#happy late b-day to reborn too <3

[inessencedevided]

There's been a lot of cql/mdzs atla-au posts going around lately and I need to add my take.

Because I think a lot could be done with Wei Ying as the avatar.

Imagine the story goes similarly as in canon. He is the son of traveling benders. Maybe Cangse-Sanren is a firebender and Wei Changse a waterbender. They get killed on some mission and he gets taken in by his father's old friend and leader of the Yunmeng water tribe. (This reminds me a lot of kyoshi's backstory, too.) He raises him a long his own children, his daughter who takes to healing more than fighting, and his son who likes nothing more than fighting.

Wei Ying already showed signes of being a waterbender, so they train him, even though he is the son of a former servant. He is, of course, more talented than any other of their students, even Jiang Cheng. Madam Yu still hates him for it.

At some point, they let all the children of the sect take the Avatar test. He passes. Occurs, they don't tell him until he is 16, so he doesn't know. Madam Yu dies though and her hatred for him for upstanding her son only grows. But Wei Ying is happy and loves them, much like in canon and, much like in canon, he is also convinced that he is deeply indebted to him and always brings more trouble than he is worth.

When they tell him he is the avatar on his 16th birthday, he is shocked and scared of his responsibility, but doesn't show it. He laughs it off and tells everyone he is glad because that means he can see the world and doesn't have to annoy madam yu anymore. He only shows cracks to his cheerful facade when they tell him that he has to leave the very next day. That means he will miss Jiang Cheng's birthday. When he tells Jiang Cheng's this, he gets angry and tells Wei Ying that clearly he is very important now and why not run off to the other sects, see if they will put up with him. He refuses to say goodbye after that, so it's just jiang yanli and Jiang fengmian seeing him off.

He goes to king Nie first who is the most renowned earth bending master of their time. He is unyielding and harsh, but unbelievably fond of his younger brother, who mostly uses his bending to sculp intricate and detailed statues. Wei Ying likes him instantly.

Next is fire. He doesn't like the fire lord who greets him and treats him like he is royalty himself, but in a way that makes Wei Ying's skin crawl. He does like the shy boy in his group lessons and his older sister. Wei Ying is good at firebending, even though it should be his natural enemy. Maybe it's his mother's side showing itself though.

Then of course, to complete his training, he needs to learn air-bending. He gets to Gusu and immediately dislikes it there. They are monks and they live like it, too. There are rules regulating every waking moment and the sleeping ones too and he vows to break at least half of them. By now he us 20 and he'll be damned if he lets himself be bossed around like he's 12 again.

He is greeted by their unusually young leader and his uncle and brother. He expects the uncle to be his teacher, but no. Lan Xichen explains that the honor of training the Avatar will go to the youngest air bender to ever become a master, his brother, Lan Zhan.

Okay, Wei Ying thinks, he can live with that. At least a teacher close to his own age should be fun, right?

Wrong!

Lan Zhan is strict, reticent, unyielding and punishes him for every single infringement of the 3000+ rules. He scolds Wei Ying for not taking the enormous responsibility of being the avatar more seriously. He never smiles and never praises him with more than a "passable".

But he is a challenge. One he is good! The best opponent in a fight Wei Ying has had since he was 14. And there is something so fun at making him react in even the slightest way! Also, his ears blush when he is angry and it's cute!

The first time, Wei Ying uses something other than air bending in their training fights, Lan Zhan is furious (Undisciplined!). But tge second time he grots his teeth and fights, really fights Wei Ying. He holds his own again a 3/4s-trained avatar for more than 30 minutes until Wei Ying let's him get swallowed by a whole in the ground that he than seals with a thick layer of ice that will take him way to long to slice open with air bending.

After that, their relationship evolves. It's more of a mutual rivalry, rather than just Wei Ying needling his air bending teacher until he snaps. After a few months, once Wei Ying has progressed beyond the basics (he can fly now! He loves flying! How can the Lans be so serious all the time? They can fly!!!), Lan Zhan introduces him to musical air-bending. Through bending, they can use the sounds to heal and to hurt, amplify them at will or direct them to a specific direction. Lan Zhan demonstrates some techniques on his guqin and then plays a song, though he refuses to tell Wei Ying its meaning.

Wei Ying picks a dixi. He takes to music like a fish to water and soon he is declared a fully trained air bender. His last night in Gusu is when it happens. News reaches them that Yunmeng is under attack from the Wen sect, who have been annexing more minor territoires for years. By the time Wei Ying gets there Lan Zhan at his side, Lotus Peer is burned to the ground. They barely get Jiang Cheng and Jiamg Yanli out, helped by Wei Ying's old friend, Wen Ning. They make it Wen Qing, who takes one look at Lan Zhan and tells him to go because Gusu is next.

(The wens knew where the avatar was abd where he wasn't abd chose their attacks accordingly)

Lan Zhan rushes back (alone. Wei Ying has brother to get back from the brink of death) but he us too late, too. Cloud Recesses is burned, his father dead, his brother missing and he is taken prisoner.

The war happens almost like in canon. The other heirs are taken hostage and given lessons as to how to behave towards their occupiers. They escape through the stupidity of Wen Chao.

I don't think that there'd be a burial mounts though, nor an equivalent to the list golden core. you can take someone's bending but i want Wei Ying to remain the avatar because:

In his desperation to beat the seemingly almighty Wen and his grieve for the Jiangs who took him in, he devices a plan. A) he goes to Lan Zhan and asks him if musical cultivation might help him to learn how to control the avatar state. He says they can try. They do try and after a while, Wei Ying reaches that state. And B) he rensacks the world for scrolls on blood cultivation.

When they advance on nightless City, he is ready. No one kniws his plan. Even Lan Zhan only knows of his having learned to control the avatar state. He needs the element of surprise and he needs it when he stavds in front of Wen Ruohan.

So he waits. By the time he stands face to face with Wen Ruohan and his army, the floor us littered with corpses.

Wei Ying, in front of his brother, Lan Zhan, everyone goes into the avatar state and with the power of all his former incarnations, bebds the blood of every single corpse, as well as every single Wen soldier to turn on Wen Ruohan and then each other. It's a massacre.

When he comes to it again, there is silence. And then cheers. Everyone cheers for him, even though blood bending has veen outlawed for ages. He won them their war though.

Everyone cheers, everyone but Lan Zhan.

They fight after that, a lot.

(I helped you enter the avatar state. You could have died! - my problem, not yours! - You desecrated the dead! What about their spirits? - what about their spirits? I'm the avatar, i can deal with them! - the avatar state is the sacret link to your past lifes ... - My past lifes, yeah Lan Wangji! Let me decide what to do with them. - Wei Wuxian! - Lan Wangji.)

They part on bad terms more often than not.

So when knews reaches that the Jins, a notoriously rich noble family in some corner of the earth kingdom, has taken Wen citizens, civilians mostly, for slave labour, he goes alone. He is furious, more so when he realises that his friends are among them. He enters the avatar stare involuntarily and has the blood of all present Jin soldiers boil in their veins. Wen Ning is almost dead, but he uses his bending to circulate his blood in his body until he can get him to his sister. She is in Lanling after all, having married their heir.

Now because I love Jiang Yanli, in this au, she plays a bigger role. She saves Wen Ning and shows them out of Lanling.

They flee to a part of Qishan that was all but destroyed during the war and then used as a mass grave for the Wens wei ying himself killed, the ones whose spirits Lan Zhan had warned him about.

And the workd turns on it's Avatar.

The avatar is supposed to bring Peace, stand for balance and justice. Not choose a handful of people to protect at all costs.

But Wei Ying thinks, this is just! The world is full of greedy rich people trying to outdo each other for power, so isn't protecting those who suffer from it through no fault of their own justice?

Now, this could go two ways. Either, in a plot more similar to mdzs, the spirits Wei Ying disturbed abd that he is now living on top of, betray him when the rest of the world finally comes to ambush him (cue Lan Zhan trying g to protect him abd falling from grace himself. And the eternally yearning because he list his chance. the avatar is reborn ofc and Lan Zhan vows to protect them because Wei Ying is still a part of them, but they aren't Wei Ying. They are a completely different person and Lan Zhan never loves again.) DEPRESSING

So, let's go the atla route. Wei Ying goes through a spiritual journey, similar to Korra, gets the Wen remnants rehabilitated, makes the right people see sense and basically does the whole Avatar shitck of first finding peace within himself in order to bring peace to the world. *waves hand*

He confesses to Lan Zhan. They adopt A Yuan. Cue kiss in front of a glowing sunset and "The End" displayed to soaring music.

Admittedly, the second ending needs more flashing out, but it's late,so if anyone wants to have a go, feel free :D

#this got way longer than intended #another thing that fits? all avatars are bisexual i don't make the rules #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian #lan zhan #wei ying #jiang cheng #jiang yanli #atla au #the untamed au #mdzs au #long post #sophie writes #barely ...

[inkperch]

Linked Universe Zeldas:

My takes on LU style- Zelda’s. Note: I don’t really follow Linked Universe, and I don’t like a lot of their takes on the Links, so uh, don’t assume these Zelda’s dealt with the LU versions of the Links.

SS: goes by Hylia, she jokingly suggests it when they’re picking nicknames, and everyone else just pauses for a second then realises who exactly she is and freaks the fuck out, so it kinda sticks as a combination of an in-joke and just... well, she’s Hylia reborn, can’t argue with that! The others are all low-key taken aback by how not-leadery she is, she tends to be the most hands-off when it comes to planning because well- she just guards the triforce, Link is the one who earned all 3 pieces and used it’s full power. Meanwhile her descendants picked up Wisdom sometime in the intervening centuries, so she’s pretty happy to leave the plans to them and stick to being a mediator. Third most likely Zelda to pick a fight she can’t win, most likely to win despite that.

