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wayward-pendragon · 4 years

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Anime Recommendations!

Hi everyone, I hope y’all are safe and happy! With quarantine still in place (at least in my country), I’m gonna keep the random rec lists coming! I’ve been watching a lotttt of animes and rewatching favourites, so I thought I’d share some of my favourites of all time! A lot of them are pretty mainstream, but for my friends who aren’t really into anime, these will get you hooked! In no particular order, let’s get started!

1. Snow White with the Red Hair, 24 episodes

This is hands down my favourite anime of all time. This shoujo anime make me feel so happy and it’s so wholesome, honestly such a feel good anime. Without spoiling too much, it’s about a herbalist named Shirayuki who ends up having to flee her home country and ends up meeting Prince Zen and goes to live in his country. The cast of characters in the anime is so good, there’s not a character to dislike. The genuine build up of friendship and eventual romance is just so sweet please watch.

2. Demon slayer (26 episodes)

One of the best anime I’ve watched this past year. This anime has amazing plot, awesome animation and a great cast of characters. This anime follows Tanjiro as he becomes a demon slayer after a demon killed his family. Tanjiro and his sister, Nezuko were the only survivors but Nezuko was turned in a demon and now Tanjiro is on a journey to change he back into a human. If you are into anime with amazing fight scenes, I highly recommend.

3. Hunter x Hunter (148 episodes)

I am currently watching this anime and it honestly made it onto my lists of favourite anime super quickly. The series starts with Gon and his quest to become a pro hunter and find his dad and goes on from there. With so many episodes and arcs, you can’t stop watching. The characters immediately hooked me on this show, Killua and Gon’s friendship is one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen in anime, I literally want to adopt both of them. This anime is so heartwarming but also kinda dark and action packed.

4. Haikyuu!! (73 episodes, on-going)

My favourite sports anime my god. Haikyuu follows a high school volleyball team as they try to make it to nationals. This series made me so much more emotional than I thought it would, but you get so involved with the team and characters and want them to succeed. All of the characters from all of the teams are also fantastic and hilarious. If you need a fun but exciting anime, please please please watch Haikyuu!!

5. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (64 episodes)

Where to even begin. I would say this is one of the most popular anime and for good freaking reason. Without giving too much away, this anime follows brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric as they go on a quest to get their bodies back. Honestly this is one of my fav animes, if you like awesome fight scenes and really intriguing plot, you will love this anime.

6. Yona of the Dawn (24 episodes)

Another amazing anime but sadly, unfinished. I think this anime is best to watch w/o knowing very much. Just know that there is really good characters and character development and a very attractive love interest :))))

7. Soul eater (51 episodes)

One of the first animes I ever watched and as I remember it’s hella awesome, if you like halloween then the whole atmosphere of this anime will intrigue you. The fight scenes in this are really fun and so are the characters. If you need a fun medium length anime, I would recommend this one!

8. Inuyasha (193 episodes)

This anime is worth all the hype in my opinion. The plot was great, the characters are fantastic and romance is so freaking cute I can’t. I’m also a sucker for asshole characters who are secretly really sweet.

9. Fruits Basket (2019) (25 episodes (S1), S2 on-going)

This is the cutest anime. The whole cast characters is amazing and you get so attached so fast. The protagonist is so sweet and optimistic and I really just wanna protect her. I went into this knowing next nothing and I think that’s the best way to do it. The 2001 version is good too but 2019 has better animation and is closer to managa (and has more episodes!).

10. My Hero Academia (88 episodes, on-going)

I love this anime with my whole heart. There is an adorable cast of characters and amazing fight scenes, I love this sm. It’s set in a world where like 95% of the population has ‘quirks’ which are basically super powers but not all of them are super powerful. Super heroes protect cities and the anime follows a high school where the students are training to become heroes. The main character is born without a quirk but through some crazy circumstances he ends up acquiring one. In my opinion this anime is worth the hype.

11. Ouran Highschool Host Club (26 episodes)

This one is wild. Ouran Highschool Host club is so iconic and it’s hilarious, I laughed out loud watching this one so much. Honestly I went into this knowing nothing and I think its funnier that way.

12. Yuri!!! On Ice (13 episodes)

THIS ANIME. The first sports anime w/ canon LGBTQ+ romance and its beautiful. I love the style, the skating, the music, the characters, just everything about it. This follows Yuri Katsuki, a professional figure skater from Japan and his skating career. After messing up a major championship, Yuri is lost and doesn’t know what to do w/ his career. After seeing a video of Yuri skate, his idol Victor, a skating legend, shows up to be his coach. Please watch this anime.

13. Attack on Titan (62 episodes, on-going)

If you are looking for a badass action anime this is the one for you. Humanity has fallen to the mercy of giant man-eating titans, and the people that survived live within a walled city to keep the titans out. This anime is a little disturbing and violent but it is so badass. Also Levi, the most badass character ever, makes this entire anime worth watching.

14. Ao Haru Ride (12 episodes)

Hands down my favourite romance anime. This anime is so freaking cute and it gave me so many fuzzy feelings. The animation is also super nice so that is always a plus. It follows Futaba and Kou who liked each other in middle school but were separated. They meet again in high school but they have both changed so much. If you want a romance anime I really recommend this one.

15. Naruto (720 episodes)

This is a freaking classic and really long. Almost everyone and their mother has heard of this anime or watched some of it before. Basically it’s about ninjas and follows mainly Naruto Uzumaki who want to eventually be the leader of his village but his ninja skills need a lot of work. I honestly didn’t think I would love this anime as much as I did but its just so good. It is a very big commitment to finish though so be prepared.

16. Your Lie in April (22 episodes)

Well this anime is literally beautiful. It is centered around 2 teens w/ major musical talent. It gets deep very fast but its also light hearted and wholesome. This anime made me cry like a baby so get your tissues ready.

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jeanslongschlong · 3 years

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a-z fluff alphabet for connie springer

requested by @squidonmywall !! i hope you enjoy <3

warnings: some swearing

word count: 1871

A = Admiration (what do they absolutely adore about you?)

Your sense of humor! Connie is a really funny guy, so it means a lot to him that you can match his energy at all times. He doesn’t believe in soulmates, but he’s starting to think that maybe, just maybe…

B = Body (what is their favorite part of your body?)

Your cheeks! Connie LOVES to pinch them, caress them, kiss them, and so on. He makes it his life mission to make you blush, as seeing the red tint on your cheeks makes pride swell up in him over the fact that he made you have that reaction. He also loves when- jk, we’re keeping this PG here. I’ll expand more on this when I do his NSFW alphabet.

C = Cuddling (how do they like to cuddle?)

Under lots of blankets and on top of lots of pillows. But he will cuddle with you anywhere and everywhere; Connie is not shy about PDA with you.

D = Dates (what does their ideal date with you look like?)

I get extremely romantic vibes from Connie, so probably some sort of mountain getaway, during which you spend time in a sauna, go skiing, and have a candlelit dinner with the breathtaking view of the snow-tipped mountains in the background. I can assure you he will do everything in his power to make you swoon, and (more likely than not) CRINGE at some of his cheesy attempts at flirting. He may be a romantic, but I never said anything about being smooth. That is a whole other story.

E = Emotions (how do they express emotion around you?)

Connie is pretty open about his emotions with everyone, but even more so with you. You just make him feel so comfortable, he knows that no matter what he’s feeling you won’t judge him; you’ll try your hardest to sympathize and help him work through it. That’s another thing he loves about you, your empathy.

F = Family (do they want one? If they do, when?)

CONNIE WANTS LIKE FIVE KIDS AND YOU CANNOT CHANGE MY MIND. In any case, he only wants them if you want them of course. He isn’t going to force you into something you don’t want. However, I would say that it could be a deal breaker for him…but it just depends. If you do want to have kids as well, I’d say he wants to start having them around 24/25.

G = Gifts (how do they feel about gift giving? What are their habits when it comes to this?)

HE LOVES GIVING GIFTS. I don’t think he has a lot of money so they probably aren’t expensive ones, but expect a bunch of small things randomly. He doesn’t need a holiday to buy you a gift, he just does it whenever he feels like it (which is almost always LMFAO he’s such a sweetie I am in love).

H = Holding Hands (when/how do they like to hold hands?)

All the time. Everywhere. Everyday. He holds onto your hand like it’s his fucking LIFELINE. (please I simp for this man so much he is so precious help)

I = Injury (how would they act if you got hurt?)

Simply put, he would cry. Similar to Eren, he would most likely shut down, overwhelmed by the panic and regret that washes over him when someone informs him of your injury. He would be so patient and loving during your recovery period, though. If you were staying in a hospital room he would give you his pudding cups during dinnertime.

J = Jokes (do they like to joke around with or prank you? how?)

Obviously Connie likes to joke, he’s one of the funniest characters in AOT. However, pranks? Nah. Not alone, at least. Teamed up with Sasha is a whole other story. But I don’t think they’d be anything serious. If he did prank you, it would be like…hiding a whoopie cushion on the couch where you normally sit, not a breakup prank or a cheating prank. He thinks those are too cruel and he would feel wayyyy too bad about it.

K = Kisses (how do they like to kiss you?)

Lowkey…I feel like he gives wet and sloppy kisses. But the type that make you feel warm inside. Kissing him brightens your whole day, they’re so infused with love that you could faint.

L = Love (how do they show you they love you?)

Words, gifts, kisses, random hugs, cuddles, you name it. He makes it VERY KNOWN in every way possible that he loves you. He is not embarrassed about it at all, and he makes sure you don’t forget it.

M = Memory (favorite memory together?)

Your first date. He stuttered so bad and yet you didn’t make fun of him. That’s when he knew that he had it BAD for you. He went home and literally couldn’t sleep he was so overwhelmed with affection for you.

N = Nightmare (what is their worst fear?)

He’s afraid that his forwardness will eventually scare you away. He’s so open about everything, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you are, so he’s afraid that one day he will overstep his boundaries and drive you away permanently.

O = Oddity (what is one quirk they have?)

French kissing is a no-no. Even though his kisses are wet and sloppy, I really think that the thought of your tongues in each other’s mouths gross him out. I think the same goes for Levi, too, if I’m being honest.

P = Pet Names (what do they like to call you?)

Angel, my love, my dearest. THIS BOY IS SO CHEESY BUT IT MELTS YOU

“You’re so pretty, angel. How the hell did I manage to get a girlfriend as heavenly as you?”

(And then you probably made fun of him and you two double over in the type of laughter that makes your stomach cramp. Oh, to be loved by Connie.)

Q = Quality Time (how do they like to spend time with you?)

A lot, quality time is his love language, second to gift giving. If he had it his way, the only time he would be away from you is when he was at work, at school, or going to the bathroom. Otherwise, he wants to be all up in your business. But, he respects your space so he tries to refrain from asking you to hang out every day. Key word: tries.

R = Rhythm (what song reminds you of them?)

“Two” by Sleeping At Last. No explanation needed.

S = Secrets (how open are they with you?)

He tells you everything, even things you think ‘god, why did he tell me that?’ afterwards. SO, he tells you everything. He keeps nothing from you, which makes surprising you SUPER hard for him LMAO. He just wants to tell you as soon as he possibly can.

T = Time (how long did it take you to get together?)

Not very long. 3 months at most. This boy can’t wait LOL he has 0 patience. He knew he wanted to make you his even before you had your first date, but he waited to give you time to think about what you wanted. (Although how could you not want him??? FR)

U = Upset (how do they act when you’re upset?)

Super supportive. He will be whatever you need him to be. If you need to scream at him to let out all of your frustration? He’ll let you. If you need him to hold a pillow for you to punch while you’re angry? Consider him your new punching bag. If you need him to just hold you and stroke your hair while you cry? He’ll do it. Anything for you.

V = Vaunt (what are they proud of? Do they like to show you off?)

He’s honestly just so happy that you love him. He loves to show you off; he tells anyone who will listen how amazing you are, how beautiful you are, how he’s convinced that if soulmates did exist, you’d be his.

W = Warrior (how do they feel about you fighting? Would they fight for you, beside you, etc?)

Like Eren, Connie would lay down his life for you in a heartbeat. He gets a little scared when he thinks about you fighting, but he knows that you’d be fine, so he never really voices that fear.

X = X-Ray (how well are they able to read you?)

Pretty damn well. He’s not dumb, he can tell when you’re actually mad and when you’re just crabby because you haven’t eaten. He’s memorized all of the indicators that point towards how you’re feeling, and he’s always prepared to deal with it.

Y = Yes (how would they propose to you?)

SOOOOO ROMANTICALLY PLS IM GONNA SOB THINKING ABOUT IT.

This is the only secret that I feel he would successfully keep from you; he wants to make it as special as possible (which is quite the opposite of Eren LOL). He would take you on a walk near sunset, and would time it so perfectly that you would end up at the place you first met right when the sun starts to set.

The sky is filled with picturesque shades of pinks, yellows, reds, and oranges, and you stop for a moment to gape in astonishment at its beauty. He admires you as you stare at the sky, your hand held to your forehead to shield your eyes from the brunt of the sun’s mighty rays, your eyes filled with such bewilderment that it warms him from the inside out. He takes this moment to kneel down onto one knee, reaching back to fish out the black ring box he had put in his pockets a few hours before.

“Y/N…” he says softly, trying to get your attention. You turn around, expecting him to make fun of you for being so infatuated with the colors of the sky, but instead let out a strangled gasp.

“Holy shit, are you-“

“Yes,” he smiles up at you and reaches out with his left hand to grasp your right. He gives your hand a loving squeeze, sucks in a breath, then continues, “I knew from the moment we met here all of those years ago that I was going to marry you. You know how I knew?” You shake your head no. “The moment our eyes met, I was filled with such a sense of completion that there was no other way to explain it. I’ve told you many times that I don’t believe in soulmates, that I think it’s just a shanty created by the romance genre to create unrealistic expectations when it comes to love. But…I’m now thoroughly convinced that you are mine.”

“Connie, I-“

“Marry me.”

“Yes.”

Z = Zen (what makes them feel calm?)

Taking a nap with you under a thick blanket. He loves to be held by you, so preferably with him on top of you, your arms wrapped tightly around him and him using your stomach as a pillow. Prime sleeping position for Connie Springer.

#aot headcanons #aot #attack on titan x reader #connie springer x reader #connie springer #connie springer fluff alphabet #snk #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan

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fireflyfish · 4 years

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Hop on the Wen Chao Haterade Express!

Hahah! I hope you weren’t expecting something about Tano and Kenobi right? Because I have thoughts that must be shared with others and you are all my unwilling victims. Can one be a willing victim?

Episode 17: Wei Wuxian goes to the Ancient China Google School of Medicine

After Episode 16: Running and Crying; Now with Running and Crying In The Rain we left our hero sitting in a boat having an existential crisis because that’s what happens in boats in ancient China. Crises and crying. Nothing good happens in boats in Ancient Fantasy China. Wen Chao was probably born in a boat.

Wen Ning is flawless and really strong for the local Woobie Badass and carries our 200 lbs of whoopass and Mommy issues to the crisis boat and Wei Wuxian with the promise that everyone back in Lotus Pier is drugged off their asses and will wake up with the same headache I have every morning when I remember the state of the world I’m living in.

There is no ibuprofen that can save you Wen Chao. I hope you suffer you unmitigated twat. I hope you trip on every loose board in Lotus Pier and break all your toes. I hope your hideously tacky and vicious little bloodsucking mosquito of a girlfriend lands face first into a pile of fire ants. I hope...

Woah... I’m not even sure I hate Palpatine that much. Wow. Fire ants... damn. I need to calm down.

Eh-hem. So When-Will-His-Face-Make-an-Expression Zhuli is very zen about the whole thing and I just don’t get his character. What is going on? Why is he all :| when he is serving the Wen Clan? He seems so annoyed by Wen Chao, which automatically makes him better than all the other Evil Wens, but he still goes around melting cores and killing Beloved Parental Figures and having respectful dialogue like he’s not the bag man for the WORST heir to a fantasy throne since Game of Thrones. I bet he and Joffrey when to some kind of evil royal boarding school together. Ramsay Bolton was probably there too.

Then we float on a boat of sadness and pick up Yanli, who is understandably sad and say goodbye to an old lady who I think is going to die off screen? Who are you? Where did you come from? Does Jiang Cheng need to avenge you too?

The boat floats on until it transforms into a cool box carriage thing and My Perfect Son Who Gives Me Echo Vibes smuggles our beleaguered family into the earth kingdom Yiling which hold up! Isn’t that where Wei Wuxian is supposed to be like the Great and Terrible Yiling Patriarch? Where he did such horrible things like make a compass that detects ghosts and cool goth varsity flags that summon ghosts? I feel like this place is important and LOOK AT ALL THE TREES!!! *cries in Central Texan about trees*

My Other Equally Perfect Son Who Does Not Deserve This Jiang Cheng is sick and feverish and Wei Wuxian decides this is the perfect time to get him a blinging black cape with red accents and I swear I am hearing the Imperial March in the background. The I-Do-Bad-Things-For-Reasons-I-Think-Are-Good-But-Are-Ultimately-Bad-And-My-Light-Side-Boyfriend-Gets-His-Heartbroken-Because-Of-It vibe is very strong.

Anyway, Dr Wen Qing Medicine Woman shows up and looks at her baby brother and understandably gives into that sweet innocent face because Wen Ning Has Done Nothing Wrong In His Life. AND WHY THE HELL IS HE THE GHOST GENERAL?? WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY PRECIOUS SON WEI WUXIAN??? DO I NEED JIANG CHENG TO STAB YOU AGAIN?

After some ancient Chinese medicine, which looks so much more pleasant than my last visit to the GP, The Radiant Goddess Wen Qing explains that Jiang Cheng has no golden core and that’s clearly bad but it isn’t until Jiang Cheng wakes up and tries to apparently suckerpunch Wei Wuxian with all his spiritual energy that we learn the truth.

Wen Zhuli is a Monster and He Hurt My Precious Child. Madam Yu energy intensifies.

So then Wei Wuxian basically badgers Wen Qing into letting him look at all her medical books and of we go into a studying monologue where time is measured in stubble and plates of uneaten food. Wen Qing is being very patient and gorgeous about the whole thing even though she knows there’s Nothing You Can Do Anakin Wei Wuxian. You Cannot Keep People From Dying Rebuild People’s Golden Cores After The Palm d’Or of Death Smacks Them.

Then Wei Wuxian makes Yanli cry and he is on my List now because Yanli is Perfect and Flawless and none of you bastards deserve her, except you Wen Ning or possibly Meng Yao WHERE IS HE? HOW DID HE NOT DIE FROM BEING STABBED IN THE CHEST? QUI-GON JINN FELL OVER LIKE A SACK OF BAD POTATOES BUT MENG YAO IS JUST OUT THERE LOOKING FOR WORK WITH A BLEEDING CHEST WOUND?

Then Wei Wuxian mentions Lan Zhan and Yanli tells him “Listen, Asshole. ACheng is Sick and trapped in an acupuncture coma because he won’t sleep, I am ominously coughing and you have HIDEOUS stubble. Your Robot Bunny Boyfriend will just have to wait. We are the A plotline in this story, not your bromance with the reserved and gorgeous nerd in the back of the classroom who knows all the answers because he’s already finished the text book. Focus on my face and my tears you idiot. You made me cry!”

Wei Wuxian understandably feels bad, sleeps, shaves and then goes back to studying after Wen “I am so going to regret this in two episodes” Qing picks up her library and decides that someone with ACTUAL medical experience should be doing some research.

Also... what is going on with those pots that Yanli and Wen Ning keep fanning? What is in those? Medicine? Ox bone soup? Poison I can give to Wen Chao?

After some more lovely shots of Yiling that REALLY make me want to hire their set designer to build my dream house, Wei Wuxian finds the wooden scroll book “How to Give Your Core To Your Adopted Brother Because You Have SO Much Guilt And Also Your Promised Your Adopted Father Figure You Would Take Care of Him And They Don’t Have Talk Therapy In Fantasy China Yet”.

There is some dramatic sitting, some dramatic “Hell No I am not doing this” on Wen Qing’s part and lots of “No, really, you have to do this. I am totally okay sacrificing for the Jiangs because it’s REALLY going to make everything hurt so much worse later on when ACheng murders me to death on the edge of a cliff on Mustafar Quishan”

Wen Qing is probably thinking of all the horrible ways this could go south and is trying to be An Adult when Wen Ning shows up and is pure and good and full of faith and devotion to Wei Wuxian and I think I need to send a clone extraction team to rescue my poor baby boy.

Unable to withstand the purity of Wen Ning’s smile and because the script says she has to Wen Qing agrees and gives us some ominous stats and Wei Wuxian is cool with that because “It might work and if it doesn’t who cares? Wen Chao is going to show up at any minute to murder us and probably you and Wen Ning and then Lan Zhan will show up with his Guzheng (yes I did have to google that) Of Pretty Magical Death and then we’ll just have to wait for the next episode after that where everybody magically survives except all the people *I* like because that’s how these things go.”

WHEN DOES WEN CHAO DIE? HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET FROM LOTUS PIER TO YILING BECAUSE IT FEELS LIKE IT’S TAKING WAY TOO LONG AND I AM SO VERY WORRIED ABOUT YANLI’S COUGHING. WHAT IS THE STYGIAN TIGER AMULET AND WHEN DO WE GO BACK TO THE FUTURE??

WHEN DOES WEN CHAO DIE??????

#No Spoilers please!#The Untamed #Wei Wuxian: The Grandmaster of Bad Life Choices #Jiang Cheng Deserves Better and Needs Therapy #Someone please give Yanli Padme's cell number. These two need a girls' day out #Wen Qing you need to grab your adorable baby brother and GTFO out of Ancient Fantasy China

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waitingformessages · 4 years

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The RFA finds out that MC has decided not to attend the party and wants to leave the RFA (and them).

