#dazed article | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tomorrowxtogether · 1 year

Text

The explosive rise of TXT, Gen Z’s K-pop ‘It band’

As Tomorrow X Together join the handful of K-pop stars who’ve reached the number one spot of the Billboard 200, Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun and Hueningkai talk to Dazed about growing pains, finding their uniqueness and driving their fandom wild

Tomorrow X Together (commonly abbreviated to TXT) are one of the most fascinating pop groups in the world right now. Consistently, gracefully effortless yet purposeful – whether it be exquisitely realised concept trailers or a genderless approach to their choreography and styling (smears of lipstick and glitter, skirts and leather corsets) – their approach unfurls from using their youth not as fleeting conceptual gimmick but a creative bedrock and boundaryless, ever-evolving lens. TXT’s arc is a coming-of-age narrative in real-time, each era a reflection of youth’s most glorious and revelatory moments, but also its most furious, frustrated, questioning, lovesick, contradictory, and even unashamedly awkward.

On their new EP, The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION (featuring the members' ongoing lyrical and musical contributions), they face exactly that – the tempting sanctuary of a perpetual Neverland, ignoring the world which demands they, as young adults, take on weightier responsibilities. TXT use the devil as a tangible figure of enticement on songs like “Devil by the Window” and lead single, “Sugar Rush Ride” – but the devil is also a facet of themselves, one in conflict with the desire to understand who they’re becoming as they mature.

Each track forms a step for TXT to find a pathway into their future, although it’s not always linear: On the Afrobeat-inspired “Tinnitus (Wanna be a rock)”, they veer into the clutches of imposter syndrome – “Rockstar minus the star… I don’t have that kind of talent/I’m not a ‘born to be’/Even when I see myself, I know I am nothing special” – a bittersweet admission when considering the band’s steady ascent since their debut in 2019, and explosive growth over the past year. It’s with this EP that they join the handful of K-pop artists who’ve reached the #1 album spot on the Billboard 200, an achievement that further cements TXT’s status as Gen Z’s ‘It band’, a title that’s been attached to them since early 2021.

Fresh off this major milestone, Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun and Hueningkai talk with Dazed about being a voice of a generation, growing pains, finding their uniqueness, and driving their fandom (known as MOA) wild on social media.

If the minisode EPs (2020’s Blue Hour and 2022’s Thursday’s Child) were ‘pit stops’, a mental breather to process the difficulties the world was in, where does this record and era find your heads at?

Yeonjun: I think the name of the new chapter speaks for itself. Through our music, we’ve already talked about friendships, love and heartbreak, and we’ve grown a lot since then. The new series is about coming of age and finding my name and identity. So we were very focused on making an album that reflects this stage in our lives.

Soobin: Musically, we wanted this EP to reflect all that we can do because I feel that we’re really finding ourselves as a band. We always knew what we wanted in terms of our career, but the picture is definitely becoming clearer and clearer.

The visual concepts for The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION are particularly eye-catching. When we think of the devil, we don’t think of pastels or glitter; how does the artwork represent not only the story but also the stage at which TXT are in their career?

Soobin: The ‘Daydream’ concept is about falling into Neverland and leaving our dreams behind. ‘Nightmare’ portrays a kind of ‘sugar high,’ which is sweet and wonderful but short-lived. The ‘Farewell’ concept is about leaving Neverland to seek the stars and chase our dreams, and ‘Lullaby’ shows us on the other side as Peter Pan luring youth into Neverland.

Hueningkai: I like to think we look more relaxed and at-home because it’s our fourth year as a band and we’ve gotten better at embodying various concepts. All four concepts for this EP are vastly different and I think they show that our creative scope has really widened.

The last record took nine months to make. How long did you work on The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION?

Beomgyu: We’re always working on music non-stop, but in terms of this EP alone, it was in the works from early May last year. We wrapped it up late November so I guess six or seven months just for the music. Obviously, the full process is longer because we have to shoot the music video and perfect our choreography and such. I think it came at the perfect time because what better way to kick off the new year than with new music?

All the members admitted to struggling in certain parts during recording Minisode 2:Thursday’s Child; how did you fare with this EP?

Taehyun: We felt pretty great about all five tracks. Some songs like ‘Tinnitus (Wanna be a rock)’ let us get into the groove of things while recording so that was quite an experience, because the song’s really a vibe.

Beomgyu: I really liked recording ‘Happy Fools (feat. Coi Leray)’ because it’s basically a perfect group project with creative contributions from all five members, including the topline by Yeonjun and the incredible voice of Coi Leray. I guess if we had to pick one song that was most challenging, it would probably be ‘Devil by the Window’. It’s not our first English track, but there are some very precise and delicate emotions that we need to convey through the song, and expressing these emotions exactly the way you intend to isn’t the easiest job to accomplish in a language that isn’t your mother tongue. I still think we all did great though!

‘Devil By The Window’ and ‘Sugar Rush Ride’ fascinate me because of their urgency and power but, like you mention, they’re also incredibly delicate…

Soobin: Glad you liked it! The overall theme of this EP is growing up despite all the sweet temptations to stay young and carefree. We all know we have to grow up. We have dreams and ambitions. But sometimes, growing up isn’t easy and it comes with pains. Staying in Neverland might be nice but you’re forfeiting a chance to grow up and fulfil your dreams. The illusion of Neverland doesn’t last, and the real world still awaits.

I guess this is a reality that’s been hitting home for you since debuting – the exhilaration of your youth on one side but the numerous responsibilities that come with being a globally successful band on the other?

Taehyun: I think it’s a feeling that everyone, not just the five of us, has experienced at one point. You’ve kept going and going and there are days when you feel immensely proud of yourself but there are also some days in which you feel like you’ve hit a brick wall. Then you just want to throw everything and not worry about how to get through it.

Hueningkai: Because of our career, I think we were granted opportunities and experiences that not many people come across. I admit it is a responsibility because music has such a lasting and widespread impact, but we’re still very happy about having the chance to walk this journey and to grow up together with our fans. Being able to document and communicate these experiences through our music makes it feel as though we’re all just growing up and living life together.

If you could stay young forever, would you?

Yeonjun: Every year is so different. There are new highs and new lows but the experiences we’ve had in the past four years are ones we wouldn’t trade for anything. Some experiences like our first world tour last year or performing at Lollapalooza were moments we couldn’t imagine ten years ago, but because we chased our dreams, we were able to see them turn into reality. I can’t wait to see what the next ten years have in store for us.

Beomgyu: Each age and generation has its own unique experiences. I wouldn’t want to forfeit these just to continue what I already know. There are definitely many more stories to tell down the road, and I’m really excited about that.