Minish Cap: goes by Shortie, bc these beanpoles tried that with Tetra and she threatened to stab them, but Minish just found it hilarious so it stuck. Surprisingly quick to pick up how to fight, occasionally gets the other Zelda’s into trouble by running off, but they usually agree with her that whatever caught her eye was actually pretty worth it, because deep down they’re all massive nerds, no matter how functional they appear. Also tends to randomly grab gifts for the other Zeldas.

Four Swords: just goes by Four, jokes about how much her Hero(es) would be annoyed by that. Usually the first to notice encroaching danger, and always the first to investigate it. At first the more combat-experienced Zelda’s were Concerned(tm) that she is the one sticking herself into unknown dangers, until she pointed out that A) she is considerably less likely to get herself caught unless Sheik wants to go, bc she knows she has less leeway to get caught than they are and B) they won’t be down a fighter for the rescue if she’s the one who gets caught, which they reluctantly concede.

OoT: goes by Regrets, which like, the other Zelda’s just hear her bitterly pick as soon as the topic comes up and immediately decide they aren’t touching that emotional baggage. It’s an mix of Child and Adult timeline Zelda, which kinda fucks her up when she thinks about it- especially seeing as she remebers both Ganondorf breaking free and killing one of the Seven Sages in the child timeline, and what became of the Hero of Time... who she remembers clinging to the thought he got to have the childhood he rightfully should’ve in the Adult Timeline, as the waves climbed up over Hyrule to seal the awakened and unchallenged Ganondorf. So yeah, she tries not to. She also remembers the start of the Defeat Timeline, where she was too late to save the Hero and was forced to lead the exhausted and scattered remains of her people to war to kill the Demon King.

Wind Waker: literally just Tetra, she also is the first to look at the less murder-happy Zeldas and give them a knife. She’s currently working on getting them all up to basic pirate crew levels of fighting without magic, just in case, and she’s constantly pestering the fight-y Zelda’s to a spar. Regrets goes along because she’s had three slightly different Zelda’s merged in her head so her skills are a little rusty, Hylia likes to do it just because people keep forgetting she learned to fight at the same school Link did, and their responses when she reminds them are funny to her. Tetra is picked up from after establishing New Hyrule, and she looks up to Hylia more than she’s willing to admit, often going to her for advice on the whole ‘founding a nation in peaceful cohabitation with the locals’ thing. Second most likely to start a fight she can’t win.

Spirit Tracks: goes by Ghost, refuses to explain the joke to any of the others and thinks she’s hilarious for it. She is, but she doesn’t need the ego stoke. They find out about the ghost thing when she accidently astral projects in her sleep at one point and wakes up to them freaking out over her corpse, which is implied to happen often. Tetra notices that she’s really really weird to train as a fighter, because she already fights pretty well but she also fights like she’s a giant fuck-off suit of armour with a sword as big as she is. She finds it amazing to get to meet Tetra, and is constantly asking her if various stories she heard as a child are actually true or if her mother just made them up or exaggerated. They were not, and Ghost thinks Tetra is the coolest person on the planet for it.

Twilight Princess: goes by Twilight, out of tribute to Midna’s nickname for her. Absolutely misses Midna, respects Regrets more than Regrets thinks she should, but she still angsts a lot about how she just surrendered to the unkillable army its implied she’s the only one who could even see properly who could turn them all into ghos- ahem. I may or may not have opinions about people thinking it’s the wrong decision from out of universe. But yeah, she absolutely angsts about it, and really looks up to Tetra and Regrets bc at least they acted, she just sat in her tower and waited for the hero she knew would be coming. Saying that though, she indulged Tetra’s pestering to fite exactly once (1), and promptly kicked her ass and went back to her book. Because really, what else was she going to do with all that free time while Link was fishing to win a Heart Container and she couldn’t leave her room? Ganondorf had to get the idea to have her use a sword somewhere.

FSA: Even among Zelda's, she stands out for how friendly she is- more than once she brought a ‘new friend’ back to camp who’d been trying to kill them seconds earlier. This got her the nickname Torch, because she shines light into even the darkest of creatures- although, Hylia would like it if she never interacted with any of the mini-Imprisoned from HW ever again please and thank you, that was a step too far for exotic pets.

(I’ll do a followup post for the Defeat Timeline, it has a lot of the older games I haven’t played and need to familiarise myself with the characters in, and it’s already getting late)

Hyrule Warriors: goes by Sheik, was unironically ready to fight her ancestor for the name, but Regrets doesn’t really care. Speaking of regrets, upon learning that Regrets did the exact same disguise in the Adult timeline, Sheik immediately wants to go stab Cia (and maybe Lana too) for letting her think she was getting away with the disguise when Cia had literally seen the exact same trick just one timeline over. (post post-game definitive edition, so Cia has her redemption arc) She also was never meant to be the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, and views it as a burden- without Cia’s interference, the Triforce of Wisdom and it’s visions would’ve been passively sitting in the royal vaults instead of etched into her hand, but fate got confused when the Triforce had been split, but the one who should inherit Wisdom was much better suited to Courage. This leads to a bit of a disconnect sometimes, where fate has changed her into a suitable host for the Triforce of Wisdom, but she just kinda isn’t one. She’s also a MASSIVE nerd (I saw those TP references in Linkle’s Twilight stage Nintendo! She literally started dropping random history quotes after almost dying, the nerd) so she’s constantly fangirling over all her famous ancestors, because if anyone had managed to hear legends from all 3 timelines, it would be HW Zelda. The most likely to pick a fight she can’t win, she literally only pretends to be functional and have impulse control when they’re in her Hyrule and her people can see her.

BOTW:

Both BoTW Zeldas avoid each other like the plague because yeah, that’s a physical manifestation of my failures. They’re not consolidated like OoT was for bonus angst- because just merging them would show her there’s a happier timeline where all of her friends survived and Hyrule didn’t fall and crumble to ruins while she and Link took a 100 year nap.

AoC: goes by Terrako, because why the hell not. Has Terrako with her, which gets confusing, but he’s an adorable Eggy Boi, and basically team mascot. Is using her Master Cycle+Sheikah Slate movesets, bc she tried to use her Goddess bow moveset and reality just kinda glitched bc there were two Zelda’s using the exact same power, and they both agreed to never try that again. 

BoTW: goes by Architect, because that’s what she spends half her time doing these days. Regularly nerds out with Sheik. Low-key dying inside from self-worth issues rearing up again now that she’s hanging out with all these legendary queens, but tries not to let it show and keep with a positive attitude, too mixed results.

#legend of zelda #linked universe #zelda #spirit tracks

[futur3juli3]

-FLOWER DANCING TEAM-

PROFILES:

No.13

Name: Cherry

Age: ?

Birthday: October 24

Occupation: Section manager in a super high-profile corporation

Gender: Male

Blood type: A

Likes: Chinese food

Dislikes: His real face

Hobby: Eating in all sorts of places

Plans to use the Groovetron for: Be born again with looks like the Gorgeous Sisters.

Worries: About his waist being larger than his hips.

Personality: Ambitious

Special skills: Rebounds

Collects: Prada bags

Dream: Eat in all Chinatown restaurants

Respects: Chen Kenichi

Releases stress by: Playing Pachinko

Favorite word/phrase: Rise up

When drunk... Ties his necktie around his head (typical Japanese whitecollar stereotype)

With 1 million yen... I'd leave for a gourmet tour throughout China

Quotient: Peking duck quotient: 62

Epilogue: After becoming No.1 dancer, Cherry had no doubts

and immediately prayed to be reborn with looks

like the Gorgeous Sisters.

But for some reason, only his waist became 5 times

more gorgeous.

"Why did this happen??"

OK, from here starts Cherry's "Great Diet Operation"

Look forward to it.

No.14

Name: Marguerite

Age: 30

Birthday: March 7

Occupation: Division manager in a super high-profile corporation

Gender: Male

Blood type: AB

Likes: Tsuruhime ja~! (old manga)

Dislikes: Uncouth people

Hobby: Comics for women

Plans to use the Groovetron for: Becoming the lover of super popular actor Tamura Masa--(star)Kazu

Worries: Having thick facial hair.

Personality: Warm and caring, is relied upon by his subordinates

Special skills: Doing long speeches at weddings

Collects: Comics for women

Dream: Keeping a pet dog (his apartment doesn't allow it)

Respects: Lupin the 3rd

Releases stress by: Playing Mah-Jong

Favorite word/phrase: 3 years even on top of a stone (proverb meaning that all things bring fruit if you persevere)

When drunk... Cries a lot

With 1 million yen... I'd use 200.000, put the rest away.

Quotient: Tearful middle management position quotient: 99

Epilogue: Marguerite became No.1 dancer and prayed in order to become the lover of super popular

actor Tamura Masa--(star)Kazu, but was turned down right away.

"Aaah, if I knew it would turn out like this I should have

made that terrible executive give up his job..."

Today too, Marguerite receives the executives' teachings,

has to hear his superiors boasting, his subordinates' complaints...

his sad days as middle management continue.

Do your best!!! Marguerite!!!

No.15

Name: Saffron

Age: ?

Birthday: March 7

Occupation: Section manager in a super high-profile corporation

Gender: Male

Blood type: B

Likes: Indian food

Dislikes: Meat

Hobby: Vegetarian

Plans to use the Groovetron for: Re-do his life as a woman

Worries: Being born as a man

Personality: Jealous

Special skills: Household chores

Collects: Wine glasses

Dream: Build a happy family (as wife, obviously)

Respects: Miwa Akihiro

Releases stress by: Being hit on

Favorite word/phrase: Love

When drunk... Cries a lot

With 1 million yen... For some reason, I'd become manlier.

Quotient: Curry lover quotient: 94

Epilogue: Saffron, after becoming No.1 dancer,

is about to pray to the Groovetron to make him

reborn as woman.

Yet, after dancing so much until the victory,

Saffron was very hungry and let out a whisper...

"....I want to eat curry..."

And so, Saffron managed to obtain one year's worth

of Indian curry.

