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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 4 years

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From Eden: Two

Warnings: noncon sexual acts, mentions of mental illness; tags to be added throughout series

This is dark!Bucky. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: The mc suffers from agoraphobia. After a new neighbour moves in across the street, her home becomes even more of a prison.

Note: Yo, so here’s part 2! I hope you all enjoy. As before, there is a transcript at the end for anyone having issues with the images.

Thank you so much for your patience! And support!!

As always, if you are so inclined, please like, reblog, and comment. <3

Transcript:

Sunday

I called Dr. Tisha this morning. I told her about the neighbour. She said it was nice of him to help with the garden but ignored me when I mentioned the broken gate. I don’t know if she believed me. It didn’t seem like it.

She’s coming by tomorrow to check on my progress. That means I can’t keep those magazines on the dining table anymore. The last time she made me throw half of them out. She didn’t listen when I told her some were so old they were priceless. Sometimes it feels like she doesn’t listen to me at all. Well, what do I pay her to do then?

I haven’t been back outside. I should water the garden as it’s only getting hotter but I don’t appreciate the unwanted audience. An intruder!

Later

I still haven’t found the courage to venture out. I made sure the bike lock was still in place from the front door. It is. Though, if that man’s metal hand could break the old lock, it will likely shred the chain lock.

Thinking about it makes my heart race. I should go lay down. I’m dizzy and the humidity is making me sick to my stomach. Or maybe it’s something else.

Monday

Dr. Tisha came by early today.

I showed Dr. Tisha where I kept my medicine in the bathroom cabinet, the pills divided into the days. I check off each day on the calendar so I don’t forget either. She said that was good. The last time she was here, it was because I’d stopped taking the pills so I hope this made her happy.

Then she walked through the house, she said she was happy to see the top of the table this time. I laughed but it wasn’t really funny. Then she went to the kitchen and checked all the drawers.

She found some books hidden under the sink and asked if I’d ever read them. I mean to but haven’t yet. She took them to the guest room where she found the bins of books stacked in the corner. Better than last time when they were a pile on the carpet.

She said I have too many things. Too many things that aren’t mine. She says it’s okay to be sad about grandma but that holding onto all her stuff won’t bring her back. Like I don’t know that! I do know! But she left me these things so yes, they are mine.

Then we went to grandma’s old room. It’s the same as it was. As it’s always been. Dr. Tisha frowned and went to my room next.

She asked me about the broken bed frame. I told her it was nothing. I made sure to replace the duvet I’d dragged out the couch to sleep without threat of rolling onto the floor in my sleep. Not that I sleep very much.

She opened my closet and found the magazines. That didn’t impress her either.

We had tea in the kitchen and talked. She asked me how I was feeling. About side effects and all that. Besides the occasional bout of nausea and vivid dreams, I’m fine. She agrees.

Then she asked about the tall shelf of vinyls in the living room. Which one is my favourite? I told her the old Vera Lynn record reminded me of grandma and it was still on the needle.

Then we argued. She wants me to get rid of the ones I don’t listen to. And the magazines in my closet! And she wants me to go through all the books, too.

She also suggested that I think about redecorating. I told her I didn’t want to do any of that. I like the house the way it is. Who is it hurting if I have a few extra books laying around?

She calmed me down after I raised my voice. She made me count my breaths and explained that I don’t have to get rid of everything, just a little. She says it would help with my progress. And, she said, I could probably make a healthy profit off a yard sale.

Well, I don’t care about the money, I don’t want to have a sale. I don’t want to deal with people and them thumbing through grandma’s thing for pennies.

Dr. Tisha said she’ll make some signs and we’ll have the sale on Saturday. My task for the week is to decide what to sell and prices. We argued again but not very long.

When she left, I started crying. Everywhere I look, I see grandma and this place is empty enough without her.

Tuesday

Lorena showed up today.

I gave her my list, it wasn’t very long. She asked about the bike lock and I asked if she could stop by the hardware store and get a new mechanism. She asked me if I even knew how to fix it. I said I’d figure it out.

I told her about Dr. Tisha’s idea for the yard sale. She said it was a great idea. I still don’t agree but she offered to help me sort through the guest room. I shrugged and asked her how long she’d be at the store. She said the usual and left.

I waited by the door. I watched the front gate for her return. She had the combination to the bike lock now and could let herself in. I just wanted her to come back and drop everything off so I could be alone.

When she did return, she wasn’t alone. I saw her at the gate, fumbling with the lock. As the gate shifted open, a metal arm reached past her to push it all the way. The man held a paper bag in his other arm as Lorena carried the other.

He was smiling as he spoke to her and let her pass. He followed her to the door and he saw me before I could back away from the slated window in the door.

“Open up,” Lorena called as she tapped the door.

I didn’t know what else to do but open the door. When I did she handed me her bag and reached for the one the man held.

“Sorry, but… I can’t let you inside.” She said glumly. “But thanks for the help.”

“No problem.” He glanced past her and I tried to hide behind her but he’s taller than her. He’s very big up close. “You have a great day. Both of you.”

“You, too.” Lorena said and he strode away.

When the gate clattered closed I waited until I was sure he was gone. I dropped my bag and rushed to check the lock. He’d secured it. Good.

I went back to the house and locked the door too. Lorena already had both bags on the table.

“He didn’t mean any harm,” She said as she unpacked the groceries. “He was just helping me so I figured--”

“You shouldn’t have let him in.” I told her.

“He was only in the yard. He didn’t come into the house.”

“I could have helped you.” I said.

“When’s the last time you went past the gate?” She asked as she pulled out a small plastic bag and slid it across to me. It was the new lock. “That should fit, if you can figure it out.”

“That’s not the point, Lor,” You slapped the table. “You let him into my space. A stranger!”

“He’s your neighbour. I’ve talked to Dr. Tisha and you know you’re supposed to be working on your socialising. This yard sale will be a good first step.”

“This yard sale is bull shit,” I was so angry I could have yelled. “I like being alone. I like it here. This is my home and these are my things!”

“Calm down.” She set down the carton of milk and neared me. “Look, I’m sorry. You’re right. I should’ve asked before I let him past the gate.”

I felt so tired. Suddenly weak, like the air had been let out of me. I felt bad for being so mad with her after she went all the way to town for me.

“I’m sorry I got upset.”

She forgave me and I forgave her. She convinced me to fill one bin for the sale before the end of the day. She left shortly after. Her and Shelby are going to see a movie. I’m watching one too. An old black and white movie Grandma had on her shelf of cassettes. It’s interesting but the edges are fuzzy and the audio is muffled.

Oh, well, I’m tired. And I’ll be sleeping on the couch anyway.

Wednesday

I tried to fix the lock today. I haven’t been outside that long since last week. The garden needs to be watered.

I took out grandma’s old toolbox, the tools half-rusted but intact. I got what was left of the old lock off easily but the new one was more of a task to get in. I had to open the gate to get it in. The holes for the screw were off-kilter but I couldn’t turn the lock enough to get them to line up.

Then he showed up. That man. Bucky. The lock slipped out as he scared me and my screw driver hit my shoe. My toe still hurts.

“You need some help?” He asked.

I shook my head and tried to close the gate on him but he was already picking up the mechanism and screwdriver.

“I can do it.” I sound like a dying mouse. I reached for the lock but he didn’t even seem to notice. “Hold the door steady and I’ll just--”

“I can do it myself,” I said louder but he still didn’t seem to hear me. Or chose not to.

He reached around the gate and pulled it closer to him. I grabbed the bars and he slid the lock into place. His metal fingers shifted it and aligned the holes.

“Do you have the screws?” He asked.

I found the box on the bunch of rocks just beside the gate. I handed him each long screw and he easily twisted them into place.

“There ya go,” He gave the screwdriver back and smiled.

I closed the gate, as good as pushing him out of the yard. He let me but looked confused. I took the key from the box and slid it in the slot. I turned it and the click slowed my racing heart.

“I still don’t know your name,” He said.

I didn’t tell him and left him there. You think he’d get the clue.

Thursday

It’s not even 5am. I woke up in a sweat. The fan is dead and the house has grown stolid, even as the night air slips through the open window.

I thought I’d closed it more but it is wide open and the power is out. There is an eerie silence as the buzz of the fridge is entirely gone and the house is pitch black.

I swear I saw something move in the window. Maybe a bird?

I tried to get back to sleep but it’s too hot. I guess I’ll just sit and wait for the sun to rise. It’s already starting to.

I want to go out in the garden today. I just hope that man doesn’t bother me again. I hope the lock is still in place.

Friday

Well, yesterday was fine. The power came back on at noon as I watered the garden and trimmed some overgrown plants. The freesias had grown despite my neglect.

Today was just as boring. I read at the patio table for a while but then the phone started ringing. Dr. Tisha was checking in. She said she put the signs up yesterday and hoped the turn out would be good. She asked me how much I got done. I lied and said a lot.

Now I’m going to go sort through the guest room and toss a few records on top to get her off my back. I guess I’ll just have to hide under the table tomorrow.

Saturday

Everytime I think I’m doing better, it all goes so bad!

Dr. Tisha and Lorena arrived early to set up the yard sale. They unfolded a table just inside the gate, leaving it wide open, and helped me arrange everything on top of it. I was nervous and tired. I didn’t sleep very much.

I waited nervously and the first customer showed up. Gladys, an old friend of Grandma’s. She bought an old pin cushion and the Miles Davis record. I should have kept that.

I watched mostly as Dr. Tisha and Lorena took the money and helped people, both familiar and not.

Dr. Tisha made me introduce myself to them at least. I hated it but they were mostly friendly. A woman with two children, I think she said her name was Essie? She said she liked my shirt. That was nice.

But then he showed up! I ignored him at first as he played with the ornamental cowbell. He took that and a few records from the table. He didn’t even seem to notice Dr. Tisha or Lorena as he came to me.

I kept my head down as I lined up the thimbles beside the painted sewing box.

“How much for the records?” He asked.

I didn’t say anything and went to the other end of the table. He followed and I turned back and went back to the other end again. He followed me. Again.

“Now,” Tisha stopped me. “What are you doing? He asked you a question.”

I looked up and blinked dumbly. “What? I didn’t-- I was--”

“Bucky,” Lorena greeted him as she neared. “Tisha, this is the neighbour who helped with the groceries the other day.”

“Oh, hello,” She held out her hand as she blocked me from getting away. “I’m Tisha.”

She introduced me then and told me like a child to say hello. I did, quietly.

“Are you… the one who gave her the flowers?” Tisha asked.

“I did.” He smiled. “But I guess she already has enough.”

“She’s shy,” Tisha lowered her voice. “She’s working on it. Now,” she turned to me, “how much do you want for the records… and bell?”

I didn’t know what to say. The man watched me and I felt as if I would melt.

“Come on.” Tisha poked me. “We talked about this, right? This is your sale.”

“Ten dollars each,” I doubled the price. “And twenty for the bell.”

“That’s a bit pricey,” Lorena said. I shrugged.

“Sounds fair to me,” The man took out his wallet as he leaned the record on the table beneath the bell and used his leg to keep it from falling. “I’ve never listened to these bands before and I’m trying to expand my library.”

He held out the money. Tisha had to elbow me to get me to take it. I snatched it from him and counted it. Another elbow as Lorena kept me from turning away.

“Thank you,” I said to him.

“I hope you enjoy the records,” Tisha offered gently before she pulled me aside.

She took me closer to the house as Lorena watched the table. She lowered her voice. “What’s going on?” She asked.

“Nothing.” I lied.

“Nothing? Why were you so rude to him?”

“I don’t like him.”

“You don’t know him.” She insisted.

“I don’t want to.”

“Look, I know you’re uneasy around men, but he was nice. And he’s your neighbour. You’ll be seeing a lot of him so I think you should at least try to be friendly. And remember what I said about friends?”

“My only friend is dead.”

I was so upset I ran inside. And now I’m locked in my room, waiting for them all to just go away.

#bucky barnes #dark bucky barnes #dark!bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #dark bucky barnes x reader #dark!bucky barnes x reader #fic #dark fic #dark!fic #series #from eden #agoraphobia #mcu #marvel

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cjstalkingstarwarsagain · 3 years

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hi! i’ve recently decided to rewatch all the star wars movies and take notes on them and then,,, share them with you. so if you’re even mildly interested in my star wars opinions, here you go :)

i’ll divide it into a couple categories so,,,

well start with rogue one!!

shit that made me giggle

"oh look, here’s lyra back from the dead. it’s a miracle."

everything K2 says and does. i love him and he’s perfect.

i love the continuous attempts by K2 to appear imperial and how he fails every time. not a single storm trooper or officer ever believes him when he starts running his mouth.

so sorry but bohdi getting his cable caught and trying to shake it loose is such an adorably human moment. makes me giggle every time.

i honestly thought this section would be longer, this movie made me laugh a bunch.

stuff i don’t like or doesn’t make sense

why does jyn start believing in the rebellion? there’s no indication that she cared before they found her. there’s no real turning point that we can see. she just,,, suddenly is really into this shit. which is strange because the only reason she ever joined was because she was given a non-choice (either help or get put back in prison). i guess i can kinda see how her father dying could have changed her, but we see none of that on the ship after his death. we just get to the rebel council and all of a sudden she’s the poster girl for rebellion.

saw seems really stable at the beginning of the film, so why did he go seemingly crazy and paranoid? it’s probably explained in the novelization but that’s no excuse to just have a character go crazy with really no explanation or backstory.

that being said, a lot of the character development is pretty lacking. i don’t think i’d care about these characters nearly as much if i wasn’t already a star wars fan.

video game cut scene style general tarkin

bor gullet is supposed to make you lose your mind but bohdi was pretty much fine after like,,, a day

how does the death star,,,, move?? like i know it can but has that ever been explained? is it like little thrusters? like the ones you can see in real life to stabilize things in space? there’s nothing i can visually see. i’m not mad about it i just wanna know.

why does saw insist on staying behind? why doesn’t he come and help?? it would have been so easy to just leave but he insists on staying behind and just watching as death inches closer. i think it doesn’t make sense because we know *so little* about his character. give me more on him, make me understand.

since james earl jones is getting older, vader sounds older. was there??? nothing the audio or editing department could have done about that??? not super mad about this one just because darth vader is really cool and i’ll never really complain too much about darth vader screen time.

when the fuck did jyn become a motivational speaker??

my one gripe about pretty much every star wars movie is the sheer number of times people climb through huge shafts and jump around and shit and they’re always *fine*. no way they wouldn’t fall to their deaths in any normal situations.

can someone?? check the science of the hammerhead corvette?? because there’s no gravity or weight in space right?? theoretically all you gotta do is give that star destroyer a bump and it’s spinning out, right?? i know absolutely nothing about space physics but i gotta be right. maybe i’m wrong. i dunno. i’m dumb as rocks. hear that baby girl?? it’s the spare change rattling around in my skull. i got pennies where my brain is.

absolutely no fucking shot cassian survived a blaster hit AND that fall AND climbed out. my belief simply cannot be suspended that much.

DUDE I FORGOT THAT THE DEATH STAR CAN TRAVEL THROUGH HYPERSPACE HOW DOES WORK SOMEONE TELL ME!!!!!

why doesn’t vader just,,, force grab the plans. i know he sees them. why not just force stop the guy running away with them??

final note now that the movie is over. yes, it’s got a lot of issues. the plot is ehhh at times. the trailers don’t match up with the movie shots AT ALL (i wanna know what happened behind the scenes with that). the character development is lacking in many major ways (that has not stopped me from loving these characters though, but that’s the autism talking). but like i’ll say in the "stuff i liked" section, this is such a damn cool movie. i was once talking about it with an older friend of mine and he said seeing rogue one in theaters felt like watching the original trilogy in theaters back in the 70s and 80s and honestly that’s such a compliment. i love this movie, i really do.

just cool shit,,, you know the vibe

DEATH TROOPERS

krennic is probably one of my favorite imperial officers. for some reason he just really sells it for me, the evil and manipulation that borderlines in try hard. and (i mention it more later because you see it more in the "choke on your aspirations" scene) beyond that just the fact that he’s?? a guy. just a dude. at any given moment he could be described as just hanging out. but he’s trying so hard (for whatever reason, we don’t know his evil motivations) to be this big bad evil dude. and it’s just interesting to see someone *trying* to be imperial and *trying* to be evil, as opposed to a tarkin-type character who’s just naturally an asshole.

i love the rogue one main theme. don’t even talk to me. it’s so cool.

it’s cool to see more about the birth of the death star, seeing other people learn about it. sort of realizing the fear and terror that everyone must have been experiencing. especially after being a star wars fan for so long and being like, yeah it’s the death star it’s just a staple of this universe. it reminds me that "oh god this was a planet killer and this was the first time something like that had ever even been heard of".

there’s gorgeous visuals in this movie.

i like the "i’m wanted in 12 systems" guy cameo (did you know his name is cornelius? i googled it)

when the storm trooper asks for papers?? like fuck yeah show me what life is like under imperial rule. give me that shit.

chirrut is so badass i’ll never get over it

"i’m one with the force and the force is with me" i’m eating that shit UP! salivating over the meal in front of me. i really want more exploration of the guardians and jedi worship in general. like gimme that weird funky space religion.

seeing an at-st just walk around a town. i dunno i like that shit.

K2 saying sorry for hitting cassian. i’m so soft on this robot.

"clear of hostiles,,,, ONE HOSTILE"

jyn stepping in front of K2 to protect him after she (not ten minutes ago) made the comment “i’m just afraid they’ll miss you and hit me”. jyn,,, your soft side is showing,,,,

i like the cool machine blaster that baze has. it’s awesome seeing different blaster styles when originally the only variation we really saw was chewie’s cross bow style blaster.

i really wanna see more of baze and cirruit. i wanna know what happened that made baze stop believing. i wanna know how they met. i wanna see them evolve and grow together.

i like that jyn argues that 16 is too young to be a solider (she’s 21 in the movie). i like that she’s mad that she’s young and has been put in a position to protect herself and then later save the galaxy. (for context: luke and leia were 19 in a new hope. anakin is 19 in attack of the clones, ~22 when he became darth vader, and rey is 19 in force awakens. stop putting the fate of the galaxy in the hands of people who are *barely* adults)

the testing of the death star is awesome. love seeing wicked cool space weapons. when it blocks out the sun? ominous as hell fuck yeah.

it’s interesting that baze says cassian doesn’t look like a killer, that "he has the face of a friend", when one of the first things we saw him do was kill a man. i think about that a lot. does that say more about baze’s ability to read people or does it say more about who cassian is deep down, beyond what he’s done to serve the rebellion?

cassian’s relationship with death and killing is very interesting. you could argue that cassian is just as brainwashed and deep in the rebellion as anyone imperial. i really hope it’s something that gets explored in his stand alone show. he mentions he’s lost everything and has been a rebel since he was 6. gimme cassian andor backstory.

"careful not to choke on your aspirations director" is probably some of the most dramatic-anakin-skywalker shit i’ve ever seen vader do

i like seeing rebel infighting. so often it seems there’s always general consensus about what the rebellion wants, but it’s good to see that they don’t always agree on how to rebel.

i love the consistent "found family" rebel alliance shit in these movies. it makes my dick so hard.

ARTOO AND THREEPIO CAMEO FUCK ME UP THOSE ARE MY BOYS

okay i totally get that the empire is evil, i really do, but rogue one (and lots of moments in the sequels) really reminds me how fucking cool some of their shit is. like death troopers? imperial droids like K2? the base on scarif? vader’s castle on mustafar and his bacta tank?? fuck me UP.

i loved hearing the troopers doing their dumb small talk about the T-15s on the beach.

i think ben mendelssohn is perfect for the role of krennic, no notes there. he’s just like?? a guy and he’s doing everything he can to fit into this evil role and he just wants to be like this big bad imperial boy on campus. i don’t know. i don’t have the words right now to express how fuckin awesome he is. i’ll write an essay about it later.