Flying and falling are themes TXT uses frequently, and we see it on this EP on ‘Farewell, Neverland’: ‘Neverland, my love, goodbye now, And I’m free falling.’What’s the significance of them for you in 2023?

Hueningkai: 2023 opens up a new chapter for us. Our story has always been one of growth and this year is really about embracing this process to step out and soar to claim whatever new goal we want to achieve. We’re chasing our dreams and we’re excited to see what this new year will bring us.

It’s been nearly a year since BACKSTAGE: TXT x EN – DOCUMENTARY in which Yeonjun said: ‘I hope we become a unique group’. Do you believe you’ve achieved that desired uniqueness or at least moved closer to that goal?

Soobin: It definitely does feel like we’re well on track. With our five newest songs, we’re trying more genres and concepts, and even ones we’ve tried before are portrayed differently because we’re not the same kids we were just two or three years ago. Everything still sounds like us, like Tomorrow X Together, but it feels exciting to expand our scope and put more sounds under our belt. Our signature is our authenticity and story so I think we just need to keep going and stay true to ourselves.

Taehyun: I hope that one day, people will be able to hear our song start playing and immediately recognise it to be Tomorrow X Together. We want to be the descriptor of our own sound.

Technology has allowed for more artists than ever to release music and there’s also so many new ways to play with and mix genres. Are you ever overwhelmed or distracted by the sheer enormity of all it? Or has your strong narrative and aesthetic created a clear-eyed path for the group’s evolution?

Yeonjun: I think the answer to that is both always and never. There are so many good artists and so much good music coming out left and right, every day. These are all wonderful creative influences that help us to learn and grow as musicians. Also, I believe that the trending sound of that moment is a reflection of that generation’s experiences and sentiments. It’s a good study.

Hueningkai: In the end, what we’re about when it comes to Tomorrow X Together albums is to tell our own stories about growing up in this generation. It’s the thoughts and emotions we’ve had and these are subjects that we share with our contemporaries. Living life and chatting with our peers – our fans everywhere included – definitely does help us to steer and navigate.

These days, TXT is referred to as Gen Z’s ‘It band’ – what’s it like to be seen as a mirror for a generation?

Yeonjun: It was a great honour when we first heard someone refer to us as that and the same emotion still stands. We’re quite thankful that people love and enjoy our music enough to think of us in that way and it’s a great feeling. It’s definitely a position we personally feel we need to keep working on to maintain, but we want to say that it motivates us in the best way.

Beomgyu: We also achieved our first number one on the Billboard 200 with our latest EP, so I want to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful MOA because this couldn’t have happened without the love they’ve shown for our songs. This EP meant a lot to us while working on it and we couldn’t wait to bring it out into the world. Now that it’s out, we’re thrilled that we can finally show everyone what we’ve been working on. We can’t wait to perform these songs for everyone in person. MOA, thank you for loving and relating to our music. I hope each of these songs connects to you personally as they do for us.

Taehyun, you mentioned on socials that the Lullaby version can be ‘said to be seducing MOA’, which sent the fandom into a meltdown. Does the band go online to enjoy the excitement and chaos they’ve unleashed?

Taehyun: Definitely. We’re almost chronically online during new release periods and teaser drops. We love seeing all the hype around new content because our fans get so excited and it feels amazing to see them so happy about something we’ve worked on so hard.

Soobin: It’s the best kind of chaos. The hype is indeed shared between all of us.

Finally, if you did by some chance meet the devil, where would you take him for a nice day out as a break from all that strenuous temptation?

Hueningkai: On tour. The devil can help us tempt our MOA!

Taehyun: Maybe to the beach. The devil needs some sunlight. Or the gym so it can work some of the stress out.

#txt #tomorrow x together #230216 #article #dazed #dazed digital #soobin #yeonjun #beomgyu #taehyun #hueningkai #the name chapter: temptation #The Name Chapter

50 notes · View notes

kim-jonghyeon · 1 year

Text

"10 year chart reversal after disbandment" Fans are in tears about the regretful state of NU'EST

[source]

"Face" by Pledis Entertainment's five-member boy group NU'EST was met with an amazing chart reversal.

It's such a shame that their song took off after their disbandment.

I'm gonna cry, really.

Why didn't I like you then, guys?

Can't you get back together?

Please reunite to promote Face again!

"Face," which was released as a debut song on March 15, 2012, is going through a speedy chart reversal after ten years because of SNS. Though fans are welcoming the chart reversal with joy, the group's disbandment has also made it a rather regretful situation.

The group that debuted with "Face" was the five-member boy group NU'EST. NU'EST debuted on March 15, 2012 with the single album "Face" but it did not garner as big of a reaction as other rookie groups at the time.

At the time of their first debut, they promoted as five members composed of JR, Aron, Baekho, Minhyun, and Ren, though after about a year, Chinese member Jason was added to the group and they promoted as six members under NU'EST-M.

Currently, many people are keeping NU'EST's "Face" alive through Tiktok and Instagram as though it was a dance challenge. Since the song became famous after 10 years, more people started looking for its original singers. Naturally, NU'EST was mentioned and many people came to learn about the current state of the group.

Although most people accepted that NU'EST was a disbanded group and simply uploaded videos, NU'EST's fans would explain in greater detail and the truth of their chart reversal became known. It was through this that many people felt their regrets.

A popular celebrity from NU'EST

On February 24, 2017, NU'EST announced their suspension of activities as four members would appear on Produce 101 Season 2. The members who decided to participate in Produce 101 Season 2 were JR, Baekho, Minhyun, and Ren.

This was where Minhyun was selected to be in the final lineup of Wanna One, and NU'EST had the chance to be known once more. Without Minhyun, the remaining members resumed activities as NU'EST W.

Called "monster rookies," Wanna One was an eleven-member boy group (including Hwang Minhyun) that received enormous attention from the public. They were also the first singers who debuted in Gocheok Skydome.

Groups who were chosen through Mnet survival programs showed a trend of possessing an explosive popularity and fandom. IOI, who debuted through Produce 101, were in a similar situation.

Earning amazing ranks from debut, they became the representative leader of third generation of k-pop boy groups. The group was composed of members Yoon Jisung, Ha Sungwoon, Hwang Minhyun, Ong Seungwoo, Kim Jaehwan, Kang Daniel, Park Jihoon, Park Woojin, Bae Jinyoung, Lee Daehwi, and Lai Guanlin.

NU'EST members lately

NU'EST has actually suspended activities. Their company, Pledis Entertainment, revealed that their exclusive contracts had expired last March 14, 2022. They finished the last of their official activities with the release of their best album "Needle and Bubble."

NU'EST JR (Kim Jonghyeon) has moved companies to Evermore and debuted as an actor and solo. He is promoting the release of his first mini album and solo debut, "MERIDIEM."

