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#Since they have basically nothing to do with each other in their respective organisations

starry-blue-echoes · 1 year

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I've had this idea marinating for a while please consider this: Assassin Mista AU!

Basically, Bucciarati wasn't the only one that Mista impressed with his headline stunt pre-canon. When he showed up to bust the kid out of prison, Bruno was expecting legal questions, not for the prison to tell him that Guido Mista didn't legally exist. Strange, as he'd made the news literally a month ago, but Bruno had already drained enough money from Polpo to get this far and couldn't risk further research, so he had to let the matter go.

So what happened to him?

Instead of being dragged into Passione, Mista was dragged into an organisation of Stand assassins! They function as almost a social network - you order a hit and submit your future victim's name, age, picture and last known location, and the organisation sends it to their hitmen to finish the job.

They offered Mista his freedom: they could erase his existence entirely, and work to pay back their investment at a steep interest, or he could rot in prison for the rest of his life. Not much of a choice, but at least he could chose what jobs to take, avoiding children and mothers as much as possible? It wasn't much - the pay was pitiful and the lifestyle worse, but Mista survived. Maybe not lived, but survived.

(side note, I don't know how different the pistols would be in this Au, maybe even more chaotic than canon, since he doesn't have the Bucci gang for comfort anymore!)

I can (and probably will) elaborate on how exactly this intersects with cannon, but long story short, EITHER Diavolo always planned to finish off the Bucci Gang after they delivered Trish to cover his tracks and couldn't send his usual hitman squad after them (for obvious reasons) so he just applied for outside help OR la Squadra hunted down the execution squad for murdering Gelato and Sorbet after declaring themselves traitors, and it forced his hand to extend his reach outside Passione.

Either way, even though it goes against so many of his personal self-imposed morals, the amount of Lira on offer is more than enough to pay off his debt and then some, so how can Mista pass this opportunity up?

Don't worry though! He still ends up joining the gang, although it takes a ruined opera, several explosions, a kidnapping, a mini stand battle and a phone call to do it! (not necessarily in that order)

OOOOOOOOOOOO ANGST THE GUN BOI 👀👀👀👀👀👀

I love the idea of Mista being an assassin. There's so much room for angst and pain and I adore it

for the Pistols, what if while they aren't much different from canon, Mista relies on them WAAAAAY more for emotional support. He talks to them regularly, more than he does Actual People, and sees them as fully separate beings. He lets the Pistols do what they please and doesn't even try to make them do things they don't want because excising the control he has over them makes him sick to his stomach. The Pistols also help him keep a grip on the morals he has left and get very vocal if he starts to toe the line

the Pistols both drive him up a wall and keep him sane. It's because of them he hasn't gone spiralling into a dark hole which he'd never be able to return from

and if I may bring another possibility for how Mista ends up tying into canon: what if he ends up befriending La Squadra and gets involved that way

his line of work meant he didn't have many friends. Everyone was competition, and if two assassins just to happened to be aiming for the same job? Well, it wasn't friendly fire if you aren't allies

but well..... Mista's on Passione territory. It was only a matter of time before he ended up crossing paths

and maybe at first they're enemies. It's just bad blood and insults every time they meet, but their ties to their respective organisations prevent them from Dealing with the opposition out of fear of retaliation. Slowly, this leads to a tolerance of each other, maybe a silent acknowledgment when passing in the street, which then leads to coexistence and nothing more than annoyed words when they take the same jobs

but then this slowly opens avenues for partnerships. More dangerous jobs become possible, there have allies outside their immediate circle to call on, the Squadra get access to more information and jobs outside of Passione work, Mista gets a place to crash on the nights he can't afford rent and a warm meal when he doesn't have time to cook

for the first time in nearly a year, Mista finally gets to feel companionship from another human again

but of course....... then Sorbet and Gelato are killed

and Mista was tired. Tired of killing, tired of getting hurt, tired of awful living conditions, tired of making it to the next day by the skin of his teeth

so when the Squadra ask him if he'd like to join them in overthrowing the Boss, for the first time since he'd gotten them Mista ignores the Pistols warnings and goes in

this is his last job, he thinks. After they take over Passione, he'll be able to pay off his debts and live a simple, quiet life far away from anyone or anything that could ever hurt him

it's either that, or die trying

(what he wasn't expecting was for everything to go sideways and have a total of Two(2) found families at the end of it all and for a man with blue eyes and black hair to recognise him)

(ofc this is just a suggestion my brain ran away with, your idea for how canon ties in is VERY tasty as well)

#listen people getting involved with the squadra will never not be one of my favorite things <3 #initial thoughts #reluctant cutthroat #jjba #jojo’s bizarre adventure #golden wind #jjba part 5 #jjba mista #guido mista #sex pistols #jjba bucciarati #bruno bucciarati #la squadra #bucci gang #jjba diavolo #diavolo #sb answers #anon

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melaschnie · 3 years

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[Here are some tips and things to keep in mind for going back to uni this autumn! I know that some (me included) have already started going to school/uni in person again, but I think for a lot of people the next semester is still a few weeks away and this might be helpful :)]

[the transcript is below the cut]

Going back to uni after lockdown

What effects has social distancing for over 1.5 years had on us?

Being isolated from our social circle and having little to no social life comes with many negative psychological effects, such as exhaustion, anxiety, irritability, poor concentration, or symptoms of depression.

Being isolated for so long also negatively affects our social connectedness, which is one of the most important factors that influence psychological well-being.

1: Keeping up with current regulations / safety measures

Just because we will finally be able to get back to uni for lectures sadly doesn’t mean that the pandemic is over. So make a point to still keep up with federal and local rules.

Your university will most likely have its own rules on what is allowed on campus, e.g., you might only be allowed to sit at a table with two people. Because the number of people who are allowed to attend a lecture in person might be limited, make sure to regularly check your student e-mail for updates on what your university has planned for the upcoming semester!

2: Checking in and reaching out to others

For some, staying at home might have been relaxing, while others experienced it as very stressful (e.g. due to family). What you can do to help others move forward, as a first step to ease back into socialising, is reach out to them. Maybe you can go and have lunch together sometime soon!

There might be people you haven’t spoken to since the beginning of the pandemic, but who says that you won’t enjoy spending time with them now as much as you did then?

If you are hesitant about conversation being awkward just remember: everyone will understand, you are not alone in this.

3: Reframing of negative thoughts

When reaching out to people, not getting an immediate response is always a possibility. Maybe there still isn’t one a week later. Did I annoy them? Do they not want anything to do with me?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone with those thoughts. Sometimes it is better to take a step back and ask yourself if there is a concrete reason for your worries. Are you overanalysing the situation? Most likely the slow response has nothing to do with you at all! Just send a follow-up text and be patient - who knows what’s currently going on in the other person’s life.

4: Easing back into socialising

After a long time of not meeting in person, many people experience socialising as incredibly exhausting. You can limit this by taking small consistent steps before going back to university, for example: texting, (video) calls, meeting another person for a limited time (e.g., lunch), spending an evening with a group of friends.

Just remember to be patient with yourself (and others!) and don’t try to push too hard too fast. By gradually building up to meeting larger groups of people, you can avoid being overwhelmed on the first day back at university, but it is fine if you still feel that way - everyone experiences this situation differently.

5: Be mindful and respect boundaries

This is something that applies as much to yourself as it does to others. Everyone was affected differently by the pandemic, so it is important to be mindful of others’ boundaries. If they are not comfortable sitting together closely during a break, that’s fine.

Don’t be hesitant to communicate it if you’re the one who is uncomfortable in a situation; just like you should respect others’ feelings, they should respect yours and act accordingly.

Tip: To make sure everyone knows who is fine with what in terms of closeness, you could clarify it via text first to avoid awkward situations.

6: Open and honest conversation

You have heard it before and you will hear it again: conversation is key. Make it an open and honest conversation, so you can be sure that everyone is on the same page.

Talking about your concerns openly will help relieve the anxiety that you or others might be dealing with. It also increases social support because others will probably be experiencing similar feelings. You’ll be there to reassure each other along the way and find solutions for what worries you.

7: Social and institutional support

If you are feeling like you need someone to talk to apart from your friends or family, take a look at your university’s website! Some offer free counselling sessions to their students. Also, student organisations in your city can often provide you with a direct contact to a psychologist or psychiatrist if the need arises.

Take them up on these offers, these people are being paid to help you to the best of their abilities. Sometimes, opening up to a stranger is easier than anything else.

8: Don’t forget about the basics!

And then there are the things you should always do before going back to uni. Do you need to look for a job? Get new books? New stationery? Do it.

Many students also need to move back to the city they are studying in. After a long time of living in a different place, for example, if you’ve moved back in with your parents, it can be time-consuming to pack everything back up or look for a new place to live in.

Give yourself enough time before classes start again, so you don’t end up more stressed than you already are!

9: Help maintain a safe environment

Lastly, there are three general things you can do to help maintain a safe learning environment for everyone:

1. If you can, go and get vaccinated!

2. If you can’t (yet), please consider getting tested regularly.

3. Wear a mask and wash your hands.

(Obviously, all three points depend on a lot of other factors, such as incidence numbers, how many people are already vaccinated, or your country’s policy on offering tests to the population. This is not meant to pressure you into anything, these are simply things that have been proven to help keep virus transmission to a minimum.)

Thank you for reading! I hope everyone stays safe and has a great start of the new semester!

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gothicmobster · 2 years

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What are the guys in Blush Blush love languages?

Nimh's love language is acts of service. Since he is still nervous about telling you how much he loves you, despite the two of you already dating, he demonstrates his love for you by doing your chores or errands. Sometimes it isn't just that; he would make your lunch or cook you a meal, organise your work email/messages, re-stock your fridge/pantry, or refuel your car, and the list goes on. If you happen to be afraid to make any appointments or take any calls, he is your life saver and will relay the message to you once he is finished. And if you're worried that this is too much, nothing is too much for the bunny man, and he wouldn't have done it in the first place if it was.

Volks's love language is quality time. Remember how he asks you, in the game, about wanting to stare at you in a busy café for an hour? Yeah, this is basically it. Of course, he knows that you will get bored of going to the same café, so he does try to make it interesting. He probably means that he will take you on a rollercoaster and hopes that you will have the same excitement as he does. If you are not interested in that and would rather cuddle him in total silence, he will be a little eh about it but will still go through it. As long as you are not bothered by him staring at you and not saying much, he will be fine.

Kelby's love language is physical touch. This man loves you unconditionally and wants you to know it. He doesn't seem too touchy at first, but he will find a way to touch you. Do you remember how he said he wanted to wrestle you by putting his arm around you and counting to 500? Yeah, he's planning on doing something similar. If, however, you tell him that you don't mind him touching you, you will receive your daily kissing and cuddling subscription. If you lie on his lap, he always plays with your hair, or he just melts into you when you hold each other, not planning to let go anytime soon.

Edit (26/02/2022): I decided to re-write this as I didn't like the old layout. I hope the newer version is better and, as always, all feedback or criticism is welcome as long as you're being respectable about it!

#nimh blush blush #volks blush blush #kelby blush blush #blush blush #blush blush game #blush blush headcanon #headcanon #writing

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lifewithdavefarts · 3 years

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DaveFarts - Episode 13 “When She Finally Leaves” [Episode List] Dana spends the whole day at Dave’s place. When the girl leaves, Tim, who’s now Dave’s roommate, finds out how much gas a man can hold in just to not look gross in front of a girl.

When She Finally Leaves

In the last few weeks I’ve been spending more and more nights at Dave’s place, whether because I needed a place to work, write my essays, or simply to spend some quality time watching bad films and drinking beer. It was Dave himself to ask me to “marry him” (as he jokingly put it), basically becoming official roommates, which also meant dividing our tasks and obviously splitting the rent.

And honestly we were having a great time. We both had jobs, fortunately, which were not much but they did pay taxes for now and it was overall a great experience. Friend or not, Dave is an excellent roommate, being pretty good at cooking and organising chores; the same could be said for me actually, though in some cases we have our own preferences; for example Dave prefers cooking (the fact that I’m bad at it it’s purely coincidental) so we agreed I’ll be the one doing the dishes.

We also had our buds crashing over what is now *our* place a couple of times, which resulted in more bad films and beer, or even nerd stuff such as gaming together. Of course however, the person who most often came over is obviously Dana, Dave’s girlfriend. She’s pretty cool though we don’t really hang out with her when Dave’s not around, though as I said she’s pretty easy-going.

Tonight we’ve been watching a trash movie. Yes, the three of us. Don’t worry, I was a welcome addition today. Dave would usually just tell me to leave for a few hours if sex was on the table (sometimes literally on the table, the one where we eat our food…) as we respect each others enough to just be straightforward whenever we needed some privacy. Tonight however it was just chilling like three friends hanging out together (knowing however that Dave would just give me a signal should things get more heated up you know).

We were in the living room. I was on an armchair, working on my laptop, despite the poor wi-fi. On the long wide couch beside me, Dave and Dana chilling and watching the movie with more attention than me, my bud’s left arm around his girlfriend, sometimes making remarks on how bad it was. We all had a can of beer, because of course we did.

The couple brought some takeouts for dinner, some fast-food a few blocks from here (Dana’s idea, actually, which we were both thankful for). Dave, chilling next to Dana, was wearing his signature casual outfit: a grey shirt and pair of dark blue loose jeans, details that my gay-ass eyes immediately noticed and more than once stared at.

“Oh wow the helicopter just blew up I’m speechless.” Dave said, sarcastically.

“A Subversive Masterpiece: that’s what they were going for when they wrote this.” Dana added, and they both chuckled.

I also did my fair share of sarcastic remarks though work got most of my attention, even though it was nothing urgent, just me trying to get some stuff done as fast as possible.

“Did the shark just wink at him?” my bro commented.

“They’re best friends now.” his girlfriend explained. What a great film.

After 15 more minutes the movie ended with the three of us clapping at a shot of a man and a shark exchanging a look of gratitude to each other, as the Sun set into the never-ending ocean. Drugs played a big role into the making of this move I’m 100% sure.

“Well, that was enlightening, but I gotta head back home. The Uber’s almost here.” Dana said, as she got up and reached for her purse and some other stuff.

“You’re really sure about that? Come on, stay here for the night.” Dave suggested. “I taught Tim to play dead. We can throw food at him.” he then joked.

“I can also bring you the newspaper upstairs, tomorrow morning.” I played along.

Dana chuckled in response. “I’m sure you’ll win the next contest you two, but I gotta wake up super early tomorrow.”

The couple walked towards the front door. The entrance was next to the living room, a few steps behind the couch. Dave and I sometimes darkly joked that any assassin could easily ambush us because whenever we’re on the couch anyone could sneak into the house behind us, with enough care (we then prefer to drink about it).

“Call me when you get home.” Dave said and the two shared a quick kiss.

In the meantime I moved on the bigger (and more comfortable) couch, more or less in Dana’s spot, as I also have better wi-fi reception there. I left my laptop on the small table in front of me because apparently all of my laptops have to be shitty and take some time to even the most basic stuff. As I inspected the wi-fi icon flashing on the screen, I heard Dave shutting the door and walking back to the couch. After a few steps his tall figure was already towering over me.

“Yeah the reception is pretty bad lately.” he commented, and then collapsed next to me.

Only a few seconds and he already had that well-known smirk drawn on his face; he then quickly adjusted his position. He completely laid down, extended his demin-clad legs, with his left one resting on the back of the couch, ending right behind my neck. In a moment, Dave ended up showing off his loose, almost-sagging jeans-clad ass directly next to me, as his legs trapped me into a gentle yet strong grip. Seeing both that “wall” made of jeans and my bro’s smirk at the same time was a sight I never truly got used to. He was just lying there, next to me, with his ass pointed at me, as if it was one big prank, even though he knew exactly how much I enjoyed that.

“Bro you’re ready?” he asked, still sporting that smirk.

When even Dave goes as far as asking me if I’m ready, then I knew that the fart was going to be gargantuan. And I realized why: Dana has been with us and my bro the entire day, so it’s possible that Dave just held all of his gas in for hours. We all experienced this, then when the girl leaves, men get to “relax”. Other than that, Dave had tons of beer and junk food. I stared at that denim butt, for the first time almost scared of what my bud was capable of; I knew a fart was coming, and I knew it was going to be big.

But what Dave said next really once again confirmed how chill he is around me.

“Believe me: you might want to get closer for this one.” he said, laughing a bit.

He sported weirdly reassuring smile, Dave’s millionth attempt at saying “It’s ok, Tim.” as he probably noticed now nervous I became when he assumed that pose.

The teasing bastard then went full bully on me and simply reached for my head with his long right arm and gently pulled me down, as if I was bowing to that still silent denim-clad ass. I just heard him laugh like an idiot, as it usually happens. Despite my head being down and in front of that ass, I could still see Dave’s face and that smirk. He raised his eyebrows and half-closed his eyes as he started pushing, but he didn’t need to put all that effort into ripping that blast.

It’s like the fart was barely contained in the first place: it immediately exploded with a loud sound right into my face. Dave closed his eyes and kept his smirk as the blast probably surprised him as well. It was low-pitched and dry, a completely natural gas-eruption that sounded like an engine. The stench was unbearable, a mixture of beer and junk food, surprise to no one.

While farting, Dave adjusted his position as bit, spreading his legs bit more, with my face getting almost planted into that denim-clad butt as he effortlessly kept ripping that immense flatulence. Hours and hours of gas being erupted as if I was in front of a dormant volcano that just woke up. And I feared that “hours” was what he was going for ‘cause after 20 seconds the fart didn’t even lose power.

Dave still had this smirk drawn on his face and occasionally stared down at me as he completely destroyed my face and nose with his incredible farting skills, skills that constantly let me speechless, fetish or not. He was the fart master, a showoff with a manly talent that I could only bow to and endure in the hop-

“Sorry, I forgot my house keys.”

The fart immediately stopped and it all went silent: It was Dana.

Dave turned his head to his girlfriend, greeting her with the stupidest smile you can think of.

“Oh stay there no worries, they’re right here.” I heard Dana say as she reached for keys, probably hanging right next to the door, my face still almost planted in my friend’s denim ass. That felt surreal.

I completely froze (not that I could move) but I knew that she couldn’t see me (just like I couldn’t see her) as I was lying down. All she could see from where she was standing was Dave’s head and his right leg resting on the back of the couch, since the entrance was behind our couch.

I was terrified, while Dave was doing his best not laugh like an idiot.

“What’s so funny?” Dana asked, laughing a bit herself, definitely noticing her boyfriend being weird.

My teasing bro quickly glanced down at me, almost losing it (and still holding holding the fart in, which didn’t stop the smell from burning my nostrils).

“N-nothing’” he stuttered. That’s it, he was gonna laugh like an idiot.

“Okay” I heard Dana, not really convinced of the boyfriend’s answer though.

There was a moment of awkward silence and then we heard a car honk, thank goodness.

“Oh… it’s my Uber. Bye!” the girl said, quickly leaving the house and shutting the door behind her.

Another moment of silence followed, Dave still staring at the entrance. I was shaking, I was legitimately scared that someone was gonna find out, which was weird given the hotness I was experiencing in that moment, even without the fart being ripped.

“Ok… where were we?” Dave asked, turning back to me, with a smirk. “Oh yeah!”

And he effortlessly resumed farting, just as loud, proud and powerful as it was before the interruption, directly into my face. The terror I experienced moments before was blown away by that incredibly blast and me being rock-hard, as it usually happens when Dave showoffs his gassy talent around me, or on me.

Dozens of seconds passed and at this point Dave just played along. He nodded at me, faking a serious expression, as if he was listening to something actually interesting instead of his own loud fart still going on strong; after about ten more seconds he checked the time on his wrist-watch and acted surprised, then stared down at me as if he wanted to say “damn that is long!”. We both however actually lost the track of time and he simply relaxed as if I wasn’t even in front of his ass, all while the fart was still being blasted in my face.

Dave then reached for my head again and gently pushed it inches closer to his roaring ass, and I felt the vibrations of his rip all over my face: it was literally an earthquake.

How long was it lasting? More than 1 minute perhaps? How much gas can a man hold in? Dave certainly was pushing for a record. All I knew is that I felt privileged witnessing that, even though I was beyond being a mere witness since no particle of gas missed my eyes and nostrils.

However (finally, actually), the fart seemingly started to lose power, the once-continuous sound starting to “stutter” and turning more into a fast series of loud farts, fired back-to-back. The show (because that’s what it was: a show) ended with a loud, 5 seconds blast, and Dave’s laughter.

I slowly got up, sweaty, my nose burning, with a startled look to which my bro reacted with another immature cackle. I was now sitting next to him as I was before, and looked back at my bud, who in the meantime re-adjusted his pose. He was still lying down, still kind of showing off his loose-sagging ass, but in a less “menacing” way: now he was just chilling.

“When’s Dana coming over again?” I joked. I mustered all the courage I had left to say that. I was impressed by the fact that I could still speak considering that all of my blood probably flooded my boner at that point.

Dave laughed at that lame joke, thank goodness. “As if I need Dana to blast you like this.”

He raised one leg, again showing off his sagging denim ass in my direction. He quickly sucked some air in and after a few moments and weird noises a loud 6 seconds fart erupted. For his standards, that’s basically a weak one.

My friend just casually joking and bragging about facefarting me and then farting on command to prove it made me lose it, as I felt my boner… dampening. He didn’t notice it but he knew that I had a hard-on, that’s for sure.

I didn’t want to just rush into the bathroom so I just stared at my laptop, still on the table, in front of me: the wi-fi signal was stronger than ever. I jokingly like to think that Dave’s blast was so powerful it actually influenced the signal somehow and improved it.

I turned to my bud, still lying on his side of the couch, just checking his phone and being… casually hot.

“Thanks man.” I said, not for the wi-fi though.

He lowered his phone, revealing a blank reaction “Really?” he said, rolling his eyes, with a bored expression. “Stop being cringe and do the dishes.”

Fuck, I totally forgot about those. We had takeout food but we still used some of our dishes. I immediately got up and rushed to the kitchen, hoping that Dave was distracted by his phone enough to not notice by boner through my sweatpants.

Once in the kitchen, a place that wasn’t tainted by Dave’s gas, my nostrils could still feel my bro’s fart-stench. That’s how soaked up in his gas I was. Even my ears needed some time to adjust to the silence, now that I didn’t have a deafening fart being ripped right into my skull.

And I just knew that this wasn’t the last time this was gonna happen. I’m Dave’s roommate, and being roomies means we have to divide our tasks: he’s the farter, I’m the sniffer.

End of Episode 13

#fart story #eproctophilia #fartkink #davefarts2 #gayfart #malefarts

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ninjawarrior100 · 3 years

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Luna’s achieved goal and the aftermath with Tanner? (Fiction Theory)

Luna got the file with the information about the Blueblood Killer from Tanner who seemed to be very impressed with her hard work and determination.

It’s a bit pity that we don’t know what happens after Tanner injected her again. All in all, there’s a cliffhanger with an open end of “Scrutinized”.

I’m really asking myself if there could be any DLC or a concrete sequel where we would know the real ending of Luna’s tale in the WTTG universe.Though this might be answered in “Welcome to the Game: Online” where everyone is included besides Luna and Tanner like Clint, the Doll Maker, the Noir or (for sure) Adam himself aswell.

It would be interesting to know who the BBK is and also how Luna will find him and if there would be any dialogue between Luna and him about his victims and her cousin.

