weird mushroom guy in the Tem village? What’s his deal? What’s with that weird house in the valley? What about the fact that Toby himself has said there are a LOT of places that exist Underground that just don’t show up in the game?

If you find that there’s “nothing more to draw/write” then I think either you are underestimating the limit of people’s imaginations, or you seem to think the only characters worth focusing on in the game are Sans, Papyrus and Frisk (maybe Flowey).

I’ve recently started reading a fanfic about Grillby adopting Sans and papyrus when they first wandered into Snowdin as children and was discussing it with the author, and it seems despite there being a few Dadby fics out there, there are NOT many of them and the ones that exist don’t tackle the things she wanted to do. And after the fic finished I dunno what I’m gonna do with myself because I need MORE and there ISN’T more.

That’s also something you underestimate. The level of MORE that fans want of specific topics and ideas.

“This has been done before.” “OF COURSE IT HAS AND IT BETTER BE DONE AGAIN BECAUSE I HAVE A HUNGER THAT CAN NEVER BE SATISFIED!!!”

This idea of “this has been done before so there’s no point” is something that REALLY needs to stop like right the fuck now. It’s a mindset I have never seen in the other fandoms I’ve been part of and I don’t think it’s an Undertale problem so much as its an internet problem now that the next generation of younger teens are online.

It’s nonsense, it needs to be stopped.

Look I don’t care if “something’s been done before”. of COURSE it has! Bitch I don’t want ONE Story about Gaster haunting Sans and Papyrus! That’d be HORRIBLE. I need like 50!!! AT LEAST!!!

Imagine being in a fandom like, say, Steven Universe. And there is only allowed to be ONE drawing of Rose Quartz and Pearl as girlfriends. ONLY ONE.

NOBODY MAY EVER DRAW ROSE AND PEARL TOGETHER AGAIN BECAUSE JOHNNY MCGEE ALREADY DID SO IN ONE SINGULAR PICTURE!! IT’S BEEN DONE NOW!!

What kind of insane dumb-ass fandom would that be???

I’ve BEEN in a fandom with only like 10 fics in it as a whole and none of them were the same as each other. It was AWFUL.

This idea of “There is nothing more to draw or write so this fandom is over now everybody go home it’s all cancelled” needs to die because it literally makes next to no sense to me.

First of all it’s NOT true, and even if it WAS true who actually cares???

Me and my 50 000 Sans and Papyrus Hurt Comfort fics are very happy together, thank you.

((also I’m not yelling at you specifically, anon. I’m just so friggen tired of this complete lunacy))

[nightmareonfilmstreet]

The Shape of Waiting: 7 Guillermo Del Toro Films Stuck In Development Hell

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The Shape of Waiting: 7 Guillermo Del Toro Films Stuck In Development Hell

The Shape of Water, which finally gets its worldwide release this weekend, has already stolen the hearts of many. With near unanimous praise from critics, Guillermo Del Toro’s gothic romance is prime for a busy awards season. The Shape of Water leads the Golden Globes with 7 nominations, which is the icing on the cake of a year dominated by genre film. Taking home some hardware would be a much deserved cherry atop Del Toro’s incredible career, who is widely regarded as one of the most imaginative filmmakers working in Hollywood today. In the wake of his new film, there have been many articles chronicling Del Toro’s career and ranking his filmography. Instead of contributing another, we’re venturing into a world of what could have been.

Though Del Toro has a decent sized filmography, the list of films he’s almost created is three times as long. The Mexican director has a relentless work ethic and more ideas than he knows what to do with. He’s infamous for being attached to many projects whether it be via writing, producing, or directing. I’m sure we all wish Del Toro had the time and resources to make every film his heart desired but alas, some projects will never come to be. In the spirit of the holidays, let’s visit some of the ghosts of movies’ past. Here are 6 films that Guillermo Del Toro almost brought to life!