NU'EST Aron (Kwak Youngmin) is currently working independently without a company. A native of LA, he left his company and decided to go solo. Having had several years of experience as a radio DJ, he has expressed that he has started preparing for his first solo activities on his podcast.

NU'EST Baekho (Kang Dongho) has re-signed with his current company Pledis Entertainment. The name "Baekho" was given to him by After School's Uee. Baekho is continuing his solo activities after the release of his first mini album, "Absolute Zero."

NU'EST Minhyun (Hwang Minhyun) is actively promoting after re-signing with his current company Pledis Entertainment. He officially began his solo activities with the drama "Alchemy of Souls" and his first solo fan meeting.

NU'EST Ren (Choi Mingi) left his company and decided to move to Big Planet Made. He plans to continue actively promoting as a solo artist and actor.

[this is a fan translation by a non-native korean speaker and may contain inaccuracies. it has not yet been proofread or edited.]

35 notes · View notes

wild-at-mind · 10 months

Text

Hacking my brain on depression: one of my favourite things to do when depressed is convince myself that me feeling like shit is actually good, because it's an appropriate reaction to all the horrible things happening in the world.

The way tumblr social justice culture used to be structured was very based on 'bad feelings in a privileged person=something good is happening'. This came from the idea that people in privileged groups often feel very defensive when introduced to new ideas about how the world is structured in their favour. Their negative feelings about learning this eventually (in theory) translate into learning more and understanding more about the reality of marginilised people.

This is a real thing but it's not all there is. It's actually really weird now I come to think of it that the tumblr social justice sphere (and later the twitter version of same) latched onto this so hard. There are many other ways to come across information that makes you seriously change your worldview about privilege. There are also many things that can make you feel awful without any kind of productive thought and no benefit to anyone else or to yourself. Feeling like shit in reality usually doesn't translate to doing anything productive. (I'm not convinced it works in most social justice contexts except someone discovering a new idea for the first time, actually.)

So occassionally you still run into the kind of stuff like above on here, and it's really bad for my brain, personally. I actually use it as a kind of emotional self harm during the depression spirals. (This is probably obvious if you read my blog.) I get so I can't even contemplate trying to access outside help with my illness, or the simplest internal coping mechanisms that would help (e.g. if reading horrible tumblr blogs makes you feel worse, stop!). So I try and hack my brain by telling it- actually it's really important that you stop this because otherwise you will actually be worse at social justice stuff- if you can't engage with anything without shutting down how is that a good thing for any kind of cause? And I try and use that to get myself out of a spiral. How well it works will be seen- if I write 20 tumblr posts in the next few hours: it didn't work. If I'm not seen agian for a while: it worked.

#depression daze #something i noticed recently is that tumblr and other social media really likes individual scapegoats #for problems we know perfectly well are societal.#for example a damning anecdote about a specific well-off white gentrifier #is more compelling than an article about how structural and policy changes can reverse gentrification.#i get why the 'if you feel bad it's a sign you need to change' ideas caught on i just don't get why they didn't in other regards.#e.g. if you feel really horrible in an unexplained way when you think about trans stuff as an assumed cis person maybe you aren't cis?#that was kind of my journey #maybe it's not that common to have this happen but i've spoken to other people who recognised this experience #the thing with privileged vs marginilised dynamics is that anyone can be in either one for a particular reason all at the same time #it's not good vs evil #like because everyone has a mix of characteristics i mean #not explaining this part well

4 notes · View notes

girlaskew · 2 years

Text

Frigid teens…

#this is the worst article I’ve ever read #fuck dazed

5 notes · View notes

beneaththetangles · 2 years

Audio

Welcome to Doki Doki News, your source for updates in the world of anime, gaming, and otakudom, for the week of August 21st through 27th! Check out the latest episode in our player below, or subscribe to us on SoundCloud, where you can also find breaking news episodes!

Are you excited for a Gravity Rush live-action film? Will you be playing Sonic Frontiers? Thanks for listening!

Attributions:

Gravity Rush [Otaku USA]

Horizon Dawn Zero [IGN]

Parasyte [ANN]

I’ve Somehow Gotten Stronger When I Improve My Farm-Related Skills [ANN]

PS5 [ANN]

Sonic Frontiers [ANN]

Disgaea 7 [CR]

3 notes · View notes

danaidana · 9 months

Text

July, 2023

#article #beauty #smokey eyes #cinema #pamela anderson #dazed digital

0 notes

leaderwonim · 2 months

Text

✴︎ THE MONSTER’s GONE, HE’S ON THE RUN, AND YOUR BOYFRIEND’s HERE.

pairing. lee heeseung x fem!reader

genre. established relationship, zombie apocalypse au, ANGST, fluff then and there, high sch!au (they’re seniors), mentions of dying and being bitten

synopsis. when it comes down to it, will lee heeseung protect you like he had promised in the beginning of your relationship?

author’s note. This one is a long one and I lwk felt my heart being ripped apart as I finished the ending 🙁 the scene where he sings to her is based off of the scene from “Beautiful Boy” where Nick’s father sings to him. I kind of envisioned Y/n and Heeseung as Cheongsan and On-jo so do whatever you want with this information!

Lee Heeseung was the perfect boyfriend. He was athletic, tall, and most importantly of all, loving. He wasn’t afraid to show you how much he cared about your relationship.

Being the captain of the hockey team came with a lot of perks. For one, no one was able to yell at him for always giving oogly eyes at you during practice, and no one dared say a word when Heeseung would stop in the middle of his laps to talk to you.

“It’s pretty cold, isn’t it?” Ha Kyungmi, the girlfriend of your cousin and Heeseung’s friend, Sunghoon, perched herself right next to you in the stands.

“Heeseung gave me his jersey.”

Kyungmi smirks, letting her hands feel the material of the jersey you have on. “You lucky bitch!” She says, making you giggle. “Heeseung’s never lent someone his jersey before, that’s how you know he’s serious.”

“That’s good to know,” your eyes look back into the ice, seeing your boyfriend and Sunghoon competing to see who was the fastest.

“You hear that breakout that’s been happening in Busan?” Kyungmi digs in her sweater pockets, pulling out her phone. “It’s reaching Seoul. My mom told me about it yesterday.”

You read over the article that Kyungmi shows you on her phone, something about a deadly outbreak that’s been contaminating the people of Korea. It had started in Busan, and it was making its way to Seoul now.

“Hey!” The voice of your boyfriend makes you snap out of your daze. Heeseung makes his way towards you along with Sunghoon, pulling off their skates as they tossed it against the wall.