THE AT-AT COMING OUT OF THE MIST?? CHRIST ON A BIKE. LAY ME TO REST. LOVE IT.

fucking love me some female fighter pilots. the women of star wars are so badass. doing justice to my return of the jedi ladies.

i think a whole lot about jyn giving K2 a blaster. the way he takes it and looks at it and holds it so gently. i think that’s the first time a human has trusted him with a blaster since his reprogramming. he seems so appreciative of that trust.

i love seeing the faces of baze and the other rebels when a few of the x-wings show up and take down an at-at. i’m so very soft for the relationship between these rebels. not to be cliche, but the *hope* that they have. it’s so moving. this movie is just so full of that quintessential rebel feeling.

hey so i’m super emotional about the death of K2 okay? because in the novelizations you learn that in the last second k2 had before a full shut down, he ran a simulation where cassian lived and even though he knew it was impossible, it made him happy. FURTHERMORE K2 is very well known and his name is often listed along side jyn’s in terms of talking about the history of the rebellion.

chirrut and baze’s deaths are so important to me. we know they’re best friends, and even though we don’t know how long they’ve been together, they love each other so deeply. chirrut being the path for baze to return to the force? touching. i so wish these dumb force husbands could have had more screen time. baze calling chirrut back?? chirrut telling him to find him in the force?? baze looking to see the man he loves one more time before he dies??reminds me of the silken quote about dying in your best friends arms because it’s all you know. anywho,,, if star wars canon has any mercy then these two lovers are force ghosts together rn. don’t care how you feel or whether you "ship" them or not. love comes in so many forms and they encompass all that love.

terribly sorry but i think about those two star destroyers colliding with the rogue one main theme playing over it every day. it’s,,,,, so,,,, ( ´∀｀)

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again BEN MENDELSSOHN??? UH YEAH

krennic watching his weapon (his beautiful, successful weapon) power up and kill him,,, the poetic justice of it all,,,,

any time anyone says "may the force be with you" i dunno maybe it’s my religious trauma but i’m head over heels for that good shit

the star destroyer coming out of hyper space as the rebels are escaping and some of the ships hit the destroyer?? one of my favorite things in the new star wars movies is directors and writers saying "oh this can totally happen" and they DO IT

jyn mentioning earlier in the film that she isn’t used to people sticking around when shit hits the fan and then dying in the arms of cassian?? because he stayed?? and for the first time she has someone??

in that same vein: cassian also says earlier in the film that he lost everything too. his connection with jyn is also important to him, just as important as it is to jyn. they need each other. i can’t remember who on this hellsite said it, but someone mentioned that they hope the stand alone cassian stuff coming out doesn’t make him this swindling playboy who fucks around a bunch. i think having him as more of like?? a mandolorian type character would be really cool. like he’s a rebel assassin: make him one. make him independent and badass and cool and DONT give him a bunch of romantic or sexual interests because then that downplays the clear love he had developing for jyn. again LOVE COMES IN FORMS BEYOND BASIC SHIPS. and there’s a lot of love in star wars.

i’ve said it a million times but vader is so cool and over and over again this movie reminded me that he’s actually so scary. i saw star wars for the first time when i was 6 and i can’t remember my initial reaction to him, but i’ve definitely (like with the death star) been desensitized to the fact that if i was in star wars, darth vader would scare the shit out of me. he’s *scary* and that’s cool. i liked seeing vader effortlessly go fucking mad on these rebels. then you understand why they were so scared in that first scene of a new hope.

no i absolutely will not get over the vader scene. i won’t. his saber turning on. his force abilities. his effortless lightsaber work. the choral music over the scene with the hectic orchestra. don’t touch me i’m emotional.

i loved seeing leia. it touches me so deeply every time.

fuck i love this movie despite all its faults.

if you’ve made it this far, thank you!! i hope you enjoyed. please remember that this is totally a safe space for all star wars opinions and you can feel free to disagree with me! i’d love to hear what some of you thought :))

#star wars #rogue one #baze #jyn erso #chirrut imwe #cassian andor #baze malbus #bohdi rook #k2so #star wars opinions #star wars critique #star wars review

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aizawaskittenwhore · 3 years

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𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭

words:3.7k

pairing: aizawa x fem!reader

warnings: tw mention of blood, tw mentions of death, mentions of drugs in case you forgot this is a cartel au, murder, swearing, keigo being a cocky lil fucker, sexual harassment towards the end cause yakuza men suck

rating: 18+ cause shit gets real this chapter

a/n: i FINALLY FINISHED IT FUCK YES chapter two mothafuckas!!! i’ve been having so much fun brainstorming everything to come, and here you’re gonna really get a feel for how big this cartel is. player two, f/n l/n, you’re up! <3

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨: 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 ↳ 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞

September 13th, 2181

2:56pm

Musutafu, Japan

“Hold the fuck up. This doesn’t make any sense, I mean—these are Pros. Well known and well respected Pros, at that. The hell would they be tryna’ run a fucking cartel for?!?” Ken Takagi (more commonly known as Rock Lock) rubbed the bridge of his nose in confusion, not understanding the motive or correlation. “I mean think about it. These motherfuckers got more money than they know what to do with. Endeavor is a shareholder in goddamn Nintendo, Hawks owns his own fucking agency and line of sports cars, and I could’ve sworn I saw Eraser getting Shinsou fitted for a fucking Cuban on his birthday a few months ago. It’s not like they’re strapped for cash these days.” Ken huffed, the agent’s arms crossed as he leaned back in the conference chair.

In an attempt to try and broaden the range on your current investigation, your department recruited the help of several Pros to provide reinforcements in Japan, the States, and wherever else sales were being made. Going undercover was already plenty dangerous, and going alone was the equivalent of signing your own death warrant. Enlisting the help of Rock Lock, Ryukyu, Miruko, Fatgum, Edgeshot and plenty of others was relatively easy; these were Heroes that had experience with smugglers and narcotics-based operations, so when you’d approached them with the task at hand, they’d happily agreed.

However, some needed more convincing than others.

“Takagi. Think about it. Sure, they may not be living paycheck to paycheck, but look at the timeline.” You state, looking over your shoulder towards the holographic board displaying an interactive timeline of the investigation, including photos, invoices and even audio recordings pulled from surveillance cameras. “Two years ago, we seized a truck containing approximately 78 kilograms of crack cocaine. When we questioned the driver on where he was taking it and where he got it from, he didn’t budge. Luckily for us, the dumbass wasn’t smart enough to avoid a paper trail, leaving the insurance documents in the glove compartment when we’d taken him into custody. The insurance company was under the name “Target Lance”, but after doing some digging on the name we found out the corporation went bankrupt six months before and was eventually bought out by Chevrolet.” Pausing to return to the screen welded to the wall behind you, your hands swiped as you searched for the file reading December 5th, 2178: A live video feed of a towering skyscraper being built, the building’s name reading “Chevrolet Corvette Inc.” as it hovered above tens of stories above each worker.

“But you all haven’t heard the name Chevy in a while right? That’s because two weeks after that building was built, the hundred-million dollar company was bought out by Takami Corporate-”

“-who owns Takami Motors. Which is the brand associated with the Peregrine Speedsters, Hawks’ damned sports car line.” Ken finished for you, brown spheres twinkling in sudden clarity. “Now you’re speaking my language.” You nod, hands waving as you continue to brief the room of Pros.

“The Todoroki and Nintendo console collaboration didn’t happen until about earlier this year, March to be specific. Which is quite convenient..since around that time the price of cocaine per gram stabilized in both America and Japan, rising from $112 to $138 bucks a pop. I’m nobody to speak on looks either, but for as long as we’ve known of him, Eraser has dressed like a depressed college student with insomnia that doesn’t understand the concept of soap or a pair of clippers. Now he’s got his wife in Cartier bracelets and getting his shirts tailored because the collar “doesn’t allow him enough room for his capture weapon”?!? Bullshit.” You huff, stifling a smile as you watch Miruko and Edgeshot snicker in their seats at your...blunt observation.

“It makes sense. Three years ago all our agencies, including those overseas, started cutting our checks down by half. They can barely afford to pay us a quarter of what we used to make, and these guys are making these lavish purchases while we all starve?? No way. Something’s fishy, and it’s damn sure not this takoyaki.” Fatgum spat, hands quivering with rage as he struggled to grasp the food with his chopsticks.

“Fatgum’s right. Hero unemployment is at a staggering 8.7 percent. Meanwhile, these men are spending money like it’s going out of style. It makes no sense.” Miruko pondered, Ryukyu folding her hands in her lap as she voiced her approval for immediate action. Edgeshot nodded in agreement, brows furrowed in frustration at this blatant disregard for the law. “So we’re all in agreement that our own people have resorted to breaking the law. Cool, got it. Question is, why? And what the hell are we gonna do about it?” Ken demanded, his patience having worn thin from all this speculation.

“Good question. I think they’re trying to take advantage of the tough spot the Hero Commission is in right now, manipulate that vulnerability and use it for their own gain. They’re not invulnerable to the tough times Pros are facing in the workforce. So they’ve gotten together to try and make it work for them, even if it means breaking the law.” You query, hands typing furiously at the virtual screen to pull up the files of each Hero, displaying all the current information on them from their blood type to each known family member. “These three banding together though? Along with other people? There’s no way. They hate each other. Or at the very least couldn’t get anything done even if they did have a common goal in mind.” Edgeshot murmured lowly.

“I thought so too. But then it hit me: it’s not just some flimsy group project. Sure, crime has gone up since the formation of this cartel, but nobody who holds any rank has been murdered or harmed in any way. No no no, these guys are singing in tune for now...which means there’s a damn good choir director among them. So I’ve volunteered to go undercover, work my way through this organization and figure out just how high up this goes.” You assert, shoulders rigid and chin aloft as the harnesses of your costume frame your figure.

“Alone?? Are you outta your goddamn mind? Let me go, you’ll need back up-” Rock Lock sputters, hands fanning out in shock.

“No way. What about your wife, your kid?! This isn’t just some average drug bust, we’re dealing with powerful men in possession of superhuman abilities that have the game on lockdown. You’ve got too much to lose, more than any of us anyway. Edgeshot and I will go, we’ve seen the other side of the law before, and our quirks are better suited for stealth should anything go wrong.” You fire, eyes narrowing into slits. “The rest of you will be working in tandem with the DEA and our resources, and we’ll report back to you with all future developments. We’ll also need you to be ready to fight at a moment’s notice, if we need it.”

A thick silence clogged the air, Ken settling back into his seat across the table. His amber eyes flickered in irritation before huffing in acceptance, the situation being out of his hands. All the conference participants’ gazes fixed in determination, some with anger. The tense aura weighed on everyone present before Miruko cleared her throat, ivory teeth gleaming in a smirk.

“Well we’ve got a solid plan. So all I wanna know is...when do we start?

June 2nd, 2182

In all honesty...you thought the nickname was just a sad attempt to stroke his ego. But seeing the way over seventy commercial-size planes and approximately 30 seaplanes sat aloft balmy concrete in the Guadalajara sun showed you exactly why they called Hawks “Lord of The Skies”. Arrays of laborers with avian-oriented quirks loaded kilo after kilo of coke on to each and every plane, some by hand and others by forklift. Welders were personally hand selected by Keigo himself to eliminate the issue of utilizing every available inch of space; each vessel having been stripped of everything from the seats to the built in mini-bars (much to Keigo’s chagrin). From where you stood in the scalding hot beams, the runway seemed to extend for miles as it brimmed with visible heat-waves.

Dressed in a simple black tank top, black biker type shorts, aluminum plated gauntlets, steel toed combat boots and harnesses that encapsulated the curves of your body before coming to a stop at your thighs, you silently rejoiced in the airflow your gear allowed you in spite of the color. The bandanna atop your hairline helped to absorb some of the sweat, which was a bonus.

“Not bad for a starter fleet huh? The wingspan on these babies almost makes me jealous.” A rich and decadent voice called from your left. Sleek carmine appendages and brassy blond hair entered your peripheral vision, giving way to the man who ran the show: Keigo Takami. Adorned in a pair of low rise denim jeans that were so incomprehensibly tight they accentuated every bit of his dick (which was likely intentional), a plain white tee and ebony cowboy boots that looked like they cost three times what you make in a week; he most definitely looked the part of the People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” and Playboy’s “Player of the Month” titles he’d earned. Luminous olive skin glistened with sweat, droplets sliding down the deep v neck of his shirt with ease; the way the daisy-hued fabric stuck to his crafted abdomen leaving nothing to the imagination. Tourmaline and Argentium piercings dangled effortlessly from both ears, and if you weren’t so hell-bent on putting the motherfucker in jail you would’ve had no problem admitting how attractive he really was.

“Starter fleet? You’re about to put Delta out of business, look at this shit!” You guffaw, arms folded, an eyebrow raised in astonishment at his “humble” admission. “Flattery will get you everywhere, and then some.” Keigo chuckles, breath hot against your ear the instant he bends at the waist, hands settled in his pockets with that cocky aura about him.

“-And having your damn breath against my ear in 107 degree weather will, respectfully, get you my foot up your ass. I didn’t fly down here to get treated like one of your poor interns. I came here to make money, so let’s talk it.” You lash, the climbing tempature slicing your tolerance for bullshit to shreds.

“Shit. Straight to the point huh? I like it. You wanna talk shop, say no more. Over lunch though, I’m starving out here.” Keigo clicks his teeth with a grin, escorting the two of you towards the very jet he’d arrived in. “A little unknown fact about me, usually I hate flying ”conventionally”. Gives me anxiety, and I’m awful company when I’m nervous.”

Settling into the light taupe hued cabin, you observe the not-so-subtle elements of class. Ivory shochu bottles with intricate crystalline glasses to match, the bar fully stocked with gold accents along the upholstery. Plates of costly Kobe style beef rested atop spotless porcelain, romaine lettuce coupled with grilled applewood bacon, chicken, avocado and buttermilk dressing settled into envy-inducing black marble bowls. The plane was spacious, and certainly cost a pretty penny or two. “You’re upfront, so I’ll be honest with you. As of right now, this plane is the last thing I’m worried about-” Hawks mutters lowly, dijon eyelets tapering into thin slivers.

“-It’s the Shie Hassaikai making their encore appearance, and with the Colombians at that.”

You choke on a sip of Vega Sicilia, pupils dilating at the thought.

“Now you spoke about wanting to make some money, right?” You nod, heart rate steadily rising.

“What if I could offer you something more? Something of...extensive value.” Keigo drawled, dark undertone flooding the air like a thick smoke. “Like what, Takami?” You inquire.

“A seat at the table.” He shrugs, like one would if they were discussing something as trivial as ice cream flavors or Friday night plans, not the reorganization of a crime syndicate. “You’ve been workin’ for me shy of a year now right? Somethin’ like that? Anyway..”

He takes a deep, contemplative swig of the chestnut liquid, eyes boring into yours.

“You’re efficient, and you don’t take anyone’s shit. Good help’s hard to find in our line of work, and before you know it, this little hierarchy is gonna go under some..reorganization. Only the people who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty will have a place in the new order, so I want you there.”

“What’s the catch? I’m not dumb enough to just assume this is some promotion for busting my ass.” You tread, brain working double-time to try and decipher just what Keigo’s getting at. “Clever girl. It’s a simple task, in and out.” He assures, middle and ring finger sliding a matte-finish photo across the mahogany. Displayed was Kinan Zango, a member of the Shie Hassaikai’s middle rankings shaking hands with Joaquin Fuentes, a Columbia native known for having a body count in the double digits.

“Another fact about me: Only one thing heightens my anxiety more than planes...people who fuck with my money. This asshole Kinan’s been selling my routes to the fucking Columbians and pocketing the profits, and getting 20% of the product as a little “thank you” when he knows nobody moves coke through the Gulf other than Takami fucking Keigo. He’s becoming a problem, and I don't like those.” Kei growls, left eye twitching minutely. His nails are sinking into the polish of the wood, his energy vehemently furious.

“Take care of this for me, and you’ll be my plus one to Guadalajara tomorrow.”

The general public often made the mistake of writing Keigo off as just your average “pretty boy”. Whereas a trained eye could see that while he may be pretty, he was nobody to be tested. The sheer intellect he possesses to seek, hand-craft each and every route, assign planes to their designated locations along with alternatives should there ever be an issue? He just didn’t get enough credit.

So he took major offense when someone had the audacity to treat his hard work as though it was theirs.

Besides.. you got a man with looks, money and bloodlust? Tch. You’ve just created a monster.

You weren’t necessarily opposed to the idea of ridding the world of another drug-dealing degenerate, but the idea of casually committing a murder as a DEA agent in a foreign country just didn't sit right with you. Undercover agents weren’t permitted a “license to kill” should the investigation call for it either, so it was between committing a murder as government agent, or declining Keigo’s request and missing out on a front row seat to the cartel’s entire operation.

The silence that followed his sentence was deafening. Ice cubes chimed loftily as they swirled around inside his glass, clear liquid sloshing around while he awaited an answer.

Your jaw sets, eyes piercing into his.

“Consider it done.”

Blood spattered onto the pale concrete, moonlight illuminating the scarlet hues. Your knuckles throbbed with pain, the sensation blossoming through your hand as your lips curled back in a snarl, vigorously ridding your hands of the other man’s bodily fluids.

“ If you really think coming after me for that bird brained motherfucker is gonna change anything, you got another thing fucking coming.” Kinan spat, nose steadily flowing with red. His lip was busted, face splotched with yellowing purple bruises. Tugging at his restraints he thrashed, mouth spewing white-hot venom.

“You’re talking a lot of shit for a middle-ranking yakuza who thinks some new coke routes is gonna keep the Hassaikai from dumping your body on the side of some road in Zacatecas.” You observe, sending a harsh kick between the mans ribs, steel toed boots making an audible crack. “The Japanese are like Dixie Cups to them...”‘use em’ once, then throw em’ away”, right? You’re a fool if you think your days aren't numbered once you wear out your welcome.”

“Fuck you. You’re little boy toy threw a temper tantrum, so he sent you to “take care of things”, isn’t that right?” Kinan coos, eyes softening in a mocking pout.

“Trust me, you're not the first slut Takami’s been sticking it in that he’s sent to kill me. Only difference between you and the rest of those bitches-” He huffs, head craning back against the metal chair to let our a soft breath of laughter. “-is that you’re gonna put up a fight.”

Suddenly his bones began to shift, popping and snapping as his skin began to pool below him; you recoiled in fear watching his body slowly slip from his imprisonment like gelatin exits a mold.

“I’ve got elastic bones kid! Whatever breaks just snaps right back into place.”

Skin stretching and pulling as he regained his original form, legs sprinting towards you. Before you could fire off your Quirk’s sonic blast his grip seized the back of your neck, a blade taking residence just below your left eye; it’s tip pressing uncomfortably into your water line.

“Now, if you're good, I’ll make it quick. Though I’m known for being pretty... through with my toys.” Kinan leers, a hand slowly slithering down your sides to reach for the muscle of your ass.

“Go to hell, and die there while you’re at it!” You shout.

Bile creeping into your throat, you seize the momentary shift in energy, generating a small sound wave that sent Kinan a few feet to your left; giving the two of you some distance. Your Quirk allowed you to absorb sound to power-up your physical movements, or send it out in the form of sonic blasts or sound waves, so the louder the sound, the more power it gave you. Readying your fists in anticipation for combat, you silently willed for a sudden disruption in the deafening silence as he rushed back to your rigid body.

What you didn’t anticipate was that the sudden bang that filled the air, and the lifeless body of Kinan dropping to your feet with a thud, his head...

excavated, for lack of a better word.

“Don’t you know the entire point of having backup while under cover is to... call for backup?” Edgeshot snarked, striding towards you, gun settled back into it’s holster. His foot carelessly nudged the bleeding man before removing a Polaroid camera from his knapsack and snapping a photo of the carnage.

“W-what the fuck?! Look, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful when I say this, but what the absolute fuck did you just do??? We’re government agents, in a foreign country, we can’t just fucking murder these assholes nor do we have the license to-” You sputter, brows arching in frustration.

“This was your ticket into Guadalajara. I just secured you box seats when you were this close to getting stuck in the damned nosebleeds. I believe the correct words you’re looking for are thank you.” Kamihara snaps, shoving the photo into your hand.

“We’re in a world completely different from our own. It’s forgiveness first, and permission later down here. I don’t like it either...but it’s just the way things are.” He sighs, hanging his head while his shoulders settled like the solar system rested on them.

“I’ll take care of this. Now take that to Hawks, and don’t you dare fuck it up. Don’t let me have killed this poor asshole in vain.”

You nod, stepping over Kinan’s body.

Good riddance.

“Thank you, by the way.” You putter. Kamihara returns the sentiment with a nod, before turning to the corpse before him, phone raised to his ear as he spoke with whoever was on the opposite line, eyes that were once grey now swam with deep scarlet.

