#(no 1 reason the ryus should just. leave him be)

[astarlightmonbebe]

thinking about how sungjoon comes off as impulsive and loud and the type that acts before he thinks twice. he’s confident, self-assured, violent - to the point of losing himself in some points. he clashes with authority as much as he follows through; the type that listens to the rules and then makes his own. he laughs when he’s accused of being a murderer in a courtroom full of people. he’s the type that one would think is completely unaffected by other people, cares about them but not their opinion of him, and yet. yet. underwriting all of that is vulnerability, clear as day. sungjoon is anxious, wavering in the face of his family, swallowing everything back and lowering his eyes, curling in his shoulders, softening his spine. he doesn’t laugh when eunki calls him out on being secretive and lying, doesn’t react explosively or defensively. he curls in on himself, lets his eyes tell a thousand stories, opens his heart up on his sleeve like a book for her to read. towards sunghoon he overextends, overexplains, follows him like an eager child, even when the door is shut in his face, even when he gets a cold shoulder over and over again. he never gives up. he never stops trying. because under it all, sungjoon is still seeking attachment, clinging to what he was and afraid to form any more, but starving for it. it’s written all over his face - the fear that he’ll be abandoned, that he’s losing himself, that his brother doesn’t trust him, etc.

[mydisenchantedeulogy]

Sweet Decadence || Part 1 of 2 || Bi-Han/Sub-Zero

A/n: This is the sequel to 'The Bitter Truth'. I have separated it into 2 parts for my reasons, but I want to thank those who read TBT and supported the story.

Please enjoy.

Warning(s): obsessive behavior, female reader, reader uses magic, kidnapping, fights, sequel, post-game.

No Minors Allowed!!

There is something magical about the rain that makes the colors of nature seem much more vivid to you. Though perhaps it is just the blissful mood you are in, altering your perception of things. A rare sight these days, considering how inconsistent your thoughts have been since your heated run-in with Bi-Han.

Hiding away in your room at the newly set up Shirai Ryu compound, you stare out at the forest beyond your balcony in a dazed state as the summer rain pelts the trees and earth. 

It feels like nothing but a dream now, and to be honest, you sometimes yearn to close your eyes and return to that moment again. You do not want to be reminded of the past; of the anger and the betrayal that comes with it. No. You just want to remember the feeling.

He was right, that much is clear now. 

“You are in denial. It's clear to me where your loyalty lies, and until you come to terms with the bitter truth, I'll leave you with that reminder.”

A phantom pain seizes you, but you ignore it. Just like your morals at the moment. No, you are not an idiot. You know what Bi-Han desires is immoral, but you can not put aside your sentiments for him; sentiments that became clear when he fucked you. 

For fuck’s sake. That sounds bad. 

It is true though. Not a day has gone by since then that you haven't thought about him; about the way he made you feel, unintentional or not.

Tilting your head back, you rest it against the doorframe and stare up at the ceiling with the sound of the rain in your ears. Your mind is a labyrinth and you do not necessarily care. This ebb and flow of thoughts proves that you have not yet lost your standards. 

So long as you avoid Bi-Han in the future, you should be fine.

A sudden knock pulls you from your thoughts and you tilt your head to the side, glancing at the door to the far left of you. 

“It's unlocked,” you announce. 

A moment later, Harumi Shirai saunters in. You sit up to address her properly, but she raises her hand to stop you. 

“There is no need for such formalities, not when it is I who came to see you.” 

You grin. 

“As the soon-to-be wife of my Grandmaster, it is indeed needed.”

It is strange to address Kuai Liang as Grandmaster, but after all that he has been through and done to build the Shirai Ryu, he deserves the title. He even found time for love. 

Harumi offers you a kind smile. 

“It is our secret.”

She wanders across the room and sits in front of your vanity.

“Are you faring well?”

You hum.

“For the most part.”

After you came back from the fortress you reported to Kuai Liang about your run-in with Bi-Han, though you opted not to mention the fact you fucked him. The brand he left was hard enough to explain, but it could not be avoided; you needed medical attention. 

Kuai Liang viewed it as a failed attempt to lure you back to Lin Kuei, but it was apparent that he was curious about what dark agenda his brother had regarding you. 

In truth, you should be dead for denying him. 

“And your wound? I can have someone take a look at it if it still pains you,” Harumi mentions. 

You decline her offer. 