Before you read - I like to use references to the games in my writing, so SPOILER warnings, especially as this, is referencing the end of the game for each route. (Based on the Good Endings but with an obvious twist). I prefer to use the name `Seven’ instead of `Saeyoung’ unless he is being spoken to in his section. I hope that isn’t too confusing. I try my best to keep the characters in character, but I’m new to this, so I’m sorry if anything seems OOC. I take the nicknames the characters call you from the MC page of the wiki. Apologises as these are quite long, and Seven plays a semi-important role in each section(He goes into overly-protective friend mode which I love.) (expect in Jumin’s)

As Seven’s Ending does not involve the couple going to the RFA party, I have decided to make an alternative scenario for him:-

Seven’s reaction to MC who has decided to return to attend the party instead of helping him with the hacker (MC also leaves Seven)

I hope you enjoy reading, and any feedback is appreciated.

Jumin - The day was finally here, you turn in the bed and look up at the dress you had hung up when you returned to Rika’s apartment the night before. The dress was gorgeous, and the colour was sure to compliment you, just as Jumin had hoped. He had a team of designers to ensure that the dress was going to be perfect for you. You pulled yourself up from the bed and walked towards the dress. You knew that it was to be matching to Jumin’s suit, the main reason he had got the designer team to work on it, instead of allowing you to wear one of your own dresses. Your chest tightens at the thought of walking into the party and being noticed instantly as a part of a couple. You have just had a few hours to yourself, and you are not emotionally capable of dealing with the Jumin’s possessiveness and obsession of you, again. You could feel your head spinning, and a notification from your phone brings you back to your senses. A chatroom had opened, and everyone was there, chatting about how excited they were about the party. Your chest tightens again from the words Jumin was saying to you, you couldn’t understand why you were feeling this way. You thought you had feelings for him, but now your mind was rethinking your relationship with him. You continue to act excited along with the other members, but you felt uneasy when Jumin spoke directly to you. You quickly say goodbye and exit the chatroom, you take deep breaths of air to try to calm yourself down. You glance at the dress once more then make a decision. ; Jumin spoke with V and Seven about his plan to expose the Choi sisters, and his love for you. His constant glances towards the doorway of the party venue were obvious to the duo he was speaking with. Seven followed Jumin’s eyes and noticed Jaehee, with a clipboard with the guest list, he turns to Jumin “I’ll go check with Jaehee if (Y/N) has arrived yet, she might have snuck in.” Jumin gives Seven a nod before discussing with V his recent photographs. Jaehee flicks through the list looking for your name, after Seven’s request to do so. “I’m sorry, Luciel. She hasn’t arrived yet.” Seven glanced over at his shoulder, to see Jumin distracted by V, he slid his phone out of his pocket and looked at Jaehee. “I’m just going to check that she is ok, I don’t know how long that bossy woman will last, and Jumin’s plan really needs (Y/N) to work.” Seven gestures towards Glam Choi who was fixing Sarah’s hair, as he puts his phone to his ear. The phone rings out and reaches your voicemail, Seven tuts. “Is she not here yet?” Jumin had snuck behind Jaehee and Seven, his voice was different than his usual tone, hints of worry and hurt coming through as he spoke. The party was now chaos, as Jumin ordered Jaehee to try to contact you through the chatroom, Seven to track you to see what has happened and for ZEN and Yoosung to take turns in calling you. Jumin paced the area, trying to avoid eye contact with his father or his unwanted soon to be in-laws. V places a hand on Jumin’s shoulder which sets him off, yelling in a hushed voice that it’s V fault, and that you could have been taken by the hacker, that he should have not let you leave. Jumin tried to calm himself, to keep a respected reputation in front of the numerous paparazzi he had invited. ; You could hear your phone buzzing nonstop and you were getting sick of it, the notifications of someone in a chatroom desperately trying to get your attention and someone else calling you nonstop. You groan and decide to pick your phone, Yoosung’s name popped up “What is it, Yoosung?” A gasp could be heard down the phone “WHERE ARE YOU, WE ARE SO WORRIED. WE THOUGHT THE HACKER GOT YOU! JUMIN IS FREAKING OUT!” yelled the youngest member. You knew this was going to happen, Jumin would freak out about your lack of presence at the party, you couldn’t think of a response. What were you going to say? You have actually decided that the RFA is not for you? That you have fallen out of love with Jumin? It would be too much to expect Yoosung to explain to your ex-lover. You could hear a commotion from the phone, and another voice took over “My Love? Where are you, are you ok?” Your heart sinks as you hear the man you have spent the last couple days with, start talking. You feel awful that you couldn’t stay in love with him, you could tell how much he cared for you. “I’m so sorry…” you whisper into the phone, “I can’t do this anymore Jumin, I’m sorry, but I’m not coming. I want to leave the RFA, please let the others know.” You say before hanging up, not wanting to hear his response. You pull your legs to your chest and cry about the end of your short relationship with Jumin and the short time you had with the RFA.; Jumin keeps the phone to his ear, hearing the dial tone ring out, he was unsure what to do or say. The other RFA members were now looking at him, expecting him to say that you were running late or something. Jumin tries to speak, but no words could come out, he could feel a pain in his chest. Why was this happening, why did you say those things? “Hey, Trust-Fund Kid, tell us! Is everything ok?” Jumin swallowed hard, feeling his throat dry, “She’s not coming.” The members start to panic, asking if you were ok, were you sick, were you hurt? Jumin had grabbed a drink from a nearby waiter and finished it in one go. “She has quit, she decides that we… I am not enough for her anymore.” The RFA’s faces all drop in disbelief. “Ha, ha this must be another one of your jokes that no one understands right?” asks Seven, hoping that it was. “Unfortunately, that is not the case.” explains Jumin, he catches the eye of his father from the crowd of guests. “If you excuse me, I would like to return home. Assistant Kang, please apologise to my father, his guests and the paparazzi. I have suddenly become unavailable to stay at the party.” Jumin turns and leaves the venue without another word, heartbroken at your confession.

Seven - You glance out the car window as Seven drives towards a quiet area, to stop. He told you in passing that you needed to stop so that he could try to contact the agency and Vanderwood to ensure they knew they had the wrong twin and that his brother would be safe. The drive was silent, and you were alone with your thoughts, you were thinking about the party and how you were desperate to not miss it. You had spent a long time, emailing all the guests, chatting with the other members, you had even picked out your outfit! But now you were in a car driving further and further away from the party’s venue. You sigh loudly as you think about all that you will miss. The sigh gains the attention from Seven, he leans over to squeeze your hand, which makes you jump. You smile weakly then glance at your lap, where your phone was laying. Your phone had lit up, highlighting a notification, a quick unlock of the phone shows that a chat room has opened up and the other RFA members were talking. You hesitated to join as you knew they would be eagerly discussing the party, the one you could not attend. “Don’t worry” you hear from a voice beside you, “If you enter it, they won’t know you are there. I had to disable some things on your app and phone. To make sure no one can track us.” You shrug your shoulders, what else were you expecting from him? You open the messenger, and as you expected, they were discussing the party. You felt uneasy as you were able to spy on their conversation and that none of them could acknowledge your presence. You had shaken off Seven’s hand to move your phone closer to your face. He seemed confused by your action but didn’t say anything about it. You look at him at the corner of your eye as you pretend to read the chatroom. He seems so different, Seven in the chatroom was so bubbly and talkative, and now he is serious and silent, it’s weird and not in a good way. The last member leaves the chatroom, and you quickly leave as well. You lay the phone back onto your lap and throw your head back into the seat, closing your eyes. “Angel, are you ok?” you hear your `boyfriend’ ask. You nod, keeping your eyes closed, you imagined yourself at the party. Greeting all the guests and talking away to the other members, you have been desperate to meet for the last eleven days. However, the red-haired boy was not in your fantasy, you were by yourself, enjoying the party. You smile at your thoughts, you imagine yourself chatting about video games with Yoosung, musicals with Jaehee and ZEN, and Elizabeth with Jumin. You try to imagine the person next to you, at your make do party as well but it was useless, you just couldn’t picture him there. The car suddenly stops, waking you from your dream, you look over to Seven who had his head on the car wheel. “I… I better try to contact the agency. I hope they haven’t done anything to Saeran.” he mumbled, you try not to groan at the situation. You really did not want to be chasing after his long lost brother, the drama of the whole thing was too much for you. You give a faint smile to Seven as he turns to face you, obviously bothered by your silence. “Are you sure you are ok? Did something in the chatroom upset you?” He asked worriedly. Were you going to confess to him? That you want to go to the party? That you didn’t really care about reuniting his family, that you were having a hard time talking to him without regretting your choices? You shake your head, he sighs and leans over to kiss your cheek. “I won’t be long, please stay inside. I can’t let you hear the conversation, classified, you know?” he smiles at you. You reply to his `joke’ with a half-assed laugh, which you could feel him looking through. Seven picks up a bag containing a laptop and exits the car. You lay back and wiped your cheek, you look through the window at him. You fell for the Seven in the chatrooms, the one who made jokes and liked to prank everyone. The person standing outside the car was not the same man. You look at your phone, you knew everyone else was preparing for the party so would be unavailable to talk to. Still, you try anyways, the last member’s voicemail hits your ear as the car door opens. The phone is quickly turned off, and you look at Seven as he sits down. “Well, it’s done. I’ve warned the agency that they don’t have me and if they don’t be careful with him, I’ll expose their secrets.” You stare at him, you had to tell him. You just had to explain where your mind is at. “Saeyoung…” He quickly turns and smiles at you “I love it when I hear you same my real name.” Crap, you look at the floor. The courage you once had was fading. “Um… I was just wondering, what do you think is happening at the party?” You could hear him shuffle about and play around with the radio. “A broadcast should be playing about the party any time now.” You stare at the radio, and you could feel yourself start to cry. You quickly try to wipe your tears away. “Oh, no. What’s wrong?” Seven asks before placing his hand on your back and rubbing it, in a way to comfort you. You start mumbling nonsense to him about how much you want to be there and that you don’t want to be here in the car with him, and that you don’t have feelings for this `version’ of him. You mumbled in an attempt to make your words unrecognisable to him to hear. But as the hand stopped rubbing your back, you could tell he could understand what you said. You squeezed your eyes shut, awaiting a response. You could hear the car starting up and the car speeding away. The two of you sat in silence during the drive, you open your eyes and notice that you were entering the city again. “What… why are we here, Saeyoung?” you asked confused that you were not in the mountains anymore. Seven sighs “You said you didn’t want to help me, remember? You want to attend the party. The least I could do is drive you there.” You turn to him, as the car stops, seeing that he had tears running down his face. “I’m sorry, that this is how it ends.” you say before opening the car door. Seven nods in response. He quickly leaves as soon as he sees you run into the party venue. The radio announcing Jumin’s speech “...they gathered the courage to go after the truth, Saeyoung Choi and….” Seven quickly turned off the radio, wiping away his tears as he drove back to where he could find his brother.

Jaehee - You look at yourself in the mirror once before, playing with your hair thinking what to do with it. Your mind races to the night before, the argument between Jumin and Jaehee got to you. You remember that V, Seven and ZEN were worried as well, something about the hacker, which made your nerves heighten. Your head lay against the mirror, desperate for your mind to be at ease. The whole situation with the RFA was getting too much, you had to have time to yourself, time to deal with your issues. You tried to be there for Jaehee, you knew that she was stressed from work Jumin was putting her through, but you were hoping that she would be there for you as well. You could hear your phone notify you of a chatroom, a sigh escapes your lips as you go towards your phone to attend the chatroom. Yoosung and ZEN start chatting with you about how excited they were about the party and the drama that occurred the night before. You try to reassure the members that everything was ok, your heart drops when Seven jokes about Jaehee, now being unemployed. You couldn’t believe that this happened that you had encouraged it. You act excited and quickly leave the messenger, your head spinning even more. You just need a couple minutes, hours, days even to reflect on your actions, to take a breather and focus on yourself. Your outfit hangs at the wardrobe in front of you, haunting you of the event to come. You stand and remove the outfit from its place. ; Yoosung looked around the room, trying to find a name tag that had your name on it, he came up blank and approached ZEN in the hope that he has seen you. “Hyung, have you seen (Y/N) yet?” ZEN shook his head to Yoosung’s disappointment. Yoosung had seen Jaehee earlier who had mentioned how excited she was to meet you, this was going to crush her. The duo decided to split up and try to find you once more before notifying Jaehee about your lack of presence. They had bumped into Jumin during their search, who also was determined to meet you. The members start to panic, hoping that you were safe. ; You sigh as you move the last of your items into a bag, you were prepared to leave Rika’s apartment, return to your home and put this whole thing behind you. Yes, you were going to miss the RFA and your new friendships with them, especially Jaehee, but you couldn’t handle taking on their stressful worries. It was negatively affecting you, and you needed to be selfish. You could feel your phone buzz in your pocket, you had changed the app settings to vibrate, so the noise of notifications did not distract you or change your mind. You contemplate if you should answer the phone or not, you could feel your face become wet from tears. You pulled the phone out and answered. ; Jaehee frantically looked around the hall, ignoring the other member’s telling her that you haven’t arrived yet. She spots Seven chatting to a small group of guests and bolts towards him, if anyone could find where you were, it would be him. “Luciel!” she hissed in his ear, gaining his attention. “Jaehee! Let me introduce you to…” Seven says ready to gesture to the people in front of him “I apologise, but I need to speak to you urgently. In private!” Jaehee says, pulling at his arm away from the noisy party scene. Seven smiles at her, ready to make a joke at her eagerness to get him alone, but stops as he looks at the worried expression on her face. “What’s wrong, Jaehee?” he places a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. Jaehee sighs before explaining that you haven’t arrived yet and it’s been at least two hours since the party has started. Seven rubbed Jaehee’s shoulder as he pulled his phone out of his pocket so that he could track where you were. “I’m on it, don’t worry. I’ll find her. It might take a while, so go out and mingle.” He gestures with his phone towards the crowded hall containing the guests and RFA members. “Look, I can see ZEN talking to Jumin. You might need to save him, we don’t want any drama.” Jaehee faintly nodded and walked into the hall, leaving Seven to try to find your location. ; “Hi Seven, what’s up?” you ask, after seeing his picture appear on your phone. “Care to explain why you are still at Rika’s apartment and not here at the party?” His voice was serious, which brought chills down your spine. “Um…” you try to think of the right words to say. How can you explain that you decided to not attend the party, you have actually decided to leave the RFA and Jaehee behind. Seven grew impatient on the other end of the call. “Why are you not here! We are all waiting for you! Jaehee is waiting for you! Can you not understand how worried they are about you!” His harsh tone makes you jump, and you can feel yourself start to cry even more. “I’m so sorry…” you hear a commotion from the phone and another person speak down the phone. ; “Oh my! You are ok, oh thank god, What’s happened, has there been an issue?” Jaehee asks after taking the phone from Seven despite his protests. She paces back and forth, awaiting a response from you, she nibbles at her lip in worry that something serious has happened. “Jaehee…” she hears from the phone which snaps her out of her thoughts. “Yes, I’m here! Are you ok?” Jaehee replies in a rushed voice, she looked at the crowd, the place felt empty without you and Jaehee could feel the glares from Jumin burning into her soul. “I’m not coming. I’m sorry.” Jaehee held a breath unsure what to do with the news “It’s ok, I hope you are safe. I have something important to ask you. I would have preferred to ask face to face…” she says ready to tell you about her plan for the future with you. “Jaehee…I’ve always decided to not stay in the RFA. This is just not for me. I’m sorry, but I need to go.” The phone disconnects and Jaehee stares at it in disbelief. Seven stood awkwardly beside her, “What happened?” Jaehee handed the phone back to Seven, ignoring his question. She looked at the key in her hand, the one that was for the new coffee shop that you both were going to own. Jaehee’s hand trembles at the thought of her confidence and dream fading away, she glances at the crowd and spots Jumin. She prepares herself to beg for her job back and leaves Seven in the hallway.

Yoosung - You hear your phone on the table next to the bed, wake you from your slumber. The sound of a chatroom notification hits your ear, and you groan. Today was the day of the party, and you felt awful, you were worried about Yoosung from the night before. He sounded strange during phone calls and his lack of presence in the chatrooms the day before worried you. You hoped that he would be in the new chatroom to put your mind at ease, but you were wrong. You chatted with the other members, but the back of your mind kept worrying about Yoosung and your current `relationship’ if you could call it that. You thought he was stupid for running off with Seven to try to expose the hacker, but he wanted to prove himself. “How reckless” you mutter as you continue to converse with the other members, now wishing the conversation would end so you could return back to sleep. You glance up at the dress you had chosen to wear to the party when you excited a couple of days ago. But now it was a reminder of the dreadful night to come, another groan escapes your lips as you return to your phone and said goodbye to the RFA. You were prepared to put your phone back down and fall back to sleep when you noticed a phone call from Yoosung coming through. Your fingers having a mind of their own answer the call which you originally wanted to ring out. You leave the phone in your hand for a moment, as you hear Yoosung talking down the phone trying to get your attention. `Fake it’ you thought, you wanted to get the call over quickly and taking your time to answer him will not achieve that. During the phone call, you act excited about the party and listen to him talking about how much he loves you. You grimace in response and quickly end the call. You sigh and put your head in your hands, the first couple of days of the RFA was amazing. You were enjoying the attention you were receiving from all members, especially Yoosung, who seemed to have fallen head over heels for you. But now you wished you never helped that stranger, that you ignored the messages and continued on with your normal life. Emailing the guests was stressful, the mention of Rika burdened you and having to keep up with Yoosung was exhausting. You needed a holiday from it all. Yes, you wanted to attend the party and marvel in all your hard work, but then you would have to encounter all of the RFA members and hear stories about past parties with Rika. You hated the comparison, they all acted like they knew you weren’t her but still compared you to her. It drove you crazy. You felt like screaming; instead, you stood up from the bed and stormed over the dress. ; Jaehee was standing at the entrance of the party, waiting for the newest member to arrive. It has been about half an hour since the party began and almost all the guests have arrived. She flicked through the guest list once more, just in case she missed you before handing the list to a staff member so she can join the party. Seven was acting strangely and was keeping eyes on the entrance, only nodding along to Jumin and ZEN’s conversation, much to the actor’s disappointment. Your lack of presence was noticeable to all of the members and the guests were asking about the `kind person who emailed them’. It wasn’t until V came up to the trio of members that the panic sank in. “Is (Y/N) here yet?” V said nonchalantly. Questions about V’s eyesight and where was Yoosung were thrown back and forth, but V just repeated his question. “Um… no, she hasn’t arrived yet.” answered ZEN, which gained the response of a sigh from V. “I better notify Yoosung. He wanted to make a romantic gesture, but there is no point in starting it now if she hasn’t arrived.” V was about to turn around as Seven catches his arm “Wait, Yoosung is here? What about his eye?” the first words Seven spoke all night, came out shaky. V ignored the question as the other members started to ask Seven what he meant by that statement. V had suddenly started walking back to Yoosung which triggered the other members to follow, including Jaehee who had listened in to the conversation. ; Yoosung sat at a table furthest away from the party’s entrance, his hands slightly shaking from his nerves. Every now and then he would touch this bandages to make them they haven’t moved and would wince at the pain. He could see from the corner of his eye that V was returning, Yoosung prepared to hear the news that you had arrived and rose from the table. “Oh my god. Yoosung!” he heard, he gazed behind V to see the RFA members. He smiled weakly and tried to hide his bandages with his hand, hissing to V “This wasn’t the plan! (Y/N) wasn’t supposed to see me yet!” The RFA glanced at each other, unsure how to tell Yoosung that you were not here yet. “Yoosung, (Y/N) hasn’t arrived yet.” replied Jumin, as the other members nodded. Yoosung chuckled assuming it was a joke until he glanced at the group in front of him. He noticed their sad faces and that you were not with them. He was sure that they wouldn’t have left you behind yourself, so it had to be true. Yoosung stumbled back into the chair he was previously sitting at, the other members worried that he had hurt himself. “Why… Why isn’t she here yet? She said she was coming. She was so excited.” He mumbled to himself, before looking up at the other members “Why is she not here?” His eyes snapped shut as he spoke, which gained another wince coming from his mouth. V instantly turned to the RFA members and decided to find out where you were. Seven was instructed to track you down, Jaehee and ZEN were instructed to try to call your phone while Jumin was in charge of checking if you were online in the chatroom. V sat next to Yoosung as the chaotic scene played out before them. He hesitated to place a hand on Yoosung’s back, but as he saw Yoosung soften under his touch, he started to rub it, to try to comfort him. Yoosung placed his head in his hands, his mind going crazy at thoughts of why you were not at the party. ; You were sitting in the back of a taxi when you could hear your phone going crazy in your pocket, the driver made a noise of annoyance. You apologise as you pull the phone out, embarrassed by the noises it was making. ZEN’s name popped up on the phone, you quickly hit ignore but as soon as you did that Jaehee’s name popped up. You continue to reject the calls that were coming in until you see another name join the callees. The option to reject was suddenly unavailable which you gasped at, you were forced to answer this person. “Hello?” you say, you could sense the fear in your voice which gains a raise of the eyebrow from your driver, you turn away from him. If you were going to get yelled at, you didn’t want this stranger to see you cry. “How dare you!” replies the voice, it was rough and penetrating to hear. You wanted to challenge the person on the phone, but you knew better to start arguing with them. “Nothing to say, huh? Figures. Explain this to me (Y/N), I can see that you are nowhere near the party. You are not even near the apartment. Where are running away to?” Seven’s voice pierced through you, and you wince at his words. “Oh, no! Did I hurt you? Boohoo. You’ve done the same to all of us!” You couldn’t just sit there, you had to defend yourself, but how? “Seven, just shut up! You have no idea what I’m going through right now! I didn’t want to be in the stupid RFA, I didn’t want to take on Rika’s futile job, and I didn’t want to be in a relationship with Yoosung! I didn’t want any of this!” You take deep breaths and wait for a response from the hacker, ready to continue this fight. ; Unknown to you, Seven had the whole conversation from the start on speakerphone, and the rest of the RFA had heard your whole conversation. After you rejecting Jaehee’s and ZEN’s calls, they decided that when you did answer, they would put it on speaker to ensure you were ok. They were not expecting your outburst. Gasps from all the members could be heard on the phone, and they all looked at Yoosung who was now distraught. Yoosung, who had tears rolling round his face, picked up the phone. He walked away from the other members and took you off of speaker “Sweetie? I’m sorry you feel this way.” His voice cracking as he spoke. “I’m sorry you were forced to join us…We didn’t realise how draining this was for you... We… I’m sorry.” Yoosung brushed his hair out of face as he looked back at the other members who all had worried looks on their faces. “You know that I love you. I hate for you to leave like this…” Yoosung was going to continue until he heard the dial tone ring out from the phone. His face fell as he realised you had hung up on him, his lips now trembling to try to keep any sobs from escaping. He turned back to the other members and requested to be taken back to the hospital.