1. Hellboy 3

I have to get this one out of the way first because it hurts the most. Del Toro was already well known in the film community for The Devil’s Backbone, but it was Hellboy that brought him into the mainstream spotlight. Hellboy was a unique, gothic superhero film released towards the beginning of the comic book movie boom.. It was our first taste of Del Toro’s insane world-building abilities, blending fantasy with the paranormal. This world was then expanded upon in Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, elevating everything from the first. Del Toro imagined the franchise as a trilogy, but ran into trouble getting the third into production reportedly due to conflict over budget. But the franchise gained a strong fanbase, banding behind Del Toro and Ron Perlman. Back in January, GDT took to Twitter to see if the fans could help. Despite efforts from passionate fans, Del Toro later confirmed in February that film was 100% not going to happen. But, it didn’t take long for Lionsgate to announce a Hellboy reboot for 2019.

2. I Am Legend

We all know Guillermo Del Toro loves working with creatures and monsters, including his vampires of Blade 2 and The Strain. So to little surprise, Del Toro was approached to direct the zombie-vampire thriller I Am Legend by Will Smith himself. He expressed a lot of interest in the film, being a big fan of the Richard Matheson novel. Del Toro ultimately had to pass in favor of Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. There was a small silver lining though, GDT stated in an interview with TIME that his influence still made its way into the film:

Some of the notes about their biology actually came from me going to Warner Bros. to show them my ideas. I found it quite nice that visually the vampires in that movie had some passing similarity to those from my movie Blade II. The way they move, the fact that they all lose their hair and become these pale creatures.

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

blad

It’s a little hard to imagine Guillermo Del Toro working within an established franchise despite the fact that the Harry Potter is practically a gothic fairy tale centered around a school of children. That said, one word makes it easy to see why GDT almost directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Werewolves. But let’s be real, it would have been DOPE to see a practical effects werewolf (performed by long time-collaborator Doug Jones, maybe?) on screen rather than the mediocre CGI lycan we were given. Del Toro passed on the project to direct Hellboy and Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, 2013) went on to direct the well-received Harry Potter film. So everything worked out in the end I guess.

4. Justice League Dark

Of all the movies on this list, Justice League Dark was the closest film GDT came to actually making. The film is currently in development hell, as many other directors such as Joseph Kahn (Detention, Bodied) have also dropped from the project. Del Toro was attached all the way back in 2012, with a penned script that was completed in 2014. For those who aren’t comic book nerds, Justice League Dark is a team of superheroes/antiheroes who deal with the darker paranormal threats of the DC universe. The team is comprised of: a dead guy, a demon, an occultist detective, a magician, and a character literally named Swamp Thing. Everything about the team and premise begs for Guillermo Del Toro to bring it to the big screen. A comic book movie seen through a horror lens with a unique story and killer effects could have been a game-changer. Del Toro was incredibly passionate about the material and we’ve already seen what he could do with dark superhero franchise. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts with Pacific Rim 2 and the rise of the DCEU, Del Toro had to step away from the project.

5. Pinocchio

It’s been a grueling 10 years of development hell for Del Toro’s imagined stop-motion take on Pinocchio. And of course whats holding it back, as the case with a few other unrealized projects, is getting it financed. GDT is a true artist in the sense of the word, he won’t make something unless it’s exactly his vision. Del Toro’s dark take on the classic tale would would be a Frankenstein twist on the original fairy tale, utilizing a combination of stop-motion and live puppetry. Though ambitious, the heavily practical production would be expensive, with a proposed budget of aprox $32 million. All the pieces are in place from the script to the production team, we’ve seen promo art and even a short clip. All that’s missing is the money to make it happen. Hopefully The Shape of Water‘s box office performance makes the nice list this Christmas and we get one step closer to seeing the film brought to life.

6. The Wolverine

Fans really enjoyed James Mangold’s The Wolverine, but it’s hard not to think of what it would have looked like through Del Toro’s eyes. GDT has been connected to several superhero films over the years, including Thor and the above mentioned Justice League Dark, but this one fascinates me the most. In an interview with Collider, Del Toro revealed he actually sat down with Fox Executives and Hugh Jackman about directing the film. It would have been cool to see him take on a story set in Japan, as Del Toro often drenches his films in culture like Pan’s Labyrinth  or even Crimson Peak. Logan and Hellboy share a lot of similarities, so I could see why this was an attractive project to him. Two things I desperately wanted from The Wolverine was more body horror with Logan losing powers and a practical Silver Samurai. Had GDT taken on this project, perhaps I would have gotten my wish. Del Toro eventually passed the project along to Darren Arronofsky, who then passed it on to Mangold. How cool would it be too see each director’s different vision on the iconic character.

