#I’m just bidding time for ep 5

[thesithdiaries]

One-Sided Love (Criston Cole imagine)

One-Sided Love (Criston Cole imagine)

Pairing: Criston Cole x female!reader

Requested: Yes Warnings: criston is psychotic in this because love makes you crazy and im not kidding, criston is deranged and in desperate need of grippy socks, this is depressing, borderline pathetic, alexa play that should be by justin bieber and give this man alcohol, mentions of what's happening in the show so from ep 2 to 5, angst, the terrible “one sided love” trope, he goes apeshit in this, you have been warned

Part 2

Thanks to Princess Rhaenyra, Criston Cole joined the Kingsguard. It was nerve-wracking, to be in charge of the King’s (and his family’s) safety. 

King Viserys tasked him with Rhaenyra’s protection on his first day.

Criston was following the Princess along the Keep, taking mental notes to try and remember important places. Just as they were going to head back to her bedchamber's, they heard a pleased sigh.

“Nyra!” A girl exclaimed, making the Princess turn around. To Criston’s confusion, they ran towards each other, coming together in a hug. “I have missed you terribly.”

“And I you,” the Princess replied. “What are you doing here at this late hour?”

“I decided to spend a time with you here, to give my parents a rest. You know how they are with me,” the girl confessed. “We sent a letter to your father, did he not tell you about it?”

Rhaenyra looked down for a few seconds, before looking up at her friend. “We haven't spoken much, since mother passed.” Y/N frowned. “Do not worry about it, I’m glad you came.”

Criston stood motionless as they walked towards him. He finally got to properly look at her. The girl was beautiful.

“Ser Criston, this is my cousin, Y/N,” Rhaenyra introduced them. The girl smiled at him, while he softly nodded his head. “Come, Y/N, we have much to talk about. Good night, Ser Criston.” Both girls walked quickly towards the Princess's bedchamber, the giggles echoing through the hall.

Criston stood outside of the chambers all night, still mesmerized by her. 

Months went on and Criston was in love with Y/N. 

He had to accompany Otto Hightower to retrieve a dragon’s egg. All that time away from the Keep made him sad. He did not like staying away from Y/N at all. Even if they were not in the same space, he felt a sense of comfort knowing she was close. What if something went wrong? What if there was an attack on the castle? Who was going to protect her?

When they returned safely to King’s Landing during the night, he headed towards the kitchens. He knew she would be there because she loved getting a refreshment before going to bed. Criston heard voices, her voice.

He acted as if he did not know she would be there, to avoid being painfully obvious about what his intentions were. Criston walked like he was exhausted, grimacing at the rough movements. The voices stopped as he walked in, making him look up, surprised. “Oh, Lady Y/N,” he gasped. “My apologies, I did not think anyone would be here at this hour.”

“Ser Criston! You came back,” she smiled sweetly, pulling a chair out so he could sit. Oh, gods. Criston took a seat nervously. “You must be so tired.”

“Oh, um,” he cleared his throat, “not really.” I am exhausted but you come first. 

“Are you certain?” Criston nodded, leaving Y/N unconvinced. “Alright. Well, Rhaenyra told me everything. You must have been scared. I know I was terrified when I visited Dragonstone.”

Criston’s expression showed confusion. “You have visited Dragonstone before?”

“Yes, I believe I was 9 years younger at that time. The King was planning to go there with his family and invited me to go. It was breathtaking.” Y/N smiled at that memory.

Before he could even speak again, she departed, bidding him good night. Criston sat there by himself, saddened that she left but also content because he learned something about her.

-

She left.

Criston changed the day Y/N left King’s Landing to head back to her home. He was not even aware that she was departing, only found out when he heard two maids talking about it.

He truly felt empty inside, like his heart was not there. No goodbye, no warning, nothing he could touch to remember her. Only the memories of the few moments they spent together.

-

Two years have gone by and Y/N has not visited. She sent letters almost weekly. Unfortunately, he had not read one but peaked over the Princess’ shoulder to see the handwriting. It was gorgeous.

Princess Rhaenyra made several trips during that time, but Criston was told he had to stay back, as other knights had to go. He wanted to fight, to scream, to plead that he was the one that needed to do the journey because he was dying without her.

Rhaenyra always came back with gifts for the family. Intricate dresses, jewelry, and paintings. He was in awe because of it. Y/N had good taste. Seeing all those things made him smile. Maybe she was not there, but now he had something to look forward to every day.

-

The trip to Aegon’s second nameday hunt was filled with fantasies and dreams. Criston only thought about Y/N. Her hair, her skin, even the way she strutted with confidence. He missed her deeply.

To his surprise she was there, waiting for them. 

Y/N and Rhaenyra hugged tightly since they had not seen each other for a while. She then greeted the King and the Queen, thanking them for the invitation. Lastly, Queen Alicent handed Aegon over to her, so she could carry him. 

Criston smiled, the sight igniting even more fantasies in his head. Y/N would be an amazing mother. We would have beautiful children together. Once again, he shook his head at those improper thoughts.

Returning the little Prince to the Queen, Y/n spotted him. “Ser Criston! It has been so long since I saw you last, you look wonderful. How are you?”

Wonderful. “My Lady,” he said, bowing his head in greeting. “I am well, and you?”

“I am alright. Was quite bored with all the mindless chatter inside but now I have good company.” She heard her name being called from inside the tent. “My apologies, Ser Criston. I have been summoned.” She giggled playful, squeezing his hand and later walking towards the tent.

Her touch had not changed. Still warm and inviting. Criston let out a sigh of happiness. Finally, maybe she did care for him and was finally going to tell him she felt the same way. That was enough to give him the motivation and strength to be there. 

-

She left. Again.

Y/N said her goodbyes after the hunt, stating that she had to return home. Since he was far away at the moment she was leaving, she waved at him. Criston waved back, earning a big smile from her.

I will miss you, my love.

-

They were on their way back to King’s Landing, sailing on a ship. Y/N had joined them on the tour to meet Rhaenyra’s many suitors.

During that time, Criston learned other things about her and what she likes. Y/N loves to tend the flowers in her home. Explains why he would always find her near the flowers outside of the Keep. She loves to read and learn new things. And is very smart, sharing that the Maester in her House taught her, as well as her Septa.

Criston stood by the door of the cabin as Rhaenyra and Y/N sat together.

“Did you see someone you liked?” Rhaenyra teased, causing a fit of giggles from Y/N.

“I did.” That reply alone made Criston tense up. She did? No. Gods no. 

“Well then, please share. I would love to know who caught your eye.”

Y/N hesitated, but thanks to Rhaenyra's playful nudge, she said “It was in the Vale, the Arryn boy.”

The Vale. Criston remembers the boy. He was… handsome. He was not focused on the Princess at all during their visit. Instead, he centered his attention on Y/N. Criston had thought nothing of it. He was certain that Y/N would not even look his way. 

Criston stopped listening to the girls as they kept talking about him. He gripped the handle of his sword tightly. Criston was furious. All he wanted to do was go to the Eyrie and find that boy. The only man that was worthy of Y/N’s love was him, not a petulant boy with no skills on how to love and protect a lady like her.

-

Criston broke his oath of chastity when he slept with Princess Rhaenyra. 

He hated himself for it. He committed sin, broke his oath, and betrayed the woman he loved. Y/N would never forgive him if she knew he was unfaithful with her own cousin. He let himself be engulfed with jealousy and spite, he did not want to think anymore. He needed something to calm him down… and the Princess was the one that initiated it.

-

The journey from Driftmark back to King’s Landing was making Criston go insane. His world came crashing down while they waited for the King to speak with the Velaryons.

“I have to tell you something,” Y/N whispered, tugging at Rhaenyra's sleeve. She looked at her with concern.

“Yes, of course. What is it?” The Princess replied.

“I am betrothed…,” Y/N said, breaking out into a huge smile.

Criston slowly turned his head towards the two excited girls, the anger bubbling inside of him. He felt betrayed that she would just go and accept somebody else's marriage proposal. This is insulting.

“You are!” Rhaenyra exclaimed, pulling her dear cousin into a tight hug. “With who? The boy from the Vale?”

“Yes,” Y/N confirmed. “Him.”

“How did it all happen? When is the wedding? I want to know everything.” The Princess babbled on, making Y/N blush in embarrassment.

“Alright, firstly, his name is Jon. After I returned home, he visited. I had no idea he was going to do it. He spoke with my father and, to my surprise, he accepted. I am to leave for the Vale in two full moons.” 

Two full moons? No. No, no, no. She cannot leave.

“How exciting! I imagine how happy you must feel,” Rhaenyra told her.

“I know how you feel about your own impending marriage, cousin. I wish it did not have to be in these circumstances,” Y/N lamented. “I did not want to say anything but I also did not want this to be a surprise in the future.”

“It is quite alright, Y/N. I love that you share your happiness with me,” the Princess assured her. “Tell me, am I invited to your wedding?”

Y/N laughed. “Of course you are. I would not dare to leave you out of it.”

The girls had not noticed the knight at all. Criston now had tears of frustration running down his face. It was supposed to be him. He wanted to run away with her to the Free Cities, where they could have a family and be free. He wanted to kill that boy.

-

“Ser Laenor is quite dear to me. As I know... the Princess is to you.” Ser Joffrey Lonmouth decided it was a good idea to speak to Criston. 

His mind was clouded, all his emotions running berserk. Criston saw Princess Rhaenyra dancing with Lord Laenor, like she did not care about him. 

After listening to the conversation he overheard at the ship, he snapped. Criston asked Rhaenyra to run away with him to Essos. If he could not have one, then he would settle for the other. He could pretend it was Y/N with him. Yet she shamelessly rejected him, citing that her duty to the throne was more important.

Criston was destroyed. He broke his oath in a moment of weakness and now it meant nothing. He also babbled to Queen Alicent about it. He might as well be dead right now.

Next thing he knew, he was on top of Joffrey. Punching him like a madman. His ears were ringing painfully, muffling the screams and cries of those around him. All he wanted was to eliminate the threat.

For this reason, he did not stop. He could not stop.

At the end, when Joffrey Lonmouth’s face was bashed in and was unrecognizable, he sat back. The ringing in his ears was diminishing, all the noises around him making his head hurt.

He saw a flash of gold next to him, so he turned his head. It was Y/N.

Criston’s heart dropped to his stomach as he took in the sight of her. Her face was flushed, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her beautiful gold-detailed dress was ripped. 

He stood up, extending his hand towards her. He planned to get her to safety… without even realizing he was the danger. Y/N let out a cry, stepping away from him. “You are a monster.” She told him through tears. 

Criston could not believe her words. He was no monster. He was her protector, her white knight. But in reality, that was far from the truth. He was clouded with obsession and that alone led to his downfall.

//

Part 2

//

Taglist:

@my-dark-prince / @Daemonloversblog / @littlemoonash / @mypatrochilles / @beefbaby25 / @sweetybuzz2 / @Fin-never / @asexualaromosafezone / @nerdy4itall / @yelchinweasleylothbrok / @juless_world / @thatgaytevinter / @kaitieskidmore1 / @chevelledahuman / @rozendiors / @claudiajacobs / @savagemickey03 / @multifandom-loser / @direluvr / @camschansenpai / @ilovoysters / @Larslaen

#hotd imagine #hotd fanfic #criston cole imagine #criston cole x reader

[ezrasimp]

my friend and I watched ofmd last night and I wanted to share her reactions

(The highlights without context are on my twitter (@pip82937) in case you want to see them without context first coz I think quotes are funnier if you have no clue what’s going on aha)

Episode 1: 

- (‘I should have 20 kills by now’) “Me in Apex [Legends].”

- (’Alright! Places everyone!’) “Stede is such a theatre kid.”

- (When the crew fight the British) “Any of Jay’s (our irl friend) parties.”

- (End of episode 1 when Stede is reading Pinocchio to the crew) “They’ve matched up that lighting really well.”

Episode 2: 

- (Izzy turns up) “Oh, I know you. [Derogatory]”

- (’A diversion, that’s what we need’) “[Quoting Moana] “As a diverrrsion!”

- “There’s something about Con O’Neill’s voice that scracthes an itch in my brain.”

Episode 3: 

- (Hornberry gets splattered with water) “Man just got baptised.” 

- (‘Someone buy my booty!’) “Blackbeard suddenly appears.” 

- (‘One piece of silver’s me bid.’) “One Piece?!”

- (Lucius doing the opening speech for Stede) “Lucius has never reminded me of Harrison (another irl friend) more.”

Episode 4:

- (‘I haven’t died yet.’ ‘Yeah ‘cause that makes sense.’) “He’s a fucking mood, Izzy, I dunno what you’re on about.”

- (Izzy walks away after Ed and Stede swap clothes) “He’s clearly not happy.”

- (‘I don’t know what to do!’) Me: “Me doing anything ever.”                 Her: “You stole the words right out of my mouth, you fucker.”

- (The lighthouse scene) “Oh I remember this, you showed me this.”

- (‘The only retirement we get is... death.’) “I want that.”

Episode 5:

- (Sees the guy get chucked to the other side of the boat before the title appears) “Me.”

- (Stede explaining passive aggression to Ed) “That’s an awfully autistic way of explaining it.” 

- (‘But I’ve decided to carry myself like I’m cute’) “Another incredibly Harrison thing to say.”

- [Completely speechless at ‘Ooo daddy’]

- (‘My name’s Mr Hands, First Mate Hands...’) “Mr Hand-Job, ha!”

- (‘Gaston!’) “Gaston? Oh no, hide the eggs!”

- (‘Sometimes a quick death is the best way to end a bad conversation.’) “I agree.”

- (‘This is far too fast, this is far too fast, this is far too fast...’) “Me becoming an adult.”

- (‘Oh Godfrey, stop fingering my dents...’) “Hmm, fingering dents, eh?” (‘You can finger my dents anytime!’) “Oop. [So they were actually going for that?]”

- (‘No, we love a good shanty!’) “[Bad French accent] Shantyyy!”

- (‘Hang on, that’s passive aggression.’) “Wow, that’s incredibly autistic.”

- (‘Have you ever been sketched?’) “Don’t offer to sketch him; offer to choke him.”

- (‘Because I think you met... at birth.’) “OOOP!”

- (‘What did you do to them?’ ‘Passive aggression.’) “Stede looked so evil then.”

- (The Moonlight/You Wear Fine Things Well scene) “Ezra, your mic is muted but I can still hear you sobbing.” (I was)

- (End of ep 5) “I’m really getting into this now.”

Episode 6: 

- (‘Stab me’) “This is highly suggestive but I think that’s the point.”

- (‘I don’t feel fear.’) “Edgy.”

- (Ed comes down on wires) “Looks like a fun time... just needs a bit of alcohol.”

- (‘Or as I like to call it, the Art of Fuckery’) “Summary of my life.”

- (‘They’re just pets.’ [Fang starts crying]) “I love Fang.”

- (‘I think Mr Bonnet’s theatrical skills are finally honed.) “He’s trying to get you killed Stede.”

- (‘Lucius, we’ve got a fuckery on our hands!’) “I was about to take a sip of my tea and I’m so glad I didn’t.”

- (‘Kinda like a dead person smell?’) “The fandom by the time season 2 is finally announced.”

- (Stede shouting ‘Fuck!’) “Me.”

- (‘It’s just a dream! It’s all a dream, come back!’) “[Laughing] A dream?!”

- (‘You’re a fucking killer, bro. So kill!’) “Alpha Males’ morning routine.”

- (‘I thought I heard laughter.’ ‘No, those were screams!’) “[Ungodly sound]” Me: “You okay there?” Her: “I nearly spat out my tea.”

- (Lucius cutting his own finger) “Nice one!”

- (The Kraken tentacles up against the window) “He’s gonna start crying.” 

- (Ed crawls away) “Me for real.”

- (‘Is that still on the cards, or...?’) “That is also an autistic reaction.”

- (‘...to a fucking duel’) “He did catch the sword to be honest.”

- (‘Stede wins!’) “They’ve come so far since the first episode, they’re happy to see him win. Since the first episode when they were, you know, plotting his murder.”

- “Bye bye sandwich!”

Episode 7: 

- (‘Tatty edges... it’s been around, it’s seen things!’) “Me making maps in primary school.”

- (‘I’d love to be stabbed by Jim.’) “Who wouldn’t? Did you see them in episode 1? I was shook in the best way.” 

- (‘Life is pain’) “Felt that.”

- (Sees the overhead shot of the snake being cooked) “Oh it’s this scene!”

- (I accidentally left my mic on and recited the scene, only realising right at the end) Me: “Did you hear all of that?” Her: “Yep!”

- (‘There are some scraps that didn’t completely burn!’) “Me with my mental health.” (‘No, I think I can fix this!’) “Not me with my mental health.”

- (At the end of the scene where Lucius says ‘That was really sweet’) Me: “Lucius has drip to be honest.”                                                  Her: “Look at those trousers!” [We start laughing]                                    Me: “I know right!”                                                                                Her: “And they look high waisted as well!”

- (‘You should have it [the orange]’) “I mean, it is their tree.”

- (‘La vida es dolor.’) “Agreed.”

- (‘This really is the perfect brandy.’) Me: “You.”                                          Her: “I was about to say me.”

Episode 8: 

- (Swede sleeping in the barrel) “This is like the barrel scene in The Hobbit.”

- (‘Left them to die at the hands of the Spanish?’) “Dun dun dun!”

- (‘Fucking Hornigold!’) “Ha, horny gold.”

- (‘Whip my balls!’) Me: “Him being whipped in the balls was improvised. What’s wrong with him?! [Affectionate]”                                           Her: “He’s a genius.”

- (‘He’d shat everywhere but in the bedpan.’) “Amber Heard.”

- (‘My crew mutinied. Third time it’s happened this year.’) “That sounds like a you problem.”

- (‘Turtle versus crab!’) “I love it. I wanna join. Where do I sign up?”

- (‘Chuck ‘em at eachothers’ heads, it’s hilarious.) “That happened in One Piece.”

- (Stede reading his book while shit happens on deck) “Me reading fanfics.”

- (Karl dies) Me: “Are you laughing?!”                                      Her: “[Laughing hysterically] Yes man! It’s the ridiculousness of it.” 

- (‘Fungina!’) “Vagina?” 

- (Referring to Calico Jack) “What kind of incel is this dude?” 

- (‘Take care mate.’ ‘You’re leaving?’) “Man’s masking so heavily he’s fooling himself.”

- (Lucius walks in on Stede and Olu being sad over their respective loves, done with life) “Same Lucius.”

- (Buttons wailing over Karl) “Me too.”

- (Olivia speaking) Me: “I love how it implies he speaks seagull.”       Her: “Of course he can, did you see that cursed shit he was doing towards Calico Jack? He has the blessing of the seagull God.”

- (‘I wish God had took me instead!’) “Me too!”

- (Ed looking back at the boat) “Look at that pining mess.”

- (The English arrive) “Ru ro raggy. [...] Hang on, how are they so blind that they didn’t see those boats coming? And that’s coming from me!”

- (‘Various stages of fucking each other over!’) “I mean, they are definitely fucking each other, just in a different way.”

- (‘You came back.’ ‘Never left.’) “That was marginally, ever so slightly gay of you. Your heterosexuality was slipping there.”

Episode 9: 

- (Starting episode 9) “Let’s go lesbians, let’s go.”

- (‘I’m a strong reader slash writer’) “Modern AU Lucius writes the dirtiest smut fics you will ever read in your life.” 

- (‘I forgot you were twins’) “Stede is a terrible liar.”

- (Frenchie falls over) “Born for this kind of espionage, yeah.”

- (‘Bit of fanfiction’) “[Almost spitting out tea] BIT OF FANFICTION?!”

- (‘You’re just some bored, little, rich boy.’) “Stab him too.”

- (Stede signs his confession) “Very quick signature.” 

- (Sees Izzy again) “Hello Izzy.”

- (‘The bill has come due.’ ‘No, I don’t wanna die!’) “Same, same, same, same, same.”

- (Izzy gets punched) “Nice! [satisfied]”

- (Chancy being himself) “Stab him!”

- (Crew backing up Stede) “I love them!”

- (‘We talk it through.’) “As a crew!”

- (Chauncy being detained) “Fight! Fight! Fight! Stab him in the other eye!”

- (‘Ten human years?’) “Me reading terms and conditions.”

- (‘Your shirt? Your socks?’) Me: “How domestic.”                                         Her: “I was about to say that!”

- (Izzy now in charge of the Revenge) “I feel bad for these fuckers now.” Me: “Who? The crew or Ivan and Fang?”                                      Her: “Yeah.”

- (‘No rations for a week’) “He’s a cunt.”

- (Beach scene begins, which she’s seen before) “The lighting looks awfully familiar.” 

- (They kiss) “I’m just gonna remind you of how I said they queerbaited baited you.”

- (‘Think up some new names, cool ones’) Me: “‘Cause if he had come up with names, he would have called them both Jeff.”                                    Her: “Oh yeah, definitely. [Laughing]”

- (‘He’s gonna come and wake you up’) “Is that really what’s gonna happen?”

- (Gunshot) Me: “Straight through his other eye.”                           Her: “FUCK YES! [...] Angst AU where Stede dies there and Ed finds his body.”

- (Izzy: ‘What can I do differently? I’m open to suggestions.’) “Everything. Die.”

- (‘Everyone’s got their own style.’) “I love Olu.” 

- (Izzy doesn’t get chucked overboard) “Goddamn it. Is this what blue-balling feels like?”

