#realistic anime mullet hard

[yamchaas]

Bandit boy <3

#realistic anime mullet hard #so hard lmao #yamcha #yamucha #dbz #dragon ball #db fanart #dbz fanart #dragon ball fanart

[perfeggso]

every fortress falls (AKIRA x NCT)

Please enjoy this anime-kpop crossover for the Lights, Camera, Fanfiction event hosted by @supermwritersnet​! I chose to write for Shotaro and one of my favorite fictional universes ever, Akira’s Neo-Tokyo. If you know Akira, my story will run parallel to the canon plot. If not, I hope you give this a try and enjoy anyway and I highly recommend the source material! <3

If you’re interested, here is my AKIRA playlist. 

Setting of Akira: It has been thirty years since the end of WWIII, begun due to the detonation of an unidentified superweapon known only as “Akira” over Tokyo. The incident and subsequent war decimated the city which was rebuilt into Neo-Tokyo, a corrupt and crime-ridden megalopolis centered on an artificial island in Tokyo Bay.

Characters: Shotaro, Sungchan, Yuta, Akira main characters, other NCT members upcoming. 

Genres: cyberpunk, sci-fi, action/adventure 

Warnings: drug use/abuse, gangs, some swearing, eventual graphic violence

Rating: mature but not explicit 

Chapter length: 1.3k

Chapter 1:

The capsule cradled in Shotaro’s palm is red and white and shiny, like the earrings that Noriko would wear and which, when Shotaro asked, he found out were supposed to look like “blood and come,” respectively. The drone of Tanaka-Sensei’s voice from the front of the classroom barely penetrates the cloak of sullen disruption shielding Shotaro’s wooden amphitheater seat in classroom 12 of the Eighth District Vocational Training School. Even though realistically no one is paying attention, Shotaro tries to hold the pill so that his hand is obscured by his row’s shared desk. He doesn’t know why he’s so nervous; Tanaka-Sensei is barely commanding control of the room as he attempts to explain how a carburetor works, the closest kid to Shotaro is reading a girly magazine, and everyone at the school is well aware that you can buy as many of these pills as any broke student could afford from the nurse’s office.

It’s just, Shotaro reasons as the patent-leather-like curves of the capsule glint in the jaundiced combination of natural and fluorescent light, he’s always been a good kid. He doesn’t do things like this – at least that’s what Yuta constantly tells him. He doesn’t buy drugs – no matter how cheap they are – from Kaneda’s girlfriend of all people, and he certainly doesn’t take them. Kaneda, Shotaro has always felt, is inextricably linked to him. For one, Shotaro Kaneda’s family name is the same as Shotaro’s given name (though they use slightly different kanji if anyone ever cared to notice). For another thing, the two boys have known of each other since early childhood, having come up in the same orphanage and school system for boys deemed by the state to be “lacking in future prospects.” (Shotaro doesn’t think this label really applies to him; it’s not his fault he doesn’t really like academics and the one activity he really enjoys – dancing – is far too expensive for him to pursue). For a final, crucial thing, Kaneda is the leader of the Capsules, the rival gang to Yuta’s Clowns. The fact that Kaneda could very literally kill Shotaro’s adoptive brother of sorts any day now understandably precludes him from feeling much of an affinity towards his classmate.

Shotaro has been taunted more times than he can remember for being the “boring” Shotaro. But if skating by under the radar to receive his vocational high school diploma, getting out, and not being sent to Jaws for discipline twice a week is boring to his classmates, Shotaro doesn’t really care.

Well, he didn’t care, until he had gotten to thinking one day last week. It started when he’d found Yuta’s stash of drugs. Yuta tries very hard to keep any evidence of his dependency from his little brother, but he’s not always great at it. Over the years, Shotaro couldn’t help but notice the blissful calm which comes over Yuta when Shotaro has caught him thinking he was taking the stuff in private. Nor could Shotaro help but register the ensuing boost in energy and motivation. It had always made him wonder even if Yuta categorically forbid it and he was good at smothering his curiosity. When Shotaro came to school the next day and mentioned finding Yuta’s pills offhand to Sungchan, the younger boy proved less adept at quashing his hunger for new experiences, and Shotaro had begun to truly let his imagination get the best of him.

“Hey!” The harsh whisper startles Shotaro out of his preoccupation with the look and feel of his capsule, to the extent that he almost blunders and drops it down the five graduated rows of seats below him. But fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, he holds on.

The voice is as familiar as the backseat of Yuta’s motorcycle and coming from the level of seats behind Shotaro, so he turns around. Class has devolved to the point that having a full conversation stage-whisper style is about the least disruptive thing occurring.

Sungchan’s oversized frame and comforting smile loom over Shotaro from above, like a benevolent version of the mechanical surveillance vultures Sungchan had once gushed in horror that the American government was trying to build.

“Did I scare you?” Sungchan asks.

Shotaro fakes a glare at his best friend, but only ends up chuckling.

“How could I be scared by a 185cm walking teddy-bear?”

Sungchan tries to look hurt but giggles right back.

“Did you get the stuff?”

Shotaro nods, angling his hand so Sungchan can see the pill.

“Why were you so late to class?” Shotaro asks, feeling irrational panic nipping at the edges of his mind for the first time all day to suggest that maybe Sungchan was held up because someone caught him with drugs. Shotaro wonders why this thought hadn’t occurred to him earlier, hoping that’s an indication of its ridiculousness.

“I got caught up talking to Sawako in the nurse’s office,” Sungchan explains, and Shotaro relaxes a little. “She was very chatty for some reason and I felt bad. I think she’s lonely. Did you know Kaneda got her pregnant?”

“No, what?” Shotaro makes a face as disapproving as he feels. “That asshole. Of course he wouldn’t use protection. Ugh, anyway. Did you get what you wanted? Everything go smoothly?”

Sungchan pulls a button-size plastic bag from his pocket and displays, not quite covertly enough for Shotaro’s liking but he’ll live, the identical red and white capsule within.

“Perfect.”

“I was thinking,” Sungchan continues, “Sawako said she thinks there’ll be a battle between the Capsules and the Clowns tonight. Should we try to catch some of it?”

Shotaro leans his elbows onto the desk in front of his friend and smiles, indulgent.

“While we’re high for the first time? Sounds like a shitty idea.” Sungchan pouts like Shotaro knew he would, so he adds a “we can feel it out in the moment, though,” because he is a weak man when it comes to Sungchan’s wants and needs. They are both that way towards each other, even when it gets them into trouble. But as Yuta always says, “memorable trouble is worth it”; i.e., if it makes a good story in the future, might as well go for it.

“Yuta would kill me if he found out though,” Shotaro wagers, “and I mean that literally.”

The last class of the day ends as he’s speaking and he and Sungchan make plans for meeting in the evening as they filter out of the musty, chipping paint, brutalist structure which is supposed to pass for a place of learning.

Shotaro finds Yuta where he always does after school: unsheathing his motorcycle in the back parking lot.

Yuta’s bike is a souped-up Honda painted to look like a 1940s bomber. Yuta wears a black leather biking suit he probably slipped on in the men’s room before heading out and pulls a helmet decorated with clown makeup over his black mullet as he greets his little brother, following the exchange by offering a similar helmet to Shotaro.

They hop on and head out onto the streets of Neo-Tokyo. Skyscrapers tower grey in the daytime light what feels like miles above the litter-strewn street and block out the sun. They’re so massive they could probably each hold an entire city’s worth of people, Shotaro reckons, and they move sluggishly in opposition to the trajectory of the bike, like cargo ships trudging against water.

“Good day?” Yuta asks when they stop at an intersection next to Flower Alley Mall.

“Yeah,” Shotaro assures. “Sungchan heard something about a battle tonight? What’s up with that?”

“I don’t want to get into it, but he’s right,” Yuta admits. “But don’t try to tag along or I’ll murder you.”

With that, the light turns and Shotaro grabs hold of Yuta, mumbling “I know” fondly into his shoulder. They zip away like that the rest of the way to their apartment, the capsule burning nuclear in Shotaro’s pocket as he’s left to ponder his next move.

#supermaction #supermwritersnet #nct #shotaro #osaki shotaro #shotaro fanfic #osaki shotaro fanfic #nct fanfiction #nakamoto yuta fanfiction #nct nakamoto yuta #yuta nct #shotaro nct #yuta #nakamoto yuta #crossover fanfiction #kpop fanfic #akira 1988 #akira fanfic #akira 1988 fanfic #sungchan #jung sungchan #sungchan nct #sungchan fanfic #jung sungchan fanfic #shotaro kaneda #neothestars #nctnetwrite #cyberpunk #anime fanfic

[quintessenceofdust73]

A Respite in Paradise

The Paladins had made camp in one of the lush valleys of Celadon IV, an isolated, uncharted, Earth-like sphere located in the outermost edge of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Lions were nearly drained of all power when they arrived and Keith knew they would need a lengthy solar recharge. He ordered their little caravan to a halt, and suggested that the team take some time for much-needed rest and relaxation. This was one of Keith’s orders that Lance actually agreed with and wholeheartedly obeyed.

Hunk unloaded a barbecue grill from Yellow Lion’s cargo hold as soon as they landed and began rummaging through their meager stores of exotic meats to find something to grill. Coran helped with this and then began an inventory of their other foodstuffs while Shiro and Keith helped Allura and Romelle set up the camp.

After Pidge’s detailed analysis of the plants they had collected, it was determined that the local flora would not do any harm to Kalternecker’s digestive system. When they were sure of that, Lance and Pidge had immediately led the cow to the grassiest area that they could find and laughed at her satisfied “moo” of happiness at the sight of so much green. Once Kalternecker was free of her tether, she bucked with ecstasy and frolicked in the flowery meadow along with Kosmo. Both animals were accompanied by Pidge’s ever-curious blue and green floofs which hovered over the field, silently observing it all. While taking in all the natural beauty around him, Lance had a sudden urge to pull Pidge a bit closer to him. He slipped his right arm casually around her narrow shoulders as he often did, but this time he deliberately held her closer than before. She turned to look up at him questioningly with those huge, intelligent eyes of hers, and Lance suddenly felt his cheeks warm a little. He smiled at her and was surprised at how his heart raced when she smiled back at him. He noticed that several lose tendrils of her hair had escaped from her messy bun, and that there were a few more soft waves that framed her face. She was pale after living inside of a spaceship for so long, and he knew they both had dark circles under their eyes from a lack of proper sleep. The two of them were both still in their battered armor, and both of them were sweaty and tired, but in this peaceful moment Lance could not recall any sight that he had ever seen that was more beautiful than the one before him.

They heard Coran’s voice in the distance, summoning them back to camp. Supper was ready. The smell of Hunk’s cooking never failed to make his mouth water.

Pidge took his hand and ran with him back to camp. It was nearly dusk when they all finally sat down to enjoy the evening meal.