“Though appreciated, that is not necessary.” You subconsciously rest your hand against the brand on your side. “The pain went away months ago…yet it sometimes still burns.” 

Harumi frowns. 

“If it begins to bother you, I suggest you tell me.”

You snort. It is no wonder Kuai Liang loves her; she is considerate, yet stern.

“Yes, Madam.” 

Harumi nods her head in approval and then stands. 

“I will see you at lunch. You missed breakfast.”

You are aware. But you suppose that is what warranted this visit. 

“The rain has put me in a strange mood,” you lie. “But I will be there.”

Harumi seems unsure, but she does not voice her concerns. Instead, she wishes you a good morning and leaves you to your thoughts again. 

You understand. Kuai Liang and Tomas are worried about you. But it is not their problem, it is yours. 

Your obsession with Bi-Han is yours to bear.

Shifting your eyes, you stare in a haze at the forest again. Perhaps soon this fixation will pass. For your sake, it had better. 

–

At noon, you tear yourself away from the comfort of your bedroom, following the briny scent of fish to the dining room. A spread of rice and vegetables accompanies it, making your stomach twist in hunger. 

Before you sit across from Tomas on the left side of the table, you bow in respect to Kuai Liang, who nods his head. 

“I am pleased to see that you joined us.”

You grin and turn your eyes to Harumi beside him. 

“I was encouraged to.”

Kuai Liang glances at her, then returns to his lunch. You follow suit, however, you notice that in attendance, there are only the four of you. 

“Where are the others?” You ask as you pick up your drink.

“Running exercises,” Tomas answers. “Though some are spread out in the nearby villages.”

An unsure look from Kuai Liang makes you pause a moment. You raise a curious brow. 

“What is it?”

The Grandmaster sighs. 

“Nothing concerning as of yet…but we have heard rumors of hostiles.”

Hostiles. A neighboring clan perhaps. This is the first time you have heard about it, but you suppose the brothers have their reasons.

Focusing on your lunch, you hardly notice the injured ninja stumble in until he collapses to the floor in a bloody mess. In shock, you rush over to him, followed by Tomas who carefully checks over his wounds. He is in bad shape, but thankfully alive.

“Who did this?” Tomas asks in anger. 

The ninja raises his trembling hand. You notice a thin metal plate in the palm of his hand and upon further inspection, you notice a familiar symbol etched into it. Your stomach churns in dread. 

“Lin Kuei.”

Here of all places.

Tomas widens his eyes and takes the plate from you. He stands just as Kuai Liang approaches with a healer, handing the plate to him. 

“Where?” Kuai Liang asks the injured man. 

“W-West,” he manages to say. 

Clutching the emblem in his hand, he shifts his eyes to Tomas. 

“We shall go.”

Without a word, the latter rushes off. You feel a bit shaken, but despite this, you stand. 

“Grandmaster–”

“If you are unwell, then stay and protect Harumi,” Kuai Liang interrupts.

You understand his concerns, but you can not just flee from the cryomancer’s shadow every time it threatens to consume you. 

“I can fight.”

He gives you a nod and with a bow, you rush back to your room to change clothes. With your gear on, you retrieve your mask from the vanity, looking at yourself in the mirror. The sanguine look in your eyes is not something to be proud of.

A short while later, with the brothers in tow, you arrive in the village to the west. The earthy scent of petrichor mixed with death permeates the air. Multiple bodies are strewn across the dirt road, all Shirai Ryu. You find it strange. How is it that there are no Lin Kuei among them?  

A scream echoes through the but before the three of you can move, a pair of Lin Kuei descends from the rooftops of the nearest house. Their appearances are unfamiliar.

“Is that armor?” You hear Tomas ask.

It is. Each of them is decked out in similar armor akin to what Sektor and Cyrax wear, albeit they are dressed in Lin Kuei colors. Why, though? What is Bi-Han thinking? 

Another scream from the far side of the village rings out and Kuai Liang grunts irritably.

“We must aid those in need.”

You agree with a nod.

“I can take these two,” you suggest. 

Tomas looks unsure but Kuai Liang seems to agree. He places a comforting hand on your shoulder. 

“Be on guard.” 

You nod. This should be no problem. You have dealt with the Lin Kuei before. Suits or no suits, it makes no difference. Tomas and Kuai Liang separate, leaving you alone with the two assassins. 

“Two-on-one seems kind of unfair,” you state. 