Episode 10: 

- (‘They have adjusted to the loss of their father far better than expected’) “Let’s not lie; it’s probably ‘cause the most he did with them was play pirates occasionally.”

- (Stede standing in the doorway with his feet out) “Put those grippers away!”

- (‘So, he’s sick but doing well, is the news?’) “Spot on.”

- (Izzy spits his drink on deck) “He’s a proper cunt.”

- (Lucius existing) “He makes the same fucking facial expressions as Harrison.”

- (Mary’s painting comes on screen) “Buttcheeks.”                                 Me: “Do you think they’re basking in moonglow too?”                  Her: “Most likely.”

- (‘I’m in the blanket fort’) “[Laughing] What a mood!”

- (Lucius writing Ed’s lyrics) “[Laughing] He’s so concerned. [Genuine]”

- (‘Someone entirely fictional’) “[Unbelieving] Mmh hmm.”

- (‘What if life just... begins again?’) “Lucius is for real the fucking therapist.”

- (‘You came in late last night.’) “She came in.”

- (Mary’s monologue) “Fair play. [...] Girlboss.”

- (Ed singing) “The entire crew are just looking at him like ‘When’s Stede coming back?’”

- (‘His name is Blackbeard, or Captain’) “Oh piss off. He doesn’t even have the beard anymore.”

- (‘Lucius will be more than happy to write down your lyrics.’) “His face says otherwise.”

- (Izzy being Izzy) “If you’re gonna be angry, go and make your own crew.”

- (‘Murder’s a natural cause.’) “Death is natural no matter how it comes to be so she’s got a point.”

- (Stede telling everyone about Ed at the pub) “They’re all a bit disappointed at that.” [Reads ‘disappointed sounds’ in the subtitles] “Damn I’m genius.”

- (‘I should have let the English kill you.’) “You should’ve let the crew throw you overboard, fucking hell.”

- (‘I serve Blackbeard, not Edward.’) “Okay piss off then, bye bye, nobody will miss you.”

- (Mary hovering over Stede) “My sleep paralysis demon.”

- (That ear shot) “Ew, no, not through the ear!”

- (‘Or just smother me with a pillow?’) “That happened on Game of Thrones.”

- (Replying to me saying how I was going to throw up after Stede said ‘His name is Ed’, clarifying that it was out of happiness, not homophobia) “If you’re homophobic and you get to episode 10 of this series, I don’t know what to tell you.” 

- (‘I’d like a shot’) “Literally.”

- (Mary screams) “A+ acting from Mary there.”

- (‘Is it just me or are they taking an awfully long time to come back?’) “I wonder why that is.”

- (Stede gets hit by a horse) “Yah, they got some good and proper special effects here.”

- (Reaction to Stede’s ‘death’) “Man had a leopard and chose to die by... [Piano falls on corpse] piano, actually. Not horse. The timing of that was great.”

- (Stede rides off) “Season 2 is gonna be full of angst, you realise this?”

- “That was quite enjoyable.”

#ofmd #our flag means death #our flag means death spoilers #tw emetophobia #tw sui joke #reactions #edward teach #stede bonnet #izzy hands #oluwande boodhari #jim jimenez #ed x stede #jim x olu #jim x oluwande #can you tell she really started to get into it #it got to the point that i wasn't watching coz i was too busy writing down her quotes #this took over two hours to write up omg #long post

[veryhappyunbirthdaytoyoutoy-blog]

I wanted to write!!

I was bored and decided to start writing some Merlin fanfic over the summer!! This one takes place S1 Ep 5 “Lancelot” just before Lancelot leaves the city. Enjoy!! (or don’t, that’s cool too)

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Arthur found himself standing eerily still in the empty hallway outside of Gaius's chambers, wondering if he had hit his head a little too hard in the battle with the griffin last knight. It had been bright and sunny morning -- and well past when Merlin should have woken him up -- when Arthur decided to go bid Lancelot farewell (and grab his lazy manservant on the way). In his short time knowing Lancelot, Arthur had developed a solid respect for the man, one that had not diminished with the uncovering of Lancelot's deception, and he felt as though he should send Lancelot off with goodwill in hopes that the loyal man would one day return. Yet, perhaps Arthur should have known better than to trust the knight -- now ex-knight -- so quickly.

He actually hadn't meant to eavesdrop on the conversation between his manservant and the ex-knight, fully intending on walking in without so much as a knock, but just as Arthur was reaching for the door, Lancelot posed a question:

“So Merlin, was that fake seal of nobility created with your magic as well?"

Arthur froze, hand still in the air. Certainly he couldn't mean-

"Yes, well, there was no way I was going to let you go home after you had worked so hard to be here, not for some outdated, stupid rule. I thought that if my magic could help you achieve your dream, perhaps everything would be alright. I should have known it’d take more than conjuring a copy of the noble seal. I’m so sorry Lancelot-"

"Merlin," a soft thump. "You did what you believe was right; you wanted to give me a fair chance. And to more cost to yourself than I realized! Merlin, you used magic in Camelot of all places on my behalf, and I am honored that you would go to such lengths for someone like me-"

“Someone honorable? Lancelot, you are noble, more so than many I've met. More so than many nobles.”

There was silence now, and Arthur used it attempt at collecting. He let his hand fall to his side from where it had still been raised towards the door, and thanked any higher power out there that the hallway had remained empty.

He hadn't known Merlin for very long, and to say that they had gotten off on the wrong foot was a gross understatement, yet in the time he had known Merlin, Arthur had found him to be brave and stupid, amongst other things, but a malicious sorcerer?

He couldn’t begin to fathom it. Yet, there was no denying it, was there? Merlin himself had admitted it. Merlin...

The boy in question began to speak again: "I use my gift in Camelot to protect Camelot, thankless a job it may be. And that includes all it's people, commoners and royals alike. Even though some would be better called royal asses."

Lancelot chuckles deeply at that. Arthur, despite himself, lets out a soft snort.

"You helped me saved Camelot. You did something very brave -- something that, to the best of your knowledge, may not have even worked -- and you ended up saving the prince!” He paused and quickly backtracked, “okay, okay. WE saved the prince. Nevertheless, you are brave Lancelot, and you are FAR to good-looking to think so badly of yourself."

As Lancelot laughed heartily, Arthur took a moment to reflect on everything that he'd heard over the past five minutes. Everything he had heard was damning, and there was no doubt in his mind that Merlin had magic. Yet the more he turned the conversation over in his head, the more difficult he found it to believe that Merlin meant him any harm. Merlin had many opportunities to kill Arthur, seeing as he was Arthur's manservant of all things (his father should REALLY interview servants instead of randomly hiring a commoner, honestly...), yet Merlin had put his life on the line for Arthur many more times than any other SANE person would have. Merlin saved Arthur from a sorcerer, warned him about the man with the snake shield, gave him the directions to defeat the creature poisoning Camelot’s water, and had just now helped defeat a griffin that had been terrorizing the city! And, if Arthur was reading Merlin's words correctly, the manservant had been helping Arthur even more behind the scenes.

Arthur didn’t know how to feel about that bit. He certainly didn’t trust Merlin now, but...

As voices approached the door, Arthur walked quickly down the hall, heading back to his chambers. He decided that for the foreseeable future, he would be keeping a close eye on his servant.

Hands clasped behind his back and switching to a more leisurely pace, Arthur allowed himself a small smile. He may not be able to trust his servant implicitly just quite yet, but at the very least, this would be interesting.

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And there you have it!! My first fic here!!! If y ’all like it, I’d appreciate the feedback. I may make this into a series if it tickles my fancy, but I may just stick with one-shots. Who knows what the future may hold? Have fun and goodnight!

#Merlin #my work #fic #might continue this #might not #who knows #can be read as pre-slash #merthur #mercelot #discovery of magic #please tell me what you think #i don't know how to tag

[crowcryptid]

rambling thoughts on mk finale and why I didn’t really like it (tldr: rushed and felt like a different show with no closure)

The first 5 eps didn’t feel like the mcu, especially the 4th and 5th. Obviously there was moments when it did, but for the most part the series is completely stand alone and doesn’t acknowledge any other mcu stuff (which is a good thing).

And ep 6 was just. Mcu. And it was very rushed because they had to get so much done in 40 mins. Mandatory big cgi fight. Layla girlboss moments. Speaking of Layla, so she’s an avatar now? Like, did she keep it afterwards? How would she feel about that. Doesn’t seem like she would want to have to do a gods bidding, even if Taweret seems chill. Would she want to keep being one when she saw how Khonshu ruined Marc’s life? And as far as she knows, Khonshu is gone and her and Marc can “go back to normal” now. So I assume she would stop being an avatar asap right? But because there was no time, none of this gets shown/explained. We just see marc/Steven back at home. And what are Marc/Steven gonna do now? I assume Marc doesn’t want to be a mercenary anymore. Are they gonna go hunting for artifacts with Layla?

As for Harrow, WHY would Marc not kill him? If he could have I’m 100% sure he would have killed him in the tomb in ep 4. Marc has killed a shit ton of people and while that haunts him, if ANYONE deserves it, it’s Harrow. Not the time to get cold feet when the guy in front of you is 10x worse than you and getting rid of him would save millions of people.

Anyway. While it was stupid im not too mad about him letting Harrow go because our boy Jake cleaned that right up.

And Jake. Steven and Marc and now even Layla are aware of his existence. How’s that gonna work? They are going to notice if Jake is running around at night doing shit lol

I’m sure Khonshu will find a way to #manipulate marc and Steven back into his shenanigans if they decide to do a second season but

Idk man the ending was a mess I don’t have anything else to say ok bye

#sorry if I wrote anything weird I did not read it before posting ok I’m just saying whatever comes to mind #whatever i can still appreciate the other 5 eps and the comics it’s just #why end it in such a weird way #like they wanted to leave it open ended so he can come back if need be but #a little too open ended lol

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 17/09/2022

Lewis Capaldi debuts at #1 on the UK Singles Chart with “Forget Me”. Truly a national tragedy. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

This should be an interesting week, though maybe a bit of a depressing one... though not for any non-musical reasons: we’ve got Lewis Capaldi and homicide coming up. You can decide if they’re related. As always, however, we start with the notable dropouts, songs exiting the UK Top 75 – which is what I cover – after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40, of which we have just a few. We bid farewell to “Man in the Mirror” by D-Block Europe, “Narcissist” by Lauren Spencer-Smith, “Rainfall (Praise You)” by Tom Santa – both of those feel cut short – and to wrap it up, “Don’t Forget My Love” by Diplo and Miguel and “Where Did You Go?” by Jax Jones and MNEK after 31 weeks... which may have been the slowest 31 weeks of my entire life.

In terms of notable gains and returns, whilst we do see residual returns for “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi at #75 and “Yellow” by Coldplay at #74, we also have a smattering of gains, including “Getting Started” by Sam Fender at #55, “Victoria’s Secret” by Jax at #41, “Atlantis” by Seafret at #40, “CUFF IT” by Beyoncé resurging at #38 thanks to TikTok virality, “Words” by Alesso featuring Zara Larsson at #37, “Calm Down” by Rema at #36 (good to see), “KU LO SA – A COLORS SHOW” by Oxlade at #24, and finally, entering the top 10 to round off our all-over-the-place gains is... “Under the Influence” by Chris Brown at #9. Good Lord.

As for Off the Charts, I’m not really sure what to do with this section. I might split it off or make it monthly but we’ll see for now. I still do listen to music outside of the charts, mostly in fact, but not a lot of it is new and I do need to get back into time regarding that, maybe some catching up is necessary and I can bring it back as a regular fixture but I do think this’ll be my last year bothering to keep up with new music anyway so I’m not really considering turning it into anything more permanent. This is just a hobby for me, after all. Regardless, the Top 5 of the UK Singles Chart currently consists of “Super Freaky Girl” by Nicki Minaj at #5, “I Ain’t Worried” by OneRepublic at #4, “B.O.T.A. (Baddest of Them All)” by Eliza Rose and Interplanetary Criminal, last week’s #1, at #3, “I’m Good (Blue)” by David Guetta and Bebe Rexha at #2 and finally, of course, “Forget Me” at the very top. Now considering I have listened to some albums from 2022 recently, I might as well write them off...

Off the Charts

a happy medium – lentra

You know, I didn’t expect bbno$’s primary producer to make a good project, but I also didn’t expect an EP’s length of vaguely sunny, frustratingly uninterested indie pop. It’s kind of pathetic, and that is some of the appeal, but with mostly generic or unlikeable writing, I can’t endorse it. My favourite track is “i could die”.

Lyfë – Yeat

Yeat still can’t put out a cohesive project of bangers yet, I suppose. I was kind of hoping something off of this would actually chart, but as it is, this is his most ambitious but given his unchanging flows and disinterested content and delivery, he’s still the weakest, least interesting part of his own music. Some of these beats are definitely out-there and I respect that, but the niche runs dry when repeated over different kinds of muted rage beats, borderline rap-rock cuts and cloudier plugg tunes with very little attempt to mesh or apart. My favourite track is of course “Flawlëss” where Lil Uzi Vert steals the show.

age/sex/location – Ari Lennox

R&B singer Ari Lennox comes out with a more polished project that has its moments and often really shines, like the sick groove on my favourite track “Outside”, and the comical interplay with Lucky Daye on “Boy Bye”. With that said, despite the consistent venom towards men who wronged her, and a generally awesome level of charisma, some of the vocal presence feels misguided and not all the songs pick up enough pace. With less attention paid to current R&B trends, this could have been great, but it also could have been shelved entirely, so I’m okay with it as it is.

Icarus – Cryalot

I wish Sarah Bonito had more gripping content or more fully developed, fleshed-out song structures, as that’s the one thing holding this back from being truly great. She’s partially in hyperpop realm here with the naive form of songwriting that is somewhat compelling and the maximalist approach to synthwork, as well as the stop-and-start rhythms she finds herself in. For a more reserved project, it does pretty well: a lot of it is damn near aspirational, “See You Again” is effectively mournful, and she never feels the need to go for a full-on synth blast because it really wouldn’t fit the content. Despite all of that, “Hell is Here” is barely even a song, the chorus on “Hurts Me” isn’t allowed to soar because of the trap beat and I mean, I love the comfy future bass of my favourite track “Labyrinth” but I don’t understand why it’s here twice. There are more ideas than actual songs, but they’re great ideas.

Keep on Smiling – Two Door Cinema Club

This is kind of out there for Two Door Cinema Club, right? Sure, there are just as many sticky pop hooks as, say, their debut, and it’s still flashy, sparkly new rave we’ve come to expect, but this is more often than not rooted in mutant disco more so than the dance-pop it was cribbed off of, and when it makes the shift in the second half to more car commercial music contrasted to the wonkiness of the first half, it makes thematic sense. A lot of that half is spent trying to reassure and reconfigure, the switch into buzzy synth paradise makes complete sense – and the songs are still great. They really have text-to-speech backing vocals on “Everybody’s Cool”. My favourite track is the unstable and shaky “Little Piggy”, which is in more dissonant bizarre territory than I ever expected from 2DCC. Hope to hear more like this.

EACH CRISIS A CATALYST – Boyfriend Needle

It’s kind of weird to say that a disturbed mess of compressed ideas that starts with a frantic blast of metal is a more simplistic, less ambitious EP from Boyfriend Needle but it really does feel like the conceptuality – and really, soundscape – is taking less time here, and there’s more effort into actually constructing songs, which comes with its pros and cons. Hell, I find the actual pop hooks on here less memorable than some of the absurdities on their last couple records. Oh, and of course, the dissonant, filtered pop shrouds itself in dread once those lyrical conceits lose themselves in droning industrial chaos by the closer. Typical Boyfriend Needle. My favourite track is “Corporeal”.

Älskar – Nina Nesbitt

And we end this section with a project I’m so glad to hear, and kind of glad I had the extra time to rethink and analyse because God, this is such a good pure pop record. Why nothing off of it is charting is beyond me. My favourite detail might be her breathy delivery, with the shaky falsetto runs and muted, sometimes even gasped vocal cadences, striking a great blend between the youthful effervescence she finds herself reminiscing upon and the exasperation of having to experience said youth and come to understand the vulnerable position she was in years later. Her looking at the past generations of women in her family on “Dinner Table” is a really great sentiment, and “Older Guys” is just devastating. “Heirlooms” is gorgeous – and probably my favourite track – as she starts to share how concerned she would be for her future family, learning from herself and those earlier generations and hoping that her kids won’t have to carry the weight of her own burdens. The harmonies blend into each other like scenic lakes, the production is damn near immaculate; if you listen to any pure pop or adult contemporary this year, make it this one. It’s incredible. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

NEW ARRIVALS

#63 – “Static” – Steve Lacy

Produced by Steve Lacy

Okay, we’ve got just five new arrivals here, and none of them are particularly interesting. This one is barely a song, with a decent warping funk bass and a decent piano line but this kind of song – with one verse and an outro only – really relies on Lacy as a character and a voice and well, the guy is just annoying. I get that the song’s supposed to be toxic, but without that opposing voice, his bitchy whining in a sing-songy tone about this girl’s new boyfriend is just laid bare to sit there and be irritating. There are some really unpleasant, ugly lines and his vocals are just as flat as they are in “Bad Habit”, so when he coughs instead of saying the word “cough”, the detail doesn’t really come off as intricate – or even in character – just arrogant. The song basically ends a minute in and the rest consists of meandering harmonies that add a nonchalance to all of the whining which I guess could work – it’s kind of a villain song, but with that cheap-sounding acoustic guitar, it doesn’t have nearly the amount of menace or bombast it needs to pull it off. As it is, it’s basically an unfinished rant, and a waste of time.

#60 – “Sex, Drugs, Etc.” – Beach Weather

Produced by Alex Silverman and Sean Silverman

Well, this song is from 2016 because, well, of course it is. It didn’t gain any attention then but thanks to what I assume is TikTok we get yet another indie landfill sleeper hit, and what else is to be expected other than disinterest? I don’t hate the acoustic guitars but they’re not on the verge of a melody I’ve yet to hear before, and the vocals feel really oversold, especially as a mantra in that intro and chorus. It doesn’t help that the lyrics are just as condescending and arrogant, with the embarrassing chorus of “I’m floating on my lowkey vibe”... When that’s your hook, start over! It’s fine to have a song about resting and not partaking in destructive lifestyles, obviously, but when it feels so self-important and defensive over what really is cheap and unimpressive production, especially in that gross bridge, with the reverb-drenched vocals, squealing guitars and piercing synth that just gets to me. Listen, just because indie music is charting doesn’t mean I’m going to like it, especially if it’s going to consist of leftovers that barely function as songs. If you want more proof to that point...

#48 – “Romantic Homicide” – d4vd

Produced by Dan Darmawan

Again, this is just not a song. Sure, the dreamy guitars don’t sound awful... well, actually I say that all the time: in this case, they do. The bad Duster impression sounds really flakey and fake as the guitars stab barely onto the non-existent rhythm of this pathetic attempt at shoegaze-esque doomer music. The drums sound impressively awful as they just kind of plop themselves into the mix with no sense of groove or even catharsis, as d4vd’s vocals caress the mix with a slathering of emo whining that has very little substance – that’s fine – and very little character – that’s annoying. The mix is a mess too, with so many elements inorganically creeping up in the mix alongside a flailing harmony that proves this kid’s lack of ability, if the content about having a dream where he kills his girlfriend didn’t already act as a sign. Listen, messy and emotionally repulsive music can very much work, as catharsis, and depressive, hateful, possessive music has its place. I’ve listened to enough post-punk to understand that there’s a grit and heart-wrenching element to a lot of this kind of sonic hopelessness... yet those songs actually finish instead of abruptly cutting off. The vocalists and guitars have either a grandiosity or a massive depressive weight to carry. I’m not even a fan of shoegaze or dream pop, or slowcore or noise pop for that matter, but I know when it doesn’t work, and as someone who’s only really aware of the genre as “music for depressed nerds”, I don’t see this working for them. For a better introduction, I mean, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, The Wedding Present all have classics in this lane, Duster, Helvetia, Gravehurst and Low are right there, these aren’t exactly inaccessible, obscure bands; I’m not even a fan, and I know for a fact this kind of music is being made today – not that I listen to it because, well, I’m happy. So why give this teenage dreck the time of day?

#42 – “LA Leakers Freestyle” – Central Cee

Produced by Kendox

Once again, this is just not a song. Okay, this is actually true for this and not just hyperbole: Power 106 is a radio show in America, and the hosts, the LA Leakers collective, got Central Cee on to spit a single verse. Cee spends most of his time trying to “bridge the gap”, and I can kind of excuse the mixing considering this is a radio show and not an official streaming release – if you can ignore that, you know, it’s an official streaming release. So what’s he got to say about bridging the gap? Well, by that he means that he explains UK slang in a kind of unnatural way, explaining the difference between UK and US gang culture and slang. The beat feels very cheap and pots-and-pans, with a chipmunk soul sample that squeaks over a stock drill groove. I’ll say that he’s a confident voice and I’m not bothered that he seems to be the view of UK drill for the rest of the world, since his flow is consistent here, and the breath control is impressive, but it’s just not really a song, and I can’t really judge it as such. It’s just a decent verse over a cheap-sounding beat, and rarely will one of those radio freestyles ever reach greatness, so what was there to expect? Speaking of low expectations...