After bestowing Hunk with many well-deserved compliments for the incredible supper he had prepared, the Paladins had all gone to sleep under the stars, and at last spent an entire evening completely undisturbed.

Even before the bright sun of this small green planet was peeking over the horizon, Lance was wide awake. The others slept on as the sun rose, still exhausted from their long journey. He stretched, then rose to his feet, not bothering with putting on his armor. Lance silently gathered up his bayard, a clean change of clothes, a towel, and his grooming kit. Then he hiked down to the nearby stream, relishing his every lungful of the cool morning air. This planet almost smelled like home, and the sound of the clean, running water was like music to his ears after being in the silent vacuum of space for so long. Lance eagerly stripped off his black under suit and then slipped naked into the cool water. He shivered at first, but then realized that his body would soon adjust to the lower temperature. He had entered the stream with his small container of body shampoo on a cord around his neck and an exfoliating scrubber in hand. With a whoop of pure joy, he dispensed a small amount of the concentrated cleanser and then rubbed it into a fragrant lather, scrubbing away the grime that had accumulated on his skin after being in a spacesuit for far too long. It was invigorating! He sang to himself and splashed around in the water with the delight of a child as he rinsed the suds and the grime away. As he lathered shampoo into his hair and ducked under water to rinse it out, he realized how long it had gotten. He hated to admit it, but he had a mullet that was as long as Keith’s had been the night that they rescued Shiro. That was the night he and Hunk had snuck out of the Garrison, following after the mysterious “boy” named Pidge...

A familiar giggle brought him out of his reverie. Eyes wide, Lance sunk down deeper into the water, his back to the nearest bank. “Who’s there?” But he already knew the answer to that, and he really hoped she hadn’t seen anything. Lance bit his lip and blushed at the thought of it. There was another giggle. Pidge! He turned to face her, but she was already scampering away. He saw her hasty retreat, noticing that she was wearing her Garrison backpack over her black under suit and her hair was falling in matted tangles from her now even messier bun.

“We will have to find another spot,” he heard her call to the other two girls. “Lance is down there.”

“Ugh! The last thing I want to see is Pointy Chin without any clothes on,” said Romelle.

“Indeed,” said Allura. “I wouldn’t want to have to look at that either.”

Lance pouted angrily, feeling momentarily hurt.

Then there was that familiar giggle again, and he strained to hear what Pidge was saying.

“I wouldn’t mind,” Pidge admitted. “I actually think he’s pretty cute,” Lance’s mouth fell open once more, his mind whirling. The laughter of all three girls faded into the distance as they searched for a more private place to bathe.

Pidge.

Pidge thought he was cute? He suddenly felt even more self-conscious about his nakedness, and once he was sure the girls were far enough away, he hastily rose up from the water, dried off, and then wrapped the towel around his waist. He set up the shaving mirror from his kit and frowned at what he saw: stubble, a few zits, and a soggy mullet with wet, too-long bangs that dripped water into his eyes. What was Pidge thinking? This was the worst he had ever looked in recent memory. Maybe she was blind without her glasses. He began to panic, searching his kit for his razor and a face mask.

After a quick but careful shave, he rinsed and dried his face, hastily donned a pair of clean blue underpants and tied back his too-long hair. Lance sat upon a large, smooth rock and prepared the ingredients for his favorite face mask. Zits begone! If Pidge liked him as much as he had hoped, he was determined to look his best for her. After slathering the green paste all over his face, he rinsed his hands and relaxed. He laid back upon the now-warm, smooth stone and closed his eyes, allowing the mask to dry in the sun...

When Lance’s mind was nearly awake once more, it was already mid-morning, and the face mask had dried until it cracked. He didn’t want to get up to rinse it off though. He felt lazy, and he enjoyed the sensation of the warm sunlight caressing his (mostly) bare skin. If he just kept his eyes closed he could imagine he was back home in Cuba, laying out in the sun on Varadero Beach, surrounded by beautiful bikini-clad women, or more realistically, with at least one particular pretty girl by his side, bikini-clad or not. His half-awake mind conjured up an image of a pale, petite girl in a modest emerald green bathing suit. Her beautiful long brown hair was wet, as if she had just emerged from the sea. She was gazing on him fondly as he slept in the sun. Paradise, he thought.

In his semiconscious daydream, the cute girl at his side was calling his name.

“Lance?”

“Hmm?” he mumbled.

“Lance, wake up.” The cute girl touched his arm. “You can’t sleep here all day you know. The rest of the team is wondering where you are, but I figured you would still be here, so I came to get you.”

His eyes snapped open, and it took him a moment to process everything. For a moment he thought he actually was on the beach in Cuba, especially when he saw the scantily clad long-haired beauty beside him.

Pidge.

Pidge with her long hair down, still damp from being washed. Not Pidge on the beach in a bikini, but Pidge wearing a green sports bra and a pair of cut-off shorts she had made herself, which was almost as good. He had no idea she was this hot. Smoking hot. Dead sexy. Was he still dreaming? He grinned at her goofily and felt his face mask crack.

Lance’s mind ran through every swear word he knew in English and Spanish, and then all of the alien swear words he knew, and then some he wasn’t sure of, but he didn’t say any of them out loud. Instead, he emitted a high-pitched yelp of surprise when he realized that he was not, in fact, wearing swim trunks and lying on a beach in Cuba, but he was, in fact, lying on a sun-warmed slab of stone on an alien planet wearing nothing but his underpants and a dried up face mask.

“I think you need to wash your face,” Pidge said, hardly able to contain her amusement. He noticed that she didn’t say anything about his lack of trousers.

“Uh, right.” Lance scrambled to the stream again to rinse and dry his face, which felt much smoother and cleaner, and hopefully blemish-free. He heard her behind him, trying to suppress her giggles and not succeeding. She gave up on silencing them and was now laughing hysterically. Lance felt his face burn hotter than the sun.

“What’s so funny?” he asked. Stay cool, he told himself. He got up and turned around, then tried to strike a confident pose.

Pidge laughed so hard that tears rolled down her cheeks. “I don’t know what’s funnier, the face mask or the mullet, or—“ she broke off, wheezing. “Or...the fact—“ She tried to catch her breath. “The fact that...you are standing there, striking a pose like a designer underwear model, pretending this isn’t embarrassing.”

Pidge’s laughter was one of his favorite sounds in the universe, and to him it was always infectious. Lance broke down at that moment and started laughing at himself along with her. He tried to cover himself modestly with his towel as he reached for his blue jeans. Then he turned his back to her and did a very silly butt-wiggling dance as he wriggled into them. Pidge was laughing so hard that she had to gasp for air. When he finally pulled up his jeans and zipped them, he turned to her and gave her his most smoldering look as the breeze ruffled his long hair.

“Now you look like one of the shirtless himbos in the ads for those trashy romance holodramas my mom watches.”

Lance sat down next to her, his sides shaking with laughter at her description of him. “Oh, no! My mom watches that junk too, and they’re the worst. I definitely want a haircut now.”

Pidge was still wiping the tears of mirth from her eyes. “That’s why I’m here. Coran just gave Shiro and Hunk a haircut, but you missed yours, Sleeping Beauty.” She held up Coran’s clippers and a pair of Altean scissors. “And I missed my haircut too, in order to go looking for you.”

“Sleeping Beauty?” He said with a smirk. “Okay, I am going to pretend that isn’t sarcasm. If I’m a Sleeping Beauty, then why didn’t you awaken me with a kiss?” He thought his flirting was going well in spite of how humiliating this day had been for him so far.

Pidge blushed. “Maybe because I’d rather kiss you when you’re awake?” She said this timidly. Flirting wasn’t something she was accustomed to doing.

“You can kiss me anytime you want, whether I’m asleep or awake.” He said this to her earnestly, revealing more of his true feelings for her than he ever thought he could dare to admit. Lance was blushing in spite of himself. So much for being cool and confident.

Pidge looked at him wide eyed, then ducked her head shyly. Lance tipped her chin up gently, then gently caressed her cheek. They were both breathing raggedly as he moved closer to her. But just as he leaned down to kiss her, she pulled away.

“I can’t let you do this,” Pidge was shaking like terrified prey, trapped in a hunter’s snare. She looked ready to flee.

“Pidge? What’s wrong?” Lance reached for her. “Don’t go! Please, just talk to me. I don’t understand why—“

“I can’t be another one of those girls that you flirt with and forget about!” She she choked out. She was sobbing.

“Pidge! I would never—“

“You’re the only one that I have ever felt this way about and—“ She paused to catch a breath. “If you kiss me it has to mean as much to you as it does to me.” She looked at him boldly now, and even though her face was tear-stained, Lance thought she had never looked more beautiful or more courageous.

He was the one who was terrified now, afraid to say or do the wrong thing. He gaped at her in astonishment, stunned into silence.

Pidge waited for him to say something, but he was still just staring at her, trying to process what she was trying to tell him, and trying to figure out what to do next.

Her mind worked at light speed compared to his. She had already come to a conclusion and turned to leave.

“Pidge, wait!” Lance cried. She kept walking.

“Katie!” She did not stop. Lance knew he had to say something or his heart would shatter into a million pieces. There was no way to repair a heart that badly broken.

“Katie Holt, I am in love with you!” He shouted, and his words echoed around the valley. Then there was a frightening silence between them that caused his heart to momentarily stop beating. They might have been on a silent planet if not for the incessant babbling of the uncaring brook behind them.

She stood there, unmoving, but she did not turn to him.

“I love you. I always have. I guess I was waiting for the right time to tell you, and I was also waiting for you to grow up because you’re younger than me, and I guess I also realized I was the one who really needed to mature a lot more before I could be in a real relationship because you’ve always been more mature than me and—“

She turned around. Lance continued to babble more incessantly than the creek. It was if a dam had burst and a torrent of heartfelt words tumbled forth, as unstoppable as a flood.

“You’re the most amazing girl I have ever met in my entire life and you’re my best friend and I love being with you more than anyone else in the whole universe and I don’t just want to kiss you I want to belong to you, now and always. I want to spend a lifetime laughing with you or just listening to you say brilliant things every day or just watching the sunset with you or just being with by your side when you need me or even when you don’t need me, because I need you and I want to be a part of your life forever. I adore you, Katie, and I-“

Pidge stopped his barrage of words the only way she knew how. With all her strength, she leapt into his arms and embraced him. She stopped the flow of words at the source, kissing him fiercely as Lance lowered her gently to the ground.

Lance had been kissed a fair few times in his life, but he had never experienced anything like this. It was like flying, like being struck by lightning. It was like being born, and living, and dying, and being brought back to life again. It was like all of those things, and none of those things. She had poured into that kiss what he had been struggling to say with words that were far too meager to express the infinite.

When they broke apart, Lance just gazed upon her in shock and reverent silence.