Nevertheless, at some point it was said it’s a remained mystery if the BBK is a man or a woman because no one know his or her face. I personally think it would be somehow unsettling and suprising at once if it would be a female and also to know if there is a proper background story or another explanation of his or her motives.

Tanner is also someone who wouldn’t leave Luna on her own because in the very end his last words were: “Until next time ... Luna.” which contain surely an aftermath in the future between these both important characters.

This now may sound like a fanfiction-theory but what if Luna and Tanner must cooperate with each other because of an more important win-win situation?

At first, I thought that Luna and Tanner would work together to find the BBK like Katara and Zuko did to find the murderer of her mother. Somehow this might be interesting but I’m not fully convinced that Tanner would change his whole attitude because of Luna and become somehow really caring instead always being ... just Tanner from “Scrutinized”.

We don’t know if Adam really cared that much achieving the information of the BBK or not but if he might care a lot and asks Tanner about his task to find the information which he might denies or tries to explain that Luna was quicker than him. A much worser scenario would be if Adam finds out that Tanner was the one who gave Luna the file and didn’t fulfill his task and that could Adam judge as a betrayal and because of that Tanner could be kicked out of Adam’s organisation.

After all, Tanner stated to Luna that he has indebted himself to Adam which means he did (maybe never) want to work for him voluntarly. Like I’ve assumed in my previous theory post about Tanner role he might have indebted himself to him because he might had one single victim and Adam was the help he needed to escape, although the police is looking out for him.

Because of the betrayal conspiracy Adam will want to punish Tanner and there could be different options such as sending the whole information about Tanner to the police so he might get caught.

An another thought might be that Adam wants to see Tanner’s anxiety and slow process of self-control if he set a bounty on him, so every antagonist would hunt him. Yes, this might remind you of “John Wick: Chapters 2 & 3″.

Anyways, Tanner could easily become the quarry himself among his former colleagues and even if he always seems so cheerful, this might change him into a serious and strained person aka his other characteristic side.

What role would Luna take in this whole situation which is basically about him and his former decision to help her?

I personally think that they both have nothing in common in a romantic way (if the developers confirm so, it would be a bit strange but I’m neither against this). There could be a new win-win situation or better to say “a deal”.

I don’t know if Luna would find out about the bounty of Tanner or he would tell her personally again within a tensed atmosphere (like kidnapping her again if his hideout is still save or he might get in her house again). This might lead to an intensive talk between the pro- and antagonist of the previous plot.

Luna might be also a target for the hunters if Adam would find out about her or he would know that there is a person who got the information from Tanner.

So both,Luna and Tanner, would become the hunted.

There, my second thought was a “deal” which they could arrange. Luna must help Tanner but I’m not sure in which way (to beat Adam and his whole squad or to find a save place for him with her computer skills). In return, Tanner might promise to somehow distract Adam and the hunters ... But that’s a point which I can’t tell for sure.

I think we all are interested to find more about the characters of this universe which we might will in the future game or never will, but Tanner is somehow a vibing and a very popular anatgonist like Eddie Gluskin from “Outlast Whistleblower” in 2014 was. It would be great if the developers would some day release his personal information beside his surname “Grayton” like age, height, the truth about the asumption if he’s a cannibal or not and the most important: his background story.

Tanner is a young man who is in his late 20′s or in his 30′s and beside his good looking appearance, it remains unknown if he’s an actual doctor or chemist because of his former quote “I’m no master chemist”.

It’s also somehow funny and unsettling at once how fast Tanner is. If you look closer, Tanner isn’t running ordinary but doing jump steps and he seems to have a great stamina although he’s smoking. This might mean he was in the army or he’s just good sports man. And we might (never) know his motives or reasons for his psycho character (he might have been like that since his birth or some event changed him dramatically which I assume is not the case). And we might (never) know his feelings towards Luna besides high respect.

It would be ineteresting to see Tanner and Luna cooperate and becoming closer and develop a (small) friendship. They might travel through the country to find more evidences or trying to hide. Sometimes there were car sounds and plane sounds aswell during the game. I assume that the kidnapper did use the plan and Tranner the car ... So he might have one.

Adam might could have the idea to get Luna to let her decide ... like Clint from WTTG 2 had to ...

A decision which is all about deciding if she wants to save her life by telling where Tanner is or worser taking the decision in front of Tanner to sacrafice him. The other decision might be that she must pass so Tanner would be free and he would be out of his debt and Adam might use her like Amelia. Somehow, Tanner would want that Luna should decide against him because “he likes her that much”, but Luna might also feel for him pity because of the developed “friendship” or “sympathy” because of his former aware decision to risk his work for her giving her the BBK file.

Well, this is only my theory which is more fictional, yes I know, but I do hope that the future game would have answers about the BBK, not only Tanner’s but about the other’s lores and a clear ending (if it’ll be the last game of this universe).

#scrutinized #scrutinized tanner #tanner grayton #luna youngman #welcome to the game #welcome to the game online #reflectstudios #theories #fiction

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oftenderweapons · 3 years

Text

Introducing the girlfriends: the looks.

Hello puppets! In this post I’d like to show how I imagine the OC Girlfriends in terms of face and looks, mostly in terms of fashion.

I won’t state how many times my self esteem abandoned the conversation as I made this post, so let me do a disclaimer before I make y’all suffer with me (sorry). These pictures come from my Pinterest board called “Simply incredible people”, which contains mostly photos of people that have very unique facial traits and that I use for reference. Now, ALL OF THESE ARE MODELS. They were photographed BECAUSE after hours of makeup and hair and clothes chosen perfectly for them, a set made up specifically to enhance their good looks, a fair bit of photoshop and unfairly good genetics they were put in the position of being beautified. Don’t think that these gorgeous folks are The Thing: I picked them because of specific reasons explained under each picture, and in my opinion all the guys are pretty far from dating perfect young women with perfectly symmetrical features and flawless complexion and... all of that. However, yes, in my mind they date regular, “unbeautified” versions of these women. If your self esteem can’t handle disgustingly beautiful models, then please, don’t open the “read more”. Also, you’re absolutely free to keep imagining your ideal girls and not check out this post, no hard feelings ✌️😘

However, if — like me — you are incredibly attracted to girls with pretty unique facial features, then do open. If you’ like girls, I’m sorry, you might have one (or more) new crush(es) after this post.

Now, all of the girls have Asian traits — because according to my plots and headcanons, (which you can find in my masterlist) the guys have always met their s/o while in Seoul/Korea and also because I’ve always imagined the girls Asian. However, I’m not saying that they like these specific types or looks, or that they’ll end up with a person with traditionally Asian traits: I am simply assuming in statistic terms. Also, since I write memberxFem!reader, they’re obviously all girls.

I only know two of the people inserted here (that is Vixen and Kitten). I might have accidentally inserted someone famous, however that was not my intention. Also, the girls have been chosen exclusively for facial features: there is no shipping going on between real people here.

After this lengthy introduction, let me move on to the real deal.

In case you need my masterlist, here it is! (Remember to vote for next prompt!!! Link in bio 🥰)

Enjoy✨💜

Vixen - (Namjoon)

— The face —

Baby face: yes

Doll lips: yes

Very intense, borderline scary, November-baby glance: yes.

This is Vixen, with her baby cheeks, her sharp, refined looks and a doll-like face that mixes innocence and seduction. Top that with deep red lipstick and artsy jewellery. Her eyes show ten thousand different feelings and her face is suitable for acting, being extremely expressive: every little sensation and emotion can be found in a quirk of the mouth or an arching of the eyebrow, a little curl of the nose or a pursing of her lips.

— The Look —

Total black winter look, basic and classy, thigh-high boots for her long legs, simple, plain bags and purses, and finally a long coat to keep her warm over her dresses usually characterised by a high neck and a generous slice of leg. But don’t let that fool you: her favourite looks are oversized sweaters stolen from Namjoon’s wardrobe — that obviously fit like dresses on her —, fluffy woolen tights or stockings and comfy shoes when they go on breakfast dates, but also thick jumpers, large jeans and comfy sneakers when they go for walks and bike trips.

Angel (Seokjin)

— The Face —

Traditional Korean Beauty: yes

Big eyes: yes

Soft pink lips: yes

Angel is the definition of Korean Beauty, looking young and innocent. She could easily have the face of an idol, with the purest of charms. And her cute bangs... yes.

— The Look —

Even though her job requires a total black look, which often means pretty flats, black trousers and a turtleneck, in her free time she likes wearing preppy looks, with lots of plaid prints and cute dresses that match Korean standards, with not-too-revealing necklines and a skirt that hits just above the knee. Match it all with cute, warm coats and small bags.

Kitten (Yoongi)

— The Face —

Intimidating look: yes

Angular jaw: yes

Plush lips: yes

Kitten has angular, almost aggressive facial features, characterised mostly by the rectangular shape of her face and her jaw, and quite jutting cheekbones. She has a rough, tough beauty which can be difficult to understand but absolutely charming to observe.

— The Look —

Another one with total black, but unlike Vixen, who likes coloured clothes once winter ends, Kitten keeps the black look all year round, inserting tiny splashes of colours with accessories and jackets. Expect a lot of turtlenecks and blazers for her work attire, but also fancy shirts for more elegant occasions, mostly silk blouses that offer a generous view of her bosom.

Giggles (Hoseok)

— The Face —

Strawberry blonde: yes

Freckles: yes

Too cute: yes

I’ve always imagined Giggles with a mop of messy reddish-blonde hair, may it be natural or dyed. I know the combo is pretty rare; still, she’s a fictional character so... a girl can dream.

— The Look —

A vintage mess of prints. She messes around with flowers and stripes and plaids and colours. You could most definitely spot her in a crowd. Even when she’s working (remember she’s a vet), she has very colourful scrubs and bright coloured clogs/nurse shoes. Overall too cute and tiny for her good, her being so small makes it easy for her to shop in the children department and find even more coloured, fancy prints.

Princess (Jimin)

— The Face —

Overall cute: yes

Gaze to command a photo shoot: yes

Borderline scary both in terms of beauty and power: yes

This small girl has the power to supervise everything, you can read it on her face (remember she works for a fashion magazine and organises photoshoots). Sheer calculating, organising force. And with a gaze like that, ready to make you wither and die were you to deny her, you see specifically why I chose her.

— The Look —

Smart attire, comfortable flats or slippers to dash from a place to another. Comfy, fashionable, practical. She’s always on a rush from an appointment to the other and she uses bags big enough to hold a skirt and a pair of heels in case she needs more elegant attire for a last-minute evening appointment in fashionable clubs and restaurants. She’s more than happy to play Barbie for Jimin, letting him choose how to dress her.

Lace (Taehyung)

— The Face —

Louder big dick energy than your ex: yes

A neck to die for: yes

Eclectic charm: yes

Honestly, I think Lace is too particular — strange even — to find someone who could possibly embody her. What made me pick this specific woman was her very incisive choice in clothing and accessories, but I’ll update her sooner or later, I think. As me and my friend said: you don’t find Lace, is Lace that finds you. (Also, if anyone has a Lace to suggest, please send links 💖)

— The Look —

Black tight dresses, all the time. Tight pencil skirts and anything that screams Fifties housewife; lots of robes, unusual cuts and premium fabrics — she is a designer and lingerie maker, after all. She doesn’t follow trends, she makes them. She is literally one of those people who looks good even with the most hideous, unfashionable things on. However, the moment she wears a silk slip dress, her power intensifies by a few thousand times — do not expect Taehyung not to get weak in the knees. In the house she’s absolutely comfortable wearing a robe with nothing underneath — and sometimes she doesn’t even tie it close. Taehyung is perfectly okay with that.

Candy (Jungkook)

— The Face —

Biggest smile: yes

Cutest lil nose: yes

Very squishable: yes

The small happy bean is a very gentle bean too. She is a graphic designer and a cartoon artist and it shows in her whole being, even in her facial features. I imagine her hair not too long, soft and wavy — though the most valuable asset to Jk is their scent. And look at those sweater(shirt) paws!!! Adorable.

— The Look —

First rule of Candy and Jk’s relationship is “my flannel shall be thy flannel”. Their wedding rings will probably be flannel shirts. Candy likes to pull them off with oversized sweats or coloured jeans. She also wears oversized sweaters — probably stolen from Jk’s wardrobe — together with leggins and mid-calf socks, especially since her workplace is not too strict with dresscode. She likes oversized and layered fits, using light cotton shirts and tank tops in the summer and fleece/flannel shirt and warm woolen turtlenecks in winter. Comfort always comes first. Expect her to use biker shorts and giant T-shirts and bulky shoes in the summer on her spare time.

An extra — since I’m sooooo gay for these two

Sora Choi and Yoon Young Bae are the two models that I immediately spotted respectively for Kitten and Vixen and the fact that they posed together made me super soft (I literally fell in love with both of them). Oh also!!! Yoon has posted on her insta the sweetest picture of her with a snow bear and it was like... a sign, but also so endearing and I’M SMITTEN, HEAD TO TOE IN LOVE WITH THIS SMALL CUTE LIL POTATO. She’s a cutie and Sora has the prettiest smile I swear to God I’d give the world for these two. *bisexuality upgrades*

Did you imagine them differently? Are there any of the girls that match or challenge your ideas? Leave your impressions in the comments!!! 😚☺️

#introducing the girlfriends #bts blog #bts headcanons #bts scenario #namjoon x vixen #jin x angel #yoongi x kitten #hoseok x giggles #jimin x princess #taehyung x lace #jungkook x candy

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kreept12 · 3 years

Text

So I saw a The Good Place AU on ao3, rewatched the show and I had so many ideas for a different take on it like seriously !

So here's a bunch of the ideas I had bc I'm losing my mind at this

First of all : Warning, there's gonna be spoilers of season 1 and probably 2 of the show, please go watch it it's so good and funny.

So all the class are residents, except Tsumugi and Kiibo. Kiibo is the equivalent of Janet. Welcome to The Good Place, yaddy yaddy, except there are 3 bad apples : Ryoma, Maki and Kokichi.

Each one of them are given an identity that isn’t theirs and they’re trying to pull it off, for a while at least. When the day after their arrival chaos happen and they find themselves the only one without the “emergency suit”, Ryoma decide to tell Tsumugi and Kiibo, but Maki and Kokichi saw that he was a fraud too and kept him from giving himself away, because right now Tsumugi and Kiibo don’t know what’s causing all the chaos, but if Ryoma gives himself away, is sent to The Bad Place but chaos is still happening, they will know the other two are here. Ryoma ask them what’s their plan then, which Maki says they try to blend in. Try to BE good people. Kokichi doesn’t believe one bit of this but act like he does to convince Ryoma. And so begin their journey to becoming good people.

(more under the cut cause it’s kinda long)

Here a list of the soulmates btw (not ship, most of them are made for plot purpose)

Suichi Saihara | Kaede Akamatsu

Kaito Momota | Maki Harukawa

Tenko Chabashira | Korekiyo Shinguji

Ryoma Hoshi | Kirumi Tojo

Kokichi Ouma | Gonta Gokuhara

Himiko Yumeno | Miu Iruma

Angie Yonaga | Rantaro Amami

But it turns out that trying to be a good person isn’t necessary instinctual for them, Ryoma is the one doing well but oh boy the other two are messes. Maki keeps menacing other people and her polite smile is so forced even Gonta knows it’s fake. Kokichi just keeps making pranks on the other residents because there’s no harm in a little prank (he just had problem adjusting to this new group and hates that he likes some of them so he pranks them so they get away from him and he doesn’t have to be vulnerable around them.)

Ryoma ends up sitting them down after a few days and telling them they need help. So they debate about who would be the best fit. They end up with Korekiyo, mostly because he studies human and they guess moral are part of humen so maybe he knows the best way to be a good person, plus the guy is lonely most of the time, doesn’t gossip and creepily study and takes note of the other residents.

They ask him and he accepts. He takes it as a new way to study human behaviour in a field he didn’t specialize during his life. (btw, here the characters are aged-up, they’re in their 20s so they can have more Life Knowledge:TM:). They chose to meet up at Korekiyo’s house to study because his soulmate, Tenko, hates his gut and never comes to visit; while the other three have way too caring soulmates that comes to visit them on a daily basis (Kaito being the more insistant, Gonta and Kirumi try to respect their personal boundaries but still, the gang doesn’t want to be interrupted by them, so at Korekiyo’s it is.

A little more about Tenko and Korekiyo. When Tsumugi introduced them to each other, Tenko was out of her mind. First, she’s a lesbian, second, she finds Korekiyo super creepy and has a bad feeling about him, worst than all other degenerate male she ever met (nevermind the fact that she says this every time she meets a new guy). Korekiyo is also unpleased by this arrangement, mainly because she’s a bit much for him. Tsumugi says soulmates aren’t always romantic, they can also take form in a strong companionship. Both are still skeptical when she leaves and basically avoid each other. Korekiyo also asked Tsumugi about other neighboorhood and if visiting is possible, since he would like to see his sister.

(Little point here, I doubt Korekiyo might be a serial killer here, he might have thought about it but never acted on it. He’s still pretty fucked up by the abuse his sister made him go through, but he also doesn’t recognise it as abuse yet, part of his character arc would be to come to term with that)

So ! The teaching is... Sure going. Korekiyo is good at teaching the theory but oh boy if he doesn’t suck at practice. They’re sure learning, but it’s still a trainwreck and Ryoma is the only reasonnable person in this house. They need a person who is a good person naturally, and wouldn’t go tell Tsumugi their situation...

Yeah they take a look at Gonta and it’s settled. The man is way too nice to everyone and “a true gentleman never tells friends secret to others !”. They thought about Angie for a moment, she seems nice with everyone and alwyas organise parties or artistic activities to unite everyone together, but she’s close friend with Tenko and Himiko so they doubt she would let Korekiyo hang out with her friends.

Gonta is not the best teacher. He tries his best, but even though he is nice and try his best to help everyone, he is also incredibly naive and can be mislead to do bad things pretty easily, which is what Kokichi proves within the first day his soulmate agrees to help them. They basically have a Insect Meet and Greet. Once Gonta understands he hurt his friends, he’s pretty sad and isolate himself. Ryoma would probably come talk to him. Gonta talks about how he didn’t act like a gentleman and he regrets it, which leads to a conversation about why he wants so badly to be a gentleman and their past life. Ryoma mentions how he didn’t have anything to live for back on earth, no family, no friends, no lovers. Gonta says he’ll make sure he does now, which makes Ryoma laugh. They grow closer after that, Gonta trying to spend more time with him.

Meanwhile, Kokichi is onto something. Since he arrived here, he felt like something was wrong. Tsumugi keeps saying they have no idea what’s causing all the chaos and there’s no way someone got here by accident ? Three frauds in one go ? That’s not right. So he investigates, everyone. Their past, their actions, their words, he wants to know everything and understand what is really this place. He doesn’t trust anyone. So he used the Insect Meet and Greet to find more info while everyone is busy. That’s when he’ll cross path with Shuichi, because he sneaked into his and Kaede’s house. Shuichi become suspicious of him from there on and they develop a kind of rivalry where Shuichi knows Kokichi is up to something but doesn’t know what, and Kokichi likes to mess with him. He also likes to mess with Kiibo to ask them a myriad of questions about everything and nothing.

Kokichi : Hi Kiiboy !

Kiibo : Not a boy, but hi (bc hell yes nb Kiibo and maybe this whole thing was based of my want to write this dialogue down, but who knows really)

MEANWHILE, Maki ends up hiding with Kaito who has been trying to talk to her for a while and now she can’t leave him because there are insects everywhere outside. They sit there for a while, Kaito trying to start a conversation, but getting frustrated because she doesn’t talk back until they both lash out. Maki insists she doesn’t want to make friends, especially with him and not on the basis of them being soulmates or whatever. She adds that he doesn’t want to be friend with her, trust her. He asks why but she doesn’t answers. So he starts all over again, straighten up and introduce himself again. “Name’s Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars and totally not your soulmate.” She sniggers and introduce herself. They chit-chat for a bit and once the insects are gone, they leave. They say goodbye and Maki avoids him a bit less after this.

The day after the Insect Meet and Greet, Kokichi arrive at Korekiyo’s home earlier than the others. He brags about how much of a shame it is that Gonta won’t work with them anymore, really it’s too bad. Except that when Ryoma arrives with Gonta in toe, his eyes are the size of saucers. In the days following, Kokichi still tries to use Gonta and make the giant hate him, which is slowly irritating Ryoma. He asks him why he keeps trusting Kokichi after everything he’s done, but Gonta says he believes Kokichi can become a good person, it’s actually the point of everything they’re doing. After a while Kokichi expends his pranks to the other frauds and Shuichi. That’s when it clicks for Korekiyo who goes to talk to him in private. He tries to ask him why he’s trying to get everyone who is close to him into hating him. Kokichi denies everything, just says it’s fun. Korekiyo just tells him it’s not doing him any good and they won’t hurt him if he let them get closer. He still prank them all, but it’s less mean.

There is also a point where the group wonder if Miu isn’t a fraud too because of her loud mouth. She’s super annoyed by the automatic swear words blocker. She’s so loud and don’t get along at all with her soulmate Himiko who finds her exhausting.

Also at some point, after Korekiyo began to understand that he was abused by his sister, Tsumugi reaches out to him. She give him a letter from his sister. She tells him visiting is not authorised yet, but she managed to negotiate postal communication just for him. He doesn’t take it well. At all. He has a mental breakdown, having flash-back and being terrorised of what to do with this letter. He doesn’t leave his home anymore and doesn’t answer to anybody, the group can’t have class with him. Everyone is getting worried and ends up asking Tenko for helps. They don’t really think he’ll talk to her but they really tried everything else. Himiko slides a word in their favor and Tenko agrees. She goes to the house, knocks and tells him to open. He doesn’t. She stays in front of the door for a while. After a few hours, Korekiyo finally asks what she wants. She says she wants to make sure he’s not dying or something. He says she heard his voice so now she knows he’s not dead, she can leave. But she doesn’t. She asks him to open the door, that it’s typical degenerate male behavior to lock themselves up and not face their emotions. She’s about to say he’s an idiot for making everyone worry like that, but the words die in her throat as the door opens and she sees her soulmate. He’s a mess. He lets her in. He sits down on the floor, she follows. After a few minutes she asks what’s going on. He tells her about how he recently found out what he always believed was false and maybe someone he cares a lot about actually hurt him a lot. He talks about his sister, about what he thought. He says he was wrong but don’t go in the details, he can’t for now. He cries and lose his composure again, which rings a billion alarms and raise his sister voice in his mind. Tenko instinctively reach her hand out and tries to stroke his hairs in a reassuring paterms. After a while, he calms himself and show her the letter, tells her he doesn’t know what to do. She takes it, rise to her feet and help him up. She goes to the chimney, light up a fire and give him back to him. “You don’t have to worry about this if it doesn’t exist anymore”. He let it falls into the flames and they both watch it burns until they are only ashes left.

Korekiyo still needs some time, but he slowly let the other back. Tenko also go to talk to Tsumugi, telling her to cut the postal communication thing. She seems disapointed but agrees.

After that they both start to get better. Tenko slowly try to have a better view on guys, she understands maybe not all of them are bad, like all women are perfect. Korekiyo is slowly opening up to others, slowly trying to move on from the abuse. It’s slow, for both of them, Tenko stops calling guys degenerate, but keeps the male, Korekiyo drops the hat, but keep the rest of the uniform. They’re making progress and supporting each other in little ways.