#1 – “Forget Me” – Lewis Capaldi

Produced by Chris Bishop, Lewis Capaldi and TMS

Making moves, yeah, on the dance floor. Got our groove on, dancing – yeah – real hardcore. From the front to the back, that’s where I was at. You know, you know, the Artful Dodger do it like that. With Craig David all over your – (boing!) – DJ, it’s all up to you. When the crowd goes wild, tell me, what are you going to do? Re-rewind, when the crowd says, “Bo Selecta”. Re-rewind, when the crowd says, “Bo Selecta”. Re-rewind, when the crowd says, “Bo-Bo-Bo”. Re-rewind: this goes out to all the DJs. If you know, you know.

Conclusion

Jokes and obscure self-referential bits aside, Lewis Capaldi had the best song here, so I suppose he gets Best of the Week for “Forget Me” even though I had so little to say about it that I just replaced my review with Craig David lyrics. Hey, it’s inoffensive enough for me to do that. As for Worst of the Week, it goes to d4vd for “Romantic Homicide” because Jesus has left us, and the Dishonourable Mention goes to “Static” by Steve Lacy for just being insufferable.

That was a rough week, and for no particular reason that is not related to these new arrivals. Nothing else happened in the UK that is important to the news or the chart show. Thank you for reading, rest in peace to PnB Rock – gone way too soon – and I’ll see you next week!

[diarrheaofthekeyboard]

A Lot Has Changed

The last time I actually wrote something here was almost two months ago. In that time I have bought a house, recorded an EP, been on a business trip, and had a blood draw.

The house just kinda...happened. We put in a bid slightly over asking knowing we would get rejected and it would be a learning experience. Instead, they accepted and 3 weeks later we closed. Move in a few weeks. Mind blowing.

The EP was a long time coming. We rehearsed the same 5 songs for months. There’s one overdub I don’t like but it’s not my part and the guitarist seems to want it there. Otherwise, I have acquitted myself nicely.

The conference was fine, but unfortunately it led to the blood test. Started waking up dizzy and apparently that’s vertigo. So I went to get a blood test today and have a doctor’s appointment scheduled tomorrow to see what can be done. Because this is going on two weeks. I’m not dizzy during the day but I’m fatiguing easily and feel like there’s a pain between my nose and right eye. I hate getting my blood taken though I’m improving every time. I don’t think I’ll ever rid myself of this anxiety but I’m not freaking out the way I used to either. 

I also saw my parents while I was away for the conference and it was super awkward. They’re not warm people and I’m kinda tired of pretending I care anymore. This has been my entire life though, so I guess that hasn’t changed.

One last thing, on Friday I got a “good job” from my boss. This was a couple of weeks after I was supposed to get a new opportunity, and they gave me a different, “less good, but still an improvement” one. It let me know where I stand, and though I was angry, showed me that I need to stop caring about that stuff and just go get paid. After all, I just bought a house. Now I need to pay for it.

New Records:

Shabaka - Afrikan Culture

Mary Halvorson - Amaryllis/Belladonna

Elephant Gym - Dreams

John Scofield - John Scofield

Kikagaku Moyo - Kumoyo Island

Max ZT - Daybreak

Some Gifts - Not Born Enemies

Jose Gonzalez - Local Valley

Plosivs - Plosivs

The Dip - Sticking With It

[potteresque-ire]

🏳️‍🌈 Rec post!! A queer film + a queer TV series from Hong Kong ~

1) Twilight’s Kiss (叔·叔) (Dir. Ray Yeung 楊曜愷; 2019)

Twilight’s Kiss offers a very realistic depiction of two elderly, in-the-closet gays in Hong Kong, who have dedicated their lives building a conventional family before unexpectedly falling in love with each other. It is a quiet film, and the romance is told in the same subtle manner as love is expressed (and not expressed) in their generation. The actors were phenomenal at playing regular Hong Kong men of their age (Pak mentioned he “came to Hong Kong”, ie, he was a refugee from Mao’s China, as the vast majority of his demographics was), which added to the resonance of the story ~ they could’ve been anyone, and anyone could’ve been them. 

The director of the film, Ray Yeung, is an openly gay man.

(Long review: Hollywood Reporter) Streaming link to film (with English subtitles; pls ignore and close the pop-up window)

2) Ossan’s Love (大叔的愛) (2021)

The unlikely (and hilarious) love triangle between Muk (Left), Tin (Center) and KK (Right) in Ossan’s Love.

For those who found the name familiar, it’s because the series is a (faithful) remake of the popular 2018 Japanese series of the same name. The Hong Kong version is longer (15 episodes; ~ 40 min each) compared to the Japanese original, and its mood is cheerier, sweeter, and also ... more BL, with the lead characters Tin (Haruta in the original) and Muk (Maki in the original) played by two idols, Edan Lui 呂爵安 and Anson Lo 盧瀚霆, from the very popular local boy band MIRROR.

(Being idols didn’t prevent them from kissing. Not in Hong Kong, 2021.) (Yes, they kissed, and hugged and fought and bantered...)

Ossan’s Love is culturally significant in that it became the first gay drama to be aired primetime in Hong Kong, and by extension, in China. Beloved by the locals, it was also very much discussed—hk-queers expressed their (surprised) joy that finally, they got to see a respectful, dignified presentation of who they are and how they love. More importantly, they got to see HKers, older generations included, glued to the TV for their kind of love story, rooting for the lead male characters to get together. 

This signifies a broader acceptance of LGBT+ in the city than previously assumed; this is very important and comforting to the community in June, 2021, when the future of LGBT+ rights in the city is very uncertain. After the 2019 protests, pro-democracy leaders have been arrested and jailed in large numbers; newspaper that advocated for freedom has been shut down. Meanwhile, during the airing of Ossan’s Love , the (in)famous pro-Beijing politician, Junius Ho, claimed the series to have violated the city’s much feared, much abused National Security Law—the law that officially aims to catch “traitors”, but has been used as a “catch-all” excuse to arrest political dissidents and suppress the freedoms of the city. Ho was of sufficient prominence that his words could draw the attention of officials who have been sent from across the mainland-HK border to do Beijing’s bidding.

Also, Ossan’s Love was produced not by the powerful, once popular TVB (local TV station), which, with Chinese investors becoming its major shareholders like many other HK press and media companies, has become very pro-Beijing and conservative. The series was produced by ViuTV, a much smaller station preferred by young, pro-democracy Hong Kongers ... which means the future of the series, of its stars (MIRROR’s members are once-contestants of a ViuTV talent show), of even the station itself is also uncertain.

Hence, I’m recommending Ossan’s Love now ... even if the official version doesn’t have the best English subtitles. The full series is on Youtube (links below); the soundtrack is in Cantonese and (Traditional) Chinese subtitles are available, but English is only available via Youtube’s built-in Auto-Translate function. 

For those who would like to catch a short scene of two cute HK boys in love, the last 5 minutes of Ep 11 would be a nice place to watch. You can see how comfortable these two bandmates were with each other—Edan (Tin) had played two supporting roles before this series, while Anson (Muk) had never acted before. Edan and Anson have claimed that being close friends in RL meant their intimate scenes were easy to film (BTW, Anson is gay, Edan isn’t).

Edan Lui (Left) & Anson Lo (Right), Harper's Bazaar HK, May 2021. Edan was a uni student before joining hk-ent. Anson was a dance instructor.

(You can also see why, when I watched the Gg + Dd Happy Camp episode very, very early on in my turtlehood, I assumed Gg and Dd would have ample opportunities to work together again, to play and be happy in front of the camera ... just like how I remembered on-screen couples from my days in HK—the couples, the CPs of the time, would collaborate repeatedly after having demonstrated chemistry and become commercial success—in film and TV projects, in variety shows, in awards ceremonies as presenting guests etc etc. This multi-project collaboration was, and still is, viewed as a Very Good Thing, and not only for commercial reasons. The inter-personal fate (緣份) to play on-screen couples repeatedly, per the tradition of HK-ent, is something of a blessing, talked about as a small-scale version of having the destiny, the luck to be together across multiple lives, multiple incarnations. Actors treasure this kind of collaboration and the HK audience celebrates it, regardless of the marital status of the actors in RL. Entertainment news dedicate articles about it.) (There’s actually an example of that in Ossan’s Love: Kenny Wong 黃德斌, the actor who played the titular Ossan, KK, and Rachel Kan 簡慕華, who played his wife Francesca, had already played husband and wife three times before. Rachel had retired from acting in 2017 and moved to Canada; she told reporters that she returned to shoot Ossan’s Love primarily so that she could play Kenny’s wife again).

* Below is a small warning for Ossan’s Love ~ *

The humour of Ossan’s Love is often wild and zany, especially where it adapts from the Japanese original. Some of it, i-fandomers may find uncomfortable. Notably, the titular Ossan (Japanese, meaning “Older Man”) was Tin and Muk’s boss; and he and Darren, another superior of Tin and Muk, were also part of the romantic story line.

One can argue, therefore, that Ossan’s Love contains a *very* “Me Too” situation; however, this is also why I find Ossan’s Love interesting beyond being a Chinese-speaking gay drama—it is clear that the production team of this series meant no disrespect, and from the series’ reception, it’s also clear that hk-queers and other more progressive members among the audience didn’t see disrespect in the product. This series therefore offers a glimpse to the answers of some questions I’ve had: how does Hong Kong of 2021 translate respect for queers (as well as for older men and women) into day-to-day words and actions? How do these culturally-specific habits in speech and behaviour compare to the norms in, for example, the United States (that I’m familiar with)?

“Political incorrectness” was also found in some of Tin’s internal monologue. However, I thought, perhaps, that was why the series has proven to be disarming to the general audience both in HK and Japan, places with a tradition of homophobia stemming often not from malice, but from ignorance, from sex being considered taboo for so much of the places’ history. Tin, as someone who haven’t seemed to have spared a thought about homosexuality before the story had taken place, spoke the minds of the audiences who aren’t familiar with homosexuality. Muk, meanwhile, presented the perspective of someone who already understood what being gay was and wasn’t about. Tin, therefore, led the audience towards Muk and his views step by step, all the while without being judgemental—how could he be? He was one of them too during his journey. He was the student, and he was also the protagonist who everyone—and I mean everyone—loved (in a rather funny manner :D). 🌈

(Long review: BLwatcher)

Links to Ossan’s Love, official version uploaded by ViuTV: EP 1 EP 2 EP 3 EP 4 EP 5 EP 6 EP 7 EP 8 EP 9 EP 10 EP 11 EP 12 EP 13 EP 14 EP 15

ETA 2021/09/16: Streaming with English subtitles is available here.

#pie metas #pie recs

[thedeviljudges]

yohan + physical tough + trauma response

disclaimer: this is based off of eps 1-7, and preview of ep 8; i wholeheartedly recognize that this post may become the worst meta ever depending on how the rest of the show goes. however, i do think there are still some interesting things to note about yohan. a lot of this is also me just talking shit out as i was sifting through all the eps again. i’m more than willing to change my mind or hear other thoughts.

also i kinda, sorta, unnecessarily included all of the moments of yohan and any physicality. a lot of them are not super important, but i do think they help draw a distinction in how he reactions when surprised, alone and around other people.

so, here’s a long ass post that is literally 99% me bullshitting, lmao.

so i wanted to delve more into yohan’s response to physical touch by way of trauma. while i know a lot of us have pieced it together, i think it’s pretty cool to lay it all out visually because i think there’s much more justification for his reactions; not to say it makes it right, but it does really flesh out a fundamental part of his characterization that i think is highly, highly important to understand.

yohan lives on the cusp for reckless behavior, almost as if he doesn’t care whether he lives or dies. the car chase, running through industrial buildings where safety isn’t a concern, etc.

episode one

the first time we see an instance of his disinterest in physical touch is when he first meets gaon. he actually offers him his hand, but the way he goes about it isn’t a handshake. he almost looks hesitant, and then he squeezes and does not shake. it’s truly a split second gesture out of formalities. granted, he’s just met someone he thinks looks like isaac, and might be in a little bit of… not shock, but certainly distracted.

later in the episode, yohan is in an abandoned building with homeless people. he’s checking people’s wrist, but he’s quick about leaving them alone. until, a homeless man comes up behind him and grabs him. in response, yohan swings his arm to knock him off. then, he punches him, steps on him and decides whether he’s worth the effort. again, granted, no one likes to be surprised in a creepy situation like this, so his response? kinda understandable at this point.

next is the scene where yohan catches gaon in his office, where he pushes him against the bookshelf and kinda, more or less, comes off as a bit luring. we know yohan knows gaon’s lying, but a couple of things here. yohan initiated the physical contact, and he did it because of the suspicious nature of gaon. yohan also knows how to use his power and charms to catch people off guard, and i think really, he was messing with gaon when he brushed his shirt and asked him if he lived alone. gay as fuck, lmao, but i also see it as an intimidation tactic, in a way.

i could also pose a couple of theories aside from intimidation if we wanted to squint:

yohan is still in a state of awe of gaon’s resemblance to isaac. he’s not heard his voice or been around the other man for at least 10 years, and now there’s tangibility at his fingertips.

if we want to look at it from the gay perspective, gaon is clearly intriguing to yohan, and as i’ll note further down in this post about yohan in relation to physical touch, i’m sure it could be assumed that this is one of the first people in a long time that yohan has an interest in making a connection with. however, because of his upbringing, it’s clear he does’t necessarily know how to connect with people (ie. ep 7 trying to connect with elijah, eps 1-6 with him trying to non-verbally tell gaon that he has bigger plans than what’s in front of his face. his admission in ep 5 about being monster). more or less, he knows his charms can be used, but when it comes to actually flirting and/or liking someone? it’s left to be addressed, but could be assumed he’s just as awkward about it as when we see him at home.

we also see a small instance of him letting someone dress him. there’s still touch involved, but it’s very clear what the intention is. he has control over the situation, and it’s not a surprise.

the next time he engages in physical touche, again, he initiates it because he’s in control, and it’s meant to be comforting, to an extent.

and then to round everything off, we actually see him reaching for isaac, who is actually gaon in the court scene, but you know storytelling and all that. he reaches for him both in the courtroom and within a flashback.

him reaching out for isaac seems to be a motif within the show as it happens later on, of which i’ll point out.

episode two

we see him initiate a handshake again. at first, to gaon, and then with jinjoo. controlled situation.

later on in the episode is when we see our first glimpses of batshit crazy yohan, an absolute delight and fav, lmao. he actually reaches out to the spoiled kid, and it’s clearly to legitimize intimidation and a position of power.

okay look, i’m not even gonna front, this was a cute scene. when jinjoo gets out of the car, he checks to make sure she’s okay, and they have this moment before they go onto the red carpet where they smile at each other. yohan is confirming she’s okay, and she agrees. again, controlled, and i don’t know for certain if yohan is more comfortable around women, or it’s just mere fact that he doesn’t always have a problem with touch when the situation is safe. he actually lets her take his arm further on in the scene, and yes, it is a public display of niceties, and he knows that.

so in the midst of this happening, we get the ‘devil child’ story. and i want to make note of the bird scene because i do think it’s important to note that people yohan cares for, he’s willing to go to the ends of the earth to protect them. yes, they’re children in school, but the girl next to him is the only one who showed him an ounce of kindness, and yohan is proven to remain loyal to those he loves or trusts in some capacity.

of course, he ends up pitting the rich and the poor kids against one another for their betrayal and making him an outcast. in yohan’s mind, what he did wasn’t necessarily wrong because his sense of justice is based on protection and when people wrong him or those he loves, it’s seeking justice on their behalf or making the situation better - not in the technically right way, but right to him. yohan comes across as a fixer and problem solver.

yohan has a very, very strong sense of trust and loyalty, and we can assume that stems from isaac, who clearly tried to protect yohan from his father, who went out of his way to do so as best as he could as a young kid. yohan values loyalty not because he necessarily wants lap dogs and people to do his bidding. it comes from a place of love and security he’s never really had.

anyway, back to the gala with jinjoo, he does shake the minister’s hand. again, controlled. there are cameras. he also puts his arm around her, and that’s mainly because it’s a battle of the wills, and she’s trying to reprimand him, lol, as if she could. he hugs her a little hard and a little enthusiastically, and you can clearly tell it’s for show.

and then he dances with both jinjoo and sunah. and there is a stark difference between these two scenes. yohan actually teaches jinjoo the proper placement for where she should rest her hands and how to move. he’s actually having a good time with her, and again, it’s actually really cute.

with sunah, he’s reluctant and definitely on guard. he can tell from her demeanor that her intent is with purpose trying to get close to him. at this point in the story, he probably sees it as sunah coming onto him and not because she’s actually the maid from when they were children. when sunah reaches up to whisper in his ear, you can really tell he doesn’t like her being that close to him at all especially because her words may not be overly threatening, but there is purpose behind them, which means yohan’s guards are up. he physically removes her hand and than blatantly turns her down: she tells him that enjoying things alone isn’t fun, and he counters it by saying he’s having a lot of fun.

so at this point to reduce on some screen caps, he meets the minister’s family, has handshakes with her husband and the kid he went after to essentially beat up his car with a mallet, lmao. the handshake is quite funny because they both know what happened. yohan is in control, and that kid is shaking in his boots.

then the explosion happens, and of course, it makes sense that yohan helps gaon after he’s hurt. gaon has never been a threat to yohan, and it’s clear yohan’s not heartless whatsoever, but it’s also poignant to note that gaon helped saved yohan’s life, thus starting yohan’s journey of loyalty to gaon. i think he’s always had his sight set on gaon to begin with, possibly long before he even became an associate judge, but if this was a test, gaon passed it with flying colors because if gaon can rescue a little girl, and he can help an old man who fell off his bike, would he really go the lengths to save yohan who has shown him time and time again his sense of justice is different?

episode three

yohan reacts negatively to soohyun and within good reason when she questions where gaon is. he turns away because for him, the conversation is over, but for her, it’s not. to get his attention, she grabs him when he’s not paying attention, and of course he has a very adverse reaction. at this point, it can be chalked up to disrespect given the fact that he’s a head judge and she’s just a mere cop, but hindsight is 20/20. he does throw her arm off by flicking out his arm. but instead of berating her, he just tells her to catch the culprits who harmed gaon and leaves it at that.

and then of course, everyone’s favorite scene and rightfully so. yohan caring for gaon? very sexy of him. gaon is injured, poses no threat, and as i said above about yohan finding some amount of loyalty in gaon means his physical boundaries aren’t jeopardized. and for that, we get these wonderful scenes of yohan helping gaon as he heals.

and then scenes of him messing around with gaon by hitting him. truth be told, i wonder if this was something him and isaac did as young kids. anyone with siblings know how that goes. fake picking on each other? fake bickering? yeah.

and then it slowly, but surely, it’s revealed that yohan didn’t have the same upbringing as isaac did. our first instance that something at home wasn’t right wasn’t just the conversation with ms. ji and gaon. it’s the flashback with yohan reading in his room when the door opens. he hastily pretends he’s asleep, and you can see he’s visibly shaking and breathing roughly until he realizes it’s isaac who’s there to give him books.

and that’s also when we get our first glance of what kind of abuse yohan suffered from at the hands of his father. it’s clear this isn’t the only incident, and there’s been many times that isaac wasn’t around to help defend him.

it’s also very clear in how yohan acts when he’s terrified and that his abuse has gone on long enough to be a routine pattern in the house. any time he hears heavy footsteps or thinks his father is around, he visibly shakes and gets panicky.

episode four

i include this scene because it’s been noted that a lot of books yohan reads are about humans, human nature, animals, animalistic tendencies, and he says random shit like this that directly points to what he thinks about humanity and humans themselves. we notice this most prominently at the dinner with gaon and jinjoo earlier on when he describes that he likes the feel of the chew and that he cannot taste. he always mentions hunting and prey, and i think this is one of those very clear instances where he actually reveals to gaon what he truly, truly thinks; no gimmicks. this also comes into play later on in ep 6 when elijah is worried about him being out all night. yohan clearly doesn’t trust people at all. he understands their intentions, their motives and how much pain they can cause other people for their own profit and their own gain. it makes sense that he wouldn’t leave his house, especially if he has a strong sense of loyalty to isaac (even after all these years) and caring for elijah.

this is also one of the very direct moments that yohan doesn’t understand family dynamics. when it comes to people, it’s a giant chess game. not only that, later on in the episode when they’re in the car and yohan talks about how people, no matter what, are always the same in front of greed, yohan is cynical, and he expects the bad every single time.

what he reads and the way he words things (here and the discussion of him being a monster, for example) is clearly an indication that he doesn’t trust; that he cannot trust, nor does he want to at this point. yohan doesn’t understand the concept of kindness being given freely (ep 7 when he berates elijah for being used by gaon, telling her she falls for kindness every time). and yet, later on in eps, it’s clear when he’s around the right people and the right mindset (uh, gaon?? lol), he’s constantly putting up a front.

after all in ep 7 when he tells gaon that confidence is key, it literally gives him away not just in the courtroom but in his personal life. there’s a reason he looks softer at home than when he’s not there (the hairstyle changes and clothing).

basically what i’m getting at is this behavior can be seen as a defense mechanism because of his abuse.

then it’s another gala event with gaon and yohan this time. another lovely favorite where yohan helps him get dressed and then proceeds to drag him around and safe him from the lion’s den.

tbh i dont even need to include these, but i’m doing it for the indulgence.

yohan does sorta physically throw gaon as well during the rich people party, but that’s mainly to get him to shut up because he’s trying to show gaon the truth at hand and how all of it’s pretty much a farce.