Great, huh Saffron?

No.16

Name: Jasmine

Age: 20

Birthday: October 24

Occupation: Employee in a super high-profile corporation

Gender: Male

Blood type: AB

Likes: Online shopping

Dislikes: Morning rush of people going to work

Hobby: Watching musicals

Plans to use the Groovetron for: Sending his no-good superior (Cherry) to the South Pole branch

Worries: Lately dressing as woman has become fun

Personality: A good sport, optimistic

Special skills: Book keeping

Collects: Maracas

Dream: Dance in the Carnival at Rio de Janeiro

Respects: Papaya Suzuki

Releases stress by: Karaoke

Favorite word/phrase: Que sera sera

When drunk... Talks ONLY about the Yomiuri Giants

With 1 million yen... I'd buy a sparkly bikini online for the Carnival

Quotient: Speaking carefully while checking the other person's mood quotient: 69

Epilogue: The always cheerful Jasmine became so even more after acquiring

his title as No.1 dancer.

"Ok then, let's have the section manager sent to the

South Pole branch right now!!"

And so Cherry was sent to the South Pole branch.

But the same happened to Jasmine too, because of personnel

distribution. But Jasmine was cheerful nonetheless.

"Today is Carnival with penguins day~~"

#dance summit 2001 #bust a groove #cherry #margurite #saffron #jasmine #ダンスサミット2001 #bust a move #flower dancing team

[wedreamedlove]

Bai Qi In Love - Character Study

Archiving from Reddit. This is also the main post I wanted to bring over but it required my previous Bai Qi - Character Study post LOL.

So I went through Bai Qi's Spring Festival Date and I have not been the same ever since, so I wanted to expel all my emotions in another character post.

Had a couple of songs in the background while I was writing this, so feel free to put them on too while reading this post LOL.

Contains spoilers up to Chapter 15 and lines from unreleased CN cards. Translations are from the CN and JP version, so may have differing lines from the ENG version.

My road map this time is starting out with the origin of Bai Qi's love, moving onto his letter, how he's gone through his life with MC being his North Star, and then finishing off again with just how much he wants to share every moment of his life with her.

I mentioned before in my Speech Quirks post that Bai Qi always defaults to absolute sincerity when he's not sure how to respond to MC and I hope this reminds you of that, and just how he has a sixth sense when it comes to MC. Every cell in his body is attuned to her.

Normally, this level of devotion to someone is probably unhealthy but, well, MC is the paragon of goodness here so he's in good hands LOL.

FALLING SLOWLY (IN LOVE)

First (another song here!), this is the JP translation of ground zero in the [Campus Date]:

The man raised his knife and attacked Bai Qi, stabbing the sharp blade at him. But still, Bai Qi desperately countered.

Finally, everyone was knocked down but Bai Qi, who was bleeding horribly, stumbled. In his hazy consciousness, the sound of the piano gradually weakened. It was like falling into light from heaven.

In that moment, the boss of the gang took this chance to kick Bai Qi and, because of that hit, Bai Qi fell from the rooftop.

Bai Qi reached out with both hands, trying to grab something as he felt himself plummeting.

Suddenly, a melody reverberated, filled with a strong energy, pressure, and tension.

That sound crossed space and time and resonated with Bai Qi's memories.

The sight of his father wearing a military uniform and his gentle mother... memories of his childhood poured into him all at once.

"Lieutenant General, regrettably, there was no evidence of Evol in his genes."

"There's no meaning for such a useless thing to exist."

Since his mother passed away, he was always alone. It was like he was the only one in this world.

If he died, those guys would probably be happy.

Bai Qi heard rhythmical and strong piano notes and, as he was engulfed in the fierce winds, he felt his body becoming lighter.

"NO!"

Not like this.

His life didn't need his father, friends, or a meaning.

Bai Qi clenched his hands into fists with these strong emotions and the power, sleeping deep in his body, awakened.

He felt a pulse in the wind and, between the vast expanse of heaven and earth, life spread through on the wind.

The melody he heard eventually turned into something overflowing with emotions. In the depths of autumn, the gingko leaves blown up by the wind danced and glimmered in the air.

Bai Qi traveled through the air like a bird and small birds, with their wings spread, gathered happily around him.

Entranced with the piano notes, he hummed freely to the song.

The birds flapped their wings, startled by Bai Qi's sudden humming.

Bai Qi gently picked up a small bird and continued to hum.

It was joy for his reborn self and a declaration of the coming light and end of darkness.

He heard the singing of a girl along with the piano notes.

That clear voice had a powerful force which captured people's hearts and wouldn't let go.

The girl's singing and piano drew Bai Qi's mind and body over strongly.

The wind lifted Bai Qi's body and carried him to a window. Looking inside, he saw a girl playing the piano.

Maybe it was the reflection of the gingko leaves fluttering outside the window, but the girl's eyes sparkled like stars.

She continued to accompany herself on the piano and it was as if she was resonating with the wind.

It was an ordinary girl, but he felt a strong spirit from her.

The girl's hands danced on top of the white and black keys and her piano song shook Bai Qi's heart.

He quietly watched her, feeling that the seed sown in his heart was sprouting.

The girl had no idea that her piano saved a boy who was about to fall into a dark abyss.

And there was no way for the girl to know that the boy swore on his life to protect her.

BTW, the song MC was playing at this time was Liszt's Liebestraum No. 3 (Love Dream). During the second anniversary, Papergames confirmed some of the piano songs in the game.

I don't think it needs to be said that Bai Qi was literally going to die at this moment. Not only physically but I'm sure he was mentally at his limits too. Despite the tough act he puts on about being used to loneliness and not caring for what other people think about him, humans are social creatures. He felt like he was all alone in the world and was about to give up on life. I feel like we can draw some analogies to depression here.

There's also an intentional foil in [Chapter 12] between Bai Qi, Jay, and Josie. There's a reference to Josie in [Chapter 7] and MC was sympathizing about how Evol made Josie get treated like a monster, and that sort of darkness can easily change someone. Bai Qi's reply is:

[Main Story 7-18]: "Then I'm very lucky. There was someone who caught me right before I hit the bottom."

But going back to the scene with Jay in [Main Story 12-8], when he's being interrogated, he accuses Bai Qi of not knowing anything about the despair he went through. But, as we all know, Bai Qi lost his father (when he didn't show Evol genes), lost his mother (in the fire), and lost his younger brother (their father took him away and their relationship soured after the death of their mother).

Yet, unlike Jay, he didn't lash out at society and turn to the darkness because he met MC.

[Campus Date] is such a critical date about Bai Qi's character and his convictions and how, while a part of it was formed to go against his father's version of justice, it really solidified because of MC. He learned to love life and cherish its preciousness because of MC.

Because of just how important this ground zero is for Bai Qi, we see references made to this scene again and again and again:

[Main Story 15-7]: "And you saved me. Don't lower your head, look at me. Don't feel insecure and don't feel like you're useless. You caught me again right before I hit the bottom."

[Spring Festival Date]: "The day I met her, there were gingko leaves drifting and falling slowly through the air, and it was the most beautiful time in late autumn. It was also the darkest time of my life. But she was the one who caught me tightly when I fell."

[CN Rumors and Secrets: Ashes]: Bai Qi is bleeding out and touches the picture of MC that he always keeps on him in his breast pocket and sees that a corner of it is stained red. Then he thinks back to the time he heard her play the piano, lightly, gently, slowly, and how it seeped into his body and heart. [Context: this is before he reunites with MC].

THE. LETTER.

We learn about it in [Chapter 7] and how Bai Qi gave it to Minor to pass to the MC, but she saw the bloodstains on it and, because of the bad rumors around Bai Qi and how she misunderstood the sight of him threatening a student to cough up (stolen) money, she thought the letter was a threat LOL.

I'm laughing out loud, but rest assured I'm actually crying inside.

However, the truth is that it was a goodbye letter:

[Main Story 7-20]: "What I regret the most? Probably not handing that letter to that girl personally. [Was it a love letter?] No, it was a goodbye letter. [Why did you write a goodbye letter?] Why should I tell you? [Bro, look, everyone's listening. Give me some face] Because that girl said that she hated it the most when people leave without saying goodbye. [One last question. Could you tell us what was in that letter?] It doesn't matter. Let's just leave that letter in the past. We'll have lots of time in the future together."

For those curious, the contents of the letter is from [CN Rumors and Secrets: Angled Light] but I think this is part of the Dream Heart Lake event series and so won't be released: "Saturday, 9:00AM, I'll be waiting for you in the school library."

By the way, to make things more tragic, you also learn here that he waited for 14 hours at the library, until he was forced out because it was closing, and before he left he slid a gingko leaf into a book that had a collection of Lord Byron poems, which the MC often carried.

The reason he wanted to say goodbye to MC was because, after his Evol awakened and he was going to graduate, his father enlisted him into special training and (threatens) points out that Bai Qi now has someone he wants to protect, but MC is special and she won't have a peaceful life. Does Bai Qi really think he can protect her (as he is)?

It doesn't say what page Bai Qi placed the gingko leaf into, but in [CN Rumors and Secrets: Ashes] Bai Qi thinks he finally understands one of the poems in the book.

Lord Byron's "Don Juan" - Canto the Ninth, XVI and I bolded the part he quotes:

"To be, or not to be?" — Ere I decide,       I should be glad to know that which is being? 'Tis true — we speculate both far and wide,       And deem, because we see, we are all-seeing; For my part, I'll enlist on neither side       Until I see both sides for once agreeing; For me, I sometimes think that Life is Death, Rather than Life a mere affair of breath.

Meanwhile, in [CN Tide of Light SSR Chasing Dreams Date]:

"That year, I did want to give you that letter personally. But I gave myself a way out and left it up to luck. I knew that, at the time, I was still lacking a lot and so I decided that I had to meet you again with my best self."