“You are the first and only man I have ever loved and will always love. You are in my heart, and if anything bad ever happened to you, a part of me would die. That is how I love you.” She sobbed. “That’s the only way I know how to love you.”

Lance buried his face in her hair, which was soft, fragrant, wild, and very soon damp with his own tears of relief. He held her close and comforted her as she sobbed happy tears against his bare chest.

When they finally regained control of their emotions, he lead her to the stream. They both washed their faces.

“I missed breakfast,” he began. “I hope I didn’t make you miss lunch.” Much to Pidge’s disappointment, Lance pulled on his old blue and white T-shirt.

Pidge opened her backpack. In it there were sandwich rolls, snacks, and cold drinks. “I didn’t know how long it would take to find you, but somehow I knew you would be hungry when I did.” She decided to put on her well worn Galaxy Garrison T-shirt, which was too small for her. Lance grinned, hoping he could hide his expression behind the first bite of his sandwich.

“You think of everything.”

“That’s because I’m brilliant.”

“I am definitely going to marry you when this war is over, you know that, don’t you?”

“You’d better.” There was a beautiful peace between them, like the calm after a storm. “You still need that haircut.”

“I know. Promise me you won’t cut your hair though. It’s beautiful.”

“It’s too long. I can barely fit it under my helmet anymore.”

“I could braid it for you.”

“Really? And what do you actually know about braiding hair?”

“I have sisters. I used to braid Veronica’s hair until she cut it short, and Rachel’s hair is still pretty long, or at least it was last time I saw her...”

They spend the rest of the afternoon reminiscing about home and talking about their hopes for the future.

*****

Kaltenecker came to the stream to drink that afternoon, and Pidge’s floofs hovered nearby, watching their beloved human friend beside the male human she loved most.

The floofs observed their dear little human attempting to give the male human’s head fur a trim. They saw that both of them thought the result was very funny. Their little female human cried at the mistakes she made when trimming head fur, but the floofs knew it would be alright because the tall male human seemed to be pleased with her efforts nonetheless. He rubbed his face against hers many times, as they often did to her. Of course, the floofs knew that this meant that the tall human loves their dear little one, and that she was very happy about it indeed. Clearly, it was some sort of human courtship ritual.

Perhaps they would mate and have little floofs of their own one day.

But that was a story for another time.

#plance #lance mcclain #pidge #katie holt #plance fanfiction #vld #voltron

[san-station]

A Quiet Place AU / ATEEZ (Post-apocalyptic)

Chapter 4

↝Word count: 5028

Description: In a world full of silence and dangerous creatures seeking for blood, a group of friends have to survive for their own good and find the safe place they've heard about months ago.

Pairing: OC x San

WARNING: cursing, mention of death.

A/N: This is longer than I thought omg!!! Hope you like it~

・・・・・・・・

Zoom out in the end of the world.

The most beautiful dark blue sky above us resembled a surrealistic painting with all the stars gathering in their own shinny and sparkly sea.  When most of the lights of the world shut down, the light of the dying stars made us all company illuminating the obscure path in our struggle, they were our faithful guide through the days we survived in the vast woods, shimmering and testifying death, cries and love. It was sort of romantic if you could forget half of human race was gone and you could actually concentrate in finding some love life. But it was not the fucking moment, Joong. The night terrified me, it was, in the first place, the one that brought destruction on Earth with that wonderful meteor shower more than a year ago. 

I ran a hand down my washed face, my elbows were resting on the roof cornice and I was just admiring the incredible and mysterious view before me. I felt refresh, with no blood spots printed on my clothes or skin, but at the same time my guilt flowed through my veins spreading pain all over my pores, they were actually screaming "it's your fault!" every ten seconds, and deep down I knew it was. 

Jongho and Wooyoung sat on the wooden table from the basement where we had dinner five minutes ago, every couple of weeks we had dinner on the rooftop of the building so, we moved the table easily and soundlessly and ate like everything in the world was okay, just that it wasn’t. The place was decorated with some Christmas lights on the iron poles that created a false ceiling with vines, the outdoors made a familiar mood, we had an indoors garden in college and I used to stay there with Haerin after practices to meditate. A pile of wood was in the middle of the floor keeping the place heated with a huge bonfire for the nine of us. A blast of wind made my dark hair dance a crazy and esoteric choreography on my shoulders while I took a deep breath. 

So… quiet… 

If we were outside, we’d need to talk through sign language to protect us from the monsters, Jin and Misuk taught us when they found a book for learning them in one of the places we stayed a long time ago. Quietness was the realistic manner to talk since there was no other way faster. Yeah, we could write something but it was useless in a live or die situation. We dominated the sign language after three months of hard work in the woods, communicating will always be the only way to understand each other fluently, so on the rooftop it was a must. The only sound around was made by the fire flares.

A whole warm palm rested on my left shoulder, I jerked upright in surprise and veered to face Yeosang’s eyes. My eyebrows knitted as I was already stepping aside. Yunho’s legs swinged above the building’s cornice as he counted the stars in his mind, from time to time he grimaced. Hongjoong was at the other corner of the rooftop next to San, they were talking in signs about today’s argument but I looked away, not wanting to think about it anymore. Yeosang was starting to move his hands.

“I haven't been thinking straight lately, to be honest…” he began slowly. My deadpan expression stiffed him and started again. His brown eyes pierced mine with sadness and guilt, I can't lie if I said it wasn't killing me inside. 

“Ji, I just want to apologize, ok? Give me a moment...” I stared at him for a few seconds, I scanned his face and took a mental picture of his features. He was freaking handsome, and I never realized it, not even when there were a lot of people crushing on him in college. Perhaps Yeosang was the little man with an ice heart that took the whole Misuk’s death deal as a misogynist, or it could be just me being such a bitch for taking care a little about our murdered friend as a personal thing, but it actually was a personal thing. Not only for me, for all of us. 

Well, maybe not all of us.

“Misuk was a good friend and I know we’re all gonna miss her, but life goes on, don’t you think?” he added with a final little smile, he was begging, I could feel it. 

“You’re not making it any better” I signed and glanced at Seonghwa going over Wooyoung and Jongho to thanked them about the food. Wooyoung winked at him and signed some kind of joke I couldn't catch.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what do you want me to say…” He lowered his head and I left out a sigh. The anger faded away from me, Yeosang was a good man, I knew that, he was also intelligent and reasonable, so he was right. After our death, the world will keep going, so is everybody’s life. The pain will remain for those who had a strong bond, but life goes on and on, we managed to do it after all as our normal lives vanished progressively in front of our eyes. 

My right hand reached Yeosang’s jaw and made him look up with wide scared eyes. 

“Don’t worry…” I gave him a little smile while my hands moved, “life goes on, right? Just don’t be so careless when I die” then, I patted his shoulder and turned again to my main position, maybe I would see a shooting star and wish for all of us to wake up from this nightmare.  Yeosang opened his mouth astonished and articulated “shit” while he walked away and sat next to a happy and full Mingi and a smiley Yunho on the cornice. Although they wanted to cheer us all with their cute smiles and jokes, deep down they were suffering as much as we exteriorized that and it broke my heart to see the masks they had to wear, not because they needed to, but for us to not worry more than we already were. 

After five minutes, we decided to go back to the basement. Seonghwa offered himself to clean the mess, like he always did. He liked things neat the way he wanted so no one opposed. 

    In the basement the air was thicker with San staring at me as he wanted to strangle me. His green eyes felt like shots that crossed every inch of my skin. As for the rest, Mingi was trying to make Yeosang sing a lullaby to sleep, Yunho was drinking with Jongho some beers and taking care of the little one as he cried Misuk’s death on the couch. Hongjoong and I were resting in one of the basement’s corners, the one that had our names engraving in the wood wall. 

      San’s eyes narrowed sharply when we made eye contact for the tenth time that night, and I, immediately, looked away. However, I could feel his gaze, judging every move I made ready to shout, or modulate the words “I told you so”.  The words never came. He just looked at me from his place, seated among the fire to embrace the warm flares of the little chimney inside the basement. Wooyoung came out of the bathroom, ran one hand through his parted blonde hair and sat between the mullet boy and me. 

"Yo, guys, I recommend you to use the other bathroom at least for tonight… I wouldn't enter that place, is a nightmare", he whispered dramatically shaking. I scrunch my nose as Hongjoong giggled. Wooyoung wrapped his arms around me and I melted into it. I needed comfort and he always cared about giving it to the people around.

“Little Jiyeong, give me a smile”, he croon in my ear and the hair in the back of my neck jerked. I shook my head. 

“I’m not in the mood, Woo, but thanks for worrying”, my fingers touched his strong arms around me, I squeezed them for a bit after Wooyoung let me go. 

“You know… It’s kinda tough the way you close yourself so much that even Hongjoong can’t pass through the walls”, he murmured. Hongjoong sighed and my body tensed as I looked away. It wasn't on propose, if I felt like it, I would get into that shell, built a wall between everyone and everything and would just stay there for a whole month if I needed to. Life wasn't fair because now I wasn't even allowed to zoom out in the end of the world, fuck this.

Wooyoung tilted his head against the the wall full of scratches created by the sharp point of the Swiss Army knife that Hongjoong had since we met. Hongjoong and Wooyoung started a conversation where I wasn't invited, or maybe I was, but my mind was in another place.

Suddenly, Yeosang approached to our spot and looked deep into my eyes, his features seem so tired and sharp it could cut me if I stared too much longer. He extended his hand to me, he had venous hands that used to play the guitar when we took a break of dance practices, I liked them, they were pretty captivating. 

I reached Yeosang’s hand and stood up with his help. From the corner of my eyes I could see how San stood up as well and walked next to us as Yeosang approached us to the room they shared. When we got inside the comfy and warm room, San closed the door and Yeosang told me to sit on his bed. I turned to see one mattress with light green sheets and a plushie on it besides the black sheets mattress next to the bathroom wall, so I rested on the corner of the light one and grabbed the plushie between my hands. Yeosang gave a quick and alarmed gaze to San, who only stood there with arms crossed over his chest and a annoyed face.

Yeosang started to speak softly. 

“I don’t want to talk about the elephant in the room, but we almost got kill twice because of him and his impulsives ways of getting Misuk’s attention…”, I bite my tongue to stop myself from interrupt him right away.

"And we think Jongho has to be inside for at least a month if we don't want him to go after what he thinks is left of Misuk's body", Yeosang continued after a soft sigh. My hands squeezed the plushie and San looked at it for a second after our gaze met. What was left of Misuk’s body….

"You know he can't be here for that long knowing we have to move and keep looking", I speak lowering my gaze to stare at the animal, it was a cute puppy dressed in white and light brown colors. I never got in their room before, I never had to. It smelled of sweets and kinda sour; walls showered with pictures of their love once, some pages of newspapers talking about the day of the meteor shower and more. The place scream for a little more of light, but they only had a cute lamp on top of the desk between the beds. It felt kind of cold, but at the same time the smell of San and Yeosang made it more familiar and cozy.