7. At the Mountains of Madness

Lastly is Guillermo Del Toro’s passion project, the classic H.P. Lovecraft novella At the Mountains of Madness. The story is a connected anthology of sorts, a professor recounts stories during an Antarctic expedition. Del Toro has been trying to get this movie for over a decade, with the project being cancelled in 2004 by Dreamworks and then again in 2012 when he refused to make it PG-13. The second time around came pretty close: the script was complete, James Cameron was on board to produce, and Tom Cruise was in talks for the lead role. The film was denied once again over funding and the creative differences in tone, but as of 2013 Del Toro has stated he would try one more time. The film sounds like a terrifying thriller and the story would be treated with the highest respect, Lovecraft is a clear influence in Del Toro’s work. Hopefully with his relentless passion, the film will eventually get made and see the light of day.

  There are plenty more unrealized or up-in-the-air projects in Del Toro’s catalog including Godzilla, Beauty and the Beast, and The Haunted Mansion. At one point, he was even offered the entire Dark Universe! The talented director can only do so much, but with a mind like his can you blame the world for wanting as many Del Toro movies as possible? Today’s film landscape is so saturated with reboots and remakes, every Guillermo Del Toro project is a breath of fresh air. It’s unfortunate we can’t get more unique and imaginative films like Pacific Rim or Pan’s Labyrinth. To heck with the Dark Universe and the DCEU, I’m putting the GDTEU (Guillermo Del Toro Extended Universe, working title) on my Christmas List. One thing is for sure, at least The Shape of Water isn’t a project on this list. Go and support the film so we can get even more from Del Toro, perhaps At the Mountains of Madness if we’re lucky.

Which Guillermo Del Toro dream project do you most want to see on the big screen? Let us know in the comments below!

[queenvibranium]

When you have time, I'd love to hear your thoughts on 1) USMNT failure; 2) United vs Liverpool; 3) what do you find more watchable from an aesthetic point of view, American football or soccer? (I know you're not watching the NFL at the moment, I just mean in general, if both were on, what would your eyes be drawn to?)

Sure! 

1) I especially feel for the fans that have been dedicated to the promise of an improving national team. There have been a passionate and dedicated growing fanbase that now do not have a team to root for next summer and whose dedication somehow it’s matched by those tasked with making these improvements. To act like this is no big deal makes no sense whatsoever. It should have been simple to qualify in that group. If they aren’t good enough, they shouldn’t emphasize a slight missed chance by Dempsey rather than the lack of fight in the qualifying rounds. They always seemed to be on the brink of improvement but there’s a clear developmental problem here. There are countless models for how to develop young soccer players across the world, but we just cannot get there, but instead spread our limited talent by expanding the MLS into more and not better clubs. I am not sure what to blame but part of the blame stems from the US glorifying amateurism. 

2. As a Liverpool fan, I was both encouraged and frustrated by our players creating opportunities against an incredibly defensive formation. United looked organized and like there were always 10 guys helping out around the box. Still, Liverpool, again, continued their ways of getting tons of opportunities and not scoring on any of them. It did take some great goalkeeping by an exceptional goalkeeper. I think Mourinho did expect our defense to fall apart and disorganize enough to allow a goal. United are scoring goals this year, so I don’t quite get why they did not take a more offensive approach, but they have a lot more points, and a lot more reason not to worry about losing a chance at two of them. I was incredibly happy to see young Joe Gomez show such defensive maturity against Martial and then Rashford. I wish we got three points but I woke up expecting none, so I’ll take it. 

3. At this point in my life, I prefer to watch soccer and not only because American football causes brain disease or because the NFL is trash. I just fell in love with the sport and have grown tired of how many times an (American) football game stops...and stops...and stops. I still appreciate it and I love(d) seeing amazing catches, beautiful throws, and insane runs. I appreciate the amount of strategy. I definitely get excited when there’s a huge play. I think if there was a genuine meritocracy in the quarterback position, football would be a much better sport overall. Still, I love soccer more not for any political reason, but because I truly love the sport.