“Excellent work! I won’t lie, I had a feeling you were hardcore, but damn, this is some seamless shit! You deserve my praise.” Keigo beams, pearly teeth sparkling in the light of the cabin. Nodding in acceptance you grasped his hand upon his offering, permitting him to escort you towards your respective aircraft.

“Well, a promise is a promise. And if nothing else, I’m most certainly a man of my word. Meet me at this airstrip same time tomorrow, 8am. Pack light, Mexico’s a bitch in the summer, though you already know that.”

“Got it. Pleasure doing business with you, Hawks.”

“Call me Keigo, if you want. I hate all the formal shit, long as we got respect, that's all I need.” He shrugs.

“Understood. See you tomorrow, Keigo.” You affirm, climbing the ladder to your jet, body visibly relaxing at the thought of rest.

“Wait--before you go, I wanted to ask ya. What’s with the whole ancient hieroglyphics tat you got goin on, on your spine? It just looks familiar, is all.” He queries.

Home.

November 12th, 2174.

“Y/N! I found somethin’! It’s this super cool protection rune I found in grandma’s things. Check it out! It wards off all evil, and whoever’s in possession of it can, like, balance their energy with the divine power.”

“You’re such a hippie, I swear to god.” You grin.

“Don’t hate because my chakras are balanced and yours aren’t, bitch.” She grinned, index and thumb coming together to flick your forehead.

“At least take it with you for your exam, for good luck! Pleaseeeee! I think it’ll really help.” Her doe eyes melting your steely resolve. You could never deny her, those eyes constantly solidifying her role as the younger sister.

“...Only if you’ll clean my room for me when I come back for Christmas.” You demand, an eyebrow raised in mirth.

“Deal.”

And even though you never did admit it to her, that tiny piece of paper tucked into your bra did more for you during that exam than any late night cram session ever could’ve.

“It’s a protection rune. To ward off all evil energies, spirits and all that shit.” You mutter.

“Hm. Looks like it works, seeing how well tonight panned out for ya. Could use me one, would probably keep old man Todoroki out my fuckin’ hair.” He chuckles, hands releasing from the railing as he threw you a wave.

“But I wouldn’t worry too much about tomorrow, anyway. I got a feeling you’re gonna fit in just fine with us.” He smirked.

Ah.

If only that were true, Keigo.

taglist! : @liliesoftherainmain @therealwalmartjesus

#aizawa x female reader #mha x reader #aizawa x reader #shouta aizawa x reader #aizawa x you #mha #bnha x reader #hawks #nyafterhours

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purpleyellow · 4 years

Text

Bon Voyage season 4

BTS 8th member

Sunny’s masterlist

“Sunny during Bon Voyage 4″ Shout out to the Bon Voyage anon!

a/n: It took a while but it’s done. Your opinion is very important for me, send feedback and requests anytime 💜 Also, don’t be shy and interact a little, ask box is always open

(Italics means the person is speaking in English)

“It’ll be around 45 minutes until we get to the destination” Jimin spoke from the passenger seat after reading the GPS.

Jungkook nodded while starting the camping trailer they were in and Suny got comfortable in the small table the van had, Hoseok and Taehyung sat in front of her. The other members were driving in an SUV.

“Are you going to read during the trip?” Hobi asked the girl pointing to the book she had placed on top of the table “We’ll probably be noisy so I don’t know if it’s the best idea right now”

As he said that, Jimin pressed play on his phone and the melody of Ddaeng started playing as Taehyung turned the electric microphone on, singing with his whole soul and ignoring the two members talking.

“I was going to see if I would be able to read without having motion sickness but I guess I won’t be able to do that now” She sighed looking at the noisy boys and head bopping to the beat. “Ahh, New Zealand”

Looking out of the window, Sunny got lost in the view as she sang along with the boys, the small road trip passing by relatively fast for her.

“Okay, let’s go,” J-Hope said opening the backdoor of the vehicle and the three members in the back instantly got hit by a very cold breeze “Maybe not without coats,” He said turning around and Sunny grabbed the big trench jacket she had miraculously found in the store they had gone to earlier.

Putting on the black thing on top of her jeans and pink sweater, she finally got out of the car and ran to the fence that divided a big field filled with sheep. Waving at them, she unintentionally caught the attention of the pastor there.

“You guys are recording something?” the middle-aged man asked her pointing at the cameras recording the rest of the members who were only starting to make their way to where she was.

“Yes, it’s kind of a Reality thing” She answered and smiled politely, not wanting to give off too much information about what they were doing.

“Oh okay, I’ll see if the dog brings them over so you and your friends can interact with them” The man did a head nod and whistled to the dog. Jungkook approached Sunny after a little sprint, leaning on the fence as well to get a better look in the approaching sheep. “Come inside, there’s no problem”

Opening a little gate for them, and the other members, a few of them walked inside and started taking pictures with the animals and the landscape for a moment, until it got too cold for them and they decided to go inside to grab warm drinks.

“Are you ordering?” Sunny asked Hoseok as Namjoon told him the same of the drinks and he nodded to her.

“Putting to work the English I learned in the US” He smiled and waved the waiter over “You want coffee right?”

“You got it” She answered him in English making RM chuckle. They walked together to the table and waited for the waiter to bring them their drinks.

The group spent a good amount of time just sitting in the small restaurant as some of them rested and J-Hope and Taehyung recorded the Chicken Noodle Soup challenge. Retuning to the campervan, they sat in the same arrangement and tried to pass time since the trip would take a long time.

“Let’s play that game where you have to rhyme” Jimin spoke loud enough from the passenger seat so everyone could hear him.

“Which one? The poem thing?” J-Hope asked locking his phone and putting it away.

“I don’t know. Let’s just have one person say something and then somebody else rhymes with it until everyone had a go” He explained while still giving out directions “Taehyung you can start”

“Roses are red, violets are blue” He said without thinking too much.

“I was born smart, what happened to you” Sunny completed with the first thing that came into her mind making Hoseok and Jimin laugh while V widened his eyes.

“That’s not the direction I was going for but okay,” He said repressing a smile.

“I want to start, let me think,” Jungkook said from the driver’s seat and thought for a second before speaking and leaving everyone dumbfounded “Roses are red, corpses are blue”

“Sorry you’re dead, I forgot you’re allergic to roses,” Sunny said without really thinking and making the rest of the boys laugh once again “Oh, it doesn’t really rhyme”

“What’s up with you today?” Jimin turned around to look at her and she just shrugged.

“Kook was the one bringing up dead people”

The BTS members had just arrived at an observatory when the sun started setting, having to wait for it to be completely dark before looking at the stars, the members parted ways, some of them going inside the small cafe to stay warm, while the others, Sunny included, stayed outside to look at the landscape or shoot J-Hope’s challenge (a very recurring theme in this trip).

“We should have bought more coats, it gets too cold during the night” Namjoon noted while he and the girl were walking around and taking pictures of the view.

“Yeah, I have like this thing and a hoddie in my backpack,” Sunny said looking down at her clothes and staring out again “It’s fun to have a change for once, we usually go to warm places for Bon Voyage”

“Agreed, although I miss the warmth a little” He chuckled kicking a rock and pondering for a moment before speaking again “I have so much to do back home, it’s like my mind can’t stay focused and enjoy what’s going on in that moment”

“Oppa, I think you’re going through work abstinence,” Sunny said with a breathy laugh.

“The weird thing is when I was on vacation back in Europe I wasn’t feeling like this. But now, it’s like the cameras triggered my memory and everything that was on hold keeps showing up in my head” He sighed stopping in his tracks and looking around to see if anyone was recording them. Although the mics were capturing all the words, the audio wouldn’t have a use unless there was footage.

“We won’t go back to actually work in a week, but I guess you can find some time to rest your conscience and run over the lyrics I wrote over the break” She smiled sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders.

“You didn’t rest?” He turned around to her with a shocked face and tried pinching her arm, although all he did was twist the fabric of her coat.

“I did. I spent some time with friends and stayed with my mom for some weeks. But when I had nothing to do I wrote a little, not my fault I wasn’t in some foreign country like most of you” She winked making him roll his eyes.

“Not fair, I’m as much as a workaholic like you. Now I feel even worst for not being productive”

“You’re the biggest workaholic in this place, maybe with the exception of Yoongi Oppa but you get me” She placed a hand on his arm and turned around so they could go back to the little restaurant. “That means you deserved to rest more than anyone here. So tell me, did you find a girlfriend during your break like JK?”

“Please don’t remember me those rumors,” He said now fake annoyed and smiling at the situation. “I’m kind of worried for him still”

“He does seem a bit quieter than usual” Sunny noted “I just wanted to talk to him for a bit and get him to vent for once, he seemed so stress when I called him one day”

“Yeah, let’s give him time. I’ll chat with him if I get the chance and I’ll tell him you’re worried too”

“Thanks, on a random note, I’m still not 100% used to seeing him with tattoos, but it does fit his image for some reason” Sunny smiled along and they joined the rest of the group.

Waiting for a few more minutes inside, the members had a pleasant surprise once they walked out and the sky was completely full of stars. The desert-like place helped to make visible the whole milky way, making a lot of amused sounds leave their mouths.

“It’s insane to think that’s over us all the time and we can’t see it” Yoongi said from somewhere near her and Sunny nodded along, even though it was too dar for anyone to see her.

“The camera can’t capture it like I’m seeing it” Jungkook complained while trying to take a picture and Sunny grabbed her own phone to see if she was luckier than him.

“There’s no use trying to take pictures,” One of the observatory people told her and pointed to the telescope they were walking to “You’ll have a better sight with that, but everything is going to be stored in your memory”

“Oh, so like, not even the crew is going to capture the sky like this?”

“I’m afraid not,” He told her and she nodded “I’ve seen they have some professional cameras so maybe a picture that comes close to it”

Smiling at his reassurance, Sunny walked a little faster to be able to look through the telescope before the other members.

“It’s dark, stop running or you’ll trip” She heard Jin speaking from her left but she ignored him, going straight to the object and bending a little so she could see better.

“Woah” Sunny gasped with how close the stars appeared, their shine being indescribably beautiful, but the moment got interrupted by Jimin patting her on the back.

“I want to see it too” He insisted until she moved along, of course stealing a last look to hopefully remember that sight forever.

After the two accommodations they had gone to, BTS finally arrived at the place they would be camping for two days.

To be honest, Sunny wasn’t too excited about it, sure she had gone camping with her parents as a child, but she knew the boys wouldn’t just let her run around and play with flowers like she used to, not that she would do that anyway but it still would be nice not have to light up a fire like she was doing right now.

“Why can’t I help them with the tent?” Sunny asked Jin, who was next to her trying to do the same thing.

“Because they learned how to do it last season when you were doing nothing because of a small cut” He reminded her of the excused the had used last time and Sunny tried not to smile.

“It hurt okay, I still have the scar on my foot”

“Show me then” Jin challenged her, knowing it was a lie and Sunny shrugged.

“It’s cold, I’m not taking my shoe off,” She said and sighed when the small flame she had going died once again. “I don’t think I’ll be able to light this”

“Of course you are, just keep fanning it,” Jin said handing her a frying pan, to which she frowned at “What? It helps to make more wind, you’ll thank me once it works”

“Alright then” She grabbed the pan and started fanning the fire more aggressively, her arm growing tired sooner than anticipated, but the flame got bigger none the less and at some point, the fire was strong enough to live by itself.

Massaging the muscle on her arm, Sunny got up from her crouched position and walked over to the campervan, where Taehyung was grabbing some things to decorate the tent they had just built.

“Can you help me carry those things outside?” He asked and gave her a bunch of fairy lights after she agreed.

“Do you know who will be sleeping here tonight?” She asked him once they were inside the orange tent and watched as he hung the lights on the walls.

“I think it’s Yoongi Hyung and Namjoon Hyung” V answered “I’m staying in the trailer with Hobi Hyung, Jimin, and Jk. Are you really staying in the SUV with Jin Hyung? We can make room for you if you want to”

Taehyung recalled the conversation they had earlier when Jin said he didn’t like sleeping on sleeping bags and since there was no room in the van he would just lay one of the car’s seats down and sleep there. Sunny said she could do the same since she didn’t want to make the trailer’s bed too crowded.

“I can give it a try, it’s no big deal,” She said getting out of the tent with him. “If it gets too uncomfortable we’ll change the sleeping settings tomorrow”

“Okay then, if you want to wake me up in the middle and trade places I’m okay with it” V smiled and they walked to where the rest of the members were getting ready to have diner.

“Why are you going to do this when last time you almost died with only having diner in a suspended table?” Hoseok laughed at Sunny when they arrived in the place they would be going on this insane swing.

“Because since last time everyone keeps saying I’m scared of heights, I’m here to prove I’m not,” She said determined but her palms were slightly sweaty.

Of course, it was normal to get a little scared before going on a 300-meter swing that could probably lead to your death, that did not mean she was afraid of heights, it only meant Sunny had the self-preservation instinct that people like Jungkook didn’t seem to have.

“You should go on the catapult thing as well,” He said while bouncing on his place and the rest of the boys bought their tickets.

“I’m already going on the swing of death, I don’t want to be thrown into it as well” She mumbled holding onto his arm, to both keep him in place and relieve some of the nervousness she was feeling.

After getting into the special gear and both Jimin and Yoongi had declined multiple times the opportunity to do it, the group moved along the bridge that they would be “jumping” from. Holding onto Jungkook’s shoulders, Sunny tried her best to not look down and quickly got over that part.

“We doing the swing part in pairs, so Jin Hyung and Hobi, me and Taehyung, ad then you and Jungkook okay?” Namjoon asked her once they were on the platform thing and watching Jin and Hoseok get settled on the thing.

“Okay” She said strangely more calm than before, mostly due to the instructors making sure the equipment on her groupmates was very well adjusted before letting them hang over the edge of the platform.

The sudden drop and the boys’ scream startled her a little, but Sunny couldn’t hide the smile on her face seeing how much fun they were having on the swing. So she sat next to Jimin on the steps and cheered Taehyung, who was far more scared than her when it was his turn.

“We’re doing it like the others okay?” Sunny turned to Jk once they were waiting for Namjoon and V to get back on the platform. “No funny ideas or things to make this any more dangerous than it is”

“Sure, sure,” He said jumping excited for their turn, and once the instructor asked them which way they were going to drop he nonchalantly answered “Upsidedown”

“No, no” Sunny exclaimed shaking her head. She had watched four people safely drop on the thing sitting down, she would safely do it sitting down as well.

“Yes, yes. Upsidedown” Jungkook repeated making the woman smile.

“He can go upsidedown and you can sit normally after him. How does that sound?” She asked politely making Sunny consider going alone.

“Can I do it first then?” She asked turning around to one of the producers to ask if it would make the content less exciting. Giving her a thumbs up, Sunny took it as a yes and turned to the instructor again.

“Sure, you can go in any other you want” She waved the girl near the edge and started to fix her gear.

“Wow, you’re making me wait more because you’re too scared” Jungkook laughed watching from her side and leaning on one of the security bars.

“I’m swinging off this thing by myself, I think the only thing you can’t call me right now is scared” She rolled her eyes at him and heard Jin laughing at their exchange.

“Okay, you can sit and take your feet off the edge,” She said, and in that moment, sitting seconds away from a 70-meter free-fall and 300-meter arc swing, Sunny felt scared shitless.

She looked ahead to the instructor and blocked out any kind of noise around her, not really knowing what was going on or how much longer until she would fall onto her inevitable death backward, the only thing she could feel was her heart beating out of her chest.

It came out of nowhere, but suddenly she felt all of her body drop and a scream leave her mouth, instantly gripping onto the swing’s ropes. After a few milliseconds that felt like ages, she finally could feel the security stuff holding her body in place and preventing her to slip and die. Her screams turning into a laugh as she started to swing on the huge thing.

“I’m gonna swing, from the chandelier” Sunny sang as the thing lost momentum and looked around at the mountains around her. The adrenaline running crazy on her body as she leaned her body back every time the swing went back.

“Were you singing Sia?” Jimin asked once she made back to the platform making the girl laugh.

“Did you hear that from here?”

Getting out of the helicopter, Sunny stretched a bit and walked along the mountain of snow, following her members. She saw a few of them making snowballs, and falling in the snow so she thought she should do the same.

Falling back on the snow, she moved her arms up and down hoping to make a snow angel, but once she got up it didn’t look like one at all.

“That doesn’t look quite right” Yoongi smiled at the weird blob on the ground and helped her get some of the snow off her hair.

“I don’t know where I was aiming with that, to be honest” Sunny said shaking her coat. “What are the others doing?”

“Jimin and Taehyung are walking around and doing something I don’t understand and the rest are building a snowman” Suga said and started walking with her to where the rest of them were.

“Sunny, do you have something to put on it?” Hoseok screamed for her pointing at the two balls of snow that barely looked like a snowman.

Taking off her beanie, she threw it to him and walked closer, looking for things that could make the “statue” more human-like.

Placing a pair of glasses on its face and a scarf around its neck, the members decided they had done a good enough job and walked away, looking for more things to do.

“Hey, look at this” Jimin approached her with a concerned face and a hand full of snow. “Is this an insect?”

Leaning down to look at what he was showing her, Sunny didn’t react fast enough when he lifted up his hand and smeared snow on her face.

“Really?” Sunny screamed after taking some of the snow off her eyes and looked around to see the boy jumping excited and grinning mischievously. Running towards him to push him on the ground, she got slowed down by the snow and failed to do it, instead of holding him in place and kicking the back of his knee to somehow take him down, which she also failed to do.

Looking at them from afar, Jin sighed and looked at Suga “Why are they like this?”

END OF THE TRIP INTERVIEW

1.What did you think when you heard you were coming to New Zealand?

“I liked it but it wasn’t anything special. Like I had heard good things about it and was interested in some of the videos the guys showed me so I thought it would be fun to come here, and it really was.”

2. This was your first work after vacation. How was it?

“I didn’t travel anywhere during the vacation, mostly because I wanted to see some people and I couldn’t do that if I was away, but also because I knew we were going to come to New Zealand right after and I just realized I didn’t have this extra need for going away and spending time outside of Korea. It sure was fun to spend this time with the members after not having them on my daily routine like I’m used to, it consolidated in my mind that no matter the time we spend apart this group of people will always feel like family.”

3. What did you like the most?

“I really enjoyed the overall feel of the country. I don’t know how to explain, but everywhere we went the sky was always beautiful, the landscape, the mountains, the roads we went through, everything was always beautiful, and even though my nose is stuffy and my fingers froze a lot, the weather feels so cozy and so nice. This just seems like one of those places you go backpacking with your friends and the fact that we did exactly that feels really good to me”

4. When did you feel bad or disappointed?

“Hmm… I don’t think I felt disappointed about anything, but since we changed locations so many times this trip, it did cross my mind how I wasn’t much use whenever we went to another accommodation since I don’t drive and couldn’t really help them whenever someone got tired and needed a rest. Also, I don’t think I was that entertaining this time, so sorry for the people watching this”

5. How did you feel about this trip?

“Everything was really nice. Compared to the last time we spent most of the trip together as a group instead of pairs, and that made me grateful for all of the members’ presence. Also, the destination really made me want to come back, with them but also with the rest of the people I love”

6. To ARMYs who’d watch Bon Voyage Season Four

“I said it before, but first I’m sorry if I didn’t appear as entertaining. I hope you understand that I truly liked this trip and was just living through it in my own way instead of exaggerating it and making it seem fake. Everything was perfect and I hope you can have some enjoyment just watching the members being ourselves”

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angst-fairygodmother · 4 years

Note

Maybe something SVU where the reader is a defense attorney and Sonny is so distracted by her in court that he messes up and then he asks her out afterward?

A/N: Alright Nonny, you gave me a pretty simple prompt, and I’ve been toying with trying this again, so let’s do this. I went with Carisi still as a detective because I’m behind and haven’t actually seen much of him as an ADA, also because it made screwing up in court less potentially disasterous. I hope you like it. Word Count: 1497 Content Warning: references to prostitution

“Drop the charges.”

“Hello to you too, counselor,” Barba drawled into the other end of your phone.

“We both know they’re bullshit and you’re only pursuing anything against my client because Saint Benson convinced you it’s the best way to get her to flip on the guy you’re really after.”

“Is that something we both know?”

“They’re not going to stick. Save yourself the embarrassment.”

“We have audio-video evidence of your client soliciting a UC. That’ll secure at least the prostitution charge.”