“You look pretty,” Heeseung leans in to give your cheek a sloppy kiss, one that has Sunghoon pretending to gag at. “What are you gagging at Hoon? As if that’s not you and your girlfriend all the time.”

Sunghoon raises his hand in mock surrender, interlocking his hand with Kyungmi. “It’s weird seeing you kiss my cousin dude!” He says. “We’re gonna go to the cafeteria if you guys want to meet us there later.”

You glance at your phone, realizing there was only 15 minutes of lunch left.

“Sure, we’ll meet you there man.” Heeseung gives Sunghoon a pat on the back before intertwining his hand with yours, pulling you closer to him despite already being in close proximity.”

“Were you cold?” He asks, concerned bambi eyes making you bite your lip.

“No I wasn’t Seungie.” You lean your head on his shoulder, his thumb rubbing your fingers as the two of you stayed in silence for a bit. “We should probably meet with Sunghoon and Kyungmi before lunch ends.”

“Yeah.” The two of you stand up, making your way out of the ice rink. Thankfully for your growling stomach, your school’s cafeteria was only a few meters away.

“There they are!” Kyungmi waves the two of you over, “I told you buying 2 extra sandwiches was a good idea!”

“Okay okay, sorry baby.” Sunghoon says. “Took you guys forever.”

“It was 5 minutes Hoon,” Heeseung rolls his eyes, thanking Kyungmi as she passed you two your sandwiches. “I really don’t want to go to Ms. Jung’s class. She’ll be the death of me.”

Suddenly, there’s a scream, one that is so horrid that it makes your boyfriend drop the glass cup of orange juice he was holding.

“What’s happening?!” Heeseung says, standing up immediately. He wraps his arm around your waist, eyes widening when he sees students panicking all around.

“Quick, Mr. Jeon’s class is nearby!” Sunghoon pulls the three of you towards a classroom. Inside was about 10 other students, whom of which looked like they were on high alert.

“Yah,” one of the guys said, suddenly standing up. You recognize him as Yoo Hanbin, one of your classmates from biology during your tenth year. “Are you guys bitten? Show us your neck and arms.”

“Bitten?” Heeseung scoffs, pulling you closer to him.

“They don’t know what’s happening Hanbin.” One of his friends says calmly. “They’re probably just scared like us. Close the door, hurry.”

Hanbin snarls, but he obliges. He ushers the four of you in, closing the door in a rush. He then places the teacher’s large wooden desk against it with the help of the other students.

“What’s going on?” Kyungmi asks, flinching when a sudden bang comes from the door.

“Quick! Move more desks!” Despite not knowing what the hell was happening, you helped Hanbin and the others place all the desks against Mr. Jeon’s room.

“There’s an apocalypse,” Hanbin’s friend answers after you all catch your breath. “Haruto.” He introduces himself after.

“Apocalypse?” Heeseung’s grip on your hand is suddenly tighter. “What? You mean like a zombie apocalypse Haruto?”

“I didn’t believe it either,” Hanbin slides his body down against the wall tiredly, lifting up his sleeves to show you his arm. “At first.”

It was bloody and looked like it hurt badly.

“I was in the piano room when it happened. Seolhee’s cries were all I could hear before I heard them. Their growls.” Hanbin shakes his head, looking down at the ground. “I tried saving her—but I couldn’t. One of them tried to bite me before I slashed them across the face with the piano chair. I ran so fast that I fell on the way to Mr. Jeon’s room, that’s where the cut came from.”

You can’t help but send the poor boy a look of pity, feeling overwhelmed by the sudden information.

“Is this about the outbreak?” Kyungmi suddenly speaks up. “The one we read about, remember Y/N? Is it the one from Busan causing all of this?”

Haruto solemnly nods, and that’s enough for you to let out a small cry.

Heeseung wraps his arms around you, letting you bury your head into his chest. “Sh, it’s alright.”

But it wasn’t.

You and Heeseung huddle up together against one of the corners of the room alongside Kyungmi and Sunghoon, trying to generate as much heat as possible.

With the whole city in ruins by now, you knew electricity would be gone soon, you just hoped it would be gone in the morning instead of night.

“We’re almost out of water.” Haruto says, getting up suddenly. One of the girls, who you recognize as Ryujin gets up with him.

If you weren’t stuck in a zombie apocalypse, you would’ve gushed over how much they complimented one another. Ryujin was the star tennis player who looked like she hated everybody, but the way she looks at Haruto showed that she more than tolerated him.

“You seriously aren’t thinking..?” Ryujin pulls Haruto back by his arm. “You can’t go by yourself to get water!”

“I’ll go with him.”

For all the years you’ve known Sunghoon, he’s never been as brave as he was now. You could tell Kyungmi was scared out of her mind, grabbing onto his hand as her lips quivered.

“It’s too dangerous! We’ll live without water for now!”

“Don’t be ridiculous baby,” Sunghoon gives her a comforting glance. “Me and Haruto will go, we’ll come back soon.”

“If he’s going, I’m going too.” The emotions Ha Kyungmi felt earlier now transferred to you. You shake your head, not letting Lee Heeseung’s hand fall from yours. “Y/N, please. Sunghoon’s my best friend, I have to.”

But I’m your girlfriend, you wanted to say.

As much as it hurt you, you knew you had to let Heeseung go. The risks were high, but you knew the rest of your classmates were thirsty to death and needed water as soon as possible. You couldn’t be selfish and beg your boyfriend to stay in front of all of them.

“Be safe.” You say, standing up to cup Heeseung’s face. “Please. Protect yourself first.”

He nods, wiping away the tears that escaped your eyes.

“Promise me, Heeseung.” You whisper.

“I promise.”

You let go of Heeseung reluctantly, watching as him, Sunghoon, and Haruto all slowly push aside the desks, opening the door as slowly as possible.

The growls were less prominent than they were a few hours earlier. You didn’t even want to look through the window to see how many zombies were downstairs at your school’s entrance.

As soon as they’re gone, a boy comes and sits himself right next to Kyungmi and you, giving a small smile.

“You okay Kyung?”

You find it weird how close he’s being with Kyungmi, and even weirder that he waited till Sunghoon had left.

“I’m fine Eunwoo,” Kyungmi replies, slouching against the wall. “Are you okay?”

You turn your head back around, not wanting to eavesdrop on your friend. You prayed and prayed that Heeseung would be kept safe when he was going to get water. You knew where the boys were going—Mrs Ahn’s room. She was the only teacher who kept giant packs of water bottles in her class for students who were thirsty. You hoped Mrs. Ahn was still alive.

“They’re going to Mrs. Ahn, aren’t they?” Ryujin asks, sitting herself next to you.

“They are.” You turn to make eye contact with her, surprised to see a purple bruise near her eye. “What happened to you?”