Neither of them comment. That's fine. You adjust the plates on your mask, then take a deep breath, releasing a sonic scream that should disorient the two. However, it has no effect.

What the hell? 

One of them suddenly teleports behind you and kicks you in the side, knocking you to the ground. It feels as though you have been hit by a truck. And to make matters worse, the assassin struck you right where the brand is. 

Fine. If they want to play rough. 

You stand and take a fighting stance. The assassin lying in wait teleports behind you while the other aims a kick at your chest, but you manage to dodge them by shifting to the side. Grabbing the latter by the plates on their shoulders, you yank them off balance and use their momentum to sweep them off their feet.

Lying on their back, you raise your leg in an attempt to axe-kick them in the face, but the other assassin grabs you around the chest and holds you in place as the one on the ground stands. It lifts its hand and an intense heat sizzles from within. You can feel it on your skin. 

It has a flamethrower. 

You grunt in annoyance and lift your lower body, using your feet to push off the fire-wielding assassin, striking them hard in the face and chest. The one holding you falls back onto the ground from the force, giving you the chance to free yourself and roll into a squat above them. 

Adjusting your mask again, you increase the volume of your voice. Then with a deep breath, you release a sonic scream point-blank into the assassin’s face. The metal vibrates at such a speed that it short-circuits, sending bolts of electricity shooting out. The smell that follows is nauseating. You wave away the plume of smoke that pours from the mask, but you are not given a moment to rest as the fire assassin shoots a jet of flames at you. 

Barely able to escape its range, you roll out of the way and onto your feet. Heat licks at your leg, but you manage to put some distance between you and the assassin, hiding behind a house, before you put out the small flame. 

These suits are no joke. You hope the brothers are faring better than you. It is like they were built to withstand your magic. You are not even certain there is anyone inside the suits. But how else are they moving?

When the flames stop, you dart out from behind the house, but to your shock, the assassin is gone. Before you can search for them, the whir of jet boosters catches your attention, and when you look up, you see a familiar warrior in red armor hovering above you.

“Sektor.”

What is he doing here? 

“This is a sight, running into you like this,” he states. “I should be upset that you managed to demolish one of my suits, but there is always more room for improvement.” 

You turn up your nose as you look at the smoking hunk of metal lying on the ground. So he is the one controlling them. 

“Bi-Han let you make that thing?”

“The Grandmaster has thoughtfully embraced my ideas for the future,” Sektor states. 

You snort.

“I'm sure he rewarded you well too. Tell me, does he like it when you spit or when you swallow?”

Sektor laughs.

“You are just as direct and spirited as ever. It’s too bad he considers you a waste.”

It shouldn’t have but his words make your blood boil. Your defiance must have switched the cryomancer’s opinion of you.  

“Your potential is wasted with Kuai Liang.”

The brand he left on you felt spiteful, a mark of shame.  

“Let's see who is the waste.”

You take a fighting stance but to your irritation, Sektor flies off toward the far end of the village. Where is he going? You tighten your jaw and chase after him. His defeat will deal a massive blow to the Lin Kuei, should you catch him. 

Chasing him around the side of a nearby house, you do not consider calling for backup. All that is on your mind is beating Sektor within an inch of his life. But as you cross in front of a side alley, something akin to a net shoots out and seizes you, knocking you hard to the ground. 

You groan in pain, arching your back as the rock-littered street bites into your skin. What the hell? You struggle but the neon yellow net will not loosen. 

“Do not fight it. The energy net will only grow tighter,” a feminine voice orders.

You tilt your head to the side to see a familiar figure in a yellow suit approach from the side alley. 

“Cyrax. I should have known,” you sneer. 

She is never far from Sektor. You did not think that in your pursuit of him, she would ambush you. It is irksome.

From above, Sektor flies by and then lands beside her. Both of them ignore your attempts to test the net. 

“Are we done here?” Cyrax asks. 

“I have all the data I need,” Sektor answers. He pauses, then motions with a finger toward you. “All that is left is dealing with our friend here.” 

What is that supposed to mean? 

Cyrax removes a spherical gadget from her chest plate and approaches you. 

“This isn't personal,” she states, sounding as if she is about to put an end to you. 

Leaning down, she yanks off your mask, much to your displeasure, and then presses a button on the side of the gadget. 

So this is it. You sneer at her. 

“Tell Bi-Han he can rot in hell.”