“It’s suggestive, sure, if you can get it admitted. Which, we’ll see. I mean, Judge Bertuccio is a reasonable man, but rumor has it he doesn’t like you much, Barba.” You couldn’t resist a smirk. “I would never use a personal bias to my own advantage…but to my client’s…”

“Are you done?”

“I just hope your UC is a shark, because he’s going to have his work cut out for him.”

“See you in court, L/N.”

“Looking forward to it.”

Barba slammed the receiver down with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Alright Carisi, let’s run through your testimony again.”

“I don’t know Rafael, this feels wrong. I mean this girl is a vic, should we really be going after her like this?”

“I don’t like this any more than you do, but it’s our job. And just because we’re dealing with a junior lawyer doesn’t mean you can get sloppy.”

The morning of the trial dawned cold and rainy and it seemed like the whole world was gearing up against you, as if your nerves at facing down the great Rafael Barba in court weren’t enough. You had tripped on your way out the door and spilled your coffee. Your umbrella inverted in the wind and broke beyond repair. Train delays ate up most of the time you had hoped to have in the courthouse to mentally prepare. You stepped in a puddle, soaking clean through your right shoe. Basically a total disaster.

Flustered, you checked your phone and saw that you’d be lucky if you had ten minutes in the bathroom to make yourself some semblance of presentable before you were supposed to give your opening statement. Muttering a swear under your breath, you darted up the steps to the door. An attractive man around your age held the door open for you and when you turned to thank him, you were momentarily stunned by the expression on his face, a smile so blindingly warm and friendly that it seemed to chase away the black clouds from the sky and from your mood. Unfortunately, you didn’t have time to dwell on that smile or the soft crinkle of his baby blue eyes, so you simply offered him a quick smile in return and made your way through security, flushed from more than just your morning exertion.

The trial was going…okay. You couldn’t really guess what the jury was thinking, but you were pretty sure the judge was on your side and the prosecution really didn’t have a leg to stand on. Finally it was time for their star witness, the undercover officer that your client had allegedly solicited on the night she was arrested, to take the stand.

“The People call Detective Dominick Carisi,” Barba said, standing and smugly re-buttoning his suit jacket, as he often did.

The name wasn’t one you could put a face to, but you had only been working cases directly for a few months, and this was your first tangle with Manhattan SVU. And then you saw the detective approach the stand and felt your heart sink. It was the same attractive man that had held the door open for you. A rapidly developing crush on the prosecution’s chief witness was not a good way to manage a case, you scolded yourself, desperately trying to reign your reeling emotions in so you could focus.

Sonny felt his eyes drawn to the defense’s table, even as he answered the questions as he and Barba had rehearsed. The attorney that sat there was far more prim and put together than they had been that morning, but he was sure it was the same person. And he felt just as lovestruck now as he did in that moment. When they stood, approaching the witness stand in slow, measured steps, he felt like he was hypnotized.

“Detective, Carisi was it?” you asked, keeping your voice just on the cold side of polite. He nodded, and then when you subtly raised an eyebrow, he answered yes aloud before you could ask him to.

You carried on with clarifying questions, simple things to lure him into a sense of calm, noting with a smug sense of pride that he seemed to stumble even on some of those (unbeknownst to you it was because of his own crush rather than any actual prowess or lack of in court), before you struck.

“Tell me detective, did my client ask you for money during your interaction?”

“Well no, but she definitely implied…”

“So money only came up when you suggested paying her?”

“No, I didn’t actually –”

“Was money in exchange for sex ever actually discussed between the two of you?”

“…no.”

“Did she ask you for something else then? Drugs or favors?”

“No. She never actually asked. But I’ve worked enough SVU cases to know what girls are implying by the way they say things.”

You didn’t have to look behind you to know that Barba was glaring daggers into your back as you continued, steamrolling the poor, utterly rattled detective.

“So it was your bias that made you assume my client was a prostitute?”

“That’s not what I…no.”

“You’re young, fit, good looking. Is it possible that my client found you attractive?”

“I mean I guess, sure.” You smiled as you watched him squirm.

“Do you often assume that women who find you attractive are prostitutes?”

“No! Of course not!” he tried to laugh the question off as if it was ridiculous, but the judge and jury both seemed unimpressed.

“But you assumed my client was?”

“I had reason to believe…”

“Based on conjecture, and no actual evidence or clear indicators, other than her offering to sleep with an attractive man she met in a bar. Correct?”

“…I suppose if you want to look at it that way.”

“No further questions your honor.”

You smiled in relief, and just a little bit of triumph, as the jury pronounced your client not guilty, letting her tearfully throw her arms around you in celebration and patting her on the back. Then as she exited the courtroom a free woman, you lingered to gather your notes and breathe deeply, your nerves singing. You didn’t really think you would win, that you could handle a case on your own, but you had, against a man who was practically a legend in the field. You laughed softly and incredulously to yourself as you packed the last of your things into your bag.

All the while, you felt a pair of eyes on you, and glancing up at one point, as the last of the crowd was filtering out into the hall, you caught a flash of watchful sky blue.

“Counselor!” you heard a now familiar voice call out, following you down the courthouse steps. You paused, waiting for the detective to catch up.

“Listen, I know we don’t really know each other but I was wondering if you’d like to grab a coffee, now the case is over,” he said, scratching the back of his neck.

“Is this a professional inquiry, or a personal one?”

“Personal. As in…a uh, a date.”

You smiled at him, hoping that the shade was enough to hide your blush.

“Barba doesn’t have you convinced I’m the devil in disguise yet?”

“I trust Barba’s opinion on a lot of things. Dating ain’t one of them. You seem real nice, and I’d like to at least get to know you better.”

“Alright, Detective Carisi. Consider me charmed. And call me sometime.” You took out a pen to write your cell phone number on the back of a business card with your office information.

“Great. I mean I will. And call me Sonny, everyone does.”

There was that damnable smile again. Even though the storm had passed and the traitorous sun was finally showing its watery face, it was nothing to rival the bright warmth in that smile.

“I can see why,” you mumbled shyly.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing,” you smiled back at him. “I look forward to hearing from you. Have a good afternoon.”

Impulsively, you took a step back up to put you on the same level as him and kissed his cheek before walking away, leaving him, stunned and awed, on the courthouse steps.

“By the way, in case you’re confused,” you couldn’t help the playful smirk on your face as you turned around to call back to him. “I’m not a prostitute, just find you attractive.”

#Law and Order: SVU #Sonny Carisi x Reader #Defense Attorney reader #I'm bad at Crim Law #and prioritized witty banter over legit trial competence #a foray into a new fandom #will it go well? who knows

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odysseywritings · 3 years

Text

The Beat Goes On

(continued from here)

He replayed the guitar sound from earlier, with its mesmerizing ups and downs forming a spiral in his head. The red aura from the building’s inside merged with the playing, becoming faster and more aggressive on his already blistered fingers. He closed his eyes and made more lyrics about the place he saw before to recapture the essence.

Fire in a dark town

Yellow’s dying down

Red calling my name

Joining the sonic gam-

His mind-space cut off as he heard pounding electric hums from all around. Dorian woke to find a dark place illuminated by red lights scattered across the place. He saw a variety of humans- or at least things looking like humans- wearing masks that were animal faces or outrageous expressions fitting for punks. No one had identical hair. Dorian could easily bump into someone with winged blond hair or a curtain of black hair. Their outfits were tattered, with shredded up clothes and dyed with bright pink and yellow designs all over.

The music playing was an echoing electric guitar surrounded by a cascading synth, with a cool yet dark melody keeping the clientele up and moving. Dorian stumbled round to find walls to cling to in an attempt to ground himself from this chaos. But there were no walls. Everyone was dancing in the middle of a desert full of rock formations that were used as platforms for party-goers to get attention. Red lights gave everyone a vibrant, hot-blooded feel that made Dorian shrink away. He cautiously moved back until he bumped into someone.

“Woah, easy,” a man with a warthog mask said. Though to Dorian, it moved enough to be the man’s face. “This ain’t a mosh. Heh, not yet anyway.”

“I’m just passing through,” Dorian said, feeling he shouldn’t be seen as naive. “Looking for someone. Red eyeliner, blue lips.”

The warthog man snorted with laughter. “You think I can tell anyone apart here? Good luck.

Dorian decided that fretting so much wouldn’t help him, so he payed more attention to the music. The sonic hums from before changed to more frantic synthesized energy, with heavy bass penetrating his heart. The drums, however, made him tap to the speedy beat. Its dynamic changed to a surprisingly jazzy vibe, and his compulsion to dance broke away any fear. Without realizing it, he danced closer to the enchanting sound as the song reverberated through his core.

Dorian didn’t even pay attention to the unique characters around him as he swung his legs around to the beat, catching the admiring claps of a few long-hairs and one fringe-hair. His energy seemed endless, and no bead of sweat was felt. Part of him worried if the warthog man injected him with something, but he put that to rest as the other animal-masked patrons cheered The final chorus of the song was signaling the end, but Dorian felt himself in a rapid trance until a familiar face bumped into him.

“Hey, watch-” her annoyed expression turned to worry. “What are you doing here? You didn’t take anything did you?”

Dorian shook his head.

“Alright, good. This place is for the experienced only. If you stay too long, the music takes over your senses.”

He was confused by what she meant. Dorian pried for more answers but his mouth closed before he spoke. The throbbing rhythm shook his heart as synthesizers and horns rattled his head. Joni’s face looked distorted somehow, as if make-up was disappearing. Yet her eyes stayed the same aside from yellowing.

Dorian glanced behind her to see the clientele look more beast-like, their masks becoming realistic parts. A deer-headed woman and a crocodile-headed man twisted around each other, forming a helix of flesh until they were featureless in all but brown and green silhouettes. To Joni’s right he saw a bird person pecking at a tiger headed one biting back, yet still caressing each other until they were a blob of yellow and orange.

He looked back to Joni forming beast-like features but he couldn’t decipher what exactly. She nudged him away from the music, slowly taking him away from this disturbing vision. The song’s audio died down as the audience cheered on, sounding and looking more human to Dorian’s relief. Joni sat him on a red rock to compose himself and rub the sweat off his matted head.

“What the hell did I just see,” he asked with a mix of anger and fear.

“Remember when I said to be careful about where you go,” she began, sitting next to him. “I haven’t seen you since the last time, so you really must be new. Music here is fine if you take it in doses. But if you go too far with it, it can really drive you crazy. After a while, you know which ones damage you the most. Until then, just be mindful of where you’re at.”

“All right, fine. It was just so different. I never heard it before and it was just drawing me in. It was a good rush! But what I saw was… It was enough to make me see better,”

“Good.” She paused for a moment. “Did you see anything strange with me?”

He was confused by her question. Was it rhetorical? Was it a diagnosis of how far down he went into delirium? He decided to tell a half-truth.

“No. Just that I saw you with less mascara.” He gave a chuckle, making her relaxed and thoughtful.

“And you’re still okay with that vision?”

“I think I’ll live,” he laughed, giving her a warm smile.

The privacy was cut off when they were greeted by the warthog man from before, his broad body looking intimidating as he walked over.

“Ah, so this is the someone who were looking for!” he chortled looking at Dorian before turning to Joni. “Say, you two know each other?”

“He’s just visiting, Steve,” Joni said. “This is Dorian.”

Steve took off his hog mask to reveal a man somewhere in his early 40s, with a bald scalp yet having long ginger hair down his back. “Pleasure to meet ya! Steve Fordham!”

Dorian shook the large man’s calloused hand. “Dorian Ivanyk.” A thought him and he turned to Joni. “I don’t think you ever told me your last name.”

“Oh,” she hesitated and stood up. “I don’t have one. It’s a long story, and we should be moving on anyway. We might as well introduce you to the other member of our band.”

Dorian felt strange about Joni’s avoidance, but he let it slide after hearing more news.

“You two are in a band? God, I’d never figure. Tell me about it.”

“We’ll go on about it while we walk,” Steve said, showing his mouth was missing some teeth. “Come on, then!”

The three traversed the red canyon until they merged into a muddy brown, flat area. Joni and Steve took turns explaining their meeting and the band’s origin. Joni mentioned being a hungry, young woman looking to make herself known and get money as a keyboardist but lacking experience. She met Steve drumming for a pub band that didn’t have much steam in them and they hit it off with percussive-heavy jams. Dorian was invested in this story, and he was humored by Steve’s rambling over rockstar-level stories.

“So we had this one guy, Johnny Fingers, who deserved his reputation on the guitar. But he was too good and got it in his head he could do wrong. So one day he has a groupie with him, and he’s young and eager, so of course they share a room in a motel we were staying in. But an hour in, we heard loud thuds and he’s screaming to high heaven. Later found out he was trying to use his axe for something in the bedroom. But all we know later was… well, let’s just say he wasn’t called Johnny Fingers anymore.”

Dorian laughed along with Steve at the incredible story, while Joni gave an amused if somewhat annoyed smirk at the boys’ talking and reactions. She was thankful she wouldn’t be the only woman once they met up with their bassist.

Dorian saw the landscape turn green before he realized it, turning the area into a radioactive desert. Many people in silver suits were carving chrome roads with tools resembling vacuum cleaners. The sounds were sporadic and reminded him of western-styled guitars by coincidence. Up in the sky he saw a large wheel that spun slowly, almost like it replaced the sun in this perpetually dark land. He wasn’t sure what it did, but it made a repeating metallic violin sound every so often. It all reminded him he was not home, and the intrigue was fighting his need for comfort.

“Don’t look so down,” Joni said, catching his silent conflict. “We’re not that far from where we need to go. It’ll be worth it, trust me.”

Dorian nodded. Keeping his mind away from his thoughts, he asked about the people on the roads.

“They’re doing construction work,” Steve chimed in, pointing at a sex-legged skeleton looking like a large rodent. “Every now and then, the wildlife comes crossing in from the west and either causes traffic crashes or tramples the crops. So these guys have to keep repairing the roads and spraying ‘em with repellent.”

“I see.” He didn’t really, but he went along with it. He then pointed up at the large wheel. “So that’s part of the plan, too.”

“Oh we don’t know what that is,” Joni said. “It’s been there since before Steve was born. It hasn’t tried to kill us, so we leave it alone.”

“Awesome.”

The trio traveled on, with Steve telling more stories, including one with a singer dropping unconscious on stage in the middle of a song. The bassist then had to prop him up while pretending they were performing duets. Dorian again got a kick out of it, while Joni groaned.

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #fantasy #music #My writing #tempo of adventure #njm

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kosmosguk · 5 years

Text

[Yandere BTS Reaction to Meeting You for the First Time] (part one)

[A/N: Since the reactions I wrote are pretty long, I separated them into two parts and part two will be uploaded sometime soon when I have a breather from all the work I’m buried under! I’m going to try to upload the second part tomorrow, but if not, I’ll update it asap. Thank you to @averagefangirliegamer for the sweet message. I love writing the requests you give, and also please make sure to take care of yourself too!]

(part two)

Seokjin-Chef:

Seokjin was damn good at his job. He had mastered even the most difficult cooking techniques at a young age, graduated early at the very top of the prestigious culinary academy he had attended, and had been labeled as one of the best chefs in the world. His world, one that featured his handsome face spread on glossy cooking magazines and sparkling awards that rumor said had their own separate room, was so different from yours, a student at some local culinary school with no real name in the world of professional chefs. But somehow, some-fucking-how, your worlds collided. He didn’t really think much of you when you walk in, hidden in the hoard of fangirls who wanted to catch a close experience with someone so handsome, but when everyone was settled in instead of clamoring like a bunch of stereotypical high schoolers, he noticed the way your hands were shaking. Some part of him, some twisted part of him, wanted to call you out. It was mean of him, sharply remarking how you could just dunk your hands in the eggs and they’d whisk up all fine, but the way your nervous energy shifted, the way you looked so angry, that look sparked something in him. God, he loved that look. So he couldn’t help but continue to comment on everything you did, from your chopping skills to the way you even fucking cracked open an egg, and if it wasn’t for the lack of refund that came along with this class, you would’ve punched him and then quit. Instead, you took every snip, staying in a simmering quiet until one day, after your cooking instructor pushed your dish off the counter earlier that day and Seokjin came over to comment on how your chopping skills were like a 5-year-old’s, you lost it. You were screaming, calling him every name in the book, and the way he slightly shivered, his eyes so twisted and sadistic, took you so off guard that you stormed out with the resolution to never come back. But Seokjin didn’t get to the top spot without resilience and with the way you acted so out of line, right in front of everyone, he would have to punish you. He just had to tie up some loose ends first, starting with your shitshow of a cooking school.

Yoongi-Music Producer:

It was a hopeless decision really. You had found the announcement, the opportunity to collaborate with the elusive music producer behind many of the year's greatest hits. Nothing was really known about him, other than that his voice, coming from the radio interviews he did, was low and husky, a soft rumble of bubbling waterfall that flowed from your dated car radio, and that he never really left his home. He seemed chill, easy going and maybe, maybe it would work out and he'd recognize your work, and so you submitted a small song clip with your singing that you had been working on finishing producing. You didn't get a reply for a month, and hope was dwindling as you noticed your social media feed flooded with tweets from music producers who were really good, who were much better than you, were complaining about getting a rejection email. So you were really surprised when you clicked your email open one day and at the very top was an email from the mystery man's assistance. "The audio clip you sent in showed clear emotion quality and moved Agust D's soul. We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted and we look forward to working with you starting next week on Monday." You were absolutely shaking, vibrating with excitement, and when you showed up, buzzing with nerves as you were led to a room and guided in. The mystery man himself introduced himself as Min Yoongi, his hand a little cold and his eyes awfully intense for someone you just met. He was quiet, even as he introduced himself and his low voice flowed in the air like a soft melody, and you found yourself distracted in the sound, ignoring the way his comments about your submitted track seemed just a little more personal than it should’ve been. That meeting was a turning chapter point in your life, standing there with your hand gripped in the never-ending clasp of Yoongi, and little did you know, it was a turning point for him too. You just never realized at that very moment that there was a deeper reason behind why he was so moved by your music and why it took him so long to finally let go of your hand.

Namjoon-Lawyer:

The law was a cold, brutal judge. That's why it shouldn't have surprised anyone that Namjoon, the epitome of the law in one stony avenging angel, was exactly that. He won cases left and right, crushed opponents and reaped in the never-ending flow of money he received from his more than just wealthy clients. That's why when you walked in, a new lawyer practically quaking in a used pantsuit that didn’t quite fit you right, he was already envisioning the large sum of cash he was going to receive from such an easily-won case. It was almost pitiful the way you fumbled over your notes at first, quivering underneath the frosty, merciless gaze of the judge. But as you continued on, you became more confident, finding loopholes and objecting so well all of them were sustained and Namjoon could see, feeling a growing panic he hadn't felt since the beginning of his career, the faces of the jury changing with each word you spilled. Namjoon hated this feeling, the small feeling of losing, and as he watched the head juror stand up and reveal the jury's incentive of not guilty, he began to feel a burning hot frustration in the pit of his stomach. The rich didn't enjoy having their money taken after all, and he was sure that this would be taken out on him some way or another. But as he mulled over his failure, he began to wonder exactly how you won. You were like a shivering mouse when you walked in, fragile and terrified, but something changed. And as he mulled, he began to feel more and more interest until your every thought plagued his mind, a disease that refused to leave. He found himself praying--praying, a deed that had never been done by a man characterized by the law itself--that with each case, you would be his opposing counsel. You're his obsessive thought, someone who just won't leave his mind, and it's not really his fault that he has to pull some strings here and there. And when you’re finally standing across from him, real and in the flesh and finally in a suit that fitted you just right, he can’t help the almost depraved way he thought of making your confident self sink down to his level.