"We can manage to look for ourselves, Jiyeong", San rolled his eyes and sighed, his cheekbones popped out due to the lack of light and he seem so tired and sleepy… not that I worried about it, though.

"If you wanna tell the poor heartbroken boy to stay here instead of going out and help us to find the safe place we've been talking about for months, be my guest, San", I jerked up abruptly and motioned to go out of there, but San wrapped my right arm with his right hand a little too tight for my pleasure and whispered: "don't… we need to talk about this now." 

“He will only listen to you or Hongjoong, but Joong also thinks is the best for him if he keeps helping us”, Yeosang was now inches away from my face, his gaze looking deep into my soul while I looked between him and San. 

“My answer stills the same, guys. A friend just died, we can’t hold people down just because they could be a little disturbed about the news”, I spatted and threw the plushie to its bed.  

“And then, make us all kill”, the dark hair boy spoke almost in a whisper but he knew we heard him.

Yeosang groaned and straightened his back, his eyes now piercing mine, barely painfully.

“Maybe someday you’ll realize that every single mistake has consequences. Her death is on you, Jiyeong. This could slow us down a couple of days and-”

“A minute ago you were sorry, now you’re an asshole spitting shit at me like if I wasn’t aware of what just happened. I was there, you idiot...”, I interrupted him with sharp voice and clear the lump that was starting to form in my throat. “If this is gonna be our routine, don’t talk to me again, Yeosang.”  

 He stepped back, eyes a little shocked and taken by surprised. Then, he muttered “This is gonna be all your fault, Jiyeong” and left the room with rage, leaving me with the devilish boy. I looked down at San's hand and he let me go, although my skin was burning from the contact and it started to inch. I didn't back off, neither walked out of there. Yeosang was mad again and the last thing he probably wanted, was to see me around. San was staring at me so determined that I felt the need to hold his sharp gaze, unwilling to back down till one of us won the battle, it was a war between air and a strange connection we couldn't cut so easily. The right side of his lips turn up, a bit amused. Seconds later, he grasped his throat and lower his gaze. 

"I'm sorry", I was taken aback by the statement, I’ve never heard San apologizing, not even when he bumped into Lucas while dancing and almost ruined the performance; not even when Seonghwa prepared a full plate of healthy breakfast for Yeosang because he needed the energy to go haunting and San ended up eating the half of the food thinking it was for him. Not even when he and Jin were fighting and, as the dance class tried to stop them, San misstep in the congestion of hands and bodies and fell on top of me, causing me to have a sprained ankle that held me for two weeks.

 What the fuck was that? 

"What the fuck…" I murmured, making San scoff and rolled his green eyes. His lips almost showed a smile, almost.

"I know, right?", our shoulders brushed as he walked next to me and sat on the light green bed, taking the plushie between his hands. "I know the things I say hurt… but you know I'm right. Although, Yeosang is just mad at you as we all are. Not because all of this is your fault, we’re mad because we care about you."

I sat next to him.

"Keep going", I said, encouraging him to continue, somehow I was enjoying this. 

He huffed and turned his face to see me, now he was smiling. I lowkey missed his smile, it was beautiful to be honest; on stage, he used to smile when people screamed his name, he vividly enjoyed the attention he was given but after not being able to fully express yourself with no more than your hands, you'll close yourself up… we all did. 

"When you guys returned, I'm not gonna lie…", he sighed as his shoulders relaxed a bit. "I was kinda mad at you for taking such a stupid idea and I know I can't make you think clearly once it's stuck in your brain." He wasn't wrong, my stubborn ass liked the ideas I had, sometimes they were the worst choice I would ever do, but they worth it… didn't they?

"You were three hours late, Ji… Jongho, Yunho and I were just ready to look out for all of you if it wasn't for Joong and his trust on you. You’re so stupid...", he then spatted a little harsh. Where was that smile again? I cleared my throat and looked at a specific blank spot on the floor.  

"And after all, here I am, right?", I shrugged and gave him a little smile with sad eyes. Yeah, Misuk's death was pretty bad but they were right, we had a purpose, we needed to fulfill it as quick as we could. 

Suddenly, I felt San's strong arms around my shoulders as he hide his face in my neck. I tensed up and panicked inside. That kind of gestures never happened before,  we never hugged… never. Was he really that worried? 

“I’m so mad right now…”, he whispered as his arms tighten around me. “What if you guys were gone by now and the last thing I did was yell at you for being so stubborn? I will never forgive myself…”

"San, that's because you're an asshole…", I chuckled lightly, he stayed silent. "And it's okay… we're gonna be okay", my arms wrapped his waist and he pulled me closer. His whole body radiated warmth, his soft and calmed breathes caressed my sensitive skin and I shivered once again. "San…", I whispered as he run his hands up and down my spine slowly, my back was on fire now, everything burnt as if we walked next to the sun and the flames touched over my clothes, sticking them into my flesh and bones. It sounded painfully bad, but was extremely pleasant.

"I know you hate me, I hate you too…", he scoffed and let go off me. "But you can't just… die, okay?", he said in a smooth voice, almost endearing. That was weird, the frowned on my face tensed him and he looked away from my face to the plushie on the bed. He grabbed it and then mumbled: “At least not when we had an argument and you can’t apologies.” 

I softly chuckled and bit my lower lip to stop the word “asshole” from coming out, it was his nickname after all. I left his side and was about to walked out when his voice stopped me.

"By the way, can you not hold Shiber like that again? It feels he's about to die", he referred to the plushie in his hands and my throat got dry. Was it his?! Who the fuck is this guy?!

    “Right… Sorry, ‘bout that”.

      I left the room with my face slightly blushed. I let out a breath that I didn’t think I was holding, he’s an idiot. I past the rooms right to the living room and saw Seonghwa still washing the dishes. Yunho and Mingi were curled up at the sofa asleep, Hongjoong and Yeosang were nowhere to be found, and Wooyoung entered Jongho’s and Mingi’s bedroom to watch out for the younger boy. My impulsive self decided to slip my arms around Seonghwa’s waist and rest my cheek on his back. San made a point, what if the creatures would’ve heard us and none of us wouldn't’ have made it? The guys would’ve looked out for us just to realized how dead we would’ve been.. And just because Misuk and I wanted to collab a little more, so going and doing risky stuffs would give us a little more of the adrenaline we had near the house. And then was Yeosang... I knew the idea was mine and Misuk took it as a free pass to go outside the house limits. Our turn to go for supplies was changed when Jin died, so we had a whole month inside the limits and Misuk was being a pain in the ass. Would Jongho be like that if we locked him up for that long?

    “I’m so sorry…”, Seonghwa froze as the words left my mouth, I closed my eyes filling my nostrils with his viril scent and let myself embrace the warmth of his body. He was like a brother to me, we were the same age -as Hongjoong- and I felt closer to them than anyone else due to that one time when we had a performance together and spent a lot of time next to each other, eventually we became the best of friends. They helped me with my paintings, I helped them with any of the tasks they had in their music major. They knew that when I got clingy, something very bad was happening to me. 

“I should’ve listen to them and stay here, Hwa…”, I shut my eyes harder, it made me dizzy when the white spots appeared, but it kept the tears from falling, and no, I wasn’t in the mood for let them see me crying, it was really hard to keep it cool  though. “Why am I so stubborn…? Misuk would be alive if it wasn’t for me. I’m such a bad influence in here, you would be better without-”. Seonghwa turned around in a blink and covered me with his arms. 

“Shut up, Jiyeong, don’t you dare continue that sentence…”, he rest his head on mine while I hold him as close as I could. I held a large part of his shirt in my hands, wrinkling it and slightly holding it up so his back was a little exposed. Seonghwa apparently didn’t care about the cold air caressing his bare skin, he worried more about the tears that slowly wet the cotton cloth covering his chest.

“You are aware that we all made that decision, right? We all are part of this mess and yeah, if maybe you both wouldn’t have gone with me, Misuk would have been probably alive, or not. We don’t know that… Maybe it could’ve been me instead but... ”, he sighed. His hands started to pushed me even though I didn’t like the idea, so I grabbed him tightly. “Jiyeong, look at me, please”, his voice was, once again, as smooth and tender as always. Finally i jerked my head up and looked into his blue eyes.

“You just make those images of Misuk change into you being the one laying there, Seonghwa... “, a soft sob escaped my mouth and a could hear a door open followed by a couple of steps that stopped abruptly. 

“I- I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to do that, Ji…”, Seonghwa kissed the top of my head and, one more time, pushed softly for me to see him. My eyes were puffy and redness decorated them with a pink flush on my nose. 

“I may have been brave out there, I may have been all serious and mature, but you can’t realized how afraid I was…”, after a hard swallow, I liked my lips and sighed. “I keep hearing her flesh and bones being crashed by those teeth, Hwa.”, I sniffed and faced him for real. His blue eyes were a little glassy and he seemed sad, I know he wanted to be strong for the both of us, but man, that was hard. His thumbs brushed the tears aways from my cheeks.

“You usually locke your feelings because you’re afraid of being judged, we are in a place where we don’t have time for that”, no one will ever understand how Seonghwa’s gaze could make you zoom out of the place you were and feel so at peace. My breathing normalized progressively as my little sobs faded away. He felt familiar and comfortable. “If you want to cry, do it. It doesn’t matter if you’re alone, but it’s better to let all those feelings out there than keep them until you explode.”

“I feel… weak.”, his eyebrows knitted and he scanned my face looking for more answers. “I couldn’t help her and I let her go to that birdhouse, it was me...”, my fists lost their grip and I took a step back. “No one else can die like that, Seonghwa. We can’t let that happen.” The taller boy took a deep breath, which caressed my face after he released it. His strong hands grabbed my shoulders and made me stepped forward.

“You are strong, Ji, emotionally speaking. Maybe your body is not fit for lifting a car, but you are strong for lifting what was left of Jiyeong after those monsters left and bury her…”, he came closer and lower his forehead to mine, his hands lowered as well and we interlocked our fingers. Everyone who wouldn’t know our relationship could say we were dating, but that's the way we reassured ourselves that we were not alone. It was the same habit with Hongjoong. 

Another steps were heard and then, a door was closed a little too hard.

“I wanted to honour her life, at least keeping the rest that was left of her in a place where we could visit if we come over again…”, my head was spinning and I looked down to our intertwined hands, they were clean but hours ago they were just filthy with burgundy liquid, brown and wet dirt and my salty tears. We arrived sweating from all the dirt that we moved to bury Misuk’s body near the place she was killed, we told no one about it, except for Hongjoong because it was too risky and it wasn't easy as well to go all the way down the rooftop with a half dead body. 