On a last note, in [CN Yesterday's Breeze SSR Former Days Date] MC asks Bai Qi if he has ever imagined them not reuniting with each other again:

"I've thought about it before. I've thought about how, if I wasn't there, would there be people who would bully that girl and would there be anyone who'd get back at them for her? I've also thought about whether there'd be someone who'd give her a love letter and if she would end up loving someone else... So, if I was to ever meet her again, I had to make sure to catch her. And I'd never let go again."

BTW, in this date, MC has some sort of dream projection where she goes back to their high school days (but the past her also exists LOL so there's two of them) and she has some fun interactions with a grumpy high school Bai Qi. But the heartbreaking part is that MC sees the letter and runs to find him and you get to hear Bai Qi say, self-deriding, that he knew "she" wouldn't come...

HIS (GUIDING MOONLIGHT) NORTH STAR

So, after seeing just how important MC is to Bai Qi, is it any wonder that every atom of his body is attuned to her? SOBS HE JUST LOVES HER SO MUCH. Xu Mo may have the red string of fate, but Bai Qi has "all roads lead to you". She's his lodestone and his compass always points to her.

[CN Lost Forest SSR]: "I will always walk towards you first. You're forever my flag, the one I've kept to throughout every moment of my life."

[CN Go See Him: Military Uniform]: "This uniform and these medals are my convictions, and you are the direction I move forward in."

[CN Southern Wind SSR Road Trip Date]: "The start and end of this journey is you."

I feel like I'm missing more, because I swear the majority of Bai Qi's cards all seem to have some sort of direction quote and relating it back to MC.

Anyway, I won't bother bringing the examples I put in the other post (because they're over there) but this is also why it melts me whenever there's description about Bai Qi's eyes following MC or whenever he's just focusing his attention on her (with heart eyes) in the ASMRs.

Additionally, in my previous character study for Bai Qi, I talked about how MC and Bai Qi both encourage each other to grow with unconditional love and acceptance, but I want to add some quotes here about just how much he takes becoming a better person for MC to heart:

[Spring Festival Date]: "She's the one who told me I could live more strongly, and she's also the one who told me I could live more gently."

[CN Clear After the Rain SSR]: "You're the only one who can find the real me."

[CN Drunk Easterly Wind SSR Three Worlds Date]: "Regardless of whatever lives we have, I will always take my best self and give it to you. This isn't an undertaking and it's not a joke. All of these are just words from my heart."

[Slightly Drunken Date]: "No matter which side of me, they're all yours."

What can I say except that's love, baby! You don't need to complete each other, you just need to encourage each other to be the best version of yourselves!

FOREVER BY YOUR SIDE

Now that we've gotten through the bulk of what I want to say, I'm just going to dump all the romantic stuff Bai Qi has declared to MC.

It really bothers him that he wasn't there for most of her early life, but he maintains his optimism (wouldn't be surprised if he learned it from her) and looks forward to their future together.

[Prank Date]: "I wasn't there for your university, middle school, or elementary school years, and even the time before then. In my memories, there's only the sight of you in high school. At that time, your hair was longer than it is now. But it doesn't matter. From here on, we have time to create new memories."

[Love of my Life SSR Goodnight Wish Call]: "I just... thought about you in many small instances. For example... a movie, a song, a lyric, when I'm crossing the road, and... the moment I close my eyes [...] As long as you're willing, I want to take all the time that's considered yours and turn it to "ours" [...] I want to know how you were before I met you. I want to walk the roads you've walked before, see the sights you've seen before, and... brand my mark on all those moments [...] Yes. I really care about that. I want to make up for all the time I wasn't there in your life. But, right now, what I care about more is our future [...] In our future... I want to hold your hand and walk to the end of our ever after. That's the best future I can imagine."

[Mediterranean Date]: "The missed holidays, the dates I couldn't make, and the many times I had to disappear without being able to tell you... I've never had the time to make up for all of these things. So, no matter what we do, no matter where we go, as long as the person beside me is you, I won't have a single objection."

[Love of my Life SSR Wish Call]: "My wish? From the second I met you again, the wish I made to the stars every night has already been realized."

[2018 Birthday Message]: "Sometimes, whenever I pass an interesting place, I'll think about when I can bring you here to walk around. Whenever I eat something good, I'll buy one more on habit. And, whenever I run into danger on missions, I just need to think about you and my will to fight is rekindled. Because you're here, happy occasions went from being for one person to being for two people. And all the things that would worry someone have disappeared into nothing. Is it strange to hear me say this? But I want to tell you, just how important you are in my life. I don't believe in fate, but I believe in miracles. Meeting you is the most precious miracle in my life."

[Spring Festival Date]: "In the rest of my life, I want to use it all to accompany you, care for you, and love you. This is all genuine. They're all words I want to say to you... words said only to you."

[Main Story 14-22]: "I'll be with you, until the very last moment."

MOM, I LOVE THIS 2D MAN SO MUCH!! Haha, sorry, I just had to get that out of my system. Thank you for reading up to this point and I hope this lets people appreciate Bai Qi more. Gotta spread more propaganda for him and convince people that he's not just the boring vanilla character.

He's someone who was teetering on the edge of darkness and could have become someone who lashed out at society like Jay, but instead he chose to be a protector of the people and to uphold justice (even if his methods are unconventional and morally grey).

He struggles with insecurity but it never gets in the way of what he wants to do and instead motivates him to continue to better himself for MC. There's nothing wrong with setting someone or something as your goal to get through life. Baby steps until you learn how to run on your own, or not when you find someone who will walk the road of life with you.

He's a man who loved the person who literally saved his life (and is probably his raison d'être) for 7 years, never forgot her during that time, and has finally reunited with her.

Okay, ending this post for real now with the Lunar New Year card. BTW the ENG version is totally fine and I have no qualms with its translation, but I just like the nuance more in the CN and JP version.

CN goes 你是我的此生眷恋 which is literally like "you're my affection/attachment in this life". If I wasn't separating it from the English version, I'd translate it as "love of my life" too to simplify it and make it flow. But I find it interesting that 眷恋 (juan lian; sentimental attachment) is used instead of 挚爱 (zhi ai; true love) and the way you'd actually write "love of my life" is 此生挚爱 (ci sheng zhi ai) rather than the card's 此生眷恋 (ci sheng juan lian).

JP goes おまえは俺の一生の憧れ which is literally like "you're the aspiration/longing of my life". Again, I find it so interesting that neither JP or CN are using the character for love 愛 (ai) and JP's 憧れ (akogare) bundles in feelings of yearning, longing, desire, and aspiration. IMO the JP version drives in the fact that MC is someone Bai Qi's trying to catch up to. He's loved her for so long, tries so hard to better himself, and all of it is to become a person he believes can stand by her side.

#mr love queen's choice #mlqc meta #love and producer #mlqc gavin #mlqc bai qi #love and produc(ing) meta #mlqc

[ridiasfangirlings]

It's my father's b-day tom. So I was hoping for a diabetic scene between Fushimi and his dads (3 daddies, Munakata) and a celebration of death for his biological one. Much thanks!

This feels timely now, since Niki's death day was just a few days ago (I hope everyone celebrated with cake and ice cream). It feels a bit morbid for everyone to be celebrating the death of their kid's biological father but when that father's as bad as Niki maybe it's warranted, like Fushimi deserves some happiness and this seems just the right thing. Imagine he sometimes gets a bit subdued around that time of year, like going with three daddies AU and maybe Fushimi is aware of when Niki's death was even though he wasn't living with Niki and Kisa by then. Like say Kisa stopped by when Niki was in the hospital and decided to tell him about it, saying Fushimi should know because 'he is your father, after all.' Naturally Fushimi wanted nothing to do with Niki and I enjoy the idea that Kusanagi politely but firmly (and possibly secretly rudely) escorts Kisa out, able to see at a glance how this information affects Fushimi. When Niki dies Fushimi learns about it as well-- he has no inheritance, of course, it's just told to him as if he should care and Fushimi just goes to his room and hides for a few hours. The Homra trio are worried about him but also want to give him space, knowing that Fushimi's probably having all kinds of feelings that he can't quite process. One of those feelings though really is immense relief, knowing that now there's no way that Niki can come and try to take him back, finally Fushimi feels as if he can stay in this place without worrying about what will happen tomorrow.

So then jump forward to when Fushimi's left Homra and joined Scepter 4, things are still amicable between himself and his three dads even though he's changed clans (maybe a nice 'everybody lives' AU sprinkled in between here). It's getting late in December and Munakata notices that Fushimi's gotten kinda quiet and introspective lately and doesn't want to talk to anyone. Munakata's a bit worried and he ends up going down to Bar Homra for a drink and possibly to discuss his worries with the bartender. Kusanagi recognizes the description of that mood right away, Fushimi's always gotten quiet around the time his father died. For a moment Munakata wonders if such a thing is grief then but he corrects himself, even not knowing the situation he suspects that there was little love lost between Fushimi and his father. Kusanagi confirms it and chuckles a bit as he notes he would have liked to celebrate that time himself if it wouldn't have been inappropriate. Munakata raises an eyebrow with a thoughtful 'is that so...', smiling mysteriously as he takes a sip of his drink.

The next day Fushimi gets a call from Kusanagi asking him to stop by the bar to pick something up. Fushimi grumbles about it because he's not a little kid anymore, even as he sighs and agrees to go. He stops by Munakata's office for a moment to say he's taking some time off shift but Munakata seems to be missing as well. Fushimi's slightly suspicious now but he heads down to the bar anyway and as soon as he opens the door there's confetti and party poppers. Munakata is there with a cake and a wide smile and Fushimi just gives this flat 'it isn't my birthday, Captain,' entirely unamused. He didn't think the Homra dads would be in on such a stupid thing too but Kusanagi just gives a slight smile and he's like well it seems for once your King had a decent idea, since it's a day you were reborn as our kid in a sense. Totsuka adds that Fushimi should try some cake and finally Fushimi just gives this small chuckle, like they're all idiots but why not, he may as well celebrate after all.