Hoseok-Dance Trainer:

Hoseok breathed in and out dance, and it showed. Dance choreographies in popular idol groups were all choreographed by him and if they weren’t, everyone was already fully aware that the companies would be seeking him out, ready to beg on their knees if they had to. But you, you were different. He remembered the exact moment he had seen you in all of your glory. It had been a gloomy rainy day in Seoul, the kind where umbrellas spotted the streets and the city was so drab and lonely. He had been heading to the nearby convenience store when he had heard the music, pounding despite the harsh splattering of rain against the pavement, and some part of him just couldn’t exactly stop how his feet led himself to a small group. You were drenched, a sight to be seen in soggy clothes, and your hair flopped messily in the relentless rain. But even when water droplets clung to your lashes and you had to blink furiously to be able to see somewhat through blurry eyes, you never once stopped dancing, even as your teammates began to slow down and stumble. He quickly disappeared, coming back with a small bag from the convenience store nearby, and he walked up to you as you wiped away water furiously with your already soaking sleeves, handing you the small bag. ‘’A towel,’’ was all he had managed to say as you looked up, beaming like an angel as you noticed the stranger’s kind act. Hoseok couldn’t help the way his heart thrummed in his chest, the way it seemed that the dark clouds of Seoul finally parted away to show the glowing rays of the sun, as you spoke to him, cheerfully giving your thanks despite how much he should be thanking you instead before turning away. Before he could think about it, he was already gripping the sleeve of your coat, breathless as you turned around in confusion, and he grabbed his slightly wet business card, the one he had been saving when he finally found the one for his company, out of his pocket before shoving into your hands. He just had to see you again, as much as a human in darkness had to see the sun. And as you softly smiled back up at him, shyly, he felt the encompassing warmth of the sun sink in.

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actuallyvady · 4 years

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Tagged by @ryanglitter, figure i might as well do the thing ♥

1. Do you make your bed?

No, lol. Sometimes I’ll throw the blankets back into a semblance of made so the cat can sleep on the one she likes best.

2. What’s your favorite number?

3 is the biggest, most important one-- I love the number 3 and any number divisible by 3, and I have since I was young enough to know what the number 3 was but not yet old enough to develop memories I would keep so I have no idea why. But it extends at least somewhat to geometric designs as well-- I tend to prefer symmetry based on odd numbers and like... there’s a triangle in the middle of my giant back tattoo.

I am also quite fond of 13, because it’s my birthday and because I turned 13 on a friday. It helps that it has a 3 in it.

And I quite like the number 17, for reasons I cannot explain. I am drawn to it, and find it... soothing? That’s not quite right. Grounding, perhaps.

3. What’s your job?

I cut rectangles of fabric all day. Sometimes I have to stick rectangles together to make bigger ones.

4. If you could, would you go back to school?

... that depends on what “if you could” means. I could! I could literally enroll anywhere I liked tomorrow, my parents would support me in doing that. But I already have tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt and no degree to show for it, so I probably won’t. That said, if I suddenly found myself financially solvent to the point where there would be no loans and I didn’t have to worry about having a job with health insurance? Yeah, I might.

I miss the fancy, nerdy engineering school I was at before my mental health problems made me flunk out. I am actually being treated for those now, and I would love to go back, and see if maybe I couldn’t be successful this time around. It was a lovely place and I felt at home there and hell, I even miss having math homework and tearing my hear out over physics problems.

So yeah... if I “could” I would.

5. Can you parallel park?

Yeah. My first year at my first college I said fuck that noise to paying $300 for a parking pass and spent all semester using street parking even though I lived on campus. Now I drive a toy car with a tight turning radius and can fit into even the tiniest spaces, which means I am less afraid of street parking than most of my friends. It’s a pity I can’t be the one to drive when we go out somewhere-- the aforementioned “toy car” seats two, and the passenger will probably have difficulty getting in and out and therefore cannot have any, like, knee or back problems.

6. A job you had which would surprise people?

I fell for a couple of MLM schemes when I was younger, one of which involved selling sex toys.

7. Do you think aliens are real?

Yes, but I do not believe they have ever come here.

8. Can you drive a manual car?

Yes, but not well, and I prefer not to. That said, it is a little disappointing that my toy car is an automatic-- he’d be more fun as a manual. But he was the one I happened to find for sale when I needed a car and I love him... plus I can manually control which gear I am in for the first three gears, if I so choose; that is an option my toy car has.

9. What’s your guilty pleasure?

I do not feel guilty for the things I enjoy.

10. Tattoos? I

I have a giant phoenix on my whole back and a sprig of cherry blossoms on the inside of my right arm. I am currently considering three more, one of which will happen as soon as I am not spending all of every paycheck on kpop (so about a week after never, if things keep going the way they are)

11. Favorite color?

I have always said it was green. I do not remember deciding that it was green; I declared green my favorite color before I was old enough to form memories that I would keep, much like my love for the number 3. I have childhood things that are green because it was my favorite color that I acquired very, very young.

That said, I was reminded recently why green is my favorite color.

On Monday night I went to the denver art museum to see an exhibit of claude monet’s work. I am quite fond of monet, so I took my time, standing and staring at some of the pieces long after the audio tour had told me to move on to the next room. And what I was most fond of was the fact that many of his pieces are so... life-like. They’re more real than photographs, because they not only capture a sense of movement, they seem to capture a feeling-- there were several where I just wanted to close my eyes and listen to the wind in the leaves and feel the sun on my face. Because looking at these paintings, I felt like I could.

Anyway, green is the color of dappled sunlight filtering through thick foliage and soft cool grass beneath bare feet and I adore it.

12. Things people do that drive you crazy?

If I am posting a rant about something, I do not want you to offer solutions-- especially when those “solutions” are not helpful in any way. Unless I ask a question directly or request suggestions, please refrain from shoving your “expertise” in my face; chances are good I’ve already thought of what you are suggesting and figured out why it won’t work.

That’s not an important one, it just annoys me so much.

13. Any Phobias?

I’m getting better about spiders! I can deal with them existing in my space, now. Still freeze if I try to approach them to like rehome them outside but.

14. Favorite childhood sport?

There was a brief period of time where I played soccer at recess. Then I fractured my pinky when a ball hit it the wrong way and I stopped doing that.

15. Do you talk to yourself?

Mostly I act out the dialogue to whatever daydream or fanfiction I am currently playing with. (These days I am developing elaborate post-canon stories for the Untamed. No, I will not share them. They are very self-indulgent and kind of ridiculous, especially the longer I play with them.)

16. What movie do you adore?

It just came up on facebook again yesterday so Jupiter Ascending is actually one of my favorite movies and no, I will not listen to arguments why I should not love it.

There are others, of course, but.

17. Do you like doing puzzles?

Like... jigsaw puzzles or like... what? Because it really, really depends on what kind. Some I am more fond of than others. Generally speaking, as long as I am not under a time constraint, yes.

18. Favorite kind of music?

These days? kpop.

19. Tea or coffee?

Yes. I drink both regularly.

20. The first thing you remember you wanted to be when you grew up?

There was a winter olympics when I was about five and I clearly recall wanting to be a figure skater but thinking I was too old to start training.

Not going to tag anyone, just thought it would be fun to answer. ♥

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theboyz-engup · 5 years

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To All The Boyz I’ve Loved Before; Letter Four

Summary-

It was wonderful what a few little letters could do; they could make or break a friendship, cause someone to laugh or smile, make someone remember the time of their life or that moment they wanted to forget. Just some words on paper and poof, everyone knew the way your heart beat and workings of your brain. High school really did wonders on you, as did those twelve boys. Maybe they didn’t know it, but they changed your whole life with each smile, each wave, and each word you typed into paper. You made them permanent, and now they had to know why.

Word Count- 8.3k

Previous Letter - Next Letter

Chanhee gave a swift wave to Sangyeon, who lived across the street from him and was sitting on his stairs. The two of them had never been the best of friends but they were always friendly and Chanhee remembered giving him half off plant products he bought for a girl he was into. Chuckling at it, Chanhee unlocked his door and called a little hello. As always, the house was empty and the mail that was fit through the door slot was scattered across his hallway floor.

“God, this is a mess,” Chanhee sighed, groaning a bit as he bent down to pick up the envelopes. Most were addressed to his parents and a few to his siblings but one was addressed to him. He hummed, not knowing mail still got shipped here for him. He moved out of here a year ago, despite still having a key and sleeping here ever so often.

Maybe it’s junk, he thought, placing it down on the table with the rest of the letters as he untied his shoes. Yeah, I’ll just toss it. Probably some weird advertisement for something.

The thought was enough for him to make up his mind, grasping the letter and taking it with him to his father’s office on the first floor. He stood above the shredder, looking at it as it whirred the second he placed his foot on the pedal. The sound bothered him, like he was making a mistake he didn’t know he was making. Whining a bit, he took his foot off the pedal and looked at the letter again.

The writing was foreign to him, absentmindedly walking up the stairs after plopping his worn, leather bag atop the letters that weren’t for him. Flipping it over, he found a little sticker- one he remembered having way back when- and smiled. Unsticking the envelope, he began his light read, taking it all the way with him through the house as he paced.

Dear Choi Chanhee,

I’m sorry if you ever read this letter. It’s going to be so long and complicated and I doubt you even want to hear it but I hope it can help explain. I never meant to upset you, not once, but I’m sorry because I know I did.

Early September, 2015

The door to your local plant shop squeaked open, hot wind rushing in with you to escape the summer sun. A bell ringing atop your head brought your attention to it for a moment before you continued on your way. The shop looked entirely out of place in your town made of wood and dusted colours. It was a shop made of rounded slabs of rock with clean squares and circles cut out to let sun stream in and stare at the assortment of colours in awe. Everything was grey and cool and smelled of black earth. You loved it, closing your eyes to take it in before continuing on your way.

There was some chatter in the shop so you hoped you weren’t being too loud as you spoke to Eric through the microphone on your headphones.

“So why are you going to the plant store again?” He sounded distracted and you figured he was probably doing some of his work ahead of time so he wouldn’t be too stressed during the school year.

As you spoke, you imagined him with his glasses on and hat backwards- he never studied without one. It was his ‘thinking cap’ as he would say jokingly, but you knew he tugged at his hair when he got stressed and he was convinced that was what’s been making him lose hair. You tried to tell him it was how often he dyed his hair but there was no reasoning with him sometimes.

“I told my mom I might want to start dating because I was talking about how Amalia went out on a date with this jock from the year above in the summer and she was all questioning- like asking me if I wanted to go on dates,” you started, rambling as you always did when you spoke to Eric. Your eyes scanned the plants mindlessly, reaching out to touch a few leaves before shaking your head and moving on.

“And?” Eric’s voice pressed for more, noticing the slight pause in your story as you got just a bit distracted.

Taking a breath and murmuring sorry, you continued, “so I was like ‘yes’ and and she gave me this whole speech about how I don’t have responsibility and to date, I need to have responsibility. When I brought up growing Barly, she told me that giving him the name Bartholomew wasn’t very grown up of me and I need to start from scratch, which would be a plant, apparently.”

Eric just started to laugh, pitch getting higher and higher as he started to fully take in what you said. “Y/n, that’s so lame, I-”

“Ha, ha,” you pouted, landing in front of an aisle labelled ‘easy to take care of’. With a smug smile, you marched down it to find a little plant you wouldn’t have to worry too much about.

“I’m sorry, I just think that’s so stupid,” he giggled some more, filling your ears with familiar bubbles, “if you want to date, you should. At least you told her about it, most kids wouldn’t.”

“That’s what I said but she said that she’s not growing up other kids, she’s growing up me and somehow that makes me different and incomparable to other kids my age.” You rolled your eyes at the thought, stopped in the aisle now and staring vacantly at a flower sprouting slightly from the middle of a round-leafed plant. Your hand reached out to touch the fuzz that grew on the stem of the little flower and you smiled.

“Think I found my plant though.”

“Nice,” Eric hummed, “take a picture of it when you get home, I want to see it.” If he was here with you, he would’ve put his arms around your shoulder and pulled you in, making a joke about how that was going to be your child. He wasn’t though, and it was a phantom arm you felt around your shoulders pulling you in for a hug you would’ve claimed to hate.

All you did was make a sound to say yes, picking it up off the shelf gingerly in its cement pot. It had a little string bow tied around it, like it was wrapped and ready for you. Thinking of something else to make conversation about, you started to chatter on while keeping your eyes on your little plant.

“I want to name it something stupid again,” you admitted, a bit of an embarrassed chuckle coming through your teeth.

“Of course you do.”

“It’s against the rules but I’ll think of some anyways,” you decided, trying to amuse yourself. There was a click of a pen in the background of his audio as he suddenly got all excited.

Coming closer to his phone, he crooned, “ooh, I’ll start. How about we do something simple like Xerxes?”

It was hard not to laugh at his suggestion, the running joke between you two being that whoever had kids first had to name their first child Xerxes on a dare. The little burst of laughter was enough to make you lift your head as far as the cashier stand where a boy with black hair and a darker cap was standing. Well, he was more so leaning on the counter with his forearms pressed on the metal and hands stitched together- and his eyes were on you. He had a flicker of a smile on his lips the second your eyes met but you didn’t stare for long enough to see what he’d do after. Instead, you hurried to an aisle where you couldn’t see him and vice versa and exhaled deeply.

“What happened now?”

“D-do you remember the waiter guy from Jan’s who was only there that once because he lived far away and was just subbing for his friend?” you whispered quickly and under your breath. Suddenly your heart was in your throat.

“Uh, sure?” Eric was entirely confused, the conversation shift not natural and your voice weird. “Why?”

You just whined, holding your plant with shaky hands now. You probably looked so stupid just hiding behind an aisle to make sure you wouldn’t see each other. He was the only cashier at the store, of course you’d have to see him eventually. Unless he went on break but in that case, he’d most likely pass by you camping out and think you weird either way.

“Okay, wish me luck,” you whispered, steadying yourself. As it turned out, your desire to eventually date someone was greater than you fear of boys- well, cute boys, that is.

“What am I wishing you luck for, what?”

He was genuinely confused but you didn’t quite have the time to explain as you walked towards the front. You felt like plastic, entirely wobbly on your knees which seemed nonexistent in the moment. The black-haired boy was finishing up another person, handing over a bag and smiling sweetly. The second his eyes landed on you, smile still taut on his lips, you felt your heart sink.

It wasn’t love at first sight but you definitely had some feelings, instantly in adoration.

“Just this today?” His voice sounded like crystals, slightly higher pitched than you expected but clear and kind nonetheless. It forced you to pay attention to him, though you apparently didn’t have a tongue to respond. All that came through was a nod as you placed the plant on the counter.

“I heard you on the phone earlier,” he started, cheery as he typed in the amount on his little computer and then relayed the price to you. You flushed a little, knowing what it was he was talking about and getting embarrassed. “Your mom sounds like a fun time.”

“Is he talking to you?” Eric asked in your ear, to which you made a little hummed noise to. It seemed to be good for both conversations, though Eric didn’t need more of a response and Chanhee, the name which you read off his tag, perhaps did.

“Y-yeah, she’s definitely a character, at least with me.”

“My parents did the same thing,” he admitted, giving you a sympathetic look as he wrapped your plant in some sort of tissue and placed it in a bag, “I wasn’t allowed to do anything and still aren’t but getting jobs and having closer friends helps.”

You were busy paying with your dad’s debit card for the moment, which he graciously lent you in exchange for getting him a chocolate bar on your way home. Desperately though, you wished he wasn’t lecturing you or giving you advice. You supposed that want forced your hand, giving you a reason to be bolder.

“I’m hoping junior year helps them realize I’m not that much of a kid anymore.” The words slipped past your mouth, the lie sounding weirdly natural. Eric hissed in your ear, asking why you lied immediately. Not bothering to respond, you only finished up paying and extended your hand for the bag.

Chanhee, instead, decided to lean against the high counter like before, chin propped up on his hands as he came forwards. “Really? You’re in the year below me? How come I’ve never seen you before?”

Shrugging, you shyly grasped at the bag ends, having to reach a bit but wanting to now get out of there as soon as possible. The reality of your lie was now hitting you as you realized- he also went to your high school. Oh gosh, he was going to find out eventually and that fear gnawed at you starting from that day.

“I- uh, I moved here just last year.” That came out smoothly as well but it wasn’t a lie and you felt better for it. Lying was something you could do well but you didn’t particularly like how heavy they felt- especially this one. This one started to lie in your stomach like cement the second the pride you had for pulling it off so smoothly dissipated into the musky smell of the shop.

“That’s so weird,” he deadpanned, expressive enough with his eyes and the outwards movements of his lips. You’d spent too much time in that instant just looking at those lips that you knew you needed to leave as soon as possible.

“But hey, if you go to Carr, it’d be cool to see you around sometime. I like having new friends, especially ones I get to know from scratch.” Your eyebrow notched up at the sentence and he furthered, “I’ve known everyone here from birth, basically. It’s really refreshing seeing someone new. It makes this place exciting for once.”

Did he just call me exciting? The thought rushed through your brain and caused heat to rise in your chest. As you mulled over his words, its suggestion brought giddiness into your spine.

It took some time for your tongue to work properly, some stutters and shyness existing deep in your voice but eventually, you managed, “t-then I’d lo- love to see you around and not just when I need a date plant.”

He chuckled at your joke, watching you raise your plant slightly as you spoke. His laugh was chimes in the wind, creating echoes in your mind and resonating deeply within you. Something about him felt so present as he asked your name and for your number- he was so real and was acting like someone out of a movie. It seemed almost too good for you until you realized, well, it wasn’t all good.

How was he going to feel when he found out you lied? Would it be a big deal? The questions that ran through your head as you left the store swarmed into a large mass that felt blinding.

“I hate that you made me listen to that,” Eric groaned, though he seemed to still be in high spirits.

“I’m so stupid,” you said immediately, free palm tapping against your head multiple times. You must’ve looked very offset, ranting to just about the only person who wasn’t going to judge you. Though, it was kind of funny as he giggled, little claps coming through your earbuds.

“Yeah, you’re screwed.”

Gosh, I can’t count the amount of times I went to see you at that store. It was like our own little hiding place where we could talk about anything and everything. We had so many little jokes too, especially starting then. You kept making fun of me and my date plant and I kept making fun of you for that video I had of you. Whenever you did fan service, just acting cute or doing something on a dare to get someone to buy a plant, I never caught it on camera except once. You would chase me around the store for that and outside and between the bleachers. I wanted to ask you to do something cute for me too, maybe a heart or a little dance, but I was always too shy to ask.

You were so whiny about it sometimes, but you made me so happy. You were my part time worker but full time cutie, as that one customer said it. Days like that, I remember very happily- days that my age didn’t matter. I hope you do too.

Mid-October, 2015

“Sunwoo!”

His name slipped through your lips, voice louder than you expected it to be but your laugh was even greater. He was running around with you on his back, howling and making noise just to cause a riot. Something about your second year of high school was having him extra excited but you didn’t know he’d be acting like this much of a fool with you on his back.

“Please put me down,” you laughed, though you were clinging onto him for dear life.

“Let go of me then,” he snipped back, turning his head a bit as he tried to look at you. He had to pull away as you leaned forwards, needing eye contact to threaten him properly.

“All right, all right,” Amalia announced, clicking her tongue, “go pull the hyenas apart so we can get our ice cream, Hyunjoon.”

The full-cheeked boy nodded, taking a step towards you and Sunwoo. The one carrying you simply let go of you and you shrieked, clinging onto him as Joon began to laugh a bit. He ran to try and help you down, nearly falling but somehow making it safely.

“You-”

Your sentence never finished itself, hands tapping on Sunwoo’s shoulder over and over again. Placing his hands up in the air to defend himself, cracking jokes with a ridiculous smile on his face. Amalia sweetly came up behind you and wrapped her arms around your body, giving you a little hug to spare Sunwoo.

Immediately, you seeped into it, pouting and muttering, “but he dropped me.”

She clicked her tongue, placating you but not exactly feeling bad for you. Her hand rubbed at your head, giving you slight pats to make you feel better. “I know, baby, I know. Now let’s get some ice cream, yeah?”

You nodded, pouting still but letting her coax you inside. Hyunjoon and Sunwoo followed closely behind, talking like crazy. Everyone had been in a good mood lately, you especially since you’d discovered Chanhee. You would visit his store sometimes, walking around and pretending you had grown a love for plants just to see him. Sometimes, he’d slip around his counter and lead you around, showing you his best sellers or his favourite plants. Most of the time, you wouldn’t remember it. You were just entirely in awe of him, of the way he smiled and pushed his lips out as he spoke. Everything about him gave you jitters, same as Jacob and Sangyeon, but so much more present because you felt like you were actually coming to know him better every day.

Walking in with a clamour, you found yourselves in a nearly empty diner. There was a man with a very long beard and a steaming cup of coffee who looked like he was just passing through for some late dinner to your left and a couple to your right. Nobody turned to look at you, not even the waiters who were talking amongst themselves. They clearly didn’t expect anyone to be coming in, much less rowdy kids who were besides themselves with happiness. An elderly lady made eye contact with you as your group found a booth and she grasped some menus to bring over.

“Anything to get you kids to start?” Her voice was high and sweet, stereotypical but comforting as she grazed her eyes over your little group.