later on in the episode is when we first have gaon truly attacking yohan verbally, and that’s when yohan snaps. it’s clear that isaac is a trigger for yohan, especially from someone who speaks out of line on something they know nothing about. gaon, truth be told, had a stupid moment confronting yohan the way he did. i don’t know who waltzes up to a proposed murderer and just asks them, lmao.

but here’s the thing, thus far, gaon has not entirely posed a threat to yohan. whether that’s from yohan planting gaon and guiding him exactly where he wants him or gaon just not being as thorough as yohan would like, and he’s trying to tap into that talent, is anyone’s guess. but as i said above, the one thing yohan protects is the things he does care about the most, and he tries to talk himself out of his own feelings. he constantly compares himself to an animal (again, dinner scene with gaon and jinjoo) to justify his actions, and to possibly not feel anything; because that’s easier, isn’t it? not feeling. so on top of gaon calling him a monster and a killer, confronted with the possibility about being a villain in his own brother’s story, obviously sets him off. he beats down his emotions until he’s confronted with it - and this is what gaon also meant in ep 6 about how it’s ridiculous that yohan calls himself a monster over a victim because yohan can’t even see himself in that light. not because he truly believes victims are weak necessarily, but i wonder how much he realizes that what happened to him wasn’t his fault.

to me, and as i just said, yohan convinces himself he’s a monster to make it easier for himself to belief his actions (ep 5 telling gaon some humans are born monsters in relation to himself). it’s not that he inherently thinks he’s wrong, but i think his guidance for what’s right and wrong was misconstrued without a parent figure in his life, especially if he’d read crime and law books as the focus. yohan’s actions, at least quite a bit of them are, are based on a gut feeling of right and wrong. when you think about it and your own sense of justice, how would that differ without the checks and balances in place? what punishment do you think fits the crime if we weren’t bound by written law? yohan thinks any action to protect those he loves is, more or less, justifiable because it’s a means to an end. it’s making a worng right again.

i don’t think yohan is a monster. i think his feelings, and what he knows is love, is misconstrued in terms of how to express it. we see this in episode 7 with his and elijah’s conversation where she’s just trying to be a teen, but his version of love is protecting her without, once again, understanding family dynamics and the pain points of growing up, the learning she has to do on her own. yohan might technically be right; similar to being book-smart but not necessarily street smart. his theory of telling Elijah that she’s soft for kindness and being used was true, but his delivery and the idea that that’s how humans develop doesn’t work. he’s telling her text-book rules, but people don’t live through books. they live through real life. yohan reads to get a sense of fulfillment and to learn. he’s learned his way into adulthood, but that’s not normal.

so uh anyway, back to this familiar scene:

because we don’t know the actual story of isaac’s death, it’s hard to say what role yohan played in his death, but i don’t know that i believe he was the one who did it. the entirety of the devil judge is relying on unreliable narration, so it’s difficult to gauge (for now since we’re on ep 7) how this will turn out and what happened, but to me, it really comes across as yohan upset over the insinuation that he could be the one to cause the death of the one person he loved the most. plus, i think it says a lot that he cares/loves elijah, and she was part of isaac. gaon crossed a thine line. yohan essentially welcomed him in, and this is gaon toeing it. we can also look at this is not gaon being an outsider to their family, but now has become part of the family, and so it’s easier for yohan to be ‘abusive,’ if you will, rather than the perspective of gaon still on the sidelines and pushing too far. by this i mean, the accusations made by gaon threatens their formulating family dynamics.

and once again, the only person he ever actually reaches out for is isaac.

and then we have the aftermath of yohan’s nightmare, where he’s still caught in the dream as gaon comes in, and refuses to be touched after, even if gaon’s intention is to see if he’s okay. yohan makes it very clear to gaon not to touch him, and that’s when elijah comes in with a very accusatory ‘what are you two doing?’ in this moment, yohan is not just vulnerable, but he’s emotionally sensitive. i’ve no doubt he’s still dealing with a form of sensory overload from his dream.

and then, i don’t know that this was necessary? was it necessary?

the following set of scenes are the ones where gaon tells him he’s a victim and he hasn’t confronted his own emotions about his abuse. i think yohan realizes gaon is right to some degree, but it is convoluted, and it’s not so simple to face your own traumas. however, he does for a moment after gaon leaves, remember another instance of abuse he couldn’t stop but wishes he could, wishing a parental figure of sorts would’ve come in to save him like his older self is trying to save the kid version if only he could turn back time, if only he had the power to do what he wish someone else had done for him.

and then the kidnapping scene is just. fucked up in and of itself. it actually makes my skin crawl. not because sunah is scary necessarily, but the lack of autonomy yohan has - especially when we find out later more of sunah’s story. to do something like this after what she’s suffered through makes this scene even more disturbing.

you can see the moment yohan hears heels when sunah (not knowing it’s her yet) comes in. literally the minute he knows someone’s headed his way, he checks the fuck out. his whole face goes slack, especially when sunah reveals herself. and when she’s kissing him? blank as fuck, too. it’s the most dead-eyed stare i think we’ve seen from him.

episode six

so, we get this gem from elijah that i’d like to touch on later. it’s more speculation and just me running through ideas more than it is canon fact. but what it does let us know is that yohan doesn’t seek people out. he prefers to be at home and staying there.

after we get the maid story, and we do get yohan touching sunah’s cheek, and in some fucked up twisted way, this is his way of protecting one of the things isaac cherishes the most. the point of the gesture isn’t just intimidation but serves as an act of intent, of protection in the only way yohan knows how. he’s safeguarding isaac. you can tell he doesn’t actually like sunah at all as a kid, but uses that to his advantage. imagine yohan learning violence for ‘good’ things when his father used violence for ‘bad’ things. what a twisted way of looking at it? and the irony at hand.

additionally, the main reason i’ve included so many varying scenes of yohan touching people isn’t to establish that he’s okay with being touched given how many scenes there are of him randomly shaking people’s hand or touching them. it’s all about context and what the intent is for. most often than not, really way more often than not, yohan only reaches out for people when it’s socially acceptable to do so and because it’s manners. and yet, even in some of those cases, there is still intent behind the gesture.

the moments he acts out the most are when he’s not in front of an audience, when he’s more likely to be alone with his thoughts and is exceptionally more vulnerable to his own triggers.

and i think the scene after he’s back at his house from the kidnapping is noteworthy because it doesn’t just feel like he’s shaking off the effects of the drugs he was given. he seems to visibly trying to compose himself of the mental and physical play he just had to deal with.

the next scene is yohan angry with gaon for taking elijah out. which really, he does have every right to be angry, and one thing i didn’t note above during the ‘you killed your brother’ choke out scene before is that when yohan is backed into any kind of corner, he reacts like a caged animal.

because we’ve already established the scenes with his abuse, his father took his anger physically out on yohan. so how else was yohan supposed have developed the tools to express it? it’s easy to hurt the things you love the most; it’s easy to abuse the ones you know, and between gaon and himself, they both have an unhealthy dynamic because gaon is old enough, strong enough to take whatever yohan gives him. gaon is not family and so there’s still that clear divide and a distinction as to why he lays a hand on gaon but not elijah, for example. gaon can still pose a threat. elijah is family. then again, it can also be said that maybe yohan considers gaon family, and gaon betrayed elijah and therefore yohan, and you don’t do that. not with yohan’s understanding of family dynamics.

but with that said, it begs the question why yohan keeps gaon around, and i think some of that has to do with the fact that gaon surprises yohan. he might’ve set his sights on him long before he became an associate judge or maybe he took interest after gaon was chosen for the role (this is still up in the air), but deep down, yohan sees something in gaon despite his snooping, despite his righteousness. it could be the potential; it could be the fact that gaon could be better than yohan if he just allowed himself to loosen the ropes he’s tied himself with when it comes to the court of law and the justice system.

but here’s the thing that idk a lot of people have really picked up on. gaon is one side of the same coin underneath it all. he’s also provoked yohan with physicality when yohan brought up details about soohyun.

to be fair, we can say that yohan evokes a different type of anger in gaon, one that he hasn’t tapped into for years that allows him to open up to that more physical side of himself he learned to put behind him. gaon doesn’t really come across as the physically threatening type, but yohan does push his buttons and vice versa.

but then, of course, we have the big fight scene where gaon goes in on the attack, and that’s when yohan makes his threat not to attack him ever again. it’d be easy to say he says it based on the merit of him not actually attacking soohyun, but seriously speaking, the intent feels much more than that. more along the lines of asking gaon not to provoke him without warning again because next time might be bad. most of their other fights, especially the one above,have been in the midst of conversation. this time, it’s from a place of complete surprise, and you can tell yohan goes on the defensive when his first instinct is to not just throw gaon back but raise his fist to strike.

episode seven

the only physical contact yohan has with anyone is the president, and that’s when he turns on the live video of the two of them, and it’s clearly intended to be a lowkey threat. he keeps pulling the president back into his side to be on the live camera after the dude tried to come after yohan. i do think it’s hilarious that yohan manipulated the situation with a live component just as the president and the rest of the rich people thought they could turn a live court show into manipulating the public.

and then, of course, the jail scene. the part where he makes gaon stay. he also touches gaon’s shoulder later just before they leave.

episode eight

the most prominent scene in this ep is certainly the scene where sunah comes onto yohan, and you can tell she did it to get under his skin in some way. of course, he’s smart and knows she’s up to something, but i think it’s so interesting how he wraps his fists around hers, almost as if to tame her and prevent her from trying to further put her hands on him.

we also know yohan has no issue with using physical force regardless of who it is (obviously, his dialogue in this scene, too) when he feels caged or trapped. his intention is also to retrieve isaac’s necklace, and i like how he uses literally anything to his advantage. meaning, he’ll use physical touch, his mentality, etc to get what he wants or needs, even if it is marginally uncomfortable to some degree.

and i think that also says alot about him is that he’s able to displace what makes him uncomfortable in moments like this to achieve an end goal.

additional thoughts

i know this isn’t really common with a lot of the characters in general, and could be chalked up to a cultural component, but yohan’s definitely not a hugger.

the other thing i wanted to note is yohan’s seemingly adherence to touch unless it’s for good reason in relation to sex. the main reason i bring it up is because i’ve seen it discussed a bit, especially in regard to elijah’s comment about him not staying out overnight since the fire. there are a few plausible scenarios, maybe more, but for the sake of this, we’ll go for these.

yohan has had past relationships/experience or will in future episodes

day flings

he’s never had an interest in anyone before given his upbringing and abuse and therefore never sought out sex

inexperience could be from lack of interest in other people and sex itself

he’s never found anyone to really connect with and trust in such a way and has avoided it for that reason

and i bring this up mainly because i think it could be something to explore in fanon, but also because i’m kind of annoyed with how people have been talking about yohan being a virgin. i’m not quite sure what the joke is, but lack of sexual experience does not mean naive or that he doesn’t have a sense of humor when that’s clearly far from the truth:

i don’t know that people find it unbelievable because of his age, because of characterization of yohan being more dominant, but none of these things negate this being an option. i think it’s perfectly plausible of a situation (from what we know right now), and truthfully, it would make a whole lot of sense. i just don’t get the jokes about it that i’ve been seeing online (twitter) when there isn’t a mutual exclusiveness to any of it whatsoever.

yohan already has a hard time connecting with people, and i can imagine that level of physicality could be difficult. clearly he knows how to use a version of it to get what he wants. i’ve no doubt he’s used his charms in situations where he’s needed to. yohan knows he has that going for him, at the very least. but sexual appeal and jokes doesn’t mean having a body count any more than it could indicate there being one.

lastly, i also want to pull these paragraphs from @b612sunsets​‘s post because i think they do a much better job than i ever could of explaining, short and sweet, a fundamental part of yohan’s characterization, and mainly what i was trying to get at with this long ass post.

“There's two things we already know about Yohan from the last 6 episodes: he hates being touched when he doesn't see it coming and doesn't have control over it because of the abuse he suffered (I assume). To name a few: Soohyun grabbing his elbow to stop him from leaving and get answers about Gaon, the beggar that touched him while he searched for the fireman, Gaon after punching him and Yohan clearly telling him to NEVER do it again. The impression it gave to us is that if there's a next time he might not be able to stop his instinctive reaction of defending himself and using violence back (something worse than choking or pushing Gaon and he doesn't want to do that with him).

“Unless it's a friendly/small/slow touch like in the breakfast scene when Gaon touches his arm when he gets up to offer them some fruits. When he had the nightmare with Isaac, his walls were up high so even if he could see Gaon's touch coming and it was friendly, he decided to stop it because he was too defensive and sensible to accept the gesture (it would be the first time Gaon started physical contact with him too, he wouldn't be ready for that in such a state).

“The second thing is that Yohan hates when people take what is his or mess with what is important to him. Again, to name a few: Sunah with the necklace when she was a maid, the fireman with Isaac's watch (Yohan made them fall from high places, not caring if they died or not), the guy that fabricated the small bombs that hurt Gaon (Yohan would have burnt his face if "K" hadn't stopped him) and Gaon taking Elijah out of the house to Soohyun without previous notice (a cop and someone he doesn't trust).”

yohan has a very, very large sense of self-preservation for himself and for those he cares about. it’s in his intention, actions, facial expressions, movements, the way he interacts with people. i find it fascinating how calculating he can be, but at home, he’s at his most vulnerable and almost socially unaware and awkward.

yohan is a bit of an irony. he understands people from an action-oriented, instinctual level, but he doesn’t necessarily understand their thoughts and emotions in the waves of nuances that people live through on the daily. like, he gets it to an extent and on a practical level, but he himself is a square trying to fit into a circle - he doesn’t always understand it for himself and has to actively work on social cues so as not to come across as the devil child he was once painted to be.

and let it not be unsaid, yohan really will go to the ends of the earth for family, even if it means stepping out of his comfort zone.

and so anyway, i doubt this offered any real insight, but i think this is my way of breaking all of this down for myself. so, tada!!! lmao

#x #the devil judge #the devil judge meta #* #*the devil judge

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Warning Moon Knight 1x04/ Eternals Spoilers.

I’m back playing the game of in how many ways can I connect the Eternals to the new MCU shows and movies. Today I am thinking about Moon Knight ep four and their introduction of Alexander the Great as Ammit’s last avatar. I could be totally wrong about this but I do wonder if the eternals were involved in the imprisonment of Ammit in some way. I mean if you think about it the eternals’ mission was all about developing intelligent life and growing it so that it could feed Tiamut, even if not all of them knew that’s what they were doing. If Ammit was judging people before they committed any evil act and killing them on the off chance that they did commit bad deeds then I feel like alot of people were dying. Hundreds of thousands of people died in Alexander’s campaigns. I could see the mcu going the route of saying that these campaigns in the mcu world were driven by Ammit, that Alexander was doing her bidding when he conquered these lands. That he was eradicating evil on her behalf. Maybe it got to the point where Ammit’s mission was getting in the way of the eternals’ mission and so they decided to interfere and help the other Egyptian gods imprison Ammit. 

There’s also Alexander himself. From Moon Knight 1x02 we know that Ammit was betrayed by her own avatar, seeing as we have now learned that Alexander the Great was her last avatar its safe to assume he was the one who turned on her and betrayed her. The interesting thing about Alexander though is that he has connections to, Macedonia, Athens and Babylon. All of these places are places that we know that the Eternals lived in at some point in history and also have connections with. We see them in Babylon in 575 bc, Sprite also says that Kingo abandoned her in Macedonian, though we don’t know for sure when they were in Macedonian. Also during a conversation with Dane we learn that at least Sersi, Ikaris and Sprite lived in Athens. Dane says during the 5th century BC and Sersi doesn’t seem to deny that but we also don’t know for sure how long they were in Greece for and also we know that for at least part of the 5th Century they were in Babylon. Alexander’s era was during the 3rd Century BC so around 200 years after they were in Babylon. I think it is entirely possible that the eternals were still in that region when Alexander was, maybe even still in Babylon as we don’t know for sure when they left or maybe in Greece/Athens. Alexander in history actually died in Babylon, for all we know in the mcu the eternals may have been present when he did. We don’t have an exact timeline on where the eternals were at certain points in history. We only really have 5 confirmed dates and places, Mesopotamia 5000 bc, Babylon 575 bc, The Gupta Empire 400 ad, Tenochtitlan 1521 and then various locations in 2024 which is the present day in the mcu, we know its 2024 because it is post snap where everyone was brought back. We are also given a couple of other places where we know they have been like Athens and Macedonia. But just the time between Babylon and the Gupta Empire is nearly 1000 years of missing history. Like I said I could be totally wrong but maybe choosing Alexander, someone that does have those connections to the same places the Eternals do was a deliberate choice by the show’s creators and is suppose to be a hint to the presence of the eternals in those events. It’s also probably totally unrelated and I could most definitely be stretching here, but in the opening shot showing Khonshu being put with the other imprisoned gods something caught my attention. In total there are ten gods imprisoned in that chamber. Most likely just a coincidence but that is the same number of imprisoned gods as there are eternals. I don’t know maybe that number is suppose to make us think of the eternals and again connect Moon Knight with them. I said in another post that there just seem to be alot of similarities and connections between the two, and there is so much in Moon Knight that is reminding me of Eternals. 

#moon knight #moon knight spoilers #eternals #eternals spoilers #theory post

[justimajin]

Whac-A-Headstone

Pairing: Game Owner Jungkook x Employee Reader 

Genre: Fluff & Humour

 ↳ (10k) BTS Village AU 

Summary: Working at the arcade can be downright miserable and it doesn't help that your boss isn't, well, the brightest lightbulb in the world. Add to this his extremely dramatic and prideful ways, you're left wondering why you even choose to work at the place anymore. You fortunately receive the answer in the form of Richman V one day, who has been eyeing your boss's pride and joy for quite some time.

Warnings: pg13 rating, some major spoilers for BTS Run ep. 120-121 (watch them before reading this), everyone in this fic literally has no chill (WHAT!?) 

A pair of two small feet come to a stop.

Across from the road are multiple posters and signs, from large cardboard cutouts to cliche and cheesy slogans scribbled on paper. There’s a string of colourful lights hanging from above, ranging from a neon yellow to a dark blue. It’s extremely noisy, but the boy’s feet tread closer, round eyes enamoured from the over the top appearance. 

The door is cautiously pushed open, the sound of his feet slowly shuffling against rough carpet echoing. 

The boy’s eyes widen, peering around in puzzlement. 

The shop appears nowhere near what its display offers. The walls are painted with a hue of dull beige, and there’s no intriguing lights with huge signs compelling him forward. Instead, there’s a large bookcase that he barely acknowledges, alongside a set of bright machines that remind him of its exterior. 

As if in a trance, his attention is drawn away instantly and he doesn’t hesitate to stumble across one of the machines, eagerly eyeing it down. After struggling to sit on one of the high stools, an innocent smile spreads across his lips once he eyes the multiple colourful controls within his reach. He presses a button in curiosity, but the screen in front of him doesn’t change. 

His smile drops into a pout, and he attempts again, only to be met with the same result. He then presses multiple buttons, frustration only building up at the blank screen. 

A shadow lurks behind him. 

“Hey kid.” He jolts, spinning around instantly. “You have to pay to play games here.” 

The boy stares like he can’t comprehend those words, his eyes big and naive. You cross your arms, a scowl lining your lips and expression void of any amusement. 

His shoulders deflate and the corners of his mouth downturn with disappointment. You continue to stare at him, gaze not wavering. 

A long exasperated sigh leaves your lips and your eyes quickly survey the empty arcade around you. Taking a step forward, you rummage through the pockets of your uniform pants and out emerges a shining coin that has the boy’s eyes lighting up. 

The coin slots into the machine and you turn around to face him, features still impassive. 

“You owe me for this one.” You mumble underneath your breath, but he simply retaliates with a gigantic smile on his face. 

The game immediately turns on as the boy begins playing, eyes eagerly sweeping across the bright screen as his fingers hurriedly tap against the multiple buttons. You watch from afar, the corner of your mouth lifting into an amused half-smile.

The sound of loud footsteps echos through the walls. 

An annoyed exhale leaves your lips and it isn’t long before the back door is being ripped open, a young man emerging within seconds. You’re unfortunately painfully aware of who he is and it’s probably high time to clarify who you exactly work for. 

Jeon Jungkook ‒ or simply your boss, if you actually took the liberty to address him as one ‒ is the person in charge of your employment. You’ve been working for him longer than you imagine and as you eye him from the corner of your eye, you can only contemplate how you’ve managed to even stick around for so long. 

He pushes the big glasses on the rim of his nose back with his fingers, his eyes wide and practically boiling with vigor. He’s dressed in his usual attire, a button up shirt with a subdued green print on it and tight fitted black trousers. There’s a jarring amount of gel in his hair that only seems to increase with time and if anything, he looks more like some kind of mafia boss running an organization rather than the owner of an arcade. 

His gaze is targeted on you, barely acknowledging the child that was excitedly playing one of his games and who is now staring between the two of you with wide eyes. You presume the boy is having the same thoughts running through his head that everyone has when they meet Jungkook, and it could be summed up with simply calling him a‒

“Y/N!” He abruptly yells, a muscle in his eye already twitching, “I heard one of the machines being turned on?!” 

A nutcase. 

You work for an absolute nutcase. 

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s how arcades work, you know? The machine has to be on for you to play an‒” 

“You know what I mean!” Jungkook snaps, waving off your sarcasm. 