“You are brave, you are strong and nobody can tell you the opposite, ok?”, Seonghwa grabbed my face between his hands and squeezed a little. That made me laugh for a second and I sniffed once more. He really wanted to motivate me, no matter how cheesy he was.

“Now, go to sleep” , he patted my head and gesture with his head to my bedroom. I hesitated for a second when I realized how cold that room must’ve been, should I sleep in there knowing that was the last thing I was going to do? Misuk’s scent when she was alive would mixed with his decomposed smell. My heart beated in my ears as a second lump reached my throat.

“Hwa… Could you…?”, I never finished the question ‘cause he was giggling at me. He put a hand down my back and leaded me to the bedrooms.

“Yeah, Ji. I wouldn’t mind the company”, he then stopped and went to the sofa, lifted a little the blanket that covered the two big boys and turned off the living room’s light. “I’ll tell Hongjoong to join us and cuddle as much as you want”

“I don’t… cuddle”, I mumbled staring the floor, a little embarrassed to admit anything.

“Hm… So, no cuddle”, he nodded deadpan serious and I open my eyes with some dramatically fear on them. 

“W-Well… Maybe I want to cuddle but fuck you tho”, I whispered while my fist collided with his chest.

    A grin showed up in his face and we walked to the room I shared with Misuk. Jongho was surprisingly there cuddling with San and Wooyoung. The three of them sleeping on Misuk’s bed made the scene more nostalgic than cuter. Seonghwa squeezed my shoulders and I finally grabbed my pillows heading out of there to enter Honjoong and Seonghwa’s bedroom. Hongjoong was there, listening some music from his iPod. When he saw us, he gave us a little smile and patted a free spot on his bed for us to lay down. 

    “I was waiting for you, and I must confess that I’m a scared of this power. Knowing you damn well will be the death of me”, he giggle as fast as his smile fade away. His face softened. “I- I didn’t mean that…”

    “Just shut up and cuddle, you big dumbass.”, I groaned and let myself get cosy with the mullet boy and the raven boy. They hugged my waist as I grabbed their arms and pulled them closer. That way, they met Morpheus a couple of minutes later, while my mind wondered and repeated the scenes from the afternoon. We were ready to move on a week later when we found out that the safe zone was pretty close. After five months of seeking for some help and finally acknowledge that the place that Jin found out a couple of days before he was attacked, was way up North through the deserted city, 10 or 11 miles from where we stayed. On foot, it was gonna take us three days with some break times in the middle, but the great news were that we were closer than ever. He would be proud. Him and the others that left our side in our crusade, we would finally reach Wonderland. Perhaps it was all a dream, some cheesy rumor for those who still had some hope inside their helpless bodies. And, yes, we were those with hope and helpless bodies ready to die for a rumor, fuck off. Desperate actions are made in desperate times.  

    “Try to close your eyes, Ji”, Seonghwa’s raspy voice alerted me when I was so self-absorbed by my one thoughts. “I know it’s hard but we’re here for you”, he closed his eyes one more time and tighten his grip on my waist. Suddenly, Hongjoong’s hand caressed the exposed skin of my stomach and whispered.

    “No one would harm you, not when we’re around”

    “You just quote Sweeney Todd?”, I asked with a grin in my face.

    “Goodnight, Jiyeong”, he smile and kissed my shoulder. 

    “Night, guys”

    And so, my eyelids felt heavy, my breath slowed down and soon after I was dreaming, dreaming about safety, a place where no one would get hurt or murder, a place where we would be happy and carelessly free. Well, those dreams would crash out pretty soon, but I wasn’t aware of that, any of us were.

(...)

Masterlist

#Ateez #Ateez Fanfic #Ateez fanfiction #Ateez Imagine #A Quiet Place AU #Ateez Hongjoong #Ateez Seonghwa #Ateez Yunho #Ateez Yeosang #Ateez San #Ateez Mingi #Ateez Wooyoung #Ateez Jongho #Ateez au #Ateez fluff #Ateez Angst #San x Reader #San #Fanfic #Adaptation

[bomberqueen17]

did he just say ‘making fuck’??

Sorry, I’ve realized that when these replying-to-replies posts crosspost to DW they’re basically incomprehensible, but if I try to add any formatting to make it obvious when I’m quoting a reply and when I’m actually replying to it, the whole thing just truncates. So... apologies, my DW lovelies, if you click through you can see I’ve got it all carefully blockquoted!

sugarspiceandcursewords replied to your post “replying to replies witcher playthrus edition”

Oh shit I have not heard or even thought about “Ber-SER-KER!!” in years and now I’m cackling. “Did he just say ‘making fuck’?”

God that movie is so good. I rented it from the indie video store that also had all the anime, and a bunch of friends lay on my bed with me and watched it on my computer, including I think both DF and my Dude before he was my Dude and was visiting for a weekend. It’s a weird lil memory to have! oh college. those were. such weird days. I can’t imagine now trying to cram eight or nine full adults into a double bed and having it not be weird, but that was just sort of how we lived once we didn’t own a TV anymore. (Which means it’d’ve been senior year, so, 2001, in the winter, which yeah, that’s when Dude came to visit his former roommate who was then my roommate who is now, fun fact, an NCAA fencing coach at a large university, and that’s when I met Dude.)

nogling replied to your post “now it’s time for that leisurely swim in the sewer outlet”

I cannot tell you how many times Geralt fell to his death off the top of that stupid, stupid lighthouse before I said fuck it and used a god-mode mod to make him immune to falling damage.

ohhhh hey. (WAIT does that mean you HAVE to fight the wyvern from the tower top???? Oh my god that was ridiculous.) You know, I have no idea how mods work but what I thought was really funny was that, I don’t remember what I’d Googled, but I found a  predictable thing about a mod someone had made so Geralt would be Super Shredded, but then I immediately found another mod someone had made to give Geralt a more realistic “dad bod”, and I was like, you’re all right, modding community, I don’t understand you at all but you’re all right. 

stele3 replied to your post “now it’s time for that leisurely swim in the sewer outlet”

There’s a barber on the right-hand side of Novigrad who is very drunk all the time and if you go to him for a haircut the first time he gives you something you did NOT ask for. You can also give Geralt short hair, a mustache, and a

soul patch. (Accidentally clicked Reply too soon.) it is a very Cursed Look and I recommend you get it at least once.

shit I gotta talk DF into Drunk Barber. Probably funnier if I don’t tell him why first. We’ll see if I’m up to the challenge.

I dunno I’m hard-pressed to think of a more Cursed Look than the muttonchops-and-mullet look DF originally went with.

brotherhoodoftheslice replied to your post “now it’s time for that leisurely swim in the sewer outlet”

Hahaha! The fork-throwing line is straight from a short story, except the problem there wasn't that no one could see him hit the rat, but rather how unnerving it was that he could 1. Obviously see in the dark, and 2. Throw random cutlery that hard and accurately. Geralt: Check this out :D Humans: O_____O Geralt: :C

wait you mean people aren’t super impressed with your freaky mutant powers??? Oh Geralt :( :( :( Poor baby just wants friends and the whole time he was growing up showing off your Freaky Mutant Powers was how you socialized, how’s he to know that’s not something outsiders are going to find awesome???

Them not being able to see that he’d succeeded is much funnier, though, I get it.

akilah12902 replied to your post “now it’s time for that leisurely swim in the sewer outlet”

Radovid isn't in charge of Novigrad, but he likes and supports the church of the Eternal Fire, so they (who are doing the mage burnings) have free reign anywhere in places ruled by him. And the church is centered in Novigrad. also, sorry, do go ahead and do Novigrad dreaming; there's a point where the quests diverge, and you get a Main Quest to try and find Dandelion, you wanna do all that first (like uh, if you were wondering where the point of no return was)

ALSO: Geralt! He's just so happy to talk to a friend!

Gotcha. And poor bb. He’s so lonesome, he’s just so lonesome. 

Oh my gosh now I kind of want to mash him up with the puppeteers in Martha Wells’ Wheel of the Infinite-- her Badass Solo Character (who is a grandmotherly devil-priestess) has interrupted her Solo Sulking Journey Across The Wilds by falling in with a troupe of itinerant puppeteers and it’s fantastic because the whole plot winds up set in motion because she has to go forage for an herb to make a medicine for a sick toddler and in the process rescues the Hot Young Barbarian Swordsman In Distress from certain death, and she’s this utterly terrifying badass and all the itinerant puppeteers love her and now there’s this barbarian swordsman stalking them in order to repay the life debt he owes her (and occasionally inappropriately bathing in temple pools and such because as a barbarian he doesn’t know better), and it’s just such a good first chapter to a novel. I wish more people had read that book, doing a rewrite of parts of it with Geralt as Maskele and Jaskier as the main puppeteer guy would be so entertainingly rewarding. But nobody’s read that book, which is a fucking tragedy and entirely a failure of marketing. (The first edition made the dark-skinned protagonist have green skin because alien is apparently more marketable than Black, and the second edition flipped the cover so the barbarian swordsman, who is white, was on the front cover and the protagonist was on the back. Sigh.)

mikkeneko replied to your post “replying to replies witcher playthrus edition”

I plan to play the game as soon as I have enough free time so I appreciate these posts!

Oh good! I hope this is in any way useful. There are like, way more comprehensive walkthrough strategies available of course, and even great videos that give you a wonderful idea of what to expect, but I figured-- well, this is how I’m getting entertainment and if I write it down it’s even more entertaining, y’know? I’m going for atmosphere more than accuracy though so like, don’t necessarily take my word at 100%, my notes aren’t all that careful. 

akilah12902 replied to your post “replying to replies witcher playthrus edition”

re: the eyes, that may just be the cutscene or something? I recall the full black eyes the one time I wound up with a ton of toxicity

It could just be you gotta hit a particular percentage. and DF hasn’t devoted any skill points to increasing how much toxicity he can take; I think during the convo the lil 💀 slider bar was a bit over halfway full but not, like, super close to the top, and I don’t think he’s set it up to take any more than baseline. His health bar was a funny color too.

#sugarspiceandcursewords #nogling #stele3 #brotherhoodoftheslice #akilah12902 #mikkeneko #the witcher 3

[riskeith]

hii!

oh right! i forgot that you can see the ask while responding hehe. i wish that was the case for moi as well because i have all our convos screenshotted because of this.

(actually not really? like my appearance is super girly and i like ~girly~ things but i also love the dudebro culture.. it do be like that. wbu?) WHY DID THE TSUKISHIMA IS NOT A TR*MP SUPPORTER SEND ME.... now who the hell would even say that and be serious... some people man i’m telling you.

diluc 🤝 razor 🤝 fischl animals over their heads.

oo.. you sparked my attention.. will def check it out. i was too busy playing last night to read anything but Today I Will.