“Zombies.” She grins, although she knows it’s no time for jokes. “I only made a fuss earlier because Haruto was the one who saved me. Despite being quiet, he really knows how to fight off zombies.”

“Hey,” you get closer to her, almost whispering now. “What do you know about Eunwoo over there?”

Ryujin raises her eyebrows, placing her sight on Eunwoo who was talking to Kyungmi up close. “Has had a crush on Ha Kyungmi for over a year now. I see them sometimes.”

Your eyebrows furrow, not expecting such a response. Before you could say anything back, Heeseung and Haruto quickly rush into the room, slamming the desks back onto the door.

“Seungie?” You and Ryujin rush over to help them. They had 2 packs of waters in their hands, letting it drop on the ground along with their knees as they tried to catch their breath.

“I—I—” Heeseung seems choked up, his eyes teary and red. “I tried to help him—I really did.”

Your jaw practically drops knowing full well what Heeseung was implying. Park Sunghoon was nowhere to be found, not behind him, not behind Haruto.

“They came so quickly, we panicked and we just ran and I—” Haruto is unable to finish his sentence when you let out a scream, your body scumming to the floor.

“My cousin’s dead?” You sob out, clutching onto Heeseung’s bloody blazer when he comes down to hug you.

“I can’t believe it,” Kyungmi’s mouth goes dry and she turns over to hug Eunwoo, who rubs her back comfortingly.

You’re too distraught to even question why she was in another guy’s arms right after your cousin, her own boyfriend, just died.

“I’m sorry,” Heeseung repeats over and over again, letting you cry into his shoulder.

“It’s not your fault,” you sniffle. “Tell me he died a quick death. Tell me it wasn’t painful for him Hee.”

“He fell out the window,” Heeseung says, a few tears escape his eyes. “They backed us up into a wall and Sunghoon fell out an open window. We heard a loud slam and when we looked, he was already dead.”

You sob even louder, making Heeseung’s hold on you tighten.

When you finally catch your breath and pull away, you notice how Heeseung has scratches all over his face.

“Oh Seung,” you say, tracing your fingers over them. “It must really hurt.”

“It feels fine when I’m with you.”

The both of you lean against the cushion that’s propped against the bookshelf in Mr. Jeon’s room, your head laying against Heeseung’s shoulder as you both hold each other’s hands tightly. You felt like Heeseung would disappear if your grip loosened.

“Your lip,” Heeseung suddenly says, letting his index finger touch your lips, which were chapped and bleeding.

“It’s fine,” you brush him off, but he shakes his head, reaching into his pocket for something.

“Here, I have your chapstick.” He pulls out your strawberry flavored chapstick, the one that you always bought before the apocalypse had happened.

“Where’d you get this?” You breathe out.

“I always keep a spare one in my pockets because I know you,” Heeseung smiles down at his lap. “I knew it would come in handy.”

Your eyes softened at his words, one hand coming to hold his chin as you lean in to give him a long kiss.

“Thank you Seungie,” you say as you pulled away. “For everything.”

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

You suddenly jolt up from your sleep, face covered in cold sweat.

“Hey, hey, everything’s okay.” Heeseung whispers to you.

You take in your surroundings, making out Hanbin and Haruto’s figures guarding the doors and the rest of the students in the class asleep.

You had your head on Heeseung’s lap, your body sprawled along the cold tiled floor of Mr. Jeon’s class.

“How long have I been out?” You ask groggily, trying to squint at the dark clock on the wall.

“Just two hours.” Heeseung sighs. “The growling stopped for a bit. It’s eleven now. You should sleep more.”

You shake your head, disagreeing. “No Seung, you should sleep. I could watch over for a bit with Hanbin and Haruto.”

Heeseung bites his lip, almost as if he was really debating whether or not he should be sleeping right now.

“Seung, please. You need your energy.”

Heeseung agrees hesitantly, letting you switch places so now his head was on your lap.

“Goodnight Hee.” You say, placing a tender kiss on his forehead.

He smiles back at you, closing his eyes as he let sleep consume him.

Your eyes search around the room, focusing on Kyungmi and Eunwoo sleeping on one another.

Before you were too distraught to care about them two, but now that everything was calm, you really took in the situation.

Ryujin’s words rang in your ear like a mantra. Eunwoo liked Kyungmi for over a year now.

Does that mean.. ?

No, it couldn’t. You knew Ha Kyungmi. She was a sweet girl to you for the most part, she wouldn’t do that to your cousin.

Would she?

“They’re here.” You hear Hanbin whispering. His voice was filled with dread and fear, and your worst suspicions were true.

The zombies had reached your classroom.

“EVERYBODY! UP!” Haruto yells, clumsily turning on the small light that was still working in the room. “WE HAVE TO MOVE! QUICK!”

Heeseung wakes up with a grunt, his arms automatically reaching for your waist as if it was a natural reflex.

“They’re here?” He asks, squinting a bit at the bright light.

“Yes, let’s wake the others.”

You two start tapping your classmates awake.

“There’s a window we can climb out of.” Hanbin points at the window that was half covered by the cushion you and Heeseung had laid on earlier. “It’s not a big drop so we’ll survive it. It’s our only escape.”

Your classmates all start talking at once, some unsure of Hanbin’s plan.

“We don’t have much time!” Ryujin exclaims. “Quick! Climb out!”

A few of your classmates help each other get out of the window carefully, cheering silently when it works successfully.

“I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to hold them off.” Haruto says, the desks being pushed out by the bangs of the zombies on the door.

“Kyungmi! Let’s go!” Eunwoo grabs the girl’s hand, pulling her towards the window.

“Eunwoo—but—Y/N?!” She turns to face you, who was currently helping the boys hold the door against the zombies. “Y/N!”

“Just go Kyungmi!” You yell, watching as Eunwoo helps her get out first.

“We’re going to have to let go and make a swift run for it,” Hanbin says to the three of you. “A broken arm or leg will be better than dying at the hands of these creatures.”

Haruto closes his eyes, nodding slowly at his friend’s words. “On a count of three.”

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three!”

The four of you let go, the zombies automatically piling into the room as soon as you do.

Haruto and Hanbin are quick, climbing out and jumping onto the ground in a swift second.

“Cmon Heeseung! Y/N!”

Heeseung climbs out first, foot barely making it out the window before one of the zombies have got you.

“Y/N!” He screams, hands gripping onto the window as he tries to reach for you.

“Heeseung! It’s not worth it!” Kyungmi shouts, “they’ve already got her, she’s gonna die anyway, it’s not worth it.”

Heeseung’s vision goes red at this. “I don’t fucking care Kyungmi! Unlike you, I actually love my girlfriend to death and would do anything for her!”