“Oh.” You say, pointing towards the boy, “The kid wanted to play a game, so he paid for it and now he’s playing it.” 

“Actually…” The boy suddenly speaks up, voice quiet and hesitant, “The nice lady paid so I could play.” 

His eyes sparkle, like he holds you in high regard. Although he warmly smiles acknowledging your kind deed, your eye twitches and you mentally make a note to never to help out a child in your lifetime ever again. 

Turning around, your eyes meet Jungkook’s and he’s fuming. 

You internally sigh, already aware of what’s to come. 

“Y/N, how could you do such a thing?!” He dramatically says, pressing a hand against his temples, “To take away from the money I could have had….just how? How?!” 

“I was bored.” You honestly retort, unfazed in the slightest as you shrug, “And our only customer was a kid, besides‒” 

You raise an eyebrow, narrowing your eyes at Jungkook, “Are you losing money or something? Why are you so worried about one kid that I paid for?” A spark resides in your eyes, “Is the business shutting down?” 

Jungkook gasps, like you’ve offended his whole entire being. “What?! NO!” He shakes his head, “H-How could you even suggest something like that?!” 

He leans against one of the machines, tightly wrapping his arms around it. You roll your eyes, watching him have a semi-crisis over the fact that you suggested his business is going down the drain. 

“I’ll never give my business up!” He yells it out like it’s a statement he wants even the neighbors to hear. 

“Yeah, yeah, sure thing, boss.” You retort as you slide over an extra lollipop to the kid that you were saving for later. He beams at you and you smile, but then Jungkook complains you aren’t listening to him enough and you let out a sigh, turning around to coax him. 

***

After playing a couple of rounds on the machine before it shuts down, the boy bids you both a goodbye and sincere thank you. You tell him not to forget to bring some coins next time with a mumble and his eyes light up, followed by a very cute nod. 

Closing the door behind him as he leaves, you spin around with a lengthy sigh. Digging into the pockets of your uniform, you yank out your phone and begin to scroll through the contents with tired eyes. The entire store is empty, save for you and the supposed boss of yours that you presume is lurking around somewhere. 

The sound of a loud ding startles you, phone nearly slipping onto the ground. Your eyes are wide and on alert, sweeping around the vacant room. 

“Aha! TAKE THIS!” There’s a loud thud that echoes through the room, and your eyes instantly narrow. You tuck away your phone, shuffling your hands in your pockets and nonchalantly walking towards the source of the sound. 

Although puzzlement strikes you first, it quickly morphs into amusement as you reach the doorframe. Jungkook stands before the whac-a-mole machine, practically slamming the hammer against the poor plastic mole pieces in an effort to increase his score. 

Which is nearing a hundred and fifty by the way, the highest score one can achieve in the game. 

Your brows knit together as he keeps striking the popping moles, only for the machine to brightly light up seconds later with large digital letters saying WINNER in red across the board. 

“I DID IT!” He suddenly shouts, spinning around and spotting you instantly, “Y/N, I beat my own record!” 

You cross your arms, “Congrats.” 

There’s a spark of smugness in his expression as he crosses his arms, cockly staring at you, “Looks like my score is officially unbeatable now.” 

Although you know it’s practically bait that he’s throwing out, your lips move faster than you can register. 

“It’s still beatable.” His irises light up in an instant and you want to curse at yourself for falling into the trap, but the look of challenge in his eyes is enough to spark your own fuel, “I can beat it.” 

“Oh, really?” Jungkook questions, offering up the hammer, “Let’s see you try.” 

You grab it from his hold without hesitation, gesture for him to turn on the machine. It lights up within seconds and with a deep breath, you brace yourself as much as possible. 

The moles pop up within seconds, your eyes darting and flickering all over the platform. The hammer in your hands is soaring, hitting as fast as possible as quickly as possible. At one point, your hands mismatch and you catch an empty one, something that makes Jungkook snort but only increases your competitive streak even more. 

Sweat has begun to fester at your temples, but you pay it no mind once the last mole is hit and your eyes are glued to the scoreboard. In giant bulging letters, your score is displayed before you. 

5 points away from Jungkook’s score. 

You can already hear the cheers of ecstasy leaving his voice, or the daunting smugness leaking from the words that he’s aching to sprout in your direction. But when you turn, there’s this annoying magnified smile plastered onto his face that’s somehow even worse. 

You let out a huff and before Jungkook can start running all over the place in excitement like a child, a knock sounds from the door. 

You straighten up immediately, raising a brow. 

Customers don’t usually knock. 

“Were you expecting someone?” You immediately wonder. A groan leaves Jungkook and he mutters underneath his breath, something along the lines of ‘this guy again’. 

Dragging himself to the door to answer, your features contort into surprise once it’s yanked open. 

A young man stands before you, his arms crossed behind his back and gaze scrutinizing. He’s dressed far too fancy for an arcade, a fine white collared shirt with a black tie and vest that hug his body. His bronze locks are long and perfectly curl at the front, but their rich appearance is muted from his piercing eyes, which at the moment are gawking all around your workplace. 

Jungkook is first to speak up, clearly annoyed with the stranger’s prolonged ogling antics. 

“Hey!” The stranger immediately turns to him, “Are you going to keep staring at my game room or are you going to say something?” 

He stares at Jungkook, completely unfazed and apathetic to his loud exterior. It throws you off for a moment, wondering if there was even someone aside from you that possessed the ability to do so. 

His words are sharp and discrete, straight to the point. “I want to buy it.” He tilts to his head slightly to the side, “Have you made up your mind yet?” 

Your head snaps in Jungkook’s direction at the inquiry, appallment crossing all over your features. Jungkook looks like he’s ready to explode at any minute, hands balling up into fists. 

He mimics the stranger’s tone, gritting the words out, “It’s not for sale.” 

“I think there should be enough space to rearrange the front.” The man continues to speak as if he didn’t hear Jungkook, “These will have to be destroyed in order for a counter to be placed.” 

He’s examining the machines already, frowning at their appearance and that’s when Jungkook ticks. Pacing forward, he wraps his hand around the stranger’s arm and begins to drag him out, even as he continues to survey the area like a thousand thoughts were running through his mind. 

“Okay, now that’s really nice.” Jungkook cheekily says, but you can still hear the lingering anger in his voice, “How about you go redesign the neighbor's place? I hear they have a hairstylist who loves to gossip so it’d be nice for the two of you to chit-chat.” 

The posh man looks composed and you’re beginning to question if he was potentially holding onto a facade to not be able to hear Jungkook. It’s not long before he’s politely escorted out the door, with Jungkook practically lunging for the opportunity to shut the door behind him. 

He spins around, pressing his back against it as a sigh of relief leaves his lips. You can only stare at him in confusion as silence lingers, eventually breaking it with your own inquiries. 

“What just happened?” 

Jungkook’s wide eyes snap up, like he had completely forgotten you were in the room with him. 

“Oh that,” A strained chuckle leaves him, “He’s been coming around here often, usually in the early mornings when you’re not around.” 

He sits down on a chair that’s in front of the cash register, continuing to explain, “That’s Richman V, the guy nearly owns every property here in BTS Village.” 

Jungkook continues to meekly laugh, but it only serves to draw out concern from you. “So...what? He wants to buy the arcade?” 

“Well, uh,” He sheepishly scratches the back of his neck, “Yeah…” 

A deep frown settles on your features as you stare at Jungkook, who’s smile seems to be fading by the moment. 

“And like…” You begin, trying to wrap your head around the situation, “What? Are you going to sell it and hand it over or something?” 

You’re the one laughing now, staring at him in amusement. Jungkook’s smile is completely gone, his eyes fixated on the ground. 

“And what if I just did?” 

For a moment, you could have sworn he was joking. But Jungkook’s tone is completely different ‒ voice having dropped a couple of octaves with no hints of humour present. 

It only drills in deeper when he lifts his gaze to meet yours, a certain glint of anguish residing in there that you haven’t quite seen before. 

You struggle to come up with words, “Y-You can’t be serious…” 

“And what if I am?” Jungkook rests his hand against his cheek, leaning against the front counter. A sigh leaves him and your brows contort together, lips pressing together into a firm line. 

You scoff, “B-But I would be unemployed....” 

Jungkook’s gaze is fixated on the counter as he shrugs, “Then just find another job.” 

“It wouldn’t be the same!” 

His head snaps up, lips falling agape with the sudden outburst. You immediately avert your eyes, letting out an awkward cough. 

In the midst of the silence, you ponder again, “Have you made up your mind then...? To sell it?” 

“Sort of.” Jungkook mumbles, gaze drifting to the ground, “The game room hasn’t been doing too well financially and even though Richman V is kind of annoying....I’ve been thinking about his offer.” 

Your eyes narrow at him. 

His tone sounds like he’s already been defeated without a full fight, giving in without any resistance. 

The boss you know would have to be physically dragged out of this arcade, his loud protests probably being capable of deafening those that want to take away his prize possession. 

“Wait, just like that?” For once, you’re the one that’s more upset, “You love this place.”

His features twist, “Well yeah, but‒” 

“This is coming from you, the same person that tried having a disco day at the arcade to attract customers and forced me to wear a rainbow coloured wig with roller skates because ‘it goes with the flow’ and ‘the entire vibe would be ruined’ if i didn’t!” 

Jungkook stares at you wide-eyed and you scoff in disbelief, gaze connecting with the bookcase stationed in the corner of the room, “At one point, we even hauled in that giant thing together when you were convinced that the youngsters are ‘reading too much these days’ and that we’ll lose popularity to a hair salon next door that was giving out free magazines in their waiting room!” 

“You seem to remember a lot of the things I’ve done....”

“I’m not done!” You wave a finger at him, ignoring his astonished expression and continuing with your rant, “There was even a time when you used me to distribute flyers and made me shout that ‘there’s no place I would want to work at beside Jeon’s arcade’, which by the way, is pretty much the opposite of how I feel!” 

Jungkook lets out a snort at that, to which you direct an angry glare in his direction. Your rambles continue as he fondly watches you, somehow managing to spur up a spark of hope that was diminishing by the minute inside him. 

“So you’re telling me that the same person that was responsible for all that is willingly going to give up his arcade?” You plant your hands on your waist, raising a challenging eyebrow at him, “Are you sure you’re my boss?” 

“You’re right.” Jungkook honestly confesses, “This place means a lot to the both of us and we can’t let it head down under because some posh guy wants to own it.” 

He raises up a fist, looking more determined as ever, “I’m not letting anyone take it from me without a fight.” 

You cross your arms, a smirk rising on your lips. 

“Now that’s the boss I know.” 

“Jungkook, this is stupid.” You protest, the icy breeze from outside already nipping at your skin. Your boss spins around on his heels, his determination still overflowing. 

“How is having some faith stupid?” 

“It’s stupid when you drag me out at 7 in the morning without a coat to make a damn wish.” You bite back, barely able to feel your toes as you walk behind him through the village. 

“I don’t feel cold.” He proudly announces. 

“You’re shivering.” You point out, his chattering teeth and quivering form already being a dead giveaway thanks to his need in retaining his weird get-up out of the arcade. 

“Shivering? That’s nonsense, I don’t feel the c-c-cold.” You let out a sigh, unraveling your scarf in the midst of his protests. Instead of handing it to him, you toss it over his head and he whirls around, frowning at you. 

“Take it.” You mumble, not noticing him eventually wrapping it around himself as if it was desperate to retain some heat. You walk ahead of him, halting your steps and glancing around confused. 

“So where’s this headstone you’ve been obsessing about?” 

Jungkook squints, “It should be somewhere her‒OH!” 

You whip around, watching Jungkook jog over to a small landmark at the side of the trail. Treading cautiously after him, you notice a structure made up of granite, appearing like a round ball that was placed on a stick. 

You tilt your head, “This is the ARMY headstone?” 

“It protects the entire village!” Jungkook chides, “Don’t you know that?” 

“Yeah, yeah, it protects us and we protect it in return.” You wave away it’s history. Unlike others the stone simply just existed for you, not being as ‘special’ or ‘glorious’ as it was for the other villagers. 

“We need to make a wish to save the arcade.” He firmly states, eyeing you for an answer. You let out a sigh, eventually mumbling out the words in the most monotone voice. 

“Please save our arcade.” You turn to Jungkook, “There, happy?” 

There’s a smug smile on Jungkook’s lips and you scoff, glancing around as he makes his wish. Your eyes roam around the expanses of the village, landing on an individual scurrying around with bright teal hair and dressed in a uniform. 

Your eyes instantly light up, “Namjoon!” 

He notices you right away, jogging over in an instant. 

“Y/N?” He says astonished, “I haven’t seen you around in a while, how have you been?” 

“Ah, just the usual.” You shrug, “I’m always at the game room these days.” 

A laugh slips from him and you smile, but you don’t notice the gaze Jungkook throws in your direction. 

“Find any new auditions recently?” 

“Ah no, I’m still trying though.” He professes, “I’ve been saving up in case I actually manage to get one.” 

“You’ll find one soon, I’m sure of it.” 

Namjoon sheepishly scratches the back of his neck, a dust of pink on his cheeks, “You know...there’s this new movie playing in the theatre….”

He rummages through his pockets, pulling out two tickets. “I’ve heard really good things about it.” 

Your eyes spark, reaching out for them, “Oh, that would be so ni‒” 

The tickets are instantly snatched away from you, an arm wrapping around your shoulders. 

“That does sound lovely!” Jungkook smiles, “Thanks for the tickets RM!” 

Namjoon glances between the two of you, “O-Oh…” He meekly laughs, “I-I hope you guys enjoy….” 

He takes a step back, waving at you. “Guess I’ll see you around then Y/N....” 

You watch his fading back in dismay, barely able to say goodbye to him as he rushes away. 

The moment he’s gone, you spin around and glare at Jungkook. “What the hell?! I wanted to go with him!” 

“Too late.” Jungkook cheekily smiles, “Now you have me~” 

A deep frown settles on your features, “Perfect. Just perfect.” You shake your head, “Not only do I have to see my boss at work, but now I have to go watch a movie with him.” 

“I know right?” Jungkook leans forward, “Who is this boss of yours by the way? He sounds like an incredible person.” 

“Oh, he’s great ‒ great at being annoying.” You huff as Jungkook laughs at your silly taunt, practically skipping behind you as you return back to the arcade. 

In the midst of your banter though, you don’t notice the particular pattern Jungkook’s shoes leave in the soil. 

***

Upon returning, you and Jungkook get to work right away. 

“What about a slogan?” You suggest, “Something that catches people’s eye and gets stuck in their minds?” 

Jungkook places a contemplating finger against his mouth. It’s not long before his fingers are snapping, a bright glint sparking up in his eyes. 

“Jeon’s arcade is the best.” His pupils are wide and there’s a giant grin spread on his features, but it clashes with your muted expression. 

You raise an eyebrow, “Jeon’s arcade is the best…?” 

He snaps his fingers again, shaking his head, “It’s great, I’m telling you. It’ll catch on within days.” 

A dreary sigh leaves your lips, “How about something less...prideful?” Your eyes twinkle, “Like come down to Jeon’s arcade for a brand new experience?” 

Jungkook scrunches up his nose, “That sounds awful.” 

“It’s better than declaring you have the best arcade.” You mumble. 

“It is the best arcade!” He pursues his lips, before finally muttering in defeat, “And technically the only one here…”

You’re about to suggest that maybe rearranging things in the game room would help for better promotion, but the lights begin to flicker.

“Wha‒” You’re unable to finish your sentence, the entire room plunging into complete darkness. 

“Jungkook?” You question in concern, carefully shuffling your feet around. There’s a slight movement that brushes by your arm, your head spinning instantly. 

“I think it’s a power outage.” He confirms, and you can hear the soles of his feet pacing around the room, “Let me see if I can find the backup generator…” 

You hear some scrambling and shuffling around, until it’s accompanied by a loud thud and a sharp “ow!”. 

“Are you okay?” You ponder, only receiving a dismay groan from him. 

“I’m fine, but why is your voice coming from the machines?” 

You blink, “Because that’s where I’m standing?” 

“What?” Jungkook says in disbelief, “I could have sworn‒” 

In an instant, light floods the room. Your eyes are rounded as they finally peer around, noticing Jungkook at the other end of the room with his eyelids screwed shut and holding onto his foot. 

His lids flutter open, taken aback with your appearance. A sudden thump resonates against the floorboard. 

You and Jungkook can only stare at each other petrified at the sound of feet moving about while both of you remain stationary. 

Swallowing down his unease, Jungkook places a finger on his lips, gesturing for you not to let out a peep. He carefully steps forward, keeping the silence in the room intact to peer over at the counter. 

A man suddenly pops his head out, a pout resting on his plush lips. 

Jungkook staggers back, placing a hand against his racing heart. 

“What are you doing here?!” 

The man tilts his head to the side, looking down and then dusting himself off. There’s a black beret sitting on his head, a white-collared shirt overlapping with two suspenders that connect to his brown trousers. He continues to pout, eyes glancing around the counter until they stop on a circular object. 

“Ah, there it is!” He excitedly whispers, wrapping his fingers around the large magnifying glass. Jungkook’s eye twitches, strutting up and grabbing onto the man’s shoulder. 

“Hey! I asked what you’re doing here!” 

He frowns, “Are you always this rude to people?” 

Jungkook scoffs, but you interject, voice confused. 

“Jin?” 

His eyes snap up to you, “Oh, hi Y/N.” 

“What are you doing here?” 

“Investigating.” He immediately says, raising his magnifying glass. He begins walking around the room, a curious look to his eyes. “How long have the two of you been here?” 

“Since the power went out.” You answer. 

“Fascinating.” He continues his stroll, only faltering when Jungkook pulls at one of his suspenders from behind. 

He appears annoyed from the former barely acknowledging him. “Why are you in my arcade trying to investigate, Jin?!” 

Jin spins around, smacking his instrument against Jungkook’s head. 

“Ow!” 

“That’s Detective Jin to you, Mister.” He shakes his head in dismay, “Seriously, where have your manners gone, Kook?”

He glances at Jungkook, “And to answer your prior question, there’s been a recent crime in BTS Village. I’m here to solve it.” 

“A crime?” You cross your arms, “What makes you think the arcade has anything to do with it?” 

“Well, it’s not so much the arcade that has something to do with it…” He suddenly twirls around, pointing his giant magnifying glass at Jungkook who looks baffled, “But someone that might play a hand in the crime.”

You peer over his shoulder, noticing him narrowing in on Jungkook’s eye as the latter stiffens. 

A scoff leaves your lips, “You’re drawing an absurd conclusion.” 

“Oh really, Y/N?” He spins around, nearly whipping you in the face with the glass, “Perhaps you were at the crime scene too then?” 

He begins scrutinizing you, and you uncomfortably shift from the glass being pointed at your eye this time. 

Jungkook huffs, straightening up his clothes. “Don’t you use that magnifying glass to see how big your mouth is half the time?” 

Jin raises his head, suddenly feeling offended. A snort leaves you, further fueling his dismay. 

“Trying to use a personal connection on a detective now, are we?” 

Jungkook plants his hands on his hips, “Well, this detective showed up at my arcade out of nowhere and is interrogating the hell out of me and my employee without any proof.” 

Jin smiles, “Proof! Of course!” 

He moves at the speed of wind, racing around the game room as you and Jungkook hurriedly trail after him. He stops right at the front, a small shoe rack capturing his interest immediately. 

He starts tossing them aside one by one. 

“Hey, stop!” Jungkook scrambles to catch them before they land on the ground, “Those are expensive!” 

“Timberlands?” Jin questions, eyeing one certain beige pair before tossing it away too, “You need better taste, kid.” 

Jungkook practically shoots out his arm in efforts to catch it, but it slips from his grasp and you dive forward, grasping onto it instantly. 

“This is ridiculous.” You huff, “Jungkook hasn’t done anything, Jin.” 

He hums, rising onto his feet. “Is that so, Y/N? Then how about you explain this?” 

Whirling around, he points towards the base of one of Jungkook’s slippers, the same ones he hastily put on when he pushed for you to come with him to the headstone. 

You narrow your eyes, not grasping onto his dramatic revelation, “It’s a slipper. You know, people use them for their feet…?” 

“Not just any slipper!” Jin waves it in the air, far too close to your face as you grimace, “But evidence! Evidence that was at the crime scene during the time of the crime!” 

He pulls out a photograph, showing a footprint that matches up to the shoe, “Someone knocked over and broke our precious ARMY headstone and that person is standing right in front of me!” 

Jungkook looks as much at a loss of words as you do. You can’t deny that Jin is wrong, the picture in his hands and the slipper looking similar. The problem is you know what events transpired, having been with Jungkook as he pushed you to make a wish before speaking with Namjoon. 

There’s no way he could have done anything. 

“I-I…” Jungkook begins. 

“You did it! Mystery solved.” 

“What?” You snap, stalking up to Jin, “This is prosperous, you need more evidence than just a footprint!” 

“Oh? Is that denial I hear?” Jin cheekily questions, cupping his ear and leaning closer to you. Your lips settle into a firm line, teeth gritting. 

“Not denial, but facts.” You place a hand against Jungkook’s shoulder, “I was with Jungkook when the footprint was made and I know he’s innocent.” 

“A counteract argument!” Jin says in excitement, “Fascinating!” 

You let out a groan, “Jungkook is innocent, Jin.” 

“I am.” He hurriedly says, hoping it would do something to diminish the detective’s accusations. Jin’s eyes sink down, puzzlement crossing his features. 