Amalia took it upon herself to memorize your group’s ice cream orders, taking her rightful spot as group leader, as she liked to put it, and ordering ahead. Sunwoo leaned into you, whispering with a laugh on his tongue, “she’s so grown up.”

“Better her than me,” you hummed back, not caring much for the close proximity of your friend, who seemed surprised when you jabbed your finger in his chest, saying, “you could do with some growing up.”

“Don’t push him too hard,” Hyunjoon crooned, reached across the table, “his little brain can’t take too much responsibility at once.”

“Who?” Amalia asked as the waitress made her way to the back and Hyunjoon filled her in. Sunwoo seemed to want to protest but knew it would only dig him a bigger hole.

“Wait, is this progress?” you asked, gasping a bit. “Character development, maybe?”

“Our little baby,” Amalia hummed, wiping her hand under her eyes to catch nonexistent tears, “growing up so fast.”

Sunwoo’s lips came forwards, itching to say something but halfway through his defence (which no one was buying anyways), he stopped and huffed. Your head fell on his shoulder, arm snaking around his body to rub at his arm.

“Good thing is we still like you even though you’re a little dumb sometimes.”

Hyunjoon’s little smile grew for a second as he looked at you and Woo. Amalia snorted, telling you to speak for yourself. Sunwoo only cleared his throat and rubbed at his neck, suddenly meek and shy.

“Thanks.”

“Two chocolate ice creams, one mango, and one green tea,” the waitress announced lightly. She came behind Amalia, holding the styrofoam cups expertly and placing them down nicely on the table. Everyone reached for their own, telling her a sweet thank you before she took her leave.

“So, y/n,” Amalia started, looking at you over the rim of her cup, “how are things on the dating front?”

“Yeah, is your mom coming around since you got a plant and stuff?” Hyunjoon was quiet, though he looked genuinely interested as he dove into his cup. Sunwoo, who usually had much to say, stayed silent as he listened to you.

“i don’t know,” you admitted, feeling a bit down about it, “mum said the plant I bought was too easy to keep and whatever. I don’t know.”

It wasn’t that you necessarily had anyone you wanted to date, you just wanted the freedom and trust that went with it. All the people you had liked were too out of your league anyways, whether it be because of popularity or simply just age. You felt like a kid though, always having to tell your parents when and where you were going and with who. You just wished they’d sometimes maybe trust your judgement but there was no such luck on that front yet.

The ring of the front door nearly distracted you from Sunwoo’s question but you managed to pay enough attention despite the hushed laughter and snickers behind you.

“What about your dad?’

You shrugged. “You know him. It’s a team effort so if mom says no, dad says no too. They’ll have to agree on something together before I get any leeway.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m not allowed either, so, you know.” Amalia’s lips turned down a bit as she kept her gaze down, spoon tapping at the ice cream.

“Really?” Hyunjoon asked, seriously concerned about that. The noises behind you grew into real voices, parts of sentences filtering through your ear.

“It’s not that, it’s just that…”

A little chuckle, “… like them and just don’t want to say it.”

“Shut up.” This one sounded much more familiar and it caused a hiccup to come through your lips. Sunwoo briefly glanced at you, murmuring, “you okay?”

A nod snapped you back to your present conversation, though you couldn’t help but think that maybe-

“- and you guys have met my parents. You know how much it means to them,” Amalia finished, biting the inside of her cheek. Reaching across the table, feeling entirely guilty about not listening to the whole story, you grasped her hand.

“Hey, we’ll figure it out,” you promised, pushing a smile for her. “We’ll convince our parents we’re worthy of being trusted. Going behind their backs will only make it worse so we’ve gotta do our best to stay honest.”

“Yeah, we’ll help you, if you need.” Hyunjoon seemed genuinely sympathetic, giving her an encouraging smile.

Sunwoo took his chance to be serious for once, hand resting on your forearm as a form of support. “Us four against the world, right?”

“Shut up,” Amalia giggled, rubbing at the corner of her eye to catch real tears this time, “you’re going to make me cry. Stop being nice, go back to making fun of Sunwoo.”

“Hey!” he protested, mouth open wide.

“Gladly,” Hyunjoon chuckled, at the same time. Only your hand was reluctant to let go of hers. The slightest squeeze from her helped you know she was okay.

“It’s on us this time, right?” Sunwoo fixed his jean jacket over his black t-shirt. He devoured food in seconds, always being the first one to finish. Amalia tried to protest but Hyunjoon pulled out his phone checking his notes.

Very quietly, he mumbled, “hold on, I’ve been keeping track,” and trailed off, focused now. His finger fell on his lips, which stuck out whenever he was focusing. Amalia leaned in closer, trying to see what was on the screen. Sunwoo leaned into you, eyes landing on your ice cream instead of a phone screen.

“Looks like its melting,” he stated plainly, giving you a nod. The second he opened his mouth to say more, you stuck your spoon with the rest of your ice cream onto his tongue, watching him clamp his mouth shut out of instinct.

“Not anymore.” Your smile was annoyingly smug, even for you, but you couldn’t help but chuckle at the little action.

“It’s actually a free for all this time,” Joon chimed, letting everyone know. Sunwoo, pulling the spoon from his mouth, exhaled dramatically and went on a tangent about how he’s broke anyways.

Amalia, pulling you up from the table with you, mimicked Sunwoo’s facial expressions perfectly as he spoke, eliciting all too many stolen laughs. Grasping her hand lightly, you came forward and whispered, “hey, are you sure you’re okay.”

She shrugged, giving you another squeeze and murmuring, “it’s really not that big of a deal. I’ll get over it eventually.”

As you reached the counter, everyone proceeded to pull out their money. Stupidly, you forgot most of your cash at home and were now digging around in your pocket for change. The ice cream was relatively cheap but a few cents short wasn’t something you wanted to deal with- especially in front of your friends who hardly had issues with money despite lightly joking about it.

Muttering under your breath, checking your pockets, you nearly whined. Hyunjoon asked if you needed anything but, upon looking for his own change, realized he had none. He apologized quietly, hand on your shoulder for comfort. Sunwoo, who thought he was going to cover everyone’s food, also came short, and Amalia never carried cash.

The second you tried explaining yourself to the elderly waitress, who looked entirely exhausted, a familiar voice traveled up the tiled floors to you.

“Y/n?”

You didn’t need to turn your head to know who it was, feeling bubbles in your throat the second your eyes made contact. Chanhee’s little smile was sweet but there were dark circles under his eyes and he looked weary. “Is something wrong?”

“N-no,” you instantly tried to explain, not wanting him to know you came short. It was embarrassing for you, especially when it was someone you were interested in like this. Heat formed on your skin out of shyness, mouth opening and closing but not much coming out.

“Y/n’s just adding something to her tab,” Amalia offered, attempting to make a joke. Her laugh sounded forced and awkward, as did the other two’s laughs. “You know how it is.”

“Can I help?” His hand was already reaching for his wallet, which was sticking out of his pocket and covered in ridiculously bright stickers. You wanted to tell him no but really didn’t see any other option. The waitress wasn’t exactly letting up either, saying she didn’t know you or your friends well enough to let you just walk out unpaid.

“I- I’m sorry,” you stuttered, eyes torn from his and focusing hard on the floor. He only chuckled, pulling out five cents and handing it over.

“What are you doing here?”

The sudden conversation shift seemed to shock him, his mouth halfway through a sentence poking fun at a five-cent difference. Lips pouted outwards and eyebrows that travelled up his forehead, he exhaled a small laugh and said, “I was with my friend but he went home early because of a homework call or something. You?”

“Us,” Sunwoo stated, sounding relatively calm. When you glanced back at him, he had his hands in his pockets and was rocking back and forth on his heels. His tongue darted out at you to get you to lighten up- you mimicked his actions.

“Oh sorry, right,” Chanhee hurried, looking a bit panicked that he hadn’t realized it. After finishing up his payment for his coffee, he quickly turned to introduce himself. His winning smile was now plastered on his face, the roundness in his cheeks adding to the softness of his look.

Names went around and then exchanges of plans for the next few moments. Everyone said they were going home and, while Hyunjoon seemed interested in asking publicly how the two of you met (which he already knew), it came to Chanhee’s attention that they lived in the opposite direction of you.

“Ah,” he drew out, nodding like he understood everything about the world now, “so that’s why I haven’t seen any of you at my store. It’s too much of a walk.”

You gave him a little chuckle, shy and entirely awkward in front of him and your friends. You knew it was up to you to be inviting and help him feel welcome but the situation coupled with your lack of funds simply made you turned off to everything that was happening. You became cold and unresponsive in a way that was adding tension, which made you want to withdraw more.

Amalia, noticing it easily, quickly found a way to excuse herself and the boys. “Well, they’re meant to walk me home so we’ll take our leave now, won’t we boys?”

She was very proper around people she hardly knew, adding an air of elegance to her as she led the two away. Hyunjoon waved to you, understanding what Amalia meant to do, while Sunwoo was a bit harder to convince. They looked like a parent and a child bickering with each other under their breaths before he broke and wished you a goodnight.

As the group split, you and Chanhee leaving the store and walking towards to left while the others went right, you felt some release. It was easier to be yourself around Chanhee because he seemed to care less sometimes. He was so light that he seemed to take that lightness with him and sprinkle it on the path he was walking on so anyone who walked beside him felt just as airy. As you stepped on clouds with him, you apologized.

“I’m sorry again, for the money and for making it awkward.” Your apology was coupled with nervous laughter but the boy beside you just shook his head.

“It’s fine. Though, I do expect a five cent donation at my store for saving you just then.”

“Deal,” you breathed, extending your hand towards him. He shook it, smiling deeply. The way his hand seemed to linger for just a second longer than it should have made you breathless. A side effect of floating was a lack of oxygen. He seemed to make you go higher and higher, making it harder to breathe along the way.

“By the way,” he started, going on a completely different line of conversation. HIs hands were now clasped behind his back and his gaze was forwards, somehow serious but trying to remain friendly. “I hope you’re not embarrassed about the money thing. It’s really okay to be short sometimes.

“They can be a bit crabby at times there but most places here are understanding. Trust me, you’re not weird or anything, I’ve been in that situation many times.”

You blinked, not fully understanding but wanting to. “Really?”

He hummed, making a low noise. He seemed to look at you from the corner of his eye before turning a bit to keep his gaze on you now. There was something serene about him, something that brought your heart rate down and relaxed you into your bones.

“I’ve bounced between almost all the jobs in this town and the next. My parents didn’t come from much and it’s been hard making a lot so I wanted to help. It feels embarrassing at first, sure. Makes you feel like everyone’s looking at you when you don’t quite have enough money- at least for me, that’s what to was like,” he admitted, nodding again to himself.

“It just motivated me to work harder, though. There’s no point in looking at things that put you ‘behind’, so to speak, in a negative way. It’ll just make you feel worse about it.” He used his fingers as quotation marks, somewhat exaggerated in his speech but saying rather thoughtful things.

“Turn what people think is bad and make it good,” you finished for him, wanting to let him know that you were paying attention. He nodded, coming a big closer to you so your shoulders touched briefly. The lights on the pavement kept him in constant illumination, not that he really needed it. He shone just fine on his own.

“There you go.”

You didn’t know what to say. Thanking him felt ridiculous and painfully obvious to do but saying nothing felt rude. Just as you were thinking up a response, he thought aloud, “you know, I don’t think I’ve told lots of people that before. About my parents, I mean.”

Eyes widening, you instantly began, “o-oh, I’m sorry if you felt pressured to-”

His little chuckle interrupted you, a shake of his head very exaggerated. “No, I wanted to say it. I- I want to get to know you better so I should share too.”

Well, that was forward.

Once again, you dropped your eyes to the floor out of shyness, though you did find yourself beaming this time. “O-oh.”

“I know your parents are still being weird about the dating thing so I’m sorry if that was too much,” he added immediately, also seemingly embarrassed. Your heart felt like it was going to beat out of your chest. It was unbelievable to you that someone so amazing was actually interested in you- a little grade ten that stayed cooped up in your room and had to get permission to do things even now.

“No, no,” you immediately protested, not realizing your hands as they reached out. One managed to grasp at his arm as you assured him, “it’s okay, I- I feel the same, I want that t-too.”

The words felt ridiculous to say but also freeing in a way, like keeping all of your emotions bottled in were what made you feel so heavy all the time. From then, Chanhee’s expression seemed to pick up. He grinned, getting excited as he decided to concoct a plan with you on your walk home. The way he smiled made your heart race, listening along to all he had to say and agreeing without thinking much about it.

I remember meeting you so much after that. We basically had little dates of our own and we talked all the time. I always felt so grateful whenever you took me out to food on your breaks even though I knew you needed the money or perhaps more time to work. You would never hear it though, clicking your tongue at me and telling me all these places we had to go together. You would even grasp my arm and skip, telling me to live a little when I wouldn’t play along right away. You made me so shy, you know? And telling you all of this seemed impossible until then- when you told me you were interested just the same.

After that, there wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t think of you. I used to do my homework and wonder what you were doing. Did you ever think about me that much? I never built up the courage to ask, though I doubt I’d ever get a response. I just hope you know that you made me very happy, no matter what. Even though I know I disappointed you, I hope I made you happy- even if it was just once. That would mean I did something right with us, which was all I ever wanted to do. I just wanted to be right. I’m sorry it didn’t turn out that way for us.

Early November, 2015

You had planned to go on a date with Chanhee. You plotted and exchanged numbers and talked everyday. It was amazingly easy to speak to him, especially when he always had something on his tongue to say. Sometimes he would call when you asked for help on a problem you were stuck on, though he’d get suspicious of the work you were doing. Jokingly, he’d ask why you were doing easy questions. He loved to tease but he could take it just the same, mentioning how he’s usually the butt of everyone’s jokes.

“Not that it bothers me,” he murmured nonchalantly, the clock clicking past midnight as you both lay in bed, chatting away quietly, “it’s not like I think they’re meaning to be mean to me so it’s okay. It’s fun when I can turn it back on them too.”

His laugh would ring through your ears and lull you to sleep. The best nights were when he’d sing to you or send you videos of his recorded covers. The more you spoke and the few times you passed each other in the halls- the one time you ate lunch together on the bleachers even- the more you just wanted to be around him. It got to the point where Haymond knew and if Haymond knew, your parents weren’t too far behind.

“I won’t tell them,” Haymond promised, clicking away at his computer as he listened to your stories. He’d gotten more patient with you, always having an open ear and mind about these things but this was different. He seemed to genuinely be trying to be a good brother for you.

“But you will.”

You began to protest it but didn’t want to risk getting too loud and simply whined that you wouldn’t. He was right though. Eventually, you cracked when your mother asked who it was you were smiling at as you texted Chanhee the day of your date. You hadn’t realized how much you wanted to tell your mother about him that just her asking sent you into a fit of conversation; and gosh, what a long conversation that was.

She sat you down trying to be calm, trying to ask you who he was and how you met him. It was all okay and she even liked what she was hearing until you mentioned his age, and then mentioned that you lied about your age. From that moment on, the air shifted and she was disapproving, not to mention the date you were also going to lie to her about. Your father came and sat down beside her, perpendicular to you in the living room. Both had their hands folded and were leaned in towards you, concerned and asking you questions.

“Why did you lie?”

“Did he pressure you into anything?”

The list went on and on until you felt tears pricking at your eyes. You knew you were wrong and couldn’t believe yourself either but seeing it- hearing it from them- it changed everything. Now, you just felt like an attention-seeking liar and it was the thing you never wanted to be. After quite a lot of speaking, you picked up your phone, took a deep breath, and began typing.

Y/n, 5:20 p.m: hey, I have something kind of important to tell you today.

Chanhee, 5:22 p.m: please don’t tell me you’re in love with me yet lolol

Chanhee, 5:22 p.m: it’ll be the death of me, we’ll have to get ~ married ~

The smile that reached your cheeks at that immediately made you upset. Would he still be as light and joke around with you after he knew. You stuck your fingernail between your teeth as your mum looked over your shoulder, urging you on.

Y/n, 5:23 p.m: nothing like that ~

Y/n, 5:24 p.m: swear not to hate me?

Chanhee, 5:26 p.m: no promises

Your mother looked at you, being very firm now but also trying to be comforting all of the sudden. With her hand on your lower back, she rubbed circles into it and murmured, “I’m sorry, honey, but you can’t start off lying to someone and expect me to be okay with that. I thought you were more responsible than that.”

“I am,” you tried to press, wanting to convince her but knowing that whining wasn’t helping your case. She gave you a quick look, complete disbelief on her face.

“It’s really not looking like it right now.”

Sitting down on your bed, you let out a little huff. Your hands dared to go on your face, palms pressing against your skin as you felt the severity of your little fib. Everything would’ve been fine if you didn’t lie, and age wasn’t really a big deal but keeping the lie for so long was. How many times had you mentioned how hard grade eleven was, or boasted about a mark you got and how happy you were that it’d go on your transcript for universities to see? What was worse was that you felt like he wouldn’t forgive you for it. He mentioned once he appreciated honesty over anything and there you were, standing in front of him, holding your tongue about something so stupid.

Chanhee was sitting in front of you, hands covered in mittens that had the fingers cut off, wearing a calm look. He had no idea what you were about to say, probably thinking it was another one of your jokes. As his fingers curled around his little mug of coffee, his lips curved lightly into a smile.

“You look really nice today,” he chimed, wanting to get it out before anything else. He pointed at your head, chuckling a bit before saying, “although your hair’s a mess.”

“Hey,” you whined, reaching up to try and fix it but knowing you couldn’t without a mirror. He only chuckled, bringing a little rush of wind with you. For the life of you, you couldn’t figure out why he chose an outdoor table in the middle of winter; but it was an empty patio and no one could hear you. That, at least, you were grateful for.

“Look, I feel really bad about what I’m going to say so I just want you to listen if that’s okay.”

You couldn’t bring yourself to look at him, embarrassed now but for a completely different reason. Finding yourself picking at your nails, somehow you managed to start. Your tongue exposed yourself quickly, thinking it would be easier to just rip it off like a band-aid. Knowing it didn’t seem like a big deal, there were worse things to lie about than age, you hoped he wouldn’t be too upset. The reaction you got wasn’t necessarily what you would’ve wanted.

“What about that time you talked about how scared you were for university applications? Why did you make that all up?”

He seemed to be picking apart every conversation you had, confused and conflicted. You watched him go through all the stages of understanding and anger but he finally decided to detach himself, saying he didn’t think he could listen to it anymore. Slowly and politely, he pushed his chair out and walked around to grasp his coat off the back of it.

“Chanhee, please, I’m sorry,” you attempted, getting up yourself. Kicking back so quickly caused the chair to fall, echoing off the walls of the store.

His mouth became slanted, like he genuinely believed you. The coat he had on was black and long, making him look like a figure painted into a grey sky. As he fixed his collar, he said, “I know you are. I just don’t know what to say. This just seems really childish to me.”

“That’s what my mum said,” you muttered, retreating further into your shell. Your back was suddenly concave, eyebrows pressed in and lips pressed out.

Chanhee laughed somehow, though it felt rather cold. “You would say that.”

“Are you leaving?”

“I just need some air, y/n,” he started, waving his hand around. The other was fixed in his pocket. “I know we’re outside, I just need to be alone.”

“Do you think-”

“No, I don’t think we should see each other like this,” he interrupted, being rather blunt but you appreciated it. Words like these didn’t hurt as much when they took longer to hear. You just nodded, not being able to look him in the eye. Slowly, you felt his arms wrap around your shoulders, bringing you closer to his chest.

Jokingly, he hummed, “I get it though. Why you lied, I mean. It’s real hard to resist, huh?”

You found yourself laughing at his joke, hugging him as tight as you could. The tears that fell down your face felt ridiculous and you wished he hadn’t seen them. His smile was so soft, as were the napkins he picked from the table and used to dab at your cheeks.

“I’ll see you around?” Your voice cracked as you asked, taking the tissues into your own hands. This time, when your hands brushed, no spark rose in your chest. You knew the airiness he’d given you- those little butterflies in your stomach- that was all long gone.

He nodded, telling you to come by his store again. “You know when I work.”

With that, he was off. His leather bag was secured firmly on his shoulder, working perfectly with his outfit. He looked slender and sleek walking away from you, not even daring to give you a look back. You couldn’t say you blamed him, though it did make you feel helpless. How were you just constantly making mistakes left, right and forwards?