#Fushimi Saruhiko #Talking K #Fushimi has three daddies #everybody hates Niki #happy death day trash king #I know I celebrated #I mean it's like a holiday right

[ishgard]

XIV Questions!

Yoinked this from @nihil242 <3

1. What’s your character’s name? I have A Ton of characters, but my main is Ahru Hiraeth. 2. What server? Many. Ahru is currently adrift over on Louisoix, but will be coming home to Crystal in the near future! 3. What race/clan? Miqo’te / Mixed Keeper-Seeker lineage. 4. Favorite class/job? Red Mage & Bard (Also monk but I'm very self-conscious about ma deeps.)

#idek what to tag this #but apparently THAT was a tag i've used before lmao so #uhh? #idk #about me #??? sorta?

[309nyeon]

Haknyeon’s friendships with the P101 boys

Source: 주학년 누구랑 친해? (Who is Haknyeon close to?; theqoo: 1, 2, 3), 알고보면 파워인싸인데 방송에는 하나도 안 나오는 연습생 (A trainee who’s actually a social butterfly even though the show doesn’t show any of it; pann: 1, 2) 

1. Joo Jinwoo 

You definitely can’t leave out Jinwoo (aka Hakking’s dad) when talking about Haknyeon’s friendships. They have the same last name, were in the same F class, and went to Hanlim high school. 

t/n: Hakking (학깅) = haknyeon + baby (in korean) 

Don’t they look close?? 

Haknyeon holding onto his hyung’s sleeve

..? What are you two doing..? 

Jinwoo hyung playing along with his dongsaeng who’s 6 years younger 'ㅅ'  They watched the first episode together.

They were also together at Gocheok dome.

Also

Haknyeon looking really happy that his hyung passed the first elimination round

--

2. HakWingYoung (Haknyeon + Jihoon (Wink) + Jinyoung)

People associated these three together since before the show, and we first got to see this trio in BIL team 1. 

--

3. Bae Jinyoung

(Jinyoung who missed the beat and Haknyeon with his hyung-like smile)  Hello ~~~ I’m C9′s Bae Jinyoung, and I’m Creker’s Joo Haknyeon. 

They did the hidden box challenge together and they really rambled on about everything (t/n: There’s a running joke between Haknyeon and his fans that he's not good at talking). Jinyoung shouted Haknyeon’s name instead of his own, and Haknyeon was so busy promoting Jinyoung during his PR time that he didn’t even get to introduce himselfㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Jinyoung comforting Haknyeon who was on the verge of tears after talking about his late father (luvchu)

Jinyoung looked like he was just going to pass by, but he pretended like he was hurt when Haknyeon looked back.

--

4. Park Jihoon

Jihoon watching Haknyeon promoting himself at 3/9 Sangam

Jihoon surprised at Haknyeon’s fanservice (luvchu)

Placing their hands together

When they were telling the audience to vote for them (Jihoon was #4 and Haknyeon was #5)

These moments were sweet but they were edited out of the show... I have no idea why they didn’t include moments like theseㅠㅠ If it weren’t for the fansite masters, we would’ve only known about this through fanaccounts... 

--

5. Ong Seongwoo

Hanlim high school senior-junior. They’re called Ongmeo and Jooliet. They both came alone from their agencies, sat at 2nd and 3rd, and chatted a lot during the first episode.

At the first elimination round

They got another nickname after this. Marvel and Disney. (t/n: Fans have been saying that Seongwoo looks like he’s from Marvel and Haknyeon from Disney because of this picture.)

Holding hands together because they’re nervous 8ㅅ8 

--

6. Lee Daehwi 

When Daehwi picked him for BIL team 1

ㅇ0ㅇ..? Me.......?

*hop, hop, hop*

A fan spotted Daehwi and Haknyeon together at Coex.

People say Daehwi and Haknyeon already knew each other before P101.

Congratulations, Haknyeon hyung.

When they were together in Never

--

7. Lee Euiwoong

Hanlim High senior and junior. They were also together in BIL team 1.

Haknyeon prepared a cake for Euiwoong’s birthday.

They also shot videos for their school’s facebook page.

What they call each other: Euiwoong → Haknyeon: Hyung-ah / Haknyeon → Haknyeon: (only to Euiwoong): Hyung-ah / Haknyeon →  Euiwoong: Oongie

--

8. Byun Hyunmin

Same-aged friends who met because of Right Round

You have to debut, okay? 

I had no idea that they were close because they didn’t show any of it. You’ll definitely succeed, Hyunmin.

9. Right Round Team

Hoeseung who was part of Mr. Fortune Cookies

Namhyung who congratulated Haknyeon (which I’m thankful for)

Eunki who I’m always thankful to for being so warm

Hwanwoong patting his dongsaeng’s butt

--

10. Kim Yongguk

An unexpected friendship!

...........?................When I first saw this, I was so surprised by this random combination.

During the second elimination round when Yongguk’s name was called, Haknyeon said, “Yonggukkie-hyung! I told you that you’d make it!”

Haknyeon crying and holding onto Yongguk’s hand after the second elimination

............?........How do you guys know each other.........

Even though he was calm when his own rank dropped, when Yongguk was giving his last speechㅠㅠ

I’m close with Haknyeon because we used to train together (vlive)

Yongguk also used to be in Loen so they trained together before.

An account of Yongguk and Haknyeon when they used to be in Loen (Creker) together (more here). This person knows someone who used to be a teacher at Loen (The picture above is proof).

1. Haknyeon and Yongguk used to dorm together. 2. There weren’t many Loen (Creker) trainees at the time so they had no choice but to be close. 3. All of the other trainees went to school but Yongguk didn’t because he was a foreigner and had a lot of time to himself. Haknyeon clung to Yongguk and Yongguk gave a lot of love to Haknyeon. 4. Both of them didn’t know they were going to be on P101 so they were really happy to see each other at the training camp. They used to bring snacks and feed them to each other.

Creker (Loen at the time) believed it was important that the male trainees spend time together so they used to watch movies and play together even during rest days. They were practically family.

The person doesn’t know why Yongguk left Loen.

The person asked Haknyeon why Yongguk disappeared all of a sudden and Haknyeon got all teary and flustered.. (Haknyeon didn’t know either. They suddenly lost contact).

--

11. Kang Daniel

Being encouraged by his F-class hyungs to go outㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ he ended up doing a b-boy battle with Daniel hyung

Haknyeon laying on his hyung’s knees

Copying his hyung’s dance ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

From a bts video

On the way to Mcountdown

Although we can’t be sure that these two are sharing the same mask, the mask isn’t a common design and it’s just fun to see how they pull off the same mask differently.

--

12. Kang Dongho

Jejuz and Haknyeon’s vocal sensei (Thank you...)

"You dare play around with Guanlin?" "Play around with me too"

Haknyeon: I’ll be a student you can be proud of. Thank you. Dongho (sensei): *embarrassed*

Again, thank you so much for “Open Up”.....

--

13. Kim Samuel

From BIL to Mr. Fortune Cookies. They sat together during the second elimination round.

“No, no. You’re at the top.” Haknyeon hyung comforting Samuel

Haknyeon congratulating Samuel

Samuel congratulating Haknyeon

Mr. Fortune Cookies

--

14. Hwang Minhyun

Minhyun congratulating Haknyeon during the second elimination round

Haknyeon congratulating Minhyun during the third elimination round

--

15. Kwon Hyunbin

You can only find nano cuts of these two’s friendship. Haknyeon’s acquaintance said that Haknyeon was really close to Hyunbin, and there was even a fanaccount that saw them together at Cheongdam. They probably got close because they were both in F class.

F-class hyungs telling Haknyeon to battle Daniel

Haknyeon telling Hyunbin to come out during the dance battleㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

If I could be reborn again, I want to be born with Hyunbin hyung’s vibe.

Hyunbin using Haknyeon’s piggy neck pillow

--

16. Yoon Jisung

A fan saw Jisung, Haknyeon, and Choi Heesoo hanging out together.

17. Kim Taedong

Taedong’s sitting in front of Haknyeon and Jinwoo

--

t/n: I combined a pann and qoo post together because they’re really similar. Here are comments from this Pann post.

1. [+150, -1] I think the rumor that Haknyeon’s an outcast isn’t right.. They don’t show Haknyeon at all whenever there are scenes where the trainees are laughing and talking...ㅠ It’s also funny how people have been using the whole outcast thing to hate on Haknyeon;;

2. [+141, -1] You can tell how powerful editing is when you just look at other people’s interviews. There are so many moments (of him being close to other trainees) but how did they not capture even one single moment? They create friendships out of nowhere and completely edit out existing friendships ㅇㅈㅇ I want to destroy this ability.

3. [+63, -0] I thought Hyunmin would be in this postㅠㅠㅠㅠThis moment was so sad ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ.....

You have to debut, okay?

4. [+60, -0] Look at their class. They completely edit him out in scenes where trainees are laughing and hanging out with each other and highlights him only in tense scenes... Mnet’s so malicious;; And to fans of other trainees using the outcast thing as a political move, do you not realize that the perpetrators are worse than the victims..?

5. [+58, -0] There really was no cut of him laughing with the other kids starting from the 10th episodeㅠㅠ The trainees looked so close in the sports day segment. How could they not even show a single moment, not even a single moment, Joonyoung!!!!!!!

6. [+57, -0] You can only find him being close to the other trainees in nano cuts.. He was even close to some of the trainees before the show, but the show doesn’t show any of it.. This is the first time I realized that editing can ruin a person’s life..

7. [+55, -0] Kim Taedong must have had a hard time writing a post-it for his own subway ad because of the crowd, but he went all the way to Haknyeon’s ad to take a proof shot. If he really hated and wasn’t close to Haknyeon, he would have no reason to do that. I have no idea why they don’t show such friendships on the show.

8. [+55, -0] Creker and Starship are in the same buildingㅇㅇ

9. [+49, -0] If not for this post, I would have no idea who he’s close to.