ZEN - You lean against the bathroom sink, hoping to calm your nerves for the event that was going to start soon. You had convinced ZEN that you should return to the apartment before the party so you could get ready, but honestly, it was because you needed to rethink things. ZEN seemed a little hesitant to let you go back, especially as he was nervous that the hacker could return. You splashed cold water in your face, in an attempt to calm yourself. You enjoyed ZEN’s company when you were at his apartment, but now that you have returned, you had realised how dramatic his situation was. The social media thinks he’s this awful person because of Echo Girl and you didn’t want to be involved with that. : ZEN had entered the venue without you, narrowly missing the mixed crowd outside. A large crowd of Echo Girl fans, paparazzi and his own fans had gathered and made it slightly difficult to get inside. He was glad that you had decided to arrive by yourself after seeing the chaos he had created, other guests had their pictures taken of but did not receive the same verbal treatment that ZEN had. Awful thoughts of what they could have said about you entered ZEN’s mind, which he quickly tried to ignore. He searches the hall looking for you, wanting to meet up with you to ensure that you were ok, you seemed a bit strange the night before, especially as you suggested doing back to the apartment. ZEN spots Jaehee talking to staff members for the event, so he decides to check in with her about where you were. “Jaehee!” ZEN said as he approached her, she turned quickly and smiled at him “ZEN, you have arrived! You look handsome as always. I’m sure (Y/N) looks gorgeous too.” ZEN could see the twinkle in Jaehee’s eyes as she examines his outfit. “Ha-ha, thank you. Speaking of (Y/N). Has she arrived yet?” Jaehee stared up at him, confused, “What do you mean? She told me she was coming with you?” ZEN assumed that you forgot to tell Jaehee about your decision last night so started to clear up the mistake and explain that you were arriving by yourself. “Huh…” Jaehee began, flicking through the guest list in front of her. “She didn’t mention this, this morning. She actually confirmed that you were attending together.” ZEN’s eyes widen, why would you tell Jaehee that? His mind races, thinking that something happened the night before that you disliked making you say that. “She hasn’t arrived yet, I’m sorry ZEN. I need to return to my post. I’ll notify you as soon as she arrives.” Jaehee says, pulling him out of his thoughts. ZEN frantically pulled his phone out of his pocket and calls your number, praying that you will answer. The phone goes to voicemail which makes him panic, ZEN starts to phone someone else to get advice. A ring could be heard behind him, “Huh. Zenny, don’t you think it’s rude to call someone who is attending an important event? Especially if they are right behind you?” Seven’s voice says both through the phone and from behind ZEN. ZEN turned quickly to face Seven. The desperation on his face becoming evident to the hacker. “Woah… are you ok?” ZEN ignores Seven’s question as he stumbles for words. “I… I need your help.” ; You could hear your phone making noises from the next room, you place the plate you were washing on the drying rack and leave to find your phone. You were preparing to leave Rika’s apartment but didn’t want to leave it a mess, you weren’t sure when the next time someone would enter it, and you didn’t want the place looking disgusting. Your phone lay on the coffee table, and it was going crazy. Suddenly a high pitch squeal escapes it, you scream and cover your ears. What the hell was wrong with it? You grab it to see a notification of someone calling you, you hesitate to answer it but prayed it would stop the awful squealing noise. “Hello?” You sigh as you hear the noise disappear, that was a weird glitch, you had to be sure to get that fixed once you leave. “Oh, it’s so nice of you to pick up.” The voice on the other end of the call was recognisable but seemed so cold you couldn’t pinpoint who it was. “My phone was in another room, I apologise.” You reply, sure that you knew this person. “That’s strange. Shouldn’t you be on the way to the party?” You suddenly figure out the voice, it was one of the RFA members, scratch that, it was Seven. You wanted to hang up the phone and turn it off so that you didn’t need to hear the discipline you will receive. “Seven, I told you to hand the phone over if you could connect the call. Don’t be so harsh with her!” You could hear another voice talk and take the phone off of Seven, oh thank god… “Princess, has something happened? Are you still coming.” You start shaking as you hear the last person you wanted to talk to on the phone, speak. You could deal with telling Seven the situation and him getting mad at you, but could you really break the news to ZEN? It would crush him. “Yeah… I’m fine” You lie, trying to buy yourself time to think of the proper way to tell ZEN why you weren’t attending. You hear him sigh on the other end of the call. “Oh thank god, I thought the hacker got to you or something. Are you on your way?” You had little time to think, but you couldn’t lie anymore to him, you whisper out a response of “No”. You could feel yourself shake even more, and tears fall from your face. You didn’t want to tell him, not now when he should be enjoying the party. ; ZEN’s mind was racing, he was thankful that you were safe, but now you were acting strange. “Are you sick? Do you need me to come to take care of you?” He said, getting ready to leave the party to come to support you. “No… I’m fine. I’m not coming to the party.” ZEN looked over at the hall as you said that, catches the other RFA members mingling. “Can I ask why?” he said, unsure if he wanted to know the answer now. “I’ve decided to leave the RFA…” ZEN turns his back on the crowd so no one could see his tears which were forming “You… you can’t do that!” ZEN breathed down the phone, trying to calm his voice to not show any signs of sadness. “I’ve made my mind up. Please apologise to everyone for me, and please don’t try to track me down.” ZEN sobs down the phone instead of replying to your comment, unable to speak. “Goodbye, Hyun. I’ll miss you.” He hears you say before the dial tone rings out. ZEN stands in place confused about the scene that just played out, tears rolling down his face as he can feel his heartbreaking.

#mystic messenger #mysme #my writing #mysme fanfic #it took me forever to finish this cause i didn't want to write Yoosung's #I didn't want to hurt Yoosung like that :(#His is also the longest cause favouritism

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yusuke-of-valla · 5 years

Note

hi, are you accepting writing prompts? would you make numbers 1,3,4 and 10? i love the way you write ♥ ... and can be Bankita? please ;w;)

Thank you! And I finished this just in time since @ren-amamiyaa is back!

TW for canon-typical violence, Spoiler Warning for P4. No spoilers for PQ2 or PQ1, I just think it helps to have at least played PQ1.

And finally: I’m sorry for my French.

Prompts:

”You always smile like you’re about to cry

”You hear my heartbeat? Just focus on that”

”I’m going to protect you”

”Wait. Don’t pull away… not yet”

Minato slowly picks himself off the cobblestone road. Tartarus seems to have given way to open cityscape. The early morning fog means he can't see too far beyond his own general vicinity.

"Fuuka?" He calls. There's a sinking feeling in his gut the longer he waits for a reply. "Aigis? Yukari? Junpei?"

Minato sighs. "Great," he mutters. He knows next to nothing about where he is or what actually happened, so the best option is probably to just pick a direction and start walking.

There's a restaurant nearby that looks closed, but there's a menu lying on the table. Minato digs around in his pocket and pulls out a pen, making a note of where he's been. It doesn't take him long to realize that wherever this place is, it certainly isn't built like a normal city. Cities aren't littered with winding roads and dead ends like this place is.

They also aren't this empty. At first, Minato chocks it up to it being early, but the sun doesn't seem to be getting any higher. Nothing's progressing here.

Eventually, the monotony is broken up by someone rushing past him, quickly pursued by a group of what looks like police, and Minato follows them.

The girl is cornered by the police when she runs down an alley. Minato arrives just in time to see the policemen warp into shadows and attack the girl.

Minato wastes no time calling Orpheus to reduce them to ash, though it's a bit of a closer call than he'd like. He really needs to find his friends.

Minato turns to the girl. She's pretty short, and has long blonde hair that's decorated with white flower clips. "Are you alright?" Minato asks.

The girl sorts out her light blue cardigan and the yellow ruffles of her shirt, while replying in French.

Damn it, he should've paid more attention to Mitsuru.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand." Minato says. The girl repeats herself, then frowning when it becomes obvious Minato is completely lost.

She grabs his hand, looking very intently at his palm.

"Um, what are you-"

She ignores him and heads to the mouth of the alley, checking to make sure the coast is clear. After a minute, she motions for Minato to follow her, even grabbing his arm to make sure he keeps up.

"Where are we going?" Minato whispers. The girl continues talking in French, and guessing from her tone, Minato assumes she's pointing out that he wouldn't understand any explanation she could give him.

"Fine, at least tell me your name?"

The girl smiles. "Je m'appelle Rei."

Yu breathes heavily as he defeats the last of the shadows. His companion doesn't give him a moment to rest, charging forward.

"Wait!" Yu pants. "Zen, wait!"

"Hurry up. You're wasting time." Zen snaps.

Yu wants to laugh. Wasting time, doesn't he know it? He's in some sort of shadow-infested Paris, when he should be in the TV World.

The fog is going to come in soon…

Yu shakes his head to clear out his thoughts. Now's not the time. He has to focus on the task at hand, which is finding the rest of the Investigation Team. Hopefully helping Zen with the person he's looking for will help with that- or keep Yu distracted enough from the fact that he has no clue how he got here or where his friends are, no way of contacting them, and the fog is going to come in s-

Nope. Nopenopenope.

Yu steels himself. He's no use if he's panicking.

"How much further is this meeting spot?" Yu asks.

Zen pulls a silver pocket watch out of his jeans and glances at it quickly.

"It's not that far, and almost time. If we make a break for it-"

"And get the attention of more shadows?" Yu says. "Zen, I can't keep fighting these things on my own. I'm sure Rei cares more that you're in one piece than that you're on time."

Zen doesn't object, but he doesn't look happy about it either. He stares at the clock tattoo on the palm of his hand.

"Fine." He mutters.

Yu relaxes a bit.

They take the long way to the meeting spot, midmorning sun beaming down on them. They pass countless posters proclaiming Paris the "City of Love" and encouraging people to "Embrace their love." Yu hears the same snippets of conversation on repeat as they pass crowds on the way to work, almost like a scratched record.

"I love you so much, honey."

"They're perfect for each other."

"I'm so glad that relationships are so easy."

The whole thing leaves a bad taste in Yu's mouth, but he can't exactly put why into words.

They also pass the occasional policeman looking for "loveless outlaws," which Yu takes to mean himself and Zen.

To add a final cherry of weirdness to the top of a cake that's already pretty damn weird, "soulmates" are brought up more than once.

Yu doesn't know what to make of it all.

They arrive at the meeting spot, near a set of stairs someplace relatively free of shadows. Zen checks his pocket watch again. "We're early," he mutters, more to himself than Yu. "She'll be here."

"So why do you have to be so secretive?" Yu asks.

Zen doesn't reply. He just paces back and forth in front of the stairs, absorbed in his own world.

Yu starts folding the map he'd been drawing on an old receipt he'd found on the street into a crane to keep his mind from wandering too much when two figures come down the stairs.

"Zen!"

"Rei!"

The two embrace, but Yu's eye is drawn to the person who came with Rei. It's a boy in a Gekkoughan uniform and headphones.

"Rei, who's this?" Zen asks, echoing Yu's own thoughts.

"He can fight the police, Zen!" Rei says excitedly. "He helped me get here!"

"Hi. I don't speak French, so I can't actually understand what you're saying, but I'm Minato Arisato."

"She said you helped her get here." Yu explains. "Are you a Persona user by any chance?"

Minato's unobscured eye widens. "Oh thank god, someone I can understand. Yeah, I'm a Persona user. Did you lose your friends too?"

Yu nods. "It seems we're in the same boat then. Any clue what's going on?"

"All I know is I was in Tartarus one second, then everything started going crazy, and now I'm here."

"Tartarus?"

"Yeah, you know. Giant tower that appears during the Dark Hour, full of shadows?"

"Dark Hour? Sorry, I don't know what exactly you're talking about." Yu says. "But, the place where we go to fight shadows started acting weird too, before it spit me out here."

"This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder." Minato sighs.

"Then I guess we should probably try and stick with Zen and Rei. I've got a feeling we can trust them."

"Yeah, me too. But neither of them fight, right?" Minato smiles and sticks out his hand. "So looks like for now, we're partners."

"Agreed," Yu says, taking his hand. "My name is Yu Narukami."

"Your French is pretty good." Minato says after a battle. Shadows had jumped them at the stairs, so Zen wants to go somewhere more covered to explain. Time isn't passing normally here either, but at least now it's perpetually 8 AM instead of the crack of dawn.

"Thanks. My parents travel around a lot for work, and I picked up a few languages along the way." Yu says. "So, what do your parents do?"

"They're dead."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

Minato shrugs. "It's fine. Some people have 'em, some people don't. It's just how life goes. Do your parents know about your shadow-related extracurriculars?"

Yu bursts out laughing. "Oh my god, no. They're abroad doing business. I haven't heard from them all year."

"So the relationship there isn't great?"

"It's... strictly professional." Yu says after a minute.

"Oh."

"Nous arrivons!" Rei announces.

She and Zen gesture to a café, L'Horloge. There's an entrance in the alley next to it that they slip into.

"Finally." Minato all but collapses into a chair once they get inside.

"What I wouldn't give for some of the shrine fox's leaves." Yu says as he comes to sit down next to him.

"Is that a new way of saying weed?"

"No there's a literal fox that lives at a shrine who we take to the TV World and sells us these weird leaves" Yu explains.

"You buy weed from a fox?"

"It's not weed," Yu sounds annoyed, but he's smiling. "It just restores our energy so we can fight shadows longer."

Minato laughs. "I'm just messing with you. Think your fox is with your friends?"

Yu frowns. "No, I couldn't find her before we left so we went in without her. We don't have time to waste. The longer we take..." Yu trails off.

Zen says something quickly in French that rouses Yu from his thoughts.

"D'accord, desoleé." Yu says, then turns to Minato. "They're going to explain things now."

Minato nods, so Zen and Rei start explaining as Yu translates.

"This is a world where everyone is born with a mark on their palm." Zen says. He and Rei each hold out a hand, showing a clock face and a rabbit, respectively. "Each mark has one exact match, and that's the person you're destined to fall in love with and marry. But as you can see, ours don't match, which means we're not allowed to be together. I'm supposed to fall in love with a girl named Rhea- who I do love, but like a sister."

Rei slips her hands into Zen's. "The person who shared my mark, her name was Yuki. We were best friends at the hospital where we grew up, until she died. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, I'm not supposed to fall in love with anyone else. I'm supposed to die, alone."

"Is there anything we can do?" Minato asks. Yu translates the question with the same concern on his face.

Zen and Rei both say something at the same time.

"Uh... repetez, si vous-plait?" Yu asks.

Zen says something, and Rei looks at him angrily.

"What are they arguing about?" Minato whispers.

"Rei just wants to leave the city, while Zen wants to show us to the mayor."

"Why?"

"Apparently since we don't have soulmates, we can prove that the system is fallible. This mayor guy they keep talking about apparently just wants what's best for people, and thinks strictly enforcing soulmate pairs is the best way to spread peace and love. If he sees people without the soulmate marks, he'll realize those aren't the sole definers of happiness."

Minato crosses his arms. "I can see both sides, I guess. Is there any guarantee the thing with the mayor would work?"

"Doesn't seem like it." Yu says. "Still, I'm inclined to agree with Zen, if only because it might give us a chance to find our friends sooner."

"But it wouldn't be that inconvenient to help them get outside the city then find them. At least they'd be safe and we'd be able to move around more easily."

"Yeah, you've got a point." Yu sighs. "Either way, that's a lot of shadows we're going to have to fight our way through."

"Scared?" Minato says. "Tell you what, if we run into anything too big, I'll protect you."

Yu stares at him, then Minato bursts out laughing. "Oh my god, I'm sorry. That was so cheesy-"

"I liked it." Yu says softly.

"Really?"

Before Minato can really process that, there’s a bang at the door.

“Odds they just want to use the bathroom?” Minato asks.

“I’ve certainly never been that lucky.”

Zen moves in front of Rei while Yu and Minato prepare to fight. Sure enough the shadows break the door down.

He and Yu manage to fend them off, but then Minato's evoker gets knocked out of his hand. He sees the shadow ready for a second attack and braces for impact.

The hit never comes, however, and Minato opens his eyes to see Yu standing in front of him.

Yu collapses to the ground.

Minato grabs his evoker and rushes over to him. "Yu! Yu are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I'm-" Yu winces.

Minato casts fire at the shadows, and puts a wall of flames between them. Minato kneels down in front of Yu and pulls him into his lap.

Yu's got a nasty gash on his head, and there seems to be a slightly purple tinge to his skin.

"Shit, you've been poisoned." Minato mutters.

"S-sorry."

"Don't worry about it. You hear my heartbeat? Just focus on that." Minato grabs a cloth napkin from a nearby bin and presses it to Yu's forehead. "Zen, Rei, you guys run."

They don't move.

"Guys, run! We'll be fine." Minato snaps.

Zen seeks to get it and grabs Rei's hand. They disappear into the smoke, just as more shadows break through.

Yu feels like he's been stuffed inside of Teddie's costume, rolled down a bumpy hill, and landed in a pile of weapons.

He opens his eyes slowly, and zeroes in on the man making a speech at a podium. Everything seems to freeze in place once Yu recognizes him.

"Namatame," he mutters. Yu pushes himself onto his knees. "Namatame!" he shouts. "Where's Nanako?"

The man looks annoyed to have his speech interrupted. "Who?"

Yu's nails bite into his palm as he crushes his card to summon Izanagi and forces himself to stand up.

"Yu!" Minato calls.

Yu finally registers that there are people here aside from Namatame. He has Izanagi attack the guards surrounding Minato, who in turn summons Orpheus.

With Minato accounted for, Yu turns back to Namatame.

"Now, where is Nanako?" Yu asks as he stalks over to the "mayor"

"I d-don't know who that is!" Namatame whimpers. He keeps repeating himself, and Yu is a second away from breaking the guys nose when he realizes that Namatame isn't lying.

"What the hell?" Yu mutters. The anger that was fueling him dissipates, and Yu stumbles backwards. What the hell is going on here?

"Yu, let's go!" Minato shouts.

Yu follows him in a daze and doesn't even pay attention to where they're going, until he all but crumples onto the street.

"'M sorry," Yu mutters, "I-

"Did not have the energy for that? I can tell."

Minato helps Yu sit up against the wall of a building. “Ok so what’s your deal with that guy?”

“My friends and I are trying to catch a serial killer.” Yu explains. “They kidnap their victims and throw them into the TV World, where the victim will be killed by their own shadow if we don’t rescue them in time.”

“And Namatame is that killer?”

Yu nods. “We managed to pinpoint him as the kidnapper and he… he ran into the TV World with my cousin.”

“So that’s Nanako?”

“Yeah. I only met her this year when I came to Inaba, but she’s become like my little sister. If I let anything happen to her-”

“This isn’t your TV world.” Minato says. “You said so yourself, and besides how would I have gotten here? So whoever that is, he’s not the Namatame you know, and Nanako isn’t here either.”

“I know. I know, I snapped when I shouldn’t have. If the others saw me like that-”

Minato sits down next to him. “Hey, you’re their leader, right? I’m sure they understand you’re under a lot of stress.”

Yu smiles “Yeah.”

Minato doesn’t return the gesture.

“You know.” he says, “you have this thing you do sometimes where you smile like your about to cry.”

Yu’s shoulders slouch. “It’s just I act as their leader, but I’m sure I’d be nothing without them. My friends faced their Shadows, and came out stronger for it, but I never met mine. To make up for that, though I’ve had my friends to help me mature. It’s my companions that I draw strength form in all this, and now I don’t know where they are or if they’re alright.”

“Well, I’m here. You can lean on me too.”

Yu doesn’t say anything, just leans his head against Minato’s shoulder.

Eventually, Minato hears a soft snoring. He moves to get up and leave Yu alone, but a hand grabs his sleeve.

“Wait.” Yu murmurs, “Don’t move away, not yet.”

#yu narukami #minato arisato #extra labyrinths #protagshipping #bankita #pq2 #alto writes #writing prompts #Anonymous

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juminsmysticmc · 5 years

Text

Saeyoung’s After Life Chapter 5

(LAST CHAPTER)

Go to Chapter: 1 here/ 2 here / 3 here / 4 here

So, yesterday someone contacted me via Instagram and thought that the last two chapter got deleted since there was no link....I’m sorry I hope this won’t confuse anyone, let me explain: I write my writings in my Masterlist to show you what will come next and to make my life easier because just adding a link is quicker, HAHAH I’M SO LAZY XD and since we talk about being lazy....I was to lazy to correct this chapter, that’s why it took me so long, lmao XD but now I’m posting it...have fun my lovely Fonys :3

Ps. If some of you memorized my Masterlist and got confused, yes, I planned to write a 6th chapter but realized that the last two chapters were really short so I put them together, heheh XD

Saeyoung’s POV

,,Please take care of them, guys...“ I mumbled and looked at Zen, Yoosung and Jaehee. ,,Don’t worry....“ Jaehee mumbled. She was clearly worried. Well, I was too. It was uncertain if I would be back alive after all. ,,It’s kind of unfair that the trust fund kid is allowed to come along just because he‘s rich.“ Zen complained. I looked at him ,,I would rather send you than risking my life there, trust me.“ I snapped. Perhaps I was a bit too hard on him since he was helping me out... Hopefully I will have time to apologize to him after everything is finished.... My thoughts often wandered to my little family while we were driving in Jumin‘s van.

,,Let’s talk about the plan....“ Saeran mumbled as he typed something into the laptop. ,,We will first kidnap the man in black, his name is Lee Sang Chul. He‘s the prime minister’s right hand and the one who followed us in the past. He was also the one who hurt Mc and the twins.... After we have him, we will interrogate him, that would be team A’s task. Team B will hid cameras in the surroundings so that we have enough evidence.“ Saeran explained with a layout of the place. Everyone nodded and agreed to it. And so we followed the plan. It was pretty easy to kidnap Mr. Lee Jumin simply began to talk to him and explained, who he was. The plan was to tell him that he was interested to work together with the Prime Minister. In the next moment however, Mr. Lee was dragged into the inside of the Van.