Not knowing what else to do, you picked up your phone and dialled the only number you knew by heart. A few rings in had you worried but when he finally answered, you let out the breath you were holding.

“Y/n?” Eric asked, sounding slightly panicked. “Is everything okay?”

“No,” you whispered, picking up your chair to sit back down at the table. Your tears stuck to your cheeks as you spoke to the person you knew listened to you best. He stayed with you on the phone until you went home.

There’s no doubt that you captured everyone’s hearts when they came to your store. So many people came to see you and I just happened to be one of those few customers that caught your eye. I felt lucky enough to even be friends with you and everything else after was just a dream. I’m sorry for lying to you though. You deserved honesty from the start and I realize now that two years difference, especially for us, would have been too much. I still appreciate every time you talked to me after though there was a change. You pulled away and we eventually stopped talking and I didn’t fight it. You had every right to be upset with me or to distrust me.

The only thing I want to ask you is to not dislike me too much. I realize how awkward I was, how absolutely childish and ridiculous I acted. I’ll try harder from now on, I promise, so I don’t make this mistake again. If anything, just know that I’ll still pick up the phone if you call. I miss our little chats. I miss you.

From y/n y/l/n. On November 28th, 2015.

Immediately after finishing, Chanhee’s fingers found his phone. The sun streaming in through the store window caused a glare and he hissed, having to turn around to look for your number. He knew he had it. He never deleted it, not even after he graduated and went off to his college and job and new life. Other contacts around you he could let go of but somehow, he never could for you. Biting down on his lip, he realized he missed you too. Whether it was friendly or not, you always gave him a lightness in his chest that he felt he needed. As much as you said he swept you off your feet, you did the same.

“Come on, pick up,” he murmured, foot tapping impatiently against the floor. Hating the sound of that, he began to pace again, going in and out of his room. Just as he was about to hang up, the line connected and he held his breath.

“Chanhee?”

Your voice was crisp and sweet. He didn’t know how to place it but you sounded older and it made his breath hitch a bit. Then, suddenly, he could say everything he had been holding back.

“I don’t hate you, y/n,” he started suddenly, eyebrows crossing each other, “why would you say that?”

You chuckled nervously. The sound of cars was faint in the background of your call. “Chanhee, what are you talking about?”

“Your letter. The one you wrote me like three years back.” He was serious now, rather upset you didn’t seem to be understanding. You sent the letters after all, why didn’t you understand what he was saying now?

“W-what?”

“Your letter,” he repeated slowly, hating how condescending he sounded.

“Yeah, what? How did you get that?”

He blinked, stopping in his spot in the middle of his hallway. His free hand was still clutching the paper. “You didn’t send it?”

“No, I-” you began to stutter, like you would whenever you got super nervous. Not knowing what else to say, you quickly excused yourself and hung up, leaving Chanhee in shock. What he wanted to tell you was not even close to being said and honestly, he was more confused than before, especially after hearing the panic in your voice.

“Listen, Chanhee, I don’t know who sent you that letter b- but please don’t read it. If you see anyone else with those, please rip them in half, I- oh fuck, I’m screwed, I’ll- I- I’ll talk to you later.”

The dead line ringing filled his ears.

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kinfriday · 5 years

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Wandering Hops: Disappointments

Growing up in the deserts of West Texas gave me a special appreciation for the ocean, and temperatures below 115 degrees. Our summers got so hot, I became convinced that heat was one of our chief exports to hell. No matter where you are, it seemed like it was always hotter somewhere in Texas.

However, being on the beach does not make you immune from the sun. I learned that living in Southern California, but at least the breeze coming off the Pacific is cool, and makes the days bearable.

Even down in Corpus Christi, Tx near the Gulf of Mexico, eight hours from where I grew up, the air was so thick with humidity you could cut slices of it out of the air, and save it for later. Which made it a dubious respite at best and a “living in the worlds largest dryer vent simulator” at worst.

Does it sound like I’m complaining? Maybe I’m just venting. I’ve apparently built up some steam about this topic.

Ok, there’s our terrible pun allotment for this blog post… Moving on.

To summarize, the ocean has always held a type of special allure to me.

For one, any large expanse of sparkling blue water was a rarity in my life, and for two, the sight of the Atlantic was associated in my mind with a one time summer trip to Disney World when I was six, and visiting my Mom’s side of the family in the North East. We’d go to the “Shore” (bonus points for you if that tells you the state) and spend a few days enjoying the colder waters, enjoying our respite from the desert sun.

Yet my entire life, up until I was 26, I had never ventured further west than Albuquerque. The Pacific was a mystery to me. The first time I saw it, was from the dirty window of an eighteen wheeler, hauling freight while in driver training. Far off down the street was a horizon of shimmering blue, during a spring-like November day in Los Angeles.

The traffic had been hell, the parking worse (my vehicle was 70ft long, tip to tip) but suddenly, all of my problems lifted.

There it was, off in the horizon, the big blue water of the west. Fabled in song and story.

The Pacific Ocean.

It is a treasured memory, and has stuck with me, even though I ended up living in Southern California with my then fiance, and now husband. Ironically, in many ways, the Ocean is a desert in its own right. Nothing truly lives only on the surface amongst its waves. In fact, most life there is out of sight, far below the water line. Yet the climate, and it’s beauty is so radically different from anything I had ever really known, outside of a few moments from my youth.

And, amidst the wonder, the grind of daily life, and all those memories, I somehow had yet to visit the Pacific Ocean here in my home state of Washington.

In short, I decided it was high time to fix that.

The North Head Discovery trail is a there-and-back hike rated as moderate difficulty. Its challenge arises mainly from its mileage, and the slight increase in elevation at its end. My hiking app gave me maps which combine it with the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse trail, giving it an elevation challenge.

I set out from the parking lot of a resort that donates parking space for trail goers. The trail itself was wide and paved, nothing like what I was accustomed to. A discovery trail is different from your normal hiking trail, in that it focuses on historical and/or scientific curiosities in the area. It’s not just an adventure, it’s a field trip, and for a history buff, this made it especially appealing. You see, Lewis and Clark were there, in 1805. Strewn along the straight, southern path are tiny diversions leading to monuments, and statues, detailing their journeys, and pages from their journals describing events they encountered on the very ground you are walking upon connecting you to their time.

There are gateway arches over the entrance to each parking lot you cross that in proud, bold numbers, proclaiming 1805 showing the pride the community takes in their current history.

The focus is mainly upon the expedition itself, and the local flora and fauna, but there is one placard detailing a limited history of the Chinook, the indigenous people that called that area home before they were ultimately, and unfairly displaced off their land by America’s dream of manifest destiny.

In this, I found the trail especially lacking. To know more of this people, and their history, while venturing on the shorelines where they once lived, thrived, and built their society would have served as a fitting counterpoint to the Lewis and Clark Expedition which ultimately functioned as a herald of the end to their way of life.

Overall, this feeling of imbalance greatly stuck with me as I veered south after my first quarter mile. I was now easily able to hear the roar of the waves, smell the ocean, and feel the cool breeze but I still could not see it. An endless sea of dune grass instead, like the world’s largest shag carpet, stretched out before me as I moved along the easy, wide path, wondering when I would get my chance.

At half a mile in, I couldn’t take it anymore, and diverted down a side trail, heading sharply west. Breaking over the sand dune, and there it was in all of its majesty

I stood there, and took it all in. Here I was, well over 1500 miles from where I had first seen it, and yet, this was the same patch of big blue water. The enormity of it boggled my mind, and caused me to take a deep breath, if only to recenter myself, as I pondered the vastness of the machinery of the Earth.

Still, I was not there to stare, not there to have a day playing upon the beach. I was there to hike a trail, and make miles. Taking one last look, I turned back towards my task, and got to work, stopping at a convenient bench to knock the sand out of my shoes.

Soon, the ocean disappeared behind the dunes, and I was back amongst the grassy expanse, cooled by the breeze and all the while being baked by the sun; heading south at a constant, rhythmic pace.

It got meditative. There wasn’t much to do, and there wasn’t much to see besides occasional informational placards and monuments, which sometimes broke me out of my forward moving stupor, and other times, failed to arouse my interest. The first hour passed, and then, about half way through my second, I came to an inescapable realization.

I was bored.

In the hiking community, watching videos, I’ve heard the term “type two fun.” Type Two fun is something that is fun after the fact. You look back on the memory of its accomplishment fondly, even though at the time you were, uncomfortable, overworked, bored, or any number of mildly to severely unpleasant feelings.

As I plodded along it seemed to me that, save for a few moments, this hike was going to be full of the type two fun, and I found myself disheartened. Stopping in my tracks just over four miles in I looked back the way I came as questions danced through my mind.

Should I go home? Give up? Call it an early day? Did I really want to complete this trail, or was I content with saying I tried, and it wasn’t for me?

The decision grew heavier, as I looked forward towards my goals. When I hike the PCT in 2020, I know there will be times when I’m bored, and when I just don’t want to hike. I might be sore, or just fed up, and as I pondered, it became apparent to me that giving up, was a habit, as was perseverance. If I quit today because I was bored, or uninterested, it was going to be that much easier to quit next time… when the workout got hard, or the trail challenging, or when the sentence wouldn’t come for my novel.

That simply wouldn’t do, so, turning back towards the south, I dug in, kicked on my audio book, and enjoyed the scenery I did have, putting away my expectations.

I’ll be honest, there were times when the trail seemed to drag by with all the rapidity of a snail on ketamine but I set a goal for myself to clear as quickly as I could to work on my pacing.

With a goal in mind, and a good audiobook pouring from my headset, another hour passed, as a small mountain came into view, and suddenly, there was a full beach to my right with the ocean pounding against the waves.

Here before me was a profound type of liminal space. Not just ocean and shore, but ocean, shore and forest all meeting in one collision of juxtaposed beauty. Breaking out of the dune grass, there was an entirely new vista before me now, as the trail tilted up, carrying me forward, and providing me with some elevation challenge, until I crossed one parking lot, then another, and came upon an old lighthouse perched at its top, with a sweeping view of the Pacific before me.

It was an experience I would have never had, if I had turned back. Enjoying my reward, snapping a few pictures for posterity, I took a deep breath, steeled myself, and turned around for the 7.5 mile journey back to my truck, happy that I had stayed on the trail.

#hiking #pacificnorthwest #discoverytrail #lewis and clark #chinook #trail #dayhike #trailreport #wanderinghops #studioprey #persistence #ocean #pacific #bored #lighthouse #hiker #history

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adrenalineguide · 5 years

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Volvo XC40: Full of surprises

Text and Photos by Michael Hozjan

It’s been more than a few years since I spent any time behind the wheel of a Volvo so in all honesty I didn’t know what to expect. To be more precise the last Volvo I drove was the svelte C30 Sportswagon, which paid homage to the classic P1800 Sports Wagon, both of which still remain as among my favorite Volvos. I’m glad to report that the fun factor has returned to Volvo. Let’s face it, Volvo has had its share of boring rides. Looks like all that may be history thanks to Volvo’s smallest sport utility, the stylish and sexy XC40.

The Swedish carmaker – now owned by Chinese conglomerate Geely- is the latest European to take on the lucrative suv/crossover market. Going up against established European icons like Mercedes’ GLA, Audi’s Q3, Porsche’s Macan, BMW’s X1 as well as the Range Rover Evoque is no easy task, yet this Swede is cleaning up the compact suv market.

Unlike the Q3, X1 and Macan, which appear to be shrunken versions of their big brothers, the XC40 not only easily distinguishes itself from its larger siblings, the XC 60 and XC90 but clearly sets itself apart from the slew of cookie cutter crossovers on today’s roads.

Three trim levels make up the XC40 line up with prices starting at $39,750 for the entry level Momentum and topping off at $48,200 for the Inscription (who comes up with these names). My well-equipped middle of the road R-Design starts off at $45,650.

For the added six grand tag over the base model the R-Design gets two zone climate control, a cooled glove box, power passenger seat, panoramic sun roof, paddle shifters, cornering lights, a sport-tuned chassis and 19” wheels.

All XC40s ride on a brand-new platform that uses a space-efficient, cost effective coil/four-link rear suspension. There’s a slew of powerplants available, including a diesel, sadly they’re not available here.

Supplying the go for the Canadian market to the all-wheel-drive is Volvo’s T5 turbocharged 2.0L inline four cylinder mated to an 8-speed automatic. With 248-horsepower and 258 lb.ft. of torque on tap the XC40 easily muscles its way through the competition, including some the sports car-oriented marques, scurrying the crossover from 0 to 100 kms in a mere 6.5 seconds. The ride is composed over all but the roughest terrain.

The automatic is smooth and easily responds to throttle inputs when going through the gears with the paddle shifters and makes tackling serpentine roads a joy.

Sadly, and the only reason I see behind it is an effort to be “different” but shifting into gear from Park is…well…a pain in the butt and even after a week in the driver’s seat was still cursing the “engineer” who thought of this one. When shifting out of Park you need to pull OR push the gear lever into neutral then tap it twice to the back for Drive and if you want to back up tap it twice forward. Ya, a pleasure for parallel parking. We’ve been shifting from Park to Reverse to Neutral to Drive for years. Why change something that isn’t broken?

The interior is spacious, very spacious, considering the XC40’s exterior dimensions but I was floored when I opened the doors to my R-Design. It came with the loud Lava Orange two-tone colour scheme. Yes there is a more docile interior that you don’t have to pay extra for.

Admittedly I kinda like the loudness, it certainly brightened up the cabin, although questioned the use of orange “ozite” carpet material on the door panels, and its wear ability. The rest of the interior’s fit and finish is second to none and the use of other materials isn’t as drastic and often complimentary. There are pockets and cubbyholes galore to keep all your peripherals in place whether they are large water bottles or wireless cell phone charging.

One small item that really impressed me was a slot on the center console with a flap. No need to open the armrest to slip in gas or toll receipts. Smart. There’s also a place to store the cargo blind/parcel shelf under the cargo bay’s floor.

The buckets are comfortable and supportive with just the right amount of side bolstering. Good visibility is what we’ve come to expect from suvs and the Volvo delivers.

As I said it’s been a while since I drove a Volvo and was dumbfounded by its lack of buttons/dials on the dash. Luckily the audio volume still has a dial so no need to fiddle. The large screen is more than an infotainment center, it’s the heart of the car’s controls for everything you can think of and then some. After getting past the first few days of cursing I found the screen easy enough to navigate around, but it did take some getting used to and going through the menus and submenus by tapping, scrolling, swiping and retapping, no matter what size the screen, distracts the eyes from the road. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, I wish designers would realize they are working on cars and not a spaceship.

Annoyances are minor there are a few I could do without. It won’t release the parking brake if you’re not wearing your seat belt, pain in the butt if you just want to move it a couple of feet or are trying to maneuver it into a tight spot. Come on Volvo give us some credit! The large tablet-sized screen not only shows greasy fingers it naturally shows more glare.

It’s not perfect but despite the oddities, and that’s what I’ll call them the XC40 is a great little wagon. Hopefully Volvo will step in and remedy them. It attracts lots of attention on the road as well as the mall so be prepared for a lot of questions from the young and old alike. I averaged 9.53L/100 kms which was mostly highway driven, a bit on the high side for the size of the vehicle and considering the roads were dry and suspect it will improve over time.

The Crystal White Pearl paint job added another $900 to the sticker price, 20” wheels ($1,475), the Lava Orange interior trim added another $150. The premium package ($1,750) included some needed niceties for our climate including headlight washers, heated wiper blades (YAY!) heated steering wheel and rear seats. As well as blind spot monitoring and cross traffic alert. The Harman Kardon sound system ($900) and nav ($1000) brought the final tally up to $53,890. Not exactly cheap for a compact crossover but on the other hand not dear for a well-equipped, formidable, stylish, comfortable highway cruiser.

#volvo #xc40 #volvo xc40 #crossover #suv #macan #x1 #audi q3 #bmw x1

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duhragonball · 5 years

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Dragon Ball Z 092

Last time, Goku reailized he was losing this fight, so he risked everything on a 20x Kaio-ken Kamehameha. If it worked, great, but if it failed, Goku would be completely exhausted and unable to continue fighting. Above is a side-by-side comparison of Frieza before and after the attack.

Yeah, it’s only one image because IT DIDN’T DO ANYTHING. Goku’s toast.

I think Goku had already decided that Frieza wasn’t bluffing about his true strength, but now there’s absolutely no question. Frieza’s been half-assing it this whole time, while Goku just went beyond his limits and came up short. He’ll only get weaker from here. There’s nothing more he can do.

Elsewhere, Bulma has recovered from getting blown away by Frieza’s power, and she’s caught Captain Ginyu, who got swept along with her. You know, I’ve often wondered if civilians in Dragon Ball are a lot stronger than real-world people. You’d assume that Bulma’s about as strong as a typical real-world woman of her height and build, because she’s not a fighter, so there’d be no reason for her to have any superhuman abilities. But I’m pretty sure if a real person went flying uncontrollably through the air like she did last episode, she wouldn’t have survived without injury.

I mean, this is presumably where she landed. It’s not exactly a pile of feathers or anything. Also, Captain Ginyu did some pretty athletic stuff while he was using her body. And maybe Bulma works out, but I doubt she’s doing like advanced gymnastics stuff just to stay in shape. What I’m suggesting is that if Bulma somehow traveled to our world, she could kick Brock Lesnar’s ass. She’d just slap him and he’d get a concussion or something.

While Goku and the others are demoralized by the failure of his last-ditch attack, Frieza tells a somewhat different story. He’s not that badly hurt. All that Kamehameha did was singe his hand. But it did hurt him, and that makes him upset.

And that fires him up. The idea that a mere Saiyan could do even that to him is infuriating, so he charges after Goku in a rage.

I’m not positive, but I think this is the first time Frieza calls a Saiyan “monkey” in the Japanese dub. Guldo said it first, back in Episode 62, and I think Jeice might have used the term as well, but I’m pretty sure we haven’t seen Frieza say it. I think the Funimation dub used the slur more often, which I guess fits in with how Linda Young played the character. Ryusei Nakao has a much more chilling performance in general. His Frieza makes polite chit-chat, then flips his shit. Young’s Frieza isn’t so subtle. Everything she says is tinged with an air of brutal menace, and a lot of her lines included cutting remarks and insensitive jokes at the good guys’ expense. There was always something really emasculating about her Frieza too. In one episode she calls Goku “big guy” in a really condescending way, and in another she mocks Ginyu for being hurt over not getting to do the dance of joy. I’m pretty sure she used the word “monkey” in almost every episode where Frieza mentioned Saiyans.

I’m not sure what to say about Chris Ayres, since I haven’t seen as much of his work. I feel like I saw some video about the Funimation dub of Kai, where Chris Sabat said they recast Frieza because Young couldn’t deliver the new lines at the pace they needed. That would make sense, because it feels like Ayres’ Frieza is constantly trying to fit in as many words as he can into a limited amount of time. Young might be fast enough to do that, but her performance always hinged on the timing, like she was soaking each word in as much contempt and spite as possible. Ayres’ Frieza is like “Oh I see you seem to be under the mistaken impression that I will let you live as it were but let me assure you that this is hardly the case as I have decided to murder you right here.” And it’s like I don’t think they needed that many words to get the thought across. He’s almost like a Big Green Dub character, only with better diction.

The point I guess I’m making is that Nakao’s Frieza developed over the course of the series. He started out being ultra-polite and unctuous, then he got snotty and irritated as things stopped going his way, and now he’s finally revealed his naked racism against Saiyans. Young, and perhaps Ayres, kind of did all of those things at once throughout their performances.

Make no mistake, Goku’s got nothing left in the tank. It would be bad enough that the 20x Kaio-ken didn’t get the job done, but on top of that, the Kaio-ken takes a heavy toll on the user. He’s worse off now than he was two episodes ago, when Frieza was beating the crap out of him.

For Frieza, this just proves that he was right to kill all the Saiyans, since all they’re good at is fighting, and they’re too stubborn to be made to do anything else. Goku and Vegeta insisted on fighting Frieza, even knowing how difficult it would be. He doesn’t admire their tenacity; he just views it as self-destructive.

Then Goku starts hearing Vegeta talking to him. At first, he asks him to team up with him, as if he forgot that Vegeta’s already dead.

Then he sees him in some sort of vision.

Years ago, I found an audio recording of Vegeta’s speech in this scene, and I used to put it on playlists and listen to it on long car rides. I’m gonna try to do the dub version from memory.