10. [+44, -0] Idk if it’s because he has a lot of aegyo but he seems close to hyungsㅋㅋㅋ

11. [+33, -0] Since he has a lot of aegyo, there definitely has to be lots of moments like these. This just makes me think everything was cut due to editing. The Haknyeon fans who found all of these are amazing.

12. [+30, -0] What, they look close. I had no idea because they didn’t show any of it.

13. [+31, -0] The PD’s editing with such malicious intent. I just feel bad for him because he’s still a young kid.

14. [+28, -0] Haknyeon’s closest friends are probably Jinwoo and Heesooㅠ Jinwoo practically acted like his guardian. In Sangam, the two held hands and clung to each other. He was also with Heesoo a lot in the beginning, and Heesoo even visited Haknyeon’s subway ad, saying he was also a national producerㅠㅠㅠ He’s very close to his hyungs.

15. [+26, -0] In the first bts video, he roomed with Park Sungwoo and Yoo Seonho. He was also close with Dongmyeong and Seonghyuk because they’re the same age. He’s also close to Guanlin, which is why he played around with him when they arm wrestled. There were also pictures of Haknyeon clinging to Ahn Hyeongsub so they seem like they’re close. Plus, I’ve also seen a picture of him with Hong Eunki at a shopping mall.

16. [+25, -0] It’s obvious that Mnet wants to get rid of Haknyeon. They only show him during center assignment or when there’s trouble. They give him absolutely no screentime in other scenes, like they never show him when the trainees are just hanging out and having fun, fㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Pann] Haknyeon’s P101 friendships from yesterday!!

1. Hyeongsub

ㅋㅋㅋI’ve only heard of 99line but I didn’t know they were close.... Hyeongsub’s a celestial idolㅜㅜI trust that he’ll do even better.

2. Seonho

Haknyeon and Seonho!!ㅜㅜ 

3. Paca

Paca who’s so charming you could die......ㅜㅜㅜ He was also one of my picks My heart was shredding watching Paca cry...ㅜㅠThe way he’s looking at Haknyeon is so sweet Haknyeon also looks like such a baby who loves his hyung-ahㅜ

4. Joo Jinwoo

Dad Jinwooㅜㅜㅠ It’s really nice to see them getting along 

5. Byun Hyunmin

Haknyeon-ah You worked hard, preparing for the performances. You know that we both have to debut and meet each other again in good places, right? Also, you promised me that you’d get me something delicious if I go to Jeju...

I knew that they were close because they were in Right Round together I’m touched bc of this ig update ㅠㅠ

6. Kenta

7. Euiwoong

Hanlimz, Euiwoongie!! Euiwoong’s speech last week was so cool.  It was nice to see him again on the showㅎㅎ I hope Hanlimz continue to get along with each otherㅎㅎ!!

8. Jo Kyumin

Kyumin was in Mansae 2 I didn’t know he was close to Haknyeonㅋㅋㅋ Haknyeon must be a hyung killer because he has so much aegyo.

Lastly, a picture of Haknyeon!! You’ve worked hard. Practice even harder and let’s meet again with an improved appearance♡♡

Also, bye forever to Mnet, f*ck^^

--

1. [+130, -3] He’s an example of how Mnet’s editing can easily ruin a person. He comes off as a very bright, lovable kid with lots of aegyo in everything but P101. How evil was the editing that “outcast” is now one of his related search terms. A sociable kid like that. Mnet, stop making P101. 

2. [+117, -3] How could you make a kid like this look like that on the show. Mnet, die. 

3. [+111, -3] Muel and Haknyeon hugging each other tightlyㅠㅠㅠㅠ Instead of crying over getting eliminated, he sincerely congratulated his hyungs and dongsaengsㅜㅜ Although P101′s over, what’s left now is to just walk on the flower path❤ After debuting, show off your pretty side. I’m supporting you!!!!!!!!

4. [+52, -1] There really isn’t anyone he isn’t close to. I'm just so dumbfounded at people saying Minhyun was trying to shade and embarrass himㅋㅋㅋ

5. [+45, -0] The show just doesn’t show it, but Haknyeon’s actually close to a lot of people based on how many people have seen him with other trainees outside the show. Call me Yongguk, Hyunbin, Dad Jinwoo, Jisung-shi, Oongie.. 

6. [+45, -0] Hyunbin hugged Haknyeon and kissed his headㅠㅠㅠHaknyeon also hugged little Woojin and Dongmyeong and patted themㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

7. [+40, -0] Haknyeon, I’m really glad that I’m your fan, and I’m relieved that we were of some strength to you like you wrote in your letter. Work even harder from now on and come back with a better side! Although the show didn’t show this side of you, fans know how kind you are! I’ll make sure that you only walk on the flower path from now on.

8. [+40, -0] Haknyeon, thank you so much for coming out on P101. I’m really thankful that I became your fan. I know you went through a lot of mental and physical stress, so rest lots and come back with a better side. I’ll support you until the end as a fan. You’ve worked hard. 

9. [+40, -1] ㅜㅜㅜa baby as cute as thisㅜㅜㅜ

10. [+40, -0] Without the editing, you can see his actual personality..

11. [+36, -0] Haknyeon and Yongguk are close. They both used to be Loen trainees.. Thank you so much for crying for Yongguk when he got eliminated. Thank you for letting us know that Yongguk wasn’t alone. 

12. [+35, -0] Oongie and Haknyeon’s looks in real life are amazing. I was surprised. They’re so good-looking. 

13. [+31, -0] How could they make him look like an outcast when he’s so close to so many people... Everyone, this is how scary editing can be. I wish you’d edit this post to include Hyunbin kissing Haknyeon and Haknyeon hugging Woojin. 

14. [+30, -0] Haknyeon also picked up little Woojinㅠㅠㅠㅠcute

t/n: There are a lot more cute moments in the comment section. 

#joo haknyeon #produce 101 #haknyeon

[oselatra]

A week at Midtown

Can a dive bar be reborn?

Midtown Billiards occupies the ground floor of a red-brick two-story at 1316 Main St., just south of Interstate 630, where downtown Little Rock splits. On the morning of Sept. 16, 2016, the building caught fire.

It started in the kitchen — located up front, behind the window that faces the sidewalk — and the flames burst through the glass. Smoke curled up the front exterior and billowed down the street. Even with the broken window there was not enough ventilation to stop the rest of the bar from filling with hot smoke. It was not the fire, per se, but this smoke and heat inside— hot enough to melt the ceiling fans — that caused most of the damage. Outside, the blaze — a flickering orange in the window of a storefront on one of Little Rock's main drags — caught eyes. Someone at the gas station across from Midtown called an employee of the bar, who called David Shipps, the general manager, and he was the one who told the owner, Maggie Hinson.

"Well, I'll tell you," Hinson said when I asked her about the burning bar, "I was busy having a heart attack." This is not a metaphor for being distraught; Hinson was recovering from an actual heart attack and was not able to go to Midtown to watch the Little Rock Fire Department do its work. "I'd just come from the hospital," she said, "and I was still really very ill." Plus, she did not have her car. A friend to whom she'd lent her Ford Mustang had called earlier that day. "She told me she hit a deer," Hinson said. Trouble come in threes.

As word spread about the fire, most people assumed the culprit was grease. A dive bar, perhaps the city's most famous, Midtown is well known for its oleaginous burgers. Esquire magazine — in anointing it among the best bars in America in 2007 — wrote, "People arrive here drunk and leave wicked. But it helps that they have those hamburgers cooked behind the bar, coated so thickly with spices and so indulgent at 3:00 a.m. that you'll see eyes rolling back in ecstasy with each bite." Maybe this association of the griddle with the bar's reputation is what propelled the narrative. Whatever the reason, it took on a tragic tone: This hallowed dive could not sustain its run-down nature and had been bound to self-destruct. Icarus flew too close to that oily sun.

But, the grease story was a myth. "There was no grease — I can't express that enough — there was no grease involved at all," Shipps said. It was actually a fridge's motor that seized up. From security camera footage, Shipps was able to watch the fire's progression, beginning just as sparks. "A few minutes later a flame was right on top of the fridge, dancing back and forth," he said. It caught onto the wall, then the drop ceiling. "And once it caught the drop ceiling — phom — it just spread," he remembered. When, the next morning, Shipps began clearing the char with a shovel, he found the fridge in a "molten heap."

Now, almost 10 months later, Hinson — who most people call Maggie and who has bright red hair that flows around her face — was standing in the front foyer, beside the kitchen, of an almost finished and refurbished Midtown. Her heart was working and out front was a red Mustang parked on the front curb. Everything was back in shape, or at least getting there, she said. It was Wednesday, July 5, and Midtown was reopening the next day.

***

Part of the reason it took Midtown so long to reopen was the reason Midtown was great: It was worn in. The saloon, for years, had opened each day at 3 p.m. and closed at 5 a.m., rarely shutting the doors even for holidays. During the afternoons it was known as a drowsy and calm place, haunted by the comfort of old regulars. Then, after happy hour, the bar would clear out. "It could be a ghost town" during that time, Hinson told me, when other bars were packed. Midtown is one of the few places in Little Rock to have a Class B private club license, allowing it to stay open until 5 a.m. It gets most of its customers from 1 a.m. to close, after other bars — each with different shades of late-night scene — shut their doors and push along their variegated patrons. These folks combine with a steady steam of workers whose shifts end around the same time and beat the crap out of the property until early morning.

There was an almost constant fog of cigarette smoke. Someone described this dank, dark bar as like the comfort of an old shoe. Midtown was not, as you can imagine, exactly up to building codes.

After the fire everything had to be repaired, and some things would need to change: New, more spacious bathrooms would be installed; the drop ceiling would be taken out; a freshly stained wood bar was needed; the walls would get new paint; and the new cement floor would be squeaky-clean, neither black nor sticking to your boot as you stepped.