,,Who are you?“ he snapped. ,,You still don’t know?“ I asked and began to throttle him. ,,Saeyoung, we need him alive.“ Jumin said as he observed us. ,,Unfortunately.“ I snapped and tried to stay calm while the man, who almost killed my family, glared at me. A bodyguard began to film the scene as Jumin calmly tried to get information out of him. But the right hand of the Prime Minister stayed silent like a dead man. ,,The Prime Minister will eventually go to prison, you won’t face danger if you tell us now.“ Jumin said. ,,I....am loyal.“ he mumbled and looked away. The man was depressed, I could see that it was pretty hard for him too. ,,Why did you do that to my family?! Is that the way to show him that you’re loyal? Dirtying your hands with blood?! A pregnant woman? Twins?! Who the hell was loyal to us? We never did anything to this man! I don’t know and I don’t wish to know what my mother tried with that ass BUT WE ARE TRYING TO LIFE!“ I yelled.

The man was still looking away, he actually looked pretty pitiful but I tried to ignore these feelings. Before Jumin could say anything someone hit the van‘s door pretty hard. ,,SAEYOUNG, JUMIN! WE NEED TO FLEE!“ Saeran screamed from behind, making me panic. ,,Why?!“ I yelled as I opened the door. ,,They found out! What will happen if they realize that Mc is alone without us?!“ Saeran snapped and tried to catch breath. ,,Aish!“ I yelled and looked at the man. And him? But we couldn’t think about it. Everything went quickly, five minutes of hell.

The prime Minister’s guards held guns up, ready to fire at us. ,,NOW!“ Jumin yelled and all his bodyguards appeared from the hidden places, holding the Prime Minister’s guards. ,,AT LEAST KILL THE DEMON!“ our ,,Father“ yelled and glared at me before he took his own gun. I saw the bullet and regretted everything I did in my life. What if we would have stayed with our mother instead of going to Rika? Would I still have met Mc? Would I still be a father? What will have happen to my baby if I die now? To my two tomato princesses? Who will snatch them away from me? Will Mc be able to forgive me for dying? Will she live without me? I wasn’t sure. All these thoughts hit me in five seconds. Five seconds before my body fell backwards. Blood was on my chest, my back was aching and my butt was scratched by now.

,,SAEYOUNG!“ I heard Saeran yell. I turned to Saeran and saw how another bodyguard got a hold of the strong man we feared so far - the Prime Minister. I looked at my chest, blood, I was soaked in blood. Fortunately it wasn’t my blood.... ,,Why?“ I asked Mr Lee as he puked blood on me. I stayed like that. I was able to hear his words better like that. ,,Because...I was sorry...I wanted to free myself from these regrets and wrong doings. I wanted the two of you to live happily...I really wanted to....“ he mumbled before he collapsed on me.

Fear hit you in the middle of the night when someone tried to open the door, however mistaking the password four times. You immediately jumped up, realizing that your reaction was too quickly. You felt dizzy and were almost falling backwards but Zen was right behind you, supporting you like a strong rock. ,,Princess, take it easy!“ he told you as he looked at you. ,,Hid my children! Hid them! They are coming for us!“ you began to sob as the door opened. It was over, wasn’t it? ,,I MEAN, WHO THE HELL CHOOSES ARABIC AND FORGETS HOW TO SAY IT?!“ Saeran yelled as he supported his older twin brother. ,,The word has a similar word, I just did wrong because I‘m not in my right mind.“ he laughed and looked at you. The sight of Zen supporting you made him jealous but he was happy to see you. ,,Are you well, Mc?“ he asked you as tears streamed down your face. ,,Why are you soaked with blood?!“ you cried. ,,Not his blood.“ Saeran snapped. ,,Why are you supporting him then?“ you still asked. ,,Because this idiot began to jump around and got hurt at his ankle.“ Saeran once again responded before he let go of Saeyoung. Saeyoung approached you and hugged you. You weren’t the only one who was crying now. ,,J-Jumin?“ you sobbed. ,,With the police...he will take care. Children?“ ,,A-asleep....“ you sobbed harder. Your legs almost gave up but Saeyoung supported you for good. This night the whole group decided to sleep at Saeyoung’s place, just to wake up two hours later. None understood the fuss except for you and your husband of course.

,,SHE��S GIVING BIRTH GET THE CAR!“ Saeyoung yelled as he supported you. ,,Saeyoung! Saeyoung it’s different! Something is wrong Saeyoung!“ you kept crying, clutching your belly. ,,Mc try to breath, breath!“ Saeyoung comforted you and held your hand. He tried to make you feel better but in his head he had completely different thoughts. Was this what the doctor meant? Were unhappy things bound to happen? In an instand Saeyoung and the other boys helped you to get into the car. Jaehee went along with the two of you while Saeran had the task to drive a second car since the twins had to come along. Yoosung couldn’t drive and since Zen was in an accident once, Saeyoung trusted only his brother. The girls didn’t know what was happening. All they knew was that their mom was sick once again. ,,SHE‘S LOOSING TOO MUCH BLOOD!“ the nurse screamed as you lied down, completely pale in the white hospital room. ,,SHE HAS NO STRENGTH LEFT!“ someone else yelled as the red haired father was pushed out of the room. Saeyoung‘s heart was breaking apart when he turned around to take a last look into the room. He noticed that you were searching for him. His wife longed for him. This was the most horrible labor for everyone. The medical support was at their limit, as well as the midwife and you. But after a lot of complications and fears you finally gave birth. And even through you still weren’t awake after one day and your new born boy was in the intubation, Saeyoung was happy because everyone was alive after all. ,,How will you name him?“ Saeran asked when he visited his brother. ,,Sang Chul. Choi Sang Chul.“ Saeyoung nodded.

,,Yung Mi, Mun Hee, Sang Chul! Please stay here!“ you yelled as your 10 years old girls ran through the park together with their younger brother. You were really afraid that your son could fall and hurt himself. ,,Run behind them!“ you snapped at your husband. ,,Huh?“ he asked you as he chewed his chips. ,,You just don’t know how it works.“ Saeyoung laughed and begann to yell ,,OI! I HAVE HONEY BUDDAH CHIPS!“ You had to hide your smile as you saw how the children ran back to their dad to get the chips. ,,Now, stay here, yeah?“ you slightly scolded them as you took your son up and in your ams and held Yung Mi’s hand. ,,Mun Hee, take Unni‘s hand and Daddy‘s!“ she ordered and so like a family you walked through the park.

THE END

This story is dedicated to @khaizusan. She actually requested a story where the Prime Minister found out about the twins, since she draw a picture with Saeyoung and the twins (Chapter 1) and so I began to write about it. I didn’t imagine that this would take 5 Chapters but I‘m happy that you guys kept waiting for me. Thank you.

Tagging: « @khaizusan @sailormoonrocks666 @foreversunshine-love @giulia2372 @widya345 @r-f-a-journalists @loveto-hateyou @sleeplesspieces @shirokazekikagami »

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lilyvandersteen · 4 years

Text

Out of the Blue: To the Rescue

Cover art: @redheadgleek

Beta extraordinaire: @hkvoyage

Links: AO3, FF.net

Author’s Note:

This chapter was the most exciting one to write. I hope you enjoy reading it too!

Chapter 9: To the Rescue

"His misfortunes!" repeated Darcy contemptuously; "yes, his misfortunes have been great indeed."

"And of your infliction," cried Elizabeth with energy. "You have reduced him to his present state of poverty--comparative poverty. You have withheld the advantages which you must know to have been designed for him. You have deprived the best years of his life of that independence which was no less his due than his desert. You have done all this! and yet you can treat the mention of his misfortune with contempt and ridicule."

(An excerpt from Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

The day of Sam and Mercedes’ wedding, Blaine was woken up at a quarter to four in the morning by the PI, who informed him that Chandler had gone to the restaurant at night, broken in and started a fire. It had all gone too fast for the PI to prevent it or put the fire out without too much damage. “Must have used gasoline or something, the fucker!”

However, the PI did have all the proof needed to convict Chandler for arson, so that was a plus.

“He’s gone somewhere else now. Jack’s following him. I have to stay here until the firefighters arrive.”

“Keep me posted.”

“Will do.”

Not even ten minutes later, the phone rang again, this time around to tell Blaine that Chandler had wreaked havoc at the church. Again, the PI had failed to prevent the damage. He did have proof of Chandler’s misdeeds, though.

That rat! That fucking bastard! Who the hell does things like that! He’ll pay for this! But first, I need to fix it. I won’t give him the satisfaction of having ruined the wedding. No, sir.

“Enough!” Blaine hissed. “Tell me where he’s heading now!”

“I think he’s going to the bakery. Mulberry Drive 224.”

“The both of you, go there as fast as you can and grab Chandler BEFORE he ruins the wedding cake. I’ll call the police and then I’ll be on my way to Lima, too.”

Before he left his parents’ house, he shook Cooper awake and told him what was happening.

Coop, once he was awake enough to pay attention, swore under his breath, and then took a wad of cash and his credit card out of his wallet and handed all of it to Blaine. “Go and fix this, Blaine. I don’t care how much it will cost. You need to save this wedding. Oh, this is all my fault, I should have used my influence to put Chandler behind bars for what he did to Kurt. The guy’s crazy!”

Blaine shook his head. “This is not your fault. If anything, it’s mine! I should have contacted our PI long before now, and I should have put two and two together.”

“No use arguing now,” Coop said. “Go!! I’ll make your excuses to Mom and Dad, and I’ll come to the church as fast as I can so I can help out, too.”

Shortly after seven in the morning,, Blaine was surveying the damage at the church. The minister and his wife were with him, sad and subdued.

“And to think we were worried about ever raising enough money to repair the roof,” the wife whispered, and started crying, her hand over her mouth.

The minister took her in his arms to comfort her, and said, “This looks worse than it is, Doris. Nothing some cleaning and scrubbing and painting won’t fix.”

Blaine took his chance. “Reverend, I’ll pay for everything, also the roof and any other repairs the church might need, if you can help me save the wedding today.”

The minister patted his arm. “No need to bribe us. We love Sam and Mercedes, and of course we’ll do our utmost to get this mess cleaned up in time. I’ll contact everyone I know, and I’m sure they’ll all chip in.”

Blaine grimaced. “It’s not just the church.”

He explained about the restaurant burning down, and saw the minister frown, deep in thought.

Then Doris suggested, “We could use our garden, right, Jim? And the ladies of our congregation could help out with the food. It won’t be much, and it won’t be fancy, but at least it’ll be something. Maybe we could have a barbecue? We can use our grill, and Mr. Rogers will lend us his, too, I’m sure.”

The minister nodded, a slow smile stealing over his face as he squeezed his wife’s hand.

“That sounds wonderful,” Blaine said. “I’ll arrange for meat and fruit and vegetables and so on to be delivered to your house then, ma’am. Also the wedding cake, which is thankfully unharmed. Could you please make me a list of everything you ladies will need?”

He followed the minister to his house, inspected the garden, which was certainly big enough and then some, and helped Doris compile a list of food for the barbecue.

“We’ll also need decorations,” she said hesitantly. “For the church, and for here in the garden. And lights. Crockery and silverware. Tables and chairs too. I could ask the parishioners, but I don’t know…”

“On it,” Blaine promised. “Here’s my cell phone number. If anything else comes to mind, you text or call me, okay? Or if there is any problem, just holler and I’ll fix it for you. All right? That’s kind of my job, problem-solving, and I’ve got all sorts of handy connections.”

She nodded and smiled at him. “Sam and Mercedes must be very good friends of yours for you to go to all this trouble.”

Blaine smiled back. “Sam’s a great guy. And he deserves a perfect wedding.”

From then on, the rest of the morning was a blur of activity. Blaine tackled the decoration issue first, knowing they’d need all the time they could get. Remembering how the loft and terrace had looked at that first wedding Kurt had organized, he searched for a beautiful gauzy fabric to hide any imperfections with, and bought the shop’s entire supply of it. He also stocked up on string lights, table cloths and runners, centerpieces, napkins, china, silverware and glasses, and bought a mountain of food, dozens of champagne and wine bottles and fizzy drinks for the children, as well as cooler boxes and refrigerators to store everything in, and sent it all over to the minister’s along with the wedding cake.

While handing the delivery boy a tip, he got a phone call from Sam, and knew that he had to trust the ladies of the church to organize and carry out the rest of the tasks there, because he couldn’t go back to the church and help. Sam’s predicament sent him in another direction.

Sam was usually so relaxed and zen that Blaine hadn’t immediately recognized the voice on the phone, panicked as it sounded. The gist of the matter was that Sam’s best man had disappeared. He’d been staying with his parents for the weekend, but according to them, he hadn’t returned from the rehearsal dinner they’d had the previous evening. His bed hadn’t been slept in. He also hadn’t called or texted, and his phone went straight to voicemail. His suit was hanging on the wardrobe next to his bed, but the wedding rings were nowhere to be found.

“What am I gonna do?”

“You don’t need to do a thing, Sam,” Blaine assured him. “I’ll handle this. All I need is for you to send me a recent picture of the guy that’s missing. I’ll also need to know his full name and his birth date and what he was wearing last night. Oh, and his telephone number. Maybe we can track his cell phone to find him.”

Blaine hurried to his car, and rummaged in the glove compartment for a pen and a piece of paper so that he could jot everything down.

Sam was silent for a minute. “Wow. You always know what to do, don’t you? All right, it’s Michael Robert Chang Jr., born on the 28th of April 1982. I can’t look up his number on my phone while I’m calling you, so I’ll text you his number later. What was he wearing yesterday? I really can’t remember. I’ll call his mom and get back to you, okay?”

“Just give me her number, that’s faster,” Blaine told him. “Text me both Michael’s number and his mother’s. And a picture, please.”

“Kay. And what do I do about the rings?”

“Easy. Tell me what jeweler the rings are from, and I’ll get you new ones. And I’ll gladly stand in as your best man, unless you’d rather ask someone else.”

“You will?”

“Absolutely.”

“Thanks, man. You’re a lifesaver!”

Blaine jotted down the jeweler’s name and address and rang off. After a short call to Mrs. Chang, he compiled an e-mail with all the information plus the photograph, and sent it to his PI, asking him to track down the missing best man.

He was already buckling in and starting the engine to head to the jeweler’s when his phone rang again.

“Ugh, what now?!” he grumbled, but he accepted the call.

It was the minister, who told Blaine there were protesters in front of the church.

“Protesters?” Blaine asked. “What are they protesting against?”

The minister let out a long sigh. “Mixed marriage.”

“Seriously? In the twenty-first century?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. I told them to leave, but they wouldn’t budge.”

“Okay. I’ll sort it out, Reverend, I promise. In the meantime, tell your people to stay away from those nutcases, in case they become aggressive.”

“I will. Thank you so much.”

Blaine tapped with his fingers on his dashboard and groaned in frustration. Chandler, while being led away by the police that morning, had laughed and shouted at him, “Good luck fixing this mess! I’ve got some more surprises in store for you!”

Well, he certainly hoped that this was the last unpleasant surprise.

He called his friend Wes, who worked for his father, the mayor of Westerville, and explained the situation.

“You’re in luck. It’s outside of my dad’s constituency, but our riot control team has a training exercise near Lima today, so I’ll brief them about this situation and send them over, and it can be comped as extra training.”

“I’ll pay for everything. I want this wedding to go off without a hitch.”

“Are you the best man or something?”

“Yes, I am. Thanks, Wes, I knew I could count on you!”

At the jeweler’s, they explained to him that they couldn’t provide him with two replacement rings on such short notice. When Blaine told them that he only needed the order form for the original rings and could head to any other jeweler with that information, they backed down quickly. “Well, we can’t offer you the exact same rings, but we can show you a selection of very similar ones.”

Blaine looked at what they had. For Sam, there would be no problem. His ring was a simple band of white gold, which they had in stock. All that lacked was the inscription. Mercedes’ ring was more intricate, but the rings on offer did resemble the picture on the order form.

Blaine chose the one that looked most like the original, though in platinum and with more diamonds, and whipped out Cooper’s credit card to pay for both rings.

The jeweler looked over the moon, until Blaine insisted on both rings being engraved straight away. “The original inscription, please.”

“But… but… That takes hours!”

“You have until a quarter to three,” Blaine informed him, settling down on the plush sofa in the jeweler’s waiting room. “I’ll wait.”

While he was at the jeweler’s, he checked in with everyone.

He briefed Cooper about Chandler’s misdeeds, and urged him to go to the church asap to see if anything else needed to be arranged. “Already there, bro! I’ll handle things at the church, don’t you worry.”

He asked his PI for updates, and just after noon, he got word that Michael Chang Jr. had been found in Faurot park. Drugged, unresponsive and suffering from hypothermia, but otherwise okay.

Blaine asked for Michael to be brought to the nearest hospital, and called Mrs. Chang to tell her the news.

Then he contacted the minister again to tell him a riot control team was on the way, and to know how the clean-up and decorating was going. The minister sounded a lot happier than last time he heard him. The riot team had already come and taken the protesters away, and everyone from the neighbourhood was helping out. Both the garden and the church were starting to look festive.

“Do you have everything you need?”

“I think we do, yes. Thank you!”

After twiddling his thumbs for a while, it occurred to Blaine that Mercedes and Sam would need music, too, for their first dance and the ensuing party, so he called Thad, who’d started a band after he graduated and was always looking for gigs. Thad and his band mates weren’t yet booked for that day, and agreed to play at the wedding.

“Sure, dude. We’ll be there! What’s the song for the first dance?”

“I’ll give you the groom’s phone number, you can talk through the setlist with him. Best stick to a cappella singing or bring your own power supply, ‘cause the party is in someone’s garden, and we wouldn’t want to cause a blackout.”

“Right.”

“I’ll pay you guys tonight, when you arrive, okay? See you then!”

Finally, the rings were done, and Blaine paid for the engraving and gave the jeweler a hefty tip for doing it so quickly.

The smell of grilling meat hit his nose when he stepped outside, and his stomach growled. He’d forgotten to eat breakfast that morning, and in the meantime it was – he checked his watch – half past two. Also, he still had to shower, shave and do his hair and put on the suit he’d brought for the occasion. Which was at his parents’ house in Westerville. There was no way he’d be able to drive there and get back to Lima on time. But he couldn’t show up unkempt and unshaven either.

Think, Anderson.

But his energy was depleted, and instead of hurrying to sort this out, too, he sagged against his car and passed a hand over his eyes.

His phone rang, and he grabbed it sluggishly. It was Cooper.

“Hey squirt! If I know you, you’re still out there somewhere in your sweats and with your bedhead, right? Well, seeing as you’re cutting it close, I’ve brought your suit here, and I’ve asked the minister if you could use his bathroom to get ready. Oh, and I’ve ordered pizza. You probably haven’t eaten a bite yet all day.”

Blaine let out a shaky laugh. “Thanks, Coop.”

“No problem. Get here pronto, and there still might be a meat lovers pizza for you.”

Blaine felt much better once he was all spruced up and had some food in his belly. He followed Sam into the church, noting that the protesters were gone and that any trace of the vandalism had been wiped out or camouflaged.

As the bride came down the aisle, everyone sitting in the pews was smiling, so he hoped with all his heart that all the hiccups had been dealt with now, and that the wedding would be smooth sailing.

Wait, did he say everyone? Kurt was looking straight at him, and seemed put out about something.

Blaine inclined his head and smiled hesitantly at his crush, who responded with a fierce glare.

What was that about? Oh… Had Blaine missed a best man cue? He pulled his attention back to the ceremony, but no, the minister was still talking, and all he had to do at the moment was stand there and listen.

He liked the minister’s sermon. He spoke of love not being a feeling but a commitment, something to work on every day. It was no-nonsense and poignant, and the sentiments expressed struck a chord with him.

He couldn’t help stealing a glance at Kurt every now and then. Kurt was wearing a light grey tuxedo, and looking so much like Blaine’s daydreams about them getting married that it made Blaine want to go and kiss him.

The exchanging of the vows and the rings came and went, and Mercedes didn’t seem to have noticed her ring was slightly different from the one she’d chosen.

Still, Blaine didn’t breathe easy until the ceremony was over and everyone was in the minister’s garden, laughing and talking and queuing at the buffet.

There had been no more alt-righters outside the church when they all filed out, the garden looked like a dream and the food smelled amazing, even after that large pizza Blaine had gobbled up earlier. Now he hoped that Thad and his band mates would arrive on time, and then there would be nothing more to worry about.

Thad did turn up, and Blaine bopped his head happily to the music as he worked up the courage to ask Kurt to dance, moving closer to him where he was chatting with the bride.

When he got within hearing distance, he was dismayed to hear that Kurt disapproved of him as the replacement best man. Kurt’s assessment of him stung, but Blaine had to admit that he had a point. Blaine had lost his temper around Kurt on several occasions, and yes, he had been rude.

Determined to make up for past mistakes, Blaine pasted on his most charming smile as he endeavoured to catch Kurt’s attention and then asked him to dance.

Kurt blushed, actually blushed, when he saw Blaine, and his mouth fell open when Blaine held out his hand for him to take.

After Kurt’s diatribe, he’d expected to be turned down flat, but miraculously, Kurt said yes, and moments later, Blaine was in seventh heaven with Kurt in his arms.

He didn’t feel much like talking, wanting to soak up every aspect of this dance so he’d be able to relive it a million times in daydreams. However, he made an effort to be sociable by praising first the ceremony, then the wedding dress, and then Kurt’s prowess, when it turned out Kurt had made the dress himself. Wow, was there anything he couldn’t do?

Kurt let out the cutest giggle at the compliment, and it made Blaine giddy. He was making progress here, wasn’t he? Real progress!

Yet there had been that glare earlier, and Kurt darkly referring to horrible things Blaine had done.

Before he knew it, Blaine had asked what that had been all about, and then wished he’d held his tongue,, because Kurt looked spitting mad again, and brought up the incident at the wedding where they met, and… What? The way Blaine had treated Chandler? Shouldn’t that be the other way round? Chandler was by no means the victim here!