He keenly eyes you, voice no longer childish, “He’s going to be the prime suspect.” 

“He’s innocent.” You press forward again, causing the detective to stare at you for a moment before letting out a long exhale. 

“Prime suspect.” Jin announces again, pretending to write down on an imaginary clipboard. His voice morphs, spiking up in volume, “I won’t stop until I catch who it is! Even if it’s you!” 

The door is yanked open and Jin struts out, closing it on his way. You let out a relieved sigh, pressing a hand against your temples. 

Jungkook being a prime suspect means that Jin doesn’t have the power to turn him in and he’s given you some time to figure out things as well. 

He hasn’t taken his suspicions away, but at least he’s given you some leeway. 

Jungkook’s desperate eyes connect with yours and you know what you have to do. 

Your boss is innocent, and you’re going to prove it. 

A loud bell dings as the door is shoved open, a huff leaving your lips. The shop is close to being semi-busy, a couple of customers planted down in seats and facing elongated decorated mirrors. Save for a couple of heads that turn in your direction, your eyes rake around. 

Your brows are furrowed, a crease forming in between them. 

A flash of white whizzes by your sight, your hand instantly snapping out and grabbing onto their collar. 

A scream leaves the man’s lips, his eyes wide and petrified. They lock immediately onto yours and within seconds he’s slipping away from your hold, trying to make a run for it. 

His voice screeches as he runs around the salon with a pair of scissors, “The culprit is here! The culprit is here!” 

The showcase sends his customers into a frenzy, voices spiking up into the mayhem and a handful staring at you in horror. 

“Hey, Chatterbox!” You scoff, “Come back here!” 

You chase after him as he wails, bumping back and forth into his clients with no regard. You eventually grab a hold of his shoulder, a squeal leaving his mouth. 

“NO!!” He cries, “Spare me, please!” 

He tussles around within your grasp, “Hoseok!” 

Abruptly freezing, he stares at you from behind his giant glasses, “Y-Yes?” 

“I need to talk to you.” You profess, noticing the way his scissors are still held up in defense, as if they possessed enough of an ability to scare you away. 

The sound of shutter snaps your attention away, your head whipping around to see a particular lens pointed towards you. It’s pulled down, a man with keen cat-like eyes and a resting pout examining its contents. 

“Picture of the culprit.” His deep voice hums, seemingly satisfied. You tug away the camera from his hold, still keeping a tight grasp on Hoseok before he flies away from you. 

“For ARMY sake‒” You scowl, noticing the apparent ‘frightening’ angle of you in the picture. Shoving it back at him, you hiss, “Delete it now, Yoongi.” 

His eyes narrow, clearly not enthusiastic with the suggestion. You glare right back at him, suddenly realizing why you don’t swing by Hoseok’s salon or his photography shop often. 

With a sigh, Yoongi deletes it and you let go of Hoseok, crossing your arms. 

You hold up a finger, “First off, I’m not the culprit, and neither is Jungkook. Let’s get that straight from the start.” Hoseok opens his mouth like he wants to interrupt, “I’ll take questions at the end.” 

He closes his mouth, a ㅅ shape taking over. “Second off, I’m here because I want to know who the true culprit is.” You take a step forward, eyeing Hoseok, “And I think the local gossiper can give me the details I want.” 

Hoseok’s eyes are wider than before, his hands fumbling around with his scissors. Although he doesn’t care to admit it, you know the village folk feel extremely comfortable around him, willing to spill out all their secrets and desires with no mind over the naive and tender boy’s head. 

Even to the point of professing some oh so good reasoning about a particular headstone. 

Yoongi tilts his head to the side, clutching onto his camera, “How do we know you’re not trying to cover up your own tracks from the crime?” 

Hoseok’s irises sway from you to him, growing only larger in size. You shake your head with a sigh, aware of the latter’s protectiveness towards his childhood friend. 

“Because the crime was committed during a power outage….while me and Jungkook were at the arcade…..” 

The truth sounded a lot better in your head. You can see Yoongi’s gears turning, his gaze becoming more and more scrutinizing. 

To your surprise, he suddenly clears his throat, taking a step back. 

“Okay.” 

“Okay?” 

“What?” He raises a brow, “Do you want me not to trust you?” 

“No.” You deadpan, “I just thought you would ask more questions.” 

Yoongi shrugs, “You barely pay any attention to the headstone in the first place. Plus Jungkook isn’t the type to break something he’s been making wishes to since being a kid.” 

You blink, astonished with the analysis. Yoongi turns to Hoseok, nodding his head as the latter hesitantly begins to speak up. 

“T-There’s a rumour…” He whispers, causing the two of you to lean in, “I-I didn’t mean to spread it! I-I just thought it was interesting and my clients like to hear stories of the village while I-I’m cutting their hair‒” 

“What is it, Hoseok?” Yoongi wonders as you hum. 

His pupils oscillate on the ground, hands fumbling with his scissors. 

“Treasure.” He heaves, glancing up at the two of you, “There’s a rumour of the headstone housing treasure.” 

He tilts his head to the right. 

The giant magnifying glass in his hand follows the direction, inflating the image of the remains from the headstone by tenfold. 

Planting one of his hands on his hips, the other comes forth to stroke his invisible beard. His legs swing, about to turn back to head towards the arcade again. 

“Find anything yet?” 

A scream escapes him. 

Jungkook stands before him, covering his ears as Jin places a hand against his racing heart. 

“You frightened me!” Jin scolds, narrowing his eyes, “What are you doing here?!” 

Jungkook frowns, “I’m not the culprit.” 

“Sure, that’s what they all say!” Jin begins walking down the trail near the headstone as Jungkook closely follows behind. 

“So….” 

“What?” 

“Did you find anything yet?” He questions hopefully, doe eyes twinkling at his elder. The man before him sighs, aiming his glass piece at the trail before him. 

He suddenly crouches down, scrutinizing another footprint. 

“I’m not telling you anything, Kook.” 

“But why!” He practically whines, childishly clinging onto Jin’s arm, “Come on, you’ve known me since I was a kid. Does this look like the face of someone that would break the headstone?” 

He gestures to himself as Jin stares, purposely widening his eyes and putting on a pout. 

Jin smacks the back of his tool against his head, causing Jungkook to wince. “Stop getting cute with me.” 

Jungkook’s eyes sway, “I-I’m not getting cute….” 

“Uh-huh.” Jin reminisces, looking around the headstone carefully again. There’s a furrow between his brows as he picks up a chuck of the stone, bringing it up to examine. 

“Find anything?” 

The stone piece nearly slips from Jin’s fingers as Jungkook peers over his shoulder wide-eyed, appearing more like a naive child than the owner of an arcade.  

“Will you stop doing that?!” Jin scolds, growing irritated by the moment with Jungkook’s interventions. The latter pouts, desperation leaking into his irises. 

“Then tell me something.” At Jin’s withering gaze, Jungkook pulls out all sorts of cuteness he wouldn’t be caught doing in daylight, “Please.” 

Jin rolls his eyes, sight landing right on top of the headstone. 

“Blue Village..…” 

It’s so incredibly faint, but Jungkook’s ears catch onto it right away. 

“What?” 

“Blue Village.” Jin says louder this time, his brow twitching. Clearing his throat, he lowers his voice again, “I think someone from Blue Village did it.” 

Jungkook’s eyes are instantly enlarging, features contorting into a sudden epiphany. 

“Now leave me alone!” Jin says, pushing him away, “I have mysteries to solve!” 

Jungkook nods in an instant, a smile curving on his lips at the new piece of information. 

It’s not long before you’re pacing towards the arcade, surprised to see Jungkook already there and buzzing with energy. His eyes light up with your presence, lips moving immediately. 

“Treasure!” 

“Blue Village!” 

You stare at each other for a moment, confused with the notion. “Wait, Blue Village? What about them?” 

“Jin says that someone from Blue Village might be responsible.” Jungkook explains, scrunching his brows together, “What do you mean by treasure?” 

“Hoseok told me that there’s treasure underneath the headstone.” Your eyes sparkle, “That means someone who needs money probably broke it.” 

Jungkook grimaces, “Shoot.” 

“What?” 

“I need money.” He honestly states. Your features twist up with the fact, acknowledging that your tidbit on the situation wouldn’t work well in his favour. 

Shaking the thoughts away, you pursue more information, “Who do you think did it?” 

Jungkook doesn’t respond to you, instead he stares outside the arcade’s glass exterior. Puzzled, you turn around to see what he’s staring at, only to see a young boy dressed in a yellow shirt and blue overalls walking by. 

He appears to be within his own world, a dreamy smile curving up on his cheeks and a colourful lollipop in his hand. His eyes instantly connect with yours, crinkling up into half moons as he waves over to you and Jungkook. 

You return his gesture with a smile, but Jungkook had a sneering look in his stare. 

“I hate that guy.” He spits out, drawing out perplexment from you. 

“What?” You spin around, pointing to the oblivious boy. “Leader Jimin?” 

Jungkook hums and you shake your head, watching an angelic smile take over the boy’s features. “How could you possibly hate him?” 

Suddenly, something sparks within his eyes. He turns to you, determination spiking his gaze. 

“He’s the one that broke the headstone.” 

You let out an exhale of dismay, “He didn’t.” 

“He’s from Blue Village.” Jungkook says, as if all the clues finally made sense, “No one know where he came from or what his background is. It makes perfect sense!” 

“You’re starting to make up conclusions like Jin now.” 

“He could use the money!” Jungkook snaps his fingers, “I heard that he’s been living at the village doctor’s house and pays rent!” 

At your look of disbelief, he smirks, “Rent gets expensive, Y/N. Don’t you know that?” 

“He’s innocent.” You protest, shaking away his accusations, “He’s a happy person that just wandered into our village one day. He looks like he can’t even hurt a fly!” 

At the moment, Jimin lets out a giggle, one of the village kids smiling brightly up at him. 

Jungkook narrows his eyes, a hum leaving him. 

“Wait, you’re right.”

“See‒?” 

Jungkook deadpans, “He’s an idiot.” 

“He is not an idiot.” You’re about to list more reasons as to why, but you notice Jimin walking away to ‘lead’ the children behind him, not realizing that one of them has stolen his lollipop and the rest are trying to fight the child for it. 

He breaks out in a daze of giggles, happy to be their leader. 

Your features scrunch up, “Okay, maybe he is, but‒” 

Jungkook smirks like you have no option but to agree with him. Before you have the chance to prove him wrong, there’s a knock outside the arcade door. 

A trail of goosebumps spike up on your arm, the look of annoyance on Jungkook’s features telling you enough of who's at the door. 

However, this time there’s no intrigue, just a simple big white label possessively planting against the wall. 

“I heard you’re not doing so well financially,” Richman V states, “This arcade should be mine soon.” 

Jungkook’s jaw drops at the man’s blatant actions, orbs following him around as he continues to plaster his labels all over his precious arcade. 

You beat him at the chance to intervene. 

“This arcade isn’t yours.” You tug at his sleeve, only for Richman V to spin around and plant a label smack against your forehead. 

“Everything I label, I possess.” He interjects, “This arcade will be mine, and so will everything that comes along with it.” 

He passes by you and begins sticking on more labels. You huff, ripping off the label and smacking it onto a nearby wall. “I am not going to work for you.” 

“Yes, you are.” He states, like it shouldn’t even be in question. “You work in this arcade. The arcade will belong to me. Your services will be mine.” A smile curves on his lips, “You should be happy. I’ll at least be a proficient boss.” 

Your eye twitches and Jungkook looks like he wants to interject, but you scramble around, locating a pen. 

Taking one of his possessive labels, you scratch out his name and scribble on Jungkook’s before sticking it back onto one of the machines. 

“You can’t take this arcade because it doesn’t belong to you.” You huff, grasping his attention. “And I already have a great boss, thank you very much.” 

Jungkook blinks wide-eyed as Richman V stares at you, clearly annoyed with your meddling. Turning around, he leans closer, looking at you eye to eye. 

“I own every property in BTS Village, and this arcade won’t be an exception.” 

Without another word, he leaves, a clutter of his labels all over the walls and machines. Your eyes are sharpened, lips twisted with suppressed fury as you pluck off the flimsy pieces of paper that demand its ownership. 

“Who does that guy think he is?” You rant as Jungkook silently watches you, “I mean sure, label all your things. Your toothbrush, your comb, whatever.” 

Kneeling down, you narrow your eyes at the one he’s managed to stick behind the counter before tearing it off, “But a place he doesn’t even own? Talk about really wanting to possess stuff.” 

“Did you mean it…” 

Jungkook’s voice is soft, near quiet. 

You turn around, bafflement crossing you. “Well yeah, he seems like kind of a jerk and wanting to possess an arcade after all he has seems like a petty list of things a person would want to own‒” 

Jungkook shakes his head, stopping your ramble. “Before that. About me being a great boss….” 

You stare at him like a deer in headlights, clearly caught off guard. Freezing in place, you open and close your mouth a couple of times, no words managing to come out. 

Instead, a pink hue dusts over your skin. 

“Well, I...I-I did say that…” You attempt to begin, “And I...well‒” 

“Fascinating.” 

Your eyes snap up at the sound of a third voice, noticing Jin leaning behind the counter as he listens into your conversation. Jungkook immediately swivels around, placing a hand against his racing heart. 

“Can you call or something the next time you show up?!’ He angrily retorts, only for Jin to completely ignore him and step forward. 

He walks straight towards the shoe rack, plucking up the pair of slippers Jungkook wore to the headstone. He drops them with a hum, walking over to the counter again to flip through some paper sheets, something that has Jungkook scrambling forward. 

“Why are you looking at my accounts?!” 

“It all makes sense now.” 

Jin finally speaks up, pointing an accusatory finger towards Jungkook, “YOU DID IT!” 

“I’ve already told you that I’m not the culprit!” 

“Really?!” Jin challenges, “We found your footprint. You’re the one in need of money and tried to get the treasure underneath the headstone.” 

He suddenly glances around, like he was still collecting proof against Jungkook’s case. 

His eyes land onto the battered mallet used for Jungkook’s whac-a-mole machine, raising it in the air. 

“Aha!” He exclaims, “This is what you broke it with!” 

“Actually he broke that mallet because he’s ridiculously competitive and was prepared to win at any cost.” You interject, arms crossed.

“Oh….” 

Jungkook deadpans at Jin’s dwindling resolve, an impassive and unimpressed expression spreading over his features. 

“You really don’t know what you’re doing, do you?” 

“Of course I do!” Jin protests, grabbing a small book from his back pocket. He vigorously flips through the pages, eyes twinkling, “I told you about Blue Village being involved!” 

Jungkook’s eyes widen, “Leader Jimin did it!” 

You attempt to hush him down, but Jin cocks up a brow, baffled with the suggestion. 

“What? That kid?” Jungkook nods, “Nah, he’s an angel. Wouldn’t hurt a fly.” 

Offense is written all over Jungkook, “Then what am I?!” 

“A greedy game owner!” Jin accuses, only for Jungkook to sigh. 

“I’m innocent, Jin.” He desperately glances in your direction, “Just ask Y/N!” 

“She’s probably plotting with you!!” 

“Excuse me?” You scoff, about to give your two cents on the ridiculousness of the conversation until the sound of small ding resonates through the room. 

A pair of two small feet come to a stop, wide eyes staring at the three individuals in front of him. 

You recognize him immediately as the boy that came to your game room the day you had barren business. 

“Oh, it’s you.” 

Jungkook perks up, “The kid who Y/N paid for!” 

Jin whips around, narrowing his eyes at Jungkook and prepares to write in his book. “Excoriating money from our employee’s now, are we?” 

“I willingly paid for him.” You correct right away, aware that Jin seemed to be on Jungkook’s tail no matter what. Spinning around, you crouch down to view the boy, “What are you doing here?” 

“I saw the headstone marked as a crime scene.” He speaks, peeking around with wide eyes. “I wanted to see the Detective.” 

Jin immediately pushes forward, adjusting his hat and leaning down with his notebook. 

“Do you know anything about how it was broken?” 

The boy nods, “I was on my way to school when I saw two people walking to the headstone. One of them was dressed very fancy and the other one had blue hair.” 

“Richman V and RM!” Jungkook exclaims, only for Jin to hush him down. 

“It’s too early to draw conclusions!” 

Jungkook scoffs, “So drawing conclusions about me without evidence wasn’t too early?!”

“Did he have bronze hair?” You immediately question, and the boy nods, “Was the other one wearing a box office uniform?” 

He nods again, “They were talking to each other but not in a nice way. I think they were fighting.” 

“They were fighting?” Jungkook wonders, staring at you in disbelief. 

“Hold it!” Jin exclaims, moving towards the boy. He points towards you and Jungkook, expression keen, “Did you see these two near the headstone?” 

He places a finger against his chin, a spark lighting up in his eyes, “I did!” 

“AHA‒” 

 “But they were making a wish together when the headstone wasn’t broken.” 

“….oh?” Jin whispers, his pen freezing in place. The boy smiles, gazing at you. 

“I hope your wish came true.” 

You return his smile, “Thanks for coming by, kid.” 

He nods, waving at Jungkook and Jin before you open the door and let him rush home. 

Silence reigns heavy in the arcade room.

Jin eventually clears his throat. 

His voice is considerably quiet, nowhere near the loud and dramatic tone you were accustomed to hearing. 

“It seems like I’ve made a mistake…” 

“Seems like?!” Jungkook angrily shouts, but Jin coxes him right away. 

“Mistakes can happen! Someone can look guilty and end up not being…” 

Jungkook has a “are you serious?” expression and Jin cheekily smiles, before racing towards the door. 

“Oh wow, would you look at the time?? I’ll catch up with you guys later!” The door is shutting close before you can even utter another word, your eyes rolling at the man's catastrophe. 

This just in! 

Famous Property Owner and Dealer Richman V and Box Office Employee RM caught for destroying one of the more treasured possessions of BTS Village! 

Thanks to the testimony of one boy, more eyewitnesses were found and several pieces of evidence led to the duo facing charges. It is said that RM needed the money to attend an audition and had tried to negotiate with Richman V for help near the headstone. Richman V, who was facing the displeasure of not obtaining a particular arcade in the village, wanted to know about the mysterious treasure hidden deep beneath the stone. Sources suggests that two were baffled about the broken headstone and attempted to cover up the accident by‒

“Oh, would you just get to the good part already?!” Jungkook slams his fist against the counter, desperation leaking into his voice. 

You let out a sigh, scrolling through the newspaper until you find the excerpt. Clearing your throat, you mimic your best anchor voice again. 

Initially, Detective Jin from BTS Village had suspicions on a certain game room owner that goes by the name of Jeon Jungkook, but with further investigation done, it was found that he was at the crime scene prior to the incident and was deemed innocent. 

“Well, it’s nice hearing someone say I’m innocent.” Jungkook remarks, leaning against his hand on his cheek. 

The newspaper is yanked down, “I said you were innocent.” 

“Of course you did!” He proclaims, “Why else would you want to turn your innocent boss in?” 

“I can think of a couple of reasons.” You mumble underneath your breath, only for Jungkook to pout. “What?” 

“I’m still broke as hell.” He shifts his attention to his account book on the counter, lazily flipping through the pages. “Business has been better, but I’m still not making enough money.” 

You roll your eyes, aware that business truthfully has been better thanks to your combined efforts and that it would take time for some stable revenue to roll in, as long as Jungkook’s dramatics don’t manage to interfere. 

“Maybe you should hire a different employee instead of me.” You sassily retort, “Let’s see what happens to business then.” 

Jungkook narrows his eyes, “Why on earth would I do that?”

“Because you’re ‘losing’ money.” You exaggerate in the same tone he used.  

“Nah, I’m never going to get rid of you.” He softly says, “You always have my back.”

For a moment, you just blink your eyes. Turning around, you’re expecting a cocky smirk on his lips or a teasing raise of his brows.

Instead, you’re met with sincere eyes and a genuine smile, something that nearly has the newspaper in your hands slipping from your hands. 

You slowly open your mouth to respond. 

“Why are the two of you having a staring contest?” 

Both you and Jungkook whip around, watching Jin poke at one of the machines with a frown on his face. 

Jungkook’s jaw drops down, “What are you doing here?!” 

Jin looks at him taken aback, the anger in his voice prevalent. “What? Were you two having a moment or something?” 

You avert your eyes as Jungkook’s brow twitches. 

He shakes his head, a whine escaping him, “Why are you here, Jin?” 

“Oh!” He pipes up, “Are you hiring at the moment by any chance?” 

“What?” 

Jin cheekily smiles, “So my reputation as a detective kind of went sour with this recent case, you know, with suspecting and falsely accusing someone innocent and‒ what are you doing?” 

He’s being effortlessly lifted by Jungkook, before being planted right outside of the arcade. 

Jungkook closes the door shut, sending him a friendly wave with a strained smile as Jin scoffs.

“Oh come on, JK!” 

“Come back when I really am innocent!” He childishly laughs as Jin throws a fit of anger from the display. 

Jungkook glances in your direction almost as if to gauge your reaction to his antics, but you simply smile and shake your head with a roll of your eyes. 

Jungkook snaps his fingers. 

“This entire place should have a makeover!” He springs up from his seat from his revelation, pacing around the room, “We can take out the bookcase and maybe add more machines, we could even paint the walls maybe like a royal blue, put some speakers here‒….” 

You lounge on one of the chairs as you watch your boss continuing his ramble, eyes follow along with the speed of his legs as he practically pounces around the place. 