This all took time. And to pay for it meant dealing with insurance claims. Shipps remembers cataloging an estimated 360 items, trying to find their exact price and date of purchase. Builders would sometimes have to suddenly stop — one time for a whole month — to wait on the paperwork.

For all that had to change, Shipps and Hinson have chiefly tried to preserve the bar as it was. It is still one room that stretches straight back, the walkway made skinny in the front by the bar on the right and by wood filing cabinets stocked with supplies on the left, before opening to pool tables and finally a dance floor with a stage. For continuity, Shipps put up a cut out rectangle of the old swamp-green wall from before the fire, covered in scribbling and beer labels. There was now a clear dividing line between the pre-fire hunk of wall and the newly painted Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtle-green interior.

"I think this is almost too fancy for us; it's almost too nice," Shipps worried, surveying the walls around him. "But, it won't last," Shipps quickly added, with confidence. "It won't last at all." He was sure of the customers and, he added, "It seems like all these old buildings have ghosts to them anyways." Hinson told me they were betting on when it'd get back to the state of necessary distress. She bet Sunday.

***

I was giving it a full week, from Thursday to Thursday. My idea was to go each night to the bar, in a purely scientific documentation of Midtown's descent into its former glory. "There's a difference between a dive bar and just a shithole bar," Conan Robinson, a longtime bartender at Midtown who now runs Four Quarter Bar in North Little Rock, had told me. I thought he was right, but how do you make a dive? The word had shifted over the years. Dive, as a word for a drinking-den, came up in the late 1800s as a name for lewd establishments in basements and cellars into which one would "dive" to join the seedy underworld, hopefully unseen. The physical element (to dive) is gone for most places we call dives now — Midtown is street level beside an artisanal pizza place and a respectful business. Yet, the key was still in the name, a good dive bar needs an element of "below." You should feel as if you have cut through the cracks of everyday life. Most don't get this through being dirty, but through history. A proper dive is not really nasty as much as eroded.

History had certainly done its work on the old Midtown, but the fire now wiped out fossils of good times. The new Midtown ran the risk of looking like a ripped Urban Outfitter jean: trying hard to come off frayed but actually faking it. At the same time, as Robinson said, it couldn't just let things go to complete shit to reclaim its bruised past. There had to be a certain something behind the damage. The challenge for Midtown in its first week would be to degenerate, but in a hard-to-pin-down authenticity.

***

On Thursday, July 6, around 5 p.m., Midtown reopened not with a rush, but with a slow fill as people got off work. The public would come tomorrow, but tonight was restricted to the regulars. Most of them had been coming for years, were in their 40s and 50s, and of the happy-hour coterie. They would come in, find a friend, hug, order that friend a drink, and then begin chatting. I saw a cigarette hit the bar, maybe even leave a mark, as it hung on someone's finger deep in a conversation. That's how they happen: The infrastructure remembers even when the patrons don't. I found a few other dents: One of the Blue Moon lights over a pool table already had a large crack in it and there were some frantically drawn illustrations along the walls. A scribbled Dylan misquote stood out: "Those not busy being born are busy dying." The smoke did not hang in the room tonight, but dissipated and the lights were somewhat bright.

I found Robinson — who was easy to spot because he has a giant graying beard halfway down his chest — and asked him how it felt to be back. "A bit like a parallel universe," he admitted. Things were all the same but totally different, like a dream. The slightness of the changes were almost stranger. For example, his muscle memory of pouring a shot now did not fit the altered landscape. He'd bang his arm or elbow. He was hopeful though. "It's getting there," he said.

If anything could break this place in, it was an infamous Thursday night happy-hour game called bottle-toss. Here's the gist: You throw a bottle across the bar into a trashcan, and whoever is the last person to get the bottle into the can has to buy a round for the whole bar. The game can have up to 60 people. I did the math and the risk was close to half my rent. That's why many stand on the wings and watch as bottles fly into the can or smash onto the ground.

I found its originator, Stephen Steed and asked if it was on for tonight. He pointed up to the new fans whisking away the smoke. "They're too low," he said. "Some people have a high arch." He was holding off until the following Thursday. But, he handed me a packet of all the old statistics on bottle-toss in a folder. Steed has kept an exhaustive "Leaderboard" for each year of the game: names of the players, a cheeky sentence bio, their "season" record, a special smiley face if they got the bottle in on the first throw. From these statistics he makes Harper's- style indexes. Here are a few lines from the 2014 season:

BOTTLE-TOSS INDEX

Number of years of bottle-tossing at Midtown in some form or fashion: 14

Age of the oldest bottle-tosser: 84

Number of the Little Rock Nine to toss bottles: 1

Number of tossers this season: 1,119

I'd have to wait, but it'd be a good way to end my week here, even a test: Could the game transfer to the new Midtown?

***

Around 9:30 p.m., a group circled around Hinson and began chanting her name with their hands in the air. "Maggie! Maggie! Maggie!" No one is more responsible for Midtown's reputation than Hinson. She long has not just been an owner, but a kind of matron.

When she first got ownership of the bar, this meant caring for old men — a good bit of them holdovers from the previous owner. Midtown had originally opened in 1940 as Jimmy's Midtown Billiards. Back then, the name made more sense: There was an eponymous Jimmy, it was his bar and it was located on Seventh Street, which was midtown at the time. Not until the 1970s did it move to South Main Street. Under Jimmy's reign, the bar would open at 6 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. It was a pool hall and a gambling spot. Older men would mix in the mornings with prostitutes who came from a safe house down the street to get coffee.

Near the end of the 1980s it was sold to Maggie and Jim Hinson. (She thinks; it was hard to pin down a date on the transaction, she said.)

Hinson had learned how to bartender when she was 18. On her way out to California, from her home in Stuttgart, she stopped in Oklahoma City and worked at a bar for two years called the Horseshoe Lounge. "It was shaped like a horseshoe," she said, and she worked the entire bar and all the tables. Then, she finally caught that ride to California and, in her words, "hung out."

"Where?" I asked

"San Francisco," she said.

I asked if she liked it and her reply was: "If you remember if you liked it there — during my time — you were not there." It was the 1960s.

In San Francisco she got married. She and this husband traveled the world, but eventually things fizzled. In Hot Springs she met another man, Jim Hinson. "Oh, what year was that? Good God," she wondered. "Maybe, 37, 38 years ago?" They lived a good life together: She ran an accounting firm in North Little Rock and he was the deputy director of finance for the Department for Human Services. They had hobbies, too. "He was a gambler and he liked to gamble and that's what he did. And we got along great," she remembers. When Jim retired he bought Jimmy's. "When we bought this, my husband wouldn't let me come in here because he said it was too rough," she said. "But, then he changed his mind after he found out there was some domino players back there and he could play. Somebody needed to work."

Maggie Hinson ended up running the place. "I've worked the door, I've been a bartender, I've been a cook, I've been a plumber. Whatever it takes," she said. "I breathed life into the place." She would come and make a meal for everybody — whole hams, cornbread — no set menu. "It was kind of a nursery for old men. They'd come in and I'd feed and water them," she said of the first years. "They were my kids, all those old guys. I just loved them to death." She stopped for a moment. "And they're all gone now," she finished. Her husband, too; he died three years ago.

There were new regulars now — chanting around her as the bar reopened — and an employee walked past me and whispered in my ear, "See: Everybody loves Maggie." The place closed up at 10 p.m., still pretty clean.

***

Friday was the official kickoff and the live band did not start until well past midnight. Before then, it was mostly pool players in Midtown. A man with a loose fitting shirt, smoking a Cigarillo, played a guy in board shorts and a tank top; next to them, a mustachioed older guy wearing a tucked-in black polo, dangled a cigarette from his mouth as he beat back competitor after competitor. Circling around was a fella that looked like Tom Cotton on a bender, eyes hazed. As the evening stretched into the early morning, the walls started filling up, too. Customers had been given specialized Sharpies for Midtown's opening imprinted "Fire Bad! Whiskey Good!" They put them to use. Some patrons wore red shirts with a drawing of Midtown on fire and the phrase "Smoking Establishment." I saw someone ash on the floor, pause to wonder if it was wrong, and then do it again. A woman walked past with a walker.

By 2 a.m., the band was playing and the place was almost full. It was a motley crew. Preppy kids mixed with goth-types who were close to some hipsters who bumped shoulders with some older men. I saw a white man with dreadlocks and, to his right, a black man with dreadlocks. Peeking out the window, I saw a guy leaned up against a tree, near the curb, being helped by friends. A few pool sharks were still around, too; they'd stayed through the rush. One guy would put his tall boy Miller Lite can into a corner pocket and then strike with power, offering an "excuse me" to people in his way. "There are some bars that cater to certain kinds of people," Shipps said of Midtown. "We don't do that — at 2 a.m., everyone's the same kind."

I headed for the bathroom. A woman near the door told me to "not freak out" because the men's room "is not completely trash like it used to be." She'd just come out of it. Hinson had said she was not worried about the walls becoming filled with words, letters and drawings again: "We have a lot of self-made artists and poets." But, to have the bathroom already covered surprised me. One person's mark stood out. Loopy penises — looking like comical French-style twirly mustaches that had been scrunched in the middle, drawn in a single stroke — were everywhere. It was clear that a single artist had drawn all of them. It was unique. Someone had probably come to Midtown and spent their entire first night holed up in this bathroom drawing dicks in a determined respect. I thought that was nice.

***

If Thursday was about the longtime regulars, this weekend was about what Midtown had become.

Saturday night offered a similarly eclectic crew, but with a larger anchor of service industry workers. Bars open until 5 a.m. in Little Rock all cater to those who get off shifts late in the night (or morning), but Midtown, more than others, has become known for these clients. The word "home" came up more often than any other when I asked a random person about Midtown, but the second most common phrase was "service industry." One person told me that during his shift at another restaurant the idea of getting off work mixes with going to Midtown. "I can't wait to go to Midtown," they say to mean, "I can't wait for the end of this shift."