But when Blaine said so, Kurt’s retort made it seem like he thought Blaine and Chandler had been dating at one time. What kind of lies had Chandler been telling him?

Must not lose my temper… Must not lose my temper…

Blaine kept his reply short and to the point, and as soon as he’d set Kurt straight, he strode out of the garden before he could blow up entirely.

Ugh, that little weasel! What on earth did he tell Kurt? And is there no end to his manipulation and sabotage?

By the time he reached his parents’ house, he was a little bit calmer, and had decided to send Kurt an e-mail with the cold hard facts and the evidence. Heaven knew there was enough of it by now. And then Kurt could decide whom he wanted to believe.

It rankled how Kurt was so ready to believe the worst of Blaine and the best of Chandler. But at least on that count, Blaine had the truth on his side. The rant at the wedding, however, had been entirely Blaine’s fault, and he’d apologise for that once more. And he would strive to conquer his temper. He would.

An hour and a half later, he re-read what he’d written, checked the attachments, and then logged into Cooper’s work mail account to find Kurt’s e-mail address. It wasn’t stalking, okay? It wasn’t. Blaine didn’t plan on writing to Kurt ever again, but he deserved to know the truth. And Blaine deserved… closure.

After this, he’d stay away from Kurt. He was determined not to seek him out again. He’d leave the initiative up to Kurt.

Yeah, tell that to someone who’ll believe you…

#bbb2020 #blaine big bang 2020 #klaine fanfiction #my fic #out of the blue

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randomingoftherandomness · 5 years

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endgame post

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS BENEATH THIS CUT

[Update] I made a Youtube review (still spoilery though). If you wanna support what I do, please consider buying me Ko-Fi

Firstly, there’s no after credits so don’t bother waiting around for that. Three hours is a long time to be holding your pee. Second, bring tissues. I was crying from the moment the title sequence rolled.

The main thing you need to know is that there was time travel courtesy of Scott Lang and the Pym particles in this film and a tonne of pop culture references in terms of time-travelling and it was all

The gist of the Time Heist was that they were gonna go back into time and get the Infinity Stones before Thanos could get to it and they figured out that if they hit the right year, there were already three stones on Earth (Mind, Space & Time). So our heroes split up into three teams to Pokemon Gotta Catch’em all.

Now, we’ll start with my favourite, the love of my life, Tony Stark. My man. We got them right that Carol Danvers definitely brought Nebula and Tony’s space ship back to Earth. There is a five year time jump in this film that saw Tony and Pepper get married (which regardless of how you may swing on Pepperony, YAY!) and have a child together, Morgan H. Stark who, let me tell you, I would die for because she is the perfect copy of Tony and I would not be surprised if one day they did a Young Avengers roster and she is there. Tony Stark having a child of his own and it is glooooriuuusss.

Steve Rogers got rid of the beard, and honestly I missed it ngl.

Let me just say that I adore, adore, adore them for not letting the Stony reunion be just a push by. They let it breathe and matter and it was every angsty Post-Civil War fanfic brought to life. They allowed Tony to lay it into Cap that this was what happened when you didn’t listen to me when I told you I saw this coming. There was a reference to the suit of armour statement from Age of Ultron and Tony laid it into Steve that look at what we lost because you tore us apart and it hurt so good my friends, so good. But over the course of the movie you could see them slowly relearn to trust and depend and be a team again and it was great. When they said that Endgame was a Stony event, they meant it. I live for this. I love it.

Thor got a beer belly and it’s as if the writers underestimate the powers of our thirst for this man. I would still ride him like no one’s business. He’s let himself go, feeling the survivors guilt weigh on him because he aimed for the head and not the arm. The Valkyrie survived Thanos’ raid on the Asgardian refugee ship and New Asgard is formed, probably, where Odin told Thor to remember the view. Thor, Korg and Miek are running a roommate situation where the Wifi is free, and Thor fights back Online trolls.

I think we all knew going in that Clint Barton was gonna be the Ronin and they certainly didn’t disappoint. They gave us a bit of Hiroyuki Sanada’s character fighting with Clint and that was great. But it honestly made me want to say SO dark you sure you’re not the DC Universe?

Natasha has always been a character I was always a bit miffed with the writing about. There have been many complaints about the inconsistencies of her characterisation and those weren’t unwarranted. That being said, I am at peace with where they took her in this movie.

Hulk and Bruce Banner managed to find some zen where Banner’s consciousness could exist at the same time as Hulk’s body.

I’m so happy about the way they treated Nebula as a character and you could tell that Karen Gillan was given a lot of room to stretch out and breathe here. As one of the effects of travelling into a timeline which had her past self, Future!Nebula shared the same network with Past!Nebula which allowed Thanos to access her memories and to be aware of what the Avengers were planning to do. Which, Oh No.

So what happened: The heroes split up through time and space to get the stones. Steve, Tony, Scott and Bruce all go back to 2012 during the Battle of New York, where Bruce goes to convince Tilda Swinton’s Sorcerer Supreme to give him the Time Stone, Steve goes and intercepts the Mind gem (still in Loki’s glow stick of destiny) by convincing Sitwell and Rumlow that he was all Hail Hydra, which gave me all kinds of Hydra!Cap feels, Tony and Scott get to go for the Tesseract. Shit happens, Bruce succeeds by telling the Sorcerer Supreme that Strange gave it willingly to Thanos which clues her in that there might be more to it, and Steve battles himself for the glow stick of destiny

Also, there is much mention and appreciation of Steve’s ass. America’s Ass. Yes, indeed. That is a nice derriere. Premium grade American Ass right there 🍑💦

(I’ve been waiting hours to use this gif :>>>)

Tony and Scott screwed the pooch and they lose the Tesseract while Loki, who sees an opportunity, snatches and bails. So I guess that’s how they get to slip into the planned Loki series for Disney+. Tony and Steve then jump back to the 1970s where they can get more Pym particles, for more jumps and where the Tesseract will be both at the same place, the secret bunker facility we saw in Cap2. Steve chances upon Peggy’s office there and spends some time looking at her from the shadows, while Tony bumps into his dad who is freaking out about Tony’s impending birth. He manages to give his dad some advice on becoming a dad, and they gave us a nice closure for Tony who hugs and thanks his dad for everything he has done.

Rhodey and Nebula go to Morag to intercept Peter Quill right before he gets the orb with the Power Stone. They both succeed but right before they can jump back, Nebula is paralysed by Ebony Maw hacking into her memories and she figures out that Thanos knows the plan. Rhodey jumps back, but she doesn’t and is captured by Thanos, Past!Nebula and Gamora.

Clint and Natasha travel to Vormir and is soon acting like self-sacrificial idiots who battle it out to throw themselves for the Soul stone. Clint manages to clear the ledge, but Natasha is the one who pulls a switcheroo and tells Clint to “Let me go” which :<<<<<< So she dies and Clint gets the stone.

Thor and Rocket go to Asgard circa Thor The Dark World to get the Reality gem. Soon, Thor bumps into Frigga who immediately tells him that she knows he isn’t her son and that the future must’ve not been kind to him. She gives him some words of comfort and wisdom and tells him, despite his insistence that she knows what is going to happen to her, she doesn’t want to know, and honestly this movie gave Frigga the character fleshing out in five minutes what two movies couldn’t and I fucking love it. They are also successful and right before they leave, Thor calls for Mjölnir, and is pleased to know that he is still worthy when she answers.

Our heroes all come back, plus Nebula but they all soon realise that Nat isn’t coming back. They waste no time with assembling the stones with Tony’s nanotech gauntlet (I was kinda bummed we didn’t get to see more giant Peter Dinklage but I guess season 8 of Game of Thrones was a big thing huh) and Hulk-Banner takes it upon himself to do the snapping because he is the strongest avenger and it damn near kills him (remember this).

It works, but before our heroes can enjoy the sweet taste of success, we figure out that Nebula ain’t our Nebula and is Past!Nebula who has impersonated our Nebula to open up a portal for Thanos to arrive in. Thanos decimates the Avengers facility and we enter the final battle.

Thor, Steve and Tony are the only ones not currently trapped under rubble and they all try to hold Thanos off from Clint who has the gauntlet and the stones.

Thor becomes pinned down under Thanos who is trying to stab him with Stormbreaker when Steve picks up Mjölnir and knocks him a new one and we get Thor saying “I knew it!” and let me just say that by this point I was screaming. Really. This was a comic book payoff and I love it. #SteveIsWorthy

This battle bit made me so anxious, like, holy shit I was worried for the safety of all involved. Then we see that Steve is the only left standing against the legion of Thanos, but wait! We see the Strange’s magic circle portals and it shows the arrival of all the other heroes who were snapped. So we have Black Panther coming in with the Wakandans and Bucky and Sam who goes “On your left” to Steve, the heroes on Thanos’ home planet (PETERRRR) and also, Pepper in her own armour!

We get, fucking finally after all this time, to hear Cap say “Avengers Assemble!”

The ensuing melee sees them all try to get the gauntlet to Scott and Hope who are standing by the Pym van to try and get the stones back in time where Thanos can’t get them, and we get to see Peter finally get his hug from Tony and ngl I was crying.

All through it all our Nebula convinces Gamora that she’s changed, and that they have to stop Thanos, and our Nebula kills Past!Nebula when she tries to kill Gamora.

It becomes a whole monkey in the middle situation with everyone passing the gauntlet off to another teammate and we see Peter activate Instant Kill, which is awesome, and then just when shit was about to get worse, get Carol coming in to get the gauntlet coz she’s the star quarterback here (i honestly feel like she was only here for the beginning and end so if you’re only watching this for her, i’m sorry?) and Peter asks her how's she going to get through all of that, all the women Avengers come up and Okoye says, “Don’t worry, she’ll have help” which just, ❤️

When Stephen Strange came back into the fray, Tony had asked him whether this is the one time they succeed and he says that he can’t say it because then it becomes real. So, when it seems like Thanos was going to get another shot at the snap, he makes eye contact with Tony and lifts up a ☝🏼which.

Tony makes a roll for the gauntlet, but Thanos pushes him back, tries to snap but. Nothing happens. We turn, and see that Tony has the stones melding with his gauntlet, and as he prepares to snap his fingers, looks Thanos in the eyes and says “I am Iron Man”

Tony lays dying on the battlefield as Thanos and his legion are dust in the wind. Rhodey, Pep and Peter all say goodbye and are with him to the end and fuck y’all I thought I did my crying in the cinema but as I’m remembering this scene I’m tearing up again holy shit.

We get a funeral where Pepper and Morgan lay a wreath on a lake which had the Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart reactor from IM1 laid on it. The funeral is a who’s who of the MCU and we get Harley Keener back, which is, yay, but also :< Happy asks Morgan what she wants to eat and she says cheeseburger. Which. Fuck. Tears Happy up as he promises to get her all the cheeseburgers she wants. And ensures that I won’t be touching a cheeseburger within the next year. So many callbacks to IM1 which was the movie that started it all and I can’t even.

Clint goes back to his family, looking like he’s hanging up the bow for good this time, and Thor hands over Kingship of New Asgard to Valkyrie and boards the Guardian’s ship for a future instalment of GOTG.

Steve is charged with being the one to get the stones back into their own timelines. Right before he goes, we get a callback to Cap1 with “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone” “How can I? You’re bringing all the stupid with you”, they prepare to pull him back but he misses the jump point. Sam, Bucky and Hulk-Banner panic for a moment before Bucky spots a man in the distance. They approach, and Bucky tells Sam to go talk to him, and we now see that it’s an aged Steve Rogers who had decided to stay back in time and is very much at peace and happy with it, Sam tells Steve that he doesn’t know how to live in a world without Captain America, when Steve hands over the shield to Sam and tells him that he’s it now. Now I cannot wait for the Falcon and Winter Soldier series.

The final scene in this movie was of Steve and Peggy dancing in their living room in what looks like the 1940s. Honestly, if I hadn’t already gone through a pack of tissues, I would’ve started then.

Cameos (at least the ones I picked out): Ken Jeong as a security guard in the San Fran warehouse where the Antman van was parked, Yvette Nicole Brown at Camp Lehigh, James D’Arcy as Jarvis (Which I was super stoked by because JARVISSSS), Joe Russo in a therapy circle with Steve (also made me real happy coz they kept a gender drop uncensored in my screening), and finally who could forget Stan Lee’s cameo all bedecked out in ‘70s flower power.

This movie was a lovely bowtie on 22 movies and 10 years of the MCU. Was it everything I wanted? No. It was more. Am I happy with what I got? No, I do wish some things ended differently but I knew they were coming. Nothing good lasts, and everything had to come to an end some time. I’m still unpacking my emotions tbh. The credits had all the OG6 signing their names, and the fact of the matter is, I have been so very changed by the MCU. The past 10 years have been amazing and I’ve been proud, and always will be proud to call myself a Marvel fan.

I honestly don’t know where they’ll be taking the MCU as a whole from this point onwards because it seems like there will be ripple effects from the actions of this film will be felt for at least the next ten years. Far From Home is the next MCU movie and I’m sure they’ll be dealing with the direct effects of this film so I’ll be looking forward to that. I’m elated, I am heartbroken, I am a glass case of emotions.

#gab watches stuff #avengers endgame #endgame #marvel #mcu #tony stark #steve rogers #natasha romanoff #clint barton #bruce banner #thor odinson #iron man #captain america #black widow #hawkeye #hulk #thor #endgame spoilers #avengers endgame spoilers

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msbeccieboo · 5 years

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Arrow 7x15 brain dump

Oh my gosh this episode was an absolute gift!! Especially after the news we got last week, this fluffy beast of an episode could not have come at a better time (for me, at least)! I’m not sure if part of the reason I enjoyed it so much was that we didn’t really see it coming? I thought it would be sort of a filler episode that we typically get around this point in a season, that the OTA snippets we saw in the trailer would be about it, but boy was I wrong hahaha!! I am still a mess! There is so much to unpack here, I can’t form fully cohesive thoughts still, and this is shaping up to be another whopper, sorry 😬😬😬….

Olicity

Fresh off the pregnancy reveal to Oliver from last week, our ship is still a-sailing!! The heart eyes are back, the eye contact full-stop is back, the supportiveness (”We’re a team, too” “Always”😭😭😭) , the united front. The little touches are getting there (we’re working up to that sex scene, I can feel it 🤞🤞🤞). Oliver even looks better in this episode!! Now, this could be the SCPD-issue tight t-shirt (it’s certainly not the hair), or just his more all-round peaceful demeanour that he seems to have achieved through baby/Felicity joy.

Source:plotbunnyshipper

Continued below the cut.

We got so much Olicity this week! Multiple times! Olicity, all the time! The first proper Olicity scene, has Oliver being all Zen-like over the SCPD set-up, meanwhile, Felicity already knows it’s gonna be a shit show. Our girl is a genius, what more needs to be said? Turns out Oliver is so gung-ho with the SCPD because he wants to do everything he can to make their city a safe place for “our baby” (complete with little adorable smile) HCOJIDNFJKDNVJBDBV!!! This scene also has Oliver offering to make food for our starving/nauseous pregnant Felicity (squeeeee) and a DOUBLE KISS!!!!

Source: oliverxfelicity

Then we got a scene with an increasingly-frustrated Oliver (the Zen didn’t last too long) over the aforementioned inevitable SCPD shit show. Where Felicity got to give a pep-talk resulting in this delightful exchange:

Source: oliverxfelicity

We got the eyes, the compliments, THE MINT CHIP!! Scenes out of fanfic have arrived people!! We see that Felicity has been busy getting the Arrow Cave back up and running, and we get some quality Green Arrow/Overwatch comms action too!!

Then, we get the absolute heart-warming/breaking scene at the end of the episode, which again the fandom could have written for us!! Felicity is adorably checking out her non-existent bump, asking Oliver if she’s showing, to which he wisely says no 😂 Then they talk about baby names!! Who would have thought this day would come??!?!! Oliver is adorable in offering up the name Mia, as many predicted, in tribute to Moira. I loved how Felicity had a far-away look in her eye, describing the name as “sweet and fiery” (well we got fiery, and a little bit of sweet haha). Oliver just made me weep in his earnestness and sincerity here; all he wants is to make his children’s lives better than his has been.

Source:olicitygifs

Then they lament how the children will “always have each other and they’ll always have us”. Well if that didn’t shoot me straight in the gut!! Because we have seen the future and 😭😭😭 *ugly sobbing ensues*.

Flash Forwards

These just keep getting better and better. I know they’re still a bit divisive, but I’m seeing more and more people squeeing along with the likes of me at them haha!! This week focused entirely on William and Mia (YAAAASSSS), and sees them at the Star City Bazaar doing a spot of Antique shopping, namely looking for a cassette player to play their “old tape from the 80s” 😂😂😂. Wow, way to make me feel ancient lol. Will being the naïve cupcake that he is, bungles the transaction leaving Mia to go and beat up the vendor. I loved seeing William hold her back, hilarious! SO MUCH OLIVER!! This is something Will tells her after, and it absolutely devastated me (and Mia, by the looks of her reaction) that she didn’t know the iconic “You have failed this city” line. How is this not a thing of legend in Star City??? The answer to that hurts me too much so I will skip over for now!

Source: oliverxfelicity

Anyway, thanks to William’s techy genius (“like, literally” 😍 he is such a mini Felicity), they manage to cause a distraction, allowing Mia to knock out the vendor and for William to get the tape player. That’s team work, guys! Bonus lolz to Will’s saccharine “thank you” as he walks off 😂 Back at Mia’s base they eventually decide to play Felicity’s tape (“What are you waiting for?” “I dunno, what are you waiting for?” I STAN THESE SIBLINGS SO HARD) And then here is where I died. Firstly, Will’s nerves at hearing Felicity’s voice after 20 years 😭, Mia’s reassurance that they will listen together, and then Felicity’s message itself.

Source:feilcityqueen

Felicity is alive bitches!! After a delightful Felicity-ramble, she apologies to them both for keeping them apart, stating that “We did it because we love you” WE!!! Present tense!!! Oliver lives too!!! This is my happy place and I am staying here for as.long.as.I.possibly.can.

She then directs them to give the team some coordinates then get the hell outta Star City. I loved how there was no deliberation at all from the siblings, “So we’re ignoring her?” “Definitely”. And they’re off to The Glades...duh duh duuuuuhhhhh!!!

OTA/Delicity

OTA is well and truly back this episode, following Dig’s apology last week. There wasn’t masses of Diggle in this episode, and that is one thing I would have liked to have seen from this episode, but to be fair we have been so well fed that I will not complain!!

They told dig!!!!!!

Dig can tell that there is something Olicity aren’t telling him, and the kind of bashful joy on Oliver’s face is just so beautiful and heart-warming!

Source:oliverxfelicity

Dig is so pleased for them!! I love Uncle Dig! And as always Uncy John has some sage advice for our OTP. He tells them that in order to clean up the city for their family, without sending Oliver back to the Big House, that they have to find another way. This is a motto that Arrow lives and dies by, but it felt all the more poignant here for some reason, maybe because OTA were finally coming back together? Maybe because we’re aware now that the team as we know it is soon going to drastically change? Maybe because the fracking show is ending soon HFDOVHUIERGBVSDVIFDVJDSHVODNVKODW!!! Anyway, I had feelings about this whole scene (cue Beccie in floods of tears, again). *whispers I would’ve really liked a hug here ok*

As if that beautiful OTA scene wasn’t fabulous enough, we got bonus Delicity!! I think this was so needed, given their particular distance so far this the season. Dig is still kissing arse a little bit (rightfully so), and not only offers felicity some sweets to help her morning sickness 😍 but offers her some reassurance that she’s got this. “You were absolutely amazing out there, your tech was phenomenal”. My Delicity heart is soaring!! He goes on to point out just how brilliant her security system is (extra kudos for Felicity shading Curtis lol), and that it could be the basis for something much bigger….Smoak Technologies anyone??

Source:felicitysmoakgifs

Team Arrow/SCPD storyline

The training montage at the start of the episode was everything!! Felicity’s in particular facial expressions were absolutely hilarious; the utter horror of not being able to hack, and using outdated computer systems were just delightful! Even Wild Dog got a quality quip in there about having their own uniforms.

I really wasn’t looking forward to this aspect of the episode, as I just find the whole SCPD angle annoying and ridiculous this season. Luckily, this episode was a means to an end, and finally addressed the problematic nature of mixing the Police with the Vigilantes in this way.

The SCPD didn’t seem to want to learn anything from Team Arrow. Where is the sense in having these people join the force if they aren’t going to provide some unique skills and training? And the first thing they do is strip them of their weapons and their suits (ahh, if only literally….*ahem*). They do have a point when it comes to gathering evidence legally, not using coercive ‘interview’ techniques and so on, but presumably, by some kind of TV magic, they were able to successfully convict plenty of criminals caught by Team Arrow previously…so what has changed?

The evil little Mayor keeps popping up this season, trying to undermine the Team. Oliver never seemed to have this much clout with the SCPD when he was Mayor Handsome. So why does Mayor Tiny spend so much time there? Clear off! Her interference, and the apparent loss of Dinah’s cry, leads to Dinah having a crisis of confidence, briefly picking the SCPD over the Team. Wild Dog gets all up in her face with a sense-making motivational speech, which he seems to be doing a lot of this season…who knew he had it in him?? Anyhow, Dinah eventually comes to terms with losing her cry, and decides to continue being the Black Canary. This plot point seemed superfluous to me. Sara nor Laurel had a meta-cry, and they turned out alright as Canaries…..wait….never mind. If only they had some friends with medical and meta-human expert knowledge and technology (looking at you Larry)?!?!

Anyway, I enjoyed the twist that Team Arrow had actually been working with the SCPD during the final mission scene, following Dig’s advice that they needed to become ‘something else’. DD blackmailed dirty Mayor tiny into giving Team Arrow free-rein under the SCPD umbrella still, and repealing the anti-vigilante law. Yay team Arrow!! No more SCPD storyline! All’s well that ends well!