Vegeta: Kakarot, listen to me! Is that all the power you have? Where’s your Saiyan pride?

Goku: But... I never was a Saiyan!

Vegeta: What are you talking about? You can’t deny your heritage!”

Goku: Vegeta... right now it doesn’t matter what I am. Forget about it.”

Vegeta: We both know you have Saiyan blood running through your veins! [audio cut out for some reason] --pain, but there is one thing you must never forget: It was Frieza who destroyed our birthplace, the Planet Vegeta. There’s no one left except for your.

Goku: The... the pride... of my people!”

Vegeta: Think back, Kakarot. Remember your father.... my father.”

Bardock: My... son... lives... on!

King Vegeta: Ooohhhh... (dies)

Vegeta: So while you may deny who you are, you are the very last hope for a lost race of brave warriors. Ask yourself this: Why does Frieza want you destroyed so badly? He’s afraid a Super Saiyan will rise up! Fight him for the entire Saiyan race! Destroy him, for you have the power within you! Now go, Kakarot. It is time!

Eh, close enough, I think.

Anyway, Vegeta’s butt-ass nekkid the whole time he says all this. Also he has his tail, so that’s a thing.

Now, you might be wondering what Frieza’s doing while Goku’s having this conversation. Turns out he’s still intent on dragging this out. I’m pretty sure Frieza is just waiting for Goku to completely shut down, the same way Vegeta did before Frieza finally killed him. Also, I’ve begun to notice that this is Frieza’s big weakness. Before I said it was laziness or complacency, and there’s some truth to that, but now that I’m watching him fight, I see that when you piss him off, he actually slows down more. Frieza announced that he was going to kill Goku and end the fight like two episodes back. Instead, Goku singed his hand. You’d thin that would compel Frieza to hurry this along, but instead it had the opposite effect. He’s actually giving Goku more time, because he’s convinced that Goku has no more surprises in store, and he wants to punish him even more than he did before.

Yeah, he keeps saying stuff like this, but he never follows through.

Meanwhile, on King Kai’s planet, there’s some commotion going on inside King Kai’s house.

Someone took out Bubbles and Gregory.

And it turns out to be the dead guys from the Ginyu Force. If there was a college textbook on anime filler, this shot would probably be on the cover. But we’ll talk about the Ginyu Force on King Kai’s Planet later.

Back on Namek, Goku has raised his hands in the air like he just doesn’t care. Frieza is bewildered. He figures Goku must be up to something, but he has no idea what, since he’s so weak right now.

But Krillin calls it right away. It’s the Spirit Bomb, the same technique King Kai taught Goku to use against the Saiyans. Of course, Piccolo wasn’t around for that, so Krillin has to explain it to him. This irks Piccolo, because he just came from King Kai’s place, and King Kai never even mentioned a technique like this. To be fair, Piccolo was only there for less than a week, and he wasn’t exactly cooperative.

Now you might be wondering why Goku didn’t try something like this a long time ago. Well there’s a number of drawbacks to the Spirit Bomb:

1) It takes a long time to prepare, and Goku’s defenseless the whole time.

2) If Frieza notices what he’s up to, he’ll just dodge it, or kill Goku before he can deploy it.

3) The Spirit Bomb is pretty dangerous. King Kai warned Goku not to use it in broad daylight, because the energy from the sun would make it too powerful. Namek has three suns, and Goku doesn’t think that’ll be enough, so he’s gotta borrow energy from other planets in the vicinity. In other words, Goku might end up making an attack so powerful that he ends up destroying the planet along with Frieza.

These aren’t hypothetical issues either. The first time Goku used the Spirit Bomb in combat, it was against Vegeta in his great ape form. Vegeta attacked him before he was ready, then he attacked him before he could launch it. Then he had to turn the residual power over to Krillin, and Vegeta dodged it. Then Gohan bounced it back at Vegeta, and it didn’t work. Vegeta took the Spirit Bomb and survived. You know what finally did kill Vegeta? Frieza.

I can’t stress this point enough. The Spirit Bomb is an incredibly terrible idea in this situation. I’m pretty sure the main reason Goku trained at 100 times gravity on the way here was so that he would never need to rely on the Spirit Bomb ever again. Enemies like Vegeta were just too fast and powerful to take the time to make one of these things. It’s easy for us to think “well, he can just make a bigger one!” but it only amplifies the weaknesses in the technique. A bigger Spirit Bomb just takes that much longer to build, and it becomes that much harder to control.

But Goku’s doing this anyway, because it’s literally all he has left. His own power has failed him, and the one great advantage of the Spirit Bomb is that Goku can borrow energy from other sources. Even i he does destroy Namek, it’ll be worth it to rid the universe of Frieza.

As for Frieza, he’s just standing there watching this. I never understood why he waited so patiently here, but I finally realized that it’s his curiosity getting the better of him. He genuinely wants to know what Goku’s trying to do, and he figures Goku’s already beaten, so he can afford to wait. From a sadistic standpoint, I’m sure he wants to wait for Goku to execute his plan, just so that Frieza can prevail one more time and humiliate Goku further.

Ironically, if Frieza could just sense ki energy like the Z-Fighters, he’d know exactly what Goku was up to. Krillin spots the bomb almost immediately. I’m not sure why it’s so high in the air like this. Before, Goku would absorb the energy into his own body and form the bomb from his hand. This time, he’s using energy from multiple stars and planets, so maybe it’s easier to converge it all above him. Or maybe he’s purposely doing it this way to hide the bomb from Frieza. He’d have to look straight up to see the thing, and he has no idea that he’d even need to.

Here’s a couple of shots from the other planets Goku is drawing energy from. I really enjoy these for some reason. These alien creatures seem to have Namekian style antennae, which I think is a nice touch, assuming these are worlds in the Namek solar system.

#dragon ball #2019dbliveblog #frieza saga #goku #frieza #vegeta #king vegeta #bardock #piccolo #gohan #krillin #bulma #captain ginyu #recoome #burter #jeice #guldo #king kai #yamcha #chiaotzu #tien

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kplr-radio · 5 years

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Broadcast: Rob Kranken, 01/18/19

[Fire Escape Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness]

Rob: Good evening everyone, this is 103.5 KPLR Radio, that was “Fire Escape” by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness. I’m your host, Rob Kranken, with you on this Friday night going into Saturday morning. It’s about 30 degrees outside and I am huddled in my studio with my jacket on and a blanket that I found in a storage closet. No one is on the road, and I’m hoping it stays that way ‘cause we got a lotta ice out there after Thursday's storm. In more personal news, I talked to Angelo as someone last week advised. I’ll respect his privacy on-air but I do think you were right. And besides, he’s alright to talk to. Much better than some of the interns. Speaking of which, those kids are so easy to mess with. You’d think a strange town like Kepler would give you immunity to a few scary goofs. Anyways, I’ll stop blabbering, here’s “Daydreamer” by Young The Giant.

[Daydreamer Young the Giant] [Shutdown Joywave] [Train Brick + Mortar] [Way Too Much Wavves]

Rob: That was “Shutdown” by Joywave, and then “Train” by Brick and Mortar, and “Way Too Much” by Wavves. It seems like it’s gonna be a pretty quiet night so I’ll go ahead and fill the silence before I leave you all to more music. So it’s January, right, the start of a new year. And people make those resolutions, and this, maybe two weeks in, is when a lot of people start falling off. First of all, if your goal involves weight loss, I’d recommend not bothering. Unless a medical professional tells you that and means it, and they’re not just being a prick, then you don’t need to lose weight. Second of all, if you drop off now you don’t have to wait ‘til next year to pick it up. Say you’re trying to learn a language. That Duolingo owl is still gonna be there in a month if you get too busy. And besides, languages are not easy and are never gonna make sense, so I’m proud of you for even trying. Now I’m an old man, I’m— I’m 42, so I haven’t made a New Year’s resolution in quite some time. But this year I was… well, I had something in mind. I was thinking this year I should get some hobbies outside radio, something I can do on my own. And I… I haven’t found anything that really sparked my interest yet, but like I said, the year isn’t over. So keep searching, I’ll keep searching, we all gotta keep searching. Then we’ll start over next year, hopefully as better people. I’ve rambled enough. This is “Cringe” by Matt Maeson.

[Cringe Matt Maeson] [I See You MISSIO] [Salt Bad Suns] [So Tied Up Cold War Kids, Bishop Briggs]

Rob: So that was “I See You” by MISSIO, “Salt” by Bad Suns, and “So Tied Up” by Cold War Kids and Bishop Briggs. It looks like someone’s calling in, and now is as good a time as any, so I guess we’ll move into this part of the broadcast. Listeners, feel free to call in with whatever. Questions, comments, messages for other Keplerians. Hello, you’re on the air.

Caller: I was out in the woods the other day and I stumbled upon some mighty weird tracks. They looked a bit like goat prints, but they was looking like each goat was up two legs. I followed 'em for a bit before they turned into normal footprints. Actually, now that I'm thinking 'bout it, I suppose they was just some bored kids out havin' some fun.

Rob: Well, you never know. The woods are a wild place. Who can say? Maybe there’s goat people out there. I don’t know. Just keep an eye out, or better yet leave that area alone. Stay safe. [click] Howdy.

Caller: Hey Karen, I’m really sorry that I pushed you in front of me when that weird thing was coming at us. I was a coward. Please talk to me.

Rob: Karen, if you’re out there, and listening at such a late hour, this person seems sincere, maybe give them a chance. Or don’t, I don’t know what happened. [click] Who’s next?

Caller: Play some bleachers please? I'm feeling angsty.

Rob: Can do, listener. How’s five songs work for you? Great. This first one is “I Wanna Get Better.”

[I Wanna Get Better Bleachers] [Rollercoaster Bleachers] [Wild Heart Bleachers] [I Miss Those Days Bleachers] [Don’t Take The Money Bleachers]

Rob: That was “Rollercoaster” “Wild Heart” “I Miss Those Days” and “Don’t Take the Money” all by Bleachers. Feels kinda fitting for tonight’s mood. I didn’t mean to make it as angsty as it ended up, but you know how it is. Every plan adds to the amount of mistakes possible. Anyways, I’m gonna play this ad for y’all that I’ve been meaning to do.

[Audio advertisement transcript: [haunting orchestral music] Have you ever heard a true story that couldn’t possibly be real? Or maybe seen something you couldn’t believe with your own two eyes? No? [music cuts off] Then you’re not living, my friend! Come on down to the Cryptonomica, we have centuries of hidden knowledge of the arcane and the mystical! Stories beyond suspicion, creatures beyond compare! We’re just off State Route 16055. The Cryptonomica: a museum for the mysterious.]

Rob: Thank so much to the Cryptonomica for sponsoring us this week and every week since I’ve been here. This means that Ned Chicane is directly responsible for every impulse purchase I have made. You did this, Ned, you’re the reason there’s a gold metallic Slinky on my desk right now. I’m gonna talk about my personal life now, because no one is here to stop me. And I’m sure you’re all dying to hear the gossip here at the station. So, of course, station management is on us constantly about our use of the office materials here. We’re on a budget, you can’t be using this many sticky notes, where are all the pens, blah blah blah. Whatever. Now, I can be a little loose with my sticky note usage, but I promise I’m not wild with it. I usually leave them for whoever is next in the studio, usually Angelo, and I’ll mark the settings that need to be adjusted. Believe it or not, Angelo is actually new at radio, despite his wildly successful podcast and powerful voice. Don’t tell him I said any of that. But yeah, I’ll leave notes around. Then, the other day, station management says they won’t keep buying the sticky notes if I keep using them up. Which seems counterintuitive, but I don’t know. I’ve never understood capitalist business models. This is community radio, anyway. But I was starting to cut down on my notes. Only four notes instead of seven. Only one in the kitchen with all the stuff crammed in tiny lettering. Is that what you wanted, supervisor? To try and read my illegible handwriting, extra-small? Well, Angelo was actually using those notes, like I said. And apparently, when I was out today, he got me one of those huge packs of the pink ones, my favorite. I came back and they were sitting on my desk with a green sticky saying they were from Angelo. Now I don’t know about any of you out there, but when the sticky note revolution comes, I know whose side I will be on. There is no greater solidarity than rival coworkers coming together against an oppressive anti-sticky note management. I… it’s late, sorry y’all, I’m not too sure what that was. Anyways, I’m going to cut out a little early tonight, but I’ll leave you some extra tunes to make up for it. Thanks for listening, here’s “I Don’t Wanna Dance” by COIN.

[I Don’t Wanna Dance COIN] [Modern Jesus Portugal. the Man] [Giants Bear Hands] [Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene Hozier]

#broadcast #robkranken #1/18/19

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kpoppernov-10 · 5 years

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Monsta X Concert Review

On Saturday 8/3/19, I went to the MONSTA X <WE ARE HERE> show at the Hulu Theater in NYC. After such a great concert last year, I was more than happy for my second Kpop concert to be at Monsta X’s next world tour. The fact that it was in NY instead of NJ made it even easier for me to attend. Plus, my brother joined me for this concert so it was nice to go to a Kpop event with someone. This year’s experience was a bit different from last year’s, but one thing that stayed consistent is that Monsta X put on a good show.

There’s a lot to discuss, so I’ve broken down the concert experience into parts.

Pre-Concert

Tickets

As I mentioned in a previous post, getting a ticket took more work this year. There seems to have been a technical problem with the Powerhouse website but I was still able to get decent tickets. I think I was technically closer to the stage than I was last year, but I was more to the left of it so I wasn’t able to watch Monsta X from the center like last time. Nevertheless, I was in the front row of my section, so I was able to see and enjoy everything fairly well.

Venue

Although it was easier to get to this venue, it was nowhere near as nice as the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. For a place as famous as Madison Square Garden, the Hulu Theater is very basic with not much aesthetic at all—mostly just grey walls filled with (granted, comfy) seats. That’s not a big deal though since that aspect of the venue doesn’t really matter. But what does matter is the fact that the acoustics were lacking so the sound quality for this concert wasn’t as good as the rich, surround-sound-like experience of the NJPAC. It’s a shame that the venue had an unfortunate effect on the concert but oh well :/

Crowd

There was obviously a high percentage of young females but there seems to have been slightly more guys than before. There were very few older people attending this show and few Asian people in general, but I think the group was still diverse. The crowd waited patiently outside in the setting sun, and it was really nice to see two concertgoers dressed in Ongshimi Minhyuk outfits! The general check-in process was very organized but there was, understandably, much more security (metal detectors, bag x-rays and K-9 dogs) since this is NYC. Either way, everyone was seated and ready to go in no time thanks to all the helpful staff.

CONCERT

Although the concert was originally advertised to be at 8 PM, I found out only a few days earlier that it would actually be at 7 PM. But I guess most people got the memo because the place was pretty much full before the show started. There were some “false alarms” because a few things happened before everything officially began (e.g. the lights dimmed, a screen for the tour popped up and an Mnet ad appeared twice), but the show did start at approximately 7:10 PM.

Stage/Audio/Visual

The main stage wasn’t that big and it was only one level, but there were multiple big screens that displayed things from different angles and used different effects. The screens enhanced the overall concert experience since I could watch close ups on side screens and also enjoy background visuals on the main screen. Like I said, the audio was not very good and sounded a bit low for some reason. It also seemed like the audio was only coming from the stage area instead of sound filling up the entire theater. Either way, the lighting was good and there were points during performances where stage lights changed colors, steam blew from the stage and confetti rained over part of the audience.

Videos

The show started with a really cool opening video that introduced the group/members. The other concert videos were also good and I actually think that this year’s video content was better than last year’s. Instead of a Monsta X party, they had “MonTube” that showed each member doing funny YouTube-style video clips that related to their personalities and interests. The other videos showed more scenes and details from the Alligator/Shoot Out era and they did a good job explaining the whole 7 Deadly Sins concept that they’ve pretty much had since their Beautiful era. Although I definitely enjoyed the videos for The Connect Tour, I still don’t quite know what they were really about. So Monsta X did a much better job at making their videos entertaining yet understandable this year.

Talks

Monsta X talked throughout the concert in both English and Korean (with a translator), but they made a clear effort to speak more English this time. Although some members still struggle with English, you could hear how much other members improved (Kihyun’s English is now the second best in the group!) and most were able to speak more comfortably than last year. The most surprising part of the talks was when each member gave a little speech entirely in English at the end of the show. I honestly think they should’ve just let Shownu and Wonho speak Korean since it was so difficult for them to express themselves in a different language, but I appreciate the effort and I think their English will continue to improve with time.

Songs/Performances

Monsta X performed about 20 songs, plus they had special group acts and solos. There were more props for this concert which was a nice touch to their performances. As usual, everyone sounded good and the dancing was on point. I think their wardrobe was better than last year’s and their black and gold outfits were my favorite. They sang about half of the songs from each of their latest albums, some songs from The Connect mini album, but few (or even no) songs from the rest of their discography. I guess Monsta X is reaching a point in their career where their song collection has gotten so big that many great songs can’t be in their concerts simply due to time constraints. And the fact that they released two full length albums back-to-back made it even less likely that most of their older songs would be performed. Nevertheless, some of the missing songs were featured in the bgm of their videos and overall Monsta X picked a solid set list that included different styles, energies and moods for the concert.

I’m not a fan of the remix versions of Monsta X songs, but the 8-bit video screen for I’M’s part in Hero was really nice. They sang less title tracks but the new choreography for their non-title tracks was good (especially for Oh My). Minhyuk and Jooheon sang the Ongshimi chorus during one of the talks and it was funny when Jooheon sang and Wonho rapped another member’s part while performing. I was surprised that many of my favorite songs weren’t in the concert, but it was good seeing less/non-promoted songs live. The solo performances were a real treat since I enjoyed Jooheon's drum solo and Hyungwon’s DJ stage was one of the best parts of the show.

Conclusion

Overall, it was great to see Monsta X again. Unlike last year, I had to stand up most of the time so I could see, but thankfully I didn’t lose my voice or get dehydrated because I learned my lesson from my first concert :P. There was actually more humor in this show than last year so it was fun to enjoy music and laugh throughout the evening. I hope everyone had a wonderful time, and I’m glad that the rest of the world tour was a success. Monsta X, fighting!

For more details about the concert, keep reading :)

Intro video

Shoot Out, Hero (remix), Trespass (remix)

Intro talk

Kihyun screams hits a high note that makes him cough

It was really funny/cute when Minhyuk was like “Did you miss us? Did you miss ME?? Did you miss Wonho?”

Party Time, Play It Cool

Talk + Kihyun asks us to sing the chorus of Play It Cool’s English version

Mohae, Jealousy

MonTube video

Shownu - ASMR mukbang

Wonho - Fitness

Minhyuk - Makeup

Kihyun - Coffee

Hyungwon- Fashion

Jooheon - Cooking (makes a Honeyto burrito)

I.M. - English class

Group Performances

Kihyun, Minhyuk, & Hyungwon - Bazzi’s Myself

Jooheon & I.M hip hop song + Jooheon plays the drums

Wonho & Shownu - Mirror (made by Wonho)

Talk about songs

Jooheon & I.M messed up the bottle flip during their performance so they tried again but still failed :P Hyungwon was the one who was able to do it. (Note: They didn’t get around to talking about their song, but according to @KUnnies_on Twitter it’s called 삼박자)

Honestly, Noel Hada, Sweetheart

Talk

No Reason

7 Deadly Sins Movie

This was a very interesting video because it clearly showed which sin each member was portraying: wrath (Shownu), sloth (Wonho), agony (Minhyuk), loneliness (Kihyun), pride (Hyungwon), greed (Jooheon), and envy (I.M.). Even though I already knew/figured out most of this already, the reason why I wasn’t sure about some of them is because they replaced lust and gluttony with agony and loneliness, which are more emotions than actual sins.

It’s nice that the video officially clarified all this because I thought Minhyuk was lust since many of his scenes in MVs had roses in them and Kihyun was gluttony since all the formula-filled images related to him made it seem that he was a glutton for knowledge or something (or maybe Wonho was gluttony because he ate an apple in an MV?). Either way, their concept makes more sense now :)

Who Do You Love, Dramarama

Talk

Oh My, Special, Fallin’

Talk + them acting like this was the end of the show :P

Alligator, H.One’s DJ performance, Rodeo

Real Goodbye/Closing (mostly done in English)

By My Side

Group picture, Wonho’s shirt toss, final bows

Credits with behind the scenes footage

#Monsta X #world tour #NYC kpop #kpop #we are here

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