His words have her cowering in embarrassment, Eunwoo wrapping a protective arm around her.

“Yah you fucker!” Eunwoo yells. “You want to be with your girlfriend so badly? Then die!”

He and Kyungmi run off to find shelter, the only two who were left were Hanbin and Haruto.

They were silently begging Heeseung to drop it with their eyes, telling them that it wasn’t worth it.

“Cmon Heeseung man,” Haruto says croakily. “You’ll die.”

“Then I’ll die with her.” Heeseung whispers. He watches as one of the zombies bite you, making you scream out in pain.

The zombies all make their way to another classroom when they realize you’re the only one, and since you’ve already been bitten, you were no longer desirable to them.

Despite knowing he would most likely die if he did it, Heeseung climbs back into the room, pulling you into his arms as he did many times before.

“Hey, hey.” He chokes up as he pulls you closer. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s—okay.” You reassure him, eyes slowly turning red as your twitching hands come up to touch his jaw. “Will you sing to me Heeseung?”

You had always joked before that Heeseung would become a famous singer in the future, his beautiful voice entrancing you whenever he’d sing or hum a song.

“Of course.” He gulps, eyes becoming blurry from the tears as each second pasts.

“The monster’s gone, he’s on the run, and your boyfriend’s here.” Heeseung’s lips tremble, unable to hold in his emotions any longer. “Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful girl.”

He holds you in his arms despite your twitching body, knowing any second you would turn into one of them. He watches as the light from your eyes disappear, and your skin turns green and veiny.

Lee Heeseung doesn’t cry a lot. He believed that crying wasn’t going to fix anything.

But as he watched the Y/N he loved disappear from his arms despite being physically there, he sobs and sobs. Despite knowing it won’t do anything, he pulls your body onto his, hands on the back of your head as he begs the world to silently bring you back.

2K notes · View notes

eleetcovergirl · 1 year

Text

The Evolution of ELchanel-(ELeet Mattel)

#SECONDLIFE Check out my new Blog/Magazine Cover Spread💚 #ELEETmagazine #ELchanel #ELeetmMattel

View On WordPress

0 notes

ohworm-writes · 7 months

Text

Thinking about Firefighter!Price.

Imagine him coming home after a long, exhausting day of working, keys jingling as he unlocks the door at some ungodly hour of the night, footsteps falling heavy against the floor as he walks inside, exhaustion and fatigue lingering along his form.

He's still dressed in his station wear - a fitted, navy blue t-shirt with Station 141's logo printed onto the front of it, small, right on the right side of his chest, and a pair of trousers in the same color to match, hanging loosely onto him.

He should take a shower, he knows he should. He smells of sweat and sulfur, the scents clinging to his clothes and skin like a second skin, and he know that the two of you'll have to wash the bedding come morning.

But god, the sight of you in bed, dressed in a loose pair of your own shorts and one of his spare shirts, face smushed against one of the pillows as your breathing comes slow, in and out, steady - it's far too enticing to pass up so easily.

So he unbuckles his belt in a daze, stripping off his shirt, undershirt and trouser, tossing the articles haphazardly onto the floor (he tries to toss them towards the hamper, but he knows he misses, given the way his belt buckle clanks loudly against the hardwood floor of the bedroom, but, honestly, he could care less).

And he gets right into bed beside you, fingers grazing lightly over the exposed skin of your thighs, traversing upwards, fingers splayed as his palm travels over the fabric of your shorts, sneaking their way under the loose shirt of his that you wear, hand pressing against your tummy as he pulls you close.

He presses his nose into your shoulder, eyes fluttering closed as he deeply inhales the scent of your body wash, softly shushing you as you start to rouse, the way your body gently begins to shuffle as you let out the softest, sleepiest yawn, listening as he grumbles softly against your skin.

"Didn't mean to wake you, love. Go back to sleep."

His voice is so hoarse, so strained and rough from the events of the day - yelling and barking out commands to the firefighters within the ladder and engine crews that he guides - but, at the same time, it's runs smooth like honey, settling just right in your sleepy, hazy mind.

He hugs you tighter, pressing your back flush against his chest as he curls his body around you in a subtly protective manner, littering tender kisses against your neck, trying to coax you back to sleep as he lets out a soft sigh, infatuated with the way your body molds perfectly into his.

"Mmm... s'fine, John. Wha... what time s'it?"

"None of your business, that's what time. Go back to sleep. I'll be here in the mornin'... promise you that. Okay?"

He doesn't let you ask your questions. If you try to think, he knows you'll wake up, and he already feels guilty about waking you up in the first place, so he doesn't even entertain your sleepy question, giving you a promise - two, technically. That he's here now and that it'll stay that way until the two of you wake up in the dawn.

"Stubborn..."

"Always. We c'n talk in the mornin'. Sleep."

"Mmm... glad you're back home safe. Love you."

"Love you, too."

But by the time he says the words, you've already fallen back asleep, and a deep, rumbling chuckle erupts from within his chest, amused, pressing one last kiss to the corner of your jaw before letting himself fall asleep behind you, his breaths, his heartbeat falling into sync with your own.

#There was a firetruck driving outside my place with it's sirens blaring at like 9 o'clock at night and it inspired me to write this #I'm playing with the dog tags I bought as I write this - half asleep in the middle of playing the MW3 beta while listening to Italian music #I don't even know Italian #Call this multitasking #price x reader #john price x reader #captain price x reader #captain john price x reader #call of duty x reader #cod x reader #firefighter price #firefighter!price

2K notes · View notes

miirohs · 12 days

Text

cariño [c.s.z]

pairing: Mob Boss!Carlos Sainz x GN!Reader wc: 1.3k cw: blood, implied off screen violence an: i cannot write hurt/comfort, forgive me for this raw ahh fic... i actually did most of the spanish in here myself though my spanish sucks for someone whos been learning for two years. also this better do well or im actually going to ragequit (not).

“Carlos?” You sat up, eyes heavy as you turned your head in the direction of the bathroom.

There was a crack in the bathroom door, a sliver of light faintly illuminating the room. You could hear him clunking around inside, soft groans of pain reverberating around the room. He’d been in there for god knows how long, leaving you restless as you waited for him to somehow come back.

Pulling yourself out of bed, you tiptoed across the room, pushing the bathroom door open quietly.

A mess was all that greeted you.

You grimaced at the smell of iron staining the air, slightly pushing the gun that sat right at your feet. Various articles of clothing had been discarded all over the floor, a trail of blood stained the floors and the granite countertops.

Your eyes followed it to the bathtub, where you saw Carlos laying. His breathing was shallow, head tipped back against the edge of the bathtub, exposing the cuts all over the visible upper half of his body.