Maybe the cast of Danganronpa 2 can be the demons (you know bc of Ultimate despair and all, and maybe the survivors of the game can be the demons that would end up agreeing with the humans) but I didn’t thought too much on this.

ANYWAY that’s a few things in my mind. If some of you are interested I’ll probably answer questions about it or post more if I have ideas. Maybe draw, who knows ! Hope some of you liked my ideas

#danganronpa #new danganronpa v3 #danganronpa v3 #the good place AU #maki harukawa #ryoma hoshi #gonta gokuhara #korekiyo shinguji #kokichi ouma #tenko chabashira #tsumugi shirogane #kiibo

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writtenbyblair · 4 years

Text

#28: What we want

Summary: Catching up with an old friend, you end up finding out that the people who matters never really leave you.

“Believe me you’ll love it!” Said your friend, grabbing your arm.

After being roommates for 5 years at MIT, you were used to her crazy last-minute plans. It had been a while since you last got to see each other. Indeed, after college, you left as you had found a job on the West coast and one thing leading to another, plus busy lives, made you lose touch.

“Should have deleted my Instagram before you found me.” You joked.

“Come on, it’s going to be fun. They call it an immersive restaurant. You participate in the making of your meal, a true experience.”

That’s definitely something you would only find in L.A.

You kept walking for a while and reached the street where the place was located. At first sight, the frontage didn’t look like much, hiding the gem inside.

Once the door pushed, you stepped into a modern room in shades of teal, gold and black. Magnificent lighting glass balls were hanging over a unique massively long wood table. As soft lounge music was playing in the background, you gave your names to the head waiter who led you to your seats.

“Hello Ladies, I’ll be your waiter tonight.” The short man handed you a single page menu. “The exclusive meals will be unveiled as the evening goes on. We’ll start at 8.30 as all the clients will be eating at this table. Meanwhile, what would you like to drink?”

“I’ll take a Metropolitan.” Picked your friend.

If there was one thing that made you uncomfortable it was making a decision when the staff member was waiting.

“Uh, I’ll take that too please.”

“You like that cocktail now?” Asked your friend surprised.

You shook your head: “I panicked.” Causing both of you to laugh, you added: “I’m going to go change it.”

“I come with you, I have to go to the bathroom.”

The place had become way more busy in just a few minutes. Making your way to the bar, you felt a sudden pain in your arm.

“What was this for?”

“Coming to your left.”

Recognising the old ‘boy alert’ nudge from uni time, you elevated your chin, but nothing. Looking at your old time bestie, you asked for more precision: “Who? Where?”

She got weirdly silent.

You turned your head and your heart made a backflip.

Too late.

“Y/N.”

Time had had no effect on him. Apart from his hair being shorter, he looked the same as when you last saw him. A nostalgic feeling tightened your throat at this thought.

“Mac?”

You couldn’t tell how many seconds went on before one of you moved.

“Sorry” He blinked a few times before giving you a quick hug. “It’s been a while.” The feeling of his hands pressed against your back suspended time for a short moment.

“Remember me?” Asked your friend.

“Of course, you two were always together back then.”

A gong echoed in the room marking the dinner’s start.

Without another word, you all joined your respective chair. Sitting between two women in their fifties, you couldn’t help glancing at the edge of the table.

When it comes to the meal, you had little idea of what you were eating. Something about sprouted mushrooms and rare fifth talon in sample portions.

As you tried to counterbalance the void in your stomach by lots of sparkling water, you excused yourself and headed towards the restrooms.

You ended up in a narrow lobby where two doors were located at the end. Before going out, you washed your hands and found yourself readjusting a piece of hair. You opened the door and came face to face with Mac.

As you walked past him, his hand brushed yours. Although this was due to the relatively small space, you could feel the redness colouring your cheeks.

You must admit that once back at the table, you regretted just walking away, not engaging the conversation. It’s just that there were so many things to say, to ask. And after all, he could have done it too, but he didn’t.

“Hey Y/N, do you have a plaster? These heels are killing me.”

“Some things never change.” You chuckle, remembering how you used to carry everything in your bag whenever the two of you would go on a night out.

Rummaging in the mess that your leather item was supporting the weight of, your hands landed on a napkin that wasn’t supposed to be there.

“Don’t trust her”

The sharp shape of the letters was the same that was annotated all over your physics note back then.

You looked towards Mac who was speaking with a man older than him.

“You have it?”

“Uh,” you scratched your forehead. Burying the paper at the bottom of your bag, you found what she asked for.

“Here.” You handed her the band-aid with a weak smile.

At the 5th course served, your attention was definitely not on the food anymore. Why would he resurface after 9 years? And why would he tell you that?

It was enough. Even the tiny portions didn’t sit well with your stomach right now.

“Are you all right? You’ve been so quiet.”

“Yes, probably one of these ingredients isn’t much appreciated by my stomach.” You faked a laugh. “I’m sorry, could we reschedule?”

“Something happened?”

You picked up your bag. “I prefer—“ She grabbed your hand and her face had changed like day and night.

“Why don’t you sit back and tell me what has gotten into you?”

He was right. You looked for Mac, but his seat was empty.

One thing was sure though, you would not listen to her. You visualised the table, considering what your free hand could grasp. You felt the stares of your chair neighbours.

As you were about to get hold of the nearby candlestick, a gunshot exploded.

The loud and unexpected sound causing people to run everywhere was enough to made her disappear.

Suddenly, you felt fingers wrapping yours, sweeping you along. Still stunned by the buzzing sound in your ears, you realised whose hand was holding yours.

“By the window.”

You looked at him with wide eyes.

“By the window?!” You repeated, hoping you had misheard what he said.

“Have I ever made you do something crazy?” Honestly, you could have named dozens of these, but judging by the chaos in the restaurant and the close police sirens, it was definitely not a good moment.

You stepped on the small balcony and replied sarcastically: “No, never.”

He chuckled. Bringing back his focus to the platform he was aiming for, you saw a fraction of hesitation on his face.

Still, he landed right on it.

You removed your heels and considered the void below.

“LAPD.”

You took a deep breath and jumped.

The cold metal caused your left foot to slip, but a stronger strength had already secured your waist.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I do this every day.”

“I saw that.” Being aware of the closeness in which you were standing, Mac dropped his hands. “We should probably go.”

—————————

You squeezed the back of your neck, full of knots. Now that your body was at rest, your mind had time to process what had happened under only two hours.

“Well, that was insane. How do you feel?” Asked Mac, hands on the steering wheel of his pickup.

“Question marks are spinning around my head, but I’m still in one piece, so I would say fine.”

He turned around briefly to look at you before bringing his focus back on the road. “She had been under our radar for a few months now for stealing blood samples. As you must know, they are reopening closed cases and it doesn’t please some people.”

“Does this have something to do with my thesis project from years ago?”

“DNA Reconstruction via RNA-Guided CRISPR-Cas9 and pattern-matching algorithms.”

You looked at him completely stupefied.

He smiled: “You made me proof 948 pages six times. So, it rang a bell immediately.”

Mac pursued: “That’s why I was there. Our analyst, Riley, found hidden encrypted traffic like text messages, too short to be traced. But two days ago, a sustained transmission enabled her to do so.”

The call you had asking her when you two should meet. That was the sustained transmission. You stayed silent, waiting for further explanations like the cloudy sky waits for the sun.

“We didn’t need voice analyses.” He paused: “I recognised yours immediately.”

Mac and you were both lab nerds and study buddies in college, always challenging the other to launch something higher or create a bigger explosion. However, he left unexpectedly without a word, but it wasn’t the moment to talk about that.

“You said ‘our radar’?”

“Um yeah, basically the organisation who deals with the stuff the government can’t.”

Not sure you were supposed to know more about it, you asked: “Where are we going?”

“As Jack caught her, you don’t have to worry anymore. I’ll bring you back to your place.”

“How do you— Never mind.”

A few minutes later, as your heart felt heavier than you care to admit, he gave you a hug goodbye on the threshold of your small house.

Not feeling like closing your eyes for the most obvious reasons, and having located the nearest solid object you could use 'just in case’, you settled on the couch with a big blanket and a cheesy romcom.

The growling sound of your stomach reminded you that you had almost eaten nothing tonight. As you moved towards the fridge, you went to close the curtains of the kitchen’s window.

“What—“

A blanket over your shoulders, you stepped outside in thick socks.

You knocked on the truck’s hood and surprised a sleepy Mac.

“What are you doing here?!”

He blinked a couple of times: “I was sleeping… or trying to.”

“Sleeping here, why?”

Keep reading

This one is probably one of my favourites. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I did writing these words💛

@emmaberrysworld @elliho @gnboling @floh673 @bthtallmadge2 @urmysilverlining @secretlibraryoj @alexaparkerlove @mvpdalton @milea @thethistlegirl @jenscorpion @likeit-or-leaveit @amcsummersgoddess @malindacath @pattiprinzivalli @avalonsilver @dreambelievergeek @macfangirl15 @anguishmacgyver

#MacGyver #Angus MacGyver #writing #angus macgyver x reader #macgyver imagines #macgyver x reader #jack dalton #riley davis

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stardustryewriting · 3 years

Text

A Learning Process (1)

AO3 Link: here

Synopsis: Bakugou isn’t exactly in touch with all of his feelings. Kirishima usually doesn’t mind. At least not, until Bakugou starts to get weird around him.

Part 2 3 4 5

Observational Learning

Contrary to popular belief, Bakugou didn’t mind his class all that much. He had called them ‘extras’ a lot, when school had begun, but that was mostly because he was really bad at remembering people’s names. All in all, they were a decent bunch, some of them really strong, some of them aiming really high and all of them very determined. He could appreciate that, at least.

What he couldn’t appreciate, however, was their tendency to get involved in all kinds of gossip. Or, to be more exact, how loud they tended to be, when they found a particularly interesting piece of gossip. Getting mixed up in other people’s business was their thing. But being obnoxiously loud about it and basically screaming their findings to each other in the classroom, got him involved too. And he hated being involved in anybody’s business.

People told him - quite often actually - he eluded an aura that made him unapproachable. That he always seems like he was going to snap and scream at someone. That really, people only asked him for help, when every other possible choice was eliminated prior. Which was mostly bullshit, of course. Kirishima asked for his help all the time, without ever being scared of him. And he only really snapped when people got on his nerves for too long. Or when Deku was involved, which was the same thing really. Deku just got on his nerves a lot faster than other people. Still his ‘aura of unapproachable’ kept him from being involved in most of his classmates shenanigans.

Most, being the key word.

No matter how much he scowled, how much he glared or how annoyed the undertone in his voice got when he told them that ‘No, he did not care at all. He doesn’t give a rats ass about it.’ , none of this helped against Kirishima’s sunshine declaration of ‘They are finally, officially together’. Because, of course Kirishima doesn’t care about Bakugou’s obvious bad mood and his blatant disinterest on the topic. He never did. It was one of the main reasons why they were as good friends as they were. It was also annoying Bakugou to no end, at that moment.

“And who cares?”, he grunted, throwing his shoes up on the table and looking out of the window to drive to point home. And really, it spoke for the general mood in the class right now, that Iida didn’t even try to reprimand him for that. Usually this would be the start of an argument on being proper and respectful. An argument that both Kirishima and Deku would try to keep on the down low, by trying to mediate between the two. But right now, Iida’s attention was all taken by trying to calm the ruckus and getting everyone to sit down, before Aizawa would come in to start homeroom. For once, Bakugou could agree with Iida, even if he would never say it out loud. They were too damn noisy.

“You can’t be serious!”, Kirishima exclaimed and even without looking, Bakugou could tell that there was a big smile on his lips, “Todoroki and Midoriya danced around their feelings forever. This is a big development!”

“It’s two dudes kissing! No need to make a spectacle out of it!”, he retorted, shooting Kirishima a look which he hoped conveyed just how done he was with this. Ever since these two had shown up holding hands that morning, it was the only thing on everyone's mind. And after Todoroki had stated, in a very blunt way that only Todoroki could do, that yes they kissed, the whole class just exploded with euphoria. As if it was their personal accomplishment. Which it wasn’t, Bakugou wouldn’t even call it much of an accomplishment at all. It would have happened eventually, anyways.

“Well it was a long time coming!”, Kirishima argued back like it was his personal mission to make Bakugou see just how important this was, “You could at least be happy for your friends.”

“They’re not my friends!”, Bakugou argued instantly, before Kirishima got some other weird ideas in his head. Hell would be frozen over, before he called Deku his friend. He was just about to tell that to the dumbass next to him, when the classroom door opened, revealing Aizawa.

The man looked way too tired and done for a Tuesday morning, but today Bakugou resonated with that on a deeply personal level. He too wished that this entire week was over already, in hopes the waves of euphoria from the ‘news’ will have died down by next week. Realistically, he knew the chances were slim. He refused to think about that. Aizawa somehow managed to get all of the class to their seats and be quiet with just one look, so really Bakugou was mostly grateful for him that morning.

That gratefulness lasted exactly two minutes, before Aizawa announced another field-trip-turned-training-exercise. At least he had a month to mentally prepare himself for that.

__________________

That fact that he would need to prepare for that field more than just mentally, didn’t hit him until lunch break. And to be fair, he wasn’t really thinking about it then, either. He was actually just about to take a bite out of the Onigiri from his bento (that he had made himself and no, he wouldn’t make one for anyone else, no matter how much they begged), when Kirishima interrupted his peace yet again.

Bakugou couldn’t say he liked that tendency.

“Shit guys, does anyone have bug spray?”, he asked, mouth full with his sandwich, which honestly irked Bakugou even more than the question itself. Had no one ever taught this guy basic table manners? The answer was apparently no, no one ever bothered. Or maybe it just was a thing in their group, because both Kaminari and Sero also had their mouths full, when they exclaimed that no, there was no bug spray to have between them. Which was a stupid thing to be that aggrevated about.

“What do you need bug spray for anyway?”, Bakugou mumbled, after swallowing and he could already feel himself getting annoyed. What a stupid discussion to have over lunch, really.

“The training camp?”, Kaminari stated, his voice getting higher at the end, even though it clearly wasn’t phrased as a question, “I can’t have the mosquitos eat me up again. I swear, I’m just too damn cute.”

“Questionable”, Jirou said, wholly unimpressed by Kaminari getting mad at her and instead just opting to continue eating quietly. When she even got to their table, Bakugou had no idea.

“He is not completely wrong tho”, Kirishima said and Bakugou could see Kaminari in the background puffing out his chest and raising his chin, proudly. As if the idiot had any justification for being proud. He just stated a simple fact. “We do need bug spray for the mosquitos.” Kaminari visibly deflated at that. Bakugou, on the other hand, could feel his anger rising. Did that idiot really think Kirishima would agree that he was cute?

“Just go shopping then”, he said, just wanting to end this damn discussion. It wasn’t even useful, with the answer lying so obviously within reach. They all just liked to make a big fuss out of nothing. Exactly like that same morning.

“Can’t”, came a chorus of answers from all around their table with various excuses. Jirou had study sessions with Yaoyorozu. Kaminari booked the training hall, surprising everyone. Bakugou didn’t really care.

“I have time. Want me to get something for you guys?”, Kirishima volunteered starting what was possibly the worst verbal onslaught happening that day. Which said something, considering the ruckus these idiots had made that morning. Kirishima dealt with it very patiently tho, writing down who needed what. Which proved that Kirishima was way more organised than Bakugou would have given him credit for.

“Do you have anything planned this afternoon?”, Kirishima asked, with a strange undertone to his voice, that Bakugou couldn’t quite place. He could however think of where this question was headed. And he was quick to shut it down.

“I’m not going shopping with you!”

“Aw, c’mon man. This’ll be fun”, Kirishima argued, shooting Bakugou his best open-mouthed smile, presenting all of his teeth. If he thought that would sway Bakugou’s decision, he would need to think again. No way would Bakugou cave that easily.

“Find someone else.” And then to signal that this talk was really, completely over, Bakugou took another bite of his food. Kirishima just winked at him, unbothered by Bakugou being the way he is and instead turned around in his chair to face the table behind them. Oh no.

“Hey, Midoriya”, he shouted, which was unnecessary, because Deku was two arm lengths away at best, “where did you buy that super good bug spray again? You know the one you had for the last training camp.”

“That was Uraraka’s. She bought it at the mall. I don’t know the name of the shop, but I can show it to you. Are you free this afternoon?”, Deku answered, ever the helpful idiot that he was. Well, at least Kirishima found his shopping buddy. And Bakugou could be at peace.

“Sure am, thanks. Meet in front of the store at 3:30? I’ll bring Bakugou.”

No, he sure as hell wouldn’t. Bakugou was quick to voice that.

__________________

The question ‘How the hell did I get talked into this?’ went through Bakugou’s mind approximately a thousand times, between leaving the dorms and arriving at the shopping center. Which was impressive, because the way had only taken them fifteen minutes.

Fifteen minutes that Kirishima had filled with bright chatter, either blissfully oblivious to Bakugou’s mood or willingly ignoring it. He would regret this for sure. Bakugou would make him regret it. Later. For now, he was content to just listen to Kirishima chatter about anything and everything that came to his mind. It wasn’t the best use of his time, but it wasn’t the worst either. Not that he would ever admit that.

And so, while Kirishima’s chatter became a pleasant buzz in the back of his mind and Bakugou was starting to think about what he would need for their next training camp, he felt himself being more calm than he had been the entire day. Which wasn’t hard, not with the day he had, but it was still nice.

It was promptly taken from him.

Crossing the last traffic light separating them from the shopping center, where Deku was already waiting for them, he saw something. Something that made him want to turn around and go home again. To hell with Kirishima not wanting to go alone, that was no reason why he should subject himself to what will essentially be an afternoon of torture. There was no way Bakugou would just accept this like it was nothing.

Deku brought his fucking boyfriend.

“Midoriya, Todoroki”, Kirishima shouted happily, being way more enthusiastic than he had any right to. He sped up, holding up one of his arms to wave at them, which Deku promptly returned just as enthusiastic. Todoroki gave a way more timid wave and Bakugou decided he wouldn’t bother at all. No need to fake friendliness. Or that he wanted to be there.

“Kirishima, It’s good to see you”, Deku greeted, as if they hadn’t just spent hours at school together and Bakugou felt like punching something again. Why did he always feel to need to use those overly polite yet completely unnecessary phrases? Why couldn’t the idiot just be normal.

“We just saw them at school”, Todoroki pointed out and Bakugou would have nodded to agree with him, but he had his pride. No way he was going to openly agree with Deku’s boyfriend on anything. Even if it was criticizing Deku. So while Deku explained to his socially stunted boyfriend what a polite phrase was, which somehow developed into a discussion about whether or not those were time wasting ( Yes, they are, Bakugou wanted to shout, but that would be admitting to listening in on their conversations.), Bakugou started one last try to get away from all of this before it became even more of a waste of time.

“Hey Kirishima”, he addressed the boy, who looked at Deku and Todoroki with something close to a fond smile, “have fun third-wheeling on their date. I’m going home.” And with that he turned his back, hoping to get out before Kirishima could make an argument against it. A futile hope, really.

“No, come on, Bakugou”, Kirishima said in a voice that sounded an awful lot like begging, so much so, that it made Bakugou stop midstep, “I didn’t know he would bring Todoroki. Please don’t leave me alone, I don’t wanna be a third wheel.”

“And how am I supposed to help that?”

“Simple”, Kirishima, who walked around so he could face him again, smiled at him like he was the fucking sun himself, “You stay here with me, so I don’t feel left out all the time.”

“And why would I do that?”, Bakugou inquired, feeling how he got closer and closer to yelling out his frustrations. It was Kirishima’s stupid idea to go shopping with Deku, so Kirishima should be the one dealing with all of the consequences. By himself. He had no right to involve Bakugou in this.

“Because we’re friends?”, Kirishima argued, but Bakugou could tell by the way he winced at himself, that he wasn’t convinced by his own argument. He shouldn’t be. Since when did friendship mean having to subject himself to the drama that Kirishima essentially brought over himself. Old Bakugou would have laughed at him and went on his way.

But old Bakugou wasn’t really hero material. Old Bakugou also wasn’t Kirishima’s friend.

“Fine”, Bakugou grunted and Kirishima’s lit up immediately, “but you owe me.”

“Sure.” Kirishima smiled easily leading him back to where Deku and Todoroki were waiting for them, obviously finished with whatever they were doing. At least Deku had the decency to look ashamed and apologize for getting off-track (wasting their time, if you asked Bakugou). Kirishima waved the apology away and they finally got started shopping. Bakugou couldn’t shake the feeling that this was gonna be a long afternoon.

__________________

He was right, of course.

Todoroki and Deku continued to flirt incessantly. Bakugou had a burning pain in his eyes from rolling them too much and a new record in fake-gagging. Kirishima always reprimanded him for the last one. The idiots in question seemed painfully oblivious to their flirting, which made it that much more irritating. They promised they would stop everytime and then they just continued. Bakugou was about ready to scream the entire mall down.

Kirishima took it all way too lightly, in his opinion. He smiled at them gleefully and he even had the audacity to defend them, when Bakugou complained. Don’t you think it’s nice to be that in love? No, he didn’t. It’s annoying to be that in love as Kirishima put it. Could you even be in love after not even 24 hours of dating? Fat fucking chance.

“Get me some food, before I blast this entire mall down”, Bakugou grunted out, eying Kirishima dangerously. He wouldn’t actually do it, but if a threat got him some distraction, he wasn’t above using it.

“Sure thing”, Kirishima agreed, asking for preferences, before he went off. Deku accompanied him - not without making heart-eyes at Todoroki and only reluctantly letting go of his hand - and Bakugou didn’t even fight the urge to roll his eyes. Damn nerd being dramatic. Todoroki shot a knowing smile his way that only angered him more.

“What are you smirking about?”, Bakugou asked, very clearly hearing the annoyed undertone in his voice that failed to deter Todoroki. Like it always did.

“I don’t know. I just like the double date.”

“THE WHAT?”, Bakugou screamed, turning several heads towards them, none of which he cared about. What did the half-n-half-bastard just call this? He was sure he must have misheard. That, or Deku’s boyfriend had a very urgent death wish. One that Bakugou wouldn’t mind granting him, right now.

“Double date. Isn’t that what you call it, when two couples spend time with each other?” He had a death wish, Bakugou determined. There was no way he was really that dense. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Deku and Kirishima running towards them. They better be there fast, or there would be a real fight between him and that bastard.

“This is not a double date”, he gritted out, looking at Todoroki, daring him to disagree. Unfortunately, Kirishima was there faster than he expected, Deku on his heels. This was a disaster waiting to happen.

“Guys, what’s wrong, you’re making a scene”, Kirishima whisper-shouted when he arrived looking between them, as if he could get the answer from that. Instead of answering Kirishima - or focusing on his boyfriend like he had the entire goddamn afternoon - Todoroki decided to continue his chat with Bakugou.

"It feels like a double date to me", Todoroki said, ever the blunt one and Bakugou felt himself slowly losing it. Actually, not so slowly.

“What?”, Kirishima questioned, clearly caught off-guard.

“Shoto!”, Deku exclaimed at the same time, cheeks red and trying to get his boyfriend to pay attention to him again. Probably to dissolve the tension building between him and Bakugou. Bakugou for his part was ready to fight the bastard seriously.