Black Siren/Emiko

I think they took up an acceptably small portion of the episode, and it was just about enough for my liking. This reaffirmed that I only really care about BS when she’s in scenes with Felicity, but it was nice seeing her try to do the right thing with solving Diaz’s murder. As many predicted, Emiko killed Lizard Boy, as she is working for Dante. Even doing this didn’t endear me to Emiko any more I’m afraid. I just don’t care about her, sorry. The showdown between BS and Emiko has potential to be interesting, and could lead to conflict between BS/Felicity/Oliver/Emiko in coming episodes, but my babies don’t need any more conflict, just let them be pleeeaaaase!!

The surprise that no one saw coming (I didn’t see anyone call it; well done Boss Beth!), was the appearance of baby Bronze Tiger, Connor ‘Hawke’ Turner. Connor Hawke from the FFs is Bronze Tiger’s son, adopted by Dig and Lyla?!?!?! Fab idea, writers! This likely means that Ben Turner is going to die imminently, which is such a shame because he had so much potential in the prison arc!! I loved seeing him again in this episode!

Looking ahead

THAT TRAILER GUYS!!!!! MSDOI;’#GFHGSD;VNSD’K[GSDJVANVNFDK!!!!!!! I was not ready. None of us were ready it seems!!! We’re gonna see Mia’s birth this season!!!! Oliver will be there!! There’s a photo of Olicity and baby Mia!!!! AAAAAAAAAGHGHAGHAGHAGHA!!!

Source:olicitygifs

The Team is back!! But now we see this joint ‘black ops’ type scenario joining Team Arrow and the SCPD together, along with the repealing of the Anti-Vigilante law, the landscape isn’t tying in with the FFs. How do we get to the point where Vigilantes are utterly outlawed and hated by society, when they have done so much to help the city over the years? What changes? Is this why Oliver is ‘gone’? Why Felicity appears to have to give birth to Mia in some abandoned farmhouse somewhere? Where Mia has to be kept hidden? Where Mia and William can’t know of each other’s existence, or be spoken of in the same sentence (seriously….the TEARS!!)? Where Mia can’t even go by the name Queen for her own safety? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!! I think Emiko could be at the bottom of this somehow. She’s literally doing nothing else interesting.

Either Oliver and Felicity, or Rene and Dinah must be on the outs from the Team soon, to explain the latter’s unawareness of Mia. Could this be this why only Rene and Dinah have been set up in the FFs so far, because this is the only place we will see them next season? (Assuming they are coming back for S9).

I am so unbelievably excited for next week now. It’s gonna be dark, I know, but I’m hoping we get a decent amount of questions answered, and see Future Felicity and Diggle!! (I’d love to see future Oliver, but not holding out hope for that just yet). I was looking forward to the all-future episode anyway, as I’m living for Mia and William right now, but now??? Bring.it.on!

As always, huge thanks to the amazingly talented gif-makers in our fandom. Kisses and jazzy-hugs all round 😘😘😘🤗🤗🤗

#arrow #arrow 7x15 #arrow season 7 #Olicity #OTA #beccie's brain #long ass post

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mc-amps · 5 years

Text

Thoughts on Ray’s Route and Unknown

A crazy long rant >.<

It’s been exactly a year since I finished Ray’s route. I still remember that day quite well. I found it actually kind of romantic that I finished on Valentine’s Day. It was like Saeran was my Valentine. My thoughts on the route at the time were that of anger and joy. Suit Saeran made me furious, but GE Saeran made it better. He made me cry a lot of happy tears. Now that a year has passed, I wanted to talk more about my feelings about the route.

Everyone who knows me knows that I’m passionate about Unknown. Heck, just by looking at my blog, you could probably see that. From the very moment I saw him in the game’s opening movie, I was very curious and excited to see the trouble he would cause. I ended up seeing the prologue bad end on youtube and was like “Dang that’s hot +_+” Idk. I’ve always had a thing for those sweet talking kidnapper villain characters. The ones you know aren’t good for you, but if they ever got their hands on you, they’d cherish you in their own twisted way.

As I played through all of the routes, the part that excited me the most was when Unknown would show up and do bad things. Zen’s route in particular was so thrilling. The fact that he didn’t show up in Jaehee’s route was a bummer, but I was extremely disappointed when he did nothing in Jumin’s route too. Jumin was the one I ended up really liking, so I had been hoping to see my main man duke it out with evil side bae. Unfortunately, that never became a thing T_T

I saw some minor spoilers for Seven’s route, so I knew that Unknown would be heavily involved. I ended up being really disappointed with that route. At the time, I blamed it on Seven’s pushing MC away, but in hindsight, another major factor was that we really didn’t get to interact with Unknown much after the break in. Even during the secret ends, he’s there, but doesn’t really pay much attention to you. I guess I had been hoping to explore things with Unknown and his twisted view on the player. I also really wanted to help him recover after Mint Eye, but Seven took total control with that.

By that point, I had kind of accepted that Unknown wouldn’t be dateable, so I just figured that Jumin was my “true end.” But then the Christmas DLC happened. . .

It.

Was.

AMAZING!!!

Seriously! Unknown’s ending was everything I wanted from him!! He abducts you from the RFA, spoils you with gifts, and ties a ribbon around your neck +_+ He’s menacing and creepy, but still very charming and fun about it. It’s thrilling. My only disappointment was that it was so short, but that sparked the hope that Cheritz had more plans for him. Surely, they wouldn’t include that as the only way to end up with him.

When V’s route was announced, I clung to the hope that they were also going to secretly include a Saeran route. I figured that the route would branch off from the prologue bad end and let us spy on the RFA or something.

So then V’s route came out. Gah…I could go on a huge tangent just about V, but all I will say is that I felt no chemistry with him at all, and grew quite annoyed with all the secrets and shenanigans. Ray intrigued me though. Due to not having enough HG, I had to wait to do V’s route, so seeing Ray’s name in the call card purchase thing and also seeing his little intro bubbles when you first start up game made me feel even more hyped. I was so eager to see what this dude’s deal was. Once I played, I was definitely enamored by his cute creepiness, though I was under the impression that it was Unknown putting on a sweet charade for the MC and would soon show his true colors. It did get to the point where I got a little frustrated with Ray and his lies, because I just wanted him to rip off his suit, ruffle his hair, and reveal his true self. That did end up happening…though much later and not at all how I expected. Anyways, Ray did grow on me more, and I found myself feeling frustrated and agitated once we got separated.

And then Unknown showed up. O. M. G. Did that man show up. I honestly still remember exactly what I was doing when that went down. I was upset about missing a Ray call, but then my friend messaged me and said that I was going to LOVE what was about it happen. I had just gotten out of the shower, and was still in my towel, hair dripping wet when I did the chat and got the phone call. THE PHONECALL!!! That had to be the moment that I feel deeply and madly in love with this man. The way he says that he wants you and even says he will show you the things that Ray wanted to do to you. I was on the edge of my seat. I was screaming, blushing and swooning. Even though he could be quite frightening, it was still very fun. I was so excited to see what would happen, and I even spent the extra HG to call him as much as I could. I was honestly hoping that he would come to the cabin, or that we would at least encounter him in person, but alas… he really wasn’t out all that long T_T

I will say that Ray being worried and upset about the possibility of Unknown hurting MC was quite touching. I really was developing feelings for Ray. I didn’t adore him as much as Mr. Sexy Edgelord, but I still liked him, which brings me to the topic of how Another Story handled Saeran. Yes, I do think that Ray was added to make Saeran “romanceable.” I really don’t see any signs of Ray in the OG game, however, my friend, TK, pointed out that during the secret end when Unknown and child!Saeran seem to have that back and forth and then shoot V, that was dissociation. So that could be a hint about him having DID. And it does make sense that Unknown would have eventually taken complete control by the time the OG timeline takes place. All that’s to say, I really don’t mind Ray. He’s a sweet and cute bebe and his creepy side is pretty fun. He and Unknown have a pretty interesting dynamic too. Both have the same desires for keeping MC while destroying V and Seven. It’s just that they go about it different. Unknown is bold and unapologetic, while Ray keeps things in and is much more gentlemanly. They clash, yet I could see them growing to get along and work together. They would honestly make an amazing team. As you can imagine, I was pretty sad when Ray died and furious at V for still not revealing the truth to Seven. Really V? REALLY!?!

So fast forward to when Ray’s route was announced. I was hyped. Absolutely HYPED. This was the most excited I had been about something in a long time. I preordered the Mint Eye box and then waited, and looked at endless fanart of Ray and Unknown. My predictions for the route was that we were going to save Ray from the fate of Unknown completely taking over. That we were going to teach him what real love was compared to obsession. After all, he acts very clingy and creepy in V’s route, so that seemed to be the problem that needed fixing. I also was highly anticipating what Unknown would do. We would be stuck with him, completely at his mercy. Hhhh +_+ I was also thinking that he and Ray would be constantly switching control and fighting each other. But I hoped that they would learn to accept each other. My main worries for the route were that 1. Unknown would disappear forever at the end. 2. MC would be taken away from Magenta and separated from Ray sometime during the route. And 3. Rika would get all freaky fresh and get in the way. Rika did ruin things, and Unknown did end up disappearing forever…or rather, he ended up not existing at all! But more on that later.

It felt like an eternity, but the box finally came. Waiting for the tracking was pure torture, but once it came OMG Here’s the mail it never fails~ It makes me wanna wag my tail~ When it comes I wanna wail MAAIIIIIIIIL~~~! Looking through the box was an absolute joy. The smiling picture of Ray in his diary melted my heart, and I put all of the pictures in frames. Though I will say I was disappointed about the lack of Unknown content…it should have been a red flag about his fate in the route. Anyways, I was going to start the game at midnight that night. It was around a twelve hour wait, but it felt so. much. longer!!! I remember I was listening to the soundtrack and couldn’t concentrate on anything else. I Am the Strongest hyped me up, I was almost certain that was going to be the song that played when Ray and Unknown fought, but alas… Four Seasons also made me cry. It made me so happy to think that Saeran would get a happy ending with MC T///T I even saw the trigger warning for the route and figured it involved Unknown being kinky and aggressive. Either that or them really delving into Saeran’s childhood abuse… T_T And once again, I was completely wrong.

Speaking of agonizing waits though, playing through those first four days before entering Ray’s route. Torture. Pure torture. I didn’t care about V, or the RFA, I just wanted Ray and Unknown. Once I got to the first new VN, my hands were so shaky and I was tearing up. Ray’s new faces were amazing, though at the time I hadn’t realized that the Ray I knew was about to change…

It was something I hadn’t noticed at first, but Ray’s creepy, possessive side completely vanishes. I get that he would decide not to give MC an elixir, but I still feel like he isn’t going to magically lose all of his creepiness. That was honestly what made him fun, and while I do understand his self-loathing, I do feel like it got repetitive. Chats during that branch started to sound the same, and I found myself getting antsy. I just wanted to spend time with Ray and get to know him more, but at the same time all the foreshadowing with Zen’s Jekyll and Hyde/White or whatever got me super SUPER EXCITED!

From what I understand, Hyde is based off of Jekyll’s darker impulses. He’s violent and sexually aggressive. Because let’s face it, Ray’s darker desires are that he wants to hurt Seven and V, along with making MC his. He’s just not as bold and active about it, but he does send that Prime Minister info to Seven along with the ripped pictures to V. He also does say a lot of creepy things to MC. It’s easy to imagine that Unknown would actually put these desires into action, and he has shown that he’s very capable of that in other routes. The symbolism was perfect for Ray and Unknown! I believe Zen also alluded to Jekyll and Hyde fighting for control, so I also thought that foreshadowed that Ray and Unknown were going to indeed duke it out. Imagine it. Fighting over your safety and wellbeing. One man just wants you happy, while the other wants to selfishly keep you all to himself. I was so pumped. SO PUMPED.

But then tragedy struck.

Thing is, I am a curious kitty. I’m a ho for spoiler, and me being me, I sniffed around and accidentally saw something I shouldn’t have saw. Someone was complaining that “Saeran” was way too mean to the MC. It went on to describe how he called her ugly, and smelly and how he would feed her.

I was crushed.

I was absolutely crushed. The thought of Unknown doing that was devastating. It just so happened that I saw that on the day that the switch happens, so I spent most of that day moping, and then the night dreading it.

Here’s the thing though. When it happened, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was. It didn’t hurt my feelings, but instead baffled me. This man seemed different than Unknown. Not only was he dressed completely different, but his voice seemed a lot more subdued. His laughs were not nearly as loud or high pitched, and even the chatroom… he felt different than the man who said he would come to cabin and drag me back to Mint Eye. His speech bubbles were even a different color. They’re blue in this, but then reddish in V’s route, the Christmas DLC, and the OG Prologue. (Fun fact, but before V’s route, Unknown’s bubbles were purple.) He seemed a lot less threatening, more extra, more insecure, more sane, and because of this, I’ve come to the conclusion that they are different people. Therefore, I’ll call him Suit Saeran. Now I know some people say that Suit Saeran is like the baby version of Unknown, but eh…that doesn’t explain why he’s so more like the OG Unknown in V’s route. I feel like Rika’s treatment of him affects how the new personality will act, and if we get a Rika route, my theory is that “Saeran” will become possessive of her and become your love rival for her.

Now I will say I get it. I get why Suit Saeran acts the way he does. It ties into Ray’s self-loathing, but…I feel like Unknown would have tied into the way Ray acts in V’s route. Why did they change Ray? Why didn’t they go with Unknown instead of Suit Saeran? Did they think Unknown was too violent? Did they think he was unlovable? Or was it that they were punishing Unknown fans for being so thirsty. Everyone in all the other routes cherishes MC for the most part …except in this route. Suit Saeran and even Rika berate MC, call her useless, and pretty much say she’s better off dead. I personally found it ridiculous to the point of being comedic, but I do know that it deeply upset some people. I do think it went too far. For example, the CGs with Suit Saeran are great, but his dialogue during those scenes just ruins any enjoyment I could get from that.

I was so furious.

Unknown was truly the one thing I had been waiting for, and it felt like a slap in the face.

I will say that Suit Saeran apologizing and then the emergence of GE Saeran made things…kind of better. I was a little upset that Ray and Suit Saeran (And any other personas) seemed to be gone forever though, but GE Saeran was sweet, and after the abuse and agony of Mr. Posh Tie Boy, it was a Godsend. The phonecalls were great, and the chats were great, but that didn’t fix everything. Though looking back, I kind of feel like Ray didn’t really get any development in his own route. Even with the self-loathing plotline, he himself never learns to love himself. The last time you see him, he’s crying and saying how he was never meant to stay around. So he basically just disappears forever. At least Suit Saeran got to learn his mistakes and try to make things right. Idk. It’s just kind of upsetting and strange to me.

Anyways, there were still plenty of sleepless nights where I would just think about how Unknown wasn’t in the route, and how I would never be able to get to him or romance him. To this day, it’s still something that frustrates me to no end, and it’s honestly something that always will. I’ve lost hope that Cheritz will give us any other Unknown content. We haven’t gotten the after ends after all. The daki was nice, but dang…in a way, it’s kind of another slap. They were capable of writing a flirty Unknown. They were capable of writing him fighting Ray for MC’s affection. WHY WAS THIS NOT PUT IN THE ROUTE! THEY MAKE UNKNOWN SO SEDUCTIVE AND PASSIONATE ARGH IT’S WASTED POTENTIAL FSJDLKJLKSDJLFJSDLKfjls

There’s also the fact in the Halloween DLC that Ray compares himself to the Phantom of the Opera…and that dynamic once again fits Unknown more. The only time the Phantom talks mean to Christine is after she pulls off his mask after her first abduction, but it doesn’t last long, and otherwise he’s a lot more seductive and aggressive like…UNKNOWN. Sigh…heavy sigh… I’m a huge phangirl, and honestly I really do feel like the Phantom fits Ray and Unknown perfectly. T_T There’s his sweeter, more childlike, vulnerable angel side, and then his dark, seductive, murderous side. HHHHHHHhhhhhh.

I used to hate Suit Saeran, but now I don’t. I still kind of resent him for taking Unknown’s place, but when I look at him as a separate entity, he’s not so bad. He’s kind of funny, and there’s good fanart of him.

I’m really not sure how I feel about GE Saeran. Back then I had really liked him, but now I wonder if maybe…he had been a little too perfect? And it really bothers me how the other personas are gone. He seems really different from Redhead Saeran too. I get that he escaped from Mint Eye with less trauma and had MC along to help but… JFsldjflsfj idk though. I’ll see how he is in the after end. If we get a dark chocolate Valentine’s day with him unleashing his Unknown side then…I’ll forgive Cheritz…a little…but at this point, I’m not even sure if we’re getting the after ends.

Ultimately, if Unknown had never existed, then I would have liked this route a lot more. The fact that he’s not in it destroys my enjoyment of it.

Ah this is getting long, so I guess all I can do is make Unknown content, and make things the way I wanted them to be. I don’t plan on leaving this fandom any time so soon, so don’t worry about that~ And if you stayed to read this entire rambling rant then you’re so awesome T///T

Edit Feb 13th

So I wrote this a week or so ago and queued this for Feb 14th, and as you can see, I added tags talking about V’s route. I really liked Ray’s villainous side, but now that I’m farther in V’s route, I’ve got so much more to say. For one, my thoughts on Ray still stands, but Unknown. Oh my goodness Unknown.

I was determined to get all of his calls, just figuring that I would I get a fun little flirty time, but I got so much more than that. I can scream to the rooftops that he’s so much more fun and different than Suit Saeran, but he’s also in a lot of pain. It’s something that hadn’t quite sank in the first time around, but he’s happy to have his body back. He’s annoyed at Ray and thinks he’s too soft and an idiot, but a lot less harder on him than Suit Saeran is.

But there’s a phonecall that really got to me. He doesn’t let you respond at all, but he wants you to listen. It seems like he wants someone to talk to.

You know...I still don’t get who I am.

I’ve been awake for only a few times. And I still don’t get how come I’m awake.

But I know one thing... I’ve been so freaking mad from the beginning.

I want to crush everything I see. I can’t control myself.

I just broke every single flower pot Ray was tending.

I felt a little better after stomping those frail roots.

What am I...?

Why did I wake up so suddenly?

Did I wake up for vengeance?

He then goes on to talk about torturing V, but the way he says this, there’s pain behind his growls and cackles. It hurts my heart. I don’t know...even if Cheritz intended for him and Suit Saeran to be the same person, the pain they go through feels different to me. It just feels like they changed so much about his and Ray’s character when they made Ray’s route.

Who is Unknown?

Who is he really?

Will we ever get to find out...?

#also can I just say #I'm replaying V's route #and Ray is an absolute joy #and I'm so excited for Unknown to come #this is more fun than Ray's own route gosh dangit #rant #mystic messenger #unknown mysme #saeran choi