It’s been a while since the ARMY headstone mystery has been resolved, and aside from helping Detective Jin with getting a job after Jungkook’s refusal of hiring another employee, you’ve come to terms with yourself. 

You have feelings for your boss. It’s plain obvious.  

The problem lies in the fact that you work with him, meaning that no matter what you do and say, he’s naturally inclined to believe that you’re simply doing him a favour as an employee. 

A sigh leaves your lips as you lean back in your chair. 

Jungkook whirls around, childlike excitement sparking in his large doe eyes, “Well?” 

You abruptly blink, realizing that you hadn’t caught onto a single thing he said because you were too caught up in your own head. 

Standing up, you pat his shoulder and walk over to the counter, “Let’s discuss this later.” 

“What?” Jungkook watches your fading form, a crease forming between his brows, “A-Are you sure? You seem to be really out of it these days, Y/N.” 

At the hint of concern in his voice, your eyes widen, “Uh, yeah!” You nervously laugh, “I seriously doubt we’ll figure it all out in one day.” 

Jungkook pursues his lips, “Hm, that’s true.” 

He smiles and you wipe away the sweat from your temples, a relieved exhale leaving you. 

***

You have to confess to him. 

You’ve been thinking about it all night long, and as soon as the sun rose this morning, you were determined to tell Jungkook how you felt about him. You’ve already come up with a bunch of ways to convince him that yes, you like him in case he dips into his notorious denial, and even were prepared for any spouts of panic that might burst out from your dynamic abruptly shifting. 

There’s nothing that can surprise you now. 

Your feet immediately slow down, mouth falling agape. 

In front of you is the arcade, and at the same time, you wonder if you’ve even arrived at the right shop. 

Gone are the large advertising and attention drawing signs, cardboard cutout replaced with navy blue and black speakers. The yellow and blue lights have been replaced with midnight black and white ones, soft music radiating out from the door. 

You continue to stare at it in puzzlement. 

The arcade you knew was loud and bold, noise drowning through into your ears and strobe lights nearly blinding you. 

Cautiously, you open the front door, your surprise simply magnifying with every step you take. 

The walls are coloured with a shade of dark blue, replacing the dull beige completely. The bookshelf has disappeared, replaced with new gaming machines instead of similar ones linked up in a row. 

One of them consists of a brand new whac-a-mole machine, your eyes flickering over the colorful display and shining mallet. 

“Y/N?!” A voice suddenly calls out, snapping you out of your awe-filled daze. Turning around, you don’t see your boss in sight. 

“Jungkook?” You call back out, only for the sound of boxes shifting resonating from the back room. 

“Just give me a minute!” 

You hum, picking up the mallet with a smile as you walk closer to the door. 

“What have you done to this place?” 

“You like it?” 

You inspect the instrument in your hand, “Yeah, it looks amazing….” 

His laughter seeps through the door, “That’s great! I just thought the place needed something different, you know? Almost like a re-opening.” 

The corner of your mouth lifts up, “From now on, Jeon’s arcade is a new experience for all!” 

You snort at the slogan, placing the mallet back down on the counter. That’s when your eyes focus onto the small bottle on the counter, the words ‘hair dye’ causing them to enlarge with size. 

As you grab onto it, the back door room opens and Jungkook emerges out, his blonde strands bright and damp with drops of water. 

He beams at you, doe eyes crinkling and a giant smile breaking out onto his features. 

“What do you think?” He eagerly asks, “Doesn’t it help with the new experience in here?” 

The hair dye bottle slips from your hands, no coherent words forming from the tip of your tongue as your mouth drops wide open. Jungkook can only stare in confusion as pink rapidly scatters across your features and it’s in that one sole moment you realize. 

No matter how hard you try, your boss always finds some way to surprise you. 

#btswritingcafe #castlebangtan #bangtanscenery #networkbangtan #bts jungkook fanfic #jungkook fanfic #bts jungkook fluff #jungkook fluff #bts jungkook humour #jungkook humour #jungkook x reader #bts village au #gamer jungkook au #owner jungkook au #employee reader #bts run ep 120 au #bts run ep 121 au #jeon jungkook fanfic #jeon jungkook fluff #jungkook fanfiction #bts fanfic #bts fluff #bts humour #bts imagines #bts scenarios

[sisterspooky1013]

Good Pitches

Rating: Teen and Up

Words: 3179

Read it on AO3

@today-in-fic

Summary: post-ep for Milagro/The Unnatural

April 1999

Something had shifted after Padgett. She’d been afraid that this would end like it had with Jerse, Mulder angry at her indiscretion and further than ever from understanding her. Maybe this was different because they were different, closer than they were when she met Jerse. Maybe it was what Padgett had said, about her being in love. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to refute that statement, but she also hadn’t been able to meet Mulder’s eye. Did he know? She could admit to herself that she wanted him to. Maybe if he knew, he’d be brave enough to take the leap that they were both too chickenshit to take, each of them too fearful of learning that they were wrong, of being rejected. How could they carry on after that? If Mulder knew how she felt about him, maybe that would be all it took.

The way he treated her after he found her blood-soaked on his apartment floor was nothing like the derisive cut of his words after Jerse. He was so incredibly tender with her, holding her like a glass vase, soothing her like a brittle plant. Even in her abject terror, she had noted the feel of his fingers against her sternum while he unbuttoned her blouse, and the gentle flutter of his touch as he explored her torso for wounds. If not for the state of shock she was in, she may have caught his eye, and told him without words that Padgett was right, she was in love. Instead she folded her tiny body into his, tucked safely against his chest. Even as the crime scene investigators wandered in and out, even as Skinner came by and eyed them suspiciously, she never let go of him. She was unashamed, for once, of needing him. And he was unashamed, as always, of wanting to be needed by her.

That night, after her bloody clothes had been collected as evidence, he drove her back to her apartment wearing his t shirt and basketball shorts, which fit her like capri pants. He’d packed himself a bag under the excuse of his apartment being tended to by the crime scene cleanup crew, but really he just didn’t want her to leave her alone. He’d stood by her side in the bathroom and chivalrously turned his back so she could step into the shower, standing guard nearby in case she needed him. Watching blood swirl around the drain as it sloughed off her skin, still unsure of it’s origin, she’d wished desperately he were right beside her under the water, something sturdy to lean against. Her touchstone. Knowing that he would be here in a heartbeat, if only she’d ask him, somehow made it even worse. When she shut off the water, he stood just outside the curtain with a towel held open wide, protecting her privacy until he wrapped it around her shivering frame, and she steadied herself against him, breathing in the smell of his skin through his t shirt. They stood there like that for a long time, until finally he wordlessly scooped her up and carried her into her bedroom, seeming to sense that she didn’t have the strength to get herself there. Seeming to know that she would allow and even welcome this particular show of intimacy and care. She’d had the overwhelming urge to tell him she loved him, but she didn’t. Sitting on the edge of her bed he’d dressed her, first pulling her t shirt over her neck and then allowing her to pull her arms free from the towel one at a time and thread them through the sleeves. She was relatively sure that he could see her breasts, but it didn’t seem to matter. What was a breast when he had seen her broken open in grief, in pain, in fear? Her nakedness hardly seemed as private as all that. Next he’d held her pajama pants at her feet so that she could slip each leg in before standing to pull them over her hips, discarding the towel. He didn’t give her underwear and she didn’t question it, knowing him well enough to predict that he thought it would be an invasion of privacy to open her underwear drawer, and seeing that she was too distraught to care about underwear.

“You should eat something” he told her as she crawled under the covers, his voice laden with concern.

She shook her head; food was a foreign object right now. All she needed was sleep. When he went to leave the room, she sat up, her eyes full of fear. She didn’t need to voice the question.

“I’m going to take a shower, is that okay? I’ll only be gone a few minutes.”

She nodded solemnly.

“I was going to ask if you wanted me to sleep on the couch…” his voice trailed off as her face answered him. She wanted him close. Needed him there. He nodded. “I’ll be right here, just give me a few minutes.”

She lay there, listening to the rush of the water, waiting for him to return to her side. She was so incredibly exhausted, but unable to sleep. Each shadow seemed to take the form of the psychic surgeon, each creak of the floorboards was Padgett here to look into her soul. Within 5 minutes, Mulder slipped into the bed beside her in a t shirt and his boxer shorts, his skin warm and welcoming, his hair wet and spiked. She went to him, without regard for personal space, professionalism, boundaries or logic. Tucking her head just under his chin, she pressed the length of her body to his and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her somehow even closer than she had gotten herself. Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks and dampened his shirt, and his hand gently rubbed her back, his lips planting soft kisses to her hair.

“You’re okay, I’m here” he told her, and she wished she could somehow crawl inside his body, needing him even closer than this, wanting him in more ways than she had previously understood.

She fell asleep to the sound of his heart beating, the metronome to which she kept the time of her life. A rhythm unwritten but that she knew by memory. The sweet song of Mulder.

Since that night, something was different, but delightfully so. She felt less guarded with him, more free to laugh and be silly. Unafraid of incidental flirting or mixed messages. When he’d asked her to meet him at the office on a sunny Saturday afternoon, she’d had the girlish idea that he had ulterior motives and that this would be something like a date. She was disappointed to find that he just wanted her help digging through the archives, but the playful way he interacted with her, culminating in him stealing a bite of her ice cream, set off butterflies in her belly in a way she hadn’t experienced in years. She’d spent the rest of that day in a dreamy stupor, smiling idiotically at nothing, garnering friendly hellos from passers by and her neighbors. Had love made her more approachable? Returning from the grocery store to his message, she’d talked herself out of changing her clothes or freshening her makeup, not wanting to read into this something that wasn’t there. The case he was researching was baseball related, after all, so in all likelihood he was asking her to join him there for help with the case.

She was able to keep her demeanor cool and unaffected right up until he put the baseball bat in her hands and curled his long body around hers. His breath hot on her neck and his fingertips on her hip bone made her heart race; this definitely wasn’t work related. When the kid running the pitching machine told Mulder that his mother was expecting him home and took off, she’d felt the words rising in her throat to bid him a good night and go home herself; that’s what she would typically do, after all. Instead she swallowed and waited to see what would happen if she didn’t leave. What would have happened so many nights if she’d simply stuck around?

Mulder walked into the small dugout, sized for little leaguers so that he had to duck a little to fit. He was putting the bat, glove and baseballs into a large duffel bag, perhaps also preparing himself for the night to end. Ignoring the nervous flutter in her gut, she followed him into the dugout and sat down on the little bench that ran along the back wall. How was it that after as many dangerous situations as she’d been in, as many times her life was at risk, that this felt scarier than any of them? How could she know exactly what to do with a gun pointed at her, but be completely lost when it came to something as simple as telling him how she felt? When the choice was possible death or possible rejection, she only knew how to risk her life, not her heart.

Mulder sat down beside her, an open bag of sunflower seeds in his hand, and propped his feet up on the half-wall that faced the field. He held out the bag and she took a handful, which was a rare occurrence. He always offered them to her, though 98% of the time she declined. The few times she had accepted, the delighted smiled on his face was worth the unpleasantness of picking shards of shell out of her teeth for hours (she wasn’t nearly as skilled as he was at cracking them). She felt like now was a good time to make that sacrifice and see that smile, and he delivered. She held his gaze for a moment as he beamed at her, the doubled joy of her sharing his interest in baseball and sunflower seeds apparent on his face.

“How do you open these things without destroying the shell, Mulder? What’s the secret?” For every time she’d rolled her eyes at the things that excited him, she was going to make up for it now.

“It’s all about breaking the shell at the right angle, watch.” He held a seed between his front teeth with his lips pulled back so she could see how he applied pressure until it split evenly along the seam, then deftly used his tongue to pull the seed into his mouth, flicking the shell away with his breath. She mimicked him and he laughed when the shell and the seed splintered, an inseparable mess. They shifted their bodies so that they were turned towards each other, one leg bent against the back wall of the dugout. He showed her several more times and she was an eager student, studying the position of the seed, but also taking the opportunity to admire the fullness of his bottom lip and the shadow of his stubble sprouting so late in the evening. When she finally got it, the seed emerging intact, she smiled at him so broadly her gums showed, a rare sight. He gave her a high-five and their fingers instinctively threaded together upon contact, dropping down to rest between on the bench them still interlaced. Her heart started to race, recognizing the tension in the moment and the desire that flickered in his hazel eyes. She knew he wanted to kiss her, and she knew she wanted him to, so why was this so hard? She was afraid the moment would pass, but she couldn’t figure out how to capture it. Should she lean forward to signal him? If she did and he didn’t reciprocate, she’d die of embarrassment.

“What are you thinking about?” His voice startled her, and she was suddenly afraid he could hear her thoughts.

She gave him a shy smile and chuckled, averting her gaze.

“I was thinking about” he started, “being up to bat, playing baseball.”

She gave him an incredulous look. Maybe she had misread his signals after all. Their hands were still wrapped together between them.

“Hear me out, Scully.” He responded to her expression. “I was thinking about being up to bat and looking for the good pitches. You only want to swing on the good ones, or you’ll strike out, right?”

She nodded, indicating that she was following him.

“But sometimes, you’re so afraid of swinging on the bad pitches that you miss the good ones too. And I was thinking that….sometimes I feel like that with you. I’m not sure if it’s a good pitch, and I don’t want to fuck it up. I don’t want to strike out, so I don’t swing at all.”

She met his eye and smiled coyly at him, understanding. Feeling a surge of bravery.

“You could always ask, Mulder.”

“No, that’s definitely against the rules, Scully. You’re not allowed to ask.” He was being glib, a typical response to his own discomfort.

“Different game, different rules” she offered, shifting slightly towards him, almost imperceptibly, but he picked up on it.

“So, if I were to ask you.” He paused to take a breath. “If I were to ask you if it would be okay if I kissed you right now, would that be a strike or a run?”

“The baseball metaphor lost me, Mulder” she answered, the lean of her torso increasing towards him steadily, the hand that wasn’t holding his floating up to meet with his jaw, her thumb brushing his cheek.

He slowly closed the remaining space between them, his lips meeting hers in a gentle brush, then sighing as she slid her hand to the back of his neck, pulling him into her and pressing the full pout of her mouth against his. His free hand found her waist as their lips separated briefly and then met again, this time slightly parted, and she darted her tongue out to slide against his lower lip before she pulled it into her mouth and sucked it gently. He made a little sound in the back of his throat that sent a rush through her pelvis and she had an overwhelming urge to crawl into his lap. Mulder must have intuited that urge because he let go of her hand and slipped both palms under her thighs, pulling her on to him. Pivoting his body so that he was again facing forward, towards the ball field, she steadied herself with a knee on the bench on either side of his hips and sat on the tops of his thighs, the suggestive nature of the position sending a thrill through her. Her hands on his neck and his on her hips, they explored each other’s mouths, licking, tasting and nipping each surface, recognizing something familiar and yet entirely new. When his hands pushed down to cup her ass, a little moan escaped her lips and he growled in response. Breaking the kiss, she pulled back a little, breathless and flushed.

“We should probably go” she heard herself say. The reasonable side of her brain was taking back over.

“Probably should. Go where?” He asked, unsure if this proposition was a conclusion or a location change. His hands were still on her ass.

She laughed “It occurs to me that we’re in a children’s baseball dugout. I’m not sure it’s the most appropriate venue.”

He nodded, agreeing begrudgingly. “I just need a minute, if you don’t mind.”

She laughed again, ignoring the new wave of desire that sent through her, and stood up, moving to sit on the half-wall opposite him.

He took a deep breath, blowing it out hard through puffed cheeks, then looked at her with adoring eyes. She felt so beautiful when he looked at her, especially like that. She resisted the urge to go back to him and and pick up where they’d left off. After a moment, he slowly stood and picked up his duffel bag, and she followed him out of the dugout and towards the parking lot. He draped his arm over her shoulder as they walked, neither of them speaking. What was there to say? This moment, a culmination of years of tiny brushes of intimacy, didn’t need explanation or discussion. They both knew, intuitively, that it was the start of a new chapter, perhaps even the opening of a new book, and that they’d discover where the plot took them as they went along, just as they always did. They reached her car and he set the bag on the ground as she opened the door, leaning against the body of the car instead of getting inside. They stood there facing each other for a moment, awkwardness again taking root, both knowing what they wanted but unsure of how, or who, to initiate. Finally Mulder spoke.

“Thanks for coming. I had fun.”

She dipped her chin with a smirk and a blush, the implication of his statement both exciting and embarrassing.

“Likewise” she forced out, meeting his eyes only momentarily. She wished they had driven together so there would be a reason for them both to end up at one of their apartments, and at the same time she was grateful that wasn’t the case because it would probably be too much, too quickly. He stepped toward her, but the lack of height in her shoes meant he towered over her, a full foot between their faces.

“I’ve always known you were short, but it’s suddenly much more noticeable” he cracked, and she turned her face up to his, smiling softly.

“You’re a smart guy, Mulder. I’m sure you can problem-solve your way out of that conundrum.”

He stooped a little and lifted her by the hips, eliciting a delighted squeal, and pinned her against the car with the weight of his body so that they were face to face, his hips planted firmly between her thighs. Her hands wrapped around his shoulders for stability and her breath caught at the feel of his groin pressed firmly between her legs.

“See, I knew you’d figure it out” she teased as his hands danced under the hem of her shirt, lightly grazing the skin of her sides. Her pulse was quickening again, but there was even less privacy here than in the dugout.

He shook his head at her as if to chastise. “You’re gonna get me in trouble, G-woman.”

“I’ve never known you to avoid trouble, Mulder.”

He laughed then, and kissed her, softly, twice on the lips before dropping her back down to the ground. She was surprised that she felt disappointed that it hadn’t continued, but given the venue she knew it was for the best. She climbed in to the driver’s seat of her car and buckled her seat belt, leaving the door open. Mulder leaned in as she turned the key in the ignition and kissed her again, three times, before pulling back.

“To be continued” he said, then closed the door and walked towards his own car several spaces away.

#the x files #txf #dana scully #fox mulder #gillovny #sculder #msr #xf fanfic

[hologramcowboy]

Honestly I’m just trying to wrap my head around why he decided to involve Danneel and give her the role as EP in the first place. Like the only thing I can see her offering is 70s fashion and shooting in NOLA. And frankly, I don’t see the need for her to do so, because all tv shows and movies are supposed to have a costume designer (which are hired by EP), and they’re the ones that do all the research and sketch out all the outfits pertaining to the setting/time period which the show and/or movie is set in. Even though the EP is in charge of creating the “vision”, hiring the directors, the designers, and providing crews for the designers and setting the budget, they don’t necessarily oversee the production day-by-day. What I can see is the costume designer emailing her sketches and Danneel deciding if it’s appropriate for 1972 or not, and then the designer and their crew will get to work. The reason we see Jared as an EP on set everyday for Walker is because he’s the lead, and that he’s always expressed his love for producing. I also saw one person say that Danneel could offer her interpretation of John and Mary, which I agree with considering everyone didn’t interpret SPN the same way, but Jensen did admit she’s only seen 5 episodes (which are probably the ones she guest starred in, and a handful of scenes), so I’m not sure what interpretation of John and Mary does she have to offer. Hopefully she’s actually gone back to watch the episodes (if she is really is stepping into the role as an EP). Then again it could all just be a “fluff” job. A title. Anyway if she does offer her “interpretation” it’s gonna have to align with canon, and Jensen and Robbie. They’re the ones that this project will fall on. It’s ultimately their responsibility, since Robbie served as an EP and writer for spn, and we all know why this project will fall on Jensen. 1/2

My bet is it's just a title, she's sitting pretty waiting to take credit and will probably make a few choices or two just to show she's the boss but it stops there. She has no preparation in the field and it's not her job to oversee costumes and such though I'm sure she'll try to stir everyone to do her bidding even if it will be bad choices. She needs to STFU and learn. Period.

#anti danneel #anti elta #anti danneel ackles #anti elta graul #SPN prequel speculation

[meetmeatthecoda]

Speaking of the 5th season...

I think it's saying a lot about how ridiculous the daddygate notion was if – even after that DNA test that sort of 'confirmed' that Red was Liz's father ( and she didn't fail to mention it at least once per episode, yuck ) – Liz's and Red's relationship, the way they talked with each other ( except the "I'm a bad person because that's who you are and I'm daughter" excusatory talks, of course, double yuck ) and looked at each other and generally interacted with each other is anything but familial.

I would say they actually looked and interacted more as a cross between young lovers – the dance, dance, dance no one should ever forget! that was not a dance shared between a father and a daughter! just... not – and a married couple, in Grayson Blaise – everyone's favorite for obvious reasons episode – for example...