OH YEAH I’VE SEEN THOSE cyberpunk is such a messy game sndhdkdhfjsk. HOLY SHIT THAT TRAILER MADE ME SO EXCITED! sjshdkdjfjdk god this game is so amazing yet fucking huge... how the hell will it fit any phone if it keeps getting bigger and bigger..?

nooo don’t worry i’m having fun tbh. and i’m super motivated too so that might be the case. also i switched the dub to japanese just before venti’s story mission and i’m loving it so much. thankfully there isn’t too much battle yet to distract me but god i love all their voices so far. venti... hinata finally started to actual fly. i like diluc’s voice too! love his actually, super fitting for his character. 🥺

WOULD KEITH LOOK LIKE THIS IRL... he probably would 😭 greasy boy lived in the desert his hair is probably so bad 😭 what kind of mullet would you want though? like s1 keith or s7 keith? or do you have a specific kpop artist’s hair you wanna replicate? OOO.... rock star? 😳💢 what’s your clothing style if you had to describe it? also what are your thoughts about tattoos and piercings? since we’re on the topic of punk rock hdjdsksj.

idk why i find your beef with slow songs so funny aksjdhdjdhdjsk like i can just imagine you groaning bc a song doesn’t pick up the pace lol (omo...... where would we go? 😳)

treasure hoarders are fun to fight bc they just cuss you the fuck out sjdkdkshd. i like when they yell at you yet they’re so weak like fuck off dude. THE HILICHURLS ARE KIND OF CUTE YOU’RE RIGHT especially the ones that dance or sleep and you interrupt them... 🥺 personally i like fighting the slimes i think they’re adorable. they just bounce and their music isn’t too loud or annoying. you know what i fucking hate? goddamn ruin guards i can’t stand them and their aggressive music dhdjdkshs. their drop rates are shit but hilichurls are also the most common enemy, right?

after dinner? aww. same! it’s such a nice way to wind down; a cup of tea and some candle lights.. i love all of those flavors Except matcha, it just doesn’t work for me kdhddk i feel like green tea tastes like grass.. sometimes i drink it bc it’s healthy but i’m Not happy. otherwise i’m like you i drink practically everything. mostly black tea though because that’s what most common in my culture i suppose. djdkdj i used to be so good at drinking water but since i’ve been at home a lot it’s been getting worse... i do have a water bottle by my side always bc as much as i drink other things clean water is important too! are you good at drinking water?

do you know about the euphoria make up style though? it’s super colorful and lots of glitter and abstract shapes it’s so amazing and it would fit xiao so well. like imagine him in bold aqua and purple make up with lots of shimmer... 🥴

hehe, can’t wait to hear from you! <3 (and yeah! no i figure i’ll just keep it so you’ll at least know my name.. we’ve been talking since oct it’s only fair.. right?)

heya!! 

ghdgkjdfg i do be taking up your photo gallery tho <33

(:o! i reckon i’m pretty much of a tomboy, tho i’m definitely stereotypically girly too.. but sometimes i have a hard time relating to other girls so hsfjdhfksd) FHSKFSD yeah ikr like.... sometimes it really aint that deep there are no other sides to it LOL

i hope you enjoy it!!!!!!!!!!!!! i sure did i reread it as well a few days ago ahaha

IKRRR I REWATCH THE TRAILER AGAIN EVERY NOW AND THEN JUST BC LIKE,,,, THE HYPE. that’s actually a good point tho lmao like??????? buys a phone/device JUST for genshin fhsdkjfhskdfs

nice!!! hope you enjoy the japanese dub hehehe. and omg that’s so cute 😭😭😭 he’s tobe flying now... and yasss diluc’s VA is really popular too his voice is 👌 sehr gut

FHDFKJSDHK EWWW. yikes i don’t remember his hair but i think s1?? it was shorter then right... “tidier” lol i feel like at s7 it was kinda outta control fhskfjds. and yeah!! https://twitter.com/worldsbestmulet/status/1186534890415644673 < he was my insp for a bit bc we’re both chinese so i think realistically i could look somewhat close if i tried fhskjfhds but also https://i.pinimg.com/originals/de/7b/fc/de7bfc8c52603abd7c69dc558c9c8bfe.jpg is what i showed my hairdresser when i wanted an undercut hfksdjfds. my clothing style is legit just: whatever’s comfortable. it’s pretty much all sports branded clothes fhskfjsd and i live in my hoodie + trackies lollllll. but last year w uni i wanted to step up my fashion game (rip) and i wanna buy more street style clothes!! they’re just... quite expensive lmaooo. what’s yours like? 

and i like them!! when i was 14 i wanted to get a tongue piercing FKHDSHFKSDHFKSD but i never did lol. but i did get a double helix piercing in dec finally!!!!!!! i think i’m done now tbh (aside from that i only have my lobes pierced) but yeah it’s not a big desire of mine. i had a dream once tho where i was decked out in piercings and thought it was very Cool. as for tattoos, i’ve always wanted to get one! and last year i was lowkey toying around with the idea of getting a sleeve but realistically i cannot bc well. med. (if anyone reading this has a good stable well paying job for me that’ll allow me to quit uni... hmu FHSFHDSFKJSD) you??

FHSKDFHDS yeahhh it’s so awkward when people are recommending me songs and it’s slow bc im just like “mm yeah it’s nice.” and if it does actually pick up the pace then i’m like “i liked the fast parts” FHSDKFSD. (wherever you want to go baby 😉 wait omg..... read running on air that just have me.. roa vibes HFKJDSHFKSHFKSD) 

yes!! i love those hilichurls sm... AHAHAHH i used to hate ruin guards too but now they’re actually one of my faves dhfdskj. you know what’s so annoying tho. dendro slimes when i don’t have any pyro users on me. or when i can’t find them and the music has just started up out of noweher hfdskjf. yeahhh i think they are but :(( you can’t tell me “dropped by lvl 60+ hilichurls” and not have them drop it for me.. 

ahaha that’s fair!! i adamantly did not try anything matcha until like 2018/19 and then wow. a whole new world opened up to me and now i only get matcha whenever i go places fhdskj. ooft... yeah i’m really good at drinkng water it’s the only thing i drink lol... and i’m always just drinking and refilling my cup and giving myself an excuse to leave my room fhskjds.

yeah i think i have an idea! mostly just zendaya in the song thumbnails fhskdfjs but i am picturing a lot of glitter!! that image wow...... his colour palette is so 🤩🤩

(omg since oct... has it been that long already 😳 but okay if that’s what you’re happy with!! i promise i won’t accidentally out you here ahaha. also! when you reach co-op send me your UID in a separate ask!! i’ll delete it after i add you im just paranoid about you sharing your uid anywhere public hfskdjfhsd) 

babe.. this thread https://twitter.com/seungjinphobia/status/1349001013978533890?s=21 no thoughts head empty.

omg 😭😭😭😭😭😭 i cannot... their dynamic is literally xiao: someone’s gonna die >:( venti: of fun! :D JHFSKFHDSKJFSK i can’t take it someone stop them!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhdkjfhaofisdhliajdfhdsjkfhgsliudfhasdkjhdasjgadsj

hope your day has been wonderful so farrrrr OH ALSO I FINALLY MADE MY GENSHIN TWITTER FOR CHONGYUN... will share over co-op maybe.. i haven’t really set it up yet hfskdjds

#marriage anon #wowclunaanswers #long post

[drink-n-watch]

Look, I’m not insane, I know anime isn’t real. I may secretly still be holding out hope I could magically visit it, but that’s a reasonable thing to do… It is!

But you know, when you keep seeing and hearing the same thing over and over again, it sort of seeps into your subconscious and if you’re not careful, you can forget that it’s not quite based in reality. Besides, let’s face it, reality is becoming more…flexible by the day.

After years of watching anime though, I find myself consistently influenced in some **interesting** ways which can lead to variously painful degrees of disillusionment. Here are just a few of the latest ones:

yeah…keep smiling…

5) Overeating has no long-term effects/ gaining weight isn’t visible to the human

Anime characters sure have healthy appetites and amazing metabolisms. Even if we don’t consider the overeating trope, you regularly see them snacking non-stop or chowing down huge meals while remaining impossibly thin. Apparently, simply existing as a perfect bishie burns a huge amount of calories. I mean um..yeah, us bishies need to eat all the time.. cough.. cough…

As for the few shows I watched growing up that actually mentioned weight gain, Sailor Moon comes to mind, you see the characters freaking out about their weight and maybe not fitting into clothes but they look exactly the same. If you show me a still form the “fat” episode, I will not be able to tell the difference.

Let’s just say I was very disappointed to find out that at some point your metabolism just won’t let you eat your own weight in ice cream for every single meal without some effect on your waistline. This realization still stings!

some girls are…

4) All girls are Yuri

The nice young lady I just met is asking me about my interests and background, she probably wants to make out, right? What about my school friend that was worried about me when I broke my leg, has she always been madly in love with me? I can just grab another girl’s chest as soon as there are no men around, that’s how it works, right?

Wait what do you mean: calling the police?

Granted, this may be as much the fault of the fandoms as of anime itself, but it’s still mean to get my hopes up like that. Now I have to live with the bitter sting that the beautiful married woman who wishes me a nice day after serving me coffee in the morning might not in fact want to run away with me… sigh….

the man is an icon

3) All hair colors look good on everyone

They do NOT.

As someone who has personally tried most of them, let me tell you, natural hair colors different from your own are hard enough to pull off, but anime hair is nearly impossible. There’s a reason why the hair industry makes so much money, and most of it is on color. Getting a hue that works with your skin and eye undertones, that you can realistically upkeep and that won’t clash with half your wardrobe, is really really difficult.

Not only do you need a color that goes with your overall pigmentation, you also need to get the tone right. For instance, I look fantastic with a cool toned true red but as soon as you add a drop of orange or brown for a brick or fire engine red, it’s just awful.  Also, anime characters don’t have to worry about how those hair colors will bring out their blemishes or the dark circles under their eyes…

And let’s not forget that the fantastic vibrant blue you just got is going to last about two showers, if you’re lucky. After that, cross your fingers that it fades nicely…

Don’t do it kids…it’s not worth the trouble or the damage to your hair. Also, my hair is currently silver. Actual light silver. It was a nightmare to do but I love it. When my regrowth gets too long for me to put up with, I’m, planning on going dark charcoal grey with a touch of blue and a bright red streak, Kill la Kill style. Wish me luck!

determination is this kid’s middle name

2) People respect perseverance

Just keep trying, you will win them over. There’s nothing more admirable than never giving up, right?

I have to admit; this message is pretty widespread across media but determination above all else seems particularly important in anime characters. You know what happens when you blindly refuse to give up, change your mind or even entertain alternate view points in real life? Let’s just say respect is not the most likely outcome.