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mdhwrites · 5 years

Video

youtube

Okay, I’d actually like to talk about how AMAZING these people actually show the Sonic cast is, and why there are so many, because I hear so many people claim that Sonic’s friends don’t matter, or don’t need to exist. Here is the thing: In gameplay they can be hard to implement. As characters... Well Sonic: He’s your normal,goofball, never give up protaganist. He’ll always do what’s right, but his belief in his own skills is both his greatest strength and flaw. He’s gullible, cocky, and if no one holds him back is likely to rush face first into danger with no plan to get out. It’s a classic and always a lot of fun. Tails: The obsessed engineer. Not a lot of stuff plays up how shy or socially awkward Tails can be, but when he has to interact with people outside of his field, his mission, or his team you can usually see it, and that’s because he is always working on the tech side of stuff. He loves his passion, but without someone to push him out of his comfort zone he wouldn’t ever grow. Knuckles: The serious hero. He can be silly, but that’s usually at his own expense. He isn’t the brightest, but he has a heart of gold... Or warm steel might be the better term for it. He’ll smash before he talks, but unlike Sonic will focus on the mission. There’s no distracting him because his goal is always the betterment of him and his friends, so he’ll also give up a victory of his own to give it to someone else. What matters is that things got done. Rouge: The prankster/flirt. She appears to not take anything serious, but it’s because she wants to have fun! Her tricks may be a little mean, but never to the extent that they’ll leave the recipient scowling for too long, and she is the one who’ll give a few heated, impassioned words in an ear to make someone’s day brighter more than anyone else. This isn’t just sexual teasing though. A prankster and flirt has to be able to read people to get under their skin (or other parts), and this makes her great for compassion, care, love, and bringing anyone up who is feeling too down. Just be careful, because she’s also the best in putting you back in your place should it go too far to your head. Omega: I don’t know this character very well, but I’ll still try with what I do know. He’s the outsider. The one who doesn’t know the world, but is trying his best. His intentions are never ill, but he wasn’t made to be good, so it’s hard for him not to do damage, despite how desperately he wants to keep everything safe. Fortunately, with the right-ish moral compass, his weaponry can be used for good and he is slowly learning how to be funny, sarcastic, and everything else that can make him increasingly human in the eyes of other people than his friends, who know just how wonderfully alive he is behind his awkward voice. Shadow: Yeah, he isn’t a hero. He is selfish, narcissistic, and ready to be an asshole to anyone to get his way. He doesn’t play well with others, but that’s because he is what matters... in the short term view. He is still a hero, but the kind that is harder to see the merit of. He would abandon his friends if he knew getting the job done was what mattered, and that he could do it himself. He wouldn’t technically like it (not if it actually cost lives. Here... Fuck em. They fucked up) but it’s what he would do for the job. He’s the best guy to work with, because he’ll always get it done, but don’t ask him to move or else you’ll be paying for the beer, pizza, and it better line up with his schedule or he’s just teleporting all of your stuff in a heap onto the roof because he missed your third floor apartment. Eggman!: The rapacious scoundrel! He honestly isn’t the best at world domination. It’s not his thing. He makes flawed creations because he enjoys creating doodads, thingamobs, and wants people to appreciate just how good his death laser is! At least, in a lot of his best incarnations. He’s of course older, more bitter, and all of this has been cranked up to an eleven, but come on. He names things like Egg Carrier, and puts a moustache on his car. If there isn’t a child somewhere in there wanting attention and a friend who understands him, then I don’t know what more they could do to show that. This is also why he’s not usually the final boss in a lot of more modern Sonic games I feel. And now *cracks knuckles* The hard mode. Covering not only characters not in this, but also ones who are either less popular, or less canon. Warning: I have been exposed to a lot of Sonic, but I have consumed very little Sonic, so feel free to correct me on any of this. Big the Cat: Okay, going to admit it now: Could still use work. However, he is supposed to be the zen amongst the insanity. He is the one who, given the chance, would just relax, sleep, and play with his frog, even while everyone else is playing EXTREME, DEATH, CHILLYDOG VOLLEYBALL! He doesn’t want for much except his friends and trusts that his more capable friends can take care of themselves. He’ll do anything for his smaller, less defensible friends though... like Froggie. Cream: The shy, earnest girl. She’s more in touch with nature, she cleans the base while everyone’s out on mission, and develops a new anxiety disorder everytime the phone rings. You could want no one better to just listen to your problems, and she’ll do what is necessary if she must, Just don’t expect her to come home and be ready to squash a spider, even if she just saved the world. Amy: The tomboy turned girly girl. If allowed, she’d learned to cook, bake, clean, and sew, because to her those are the traits that have been ingrained into her by society as right for what she wants to be: A wife in a peaceful time, surrounded by those she loves and who aren’t afraid of her. This likely stems from losing a couple too many friends after she showed off she could break a mountain with her hammer. In actuality, she’d be at the most peace if she accepted who she was, while still trying to calm down and manage her anger, but what we get instead is someone filled with a lot of complex emotions, whose definition for romance do NOT fit with her knight in shining armor, and who will break you if you so much as lay a finger on her Disney Palace dream. Chaotix: Uuuuuuuuh, skip! Okay, to be fair, they are additional archtypes that aren’t there already, especially as less typical heroes, or heroes for hire. They follow something other than pure morality to decide what it is they care about, but they won’t turn to straight up criminal work in order to get paid either. They’re good guys, but they live in the real world, to each their own extent, and are trying to get by despite that. Princess Sally: This is my last one, because I pretty much run out of knowing enough at this point. However, I do want to touch on her. We have heroes, villains, anti-heroes, but they almost all have one thing in common. Confidence. Sally is the character who, when asked to put on a speech, takes a deep breath, wipes the nervous tears from her eyes, and steps out and performs spectacularly. Everyone knows she’s capable of moving the Earth except for her. The weight of her position and her situation weigh on every action she makes and it exhausts her, almost to the point of stopping her. Almost. Her reserves of strength make it so that even when she has to show she’s scared, she can keep going. And sorry if I am SUUUUPER off on that last one. But yeah, to everyone who says all of Sonic’s friends are stupid, blame that more on poor game writing. These characters have AMAZING designs and concepts behind them that manage to show themselves in spite of how rough the writing or time for character development can be in their games, and it’s part of why I can’t actually make that much fun of the Sonic community. You were given an entire season’s worth of anime characters to play around with and grow up with and you want to see them done well and given the characterization you know is there. Add to the fact that the games are fun (to some people, I am unfortunately not a big fan) and I entirely sympathize with you all, and I hope you get more good games in the future, and that they keep adding to this great rouge- OH SHIT! Silver: Yeah, if you thought Shadow seemed a little extreme, Silver is what you get when you have someone with literally nothing left to lose. He lost his planet, and he will destroy a galaxy to set it right. He doesn’t trust because he grew up in a time where that got you killed. He has likely lost friends, homes, everything to the future, and will do anything to get them back. This also leaves him in a reeeeally awkward position in peace time and treating paintball as a game instead of a training exercise. Blaze: Making the best of a bad situation. While Silver let him embroil himself in the rage of his world, Blaze still fights to temper it. To be able to manage a small smile from time to time, and find silver linings in failure. When something goes wrong, she’ll publicly tell everyone how great they did and how they’ll be a next time, but please give her a hug. She’s crying on the inside because she’s had it just as rough as Silver, but also thinks she actually has something to lose still beyond her life, and that fact terrifies her. Sorry for forgetting about those two, but that should be about everyone. If I missed someone you expect me to know, especially from the games, let me know. Otherwise, I hope you all liked this, and I’d love to hear your thoughts!

#Sonic #Positivity #I take these sorts of things way too seriously

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error-what-blog · 6 years

Note

Hello! I really like the way you write :) Can you do a kidnapped MC? RFA + Saeran? Like they don't see MC that day and start panicking and how they find her? Thank you very much, have a good day ❤️

Oh my god Tumblr decided to refresh and I lost all the work I did… … …

Kill me.

But hey, I love this request so I’ll do it again.

*Quick note: I restarted writing this yesterday after Tumblr deleted all my work and got through Jumin and Yoosung’s and said I’d finish it today and guess what, I’m sick with the flu. This request is cursed or something istg lolol*

Trigger Warnings: Sexual harrassment, gore, torture, abuse & suicidal thoughts. This headcanon is quite graphic, please do be aware of that before reading, as I believe that for people to actively kidnap someone, nine times out of ten it’s a personal vendetta. Not for all of course.

Also, I didn’t do Jaehee because I genuinely could not think of an instance of where it would happen, so I do apologise. I hope you’re okay with that.

Mc gets kidnapped.

♚Jumin♚

He was away on a business trip when he recieved an anonymous message with a picture attachment.

“Mister Han, it has come to my attention that you have gotten quite the hefty bonus this year. I want it. Make your way back to Korea today and contact me again. Attempt to involve any form of authorities and I’ll make sure your precious wife suffers even more than she already is.”

The image showed Mc bound to a chair, gagged and sporting two black eyes with cuts on her face.

Jumin was ringing his bodyguards immediately, firing all of them for not doing the one thing he asked them to do; protect his wife while he was away.

Once he ended the twenty second long call, he was on the phone with the trusted hacker, 707.

He explained what happened with Mc and the captor’s demands. Seven told Jumin not to worry and he would begin his work in finding Mc.

From then, Jumin began his flight home.

Mc felt hopeless. The man seeking Jumin’s bonus had not upheld his end of the bargain and had relentlessly tortured her.

He had done his very worst. He removed three of her fingernails with a pliers, broken her wrist, punched her so hard she lost a tooth and beaten her black and blue.

This was Mc’s breaking point, as much as she wanted for Jumin to come and rescue her like a knight, she just wanted all of this to be over. She wanted all of the pain and suffering to dissipate along with her.

The party co-ordinator could feel the blood ooze out of the open lacerations across her body.

This man was clearly looking for more than Jumin’s money. He wanted him to suffer and what better way to make the man suffer than to put his wife through the wrath of his pyschopathy.

Mc could hear the eerie and dark laughter the escaped the man’s mouth as she screamed for him to stop.

Almost as though God had heard her prayers, multiple cops came into the room and wasted no time in filling the man up with bullets.

This time, she wailed because she could see her beloved run towards her with a team of paramedics carrying a stretcher.

The were quick to untie her from the chair and lie her down on the stretcher and begin to stop the bleeding.

With that, Mc lost consciousness.

It was the strong smell of disinfectant that pulled Mc out of her slumber. She opened her eyes slowly, the affects of the strong painkillers she was on made her drowsy.

“Mc?”

She followed the voice and saw Jumin, and the rest of the members of the RFA, looking at her with concern sketched on their expressions.

“Guys?” Her voice sounded like she had swallowed sandpaper.

“Hey Mc, how are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been asleep for weeks but I’m still tired.”

“You’re not wrong. You were put into a medically induced coma when we arrived here to help your body better recover from your injuries. It’s been three weeks since then,” The doctor said as he walked in.

The doctor then asked everyone but Jumin to leave the room and he then told Mc of the injuries she suffered with.

“You had three broken ribs, a broken wrist, broken eye socket and a fractured skull. You had three fingernails removed, lost a tooth and suffered from multiple lacerations across your limbs and torso. You are truly lucky to be alive. The medicines I am perscribing you are mostly strong painkillers that you have to take daily and also some immune system boosters. Mr Han her bandages need to be changed every day and disinfected. We also can provide counselling to help you with any emotional turmoil you may experience following such a traumatic incident.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

Once the man left, Jumin rubbed the back of his hand againt Mc’s cheek. The three weeks while she was in the coma were hell. Although he had never been more glad to see her just awake and breathing.

✬Yoosung✬

One minute Mc was standing outside the bakery waiting for Yoosung to return with some pastries, the next she was being dragged into the alleyway with a chemical scented rag being held over her mouth and nose.

She kicked and tried her best to scream but her panicked state did her no justice.

As Mc inhaled more and more of the smell and soon enough, she felt herself fall limp in the arms of the stranger.

When Yoosung came out of the bakery, he was confused to see that Mc wasn’t there.

When he took out his phone to ring Mc, ruckus from the side street beside the bakery caught his attention.

He walked to the top of the alley and what he was met with scarred him forever.

Mc’s unconscious form was being stuffed into the boot of a random car.

“HEY!” Yoosung screamed, his feet having a mind of their own and sprinting towards the man.

Unfortunately he wasn’t quick enough and the man made his escape with Mc.

Yoosung only made it in time to get a face full of black smoke emitting from the exhaust pipe.

The blonde didn’t know what to do as he heaved for breath.

Cry.

Scream.

He decided that he could panic later, even though he was only hanging on by a thin thread.

He needed to get her back asap.

He contacted Seven right away, waiting impatiently for the redhead to pick up.

“Yo, yo, yo what’s up loverboy?~”

“Seven, Mc’s gone… I don’t k-know what to do. Please… help…” Yoosung’s voice betrayed his calm persona.

“Ho, ho, ho lovers quarell?”

“No, Seven, Someone took her… she’s gone in some car.”

There was silence on the line before the hacker ordered Yoosung to make his way to the bunker immediately.

Yoosung had never ran so fast before.

When he arrived at the bunker, Seven wasted no time in questioning Yoosung about the cirumstances, a number plate from the car and whether or not he knew if Mc had her phone on her.

“There was no number plate and I think she still has her phone.”

“Alright I’ll try tracking her location and we’ll work from there.”

“-sell for a good price. I might have a go of her before the auction because damn, look at that body.”

The part of the sentence Mc managed to catch caused her eyes to shoot open and see a single man talking on the phone.

She began to kick and and attempted to scream through the rag tied around her mouth.

“Oi! You might as well stop struggling now, if you don’t I’ll have to make you and that will knock a few coins off your price for damaged goods. And believe me, you don’t wa-”

The man was suddenly cut short, as a loud bang resounded throughout the warehouse. His eyes were wide an unblinking as he looked towards his chest. There was blood pooling out across the fabric of his white shirt.

Without notice, the man collapsed onto Mc.

Mc began to scream through her gag once again, her tears blurred her vision as she hook violently, the weight of the corpse on her body adding to her breakdown.

About three seconds later, the body was lifted off of her and she was being held up by the shoulders.

Not knowing who it was, Mc only squealed louder an bawled harder.

“MC! MC! It’s me! It’s me, please stop!”

Mc’s screams were muted when she realised it was Yoosung in front of her.

Yoosung untied the rag from around her mouth and held her close as she began to sob and shake.

“Is she okay?!” Seven asked, running over to his best friend.

“She’s o-okay, Seven, she’s f-fine,” He said and began to cry as he has never felt so happy just to hold Mc.

“C’mon, we need to leave.”

Yoosung stood himself and Mc up and kept his arms around her shoulders as she walked.

♡Zen♡

Zen had become incredibly popular since he began dating Mc.

He was a highly sought after actor and every work he performed in, he sold out the theatre and brought huge success to himself.

Like now, he was just about to start yet another sold out show.

He felt himself explode with love and pride as he saw his beautiful Mc sitting in her reserved front seat, smiling at him lovingly as the curtain opened.

Soon enough, the show drew to a close and people began to trickle out of the theatre, excluding Mc who stayed in her seat and the fans who purchased VIP tickets in order to meet Zen afterwards.

Mc felt very uncomfortable, she had to admit, there was a particular fan waiting for Zen who had been shooting her death glares since the show ended. Mc obviously pinned it as jealoudy of her relationship with Zen.

But Mc couldn’t shake the feeling of unsafety she felt.

Mc jumped out of her skin when a quick, “Hey, babe,” was whispered in her ear.

“Oh my god, Zen!” She laughed and stood up. She was quick to place her hands on his cheeks and connect their lips in a loving kiss. When they parted, both with dorky smiles on their faces, Mc complimented Hyun on his performance.

“You did amazing Zen, I think this might be my favourite show yet!”

“Babe, you say that every time,” Hyun said as he hugged his girlfriend once again.

Once they pulled away, Mc and Zen made their way over to the line fans waiting to get a picture with their beloved actor and have a small chat.

The first few fans came and went, some asking Mc to get in pictures and they expressed their want for Zen and Mc to get married.

Just after another fan who requested Mc being apart of the discussion and picture, the fan who had been giving Mc weird vibes had stepped up.

The girl gave Zen a dazzling smile and hugged him tight, expressing how meeting the silver haired actor was a dream come true.

When they were posing for the picture, she turned to Mc and said “Uhm, honey, could you get out of the picture please? You’re ruining it.”

Mc had experienced fans like this before, who were rude to her but never with the level of hostility this one was presenting.

Zen was taken aback by the bluntness of his fan. “Hey, there’s no need to be rude to Mc.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Zenny. I just get upset easily when special moments are at risk of being ruined.”

Zen and Mc left it at that for the moment, just assuming it was one of those arrogant and jealous fans.

After awhile, Mc needed a break and some fresh air.

She stepped out of the cast exit and breathed a sigh.

That fan really was rude earlier.

“You ignorant bitch!” Mc’s eyes shot open and saw the fan from earlier standing in front of her, the girl’s hair messed up as tears fell down her face.

“Because of you, Zen thinks I’m awful. Just because I didn’t want my picture ruined by someone as awful looking as you! You ruined my chances!”

Just as Mc went to reply, the girl pulled out a gun and pointed it towards Mc. “Just get towards the car and I won’t kill you.”

Mc had her hands up as she made her way towards the parked car, tears streaming down her face.

“Mc?!” Zen’s voice shouted as she sat in the car.

“Zen! Don’t go near her or I’ll shoot!”

Zen did as he was told, staying where he was. He watched the girl sit in the car and then trained his eyes to the number plate. He repeated it to himself over and over again.

As soon as the car was away, Zen pulled out his phone and typed down the number plate and was quick to dial the emergency services.

When they told him they were on their way and had sent a car to follow Mc’s captor’s car, Hyun hung up and sat down on the path.

He buried his hands in his face and began to cry. He just wanted to protect her and he couldn’t even do that.

“I think it’s time I make Zen truly see how awful looking you are!” The fan wasted no time in parking her car in a random alley and climbing to the back seat.

She pulled a pocketknife from her back pocket and began to slash Mc’s face.

They were all relatively shallow cuts and that didn’t seem to please the girl, despite Mc’s cries and shrieks for her to stop.

She stopped only for a moment an then dug the tip of the blade into Mc’s cheek and dragged it up right underneath her eye.

Just as the steady flow of blood began to trickle down her face, there was a bright light and banging against the door of the car.

“Get out of the car now!” A guard shoutes, pointing a gun through the open and at the girl.

In shock, the girl hopped out of the car and had her arms up.

Mc was too scared to move, her hand trying to stop the bleeding in her face.

The co-ordinator barely registered the door next to her being opened until she heard the voice of Zen.

“Jagiya? Come out of the car, okay? We’ll get you fixed up alright?”

When she got out of the car, she threw herself into Zen’s arms as she bawled her eyes out, so glad that it was over.

Zen brought Mc to the ground and held her as the paramedics came over and began to clear the cuts on her face. “Miss, we are going to need to take you to the hospital to get stitches on that gash on your cheek.”

After Mc was brought to the hospital, there was a flurry of paparazzi outside the hospital and Zen was advised to get rid of them.

“Yes, it is true. Mc got attacked by a fan last night following the show. She is completely alright aside from a few cuts and a gash. But I will say this now, being rude to Mc, hurts me too, and I am beyond hurt that this happened to her. I am taking some time off to help Mc work through this and to make sure she feels safe in a relationship with me.”

☀Saeyoung☀

Oh god, he thought the agency was finally done with him and had given up on finding him.

He thought wrong.

Mc was now in the clutches of the agency and he was being held in captivity watching a live-streamed video of his wife being tortured.

They were pushing her head into water jut until she began to stop moving and then pulled her out again.

“See this, 707? This is your punishment for going against us. Now watch as we slowly kill her.”

They were relentless and put Mc through pain that not even Saeyoung himself has experienced.

Her screams plagued his mind as the people stuck a hot fire pocker into her side.

He couldn’t believe he let this happen.

He finally had the life he wanted;

Reunited with Saeran, with a wife and hopes to start a family.

But he just had to be careless.

Seven was pulled from his thoughts when the door opened and Saeran was running to him.

“I need to do this quick or they’ll catch me, but just go along with this okay?”

Seven nodded and followed Saeran’s lead.

He was brought to the room where Mc was.

Her cries softened a tad when her husband was brought into the room.

“Agent 707, for your betrayal against this agency we need to punish you. However, you’re a one of a kind hacker and we can’t afford to lose such talent, so as a sanction we will kill your wife and hope you don’t disobey again.”

Saeyoung watched as Saeran moved towards Mc and pointed a gun towards her head.

“P-Please don’t! Please! Don’t hurt her! No!” He screamed and struggled, going along with the performance.

Just as he pulled the safety lock off, Saeran pointed the gun towards the men in the room and shot them all with precison.

After that, everything was a blur. The three needed to get out of the building quick and get far away.

Since then it had been three days and they were camping out in a motel. They had bought supplies and tended to Mc’s wounds and from there, worked towards getting her back to health and getting them all to safety.

✟Saeran✟

It had been tough for Saeran, getting through the aftermath of Mint Eye that is.

He suffered with crippling anxiety and debilitating depression following the events.

But he had Mc and she was the sole person he had to thank for getting through it.

But lately she had been distant. Sad almost.

She was always on her phone, looking like she wanted to forget the world and dissipate.

Saeran became fed up with it and approached her about it.

“Mc what’s going on? I thought we could talk to each other.”

“It’s nothing Saeran, I promise.”

From there it escalated into an argument and boiled down to Saeran screaming something along the lines of, “Get out, go! You’re not doing any good by being her!”

It was only to hurt her as much as he felt hurt.

But she still left, only bringing her phone and purse.

After that he tracked her through street cams and her location by her phone.

He had never been so grateful for his skills until he saw Mc being approached by a man in a hood and then dragged away.

“Mc~ My love. We are reunited!”

Mc was shook to the core by the voice in her ear.

“Why are you doing this to me?! We dated in school when we were only young! Just stop!” She shouted, her shaky voice contradicting her confidence.

A slap to the side of her face silenced her and the feeling of the man’s tongue sliding against the reddened skin of her cheek caused a shiver to quake her body.

“I don’t want to hurt you, my love, but I can’t have you stepping out of line.”

“I’m not your girlfriend! That ended over ten years ago, you psycho!”

“Mc’s you’re in denial, we’re in love, you’re my universe! You’re my every-”

“HEY!”

All Mc saw was a fist connecting with her ex’s cheek, knocking him down.

Then she realised that it was Saeran landing merciless punches on her ex, and although she wished for him to stop, she couldn’t move from her binds.

All she could do was cry and beg for Saeran to stop.

Saeran began to stop once he fully registered Mc’s cries of fear and anguish.

He stepped off the man and went to Mc with bloodied fists and untied her.

As soon as she was free, she pounced onto Saeran and cried into his neck as she let out the fear she had been feeling through the weeks of harrassment her ex put her through.

“It’s okay, Mc, it’s over. From here on out you need to tell me everything, alright? Please don’t keep stuff like ths from me.”

Oh god, I spent my whole day doing this lol. I hope you enjoyed and I’m sorry it took so long and if parts are sloppy. This flu has my mind a bit muddles.

Unedited.

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sage-nebula · 6 years

Note

Congratulations on your thesis! If it isn’t too late to ask, for the fandom question I’d like to request FMA and Mystic Messenger ^^

Thanks!! Sorry I didn’t respond when you sent this last night, but I was just way too tired, haha. I’m putting these under a cut because they got long.

FMA:B:

Favorite character:

Colonel Hot Stuff, a.k.a. Roy Mustang. ♥

Least Favorite character:

For a non-cliché answer? Gluttony. Sorry, but cannibalism is a huge squick. He grosses me out. (Cliché answers are Shou Tucker and Zolf J. Kimblee.)

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

Haha, unlike many shounen mangaka, Arakawa actually knows how to write romance well, so . . .

Roy/Riza, and that gets to be bolded because it is supreme, easily the best ship in the manga.

Ling/Lan Fan

Ed/Winry

Al/May

Izumi/Sig

Character I find most attractive:

Colonel Hot Stuff, obviously. But Riza is also super pretty.

Character I would marry:

N/A? I never really thought about it.

Character I would be best friends with:

Ed and I would get along pretty well, tbh.

A random thought:

I’m not sure a more perfect shounen series exists, tbh.

An unpopular opinion:

Though I do still hate Shou Tucker a lot, by this point I’m so desensitized to what happened to Nina that, while I still think that it’s horrifying on a logical level, it doesn’t phase me anymore and neither do the memes about it / people bringing it up randomly. I also think that using it as a meme / shock thing is really old and boring.

My canon OTP:

Roy/Riza, and listen . . . it’s canon that they love each other. Arakawa has said that the only reason why they’re not together is because they can’t be according to military law. They’re in love, it counts.

Non-canon OTP:

Ed/Ling, or Winry/Rose. I love both of these ships a lot even if I didn’t list them above.

Most badass character:

IZUMI CURTIS. Look fam, she whoops all kinds of ass despite the fact that she’s missing several important organs and often coughs up blood, like . . . she survived the Briggs winter by herself when she was young. She took down bears. You don’t fuck with Mama Izumi, you just don’t. Not if you want to live, anyway.

Pairing I am not a fan of:

Roy/Ed. Sorry, but I just see Roy as one of Ed’s (and Al’s!) many surrogate parents.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):

None? None. Arakawa is a godsend.

Favourite friendship:

TEAM MUSTANG. I love Team Mustang so muuuuch (as well as the honorary members of Hughes and Armstrong, and the children, Ed and Al). I also really love Maria and Denny’s relationship, too. They’re “brotp or otp” material, honestly.