He wore nothing but a white undershirt, pants seemingly still on as they weren’t among the pile of clothes you’d seen earlier. Hearing you shuffled seemed to wake him from his dazed state, head turning in your direction. You froze.

The low lights seemed to cast a shadow over his eyes, barely hiding his bloodshot eyes, full of frustration and irritation as he stared at you.

“Creí haberte dicho que no me molestaras (I thought I told you not to bother me)…” He trailed off, annoyed expression on his face softening into something less harsh at the sight of you, “…Y/n. Is something wrong?”

“What happened?” You murmured softly as you approached him, causing him to try to sit up in the tub as.

“Nothing cariño, please go back to bed, I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep.” He groaned, offering you a faint smile as if to comfort you. In all honesty, it made you all the more unsettled at his disheveled appearance, like an itch you couldn’t seem to rid yourself of.

“Carlos, who’s blood is this?” The question made the smile drop off his face, a closed off expression taking its place as you got closer to him.

“You don’t need to worry about it.” He snapped suddenly, glaring at you as if daring you to take another step closer. “No más de esto, déjalo cariño (no more of this, let it go sweetheart).”

You didn’t listen to him, gently sitting yourself down next to the tub. The cold was a sharp contrast to the heat in your legs.

Looking over, his hand was covering his waist, teeth gritted in pain as you reached down to move his hand.

Pausing, you looked to him for confirmation and he nodded, despite his former reservation about you seeing him in that state.

Gingerly, you lifted his hand off, eyes widened at the sight of blood soaked in his shirt.

“Te lo dije (I told you),” He retorted with a frown, “I told you so, I didn’t want you seeing all of this.”

“Could you roll it up so I could at least see what's wrong?” You fretted, fingers lightly running up and down the ribbed material of his undershirt.

Exasperated, he obliged, pulling the material that seemed to stick to his skin.

“What the fuck happened…” You trailed off, breathing becoming uneven as you scanned the expanse of his wound, cutting through his skin and exposing the flesh. His ribs were bruised up, various other cuts around the area of the wound.

Worst of all, the coppery smell seem to burn your throat, tears welling up in your eyes at the sight.

“Breath, mí felicidad,” He groaned, bringing up his hand to your own and caressing your knuckles, “I’ve had worse happen to me, and you panicking will not make things easier.”

“But we should call the doctor-”

“We can’t,” He insisted, straining as he sat up to look at you, “You need to do it. There should be a first aid kit in the cabinets, can you get it?” Even as he was bleeding out there in the tub, he had such an intense gaze, mixed with some form of adoration as he watched you.

Reluctantly you got up, opening up the cabinets to shuffle through the boxes, hands eventually hitting something in the back. You pulled out a big black box, and he nodded as confirmation that it was indeed the right box.

You were shaking slightly as you set it down next to you, opening up the box. There were various supplies such as painkillers, bandaids, gauze, even sterilized materials resting at the bottom in their packets.

You shakily cleaned your hands, pulling out everything you could need before putting on the gloves you had found sifting through the box.

“What- what do i do now Carlitos?” You whimpered, swallowing the lump that had formed in your throat as you pulled the antiseptic out.

He grimaced at the sight, but nonetheless shook his head, moving so he could show the wound to you.

“It stopped bleeding a while ago, so it needs to be cleaned so that it doesn’t get infected, then we can think about stitches.”

The thought made your stomach churn but you pushed aside the nausea, gently dipping a cotton ball in antiseptic and bringing it to his wound. He hissed as you wiped away the dirt and sweat, his jaw clenched tightly, but he didn’t protest.

At some point during the whole process, his hand had reached up to you, running up and down your arm rather gently for someone having a needle stuck in them. You could hear him wincing softly, licking his lips as you pulled the needle through his skin another time.

His grip on your arm tightened a couple times, but not to the point of making you uncomfortable, more as a way of telling you it hurt even if he put on a stoic expression.

The final stitch was made, and you could finally breathe a sigh of relief as you wrapped the gauze around his waist.

Done," you said softly, your voice barely above a whisper. "You'll be okay now?"

“Sí, gracias mí amor (yes, thank you my love),” He murmured, offering you a kiss on the forehead as he hauled himself out of the toilet, seating you down on the lid as he limped to the sink. You sat in silence as he wiped the blood off himself, watching as he grimaced at the bruises and various other cuts.

The gravity of the situation was still fresh on your mind, a sense of unease as you watched him lean over the sink.

“What happened tonight…?” You stopped, noticing how he had tensed up once again. You had touched a sore spot, obviously one fresh in his mind. “If you don’t want to answer-”

“Some fucker brought a knife and tried to sabatoge me during the meeting, but I made sure to personally take care of him before I left the room. I couldn’t say the others were very happy with me, I think they were just unhappy it wasn’t me who dropped dead this time.” He chuckled incredulously, heart dropping to your stomach as the implications of what could have happened floated through your head.

He must have noticed your reaction, because his simpered smirk slowly turned into a look of realization about what his words must’ve meant.

“Ay cariño, i didn’t mean to worry you like that,” He cooed, reaching over to pull the hair out of your face, “I love you. You trust me, don’t you?”

You nodded, leaning into his touch.

“Venga, dímelo (come on, tell me) cariño.”

“I do trust you,” You repeated to him, looking into his eyes as he broke into a faint smile, “just promise me you won’t come home like this, don’t die on me.”

He stroked your hair, bringing you closer to him. “And I will, mí amor, I will.”

You didn’t have to know of the things he did to others, the things he’d done just to come home to you. All that was important, at the end of the day, was that he’d always come back to you.

528 notes · View notes

bluecollarmcandtf · 1 month

Text

The New Garbageman

Lance slowed from his run and glanced at the trash compactor sitting outside his apartment complex. He needed to catch his breath, but he hated being so close. The young man gave a disdainful look to the laborer who seemed wholly unbothered by his choice in career. 'Some men are just meant for menial crap like this,' he thought to himself, 'God knows I wouldn't be caught dead doing it.'

The jogger looked straight ahead as he passed, not wanting to make eye contact with the sucker lugging away a week's worth of his building's refuge. Lance thought the smell alone was enough to make him gag, but he was even more disturbed by the garbageman's indifference to the squishy contents leaking all over his clothes.

'At what point is that worker just considered trash himself?' Lance pondered with a grimace.

Just as he was about to escape into the entrance of the complex, a sharp ripping noise sounded behind him, followed by a clamour of things crashing to the ground.

Lance made the mistake of looking back, seeing a huge mess scattered across the sidewalk. It looked like a garbage can had exploded and now there was rotten food and crumpled papers everywhere, but that damn sanitation worker had vanished!