“That’s not it at all! Bakugou and I aren’t dating”, Kirishima hurried to explain, putting himself between Bakugou and Todoroki while doing it, “We’re just friends. Nothing more to it.”

And that struck something deep within Bakugou. Something unpleasant, that he already hated, despite experiencing it for the first time. It was weird, nothing out of the ordinary happened - despite Todoroki’s absurd claim of course. Still he could feel his insides twisting, like someone plunged a knife in his gut. Instinctively he looked down to check, but saw nothing but his shirt. Weird.

He heard Deku and Kirishima try to explain the situation to Todoroki, but it was off. As if they were far away, instead of standing right in front of him. He caught a glance of Kirishima awkwardly rubbing his neck, while talking, Bakugou could see his mouth move, but he couldn’t make out the words. Like something was covering his ears. Kirishima smiled and his stomach twisted again.

He felt like he was getting sick.

“I’m out”, he said, not bothering whether or not they could hear him and then he swiftly moved. He needed air, to clear his head. And he needed to investigate their weird feeling in his stomach. That apparently correlated with Kirishima. Which could mean a lot of things.

It could mean anything, he tried to tell himself, while he made his way outside as fast as possible without his explosions accelerating him. He didn’t have the clear head to use them for that purpose right now.

It could mean anything, he told himself, when he heard Kirishima calling after him, a concerned undertone in his voice, that made Bakugou want to turn around. He wanted to snap, that he could take care of himself. He wanted to bathe in the knowledge that Kirishima cared for him.

It could mean anything, he insisted, when he finally made it outside and his feet automatically dragged him to the station. He took a deep breath, that helped exactly zero percent in the quest to clear his head and then he fiddled with his phone. He desperately needed the distraction.

It could mean anything , he reminded himself later that night, after Kirishima had dropped off his forgotten shopping bags and asked if he felt alright. Bakugou told a half-lie about an upset stomach and Kirishima offered to make tea. Which he declined, because he could take care of himself, thank you very much.

Kirishima had brought up some tea anyways, paired with some bread because it was safer not to risk upsetting his stomach anymore. Then he told Bakugou to just knock on his wall if he needed anything else, like the considerate idiot he was. He gave him a big smile before he left, one which twisted Bakugou’s stomach again, but it was also accompanied by a squeezing feeling in his chest this time. And Bakugou wasn’t an idiot, he knew these signs, when he saw them.

It could mean you have a crush, a traitorous voice in his mind whispered. Bakugou hated himself, for how much he actually considered the possibility.

#mha #bnha #bakugou katsuki #kirishima eijirou #kiribaku #shoto todoroki #midoriya #midoriya izuku #side tododeku

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clarste · 4 years

Note

Sorry if you've been asked this explicitly before, but what are your thoughts on Penguin Logistics, specifically in comparison to the other organisations/factions in Arknights? I recently started and managed to grab everyone within a few pulls, except Sora (and I guess Mostima, unfortunately.) and I think they're easily my favourites. Would love to hear your thoughts. Cheers.

No one's ever asked me that, but they probably should have since I've gone all-in on Penguin Logistics ever since I pulled Exusiai and Croissant early on. I then proceeded to never pull any of the others, forcing me to buy Texas and Sora in the shop and much later dump all of my accumulated gacha currency getting Mostima. Anyway, my goal in life is to use the entire team and also max them all out. PL4life!

Anyway, my initial impression of them was that they were the cast of a 90s anime like Cowboy Bebop or Bubblegum Crisis (...Tokyo 2040). Like, they're an eclectic band of hyper-competent misfits working for a small company operating at the edge of the law. “Penguin Logistics” itself sounds like a euphemism for being, like, smugglers or something. "We'll get your package where it needs to go, no questions asked." Then Code of Brawl came out and I was totally right except they are also very dumb in a funny way. Like, they accidentally got into a turf war with the mafia, but apparently that's just business as usual.

Anyway I want to talk about each of them individually now so apologies if this starts rambling.

Texas is pretty clearly the main character of Penguin Logistics, and you can tell because she's the hub of their whole relationship wheel on the in-game chart.

She's also kinda Spike from Cowboy Bebop, although less laid-back I guess. She's a former mafia assassin on the run from her past, but her past won't leave her alone. Incidentally, "mafia" in this case refers to the various wolf families from the fantasy Italy equivalent in this setting, although they make some interesting comparisons to wolf packs in the profiles. However, Texas's family is dead, which should make her a "lone wolf" that will supposedly never have another place to belong. Except PL itself is proof that that's wrong.

Theoretically she’s just the team’s driver, but because PL is always getting into ridiculous anime fights she’s also good at that part too, using dozens of little... lightsabers(?) that she throws around willy nilly. It would probably look super-cool to see in action, except this is not that kind of game so we’ll just have to wait for the anime or whatever. It’s noted in her profile that her fighting style shows that she unconsciously sees as the only purpose of a weapon as being to kill, and heck, she’s right.

She's cool-headed, adaptable, and the serious one you can always count on, but she's not above getting into friendly(?) brawls just to take out her frustrations out.

Her name comes from the extinct subspecies of Texas Wolf.

Next up is Exusiai, the angel who loves nothing more than guns, god, rock and roll, and apple pie. In that order. In other words, a stereotypical American. Even though she's from the fantasy-Vatican. Basically she's a cheerful, friendly, laid-back person who never really fit in back home where people are expected to be more serious and orderly. Not enough to be, like, shunned or anything but she's always been a weirdo. All angels have guns though, that’s like standard issue. She wishes she could have more though.

She's also super religious, but interestingly never brings it upon her own. I feel like she probably realizes how uncomfortable it can make people who don't share that religion to suddenly bring up Jesus all the time in casual conversation. Like, she's not ashamed of it or anything, but she won't shove it in your face either. Personally, I find that a pretty cool characterization for a fictional religious person.

Which is also sort of a hint that beneath her goofy exterior she's a thoughtful, deliberate person who doesn’t let anyone in by accident. Texas notes that they're exact opposites in this respect. She also has an extremely interesting relationship with the next person.

Her name comes from the Greek word for the order of angels in Christianity often translated as "Powers."

Mostima... where to start...? I guess first of all she’s a fallen angel, apparently because she pointed her gun at her own kind under MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. Probably related to the whole war in Kazdel thing, where many of the other MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES in this game took place. Long story short, stuff happened in the war, she pointed her gun at another angel, Exusiai’s sister is dead under mysterious circumstances, and Mostima gave up her gun and now wanders the world delivering long-distance packages for PL. But that’s mostly an excuse for to be alone as much as humanly possible. She can also use time magic because I dunno why not. MYSTERIOUS.

She’s friendly enough, talkative even, and has a hobby of visiting new places and trying out the local food, etc, but her real defining trait is that she just doesn’t need other people. She’s explicitly aromantic, saying she has no interest in love, but she also has no need for friends or family or apparently coworkers either. Because of the way the world is, she spends most of her time driving through the endless wastelands between cities, with nothing but a truck, some packages, and her thoughts. There’s something... romantic about that (in the other sense of the word), but even she admits that the romance of watching the sun set in a desert with no one else around for hundreds of kilometers gets old after a while.

I feel like I should note that she has a very “best friend of her big sister” relationship with Exusiai, by which I mean she’s known Exusiai since Exusiai was a kid and to her Exusiai will always be that kid. Also Exusiai only joined PL in the first place to hunt her down and get answers about her sister’s death, but Mostima just laughs it off and leaves town for another year or five.

Her name is probably a corruption of Mastema, a rather infamous fallen angel in mythology.

Croissant is... well, to be honest everyone past this point is more of a minor character. Which is actually a weird thing to say since none of these people are actually major characters in Arknights, but I guess these are less important people even within the group?

Croissant’s gimmick is that she’s always trying to make money by selling stuff. I guess she’s a merchant? But not, like, a formal one who runs a shop, she just gets her hands on stuff through her connections and sells it. But in like, a friendly down-to-earth way, it’s even said that she lives paycheck to paycheck. She’s a girl trying to get by with a second job, I guess is what I’m saying.

Team-wise, she’s the muscle of the group, being a minotaur and all. She lifts the heavy packages and also smashes things with her MAGNETIC HAMMER which I don’t know why I find that name so amusing. Gameplay-wise her special move can knock all the enemies around her halfway across the map and I smile every time she does it.

Her profile notes that she’s really just living her best life as a normal-ish person, and that helps make everyone around her feel normal, and that’s important in a setting where half the people around you are dying of magical cancer (no one in PL is Infected though).

Her name comes from the French word for Crescent and also a type of Pastry. Leaning more towards Pastries in my opinion.

Sora is an idol singer. Because, to be perfectly honest, what ragtag band of misfits is complete without an idol singer? She can’t really fight, but I guess Texas must have saved her life at some point or something because she bullied both her agency and PL into letting her work there part time. And also she is obsessed with Texas. I guess saying it like that makes her sound kind of annoying, but she really isn’t, she’s just an earnest girl chasing her dreams.

There’s also this interesting thing where a lot of her basic information is censored by her agency in order to protect her privacy (”do not dox the idol”). Even including her race. She presents as a wolf, but her promoted E2 art has her as a rabbit, which raises some interesting questions that don’t really get answered.

Her name comes from the Japanese word for Sky.

Lappland is not really part of PL, but she’s PL-adjacent enough to be worth mentioning here. Basically she’s an old acquaintance of Texas from back in their mafia days, and she’s obsessed with hunting her down and... fighting her? Killing her? But in, like, a sexual way? She’s kind of a crazy psychopathic killer. Maybe. She can also be very calm and polite when she wants to be, although with a taste for gallows humor. That just makes her scarier because you don’t know when/if she’ll snap.

There are two kind-of explanations for her being like that: A) her family is dead and she has no “pack”. As a wolf, the stress of living without a pack is supposed to be maddening. B) She’s infected with Oripathy (magic cancer) and there are crystals growing in her nervous system. Which... can’t be good. The answer is probably a combination of both.

But the most important thing about Lappland is her base skill and how it interacts with Texas. Basically, in your base there are various jobs you can assign people to and different characters get different bonuses for them. Most people in Penguin Logistics get bonuses for working the Trading Depot, for obvious reasons. Lappland gets a “bonus” where if she’s in the depot at the same time as Texas, she loses morale slower but doesn’t actually get any bonus to productivity. Meanwhile, Texas gets a bonus to productivity when Lappland is around, but loses morale way faster. In other words, Lappland is slacking off and making Texas so uncomfortable that she works twice as hard just to get the job over with so she can leave. This is their relationship as defined by game mechanics.

Texas also has another bonus where she loses morale slower if Exusiai is there, which completely cancels out the penalty she gets from Lappland. In other worlds, Exusiai being there too calms her nerves enough that she doesn’t feel the need to immediately escape.

Oh yeah, I forgot to talk about Emperor, who’s the owner of Penguin Logistics. He’s a world-famous rapper wearing a Tupac shirt and also literally immortal.

#not touhou #arknights #penguin logistics

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min-youngis · 4 years

Text

Electric Hearts

gif not mine (but i have it saved on my phone and i watch it everyday over breakfast)

~ Pairing : Nakamoto Yuta x Reader (Rival Bands AU, Bassist x Vocalist)

~ Genre : Fluff, Humour, Kinda Maybe Not Really Angst

~ Summary : In the span of four years, you go from acquainting with Yuta to hating Yuta and then finally dating Yuta, all against the backdrop of a summer band competition.

Strangers to Enemies to Lovers

~ Word Count : many (14,327)

~ Warnings : alcohol consumption, mentions of drug use, swearing, very slow burn, me waxing lyrical for too many paras about how much i love and miss being on stage

~ A/N : it is HERE and it is GLORIOUS and it makes me want to PERFORM give me a MIC PLEASE anyway yeah yuta hot g-idle hot everybody is hot basically. stream electric hearts by wayv.

i’d love to hear feedback! spread the love!