Aside from the fact that it’s just not the best way to go about anything, stubbornness is a dubious value to be instilling in impressionable minds. Except in mine but that’s because I’m right and I know I am, you have to stick to your guns if you want to get anything done, you know?

1) Mullets are sexy

Why you do this to me anime?

WHY?????

How about you? When’s the last time you cursed anime’s deceitful nature? What has the world come to that I can’t even trust my own harem anymore…

Top 5 Things Anime Lied to me About Look, I’m not insane, I know anime isn’t real. I may secretly still be holding out hope I could magically visit it, but that’s a reasonable thing to do… …

#anime #fun! #Lists #mullets #tropes

[brittanyyoungblog]

7 Tinder Profile Tips and Writing Hacks

Sometimes coming up with your Tinder profile bio can feel like torture. It’s like when you’re at an interview and someone says, “So tell us a little bit about yourself.” It’s such a huge, broad question that it’s hard to know how to answer it or where to start. But it doesn’t have to be quite so hard…

I’ve worked in dating apps for over five years (full disclosure, I work for Zoosk a subscription dating app) and during that time I’ve written and given tons of advice to people looking to write thoughtful, genuine profiles that really show who they are. But today I’m not going to do that.

Today I’m going to give you a bunch of Tinder profile tips that will help you write a decent dating profile as quickly as possible. Because, hey, I get it… Sometimes you just want to get it over with. And sometimes, in order to be effective, your profile doesn’t have to be a work of art, it just needs to get the job done.

Here are some Tinder profile tips and writing hacks to create a good bio, fast:

1. Greater than/less than profile Want to create a good profile quickly? The greater than/less than trick might be for you. Simply list out sets of things you could debate with someone, and say which you think is better. This shows your personality but also gives a bunch of ready-to-go conversation topics that makes it easier for people to break the ice and send you a message after you match.

Examples: Marcus, 24 tacos < burritos Friday nights out > Thursday nights out National league > American league Radiolab > Serial I’m just sayin’ Emily, 27 breakfast for dinner < pizza for breakfast the movie > the book (so sue me) sunrise < sunset coffee > life Your thoughts?

2. First and last profile Here’s another no fuss profile hack—first and lasts. Let people know the last movie you saw, book you read, person you talked to, place you drove, or time you embarrassed yourself. It gives a fast but realistic view of who you are now. You can flip it too. Instead of saying lasts, get nostalgic instead and say your firsts—first date, first word, first job, or first car. The more specific and oddball the better.

Examples: Daniel, 21 First… Job: U12 soccer referee Word: momma (ya ya, I’m a mama’s boy) Album I Bought: Michael Jackson’s BAD (and it was on tape)

Kiss: Amanda Butler. Front seat of my ‘95 Grand Am after the Sophomore’s only dance. Dave Matthews was playing. (But not Crash… I would never.)   

Tiffany, 25 Last… Place I visited: Zion (it was amazing) Book I read: Decoded by Jay Z (also amazing) Time I yelled at someone: In the bleachers at Fenway

Time I cried: Watching that YouTube of the lion who gets reunited with its trainer (oh man, gets me every time)

3. About Me/About You profile Quick, easy, and to the point—the About Me/About You profile is where you list details about yourself, coupled with details about the type of person you’re into.

Eric, 30 About Me: Likes fishing, gives great speeches at weddings, and plays a mean harmonica. About You: Eats adventurously, likes road trips, can talk about books for hours.

Tatiana, 27 About Me: Likes poop jokes, can stay out late on a school night, and isn’t afraid to talk politics on a first date.

About You: Tolerates my poop jokes, doesn’t take himself too seriously, and likes a healthy debate.

4. Three simple things profile Another list format to play around with is the three simple things profile. Just share three completely random things about yourself. And hey, you can even get a little braggy. You’re allowed to talk yourself up a bit in your dating profile.

Dan, 23 I love roller coasters but the pirate ship ride completely terrifies me. I once backpacked around Lake Tahoe in 13 days. When I was 14 I got a concussion swing dancing.

What about you?

Maria, 24 I hate flowers. You’ll never have to buy me flowers. Potatoes chips however… Not gonna lie, pretty good at pub trivia. I’ve even won the big money a couple times. Guilty pleasures: neighborhood drama, fancy cupcakes, and binge watching Law & Order. Dun duun!

5. One smartass comment profile There’s something intriguing about a profile with a single comment that catches attention. But writer beware, the single smartass comment profile can definitely backfire. It has to be good or you’ll just come off as a, well, jackass instead of a smartass.

Mallory, 30 All you need to lure me into your car is wine and pizza.

Eric, 27 Funny, handsome, and stupid.

Amy, 23 Dogs love me.

Malcolm, 32 Looking at my phone searching for a reason to stop looking at my phone.

Gina, 27 You can’t play hard and work hard. If you say that, you’re not doing either hard enough. (I don’t work very hard.)

Meng, 25 Whisper sweet NPRs to me.

Talia, 34 I like my artsy with a little bit of fartsy. 

Obscure references profile Have a quote from a movie or TV show you love? A lyric from a song or an inside joke only someone who’s into the same random stuff as you would know? Use it. It’s fast, shows off your personality, and is an instant conversation starter.

Lily, 22 Last vacation was to see the basement of the Alamo. Wasn’t what I thought it was going to be but I had a big adventure.

Ted, 26 I’m just a boy, standing in front of a bunch of people on an app, and asking them to love me.

Natalie, 29 The last guy who swiped left on me aged so quickly he shriveled up into an old man skeleton thing before he turned into dust and died a swift yet horrifying death. He chose poorly.

Jeet, 27 I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.

7. Fake reviews profile Another Tinder profile trick you may have seen is the fake reviews profile. Similar to book or movie blurbs (“Two thumbs up!”)  the fake review profile let’s you share a bit about yourself and might just make someone crack a smile.

Amy, 24 I’m pretty great but don’t listen to me, read my reviews: “Amy is a hard working, conscientious student.” – my 10th grade English teacher “I’d highly recommend her for any position.” – my first boss “I laughed until I cried.” – my ex boyfriend

Jordan, 28 “This one’s got real potential.” – My 90+ next door neighbor “Excellent incisors. And he flosses.” – Dr. Dan, my dentist “Better than a hallelujah” – Amy Grant

“He can make an Amy Grant reference, and still come off as masculine and authoritative. I don’t know how he does it.” – My good friend Abe   

8. List of likes profile This is probably the most common profile type, but if you add the right details and stay away from obvious things like hiking, traveling, and your friends, listing our your likes can be an effective way to get a quick but effective profile.

Jad, 31 The Discworld series, girls with glasses, playing hookie to go to a baseball game, and dinners with friends that end in late nights talking and laughing over a table strewn with the dirty dishes none of us are getting up to wash.  

Emily, 26 Making fun of people who do crossfit, net-back hats, first runs, the first sip of beer after a long day, and coming home to my dog every night.

By day/by night profile Nobody is any one thing. You aren’t just a school teacher or an accountant, and you aren’t just someone who likes to BBQ or play softball with your friends. The by day/by night profile is a way to show two sides of yourself, what you do for work and what you do for fun. It’s kind of like the mullet of dating profiles. Business in the front, party in the back.

Tim, 22 9th grade history teacher by day. Semi-pretentious craft beer aficionado by night.

Kaylee, 27 Product designer by day, cyberpunk and avant garde enthusiast by night.

Brett, 23 Management/marketing consultant by day, amature mixologist and professional cat cuddler by night.

Heather, 25 Software engineer by day, even bigger nerd by night. Love anime, board games (I kill at The Settlers of Catan), and obscure music nobody else seems to listen to.

As you work on your Tinder profile, remember that it’s important but it also goes along with your photos. If you’ve got a stellar set of photos who explain who you are, your bio doesn’t have to work so hard. If you’re having problems getting matches, you might want to take the time to make sure your description and your photos are on point. After all, when it comes to online dating, your profile is your first impression. So have fun with it and make a good one.

The post 7 Tinder Profile Tips and Writing Hacks appeared first on The Date Mix.

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#IFTTT #Meet Positives SMFeed 8

[theampreviews]

The Untouchables

#29 - Natural Born Killers (1994) / Dir. Oliver Stone / Warner Bros.

Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers appears strikingly prescient when viewed in 2017. Within the first two minutes of the pre-credit scene, two named female characters talk about something other than a man, a fleeting exchange maybe, but one that would be Bechdel approved, followed by Juliette Lewis (resplendent with underarm hair, a current hot topic for Wonder Woman, a true sign of the times) exhibiting considerable agency in dealing with the unwanted advances of a sexually aggressive hick. In fact, the first murders we witness Micky & Mallory Knox commit are in direct response to an open display of misogynistic bile. So far, so woke.

I'm not suggesting Stone was a bastion of virtue in making anti-heroes out of serial killers, far from it, but with its overriding themes of reckless media exploitation, out of control consumerism and misplaced Celebrity, it's fair to say Natural Born Killers was largely misread in its day.

The reason Mickey & Mallory are so hard to hate is nothing to do with a lack of accountability imposed by the filmmaker, it's the calibre of the performances. Their deeds are always presented as horrendous, even when excusably motivated (Rodney Dangerfield) or cartoonish in their presentation (the waitress in that opening scene). We see the demons in both of them, but Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis, in a pair of the 90s best performances, imbue M&M with a charisma that's hard to resist (Lewis's Mallory the unhinged heart of the pair being the standout).

It also helps their case that Stone assembles a rogues gallery of vile supporting characters in positions of authority and the media that favorably contrast a pair of mass murderers. Tommy Lee Jones gives a wired performance as corruption personified, prison warden Dwight McClusky and Tom Sizemore out Tom Sizemore's himself as a prostitute murdering detective. Cream of the crop is Robert Downey Jr. as the motormouth Aussie, ambulance chasing tabloid shit-heel, Wayne Gale. He's every obnoxious cliché ramped up to 11 with Tony Stark facial hair and a mullet. He's fucking brilliant.

To say Stone is not a subtle filmmaker is an understatement for the ages, and NBK might be his least subtle work, but his point is never lost, no matter what he chucks at the screen. Be it the disarming cutaway to a grotesque, incestuous rape parody of "I Love Lucy" (with live studio audience) or the all-too-realistic send up of tabloid TV crime shows of Wayne Gale's "American Maniacs", Stone's ADD direction serves his outlandish send-up to perfection.

Mixing film stocks, animation, projection, green screen, black & white, digital morphing and who knows what else, Stone, Cinematographer Robert Richardson and his editors concoct a viewing experience that's akin to forced channel surfing with Alex DeLarge, complete with Coca-Cola ad breaks. It's intentionally distracting and disorientating, numbing and nauseating, appealing and appalling.

Natural Born Killers sits at the top of the Oliver Stone B-Movie pile, along with U Turn and Savages, but really it's as vital and scathing an indictment of its subject as any of his political heavy hitters.