"The hell!" Lance shouted in anger, but his rage didn't last long.

A sudden pain stabbed him in the back and he crumpled to the ground like all the garbage had moments before. Everything went black...

Lance shook off the daze and found himself leaning against one of the garbage bins. The pain in his back didn't feel as acute anymore. All he could feel was an unusual warmth spreading from where he had been stung.

"Where is that goddamn garbage man," he growled, wincing at the litter surrounding him. He was ready to give that idiot a piece of his mind.

He put his hand on the concrete in an attempt to get himself up, but was surprised by the feeling of gloves over his fingers. Lance stared at his gloved palms with total confusion. He was sure as hell that he didn't put those old worn things on!

Then he noticed his shoes. They weren't the sneakers he'd been jogging in moments before. They were some kind of work boots!

"What the hell!" he exclaimed, wondering if he'd actually been knocked out and robbed.

Lance pushed his fears aside and began climbing to his feet, but as he did, he noticed something had appeared over his shoulders!

"Where'd this come from?" he cried, becoming more and more angry as articles of clothing just kept appearing on his body.

He was positive this dirty old jacket didn't belong to him. It was covered with stains and reeked like a public bathroom. Lance had a habit of always keeping his clothes freshly laundered and fragranced. He wouldn't even wear jeans two days in a row without washing them, so what was this raggedy work jacket doing in his back?

Lance frantically started to pull the thing off, but it seemed stuck on his waistband or something. No amount of thrashing could get him to pull the thing over his head!

He moaned in frustration and threw his fists down angrily. Then, he noticed why the jacket wouldn't come off. It took him a second to realize what he was looking at. The jacket was attached to the new pants he had on!

Lance shouted out in a state of confused panic. "Help!" he cried, not knowing what else to do, but even if someone did come over, what would he tell them? They'd never believe that his clothes were magically being replaced!

He couldn't even bring himself to look down at what he was wearing. Gone were his running shorts and tank top. In their place, a gross old jumpsuit had enveloped his body. Lance was struck by the itchiness of the course material, but he was even more horrified by how damp it felt against his skin. He didn't want to know what liquid those coveralls were saturated with; oil, sweat, or something even worse?

Lance couldn't find his phone in any of his new attire's pockets. He didn't know what was going on, but he was about to start screaming if he didn't find out soon. His breathing intensified while his heart raced out of his chest. He could feel the panic attack coming.

Then all of a sudden, he stopped...

That warm feeling in his back had washed over his entire body and told every tense muscle to relax. Lance's heart rate eased and his breathing slowed. The confusion, worry, and panic in his face was gone: a numb expression sat in its place.

Lance didn't understand why he had suddenly become so calm. Internally, he was still disgusted, horrified, and outraged, but he couldn't deny how relaxed his body had became.

Finally able to gain his bearing, the former jogger climbed up from the ground and gave his new outfit another look.

"What the hell is this thing," he wondered, but his voice had a comparatively lifeless tone.

Lance studied the clothing. The boots were caked with dirt and grime. He could feel his feet sweating inside them. In fact, his entire body felt like it was being cooked. He was completely covered from the neck down with some pretty heavy duty work wear. It was all clothing he would never be caught dead in, yet it looked kind of familiar.

Suddenly it, clicked.

"I'm dressed a goddamn garbage man," Lance spoke again with a monotoned voice.

Then his mouth moved on its own, "I am a garbage man."

The words chilled him to the core. He had not meant to say them! That warm feeling that started in his back had moved to his throat and taken over.

Before he knew it, his hands were moving on their own too. They were picking up the trash littered around him! His legs moved to, crawling his body across the concrete, and Lance couldn't do anything to stop himself.

His mouth wouldn't open when he tried! He wanted to scream! His arms and legs weren't doing what he wanted either. He was trapped in his own body! Lance couldn't speak; he couldn't run; he couldn't hide; he couldn't even panic. His own heart beat at a steady pace like he was the calmest man in the world! His lungs systematically drew in breath after calm breath, and his face was locked in an empty look of indifference...

Lance would have to get used to being around the trash. He was a garbageman now...

One Year Later...

Lance had never imagined he'd be trapped as a garbage collector for this long. His body hadn't let him look back once since he walked away from his old life. Who knows what happened to his apartment and family. He'd long since given up on the idea of ever going back to his old life.

His days were now spent being puppettered to take out other people's trash. It was disgusting hard work that he got no thanks for, but that didn't matter. He wasn't in control of his body, and his body just kept lugging rank bags of garbage day after day after day.

He'd been subjected to millions of dirty looks as people caught sight of him. Lance knew he must seem pathetic. He was sure he smelled even worse. How could anyone respect a man like him? Even after a year, his face still burnt red when someone looked grossed out by him.

The discomfort of his uniform has become normal to Lance. It was itchy and humid under there, which made sense since it hadn't been washed in the all the time he'd had it on.

Well, that wasn't entirely true...

Every night after work, his body would hop on the garbage truck and get dropped off at the sanitation department's parking garage. There he and the rest of the garbage crew would hose each other down. It didn't do much other than make him cold, but at least he got that.

After the makeshift shower, he and the rest of the guys would file into the garage. Lance assumed that every one of the laborers were being used as puppets like him, because they appeared just as numb and lifeless as he did. There was no chummy chitchat; there were no friendly waves or claps on the back; hell there wasn't even a smile or frown on any of their faces.

All the garbagemen acted like robotic slaves for unpaid labor, which is exactly what they were.

Lance's theory was that when he'd felt that pain a year ago, he'd had some sort of Syfy-futuritic-techno crap inserted in his back. It had to be controlling his actions. He could feel it on his spine, sending signals to the resto for his body for how to behave.

It was just a theory. He couldn't prove or disprove anything when he had no autonomy over his own body.

So he was stuck seeing himself play out the same awful routine everyday. 'At least the day's almost over,' he thought to himself. At least he could still dream of a life where he didn't wear this disgusting uniform and pick up garbage all day.

Lance's body joined the rest of the men on the floor. This was where they spent their nights. Whoever was controlling them was clearly too cheap to buy them beds let alone showers or laundry machines

It usually got pretty bleak in there: a whole room of men that aren't allowed to talk or interact outside of working together. There was nothing else to do but sleep, so Lance slid down to the concrete and closed his eyes, wondering if he would ever be anything other than a smelly garbageman ever again.

He thought back to his old life, dreaming about that last morning run he'd gotten before all this happened. He fantasized about what would have happened if he'd just ran around the block one more time.

Would he have avoided this fate or was he just destined for menial crap like this?

Thanks for the Ask, workgearfan

#mind control #blue collar #gay mind control #humiliated slave #meat puppets

437 notes · View notes