masterlist in my description.

~~~

Year 1, Eleventh Grade

The flyer lands square on your nose, momentarily blinding you before you primly pluck it off, turning it around so you can read the contents while flipping off Kun, who leans on the grill next to the school wall that’s identically holding you up.

‘Annual Summer Bash - Battle of the Bands 2018’ the brochure reads in bold, red font, followed by registration and contact details. Not that you require them.

“Why do we need this?” you ask, confused. “We've been going and winning every year since middle school, I’m pretty sure I have the organiser's number memorised.”

The drummer fixes you with a dark look. “We might not win this time,” he says, cryptically.

Disbelieving, you scoff, “Oh, come off it. Who’s gonna beat us, Verve?”

“Actually, yes.”

“Sure, and Ten's gonna get a sport’s scholarship,” you reply, sarcasm dripping from your voice, very obviously referring to your keyboardist and his inability to kick a ball.

Kun sniffs in disapproval. “I wouldn’t be so confident, if I were you. They’ve got a new bassist, some kid who’s just moved here.”

“It’s going to take a fat lot more than a new bassist to fix that mess.”

You get a glare in response and roll your eyes, conceding, “Okay, fine. They aren’t that bad. But still, we don’t know how good the new person even is. What happened to Johnny anyway? Too cool for us little people, now that he’s gone to college?”

“Johnny’s judging this year.”

Your eyes widen in surprise. Kun's displeasure is evident in his pursed lips and stern eyes.

Dramatically, unnecessarily so, he continues, accurately taking your silence for incredulity. “We've got all the odds stacked against us. If we want to win, we need to practice harder than ever before.”

“What do you mean, if we want to win. Of course we want to win,” you reply in a disgusted tone, looking him up and down in judgement.

It’s his turn to roll his eyes now. “Yes, yes, we want to win. But we still need to practice more if Johnny’s judging. Verve's been coming in second only by a couple of points for the last two years, they’re getting better,” he insistently says.

Pushing yourself off of the wall, you straighten up on noticing a black car moving on the road, slowing down as it nears the school entrance next to which the two of you are poised. You pick your bag off the floor and sling it over your shoulder.

“We'll be fine, we have four months left. We’ve done incredible on less,” you say, slowly backing away from Kun, as you speak in a reassuring voice.

Blatantly disregarding what you just said, he digs his phone out of his pocket while muttering distractedly, “We should have a band meeting today. I’ll tell the others.”

Cheerily, you shrug at him. “Can’t,” you declare, as the car pulls up next to curb right in front of you.

Eyebrows scrunched, he looks up, as he asks, “Why not?”

“Got a hot date.”

The window of the driver’s seat rolls down and your girlfriend sticks her head out.

“All right, Kun?” Soyeon asks with a genial smile, as you give him a wave and a slightly apologetic ‘Meet tomorrow!’ strolling over to the other side of the car.

“Can’t complain,” he replies to her greeting with a shrug, while simultaneously throwing you a dirty look. “College going fine?”

You open the passenger seat door and enter, shifting your backpack to your lap, as she says with a grin, “Ah, spring break. Can’t complain.”

And with one last ‘Tomorrow, I promise!’ at a disgruntled Kun, you and Soyeon drive off.

You aren’t as worried as he is. The competition has always gone your band's way. You’re damned if you're going to let some new bassist come out of nowhere and change that.

________________________

Three weeks later, you and Ten are setting up in his garage where the band always practice, now knowing the routine like the back of your hand.

After forming in middle school as a group of kids who just wanted to make some music together and shockingly winning the annual city-wide band competition, the group has stayed tight-knit, despite Lisa and Hendery (electric and bass respectively) moving to a different high school. You perform at charity events during the academic year and win the Summer Bash every summer without fail. You work like a well-oiled machine, easily picking up cues on stage and figuring out last minute set lists, and even with how everybody roams in different social circles now, the group chat never stays silent for long.

Meeting up for an arbitrary practice session every month is a given, but the time you guys spend preparing for the competition every year is easily your favourite.

Hendery announces his presence in the make-shift jam room with a loud ‘What’s up, fuckers,’ before the usual hugs all around (“Hendery, you stink,” courtesy Ten, followed by a genuinely touched, “Thanks, dude!” from the man himself, who has a look of abject glee on his face at the comment).

He settles next to the keyboard, plugging in the amp and tuning his bass, as you and Ten arrange the drum kit.

“Where’s Kun?” Hendery asks, lazily fiddling with his G string.

“Talking to the organisers. He’s been obsessed with trying to find out more about Verve’s new bassist. Calls him, and I quote, the one thing that could stand between us and eternal glory.”

Hendery gives Ten an offended look. “What’s he going and asking the organisers for? He can just ask us, can’t he? Yuta's joined Bayshore High after all.”

“Yuta?” you ask quizzically.

At the same time, Kun emerges at the garage entrance, mouth agape. “He what?”

Hendery's face immediately splits into his signature grin at the drummer's appearance, getting up and placing his guitar on the side so he can give him a hug.

“Never mind that,” Kun snaps, quite hurtfully in your opinion. Hendery’s being nothing but nice. And also high, if his slightly dopey eyes are anything to go by.

“Why didn’t you tell me he’s in Bayshore?” he demands from an admirably quickly recovered Hendery, who’s now wrapped his arms around Kun's waist, despite the latter's greatest protests.

Stoned Hendery is physical Hendery.

At that moment, Lisa totters into the garage from the door at the back that leads into the house, guitar bag strapped to her back, lugging her amp in with both hands, cheerily calling out, “Why are we talking about Bayshore, what happened?”

You rush over, helping her carry the amp to the other end of the garage as you return her grateful smile with an amused one of your own.

“Kun wants to know about Yuta,” Hendery says, voice slightly muffled by the drummer's old-man jumper, ass cocked out at an angle so his head is at chest level.

Kun gives an exasperated groan, prying your bassist off while whining, “Why are you guys talking like he’s your best friend or something?”

“He sits next to us during lunch!” Lisa explains cheerily, as she connects her guitar to the amp.

“He’s got the best goods, dude,” Hendery enthusiastically says.

Kun rolls his eyes. He looks like he’s aged twenty years in the last ten minutes. You make eye contact with Ten and have to look away so the two of you don’t burst into giggles.

“I really don’t care about where he sits or the quality of his weed, I just want to know if he can play,” he says, making his way to the drum kit at the back.

Both Lisa and Hendery look at each other contemplatively.

“We haven’t heard him play,” she thinks out loud. “Yeah, can’t say I’ve even seen him around with a guitar,” he nods in agreement.

Kun takes his seat, now looking a little calmer after getting in position. “Well, try finding out,” he says, tugging his sticks out of the backpack near his stool.

You walk towards the mic stand in the centre, Lisa on one side and Hendery on the other, Ten on the far right corner and Kun directly behind the lot of you.

After a bit of shuffling around, everybody gets ready, and as Kun counts down and the bass line begins, you let yourself slip. Yuka, or whatever his name is, won’t know what hits him.

________________________

The heat doesn’t let up, even after sun down, humidity lingering thick in the air, but it’s the last thing on your mind. You let your sneakers repeatedly scuff against the skirting in the large waiting room, as the rest of your band moves around you, pacing and tuning and flipping drum sticks. There are multiple groups littered around the hall like yours, everybody in various degrees of nervousness, heavy in anticipation. A couple of other regulars come over, wishing you luck and getting the same in return, but a usually polite Kun seems weirdy distracted, as he stands on his tip toes and appears to be looking for somebody.

His eyebrows scrunch up in apparent dissatisfaction, and he comes back down mumbling, “They still have only three people, where's Yuta?”

Despite their greatest efforts, Lisa and Hendery weren’t able to get any concrete information on Verve's new bassist, and it’s been driving Kun insane. You know that once he gets behind his drum kit on stage in front of the crowd, he’ll be unstoppable and completely in the zone, but until then, the lot of you put up with his grumbling and head shaking, knowing that if he doesn’t have something to obsess over, he'll most likely spontaneously combust.

You fiddle with the rings on your fingers, body already in overdrive, the taste of the stage so very close, and as you catch a glimpse of the PAR lights switching on amidst deafening cheers from the growing audience, your heart swoops up, threatening to burst if you don’t get in front of the mic soon.

Conversation slows to a hush as three people enter the room, looking very important with their name tags, and everybody’s head swivels to land on them.

You can tell that Johnny enjoys all the attention, as he gives a charming grin before saying “Hey, guys! Just thought we'd wish you luck before you went on stage. Keep it fair and remember to have fun! It isn’t a competition, it’s a concert.” He ends to the sounds of appreciative chuckles from some of the newbies, but majority of the seniors, including your band, look at him with deeply mistrusting gazes. Ten leans towards you and bitterly mutters, “Smarmy git. Like he didn’t try tripping Hendery last year before we went on stage.”

Johnny appears to be unfazed, directing a quick wink at his old, grinning (still three member) band, as the other judges, a high school music teacher and an ex drummer of a one-hit wonder group, give their own ‘Best of luck!’s.

Before you know it, you can hear the MC on stage welcoming everybody, and that spring in your stomach compresses more and more, almost painfully so, just waiting to be out there, under the lights, in front of the audience, surrounded by your band with the mic in your hand.

Rosewater (stylised as Rosewater! by your resident future arts major, Ten) is the second last group in the line-up, right before Verve closes out the show, and you have no doubt that you lost that last spot all because of Johnny. The infamous Yuta hasn’t made an appearance yet and distantly, you wonder how the rest of his band is holding up so well, looking as if the man's just going to appear out of thin air, with barely five minutes left for the competition to begin.

The bands that go on before you don’t pose much of a threat. Some of them are new, most you’ve competed against before, but either way, you aren’t worried. When you walk up the steps to the stage to sounds of thunderous applause after the MC announces, “Now it’s time for our four time champion, Rosewater!” you can feel your blood pounding in your ears, the coil in your abdomen now wound excruciatingly tight.

And finally, as Kun's counting down, the keyboard starts, there’s a mic in front of you and hundreds of wide, excited eyes staring at the stage, you feel that coil abruptly unwind rapidly until it completely disappears. You wrap your fingers around the stand, shooting a confident wink at a grinning Soyeon in the first row, and as you open your mouth to sing, you know you’re home.

In what feels like the blink of an eye, you’re all off stage, adrenaline coursing through you and sweat making your clothes stick to your frame. The applause and cheering continues till you’re backstage, bottle of water in hand, and the grin you’re already sporting grows even wider, satisfied and elated with another good performance. You’ve got it in the bag, you’re sure, and if Kun's bouncing and smug smile is any indication, he agrees, all concerns about Verve out of the window.

After returning all your in-ear mics in the waiting room, the lot of you move backstage, crowding in the wings as you watch the last band set up. You can’t see the bassist from this angle, but when Jaehyun (vocals and keyboard) announces him as their newest member before starting, the crowd screams and you’re sure you hear an only half-joking voice from the audience shout, “Marry me, Yuta!”

You roll your eyes in exasperation, meeting Lisa’s amused gaze. ‘Pretty boy,’ she mouths at you with a blinding grin, still high off of the performance.

Kun seems to share your sentiment, his expression half gleeful and half relieved at your combined assumption that this Yuta is nothing more than a prop. They needed a bassist so the got the best-looking one they could find.

But the moment the music starts, your jaw drops. They’ve opted for a very Arctic Monkeys-esque, bass prominent beginning, and the skill with which the strings are being plucked makes you want to drown in the beautifully deep sound.

Not just a pretty boy apparently.

You want to be annoyed, you really do, but it’s difficult not to resist the pull of the music. It’s like they’re a completely different band, with Taeyong drumming harder than you ever remember him doing and Lucas shredding on the guitar.

You’ve long held the belief that your instrumentalists are the best in the competition, all these years giving you no reason to suspect the contrary, but this? This whole new band can give them a run for their money, you grudgingly admit, head helplessly bobbing to the beat.

Kun's face runs through shock, displeasure and reluctant admiration just in the span of the four bar intro. Around you, Ten, Lisa and Hendery seem to be having the time of their lives, apparently having given up on feeling attacked by the universe for this unexpected turn of events. The drummer shoots you a betrayed look, but all you can do is give him a soothing pat on his shoulder as your body begins to move as well.

For a split second in the middle of the show, you catch a glimpse of the elusive Yuta for the first time, face gleaming with sweat, dazzling grin on his face as he looks down at his guitar, plucking the strings effortlessly almost, body swaying and head bobbing.

You feel a grudging respect for him, as you observe him look up at the crowd, stage persona oozing charisma as he shoots a wink at some poor soul in the audience, cheers instantly growing that much louder.

As their performance progresses, the cockiness you felt at the end of your own slowly begins to morph into subtle worry as you consider the unthinkable occurring.

Losing.

And twenty minutes later, when all the bands are huddled on stage, waiting for the winners to be announced, you’re forced to seriously think about it happening. Kun nearly crushes your hand in a death grip, as Hendery worriedly chews at his long thumb nail on your other side.

The MC announces last to first, until there are just you and Verve left, vying for the top position. You’re certain you’ll never be able to feel your fingers again, but the pain seems oddly distant, all of your attention focused on the man standing in front of the two bands, everybody on stage facing the crowd.

As he’s waiting for the applause for third place to die down, you chance a glance at the other band standing next to you. Yuta looks infuriatingly calm, smug even, and your fledgling dislike intensifies.

“And now it’s time for first place-"

Please, please, I’ll go to the temple everyday for a week, I promise.

“In a surprise turn of events-"

I’m sorry for not believing in you earlier and for writing my English essay on atheism. I’ll make it up to you, please.

“For the first time in four years-"

Fuck off.

The cheers are deafening, and you’d almost forgotten how awful it felt to lose. It comes rushing at you, this out of body feeling, as the crowd doesn’t even wait for the band name to be announced. The rolling trophy that has ‘Rosewater!’ written on it four consecutive times, now with a new, shiny addition at the bottom, reading ‘Verve', is handed to the winners. You try not to let the dejection show, politely clapping and bowing, just like the rest of your band as the MC announces, “Congratulations to Rosewater on placing second!”

You walk off stage with a bitter taste in your mouth as you see Johnny hooting loudly and the band taking turns holding the trophy. As much as you want to believe that they won simply because an ex-member was judging, deep down, you know that they were much, much better than they used to be.

________________________

Every year, after the competition comes the real Summer Bash-a party organised for all participants and judges at a nearby party hall. It’s always super crowded, given that no less than twelve bands at the very least sign up every time, with three or four judges and multiple organisers scattered across the room.

You’ve always enjoyed the party, loving the attention as Rosewater totes the trophy around, greedily accepting congratulations and trying not to gloat at the other bands. Partway through the night, the person in charge of making sure no minors go to the bar always mysteriously disappears, so everybody has free rein with the alcohol, and it’s where you met Soyeon last year, after her band finished third before disbanding.

But the party feels like nothing short of hell right now, as you stand slouched against the wall in the corner with Kun, Lisa and Ten. Hendery entered the crowd a while back, leaving you to stare in astonishment and betrayal at the gap between writhing bodies that he had disappeared through. However, you know that in a room full of high school and college kids, most of them his regulars, he'll make one hell of a killing with his...products, and who are you to begrudge a good business plan?

The four of you plaster on fake smiles whenever somebody comes over to talk, but most of the time is spent glaring daggers at Verve preening in the centre of the dancefloor, trophy being tossed high in the air as they lap up the attention. They’ve always been decently popular in the party scene, on accunt of the fact that they all look like they’ve been carved from marble, but with Yuta, it’s like their popularity's skyrocketed. You don’t remember ever having those many people around you whenever Rosewater won.

Entering your line of vision, Soyeon comes fighting through a gap, holding two drinks high up in the air. She hands one over to you, coming to stand right in front of your frame. You take a sip of the Cranberry juice vodka mix and give her a grateful smile, before getting up on your toes so you can continue glaring at Yuta over her shoulder, as he begins a handstand to the sound of loud cheers from the surrounding crowd.

Your girlfriend huffs in amusement. “They can’t see you, there’s really no point.”

Mouth set in a grim line and arms crossed, Kun replies, “It’s the principle of the thing.”

“Ten, go dance so they stop getting attention.”

But Ten's too far sunken in despair to listen to Lisa, settling for a sad, soft hum before he pushes himself off the wall. “This party stinks. I’m going home.”

Kun’s pleas to get him to stay because ‘they haven’t felt all of our wrath yet' falls on deaf ears, as Ten just gives a tiny, subdued wave before walking towards the exit.

With a decisive nod, Soyeon says, “I agree with Ten. You guys are ruining it for yourselves. Stop moping and have some fun, will you? You can win next year.”

She doesn’t get anything in response except some grunts, and with a roll of her eyes, she grabs one of your hands in hers before tugging you off the wall. “C'mon, Y/N. I go back to college in a week, I wanna hang out.”

Powerless to resist, you throw an apologetic look at Kun and Lisa, before allowing Soyeon to drag you away in the same direction that Ten had left, along the wall of the room towards the door on the opposite end of the hall.

Her grip is tight around your hand, as you two skirt along the edge of the crowd, making sure your drinks don’t spill. You look up from the floor your eyes have been glued to for a second, just to see how much farther before you can get some fresh air without worrying about stepping on somebody’s foot, and you catch the eye of none other than Yuta. Like he was waiting for this, as if in slow motion, gaze locked intently and unwaveringly on yours, he brings the trophy up to his face and presses his lips to the plaque.

White, hot rage pulses through you and for a second, you seriously consider letting go of Soyeon's hand, storming over to him, and smacking the cocky smirk right off of his damn face. But you see your girlfriend mouth, “Not worth it,” and you allow yourself to be dragged away, silently fuming.

That night before you fall asleep, you vow that next year, Yuta will regret waltzing into your competition and acting like he’s all that.

________________________

Year 2, Twelfth Grade

Sticking your hand out, you tug at Ten’s arm the moment he rounds the corner you’ve been waiting at for the last ten minutes or so. With a surprised yelp, he ends up next to you, as you immediately let go of him and adjust your scarf that had gotten displaced. The frigid January air makes you rub your gloved palms together as Ten gives you an affronted look, massaging the inside of his elbow where you had pulled.

“What was that for?” he asks, in a wounded manner.

Wordlessly, with a follow me motion, you turn around, bag swinging behind you as you begin a rapid, determined march, face set, weaving in between the stream of students about to leave at the end of a long school day.

Next to you, you can practically feel Ten's eyes roll as he easily keeps up with you, strolling next to your deliberate, serious walk.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

Again, you don’t give him a response, speeding up as you near your destination. He huffs in annoyance.

Drawing up to a closed classroom, you shoo Ten until you’re both crowded against the door, ears pressed to the wood.

He looks at you quizzically, eyebrows scrunched. “Why are you acting weird?”

You shush him as you closely pay attention to what’s going on inside the room, ignoring the weird looks that are being thrown at the two of you from students around.

Muffled, through the door, you can make out the teacher explaining homework, and you manage to jump out of the way just in time, dragging a thoroughly confused Ten along with you, right before the door is pulled in, and the teacher walks out.

“Y/N, this is getting really annoying,” he whines, exasperated, as you grab his elbow and walk into the classroom full of students who are packing up, moving in until you’re directly in front of Kun's bench. His head snaps up to you, his conversation with Sicheng next to him coming to a dead halt as he processes your resolute expression and Ten's half-irritated, half-bemused one.

Once you make sure that you’ve got his attention, you swiftly turn around and stride towards the door. Proving that he’s your favourite member, he simply sighs a little in defeat, before you hear him bid Sicheng goodbye and clap Ten on the shoulder in solidarity.

You hear both their footsteps behind you as you lead them out to the car park. Their loud whispering isn’t exactly subtle.

“Is she fine?”

“I'm not sure, she pretty much just kidnapped me from the corridor a while back.”

“Yikes. Finally hit breaking point, do you think?”

“Fairly certain, yeah. Or maybe this is another one of her weird post-breakup rituals.”

“Oh no, I don’t think I could handle another evening of sitting curb side and screaming at all the black cars we see.”

“Can we just tell her that Soyeon got a new car? Maybe then she’ll let up.”

“Ahem,” you interrupt them, spinning around on your heel once you’ve reached Kun's shiny, grey sedan.

They immediately shut up, waiting for you to explain with expectant looks, not even having the decency to look properly ashamed.

After fixing them with a dark glare, you continue. “We need to go to Bayshore,” you say without preamble.

Kun looks at you like you’ve grown another head. Ten just looks bored.

“Why?” the latter asks.

“And why in my car?” Kun adds.

With a deep sigh, you firmly explicate. “We need to practice. And your car is the only one that can fit all of us.”

“Practice for what?”

“What do you mean all?”

The two of them look at you suspiciously.

“For the Summer Bash, obviously. And I mean the three of us and Lisa and Hendery.

To your great annoyance, the reply you get is Ten lifting his hand to rest the back of it on your forehead. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Kun looks at you, equally worried. “The last time Hendery sat in my car, it took a week for the smell of weed to disappear.”

Now thoroughly irritated, you impatiently swat Ten's hovering hand away from your face. “Look, I know it’s a little sooner than we usually start-"

“Y/N, it’s January. I doubt the organisers have even starting planning it.”

With a glare towards Ten at the interruption, you continue, “-but we have to win.”

It’s like Kun's spirit from last year has taken over you. You’ve spent the last month carefully planning multiple possible set list options, highlighting each member’s strengths and figuring out songs that will capitalise on the same. You’ve got a road map ready and a practice schedule drawn up.

Kun and Ten have rather resigned looks on their faces. Which is fine by you, really. As long as they’ve stopped outright protesting.

You move to the passenger seat and look at Kun with a pointed expression, waiting for him to unlock the car.

“We aren’t getting out of this, are we?”

“Nope,” you cheerily reply, popping the p.

With a long suffering sigh, he moves to the driver’s seat as Ten groans in reluctant acceptance, walking towards the back.

An hour later sees the three of you along with Lisa and Hendery sitting at a corner table in a small, aesthetic coffee shop near Bayshore High, one of those places that has low rise furniture and bean bags and naked, hanging bulbs with edgy posters on the open brick wall.

The other two didn’t put up too much of a fight, being relatively less high-strung. Lisa just gave some weird mixture of an eye roll and a smirk and Hendery outright snorted, but after some strategic glaring on your part, they fell in line quick enough.

There are steaming cups on coffee on the table in front of you, but they lie forgotten in favour of the A3 sized sheet you had stolen from the school art room last month. At the top, you’ve written ‘Summer Bash 2019 - Rosewater! Road Map to Victory'. The rest of the sheet is filled with sub headings and bullet points, all colour coded and properly indented.

Lisa and Ten ooh and aah over the chart, as you smugly take in what you’re sure is your greatest artistic work, but all Kun says is, “Okay, but how come the chemistry notes you lent me look like a four year old wrote them with their non-dominant hand using a leaky ink pen?”

You refuse to deign to reply, pretending to have not heard him as Hendery snorts on your other side.

“This chart is our holy Bible for the next four months,” you say, once everybody’s settled down.

“Aren’t you Hindu?”

Once again, you give no verbal reply to Kun’s nonsense, simply whacking the back of his head and ignoring his whines of protest.

“As I was saying, this is our plan. Clearly, today is meeting one-,“ you indicate the first bullet point, “-and meeting two is this weekend. By the end of this month, we should have a set list.”

Lisa asks in awe, as she pores over the sheet, “How much time did you spend on this?”

Images of you staying up nearly every night with sketch pens spread around you, and working on it under the bench in classes, not to mention in lunch as your friends laughing and chattering rush into your mind. With a self-deprecating wave of your hand, you reply nonchalantly, “Don’t worry about it.”

Ten looks like he’s about to say something when you hear a high, drawling voice from behind you. “Oh, look! It’s Rosewater.”

Somehow, despite the fact that you’ve never actually heard him speak, you know who it is. He sounds exactly like the voice that screams in your head every time you punch your pillow picturing it’s his face.

Lisa and Hendery look happy enough, waving up at him as Yuta rounds the table to stand on the side, but Ten and Kun have identical uncertain expressions on their faces.

And you? All you feel is a flash of annoyance that you immediately tamp down. No need for him to know how riled you are.

In as dignified a manner as you can, you begin to fold the sheet in front of you before Yuta can notice it, but you’re too slow. He crouches down, sarcastic smirk giving way to a genuinely amused grin, as he quickly places his palm flat on the surface of the paper before you can gather it.

His face is inches from yours as he bends over the sheet. “And what’s this? Road map to victory? Surely you aren’t starting practice so soon?”

Kun tries, and fails, to sound threatening as he replies, “So what if we are?”

Yuta’s grin, if possible, only grows wider. You feel yourself frozen on the spot, unable to look away as you watch his head slowly swivel until his eyes meet yours directly.

“It means you feel threatened. Do I threaten you, Y/N? Is that why you’ve made this middle school art project?”

Your throat goes dry at his low voice that’s directed straight at you. With great effort, you let out a scoff that sounds fake even to your ears. Forcing yourself not to look away from him, you bite out with as much venom as you can muster, “You wish, Yuka.”

His smile, much to your chagrin, doesn’t dampen as he lifts his hand off of the sheet and lets you wrench the sheet away.

Infuriatingly blasé, he rises from his squat. Looking down at the table, he says, cocking his head to a side, “Actually, I’m glad you guys are starting so early. It should put us on an equal footing, yeah?”

And with one last condescending wave, he turns around and struts back to whichever shit hole he crawled out of.

You let out a breath you were unaware you were holding and jump in alarm as you hear a growl next to you.

Kun looks murderous, eyes boring holes into the door through which Yuta just disappeared.

“We’re gonna win the fuck out of this bitch.”

________________________

You’d think you’d be used to the pre-performance combination of anxiety and excitement after so many years of being on stage, but it hits you as hard as ever, festering deep in your bones as you aimlessly fidget around the tiny 24×24 tile that you’re stood on in the corner of the waiting room, careful not to step outside the box.

The sound of participants around you is nothing more than background noise to the stark, white emptiness that’s currently occupying all the space in your head. Lisa's plucking at her strings, the sound muted because her guitar isn’t connected to an amp, and Kun's hitting a nervous, complicated beat with his sticks on the wall. Ten and Hendery are engaged in a highly mindless game of chopsticks to pass the time.

It’s like you have this little vacuum of quiet surrounding you. You can feel the anticipation rolling off of your band in waves. You’ve always been well prepared, but this year, you feel confident enough to take on any professional music group in a one-on-one battle.

After that first meeting, everything went according to plan. There were no more run-ins with Yuta (as a band that is, because Lisa still has two classes with him and he’s one of Hendery's favourite crack buddies), and you’re glad that the rest of Verve all go to a different school because if they came anywhere near yours, you’re sure your and Kun’s blood pressures would’ve hit astronomical levels.

The judges this year are all new, people you’ve never met before with no known connections to any of the participating bands, and this information only serves to boost your confidence.

You hear a hiss next to you, and you zone back in to catch Kun whispering, “They’re here.”