Hey, anon!! 👋 Ugh, this is such a great point!! This weird time period in season 5 is one of the greatest pieces of evidence of how TPTB liked (& thought it was okay for some reason?!?!) to straddle that line between f*milial & romantic. Like, my dudes... it's not the same teasing platonic vs. romantic. Like... at all 🤢🤮 The post-faux-DNA-reveal time period was just so strange bc - as you so rightly say, anon - Liz never failed to mention it (almost on purpose/out of spite/trying to remind/convince herself?) & Red never failed to wince or cringe or simply be unable to smother that telling eye twitch. In addition to that, they were just so friendly & cozy & it would have been charming & adorable if not for the context... or, if you were able to ignore the context (which I think many of us are blessedly good at lmfao), it WAS adorable & included some of the most Lizzington moments we ever got!! Idk if Liz was in denial or the embodiment of the dog-in-a-room-on-fire comic ("I'm fine. This is fine." 🥲) & Red was just slowly picking up the pieces of his shattered heart & taking what he could get like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ OR WHAT but they were... hella flirty. Like, as you so correctly list, anon: the pumpkin comments (obligatory @codewordpumpkin tagging), the DANCE (be still my heart), the undercover mission with Red in a tux & Liz in a gorgeous (RED) dress while she firmly stops Red from bidding bc he's straight-up broke, like ????? MARRIED COUPLE MUCH?!?!?! Idk... these episodes where they were supposedly a rEuNitEd FaMilY were... real sus, if you ask me. But, hey, that "twisted" disgusting dynamic is what TPTB just seem to love 😠😒😓 In conclusion, anon, I feel you & I think you're completely right. Let's just say... if those eps were supposed to convince us of a f*milial relationship & steer us away from thoughts of Lizzington?? Well, clearly that shit didn't work LOL 🤣 Thank you for this relatable af ask, anon, I appreciate it, & much love to you!! ❤️

#The Blacklist #Lizzington #thoughts #theories #speculation #season 5 #Greyson Blaise #mine #ask #anon #ugh #you're so right anon #those eps were........ weird #and very lizzington in nature #which was fabulous but also exactly what made it........ weird #idk someone better get TPTB some help #cause i refuse to believe that interpretation is all our fault #:'D #anyway thank you for this anon!! #:) #much love!! #<3

[mae-gi-writes]

Deobi Playlist (EP 10) | The Boyz Imagine

The Boyz x Hospital Playlist inspired drabble series.

Main characters: Kevin, Juyeon, Hyunjae and OC (Mae)

Sides: the rest of The Boyz

Genre: fluff, slice of life, BROMANCE BRUH

EP 1 | EP 2 | EP 3 | EP 4 | EP 5 | EP 6 | EP 7 | EP 8 | EP 9 | EP 10

-----------

"Excuse me."

"Yes," Juyeon whips his head up to see a pregnant woman waddling over to the counter with an expression that looks murderous. Holding her belly against herself with a grocery bag slung over her shoulder, she slams her entire body onto the front counter, which causes him to jump in surprise. 

"How are you, ma'am? How can I help you today?" Juyeon flashes a wan smile, used to dealing with unnerved clients. There's usually always a reason behind their madness.

"I have been waiting for at least an hour!" The woman bellows, practically red in the face, "I'm due in two weeks, and there are so many other pregnant women waiting behind me. How come it's taking so long?"

"Ma'am, I'm sorry we--"

"Do you know how hard it is for us, pregnant women, to sit here in this stuffed waiting room while babies are kicking?!" She interrupts with another yell as Juyeon's hands come up in defense, "I want to see Dr. Bae right now! Right now, you hear me? I'm tired! I want to go home!" 

Panic rises at the back of Juyeon's throat, "I--I am so sorry about this ma'am. But due to the number of patients today, the office is running a little slower than usual. I'm really sorry--"

"I don't want to hear your stupid reasons. I want my appointment!" She bellows, "Now!"

Fear coils through his stomach, a sick feeling tying into knots as his throat dries up with the countless excuses dying on the tip of his tongue. 

Shit, his heart races. How is he supposed to deal with that? 

He'd give anything to be shadowing a doctor right now. 

The door to the doctor's office suddenly slides open, revealing a gentle-eyed Jacob who's gaze quickly flits between them in understanding. The woman doesn't even wait a second, quickly twisting her body and waddling towards him. 

"Dr. Bae, I was just telling your stupid staff here that you need to speed up your process! Do you know how painful it is to be sitting around with that?" She motions towards her belly, legs wide apart and fists clenched at her sides as though she's preparing for battle. 

But Jacob's expression stays unfazed, "I apologize, ma'am. Unfortunately the speed of the diagnosis does not rely solely on me, but my patient."

"Yes, but--"

"Some have--" Jacob pauses, presses his lips together as sympathy flashes through his face, "some have difficult obstacles they've had to face in regards to their pregnancy. Not everyone is as lucky that their baby is growing up to be healthy."

The woman blinks, opening her mouth, then closing it upon realizing that she has been shocked into silence. 

"I understand your frustrations, I really do," Jacob's voice is gentle, a soothing lullaby that instantly makes Juyeon feel like the world is a better place, "but we all have to cooperate a little, work together to make this work. Don't you think?" 

For a moment, there's a complete silence so palpable that Juyeon can hear the ringing in his ears. He can feel the eyes of a multitude of patients drilling into the back of his skull and goosebumps suddenly explode along his arm at the sensation. 

"Alright," the woman finally lets out a grumble, "fine. Whatever."

And she turns around, wobbly on her feet, before plopping back down at her seat looking slightly disconcerted by the effect of Jacob's words. 

Juyeon sends the said doctor a look of utter gratefulness, which Jacob answers with a wink of his own before retreating back into his office. 

Thank god. 

---------

It's been a long day running back and forth between the maternity department and the pediatric ward, but it is only when the last patient bids their goodbyes that Juyeon allows his neutral mask to fall.

"I'm sorry doctor," he bows his head to the ground, not daring to make any kind of eye contact due to the embarrassment coiling through him, "It was my fault. I couldn't calm her down in time."

"No no," Jacob's lips curl up into a smile, face softening with understanding, "it happens all the time. Impatient patients are the norm around here. Mothers-to-be, especially."

"Still, I'm sorry."

"Did that swear you off the Maternity Ward then?" Jacob's smile widens into a teasing grin.

"Maybe."

"Well, if it's of any comfort, it's no better in the other wards."

"What do you mean?" Juyeon frowns. 

"Some of them are always looking for donors, others always doing extra shifts. The pediatric ward is the only one that's doing okay, as of late. Cancer department is just a hole of sadness."

"That's...not very encouraging."

"That's the reality of it," Jacob shrugs, "did you give it any thought? What you wanted to specialize?" 

"I don't know. Cancer, maybe. I'm not good with kids and the Cardiac Department looks like hell. Also, Organs make me squirm."

Jacob laughs at that, the sound bouncing through the room like sunlight, "that's exactly the same reason why I didn't want to specialize in surgery."

"That makes the two of us."

After packing up their belongings and clocking out for the day, Jacob offers to buy Juyeon dinner as a thank-you for helping him throughout the day and though the latter tries his best to refuse, the doctor insists that it's just something he does with all of his underlings, and that not treating Juyeon would just not be right. 

So Juyeon has no other choice but to follow as they walk to the parking lot. They unexpectedly bump into Hyunjae and Changmin in the lobby, causing Jacob to invite them both to join. 

"Why Jacob, I think that's the first time you're buying me dinner," Hyunjae can't help but comment as they settle at one of the tables of Mama's chicken, a small restaurant just down the street from their hospital. Juyeon smacks his thigh in protest, aiming to be subtle while the former stifles his groan of pain. 

"What?" Hyunjae hisses venomously.

"You don't say those kinds of things," Juyeon hisses back.

"You only care because you want him to give you a good review."

"Piss off, Hyunjae." 

The dinner goes surprisingly well considering that Juyeon isn't really familiar with Jacob. Having Hyunjae helps ease the tension between the interns and the doctors, lightening the atmosphere and loosening up his tongue. They share stories about patients, heart-wrenching stories about the ones they lost, and the ones that they managed to save. The more they spoke, the more Juyeon felt like this was the right path he'd chosen, after all this internal dilemma that had cost him a few years. 

"So why did you want to study medicine?" Asks Hyunjae to Changmin, who is already slightly flushed from his second beer. 

"I--uh--I just wanted to make the world a better place," Changmin stammers, ears flushing red, "I don't think I've considered anything else."

"See, this is the problem with interns," Hyunjae shakes a hand at him, "you guys think that being a doctor is honourable. It fucking sucks, okay? Like, it's really shitty. The shittiest of everything shitty in this world."

"Not all that shitty," Jacob intercepts.

Hyunjae scowls at him, "for you, maybe. You work in the Maternity Ward. What's the worst? That a pregnant woman comes screaming at you?" 

At that comment, Juyeon can't help but glance at Jacob, eyes meeting for a quick second in understanding. 

“I think I got used to that,” Jacob answers with a small smile, “Pregnant women don’t scare me.” 

“You’re brave, Dr. Bae,” Hyunjae sniffs, “there’s no way I’d be able to make it.”

“Do you regret choosing to be a surgeon?” Changmin pipes up.

“Nah,” Hyunjae flashes him a grin then, leaning back against his seat and poking Juyeon’s neck as he does so, “couldn’t find myself a better match. Surgery is all I live for. It’s like me against death, and most of the time, I always win.” 

“And the times you don’t?” 

“You win some, you lose some. That’s the reality of it.”

When Jacob and Changmin bid their goodbyes, Juyeon accompanies Hyunjae back to the hospital -- the latter has a night shift. It is his second one in a row -- while throwing his friend a couple of worried glances out of the corner of his eye. 

He knows more than anyone how much Hyunjae gives to the people. No matter how much bravado he puts on about doctors and how medicine really is like a beast you can’t tame, there’s definitely always a sparkle in the said doctor’s eyes whenever he talks about it. Juyeon admires that, and he admires Hyunjae (not that he’ll ever tell him though), but his stomach can’t help but churn with worry when he notices the darkening blue aprons underneath his friend’s eyes, or the tiredness lining them, red-rimmed and mouth pulled down in a way that only suggests he lacks sleep and energy. 

“Hey,” Juyeon speaks up when they reach the hospital doors. Hyunjae looks back at him as he says, “try getting some sleep. You look like crap.” 

“Thanks Juyeon. I’ll keep that in mind.” 

“I’m serious, Hyunjae. Continue doing that and you’ll pass out in mid-surgery.” 

“Yeah yeah,” the older man sticks out his tongue in retaliation, “I hear you, mother. You heading home now?” 

“Yup. I’m done for the day. I got tomorrow off too.” 

“Lucky bastard.”

-----

Tagging: @juyeonzz @thesingingfae1905 @gratefulmaria @nochuu17​

Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list!

Also, for all those who have sent me requests, don’t worry I’m working on them! they shall be up soon! <3

I’M SO SORRY IT’S SO SHORT FML BUT LIFE IS GETTING IN THE WAY AND MAE IS TRYING TO ADULT AND GO TO JOB INTERVIEWS SO YEAH IM SORRY FHSDLSDLKJDBUT I HOPE YOU LIKE ALL THIS BROMANCE. 

NEXT EP WILL BE FULL OF MAE AND KEV SFKSDHGKDSJGDSLGLDKN <3 

#deobi playlist #deobi drabbles #deobidrabbles #tbznetwork #theboyz #the boyz #the boyz imagines #the boyz au #the boyz scenarios #the boyz fanfic #theboyz imagines #theboyz imagine #theboyz scenarios #theboyz au #the boyz hyunjae #hyunjae imagines #juyeon #hyunjae #juyeon imagines #juyeon scenarios #kevin moon #kevin moon scenarios #kevin moon imagines #kevin moon au #changmin #jacob bae imagines #sunwoo #eric #sangyeon #younghoon

[ayankun]

things that make me ABSOLUTELY INSANE about episode 5

REMEMBER WHAT I SAID ABOUT THE LAUGH TRACK PROBABLY BEING OF NARRATIVE IMPORT, and then it COMPLETELY WAS A PLOT POINT this week, in the first scene with Agnes flubbing her part, AND THEN the CCs actually did notate the audience reactions --

-- but only at the end of the fucking episode when “Pietro” shows up???????

whyyyyyy

The fact that Elizabeth Olsen plays a character who not only is a twin but also has twins on a show that sends up the show on which her IRL twin sisters played one single character. 

The part where Wanda tried to use her powers on her babies physically turned my stomach and I was SO GLAD it didn’t work.

UGHH that dancing-with-the-babies-date like FUCK domesticity is my KINK.

There was an OVERLOAD of primary colors on the set this week, and I desire to know what it means.  Is it because babies/kids are associated with primary colors?  Was the Full House house littered with red-yellow-blue?  TELL ME WHAT IS THE REASON.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAT is the connection between Agnes and Dennis.  They had that whole interlude in ep 2, and now they both demonstrate an actionable fear of displeasing Wanda, when everyone else is/has been more or less outwardly oblivious to the situation.  (Dennis has a copy of his IRL person’s driver’s license on the mystery board, but Agnes DOES NOT)

I legit called the aging-up of the kids.  I said it out loud two weeks ago.  You know who you are, you can back me up on this.  They can play within the cut-corners of the sitcom-fiction format.  In fact, Jimmy said what we were ALL thinking, “they’ll be empty-nesters by the end of the episode” and I’m IMPRESSED AND DISGUSTED that they know what we’re thinking because they wanted us to think it.

when the Wanda-magic red brush went in and lovingly, unnervingly brought Vision to life in the new 80s opening credits, I screamed “FUCK YOOOOU” at my computer screen I do not lie

Birds.  Birds and flowers.  Birds and flowers are very everywhere.  On the walls, on the clothes.  This whole times.  oh what can it mean.  I need to know what it means.

I LEGIT thought the joke was going to be that Vision doesn’t have any baby photos and just existed as a full grown adult, but then the joke was that he does have baby photos

THIS

He has a chip in his hand and then he throws it over his shoulder because he doesn’t eat food.

I’m honestly conflicted as to whether I’m reading Jimmy as gay or in a very cute and nerdy OT3 with Darcy and Monica.

STOP

HAMMER TIME

Is Wanda being mind-controlled to resurrect Vision so that SWORD can co-opt him as their new weapon and the investigation/rescue/assassination scenario is itself a staged production cast with unwitting players??????

I PROMISE this is not what it looks like:

IT’S THE LOBSTER JELLO MOLD OR WHATEVER FROM THE TOASTER AD IN EP 1

ok I won’t joke around, I rewatched this on my folks’ monster tv and when I paused to see what ad was on the paper this time, my brain CRUMPLED:

THAT IS A PICTURE OF AN ASTRONAUT INSIDE A TV.  MOONMEN CONFIRMED

Also, the frontpage headline is “Local Homemakers Innovating Recipes,” emphasis on home-making.  Making a home.  From scratch.  With your mind.  Wanda.

Also-also, the tiny scroll over the top is like “MORE DRAMATIC DETAILS ABOUT THE LIGHTS IN THE SKY ABOVE WESTVIEW”

Are these SWORD-infiltrating-the-magic-barrier lights, or are these UFOSSSSSS

The realization that when Agnes appeared like a fairy godmother to help Wanda out of the dinner jam in ep 1, it was Wanda manifesting a solution to her problem using her God-will :|||||||||

HWAT is the emblem on Agnes’ brooch:

“Wanda, we are usually so much of the same mind.”  OOF

Jimmy just GLEEFULLY marching in with coffee for his girlfriends and ONLY for his girlfriends

fukkin  HEXAGON >> HEX >> MAGIC >> SCARLET WITCH INCOMING YOOOOOOOOOOOO

NORM SNAPPING BACK INTO CHARACTER MID-EXISTENTIAL-CRISIS GOOD LOOORRRRDDDDD GIVE THIS MAN AN EMMY RIGHT MEOW

NOT WANDA INSTRUCTING HER CHILDREN ON THE IMPORTANCE OF RESPONSIBLE OWNERSHIP OF LIVING THINGS, AND THEN WATCHING HER SON MAKE THE DOG DO TRICKS AT HIS BIDDING -- LIKE MOTHER LIKE SON AMIRITE

So I don’t have a Unified Theory of Color for the WandaVision canon yet, but even a chump like me can pick out RBG:

somebodypleasejustellmewhatthegoddamnbirdsmean

I KNOW I’m insane, I’m totally not debating that, but “no joy” sounds a lot like it could have something to do with NJ, WestView, NJ.  W V, N J i mean I’m crazy, but it’s not not there

like okay, so IRL Wanda is still fully Sokovian, accent and all ... she had a tough life from a young age and I firmly cannot believe she spent any of that time watching mid-century American sitcoms so I STILL BELIEVE, AT THIS POINT, that we are being told that there is some other entity at least partially responsible for what’s going on here. 

like Monica said, I don’t think any of this was by Wanda’s design.  I think there’s a Wanda what done the grave robbery, and a Wanda what got whammied same as Monica did when she got stuck inside, the difference between Wanda-Wanda allowed to be in control somewhat and Monica getting overwritten as Geraldine being that Wanda has Mind Stone powers and that’s the root cause of all this reality-bending stuff (and the CMBR)

CASE IN POINT OF WANDA STARTING OUT AN INNOCENT AND INADVERTENTLY, OVER TIME, SLOWLY, WILLFULLY TAKING CONTROL ---

1) Vision suspects as much, and he’s perfect, so he’s probably right.

2) The nature of the female-empowerment agenda depicted in the mid-roll ads, where early on the Woman Character was subservient to the Man Character, and as of this week’s ad, the Man is comically infantilized while the Woman more or less has her shit together

3) FOR WHEN YOU MAKE A MESS YOU DIDN’T MEAN TO

Jezus you guys, the whole concept of the show using the gradual sophistication of the American television audience, as represented by the amalgam of the content it consumed in particular eras, to underscore Wanda’s own gradual journey from the vapid fiction of the post-war Dream Life to the slightly more heavy, but no less contrived fiction of the Perfect Family,,,,,,,,

AND THEN you have the ads, which also mirror the real-world marketing attitudes of the time

which also mirror Wanda and Vision’s personal histories to date

which also mirror the evolution of Wanda’s personal rise to power as depicted in this specific show

“Bring who back?” GOD there is an ELEPHANT in the ROOM and his name is VISION

Vision just BLUNTLY BRINGING UP THE FACT THAT WANDA IS RUINING EVERYONE’S LIVES LIEK WHAT ARE YOU DOING BRO

and then she ROLLS CREDITS ON HIM LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL GIRLBOSSSSSS

holy crap, 4th wall much???

WHY DID THEY AHVE TO BE IN THE AIR FOR THAT ARUGMENET I MEAN I’M NOT COMPLAINING BUT IT IS HILARIOUS AS ALL HELL

JEEEEEEZ so the reveal that all this is real people real stuff real place, and that this is Vision’s stone-cold corpse with a fresh new mind shoved inside of it -- he legit has no memory of the Before, because that wasn’t even him.  He’s just as trapped as anybody else, and Wanda is his domestic abuser !!!!!!

I HATE IT HERE

#WandaVision #a FERAL review #you have been warned #spoilers AHOY #aggressive use of CAPS AHOY #i have no mouth and i must scream

[simmancy]

ωєєкℓу ρℓαуℓιѕт - 02.09.20 🎧

oh god there’s so much kpop what do i listen to

Okay so every single girl group seems to be dropping something this month (and then BTS at the end of the month??? MADNESS)... So that’s literally all I’ve been listening to. Plus some other favorites for a girl group fun frenzy!

Linked are MVs for songs, if available.

# is the intro to LOONA’s lastest EP.

So What is... what might actually make me finally #stanloona. I have no idea what the lore is yet, but I’m into it...

even if the song feels like Dalla Dalla’s hotter cousin.

Nun Nu Nan Na is a debut track! It’s really cute... Weird, but cute! I like it. I’m pretty sure they namedropped JARVIS, though? A choice

Cool is by a lesser known group called BVNDIT. They’re from kpop soloist streaming giant Chungha’s company.... And this song is ENTIRELY in English.

HINAPIA was built from the remains of PRISTIN and there’s a lot of history that I don’t have enough hours to get into. Pristin was so poorly mishandled by their company... Anyway, several members left the company and redebuted with another new trainee under the name HINAPIA, and DRIP was their debut song! I’ve had the “1, 2, 3″ part of the song in my head for most of the week

WEE FUCKING WOO

When DRIP wasn’t in my head... HIP was. If you know even a little about kpop girl groups, you probably know Mamamoo. If not, then let me tell you that as far as girl groups go... It’s rare when all four members could be the main vocalist for a different group. Member Hwasa wrote this song, actually--probably a response to her “airport fashion” controversy (which is a nonissue, you do you Hwasa).

Okay, this was a weird pick but it’s also been in my head. Mermaid is... a song about sex. It’s a RATHER EXPLICIT sex song from most of Cube’s rappers at the time. I assume Hyuna and E’Dawn sat this song out because they were too busy actually boinking. They also say the line “girl I can be your prince and you can be my Ariel” and that just makes me die.

There’s a cool anecdote about Soyeon’s rap. She originally wrote it for Unpretty Rapstar. The prompt for the rap was “sticky” and she walked around for most of the day asking what the prompt could mean, what she was supposed to do, she was just a kid and barely understood... And then, when everyone’s guard was down and they were worried for her... Threw out a rap so vulgar that it had to be censored for television... Actually, anything from Soyeon on Unpretty Rapstar 3 was good.

....I didn’t want to tell everyone to stream ME by CLC again, so stream Devil by CLC. Support Seunghee on King of Masked Singer!!!!

Hey speaking of Jimin.... I’ve been relistening to NEW MOON a lot lately, and refound this song. Ninety Nine is... VERY catchy. I really like 5-member AOA.

and of course.... EVERGLOW continues their bid for Top New Girl Group with DUN DUN. It’s been stuck in my head for days!!! “you’re so done dundundun dundundundun dundundundundunduuuun....” 

Bonus track: this live cover of (G)I-dle singing LIGHT MY BODY UP because it’s great to hear Soyeon cover Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj and no I did not mistype any of this

#nonsims #tunes n jams #weekly playlist