Mystic Messenger:

Favorite character:

SAEYOUNG, LOVE OF MY LIFE. ♥

Least Favorite character:

Out of the main cast? Yoosung. Easily. I was neutral on him until Another Story, but once that came along . . . ohhhhhh boy.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

A list:

Saeyoung/MC 4 (as I write her)

Jaehee/Zen

Jumin/V

And, uh . . . pretty sure that’s it, haha.

Character I find most attractive:

Saeyoung ♥ But I will also admit that Zen and Vanderwood are quite pretty, and Jaehee is pretty when her hair is short and she’s wearing her glasses.

Character I would marry:

Saeyoung, obviously. Jaehee would be my second choice, though.

Character I would be best friends with:

Again . . . the reason why I pursued Saeyoung right off the bat was because he made me laugh and it was so much fun to play around with him. We have very similar senses of humor and a lot of the same hobbies.

A random thought:

It’s not random, but I do headcanon that Saeyoung has likely killed people while on agency jobs in the past. Not maliciously, and only ever because he had to. It was him or them, it was self-defense. But he’s done it, nonetheless. The first time was when he was only about thirteen, or fourteen, and Vanderwood (because he didn’t know what else to do, or say) gave him a cigarette after to try to calm him down. Maybe Saeyoung even asked for it, I don’t know. And Saeyoung took it, and of course nearly coughed up a lung as a result to not being used to the smoke, and after a few minutes Vanderwood says, “You know, it gets easier.”

“What?” Saeyoung said, his voice still raw (from crying? from the smoke?). “The killing, or the smoke?”

Vanderwood was quiet for a moment, then he shrugged. “Both.”

(Saeyoung doesn’t smoke anymore after that, but there are times after when he’s still forced to kill.)

An unpopular opinion:

Zen/Jaehee is practically canon, and Cheritz needs to give us a route where we can play matchmaker for them.

My canon OTP:

There are no canon ships lol. Well, there’s one, but it’s terrible, so.

Non-canon OTP:

Zen/Jaehee, Jumin/V.

Most badass character:

SAEYOUNG, is this even a question? This man gets shot, and then manages to stay conscious for so long after that, and that’s on top of everything else he manages to accomplish, like . . . goddamn. When V says that Saeyoung has the skills to make things happen, he’s not exaggerating.

Pairing I am not a fan of:

Saeyoung/Yoosung. Both of them have to be OoC to make it work, and Yoosung is really, really not good for Saeyoung regardless.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):

Saeyoung was treated so horribly in Another Story, it’s honestly offensive.

Favourite friendship:

SAEYOUNG & VANDERWOOD. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

#fandom meme #the-rfa-squad

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altairs-smores · 6 years

Text

Just a Dream

Aaaaaaaand I am back! With angst, of course. How I missed writing angst~ σ(≧ε≦ｏ)

‘The news came like how the rain poured earlier without warning. Zen wished it were merely a bad dream.’

[Also on Ao3]

Preview: The news came like how the rain poured earlier without warning. He was running towards his motorcycle, forcing his body to work with him, to stop trembling and to just listen to him. He ignored his manager’s request for him to take a cab or wait until their driver came, starting his ride and speeding his way towards the hospital. If Yvonne found out he rode without a helmet again, she’d be pissed. Zen had a hard grip on the handles, possibly violating every single traffic rule out there, but he didn’t care. He needed to see her. He needed to see with his own eyes that she was safe.

The news came like how the rain poured earlier without warning. He was running towards his motorcycle, forcing his body to work with him, to stop trembling and to just listen to him. He ignored his manager’s request for him to take a cab or wait until their driver came, starting his ride and speeding his way towards the hospital. If Yvonne found out he rode without a helmet again, she’d be pissed. Zen had a hard grip on the handles, possibly violating every single traffic rule out there, but he didn’t care. He needed to see her. He needed to see with his own eyes that she was safe.

Stumbling through the front doors of the hospital, the albino ignored the looks he was receiving and made a beeline towards the nurse’s desk. “Is… is there an Yvonne Li admitted here?” The nurse looked bewildered, stammering while looking through their database. “Y-yes, sir. She’s at the emergency room.” He left without another glance, apologizing to the people he bumped into and pointedly ignoring and telling fans he’s busy and couldn’t spare a bit of his time. His girlfriend was in danger, he didn’t have the time. Zen arrived at the emergency room, slumping down on one of the chairs. He tried to calm himself down, squeezing his eyes shut as he put his hands together in a prayer. Just yesterday, they were on a date at his secret place, his lovely girlfriend cooking them dinner and taking out the beer despite her love for wine.

He still remembered how warm she was in his arms, talking about their future as they counted the stars. The albino wanted to reach greater heights in the theatre world while the brunette wanted to join the SWAT team. He knew he couldn’t dissuade the woman no matter what he did, so he simply supported her and made her promise to come home safe. They talked about travelling around the world, not as ZEN and his faithful bodyguard, but just as Hyun Ryu and his future wife and mother of his kids, Yvonne Li. That sassy minx of his was unusually quiet and complacent in his arms when she’d usually be making a ruckus, talking about how she probably wouldn’t be a great mother since she lost hers at a young age and her aunts weren’t the nicest in the block.

“Do you think I’ll do well?” He remembered how scared hazel eyes peered at him, how slender fingers fiddled with the beer can, how she worriedly nibbled on her bottom lip. He remembered feeling warm, seeing his love seriously consider about them having a family. He still remember whispering how wonderful she was, that she’d be a great mother, and that he’d be with her every step of the way. Kisses were shared, which turned into caressing and breathless ‘I love you’s and somehow, Zen found himself staring at luscious curves and the devious smirk of his girlfriend atop him. He was like putty in her hands, helplessly making the sounds Yvonne wanted from him. She had always been in control of their love-making, the albino getting his chance was as rare as finding a four leaf clover. But he didn’t mind, he probably never will.

“Sir?” A voice pulled him out of his reverie, eyes focusing on the doctor in front of him. “Sir, are you a relative of the patient?” Zen shook his head, composing himself and just hoped for the best. “I’m her boyfriend. She… she doesn’t have a family.” It was a flurry after that. The doctor said they did everything they could, and now it all depended on the patient if she lived or not. Of course she’ll live, this was Yvonne they were talking about. Sassy, war freak, didn’t back down from any challenge and as spunky as a firework. He waited until they moved her to a private room, on the edge and barely able to sit down without fidgeting. What he saw broke his heart.

There she was, lying on the hospital bed, all battered and bandaged. Her left arm and leg were in casts, bandages on her head and neck, going down beneath the hospital gown. There was a bandage on the right side of her face, a cut on her lip, bandages on her right hand and just what happened to her? The albino pulled a chair and gently held the brunette’s hand, unable to stop the tears from flowing. He refused to believe this was all from an accident. She was careful, all the time. She might have come back with a lot of scars and bruises, but nothing worse. Every second he spent in there, waiting for Yvonne to wake up felt like forever. He fell asleep just like that, hands grasping hers and praying to the gods that she’d wake up soon.

A hand running through his hair pulled him from sleep, a sweet smile greeting him. “Your eyes are red.” She sounded so tired, it was breaking his heart. The albino held her hand, tears reforming in the corner of his eyes but he still tried to smile for her. “My eyes have always been red, babe.” Yvonne smiled and breathlessly said ‘ass,’ wincing a bit as speaking seemed to have brought her pain. Zen was immediately hovering over her, asking if she needed anything and that he’ll call the nurse.

“I’ll be fine,” she said, weakly grasping his hand. “I’m a big, tough girl. I’ll borrow your monster healing abilities and who knows? I’ll probably be up and about in 2-3 days.” They both knew she was lying, that she was far too weak, that not even Zen could recover that fast, but he indulged her. He didn’t say a word of retort and just smiled, holding her hand against his cheek. It felt so hard to breathe, like there was a lump in his throat that just won’t disappear. Still, he kept it all in. His lover was going to be fine. She was strong, stubborn, and she was the woman who kept butting heads with him. And she was looking at him with those tired hazel eyes, cementing his belief that she’ll be fine.

Zen woke up with a start, the beeping of the machine was the only thing heard in the room. It was 30 minutes past 3 in the morning, and Yvonne wasn’t showing any sign of waking up. A dream? He mentally beat himself over it, running a hand through his hair in frustration. What a cruel dream. He couldn’t escape the worry and hope even in his sleep. The albino caressed the hand he was clasping, heaving a sigh and took out a tiny box from his jacket. He had been meaning to pick up the brunette from work, bring her to a restaurant and finally pop the question – but this happened. Red eyes stared at the ring inside it, just a simple silver band with a small diamond. He wanted something grander, to show just how much she meant to her, but he knew Yvonne would kick his ass for ‘wasting’ money on that. She wasn’t the kind of woman who cared about jewelry after all. As long as it was something given from the bottom of the heart, she’ll treasure it – one of the things that made him fall deeper for her.

The actor took the ring and slipped it on her finger, admiring the way it looked. A perfect fit. This wasn’t how he planned it. This wasn’t where he wanted to ask her hand, but it was better than nothing. Yvonne Ryu. It sounded nice, sounded like a dream come true. “Yvonne Ryu.” He said, testing the name on his lips. “Sounds shitty.” He slowly turned to the woman, feeling his heart hammer in his chest as red eyes met hazel. The brunette held the gaze, her expression slowly softening as she smiled. “I like it.”

Zen couldn’t utter any words, his throat closing on him as though he was mute. Tears spilled from his eyes – from worry or relief, it didn’t matter. Because the love of his life was awake and smiling at him and reaching out to wipe his tears and he couldn’t help the sob that escaped him. “You’re awake. You’re awake, babe.” He said it, again and again as if it were a mantra. He could hear the woman chuckle weakly, her hand cold against his cheek.

“Who the fuck proposes to a sleeping person? I didn’t know you had that kink.” Expect it from this woman to tease at a time like this, even when her voice was weak and breaking and she looked on the verge of passing out. The actor laughed, shaking his head at his ridiculous lover, and made a motion to leave the room to call the nurse. He was stopped by a tug on his hand, Yvonne shaking her head while mouthing ‘later.’ Zen sat once again and watched his lover, the beeping of the machine the only noise in the comfortable silence of the room.

“Say it again?” Came the whispered request. The albino complied, whispering ‘Yvonne Ryu’ over and over again, as many times as his girlfriend wished. It warmed his heart to know that she wanted this too, that she wanted a future with him. Yet, each passing minute, the brunette looked weaker, her hand losing what little warmth it had.

“Yvonne.” Zen could feel panic rise. Her pulse was weakening, the machine showing more flat lines. He hit the emergency button in the room, praying to the gods for her to be saved. Hazel eyes were slowly closing and yet, she held her smile. Even in her fight with death, she looked like an angel.

“Sounds like a dream… Hyun.”

The line flattened and he was left crying out her name.

#mystic messenger #zen x mc #ryu hyun #mc #oc #angst #character death #fanfic #altair's mysme writings

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caseymalone · 6 years

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Top 10 Games 2017

Here are my top 10 games for 2017! Minor spoilers for a few of them, but nothing major. You’ve been warned!

10. Resident Evil 7: BioHazard

There have been 27 Resident Evil games, including remakes, remasters, 3DS releases but excluding pachinko machines and Tiger Electronics handhelds. Of those near thirty games, Resident Evil 7 brings the total I’ve enjoyed to… two. I guess this is my way of saying that between being a huge scaredy cat and irked by the stuffy, smothering control scheme of the originals, there’s no nostalgia weighing me down whenever Capcom reinvents Resident Evil, first with Resident Evil 4, now again with 7.

But where Resident Evil 4 took the fantasy of being a special agent in a world full of monsters further than ever before, Resident Evil 7 drops it completely. In it, I’m a wimp, a nerd with a camera at the whims of this family of maniacs, trapped on their grounds by a drive to find my wife, who is changing into… something. Capcom smothers me with a pervasive sense of helplessness playing RE7, forcing me into a desperate scramble to escape the unstoppable Daddy (side note: “The Unstoppable Daddy” was my nickname in college). Filling me with absolute dread when the disgusting creature Marguerite becomes clambers through holes and onto walls. And forcing me to freeze up and take a deep breath at the sinking realization that my next goal is all the way across the grounds.with god knows what between me and it. Even the change to a first-person view means your helpless doesn’t stop at your ability to fight - you don’t even know what’s around you. Resident Evil 7 left me terrified and anxious throughout, which is saying something since played it on Easy.

9. Gorogoa

It’s now an annual event that, despite a perception that Adventure Games are dead, someone releases a labor of love whose beauty and finesse showcase the best the genre has to offer. Gorogoa asks you to interact in the simplest terms - zoom in and out, or drag and drop. What makes Gorogoa special is that when I do those things, it feels like I’ve changed fundamental ways that I think. My perspective on the world has shifted about ten degrees to the left and all the rules are new. That combined with hand-drawn visuals, stark sound design and desolate narrative made Gorogoa a brief yet crucial experience for anyone looking to see games as more than loot-box dispensers.

8. Star Wars: Force Arena

Oops, speaking of Loot Boxes. Well, card packs? Is there a difference? Where have we come down on this? The conversation around gaming in 2017 has been dominated by a debate about the ethics of selling random pulls at cards, skins, characters, horses, buggies, whatever, and I’m going to level with all of you - my perspective is skewed. I make mobile free-to-play games, which use this mechanic, and I’ve been playing collectible card games since the Revised core set for Magic: The Gathering came out in 1994. So one way to look at my opinion is that I don’t have a problem with this way of selling people games, and a much less charitable one is that I’m fully indoctrinated. Either way, being able to get emotionally side-step this entire debate has lent me the clarity of mind to tell you all that Star Wars: Force Arena is good as hell.

Force Arena is the real-time, head-to-head gameplay of Clash Royale, but with direct control of a Hero, MOBA-style, then Star Wars’ed all the way up. Every system is implemented in a smartly and cleanly, facilitating my ability to get into the game and getting out of my so I can let people know my Han Solo deck is not to be flexed with. The whole thing is catnip for Ol’ Maloney over here, and I am straight rolling.

7. Star Wars: Imperial Assault - Legends of the Alliance

Is spaghetti a sandwich? Is Chewbacca a dog? Is Matt Kessler a mongoose? Is Legends of the Alliance, an app for Star Wars: Imperial Assault, a video game with physical components or a board game with a digital accessory? The line between board games and video games is get blurrier, as outstanding digital components have begun to take the place of cumbersome bookkeeping, or allow designers to add elements that would be impossible to achieve otherwise. Or, in the case of Legends of the Alliance, replacing the Imperial Player entirely.

Traditionally played as a team of rebels against a monolithic Imperial player, Legends of the Alliance turns Imperial Assault into a fully cooperative experience, running the campaign as a virtual dungeon master, setting up your next level and directing Imperial enemies to attack your heroes. But more than simply emulating a now missing player, Legends of the Alliance takes this chance to add something to the experience.

Without the app you bounce from one XCOM-esque tactical mission to the next, but now… now you go on non-combat missions. You make friends in the world. You feel a real sense of betrayal when you learn not all the Rebels are working for the greater good, and you deal with the emotional aftermath with other characters when the Empire manages to grind you under their heel. These things weren’t in the box of plastic and cards I bought years back - they were exclusively part of Legends of the Alliance, and creating new memories and experience while justifying asking you to bring your laptop to your tabletop.

6. Horizon Zero Dawn

There’s a vital sincerity to Horizon Zero Dawn. After borrowing mechanics liberally from Far Cry/Assassin’s Creed, adding giant robot dinosaurs, and then putting the voice actress behind Borderlands 2’s (in my opinion, brutally irritating) Tiny Tina front and center, it would have been so easy for Guerrilla Games to smarmy one-liner their way through this post-post-apocalypse adventure. Instead they cast that all aside to carefully bring you into a world without even a hint of irony.

At the center of the game is Ashly Burch’s Aloy, full of wounded confidence and strength tinged with kindness, a performance so natural yet thoughtful that Aloy stands above any other character in games this year. That sincerity doesn’t make Horizon a serious or grim affair - there’s jokes, and boy howdy is there a lot of flirting - but it serves to draw the player into the world, rather than establish a safe ironic distance from which both the player and the game can remain “cool.” Every choice shows that Guerrilla Games truly wants me to care about Aloy and the world of Horizon. It turns out I do.

5. HQ

For me, 2017 was a year of shared gaming experiences. I’ll get to the other two big ones below, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t include this nightmare of a Black Mirror episode, this scheduled dose of Quiz Daddy Scott Rogowski, this twice daily car crash with a cash payout, HQ.

For months at 3 PM, I’d jump into Discord with my friends and join in the collective hypnosis of a new game of HQ. We were beyond captivated. We had a million questions - who is Scott? Why does he vamp with the intensity of someone hosting at gunpoint? Where is he broadcasting this from? And when he’s not there, where the hell is Scott? Who is this rando who claims to be ‘Scott’s Boy’? How does the player count keep growing, and how does this thing make money? It was a mystery wrapped in tech startup poppiness and a screaming man in a suit, and we wanted to know everything about it.

Like any mystery, as we’ve learned more about Scott and HQ, our interest has waned and my friends have fallen off the Trivia Train. But for months, once a day we’d simultaneously drop everything and delve into it. Something nothing else in games or television has gotten us to do for years. Also, uh...

…

I’m playing a game called HQ Trivia. You should play too. Use my code “caseymalone” to sign up.

4. Super Mario Odyssey

In late October 2017, was there anything I needed more than some unabashed joy? A full-on celebration of bright colors, silly characters and bizarre hats? Super Mario Odyssey would be an incredible game at any time in history, but the timing of its release felt like more than just a game; it felt like a balm. A warm weighted blanket sewn from my old t-shirts, taking nostalgia and making it into something new, something calling me to come back and crawl under it all day, every day. A game that rewarded me for just being in the world, asking me to challenge myself at your own pace, issuing pats on the head and individually wrapped chocolates as a reward for just wandering around and doing my thing. 2017 was a year where Nintendo was dedicated to challenging what people expect from them with their hardware, their mobile ports, and another of their major franchises. When it came to Mario, though, Nintendo clearly just wanted to make people happy. And I’m so, so grateful for that.

3. Destiny 2 & 2. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

Destiny and Battlegrounds seem like pretty starkly different experiences, but what I got out of them in 2017 was the same - time with some of my best friends. Friends who live in Los Angeles, New York, New Jersey, England, San Francisco; people I never get to see, people I don’t even get to talk to that often. But those friendships got actually stronger this year through these games.

That wouldn’t be possible if the underlying games weren’t outstanding - Destiny 2’s shooting feels incredible, and its endless list of chores made sure there was always a mission for me to suck friends into, or a goal for me to help them out with. There aren’t (currently) many Strikes for us to go on, but honestly that helped - when you know all the beats, a zen-like state takes over and you can enjoy the lock-on and kickback of hand cannons without worry. All the while catching up, making goofs, or ranting about the state of the world without the game getting in the way.

Destiny 2’s not perfect - a lot of the changes made from Destiny to Destiny 2 to make it smoother and more welcoming turned solo play into a dull shade of its predecessor. But as a part of a Strike Team, Destiny 2 hums with efficiency, getting out of my way and letting me and my friends have fun.

And it would be second to none this year if wasn’t for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

Battlegrounds is insane, it’s a fun-time mess-around machine paired with an intensely hardcore military shooter, a game that’s thirty minutes of a goofy chatroom capped off with two minutes of a game-ending firefight. Except for when that fire-fight lasts for twenty minutes and it’s the most intense experience of my life. I’ve had as much fun losing PUBG as I’ve had winning (the few times I’ve managed to snag a chicken dinner), and I’ve had even more fun when I die and get to stay in voice-chat to cheer on the rest of my squad, spectating through to the end.

While I don’t get much out of watching strangers stream on Twitch, I’ve been lucky that enough of my friends stream this game, for a while on an almost daily basis, that I had just as much fun watching them as actually playing it. I laughed so hard when friends would get motorcycles trapped in a tree, cheered when they’d have from-behind victories, and feel heartbreak when the squad’s last hope would get shotgunned from behind after escaping tough spot after tough spot. Somehow all these feelings were just as strong as when I was behind the controls myself. There’s magic in this game, which boggles the mind, because with its bugs and frankly generic style, it could not possibly look less magical.

I cannot fucking believe I’m typing this but it turns out the real game of the year was the friends I made along the way.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Just kidding, game of the year is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

I always have less to say when I get to the top item on my list because what could I possibly say about Breath of the Wild that hasn’t been covered already? Nintendo stripped so much out of the Zelda series that honestly when I started playing it, I felt uncomfortable and exposed - what do you mean my weapons break? Wait, I don’t have to buy bombs, I just HAVE them? When are the DUNGEONS going to show up, what are these shines? I don’t like this at all. But as I bristled against those, I was slowly filling with wonder. Every canyon I walked out of, every corner I turned, every hole I climbed out of revealed a field with towns and caverns, or small forests full of unknown treasures and monsters.

Lots of games do open worlds, but where Skyrim feels like I could get lost in it, the Hyrule of Breath of the Wild feels like I am conquering it. In Skyrim I feel like I’m exploring the map - in Breath of the Wild, I’m making it.

I remember so clearly, late at night, climbing to the top of a bridge that crosses Lake Hylia. I don’t know why I was there, or what I thought might be at the top of the tower, but Nintendo put it there, so maybe. Maybe there was something. I climbed to the top and there wasn’t anything for me to take, but as I looked over towards the horizon, Hyrule stretched on forever. I felt overwhelmed with the possibility of disappointment - that I would feel the need to climb it all, that there wouldn’t be a thing for me at the top of most of those towers, under those rocks. And as I thought about that the music changed. From the water of the lake emerged Farosh, the lightning dragon, soaring, completely oblivious to me. He was beautiful, powerful, made me forget about any of my goals or collectibles and forced me to take in his majesty. Forced me to realize there were no rupees or arrows up there because this moment was my reward. And that there would be moments like this all throughout Hyrule. I just needed to go looking for them.

Near Misses: Injustice 2, Everybody’s Golf, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

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