Not that this was always the plan. When the Hinsons first bought the bar, they actually tried to fancy it up a bit, turning Jimmy's into a martini and cigar bar. Maggie would come in with scrapers to try to get beer labels off the wall and just find more and more each day. After she inherited a 5 a.m. license, Midtown changed focus. "We're going to be a 5 a.m. bar, it's going to be a dive bar, we're going to cater to people in the industry," Shipps said of that transition.

This shift really took hold in the late 1990s and early 2000s, around when Robinson started working there. "Back then, Midtown was just sort of, I almost want to say, word-of-mouth; you didn't really know about it," he told me. "It was like this hidden oasis of like, 'Hey I work here, I work there, and I got off work at 1 in the morning,' or 1:30 in the morning and they'd all head over to Midtown. Have some drinks, eat a burger, play some pool." Back then, "we had one of those Walmart electric griddles, you know, that you would plug into the wall," Robinson said. "You could only cook about six burgers at a time and it would take sometimes up to 45 minutes to cook, because they are just sitting there slow-cooking in their own grease."

Then Little Rock's downtown started changing. "There weren't as many bars back 15 years ago," Nola Nysten, a longtime employee and bartender at Midtown, explained. "The River Market had two or three. So, when the bar industry started picking up here in Little Rock is when we got hit with late-night." As the service industry grew downtown, so did Midtown's late-night scene.

The major demarcation, the real turning point, was doing away with the 8 a.m. shift. For about the first decade under Hinson, Midtown had only closed for a few hours, between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. But, the old men of morning gambling and coffee were not the main customer-base anymore. They adjusted, and started coming in the evening. "They'd be back there playing dominoes and the band just a-blaring," Hinson said.

On that first Saturday, most people I met were service-industry. And it showed. There was a healthy amount of respect and appreciation for the bartenders. There were out and out drunken folks, too, sure. But they were watched after.

When I was looking at the clock behind the bar, realizing it was 15 minutes ahead, and not 3:25, or so, but actually 3:10, a burly larger guy slid up to me.

"I fucked up," he said, kind of giggling.

"What did you do?" I asked

"I don't know!" he yelped, and burst into a laugh, grabbing my arm and bent forward so low his head almost touched the bar. Then he rose and tried to order another drink. The bartender, kindly, told him he was probably OK for the night. I watched him walk away perfectly fine with the decision, dancing a bit. Remember: A dive is not complete shit. That probably stopped the guy from puking.

***

Sunday was proving comparatively calm, I was thinking, while a man in a black cowboy hat did karaoke. Behind him, the stage was now covered with graffiti. In an interlude, he asked the crowd, "Can I get a hell yeah?" and I expected the tepid response of most karaoke events.

"HELL YEAH!" the whole bar screamed. "Can I get a yee haw?" "YEE HAW!" they bellowed. Such a full-throated response to karaoke I have never heard. The next person stepped up and a fellow bar mate told me this guy — now swaying and sort of singing in a mumble — had been one of the first to the mic almost four hours earlier.

Bubbling under the surface, even on Sunday, is the Midtown party.

***

After the late nights on the weekend — almost until the crack of dawn — I took the early week to learn about evenings at Midtown. I drank beers in the afternoon. I chatted. I met people getting off work or about to go in and I learned how to sit on a barstool and think about nothing. I tried to channel one of the newer employees, Brendon Holmes.

He is 23 and recently came back to Arkansas from California, where he served in the Marines. He is a bar back, which means he cooks the famous burgers and helps refill the stocks if they run out. At night, this can be an exhausting job as the drunken clamor for food and bartenders take order after order; persons gaming for attention as if they are the only one in the bar. But, Holmes is serene about the whole thing.

When I asked him about Midtown, he spoke of the joy of its solitude on evenings. "I usually go a lot of places by myself," he said. "Part of the reason I come up here is I'm always cool to bring my sketch pad and just chill by myself and draw." He wants to be a tattoo artist — he showed me an intricate series of sea creatures on his right arm painted from the elbow to the wrist, part of a larger piece. He also likes piercings: He has a nose ring and a stud on his cheek. It's not like Holmes does not enjoy fun. I've seen him working late-night shifts and stop on the way back to dance after he delivered food. Late nights require a still morning.

***

On Wednesday, I overheard and wrote down:

"Almost looks the same," a man says to a woman as a half-way introduction.

"Pretty much," she says back, and then orders a beer.

***

Around 7:11 p.m. on Thursday, we were still waiting for bottle-toss to start up when the fire alarm went off. No fire-breaking glass, no burnt-down building, no molten fridge; just a new system sensitive to smoke. Bottle-toss is supposed to start at 7 p.m., but it actually gets going whenever Hinson finishes playing dominoes in the back, so in the meantime, people prepared the field as the alarm went off. A white chalk line was drawn near the end of the bar, about 30 feet away from a trashcan that was placed against the wall. Right above the trashcan, someone drew a small arrow with the word "BOTTLE" in all caps. A fire truck rolled up outside and then drove away.

The game was not always so intricately planned.

It started in 2000, when a group of Thursday regulars were trying to figure out who would pay the tab. Hinson had vetoed buying a dartboard and tried a few others games of chance to no success. "I had paper targets made and we had a drop ceiling, so I put those on the ceiling and they would shoot those long toothpicks out of a straw to see if they could hit the bullseyes. Well, that lost its glory real quick," she said. Then, someone put a bottle on top of his head and challenged one of the others to knock it off with a tossed bottle. In a heroic feat, the tosser hit the bottle off the challenger's head and it landed in a trashcan. And — as it is written in the official history I was given — " 'There's game in there somewhere,' Steed said. 'We need a different target.'"

They started by throwing from the bar to a can by the front door, but this had the danger of whacking a customer walking in, so they flipped the directions. The shot was taken at a slight right bend from the bar to a corner. Meaning, if you throw right-ish it'll hit that wall and sometimes bank in. The old Midtown had a gold star in that spot where right-handers would often hit for the bank shot. It also had tarps up, which a crazy throw would sometimes land on, causing the bottle to roll down the wall and into the can.

As Midtown grew over the past 20 or so years, so has bottle-toss. Just to give an idea of the size: since 2015, on top of the bottle-tossing, a group plays its own game of betting who will lose. It's the Midtown Pony Express, and they have 25 members.

***

Hinson stepped out from the dominoes and up to the mic around 7:30. "ARE WE READY FOR BOTTLE-TOSS?" she screamed. The toss lane was cleared and people got onto the stage or stood on benches to look down on the "field." Empty bottles lined the end of the bar, ready to be thrown.

During the game, Hinson emcees beside the throwing player, often chastising him or her for their attempts to get a free beer. Tonight, she was also the first to throw. She brought the bottle down to near her knees, rocking with it as if to flip it into the air underhanded, then, with sudden force, she cocked it behind her ear and tomahawked it. The bottle was sent in a looping dive toward the cement floor and crashed. "AHH!" a cheer rose up. The first bottle-toss. Two men with brooms began the process of pushing the debris to the side. Hinson grabbed the microphone and invited people to line up.

Misses were aplenty as the game began. Hinson used various phrases to describe these catastrophic throws, but there were a few common ones: "crashed and burned" for the bad ones and "Oh baby! So close!" for the OK ones. The most regularly used just a buzzer-like "EHH!" Brad Kimbrell, a former two-time champion of bottle-toss, was the first to sink his bottle, and a loud roar rose up.

Then, at 7:31 p.m., the fire alarm went off again. "Hold on; there is no fire," Hinson said. Another fire truck came — some firefighters came in, talked to Hinson and then left. The game started back up. Someone's shot ricocheted every which way and Hinson told them to not mess up her bar. "All right? Everything is new and improved."

By the time I made it up to the line, I cannot lie, I was nervous. There were 64 people playing bottle-toss this evening and the tab would be high. I took the neck of the bottle and sent it spinning in the air until it — bang — hit the fan and crashed on the floor. Steed was right when he said some players had high arcs and that it would be a problem.

In between turns, I went back to the few people I knew for advice and learned that there had always been obstacles: I could not blame the fan, only myself. An old gas line was up there before. Other throwers included a man with walker and a person with a cast on his arm; I hoped I could at least beat them.

Near the end of the first round, one of the sweepers of the broken glass, Duncan, stepped to the line and people shouted, "ONE SHOT DUNC!" He proceeded to live up to his name. Many regulars were getting it one-shot, including "Mr. Bottle Toss himself," as Hinson called Steed. It was intimidating.

A little after 9 p.m., when there were only 23 of 64 tossers left and I was among them, came the real nerves. I could understand the people who ducked out early — they were shamed and booed when called to the line only to be found absent, but they had ensured not having to pay the tab. I'd missed probably four times at this point and none of them were close. Then, I missed again — maybe the worst of the night — and it was down to 14. I learned later I was so bad that one of the Midtown Pony Express folks placed their gamble on me. Looking back, I can't blame him.

At 9:14 p.m. I flipped an erratic one that banked and pinballed off too many surfaces to be anything but pure ugly before sliding into the can. Per custom, I went over and hugged Hinson. She nicely yelled at me: "Go get your free beer!"

The game went on, but not much longer; it ended around 9:34 p.m. Hinson and one other tosser had gone one-on-one a few times and neither had made it in. After a quick discussion, they agreed to split the tab. She then called for silence and let the place settle. Hinson said, "We've been closed for a long time and I feel like I got my family back with me." Another cheer.

A good amount of people shuffled out at that point, but even more stayed. They did what people have always done in the rooms we call dive bars: smoke, drank, chatted, ate. It reminded me of earlier in the week, when I was trying to squeeze out of Hinson some reason her bar was so special and she was trying to help, but, eventually, she grew a little tired of it and stopped.

"We're just plain," she said.

***

I did not have to — even planned not to — but Friday I went back to Midtown.

A week at Midtown

#A week at Midtown