Your gaze goes up until it catches first Jaehyun’s nod, then Taeyong's mock salute and moving to Lucas’s tiny wave before finally settling on the devil incarnate. He stands there, guitar strap around his neck, his eyes swimming with obnoxious mirth, lips upturned in a cocky smirk. You determinedly refuse to look away, but a traitorous voice in your head suggests that maybe the reason you aren’t breaking contact is because you can’t.

You might hate his guts, but there’s no denying his attractiveness. And especially right now, with his ripped, black, skinny jeans and his loose, off-white Ramones t-shirt, he looks like the epitome of edgy punk bassist in his partly silver-dyed hair. There are chains hanging from his neck, and his veined forearms lead to long fingers that are lazily resting on the guitar neck.

He makes no gesture, cold smirk telling all. You return it with a sneer of your own. You’ll leave the gloating for once you’ve won in the next two hours or so.

Rosewater is last in the line up this year, right after Verve, and you hear their performance from the waiting room that’s now empty except for your band. With a jolt of glee, you notice that they have pretty much the same vibe as the previous year going.

Lisa scoffs, apparently thinking the same thing that you are. “How very one-trick pony of them.”

Kun warningly replies, “Let’s not get too cocky.” But if the blaze of confidence in his eyes and the determined set of his shoulders is anything to go by, he’s having a hard time not feeling like you’ve got this in the bag too.

And finally, the last four months of ardent practice come to a glorious zenith as you perform the best, most exciting show of your Summer Bash career, deafening cheers emanating from the crowd as the lot of you play like a single unit. The ending chord, the last drum roll, the final head bang, all give way to spectacular applause and hooting, and you lap it all up, head spinning from the adrenaline rush and the high you always get from standing on stage.

You stand there panting, feeling on top of the world as the rest of your band gathers around you for the signature Rosewater ending bow, and as you’re surveying the crowd with a wide smile that feels like it’s been permanently etched onto your face, you catch sight of Verve near the back of the audience.

Your grin only grows wider as you catch Yuta’s sour look, resembling a spoiled child whose demands haven’t been met, and as you come up from your bow, you drop a deliberate, obnoxious wink in his direction, ensuring that he knows it’s directed at him.

Twenty minutes later, you’re all stood on stage again, Verve standing next to you, waiting for the MC to announce first place. It’s a twisted sense of deja vu, when you’re so sure of a different outcome after experiencing the exact same situation in the past. You know you’ve won before they even announce it. So does the crowd. And so does Yuta, if his narrow eyes and disgruntled expression are anything to go by.

He drops a venomous sneer as Ten and Lisa accept the rolling trophy, but nothing can dampen your spirits in this one moment, your gaze stuck in satisfied awe at the Rosewater! on the plaque and that feeling of elation settling deep in your bones, expanding so large that you just might burst from the perfection of it all.

________________________

This is the life, you think, as Kun passes the trophy over to you. You’re not one for crowds usually, but when you’re surrounded by people cheering your band name with said band equally excited next to you, in the middle of the flashing lights and the trashy dance music with a glass of green apple vodka in your hand, you think you don’t mind it every once in a while.

Go one year without winning, and suddenly you’re thirsting for this fan adoration like a singer parched.

You triumphantly thrust the trophy up in the air single handed and soak in the renewed loud shrieks, feeling powerful and satiated.

You’re brought out of your reverie by Lisa ducking her head to come to your ear level as she whispers, “Washroom,” and ten minutes later sees you standing outside the lady’s toilet in the quiet, empty corridor, waiting for Lisa to finish up. It was difficult to extricate yourselves from the insistent crowd, but now that you’re here, back leaning on the wall, directly facing the gender neutral toilet that’s in between the lady’s and gent's ones, the silence is a welcome reprieve.

You can still faintly hear the bass thumping through the wall as you indifferently count the number of tiny cracks on the tile you’re stood on, head bowed, enjoying the empty silence and wondering if you should just call it a night and go home.

Hearing a door open in front of you, you’re about to suggest as much, but you stop short as you lift your head and see not Lisa, but Yuta.

The door to the men’s room swings shut behind him as he stands frozen as well, caught as unawares as you are.

You shut your mouth abruptly as Yuta opens his to say something, but he shuts his mouth too, and now the two of you are left gawking at each other stupidly in the middle of a party hall corridor.

Why it’s so awkward, you don’t know. You’ve just beaten him. Wasn’t that the goal for the last four months?

Distantly, you wonder what’s taking Lisa so long.

Before you can make an excuse to escape into the washroom, you hear him mutter something under his breath. If he weren’t looking straight at you, you’d have thought he was talking to himself.

“I’m sorry, what was that?”

“Congratulations,” comes the sullen reply, and you’re so thrown by it that it takes you moment to reply with an unsure ‘Thanks.’

He doesn’t stop there, though. “You guys were incredible.”

His body language is incredibly uncharacteristic, as he fidgets and his dark brown eyes hold none of the usual coldness. There’s no cocky smirk, no challenging stance. It’s almost like he’s being...genuine.

Huh. Who would’ve thought?

You recover yourself, your gaze drawn to the multiple tiny studs he’s wearing on both his ears that you had never really noticed before. “Thank you,” you stiffly repeat, a little distracted by the new discovery.

If he notices, he doesn’t say anything. He just giving you a short nod before he turns and walks back towards the party, leaving you to stare at his back, shocked as you catch sight of a hint of black ink peeking out of the sleeve of the t-shirt on his right tricep, clearly visible from this angle.

You have no time to dwell on it as Lisa steps out into the corridor in that moment, drying her palms on her dark blue jeans. “Ready to go back?” she asks, linking your arm with hers as she begins to trace the path that Yuta just took.

Gently disentangling your limb, you slow down to a stop. “Actually, I think I’ll head home,” you say, not meeting her eyes.

She frowns, halting as well. “Okay,” she starts unsurely. “Are you alright? You look a little pale.”

“Yeah, yeah, just...it’s been a long day. I think I just need some quiet. I have to finish packing for college anyway.”

Her expression morphs into one of pity and comfort from her previous suspiciously concerned one. Quietly, in a pacifying voice, she says, “It must have been painful to see Soyeon in there, huh? Do you want me to drop you home?”

Glad to have this excuse handed to you on a plate (Truth be told, you never even noticed that your ex had come for the Bash this year, leave alone attended the party. Somehow, nobody seems to believe that you aren’t cut up or brooding about the breakup that happened six months ago, how many ever times you tell them that it just wasn’t working and you both had mutually decided to part ways.), you try to muster as sad a look as possible while replying, “No, no, it’s alright, you go have fun. I’ll book a cab.”

That night, as you lay in bed, sleep eludes you. You’re still elated from the win, body slightly buzzing from the remnants of stage adrenaline and the single glass of alcohol you had consumed. But something else nags at you, something that you’d been avoiding throughout the cab ride and the whole time you changed into your pyjamas. Or rather, somebody.

In the dark, with cool air entering your room from the open crack in the window making your body pleasantly shiver under the blankets, it’s harder to ignore the memory of Yuta's hard, true gaze boring into yours as he congratulates and praises you with no underlying motive. You can’t forget the way his lips curve when they aren’t stuck in that stupid sneer, and your mind seems hell-bent on remembering the images of the silver hoop glinting on his upper ear lobe and the dark, fresh tattoo on his arm. The room suddenly doesn’t feel so cold anymore.

The vicious punches you deliver to your pillow that night in frustration are less with the assumption of the fluffy cotton being Yuta’s face, and more along the lines of your own thoughts, trying to drive them out. Unconvincingly, you chalk it up to tiredness and slight tipsiness, before falling into a restless sleep.

________________________

Year 3, Freshman Year

“Can you hear me?”

“I swear to God, Kun, if you ask us if we can hear you one more fucking time, we'll kick you out and have this meeting ourselves. We’ve been able to hear you and your cereal chewing for the last five minutes, get on with it.”

Kun swallows a mouthful of said cereal with a reproachful look on his face before softly sulking, “I was just checking.”

Before Ten can blow up again, Hendery pacifies soothingly, “Yes, Kun, we can hear you. Go ahead, what’s the plan?”

You tilt your laptop screen up so you can see everybody’s faces better, eagerly waiting for Kun to start as you take a bite of the granola bar in your hand.

“I don’t have a plan.”

Well, that was anticlimactic.

Lisa chuckles before she says, “Okay, funny. I have dance practice in twenty minutes, though, so why don’t you tell us the real plan.”

Kun just shrugs. “I’m serious, I don’t have a plan.”

Ten moves his head closer to the laptop screen so you’re given a lovely close up of his nose. Suspiciously, he asks, “What do you mean, you don’t have a plan?”

“I mean I don’t have a plan. I don’t see how we can possibly practice over a video call. The lag is horrible and Y/N’s frozen half the time.”

Hendery mildly says, “That’s just her resting face.”

Flipping him off, accurate as he is, you swallow your granola before you ask, “Lisa and Ten, you guys are sure you won’t be able to make it home for spring break?”

They both shake their heads.

It’s that time of the year again, mid-February, Summer Bash practice time, but there’s a new challenge to work around. The fact that you’re all miles away from each other in different colleges, and you haven’t been able to have a single jam session in the last seven months because everybody’s schedule never seems to line up. It went without saying that Rosewater would participate this year, but none of you had anticipated how difficult it would be to coordinate practices.

Kun continues. “The only option we have is those two weeks between the beginning of summer vacation and the actual competition. It isn’t much, but it’ll have to do.”

Hendery mumbles something and you think it’s just his mic acting up again, but on prompting, his grainy voice comes a little stronger but still sheepish. “One week.”

You stop mid-chew. Kun and Lisa stare at him with wide eyes, and Ten’s eyebrows are furrowed.

“What was that?” you ask. Your mouth is still full, but your message gets across clear enough.

He gives a little sigh. “I need to stay back in college for an extra week to discuss my internship, I won’t be back home until the 17th.”

Kun sinks back in his chair in disbelief as Lisa lets her forehead fall on the table with a dull thunk.

“We’re so fucked,” Ten whispers.

But a thought occurs to you and urgently, you ask, “But what about Verve? Does anybody know if they’ve been practicing?”

Moodily, Kun replies, “They were all home for Christmas, they must have practiced. And I met Taeyong at the dinner hall a couple of weeks back, he said he’s, and I quote, super excited to get with the guys and jam during spring break.”

All hope extinguished, you glumly fold your empty granola bar wrapper.

“At least with Kun and Taeyong in the same college, we have a little bit of inside information,” Lisa says, but her voice carries none of her usual cheerful optimism.

For a moment, it seems like the remaining ten minutes of the call are going to go in a similar vein, morose grumbling as you all let yourself wallow in self-pity and annoyance about things out of your control, but you’re brought out of your depressed rumination by Ten, who utters in the same tone of voice, “Y/N should just drive down to the UC's and get more information from Yuta. Or break his hand so he can’t play.”

Immediately, your fingers still on the wrapper you were fidgeting with. The others take it as the joke it was meant to be and pay no mind, except for an approving grunt from Kun, but your head goes into overdrive.

You haven’t met Yuta since that night, but you find yourself thinking about him more than you’d like. You’re not obsessed or anything, but your brain occasionally startles you with images of him guitaring whenever you listen to certain songs and you catch yourself thinking about how well he’d play the bassline. Or when you see somebody walking around with a tattoo you’re curious about and realise with a bolt of shock that you want to know what Yuta’s means. Or when you got your upper lobes pierced and you were fiercely, vividly reminded of his.

It’s manageable most of the time. You’re constantly remembering little things about your friends, and he’s just a really great bassist that happened to make an impression on you. But sometimes, it’s harder to make these excuses, like when you’re drunk at a party and making out with the person who sits next to you in calculus and you find yourself vaguely wondering what making out with Yuta would be like. Or when you hear your roommate talking to her boyfriend who goes to the same college as Yuta does, and you desperately, greedily want to know if they’ve met each other, just for some information, some semblance of a personal contact, however convoluted.

But also, you’re great at avoidance and compartmentalisation, so you manage to it just be like that sometimes your way through these more dangerous thoughts.

The call goes on, gloom and acceptance settling heavy in all your bones, until Lisa has to leave for her practice, and your roommate comes back and nags at you to turn off your laptop because the screen is too bright.

When you all left for different colleges, it seemed to go without saying that you’d participate in every Bash that you possibly could. Now, you’re left wondering if that was a conversation that Rosewater should have had.

________________________

In the last seven years of your life, you’re fairly sure that this is the most embarrassed you’ve ever felt. The night breeze ruffles your dyed hair as you lean on the open balcony railing. From somewhere in the building, you can still faintly hear the sounds of the after party raging.

The rest of Rosewater has left and you’re not sure what you’re still doing here. By all means, you should be sleeping in bed, or completing your summer classes, or pretty much doing anything else but this. But an hour after the most disastrous performance of your band’s career, you’re six feet under your thoughts and feelings on an empty balcony, wondering how you hadn't seen this coming.

The beer can that you had snuck out of the party remains three quarters full and abandoned, precariously perched on the railing next to your elbow. It’s an oddly cool and windy night for the peak of summer, but you relish the feeling on your super heated skin, still slightly flushed in mortification.

Memories of a broken high hat, an excessively distorted electric solo on a malfunctioning amp, and a fucking voice crack play on loop in your brain and there’s nothing you can do to stop them. Unseeing, you face the city in front of you, unable to forget the shocked but polite applause Rosewater had received at the end of the performance, the dismissive, pursed lips of the judges and the sound of the MC announcing, “And in sixth place, we have last year’s champions, Rosewater!”

Seven bands had participated.

You hear the door creak open behind you and you whip around, already formulating an excuse about why you’re two floors up from the party and standing alone on a dark balcony, but coherent thought stops when you see who it is.

Yuta had done his whole I'm better than you act before the concert, making your blood boil despite the fact that you were sure they were going to beat you. A week of practice is not nearly enough. But once you had finished performing as the last band to go up on stage, all you got was a blank, confused stare which had morphed into pity as your eyes met his across the stage as you all waited for the results. And that’s just the icing on the cake, isn’t it? Being pitied by your fucking nemesis slash the person you sometimes think about kissing but only out of curiosity.

You didn’t watch their performance, too embarrassed to stay after your show, but it’s a small blessing that Verve placed second and not first. Not heartening enough to pull you out of your funk, but better than the scenario where they win.

You’re too tired and depressed to start a verbal sparring match and you tell him as much, letting out a little sigh at the end as you turn around to face the railing once again, expecting him to leave.

“Who said I came to fight?”

You hear him walk further into the balcony, leaning next to you, elbow nearly brushing against yours, as you force yourself to seem nonchalant and ask with a cocked eyebrow. “Did you not?”

He doesn’t answer immediately, instead picking up the beer can and giving you a questioning look. You wave your hand in permission and he lifts it to his lips, taking a large gulp. With difficulty, you tear your eyes away from his exposed neck, tilted upwards.

“Okay, maybe I did come to gloat.”

“Go ahead, then. Tell me about how much we sucked.” At this point, you’ve beaten yourself up enough that you’re sure nothing he says will seriously affect you.

“It wasn’t that awful.”

You fix him with a steely glare, snatching the can from his grip.

He gives up the act as he drops his shoulders and nods, amending, “Okay, fine, it was pretty pathetic. I honestly thought you guys would come last.”

It feels calming somehow, to hear those words. Everybody’s been tiptoeing around you since the competition, refusing to say the truth, and it feels right and solid to listen to a no-nonsense statement like that.

You hum in acquiescence as you have a sip of the bitter beer, wordlessly passing it to him when you finish. And so it goes, the two of you taking turns quietly drinking until the can is empty, after which he drops it into the tiny dustbin in the corner.

You’re not sure how you feel so calm, especially after noticing his very evident tattoo in his short sleeved t-shirt, something written in Japanese, and the fact that he’s got a new helix piercing, but you’ve hit a state of being where your head just keeps repeating, ‘How can things possibly get worse after a shit day like this one?’, so you’re feeling simultaneously reckless and exhausted.

He comes back and stands next to you, resuming his previous position. On impulse, you ask, “So what did you come here for, if not to gloat and drawl and strut your second place about?”

He snorts at your wording and splutters indignantly, “I don’t strut.”

“Oh, you most certainly do. Like you own the bloody place.”

With narrowed eyes, he demands, “Well, what about you, then?”

“What about me?” you coolly ask.

“Not exactly angelic, are you? With all your cocky winking and smirking. Makes me want to tear my fucking hair out.”

You feel a perverse sense of glee, that you manage to get a reaction this intense, and with a smile of benevolent cheer, you shortly nod your head in thanks in his direction.

He chuckles and just like that, the two of you settle into silence again, with you feeling lighter than you did a couple of minutes back.

You’re looking out onto the city and the lights twinkling in the dark, when you notice shifting in your periphery and see that Yuta's turned around now, back to the railing as he leans languidly on it, elbows resting over the edge. His gaze is fixed on yours and when you meet his eyes, he doesn’t look away, expression serious.

Unable to break eye contact, you stare, transfixed, as he starts, “I've been thinking-"

“Yuta! There you are!”

Both of your gazes dart to the doorway comically fast to see Lucas barely holding himself up, eyes slightly red, obviously drunk.

Rushing to him before he can fall, Yuta grabs his arm, tugging it over his shoulder, propping the man up.

Lucas seems to catch sight of you for the first time and he exclaims, slurring, “Y/N!”

You lift your hand in an amused wave, mind still slightly reeling from Yuta’s proximity.

“You guys were shit!” he continues in the same, excited voice, and the tiredness hits you like a truck all over again. You instantly want nothing more than to go to bed.

“Thanks,” you reply dryly, as Yuta apologetically winces.

He shrugs in helplessness, as Lucas continues to ramble about ‘that note you didn’t hit, dude, I was so ready to get hyped', before he hoists his arm up higher on his shoulder.

Clapping a hand over Lucas’s mouth, effectively reducing the volume of his drunken mumbles, he unsurely says, “I should, uh, probably get him home.”

Suddenly feeling stiff again, you nod in agreement. “Yeah, probably.”

“So I’ll see you around?”

“Sure, cool.”

And just like that, he’s hobbling away with Lucas hanging onto him, leaving you wondering exactly what the fuck just happened.

________________________

Year 4, Sophomore Year

Your vast prior experience and success in the competition will be a valuable asset and we would love to have you on the judging panel this year. Please let us know if you will be available and willing for the same on or before the 23rd of January via return email.

You read and reread the last few sentences on the screen in front of you, not quite registering them. Taking off your glasses, you wipe them with the bottom of your t-shirt and put them back on, squinting at the email. Like a cruel joke, your phone is lying face up next to your laptop, the Rosewater group open with a message from Hendery that’s been read by everybody but without a single reply.

Are we doing it this year?

23rd of January. That gives you roughly two weeks to figure out what you’re going to do.

Your phone vibrates and you look away from the blinking cursor on the white reply screen on your laptop to see that Ten's responded.

Do we really want to?

Lisa starts typing, then stops. It’s radio silence from Kun's end too, but you can see that he’s online and reading the messages.

You picture them in their dorms and apartments, sitting like you on their messy beds, phone in their hand as they anxiously look at the screen, waiting for somebody else to say what they’re too scared to type.

You wonder if any of them got an invite to judge the competition as well, but it’s incredibly rare that more than one person from a band is on the panel. The last time it happened was when Rosewater was in eighth grade and two members from SHINee were judging. But you know that no band since, including yours, has reached their level of talent and expertise.

The tea begins to bubble on the stove and you lift the laptop off of your lap and place it on the bed, moving to the kitchenette in your tiny, rented, one bedroom apartment, phone in hand.

Setting it down on the counter, you pour your tea into a cup through a strainer, trying to think of something to say, something that might make the decision easier.

Two-fifths of the band wasn’t in town during Christmas, the other three won’t be able to make it in spring break, and the memory of last year’s disaster still plagues you.

You take a sip, thumb undecidedly hovering over the keypad for a few minutes, before you lock your phone, unable to come up with anything concrete.

The opportunity to judge the bands is an incredible honour, and one you’ve wanted for a long time. Of course, nothing compares to being on stage, but the thought of getting the validation, the respect and the chance to watch bands like yours perform and decide which one is the best gives you a rush of simultaneous pride, power and gratification.

And with things apparently going the same way, you’d rather not have a repeat of last year’s fiasco.

Mind made up, you place your empty cup in the sink and move to the bed, taking a picture of the email from the organisers and sending it to the still-silent Rosewater group. Then, in true Y/N, Empress of Avoidance fashion, you switch off your phone completely before anybody can reply.

You stare at your laptop screen and it stares right back at you, as if it’s goading you to do something reckless like reply in the affirmative immediately like you so, so dearly want to. But your members' betrayed faces swim to the forefront of your mind and you shut it before you can give in to the urge.

At the top of your laptop, next to the tiny GitHub sticker in the corner, you’ve stuck a post it note with your to-do list.

Unbidden, as they seem to do so often these days, your eyes run through the first five academic items before settling on the last one.

stop thinking about him

There’s no question as to whom it’s referring to. Unlike the other points on the list that all have messy, satisfied pen scratches over them signifying that they’re complete, this last one has half-hearted, incomplete lines drawn partway through the sentence before they stop abruptly.

You had made that list four months ago before starting to stick the subsequent notes on your mini-fridge instead, but you can’t peel it off of your laptop until you tick off, or rather scratch off, every point.

The remainder of the holidays post the competition the previous year was agonising enough, knowing that that catastrophic show wasn’t going to leave you alone anytime soon, but the days seemed to get more stressful as you had to combat all those new, uncomfortable thoughts about him, which suddenly grew so much more intense after that night you two had spent on the balcony.

All at once, you were seeing him in every book you read, hearing him in every bass line you heard. Heck, you almost got a heart attack when you saw that somebody in your coding summer course had a name that started with ‘Y'. He wouldn’t leave you alone, ending up at the airport the same time as you for his flight back to college. You had ducked behind a large group of tourists to avoid him, but the deafeningly loud thumping of your heart and the whoosh of your blood pounding in your ears made you feel so exposed. His black jeans and large, comfortable sweater paired with dark, full-rim glasses that you had never seen him wear before, with his jaw length, then bright red, hair tied in a small, messy ponytail, strands falling out in the front, had made you want to fling everything down on the floor like a petulant child and whine at the universe for making things so difficult for you.

You had hoped that things would be easier once you got busy with college, but despite the immense workload that you miraculously were on top of, he still managed to sneak into your thoughts, making you jump and scurry away every time you caught sight of the mural near your apartment that had a bunch of instruments painted on it, eyes automatically drawn to the bass. Or when you and your friend went to get your first tattoo, it was all you could do to not let out a startled yelp as you were going through the designs in the book, catching sight of the very same Japanese characters that wouldn’t leave your head.

Adding that last point to the list was a necessity.

Absently, you wonder if anybody from Verve has got the invite to judge, and then with a heady thrill that leaves you positively reeling, you’re hit with the possibility of being able to sit right in front of the stage, with a perfect view and an even more perfect excuse to watch Yuta play, openly observing, greedily drinking in the way he works his instrument and the audience, under the equally intoxicating guise of judging and scoring him.

Feeling like the villain in your own story, you selfishly hope that the rest of Rosewater won’t want to play this year.

________________________

“Alright, Y/N?”

“Peachy,” you reply with a thumbs-up as you tug the lanyard over your neck. Soyeon gives you a cheery grin in answer to your own unasked enquiry in return.

When you had entered the venue, later than you usually do since you don’t have to go through sound check or finding out the performing order, you didn’t expect to see her standing near the judge’s table, next to the same high school teacher who had been on the panel three years prior (a Mr. Smith, you have been informed). But it didn’t throw you too much. In fact, it’s a bit calming, having somebody you know so well next to you, even if it’s someone with whom conversation has been restricted to ‘Happy birthday!’ for the last two years.

Especially after Hendery had insisted on going on about how intimidating all the other judges were going to be on the way over, nonchalantly taking his hands off the vehicle periodically while driving to wave them around in exaggeration, making you jerk sideways to catch the steering wheel while screaming bloody murder so you didn’t end up in a ditch before reaching the ripe, old age of 22.

The rest of Rosewater were all very excited on hearing about your judging invite, partly because they knew how much you wanted it, but mostly because it provided the band with a convenient excuse that they really, really needed to not participate without bringing up the trauma of the previous year.

You catch sight of them idly loafing around in the audience enclosure to your right, waiting for the competition to start. You don’t know what’s weirder, the fact that you aren’t with them, or the fact that none of you are in the waiting room for the first time in seven years.

The organiser who had handed you the ID cards that had your names and JUDGE written on them asks, “You guys wanna talk to the participants? They go on in roughly twenty minutes, might be a good idea to ease their nerves a bit.”

Oh no.

Ever since Kun had mentioned that Verve would, in fact, be participating this year, this was the moment you’d been simultaneously dreading and eagerly anticipating. But not so soon.

Unable to come up with a convincing excuse about why this is a very, very bad idea, you mutely nod along with the other two judges and follow the woman who leads all of you backstage to the waiting room that you know like the back of your hand.

You have to stop yourself from feverishly scanning the room for a sight of him, eager to see what colour his hair is now, whether he’s got any new piercings or tattoos in the last year, if he’s looking at you with the same, soft, genuine expression that you last saw him sporting on that balcony.

Morphing your features into an encouraging smile as Soyeon gives a tiny, heartening speech next to you, you let your eyes rove over the participants, nodding in cheerful acknowledgement at the ones you’ve competed against before but really on the lookout for just one, specific band.

You spot Jaehyun first. He gives you a wave and you return it, stomach tightening uncomfortably in a guilty sort of glee now that you know that any second, you’re going to be seeing Yuta for the first time in a year in person and not in your memories or imagination. Taeyong does his signature salute and you incline your head cordially to him and Lucas before your eyes land on him.

They’re standing at the corner, and through a tiny gap in between the crowded bodies, you ravenously scan him, toe to head. From his black sneakers to his tight, dark washed jeans with holes at the knees giving you a peek into his skin that feels gloriously forbidden, up to his plain, black t-shirt, short sleeves folded up even further so the ink is visible. Eagerly, unable to stop your eyes from roaming, you look at his ears, noticing with a jolt that there are new snug studs on both sides, before you stop short at his chin length, lavender ombre platinum blond hair.

Your gaze slides down to his face and your stomach gives an annoying swoop when you see him boring holes into your eyes. He looks cocky, smug at having caught you very obviously eye-fucking him, but there’s also something else in his expression, a twinkle that’s kind and amused.