Back in 1994 the film was widely criticized by the Media it so openly satirized for being a vulgar celebration of violent depravity (even with its MPAA imposed 155 cuts for violence - this is a Director’s Cut that is the filmmakers preferred version), seemingly unaware that this was the same critique being leveled at them by the movie.

Stone knows we shouldn't accept this vision of Mickey & Mallory, but he knows we will. Like Bonnie & Clyde, and hundreds of other murderous lovers-on-the-lam before them, he understands the power of Media and its ability to easily manipulate. He doesn't want us to hate Mickey & Mallory, he wants us to hate ourselves, and I love it.

[san-station]

A Quiet Place AU / ATEEZ (Post-apocalyptic)

Chapter 3

↝Word count: 2139

Description: In a world full of silence and dangerous creatures seeking for blood, a group of friends have to survive for their own good and find the safe place they’ve heard about months ago.

Pairing: OC x San

WARNING: cursing most of all.

・・・・・・・・

Rollercoaster

The fourth floor of the old damaged building was my place, my comfort zone, the only moment where I could be entirely alone with my thoughts, my feelings, my sorrows and my draws. The four gray aged and dingy walls were covered by my creations on every blank space that once were painted with cute bird patterns. Five months ago, when we found the place, I was depressed, my parents death followed me everywhere, so much that nothing mattered to me anymore. The twelve of us traveled afoot for over six days to finally reach the end of the forest we were hiding for, at least, the past month. The tan and shaped boy, Lucas, got lost a whole fucking day in the woods when he decided he wanted to pee because was too shy to do it near us. Fucking kid… We’d splitted in two groups of four and the three left had to stay in the encounter spot. Misuk, Jongho and Yunho stayed while we silently looked for any sign of the cinnamon colored boy. I'm not gonna lie, my heart ached when Lucas got missing, he was one of the amusing boys that kept us underground and kinda happy. While he was wandering around looking for a perfect spot, he’d felt in a huge hole of human bones and was too afraid to give us any signal (not that he could scream either). He had scratched his knees and hands and was afraid of any infection so, the moment he saw us, tears decorated his great looking face while Mingi and Wooyoung helped him climb the slippery ground. 

“I swear I’ll never pee again”, he signed shaking his head and moving forward to the encounter spot for water to clean the minor injuries.  After that, we found ourselves in a half-destroyed city, the place was literally torn in two ‘cause the government thought bombs would do their purpose and annihilate everything in their paths. Wrong. Thousands of people had died in the incident and just a little amount of the monsters. But eventually everyone mad about it died or had better things to do, like, survive for example. We couldn’t find a sustentable home over there, so we kept walking a mile away from the city until we realized this old and abandoned building with its eight floors and its amazing basement.

My fingers moved away from the smooth side of the wall, the green splash coated the black under it to mixed the colors and picture a beautiful pickup as finished work. I’ve been painting a whole zoo in the room for my own pleasure. And because most of animals were extinct by then; if you saw a bird, a rat or a racoon, they would probably be slaughter a minute later due to the sounds they made by instinct...  The paints were a gift Seonghwa and Mingi gave me to help my depression. It kinda worked, it was the right time to be oblivious. I smiled watching the glorious bird, for obvious reasons (lack of paints) I only could draw it in green, black and yellow, but that didn’t make it less wonderful. The problem with my comfort zone was that I didn’t want anyone near it for two good reasons: number one, it was my spot, they all knew I was usually painting and shit, and for that, concentration is the motto. Number two, half of the animals I drew had a straight thin red line underneath their mouths to remember those species were forever gone. 

My hands were covered in green and black from tip to my wrist but I didn't care when I cleaned my sweaty forehead staining all half of my face in the process. 

Hongjoong suddenly walked into the room slowly with two cups of whatever that was, he and Seonghwa were the only ones allowed to come inside because they wanted to assure I was okay with my panic attacks. I wasn’t even paying attention to him, I was focused on that animal and his grace… it needed the final detail, so I crunched and grabbed the red paint on the floor next to the few lefts I had. I opened it, clean my middle right finger with my little painted towel specifically used for that, and then I let my finger separate the head off of the bird’s body. I sighted and stepped back to admire the result. However, without any warning my back collided with Hongjoong’s body and I holded a scream facing him, as a reflect, I almost threw a punch to his face. My wide eyes saw the mullet boy grabbing the cups hardly while he smile at me in surprise. 

“I like it”, he whispered motioning to the bird with one of his occupied hands. As fast as I could, I covered his mouth with my green-black hands.

“No talk, you know we are not safe here”, I signed. Soon after, he extended a cup to me and pointed to an empty place to sit on the floor. He turned around, sat on the cold and all dusty cement and patted next to him. I contained my giggles when I saw his face all covered in paint. 

“Sorry”, I signed pointing at his lips. He glared at himself not finding the cause of my amusement. He then touched his face and looked at his painted fingers. He smiled. 

"Don't worry about it, Ji, now come and sit next to me”, he insisted. 

My feet followed the order and I was now next to him sharing a cup of green tea. I hated tea, he knew I hated it, so why…? 

Hongjoong leaned over me until I felt his warm breath in my ears. 

“Taste it, it's for the nerves.”

I sighed, I was afraid of being caught if he kept talking, so I gestured him to shut the fuck up one more time or I'll end him. He lifted his hands in defeat. 

My lips tasted the hot water with essence and immediately I was ready to spill it out, Hongjoong was faster and begged me with his puppy eyes to drink it all for my own health. That man was manipulative as fuck, so there I was, finishing my disgusted tea with tears in my eyes. 

Two almost imperceptible knocks on the door made us both jerked from our sits, Jongho's smooth whisper alarmed us. 

“May I come in?” 

I slapped my face listening to the young one. Panic was taking over me for like two seconds, but the mullet boy answered putting a hand on my shoulder and looking at the door.

“Wait a minute...” he said as quiet as he could.

Jongho sighed loudly and Hongjoong gave me a judging narrowed eyebrow, he brushed the hair out of my face and cleaned a little of the paint rubbing my forehead with the thumb.

“Ji…”, he started. 

“No fucking way”, I shook my head in denial. “You know he can't, Joong… No one”, I signed abruptly and grabbed the cup off the floor. The next thing Jongho saw was the mullet boy grabbing his arm friendly, escorting him downstairs. I followed behind after closing the door carefully. 

“I just wanted to talk to you, Jiyeong”, he turned to face me and I could tell he looked… sad. It'd been a while since we saw the light-brown haired boy so gloomy about something. He stopped going down in the second floor and yanked his arm from Hongjoong's grip a little bit stronger that he should. “I want to know how she died, Ji… I just…”, he raised a hand and scratched the back of his neck. “I don't know, may-maybe we can go to the same spot and collect whatever is left of her and maybe make a good funeral… I… I don't know, guys…  she deserves it.”

I sighed, the walls around us started to feel like they were closing, reaching each other for one gold: suffocate us, but that’s how I actually felt. If only they knew how hard it was for me to stop thinking about what happened, they’d stop asking questions I didn’t want to answer.

“Jongho… there's no way we can do that”, my whisper sounded harsh, still that wasn't the feeling I wanted to transmit, my heart shrinked from sadness. “The place will be plagued with the odor, her scents...", I stood in the first floor now, Jongho gave me the most concerned face I've ever seen before. I felt like the villain of the story, yet I was being realistic. "The creatures will be around it, Jongho, we can’t risk our lives.” Jongho’s hands turned into fists, I ignored them. I knew his blood was probably boiling in his body but, could you blame him? He was receiving cold water on his face while sleeping. Wake up, Jongho… 

“The moment you step on that rooftop, you'll be gone, we don't need that”, I really wanted to make his dream come true but if it meant losing him, or anyone else, it didn't worth it. At all. 

“We certainly didn't need Misuk's death either”, he spatted a little loud for my pleasure, my body immediately freeze, Hongjoong was next to me after giving the final steps to the main floor. The minor left walking down the hallway to the basement as we heard the footsteps disappear. I rubbed my temples roughly and sighted. 

“Ugh, I didn't mean to sound like that…”, I mumbled after the basement door clicked closed. 

“I know…”, Hongjoong caressed my back with two pats and passed me, “He knows it too, but let him be mad for a second, it’s a kid."

“I didn't know…”, I signed, talking outside was getting me more and more anxious.

“Yeah, they had a thing, not too serious though”, we made our way to the basement again. “But at the end of the world, we all need to be loved.” 

I left out a scoff. 

Oh my God… of course… 

“Surviving is all we need, Joong.”

“Humanity needs survivors, Jiyeong”, the mullet boy opened the door silently and we entered. “How do you think  we can do that if we don't love other people and create families”. Yeosang’s head raised from the kitchen at the sound of Joong’s voice, he had a full plate of cooked fish ready to be eaten. Now he was listening to our conversation while washing his hands on the sink. 

“Stop right there, ugh…”, I sat on the couch beside Mingi, the boy was counting how many plastic bottles will be needed for dinner. I caressed his hair and he smiled still focusing on the bottles.

“Our priority is to survive, not create new human life in this dystopia, you crazy man.”

“I'm not joking”, Hongjoong made his way towards the fridge and had a sip of carrot juice. “Eventually you'll have to find a family too.” He smirked and walked to the other side of the room, were the beds were. My heart ached with the memories of my beloved family.

“I have one already.”

“I'm not talking about us”, he disappeared in his room. A soft “Sup’?” was all I heard before a refreshing Seonghwa made act of presence after he got out of the room with his hair barely wet.

“He’s not wrong, to be honest”, the black haired man smiled while he joined Yeosang and helped him with the green bowl made of leaves that contained eggs and potato salad.   

    “You want a new family, Ji?!”, Mingi opened wide his eyes getting out of his trance, he was surprised and kind of scared. Oh, sweet big boy…

    “No, Mingi, Hongjoong and I were talking about preserving the human race on Earth even though we might all get kill for that”, I speak shrugging not giving it to much care.

   “You’re thinking about having a baby right now?! With Joong?!”, Mingi asked incredulously loud. I breathed and stood up. 

    I felt Yeosang’s gazed and I looked at him, I wanted to smile at his shook face, but then I remembered he was a fucking cinist. 

“I’m all sweaty and dirty, I’m gonna wash myself and then catch y’all on the roof”. I heard Seonghwa’s soft laugh after I closed the ladies’ bathroom door and sighed. 

“Why does Hongjoong have to be the one? It’s not fair” Mingi asked again. The sound of footsteps resonated on the place.

"Shut up, Mingi, they aren’t serious about that”, Yeosang’s voice sounded a bit mad and tired, but he speaked again, more gentle. “Let’s go with the others, she’ll be there soon and this is the first night without Misuk, so Jongho needs us.”

So everyone knew about Misuk and Jongho except for me? What a shitty friend you are, Jiyeong… 

(...)

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