You hear a polite cough next to you and you’re drawn out of your staring competition feeling like you’ve been pulled out of a lake after nearly drowning. Soyeon and Mr. Smith look at you expectantly. The organiser gently prompts, “And most of you probably know her, but for those who don’t, this is Y/N from Rosewater. Her band's participated in and won the Summer Bash multiple times.”

She trails off, looking at you anticipatorily. You suddenly become very aware of the rest of the room staring at you with wide eyes, obviously waiting for you to do something.

Shaking your head slightly, you softly clear your throat before saying in as ebullient a voice as you can muster when it feels like you haven’t had a sip of water in days, “Good luck, guys! Have fun on stage. May the best band win!”

No namby-pamby, wishy-washy ‘It isn’t a competition, it’s a concert!' nonsense from you.

Cheers and applause follow and you all turn around to leave. You catch Yuta’s eye and see that he’s looking at you with an entertained grin, obviously pleased at having distracted you to such an extent, and you actively have to fight the blush that’s threatening to take over your face, a dry voice in your head cursing at you for acting like a dithering fool.

You’re all guided to the table in front of the main stage that has three clipboards with sheets containing the list of the participating bands, along with pens on the side. With a little wave at the growing, eager crowd and a special grin towards the rest of Rosewater who are all gathered near the front and giving you excited cheers, you take your seat in between the other two judges as indicated by the organiser.

You force your heart to calm down, the sight of your band aiding in the process as you read the names on the list in front of you that ends with 13.Verve.

As the PAR lights are flicked on and the audience becomes louder, Soyeon ducks her head towards you and asks with an insufferable, knowing grin, “What was that about?”

Playing dumb, refusing to look at her lest she can tell from your eyes that your heart’s just picked up pace again, you reply, “What was what about?”

“I might not have seen you in person for two years, but I remember what you look like when you’re trying to hold in a blush.”

You’ve never really regretted your relationship with Soyeon, but you’re mighty close to doing it now.

Sniffing, you say, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She chuckles amusedly. Good to know she’s entertained. “It's the Verve bassist, isn’t it? You definitely have a type.”

Kicking her under the table only begets more laughter, but you hate how called out you feel by that statement. So what if Soyeon's a bassist as well?

Further conversation is halted as the MC announces the beginning of the competition, and the next hour you spend jotting down marks and sometimes, random doodles when a particularly boring band comes along, guiltily grinning when Mr. Smith notices and gives you a scandalised glare.

It truly is something else, watching from the frontlines as other groups perform on stage, and you wonder exactly how the judges sit here, with screeching crowds right behind them and bright lights hitting from the front. However, you’re quite enjoying the experience of watching and deliberating scores, not really keeping track of which number is on stage, and you’re thrown for a loop when the MC announces, “And now, it’s time for our last band of the night, Verve!”

You resolutely look forward, practically feeling the cheeky grin that Soyeon throws at you, even though you would very much like to return it with a bonk over her head. But your gaze is trained on the amp that’s there near the front of the stage, too scared to look up.

You know that the moment you see Yuta in all his glory on stage, you might as well rip up the post it into a hundred pieces because you’re never going to be able to scratch out that last item.

But the pull is too great, the bass too deep for you to not look, and despite your greatest misgivings, you shift your eyes up just when Taeyong hits the snare with an almighty rim shot and the scoop lights suddenly turn on with the beat, illuminating the members on stage in a frenetic glow.

It’s like it’s all happening in slow motion. You can’t remember why you didn’t want to see a sight this wonderful, with all the members very clearly feeling themselves on stage. It’s quite easy to see their appeal when you aren’t competing against them, you realise. You can barely bear to tear your eyes away from Taeyong having the time of his life behind the drum kit but with bated breath, you move to look at Yuta, and suddenly you feel like oxygen is in very short supply at the moment.

No smugness, no kindness, just pure, unadulterated joy radiates from his very being, beautiful, wide smile that you’ve never had the absolute honour of seeing before etched on his face and head bobbing blithely, as he switches between looking down at his guitar and straight up at the audience. You’re hit by a rush of regret as you wonder just why you never bothered to watch their shows like this, as a part of the crowd, and not just through tiny peeks from backstage or refusing to look at all from the waiting room.

You’ll freely admit to yourself, that in this one moment, you don’t want to look away. And then, like a flash, he looks straight at you, buoyant smile still plastered on his face, before giving you a slow and quite deliberate wink, right in the middle of a solo.

If you were expecting to feel angry, going by past experiences with his winks, you’re in for a mighty surprise. Breathlessly, you remember a voice screaming, “Marry me, Yuta!” and you think that maybe that audience member from four years ago had the right idea.

It feels like it’s over before it ever began as they walk off stage to raucous applause, with you, Soyeon and Mr. Smith giving standing ovations. In the middle of it all, Soyeon ducks towards you once again to be heard and says while clapping, “Good choice.”

You can’t even be mad at her. Your heart feels like it’s being held together by that last, deep note and it comes as no surprise that on the sheet in front of you, the maximum score is in the column next to 13.Verve.

Ten minutes later sees the three of you on stage next to the MC, Soyeon holding the trophy that’s waiting to be handed over to the winner that’s yet to be announced. Not that it’s a surprise to anybody. You feel a strong sense of pride as you see Rosewater! written on the plaque multiple times, and suddenly feeling very grateful for your band, you look out into the crowd, giving a wide grin to Lisa, Kun, Ten and Hendery who are all beaming back at you, clearly similarly effected by the last performance.

One by one, the groups exit the stage to polite applause, until you hear the MC announcing, “And for the second time, our first place champions are Verve!”

You definitely aren’t expecting it when Soyeon shoves the trophy into your hands with a shit-eating grin, but in front of the hooting audience and the quickly advancing winners, you have no choice but to accept it before turning to Yuta who’s still sweaty from the performance, your fingers tightly clasped around the neck to prevent them from shaking.

His hands brush against yours as he’s accepting the trophy, and there’s a flash of a grin from him that’s dangerously toeing the line between gratitude and flirtation. Feeling light-headed at the contact and the half-smirk, you give a flustered bow before stepping back and allowing the other judges to congratulate the band, hoping nobody around you or from the audience can hear your heart veritably whomping in your chest.

________________________

“Didn’t expect you to be the running away type.”

The high drawl comes from directly behind you, right as you’re climbing into the back seat of the cab, and you freeze on spot, one leg inside the vehicle and one leg out.

Flashback to twenty minutes ago, after you had scurried off stage with your face burning, refusing to make any more contact with Yuta. Soyeon had not been able to stop giggling, even when the two of you were politely bidding Mr. Smith goodbye. You tried to no avail to stop blushing, but the more Soyeon poked and teased you, the redder you became until you felt like your entire body was on fire.

You had severely regretted the decision to walk with her to the car park and see her off, because she had spent the entire time asking you when you were going ask him out, under the guise of ‘We should totally catch up, it’s been so long.’

As you had watched her drive away, you felt entirely different kind of butterflies in your stomach, ones born from anxiety and worry about actually dating somebody you like, and pleading a headache to a fairly disappointed Rosewater, you had booked a cab home to avoid going to the after party and possibly coming face to face with Yuta.

Obviously, your master plan hadn’t worked.

Cut to the present, and you know there’s no escape, now that he’s seen you trying to leave. Exhaling deeply, you slowly turn around to watch him standing about twelve feet away, looking at you with his head cocked to the side, challenging look in his eyes and a single brow lifted in gentle surprise.

He’s slightly panting, like he ran from the party to find you, and you refuse to let the tiny balloon of hope in your chest grow any larger, popping it immediately as you reply, “I’m not running away from anything.”

He scoffs, clearly disbelieving, and takes a few steps closer, obviously intent on discussing this, until he’s around nine feet away.

“Are you going to pretend you don’t feel anything?”

It gives you a shock, hearing the words you’ve spent so long trying to deny to yourself, and you immediately lash out, irritation coursing through you, with the full objective of putting him on the spot like he’s just done to you.

“I’m not pretending anything,” you spit out. “Just because your big, fat ego can’t bear the thought of somebody not liking you-"

“I like you, though.”

“-doesn’t mean the world has to revolve around-what now?”

He looks at you, any and all traces of smugness removed from his face. He’s wearing the same expression that he had that night on the balcony, when he was about to say something before being interrupted by Lucas, and it’s open and frank, no deceit or cunning in sight.

You’re left gaping at him, trying to remember what words are, attempting to get your brain to catch up with your rapidly beating heart as he slowly steps closer and closer until there are roughly five tiny feet between your bodies.

“I like you,” he repeats simply, although there’s a trace of something like nervousness in his voice now. “And if I’m not mistaken, you like me too. But if I am, say the word and I’ll leave right now and let you get home to nurse that fake headache of yours.”

Fucking Kun.

You’re saved the bother of answering him immediately by the Uber driver who rolls down his window and gruffly shouts, “I've got another ride, do you think you could speed it up, maybe? Or can I cancel your booking?”

You jump in alarm, having completely forgotten about the cab waiting for you. You look at Yuta, feeling like your heart has crawled up to your throat as you scan his face for some sign of amusement, for a signal that this is all one big joke. But then you remember the winking and the flirting and the sharing of a beer can on a dark, abandoned balcony after he had comforted you when he didn’t really have to, and you find nothing but genuineness in his candid gaze.

He waits patiently for you to make a decision, although you notice him subtly shifting his weight from foot to foot, probably toning down his fidgeting so as to not startle you too much.

Without allowing yourself to think too much about it, you turn around to the driver and say, “You can cancel the booking. Sorry for keeping you waiting.”

He gives you a dirty look as you shut the still open back door, grumbling to himself, but you can’t pay attention to it, too distracted by the wide grin that’s slowly spreading over Yuta’s face.

He takes another step closer, and now the two of you are barely three feet apart. This close, you can see the tiny dimple on his right cheek, the sparkle in his eyes and the white, gleaming rows of teeth, his smile making you feel like you’re drowning but in the good way. You can count the number of earrings he’s wearing on each ear (four), and you feel an intense desire to reach out and tuck the wispy, escaped strands of his chin-length hair back into the small ponytail.

“So I wasn’t mistaken, then?” he asks, confirming what the both of you know, but what you’ve been too wimpy to say out loud.

“No, you weren’t,” you softly reply, unable to stop the embarrassment from your previous outburst from consuming you.

Taking a deep breath, you’re the one who steps forward this time. He startles but stays his ground, probably surprised that you’ve taken the initiative.

You have to tilt your head up to look at his face now and you do, as his neck bends down as well so he can make eye contact.

Shakily, you lift a slightly trembling hand, overly aware of his calm but pleased gaze, and gently tuck his soft hair behind his left ear, fingers grazing his helix stud in the process.

It’s like that one touch released a tightly wound spring in both of you, and suddenly, you’re both rushing forward, lips meeting in a firm kiss as his hands come up to cradle your face and yours loosely wind around his waist, not quite touching, but close enough to feel the heat of his body through his t-shirt.

You feel him grin against your lips and you can’t stop yourself from doing the same, feeling like an anchor that’s been tugging at your body has finally been pulled up.

Pulling away, with no real bite in his voice, he softly teases, “For somebody who looks so cool on stage, you sure are a worry wart, huh?”

“Shut up,” you petulantly whine, blush having returned in full force as he chuckles, amused at your reaction. You’d be more annoyed, but from this angle, you can see the flush on his neck and it eases you, knowing that he’s just as effected as you are.

From somewhere nearby, you can hear the beginnings of the party, bass boosted music reaching your earshot, and with a light grin, Yuta takes your hand in his, cocking his head towards the sound.

“Want to go listen to people talk about how great your performance was?”

Entangling your willing fingers in his, with a cheeky smirk that really shouldn’t be that attractive, he replies, “Always.”

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jxmieswxnter · 3 years

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Hello friend! Like I said, @neptunium134 and I have loads of AU up our sleeves. What do you think of College/University AU?

University AU

Gavin - Computing Degree

took a year out to save money for university and is now final year computing; hacks for fun; perpetually tired; headaches from staring at screens too long in the dark so occasionally wears blue light glasses; crams last minute; in the theatre club, usually in a support/side kick role; shares a flat with Dan; the one make the best tea

Dan - Art History Masters

got his degree in history but found he had love for art along the way, and so has gone on to an art history masters; dark academia aesthetic but lazy - boots and thrifted trousers and his shirt never matches his tie but he’s got the colour scheme down; runs on caffeine; will rant about art history to anyone who will listen and even those that don’t; human rights activist; loves museums; shares a flat with Gavin; the one that does the dishes

Ben - Business Degree

second year business; lives on his own in a studio flat designed for students off campus; will wip your ass, no provocation needed; social butterfly; plays for the university cricket team; will wear his cricket jumpers to class because he can; basic fashion but he makes it work; most likely to get drunk and end up in someone’s bed, but he will always respect the other person and go out of his way for the other if they’re not one of his friends-with-benefits mates; confident bi; sex positive and supportive of his friends putting themselves out there

Charlie - Nursing Degree

in his second year of nursing; moved off campus and in with a friend of a friend, Kate, because her roommate ditched last minute, and they become really good friends; everyone thinks their dating and it’s agitating because he can’t get a date; morning person; lets the others talk about their degrees because it makes them smile; can function on two hours of sleep with no side effects; the only one with any patience; funky sweaters; likes to hike; cabincore; owns corduroy trousers; environmental activist

Jamie - Astrophysics Degree

first year astro; still living on campus but plans to move out for second year if he can; always late to class; despite studying space, he’s still a sucker for stars; owns a telescope and binoculars; will rant about constellations; panicked bi; will drink two iced coffees and an energy drink just to make it through the day; “extra espresso no depresso;” light grunge aesthetic but lives in the same hoodie every day; bit of a himbo

How they all meet:

Gavin and Dan met briefly when Dan went to a theatre performance, but it was only a passing conversation. They met properly when the theatre production wanted some historically accurate history information, and Dan was there to help. He helped Gavin with understanding the old, old-timely language of his play, and they bonded over their love of old theatre. They moved in together at the start of Gavin’s second year, which was Dan’s third, and they’ve been living together since.

Ben’s friend Gail knew Gavin - both in theatre group - and they met at an after party. They slept together, a casual thing, but when Gavin said he wasn’t interested in anything else, Ben was cool with that, and they continued to be friends with no awkwardness.

Kate dragged Charlie out because she’s worried he doesn’t have a social like - which is true - and is introduced to microbiology student Kam. Kam dragged along Jamie because he hadn’t left the house properly in a week, and so Jamie and Charlie were introduced. Charlie was a little to happy and bright for Jamie at first, but after hanging out a few times, with Kate and Kam, they became good friends.

Charlie and Ben met at a university event, raising money for charity. Their university was partnered with another, and the cricket teams were to play off, charity bets being taken as well as donations. Charlie helped set up the event and was running around like mad on the day. They ran into each other, literally, and Charlie kept seeing him throughout the day, so made an effort to speak to him and get him into the university newsletter.

They all met at another fundraiser event. It was a weekend long thing, and all a lot of fun. Charlie, again, helped organise it. Dan helped as this was more along the human rights thing - not to say he doesn’t care about environmental issues, or anything else, but he’s better educated in human issues. Charlie had invited Kate and Jamie and Kam - he encouraged everyone and anyone to come. Kate met up with an old friend, and Kam spent time with her girlfriend, so Jamie naturally gravitated more to Charlie. Charlie introduced Ben and Jamie, and then Ben introduced Gavin and Dan to them as well. The five of them all got along really well that day, and even helped to tidy up at the end. They also saw each other around campus enough that relationships were never strained, and they kept meeting up as a group to hang out, and things went from there.

Their relationship:

They spend a lot of time at Dan and Gavin’s because it’s the biggest flat and also because of it’s location - it isn’t too far from the university so Jamie can walk but it’s far enough that the area isn’t swamped with students, and it’s also close to Charlie’s and Ben’s. They will order take-out - they eat a lot of Chinese food - and sit on the floor and play board games over dinner, even if they make a mess over the monopoly board. They go the cinema together. They’ll try to push each other out of their comfort zones.

Over winter break, they all went ice skating. Dan was surprisingly elegant. Gavin was unsurprisingly not. Charlie was quite good, but held onto the barrier for a while until Ben pried him away. Jamie had fun despite how often he felt - overconfidence and wanting to show off a little but hey, sometimes you want to impress your friends.

Charlie has a crush on Dan. It’s nothing serious, but his heart does flutter when Dan smiles. Kate gives him a good tease about it, but she thinks they’d be cute together. Dan us a cuddle kind of guy, regardless if he’s dating them, and so will happily cuddle up with Charlie - or anyone really - when they watch films. Dan does, perhaps, have a little crush on Charlie, but he doesn’t believe Charlie could ever like him back.

Gavin called Charlie every single time he’s ill, saying he’s dying, only for Charlie to come round in the evening to say he’s just got a cold.

Ben has tried to team Jamie cricket a few times. Despite his bulkier appearance, Jamie is surprisingly bad at cricket.

Dan makes the best homemade cookies, and will always make a batch whenever it’s someone’s birthday.

@midsomer4life @neptunium134 so how’s this one? honestly i may have gone a little overboard??

#midsomer murders #gavin troy #daniel casey #dan scott #john hopkins #ben jones #jason hughes #charlie nelson #gwilym lee #jamie winter #nick hendrix #midsomer sergeants

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himbo-buckley · 4 years

Text

Intimacy, Sex and Buddie (better known as I have a lot of feelings about this show, some of which are related to the before mentioned topics) - Part 2

G’day friends, family and lost travelers! Welcome back to another instance of: I read too much into things!

This is where we really dive into the Character analysis and it’s gonna be a fun ride!!! (well, maybe. For me at least because thanks to 3.16 I am living! That episode validated me so much and now I truly believe I am right)

This is part two of a three part Meta / Character Analysis, and while you probably don’t need to read part 1, I would recommend it, so here is the link:

part 1

Also:

I should preface this by saying this meta was supposed to be a lot shorter and only talk about how both Buck and Eddie use sex to distract their respective partners from whatever topic they actually wanted to talk about but since I decided to rewatch the show to make sure I don’t miss any such scenes, it has exploded a bit and taken on more topics.

I should also mention that I am a Buddie shipper and while I tried, you will find several references and arguments for the ship in this Meta, not all of which necessarily call for a romantic pairing but just: These two are deeply connected and you cannot look at one without discussing the other and they are each other’s strongest emotional connection.

I should also preface this by saying that the whole of the 118 has some obvious intimacy / commitment issues except Bobby (which is sort of surprising) but *John Mulaney* voice we don’t have time to unpack all of that!

On another note I cuss a little in this Meta because my parents let me listen to TicTacToe as a small child and after that it never stuck that cussing is wrong so, uhm, parental supervision is advised or something?

This Meta will so far have three parts (this is part two), one for each season and is organised by episode so you could technically follow along

So here goes nothing, Season 2: (Also called „Why is Ryan naked so much?“)

Episode 2.01:

I’m not gonna talk a lot about this episode, because I feel like it’s been analysed to death already. Important to know is that Buck hasn’t yet given up on Abby coming back (see the shower scene), he is very lonely and there is a lot of homo- erotic tension.

Basically this episode goes like this:

Buck *after meeting Eddie*: nooooo, Dad, I don’t want a brother! He’s better than me! Put him back where he came from!

Eddie *takes one look at Buck*: Ui, you guys lied, he’s an ass - I like it! This is way better! We’re gonna be friends!

And then Buddie decides to something stupid to prove themselves (to each other) and they end up saving the day and bonding.

Also Eddie saying: „You guys hungry?“ after the Ambulance blows up? Iconic! He is such a little shit.

Episode 2.02 / 2.03:

(I’m putting them together because two-parter)

This episodes truly proves how hard they’ve already bonded, despite Buck not even knowing Eddie has a kid yet, especially from Eddie’s point of view: I actually think he started seeing Buck as his partner first.

I love how he always takes charge, even in his first episode and expects Buck to go along with it - which Buck does (after some initial reluctance), because Buck is good at following orders and trusts Eddie. It might be an army thing, probably is an Eddie likes control thing. What is truly unique about Buddie, is the fact that Eddie defers to Buck’s judgement as needed, something he doesn’t do with anyone else, I think, unless the chain of command tells him to. Just look at how annoyed he is by Ali and her interfering.

That being said it really isn’t all to relevant for this meta, except to say: Interest- ing how fast they trusted each other and became a unit - I guess it’s true what they say: birds of a feather flock together.

Episode 2.04:

Here we get our first real insights into Eddie’s character (aside from that he is a little shit and likes to take charge) as well as some very nice shots of the man’s body, proving my theory that someone in charge really wants to get busy with Ryan Guzman. Which I am not exactly complaining about.

I do think however it’s a very noticable shift from the way they treat the other young, attractive guy in the cast. I talked about this a little in the first part of this Meta, how they went out of their way to hold Buck accountable and make him relatable, but refused to bank on his sex appeal, aside from a few scenes which mostly were about explaining why Abby reached out to him (and uh, we do not need to talk about how creepy that really was, do we?). Eddie though really gets sexualised from the get go. Or maybe that’s just me and I missed something? (Someone with more insight on such topics take the wheel? Because that really isn’t my area of expertice and I don’t wanna say anything false)

A main difference between Buck and Eddie at this point (or in general) is that Buck is always looking for connection. He craves emotional intimacy but it scares him because he cares too much and people keep leaving so he searches out physical intimacy - or he used to. Actually by Season 2 Buck is actively looking to connect emotionally with another person.

Eddie on the other hand isn’t even on the same level as Pilot!Buck, because he avoids both physical and emotional intimacy (except with Buck because, you know, steam engine). The episode implies that it might be caused by Shannon leaving, but the rest of Season 2 and specifically Season 3 show us that it’s an Eddie thing (likely caused by his upbringing if you fast forward to 3.15). And it really makes me want to know how Shannon and Eddie met and how long they had been dating before she got pregnant. Probably not that long tbh.

One thing to notice about the episode is that it parallels Eddie both with Buck (neither wants to date one of those girls, both deflect about their reasons) and with Abby - watch 1.03 and 2.04 back to back, both are about a character taking care of a special needs family member, both have another family member consider them stuck when they themselves do not and both feature Buck trying to help (passively by talking to Abby on the phone vs. actively by having Eddie and Carla meet)

Also as I pointed out in another post the conversation about dating is kind of similar to the car conversation, and I really am clowning now - which is why I will not try and parallel the conversation between Maddie and Buck with the one between Bobby and Buck in 1.09!

I still don’t fully understand the need for that scene (you know which one) aside from being another instance where the boys get sexualised and giving us our first insight into Eddie romantically and also the first time he uses Christopher as a shield (also not the last).

The general take away from the episode is that Eddie is bad at asking for help and Buck is bad at asking for permission which means they fit really well - because Eddie doesn’t have to voice his needs and Buck doesn’t have to feel bad about steamrolling him.

In terms of the overall theme of this meta your main takeaway from this episode should be:

Buck - no longer substituting physical intimacy for emotional intimacy but also not seeking out emotional intimacy, both because he has a connection through Maddie and is building one with Eddie but also because he still considers himself spoken for, though the episode ends with him realicing he might not be (and then he keeps realising, because he is one stubborn mf).

Eddie - avoiding both physical and emotional intimacy and using Christopher to deflect, mainly because he doesn’t have the time for either (but still getting a connection through Buck, thanks to someone just punching right through his boundaries)

Episode 2.05:

no relevance, our boys are barely in it

Episode 2.06:

Well, if you want to write about Buddie crumbs than yeah, definitely important. Also, you can draw a definite parallel between Abby and Taylor, because Buck knew both their voices before he saw their faces and built an emotional connection to those voices. This fits because, well, Buck is afraid of emotional intimacy, but when it’s just a voice it’s easier for him to let himself be vulnerable cause it’s not an actual person.

Plus, considering the thing with Taylor is one sided prior to their meeting, he isn’t actually cheating on Abby. Or so Buck thinks. (Also Taylor doesn’t have a chance to hurt Buck and leave him because you know, she is not aware he exists?)

Also Eddie talks about becoming a firefighter because he missed the camaraderie of the army - aka the emotional connection he had with his squadron (is that the right term?). So technically he did actively try and seek it out - to a point at least. Because, as I will discuss in Part 3, Eddie may consider the 118 his family but his relationship with the other three firefighters in not on the same level than the one he has with Buck.

Episode 2.07:

Let’s all give a warm welcome to Shannon Diaz! I like Shannon, I think she is great (I also think she and Eddie are similar because they both run away from problems which is why they would never work out - unlike another possible relationship mentioned sporadically in this Meta, hint hint ;) ... okay, moving on)

We learn that „not in the picture“ means Eddie is still married, which begs the question how much Eddie has told Carla and the 118 about Shannon up to this point (as little as possible), what they assume about her (probably the worst) and if Eddie ever sets the record straight (I’m assuming yes, because while Eddie doesn’t share - Eddie is also protective of his family and Shannon is his family for better or worse - I really wish they didn’t kill her off and instead played out the divorce storyline because there was so much chance for growth! Although that was probably too similar to Athena and Michael, which is why they didn’t do it. So they fridged her. Damn, and I am still salty about it.)

I really love when she comes to the house, because we learn so much about them as a couple. Like how her eyes grow warm when he opens the door but Eddie’s don’t but then he goes in to hug her (and you can really tell that Ryan Guzman is an athlete in the way that he always acts with his whole body and conveys so much through movement). And the fact that Shannon immediately pushes to meet Christopher (probably because with Eddie you need to push, because he is very stubborn and also in need of control), and her saying she never thought Eddie would be into something so fancy? Yet another insight into Eddie’s character and into his upbringing, which while probably not poor seems to have been fairly modest.

Also love how they fight almost right from the get go, implying that it is their normal (as proven in 3.15). They really never stood a chance!

There is a lot of backstory we get through their fighting, both at the house and at the school, most notably that even in marriage Eddie was never able to fully open up to Shannon - aka be emotionally intimate with her. Which made her feel very alone.

And I don’t wanna defend Shannon and her actions because other people have said it before and this is not what this Meta is about but I can see her point of view. With Eddie and the way he just always needs to be in control and make the decisions she probably thought she had to do something drastic to get him to notice her and her struggles.

Interestingly enough Eddie is emotionally vulnerable with Shannon at the end when he tells her that he understands why she left and that he misses her, but then he immediately kisses her and look, we don’t know what happens next but we can guess from the latter episodes.

And look, tbh with Eddie it’s a little bit harder to draw the line between physical and emotional intimacy than with Buck because Eddie’s love language is touch and actions, so technically in a way he is always emotionally intimate when he is physically intimate (probably why he didn’t wanna go out with any of the girls in 2.04 - Eddie, different to Buck, can not just separate feelings from sex, while Buck has a hard time reconciling the two)

On Buck’s side of this Meta he finally comes to terms with Abby leaving, which doesn’t have too much relevance for this meta except there are a lot of parallels between Buddie in terms of: how long is too long to wait - because while Eddie pretends to have given up on Shannon, he actually hasn’t, whereas Buck outwardly is still waiting for Abby but on the inside has given up hope - something they both come to terms with in this episode

Episode 2.08:

Fun fact: The german title of this Episode is Lovestorys. Can you guess if there is anything of relevance in it?

Okay, first off for the millionth time, in case you haven’t read part 1 or you aren’t convinced yet or maybe you just forgot: Evan „Buck“ Buckley was never a sex addict. Kay? Good.

Also, remember when I said the show doesn’t sexualise Oliver the way it does Ryan? Yeah, this episode exactly. Buck has sex twice and we see less of his body than of Eddie just getting out of bed. Is it a contract thing? Was Ryan always running around naked on set? Did Oliver refuse to take his shirt off? Is he always cold because he’s vegan? Should I figure out Twitter just to ask the cast these questions?

(Also, remember when I said with Buck it’s mostly Girl on top, yay, it stays true)

In terms of actual relevant story, there’s that woman on the freeway (highway? Idk guys, I’m not from the US) reinforcing that Buck has finally accepted that Abby and him are over and then there’s the Taylor Kenny - story, which is sort of just beating the bush of sexual vs emotional intimacy with Buck trying for the latter and only finding the former (remember the Brunette from the Pilot? Yeah, that’s why I’m reminding you).

What I like is the fact that, after spending so much time calling out Buck 1.0 (and they should, because stealing a fire truck? Twice? Babe, for realsies?), this episode went: look, maybe girls like meaningless sex, too? Although, technically they have been telling us from the the beginning, that those girl were using Buck in the same way he was using them (again with the Brunette) - Buck just never understood that until Taylor.

We also get the soulmate scene with the very sweet couple, once again, rein- forcing how lonely Buck is and how much he is craving love and a connection and stability. That really is what his character boils down to at the end of the day: a lost kid trying to find his place in the world. And now I’m sad.

As for the Ali storyline, oh man, I’d really rather ignore it? Not because I have anything against the character per sey it’s just - we get to see their first meeting and then 5 episodes later their first date and by the end of the season they are in love love except by Season 3 she is gone? And in between she is hardly ever mentioned? So I really don’t know how to comment on their relationship in terms of this meta and what it means for Buck except: I think it was one of those right times right moment kind of things and Buck is sort of transfering a lot of his wishes and needs and feelings onto her, but their relationship has a weak foundation, which is why it ended so fast (except we don’t know how fast it ended because there is a 5 month gap between Season 2 and 3 and the breakup gets mentioned one (1) time. Soooooo...)

And Eddie, well, he was in the episode.

Episode 2.09:

I like this episode a lot and it tells us so much about Hen’s issues, but in terms of this meta: no relevance!

Sidenote: I do always forget they did Hen before they did Chim. Then again this episode in general feels very disconnected because there was no prompting, no connection to the present.

Episode 2.10:

Ah, yes, that one! The gift that keeps on giving in terms of Eddie and this meta (and also Buddie, but I’m trying not to be ship-y around here)

(One tiny sidenote though, I do think we see Eddie roll of off Shannon, and, while I don’t want to reinforce some stereotype about Top and Bottom, because I am not a gay man and therefore not qualified to comment, with Buck it’s generally girl on top? So Buck usually lets his partner set the pace while Eddie prefers to be the one in control? Okay, you know what, let’s just say it fits with their characters and maybe they match and leave it at that?)

(also, again with the Ryan shirtless, I mean, not that I am complaining, it’s just ... yeah, please, someone who knows this stuff come talk to me about it and explain because I don’t know and maybe I am seeing things?)

(sidenote #3 with actual relevance: They did not mention Buck’s girlfriend even once. They never do until the final.)

First of, this episode proofs what I said before: With Eddie there is no separating Sex and feelings. It is interconnected („We are working things out.“).

Also there is a point to be made about Eddie and control. So far we have always seen Eddie be the one in control and make decisions and this is our first real indicator that it actually bothers him, that maybe he wants someone else to tell him what’s right or wrong, too.

I’m gonna fast forward a bit, because we are nearly at the end of Season 3 irl and so far we have seen Eddie ask for help several times but only with two people - Buck and Lena - he actually takes the advice. I don’t want to say too much because it really fits better in Season 3, but wether you ship them or not, it is noticeable that out of everyone Buck is the one Eddie let’s help the most. The one he trusts the most.

(Man, they are both just two lost boys looking for their home, aren’t they? (and now I am sad again.))

There is also the topic of trust brought up, which you know, we hear about a few times from Eddie, and it really is such a big thing for him, isn’t it?

To fast forward again, that is one big difference between Eddie and Buck. Both struggle with self worth and trust but while Buck’s biggest problem is that he doesn’t trust people to like him, if they actually get to know him (or if they even want to get to know him), Eddie just plain old does not trust people? Because Eddie is a pessimist, so he doesn’t even try to connect, while Buckeroo trusts way too much and too easily and he is such an optimist and gives away everything and then he still isn’t enough - and then and only then does he give up hope (which is something we see happen in canon maybe twice? With Abby, maybe with Ali, and with Christopher, but again, Season 3 you guys!)

These two really are the different sides of the same coin, huh?

In relevance to this Meta, Eddie is trying very much this whole episode to be open and vulnerable and he struggles so much because he is very scared. The main issue with Eddie is always (and specifically with Shannon) by making himself vulnerable, he opens Christopher up to getting hurt as well (and vice versa because he can’t let Shannon into his son’s life without letting her into his own life) and this is what we see him struggle with in this episode and also what intensifies his already existing issues with intimacy throughout the show in general, his need to protect his son.

It should be noted that in the end Eddie puts Christopher’s wishes above his own well-being which is in fact what he will always do because Christopher is the most important person in his life.

As for Buck in this episode, well, after having so much development in his last episode, he really was there more as a sounding board for other characters. However I will mention that, after the show points out the whole thing is none of his business twice, Eddie then turns around and makes the Shannon thing Buck’s business, because well, connected and all that. Trusting and giving up control. Emotional intimacy. Just repeating myself now.

Episode 2.11: No relevance.

Episode 2.12: No relevance.

Episode 2.13: No real relevance.

There is the scene in the hospital between Buck and Eddie that reinforces the peas in a pot thing they got going on and a reverse from the Christmas Episode when Eddie asked Buck about what he should do. Here Eddie acts as the sounding board (even though Buck has already done the thing but then so has Eddie by hiding Shannon).

This is also yet another instance of Buck trying to help another person with no regard for his own safety but I’m with Eddie here: I have sisters as well. I too would do countless stupid things to save them with no regard to my own safety and I’m a girl - I was not raised on the believe that is was my job to protect them from harm like both Buck and Eddie probably were (because gender rolls).

Also Buck thinks it’s his fault that Doug even found Maddie and Eddie explains to him why its bull. To reinforce the whole connection thing, it is very noticeable that these two always give each other exactly what the other needs - with Eddie from the get go always working on building up Buck’s self worth and Buck always lending a hand to Eddie and taking control when needed (remember Carla? That was Buck taking control for Eddie because Eddie didn’t know what to do).

There is also the short scene when Shannon comes to the hospital and it prob- ably did a lot to help rebuild Eddies trust in his wife.

Episode 2.14:

STOP MAKING EVAN BUCKLEY WORRY ABOUT HIS FAMILY 2k21 (because it’s too late for anything before that)

It’s also our first real: Eddie can be a dumbass, too sighting and there is that one scene (you know which one) which in text is not shippy at all, but ended up in every gifset because Oliver is looking at Ryan like he wants to eat him alive.

Aside from that, this episode really isn’t about them and that’s okay.

Episode 2.15: Crime is hard. That is all.

Episode 2.16: No relevance.

Episode 2.17:

First of all, Eddie is not shirtless? At the beach? Damn, what’s wrong, 911? Is it because Gavin was there? Have you used up all your contracted shirtless scenes by now? Did Ryan find out he was the only one running around set half naked?

Also poor Eddie, you know, you’d think getting married your done having those: what are we - conversations and then bam: there it is again. He really can’t catch a break, can he?

Also I know it’s been said before, but I’ll say it again: Eddie Diaz is not in love with Shannon. Maybe he has never been or maybe he just stopped at some point, but right then and there he isn’t in love with her. He does however love her deeply (she is after all the mother of his son) and she is his family which is sort of where the problem in their relationship lies. Because Eddie, who has problems with trust and intimacy, frankly doesn’t care enough about Shannon (and also doesn’t trust her enough) to try and be open and vulnerable with her, which is what he needs to be in order for them to work, a fact that Shannon seems to be aware of and have accepted.

(Because if you have to wait for a sign on what to do in your relationship, yeah, you already know - you’re just not accepting it.)

And this episode is so heartbreaking and I just had to stop myself from ugly crying because Shannon loves Christopher so very much. And I just hate that they killed her off, so in my mind I have already half plotted a fix it fic in which she survives because that was just unnecessary angst.

Though that’s the topic of another post.

In terms of the relationship-story I am similarly floored as I am by the „Help!“ scene because (at least for me) this is the first time I have seen media really address that yes, you can be a good parent and still not be ready for a serious relationship because those two things are very different. Sure, you sometimes see examples of it through subtext but never before has it been so outright stated.

And I like that both Shannon and Eddie ask themselves that question, but come to a different conclusion - or actually they don’t. Like I said above, for Eddie this relationship fits because it’s easy and he doesn’t have to change or better adapt. He can just keep avoiding the hard stuff (being vulnerable) and still have the good stuff (sex). And then Shannon might be pregnant again and look at his speech at the restaurant: He is basically saying our child is awesome, so we should get back together because if we make such awesome children than we can’t be that bad together. And that is so very wrong, which Shannon understands.

The problem is, that Eddie doesn’t fully understand why their marriage hasn’t worked in the first place. If you tie it into 3.15 Eddie Begins, I think for Eddie, the reason why Shannon left him was a little to get back at him for leaving her and a lot about feeling left alone and being unable to cope with raising their child alone, but all of that is gonna be different now because he will be there for her physically and emotionally as he is no longer in the army! So the issue is solved. They should be a family again. Even without a new kid. After all: they love each other.

And look, those are all fair reasons and true but the thing Eddie doesn’t understand about relationships in general and his marriage to Shannon in particular is that she also needs him to be emotionally vulnerable with her. Shannon needs Eddie to let her be there for him, just like he is trying to be there for her. Because relationships are always a two way street.

SO obviously this is where the episode ended. There were no more scenes af- ter that. Nope. Bit weird how it was so short but you do you, 911, you do you!

And well, Buck was there too.

Episode 2.18:

I’m just gonna come out and say it: Ramon and Helena are bad parents. Flying to your daughter-in-law’s funeral only to bad mouth her and then try to take your son’s son away again? Yeah, I do not like your style. I wonder how much of Eddie Begins was already planned at this point or if they built that plot about his family for 3.15 based on this episode. Huh. We might never know. (except Twitter)

Also me thinks Eddie choose LA because of Pepa and Abuela, not because of Shannon. She was probably just a bonus.

As for Buck (and Ali): the actors seem to have had fun doing those scenes? I guess? Other than that it’s a little cringy and very out of nowhere and probably more caused by the show having money left over and deciding to built a new set. ANd damn what a set. I wonder how Buck is supposed to be able to afford that because that apartment has probably about 50-75m2 considering there is a kitchen and a living room as well as a room behind the living room and probably an extra room in the upper floor as well (someone do a floorplan and also tell me why Buck needs so much space and wether they think I could move in with him. My apartment is not this nice and LA isn’t that long a commute).

Point being I don’t know why they brought Ali back in the first place, especially in this episode. She was never mentioned after their first date, so why? Just to give people something to discuss during hiatus?

There was no point to have those two incredibly lovey dovey scenes only to have that scenes about what he wants to do next because all those scenes? Would have worked just fine with, you know, his sister (except a little different because incest). Who actually has the what if you can’t go back to being a firefighter - scene with him. So why have a girlfriend you barely introduced and never used before? I’m not mad, 911, just confused! (Fuck me, I really am getting twitter)

As for the topic of this meta, there really isn’t much too tell. Ali honestly doesn’t figure into things except to create more abandonment issues.

I should point out that this episode reinforced the whole Buddie connection thing - from Eddie holding Buck’s hand the whole while he’s pinned to saying „Almost (back to normal)“ to Buck going to Eddie’s ceremony despite probably still being on somewhat of a bed rest.

Other than that, that’s it for Season 2. Whew!

Before I let ya’ll off the hook, though (look, you’ve read it this far, you can now just bear it a bit longer) I wanna comment real quick:

Compared to Season 1 Buck barely had any character development (mainly because he had so much in Season 1 and sometimes stuff like that needs to settle - real life would be the same way)

Eddie however has nearly no development at all and in fact as of Season 3, not a lot has changed in that regard. His issues just became more obvious. Which is something I actually like a lot, because one: he went through a lot of shit in a fairly short amount of time and two: he is such a stubborn and reserved character, anything else wouldn’t be in character and ultimately feel rushed. Plus, because this is his personality it’s feels like we’re actually getting to know him like you would a person in real life? Piece by piece, no unnecessary exposition. Or maybe that’s just me, I don’t really know anything about storytelling.

I also want to comment on Buddie real quick because it would be dishonest if I didn’t and also it’s just glaring me in the face:

The thing is, while I do not necessarily believe they have any intention of making them romantic (because I have been burned too often and just recently by a show that liked to praise itself for its diversity (so a heartfelt fuck you to Sera Gamble and who ever decided to kill off Quentin Coldwater, because that character mattered so much and you destroyed it)), I do think we are right when we talk about connection and parallels and being each others person and just generally being each others closest relationship. Because they parallel their stories so much and they connect them so often and they did do it from the get go like as early as Episode 4 - which was already written and probably already shot by the time Episode 1 aired. So there. I said it. Buddie is real, wether it’s platonic or romantic, it is real. And that also matters!

(although of course if they went with romantic? That would matter a bit more! Tim Minear, listen to me, you could make TV history! This would be bigger than Supergirl making the sister gay in the second season! Ya’ll would be legends, revered by fans for years to come! Also I’d bake you a cake?)

And there you have it! Season 2! We made it! And only like 2000 words more than Season 1.

Can you believe at this point I have written nearly 10.000 words on these two exceptional characters and their issues? And it’s technically only one issue, like I’m ignoring so much stuff just glaring at me right now!

(also on a side note, this is where I tag @angelcamael , who asked me to do so and @greyhello because she inspired me to write this meta in the first place and while it is now ... no longer about that original topic, I’m still gonna tag her)

#buck meta #eddie met #911 meta #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buck #buddie #911 #911 fox #mine #textpost #season 2 #buddie meta #meta #my meta

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banshee-king · 4 years

Text

T’au Ethereal Caste Ideologies:

Ethereals in 40k are currently treated like a monolith, where every individual has the same set of beliefs and morals. I believe they should be treated more like Inquisitors, where there is a whole spectrum of beliefs and multiple different sub-factions within the wider organisation. Tech Priests have this also, even Haemonculi, so why not Ethereals? They should have different interpretations on what the “Greater Good” means. It would help add more depth and complexity to their characters, it adds internal conflict, and it allows players to better customise “their dudes”.

I have therefore come up with a grid of two spectrums, where the x-axis represents what “good” means, and the y-axis represents who the “greater” are. The very right represents “good” = survival of the species and nothing more, further left means physical wellbeing, and further more means mental/spiritual wellbeing. The very top is “greater” = Ethereal Caste only, further down is all T’au Castes, further down is other alien races, and the very bottom represents all lifeforms.

Names of groups are placeholders, and these aren’t rigid groups either. Many Ethereals are independent, many fall in between, many have conflicting views, many Ethereals don’t like titles and see the Ethereal Caste splintering into sub-factions as a bad thing. Anyway here’s what the groups mean.

The Xenophiles “Everything has value”

This group of Ethereals believe that life is a miracle, that anything exists at all is crazy if you think about it. That we are able to contemplate our own existence is incredible. Like… wooh. Thus these Ethereals treasure ALL lifeforms, even cattle, even bugs, they don’t even hate Orks & Tyranids. They do not see T’au culture/society as better than others. The universe created everything, everything is equal, not good and bad, just different. Thus these Ethereals do not wish to replace the culture/society/religion of other races with the T’au’s. They want everyone to not kill each other, but aside from that, they encourage others to develop along their own unique path. These Ethereals want all lifeforms to be happy, both physically and mentally. Of course less intelligent beings like insects (or plants) can’t be mentally happy, but in general.

Somewhat paradoxically, they also see destruction as a natural part of the life cycle. Predators eating prey is perfectly normal, it’s the Tyranids and the Imperium that’s when things get out of hand. These Ethereals want to expand and take control over the galaxy not for T’au supremacy, but to act as guardians of life. They want to watch over and ensure that each planet is allowed to develop naturally, and no one (e.g. Imperium, Tyranids) interrupts the miracle that is the cycle of life. They do not approve of those who manipulate others (e.g. with mind control).

The Spiritualists “The enlightened have value”

These Ethereals believe that “good” means spiritual enlightenment, a state of being only capable of being reached by those who are intelligent enough. These “enlightened” are the “greater” for which all other beings should sacrifice for and serve. Like the Xenophiles, they would let any race into the T’au Empire if said race wished, unlike the Xenophiles, they do not care about “lesser” lifeforms. They see themselves as more “realistic” than the Xenophiles in this way. To them the Greater Good is not for cattle or plants or fish, and even speaking races like Orks are unworthy. Where the Xenophiles say the Greater Good is for everyone (whether they are willingly a part of it or not, or even aware of it), the Spiritualists say that is nonsense. The Greater Good is for people who can understand the Greater Good. The Spiritualists seek to expand the T’au Empire to uplift other races, which the Xenophiles see as unnecessary.

The Utilitarians “The useful have value”

This group believes that only the useful have a place in the T’au Empire, and that the T’au Empire’s goal is to protect itself and survive, not watch out for every other species. Being “custodians of the galaxy” or reaching “spiritual enlightenment” is all good and noble, but the T’au Empire won’t get to that point if they aren’t realistic. They see the short term, survival is more important than anything. They see the former groups as naïve, and themselves as pragmatic. They believe that life is not sacred, that not everything has a place in the galaxy, some things are just bad, natural evolution isn’t always perfect, things can be improved, and there’s nothing immoral with interfering. The galaxy doesn’t care.

Utilitarian Ethereals generally would not exclude races from the Empire for being too weak, as they can always “uplift” others to be more effective. Unlike Spiritualists, their uplifting means technological, or even genetic. They are not outwardly xenophobic, since they intend to create a more stable and peaceful galaxy to share with others. But they will sacrifice anything and everything about another race to improve efficiency. Ultimately, these Ethereals believe to survive, only the useful have a place in the T’au Empire, and If something cannot be altered into a form that is useful, then it is a burden on society and must be removed.

The Supremacists “The strong have value”

These Ethereals believe that the weak should serve the strong who are “greater”. They share similar views with the Utilitarians in that both perceive themselves as pragmatic and realistic, fanciful ideologies are for the naïve, they both focus on survival and basic necessities as “good”. However, the Supremacist Ethereals believe in a strict hierarchy, they believe each individual should strive to become the greatest possible version of themselves, and that the greater should lead the lesser. All Ethereals believe that a Shas’la should follow a Shas’ui, who should follow a Shas’vre, however Supremacist Ethereal take it one step further.

Their school of thought leads these Ethereals to perceive the T’au race as superior to others, since other races are usually lazy and decadent, and aren’t always striving to improve themselves. This is not to say that Supremacists are outwardly xenophobic. They believe that the T’au Empire is superior because it absorbs other aliens and their strengths into their Empire, while the other factions waste potential resources. However, although they never admit it, and may not be conscious of it themselves, Supremacist Ethereals have a bias towards T’au over other races. Where a Utilitarian could see another xenos as more efficient for a task than themselves (and worthy of respect), Supremacists simply see T’au as better, because they want to be better than others, because they want control, and they believe the powerful should control others.

@xenosgirllastarchive I don’t know if you remember this at all, but some time ago I mentioned an Ethereal OC I had in mind, Aun’Wu (loosely inspired by Wu Zetian). Well she’s a Xenophile and a bunch of my ideas for her revolved around her interacting with Ethereals of other ideologies. Was curious what your thoughts were or if you have any Ethereal characters yourself that would fit any of these groups?

#warhammer #warhammer 40000 #warhammer 40k #wh40k #ethereals #t'au empire #tau

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kikis-writing-world · 3 years

Note

Hiya! Congratulations on the milestone! If it's not too late could I participate in the ship game? I'm really shy and awkward the first couple months of knowing someone, and it takes a long while for me to get comfortable with being myself with someone, but once I do get comfortable I love to make people laugh all the time and try to focus on the silver lining of things, just generally trying to make people smile. I use writing and drawing to try and calm or organise my thoughts, since most of the time they scare me, and I also have a big urge to travel and explore different cultures while also being absolutely shit scared of everything 😂.

Hope your OK and staying safe! Bye! 👽👽

Thank you! I ship you with Din Djarin. The first few months of knowing each other would be a lot of awkward silences. Not uncomfortable necessary, just long. Eventually one of you would crack a joke, and that would be the beginning of an actual friendship. You would travel the galaxy with him, and he would love finding your drawings spread around the ship. He secretly would keep a stash of his favorites hidden in case you ever leave (because he’s kinda got abandonment issues if you couldn’t tell.) He would protect the shit out of you and it wouldn’t be long before you’re less scared because he’s way scarier than most things that could come after you.

I would love to see you two in a modern workplace AU, coworkers to lovers deal. You are his personal assistant and the two of you have a decent working relationship. You’re not great friends at first, but you work well together and have a mutual respect. He gets a promotion within the company which means he’s now having to leave the office/city for more meetings abroad. You get to go with him as he does this. He’s great at his job, kills it in meetings and with bosses/investors, but his social life seems kind of lacking. It’s almost like he’s not as confident outside of the business.

The first crack in the professional relationship is when it turns out you’re kind of nervous on the private jet. He helps you through take-off and landings, holding your hand and speaking in a calm, even voice. Next, because you’re spending so much time together in other cities, you two eat dinner together a lot. This means you’re chatting more about life and everything else. It’s probably a little awkward at first, but soon you realize he’s kinda your friend, not just your boss. You have to admit too, he’s kind of dashing.

You go to a meeting in the Northwest in winter, but while you’re there the meeting is cancelled because of a blizzard. This means the two of you have to just hunker down in the hotel. He proposes a movie night, so the two of you get into comfy clothes and pick something to watch from the hotel’s on-demand and order room service. As much as you liked seeing him dressed up, seeing him dressed down is somehow sexier. He looks so comfy and at-ease. You two end up falling asleep on the couch together, curled up under a blanket he pulled from the bed.

He gets invited to a company event and asks you to go with him. You say yes, of course, and make all the necessary plans. You’re a little excited, you’ve never been to the bigger dinners before, and you make sure to pick out a nice dress to wear. You’re also kinda nervous about being around the big bosses for a whole evening too. He reassures you that it’ll be fine.

He picks you up at your place. The whole night it seems like he has a hand hovering near you, sometimes actually touching your arm or lower back. It helps make you feel less anxious in the crowd and you’re thankful for it. He pulls your chair out for you and pours your wine. He’s kind of the perfect gentleman the whole time, and you for the briefest second allow yourself to think about what a great boyfriend he’d actually be.

At the end of the night he thanks you again for coming and kisses your cheek. You’re entire being is just frozen with a “WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!” He notices and he gets really flustered, apologizing like crazy that he maybe misread the situation but he thought this was a date. You’re like “ITS A WHAT?” because you definitely didn’t realize he asked you to the dinner as his date, not his assistant.

Things get super awkward at work the next Monday, both of you stuttering and stumbling over each other. Finally, he approaches you and basically spills that he’s been gaining feelings for you for some months now, and how working with you has been spectacular, and he admits that your drawings in the margins of notes and memos make him smile and he thought he had been clear about his intentions. He apologizes again and tells you that if you wanted to transfer to someone else, or even look for another job, you’d get nothing but a glowing recommendation from him. You tell him you don’t want to leave, but you really hadn’t realized he was feeling this way, and that the night had been a date. You shyly ask him if you two could have a do-over, try again when you actually realize what’s happening and he happily agrees.

Post with the rules and possible tropes here. Join in the fun!

#66followers #66followers celebration #shipping games #👽 anon #Anonymous #did you subliminal message me??!#Did I pick the SW character when you sent alien emojis?#i got played!#300 Followers Celebration

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