“You can tell him yourself,” Cyrax states.

Before you can figure out what she means, the device beeps and then pops open. From inside, a sweet colorless odor sprays out and consumes you. Instantly your throat tickles, making you break out into a fit of coughs. You attempt to hold your breath but it does no good. Whatever the gas is, its fast-acting properties take effect and everything fades to black.

[danaty-consolation]

Okay I am going to respond to this just once, so all the asks and comments about this topic will be ignored from now on.

Everyone is free to think, like and ship whatever they want, canon or fanon is there to make people happy, and everyone should respect each other opinions.

Now, I am going to be brutally honest here.

If we follow what you two say, that means Ryu is coded as bisexual, since she is attracted to women and men.

Ryu never had a positive male view in her life, Ataru, Mendou and her classmates? All perverts towards her. Her father? Had I even had to say how horrible he was in forcing his daughter to act and dress as a male just because his sick dream was having one?

Women are the only gender that see Ryu by who she is, a woman, not because of her body but also because of her as a person. They never tried to abuse her, they mostly showed her only kindness without any ulterior motives contrary to the men in her life.

So guess what? It makes sense for her to have her guard up with Nagisa after what he tried to do with her, even if he was pressured bc of a non-existent time limit it doesn't excuse his actions.

However later on, when they live together he is only respectful to her. No touching or hugging, the only time that that happens is because he is asleep, and he only has seen her changing or almost naked by accident.

But the thing here is that Nagisa is the one that tries to talk to her, and is only because Ryu is scared of him thanks to all the males in her life trying to use her in some way and Nagisa's past actions that make her wary of him. She thinks he is like other men and he deserves it because he acted like one of the men she knows.

Nevertheless, we see him actually being honest with her and respecting her wishes and feelings in the last scenes, ready to leave because he thought she hated him. Something that no men had done to her before.

The bar is in hell but at least Nagisa is trying and Ryu see's this.

He is already a better love interest that Konatsu and Tsubasa of Ukyo in Ranma 1/2.

Yes his introduction was late, but he at least received development with Ryu.

Canon or Fanon don't change a thing in fandoms, people love and support what they like.

And we should all respect each other opinions when they have valid arguments, being facts or preferences.

However, I did need to share my analysis because some people in the Urusei Yatsura fandom only saw the old anime and ova's without reading the manga so they may not know a lot of the context later on with Nagisa and Ryu. Heck, I didn't even expected for David pro to animate the one-night's battle chapters next week!

And if they still don't like it after reading my analysis, well good for them! It's totally understandable and I won't judge them or anything because we have different opinions!

The perfect character with flaws that follow the narrative most perfectly can have people who hate them! Some without reasons and some with valid reasons.

Maybe is because of the design? The personality? Something doesn't make people like them and that is okay!

People are free to block the users or tags, so they can still be happy and not ruin the fun of others.

I will keep loving Nagisa and shipping him with Ryu, because of the last analysis I made, some points I covered in this post, and because my opinion of them is really positive.

We are all grown-ups and if some are not, at least act as one for the fandom and to have a more healthy interaction and feed with everyone.

[kxisuke]

Hey, so I was reading how bsd men react when you give them spoilers of their life, and I wanted to ask if you could do a part two with Atsushi, Akutagawa and some more charectors. Thanks

✧ REACTING TO SPOILERS- part 2

✧ p. atsushi, akutagawa, yosano

✧ tw. bsd manga/anime spoilers! kinda angst?

— a/n. honestly i didn't think that fic would blow up as much as it did, but thank you for the request! hope you enjoy this :3 more parts on the way? 👀

[part 1] [part 3]

-> ATSUSHI NAKAJIMA

The tossing and turning from the person sleeping next to you jostles you awake, and you hurriedly rush to his side.  

“‘sushi. Wake up!” Shaking his shoulders, your heart aches seeing the pained expression on his face, murmurs of nothingness leaving his lips as he remains trapped in another nightmare. You’ve never been able to successfully wake him up out of one, and since he’s never mentioned them to you before, you don’t say anything in the morning.  

“Please wake up…” you hate seeing him like his, and wish with every part of you that he’d wake up just this once, because tonight’s nightmare seems worse than the ones before.  

Atsushi suddenly shoots upwards, startling you, breathing heavily and tears threatening to spill out of his eyes.  

“Atsushi. I’m right here. It’s okay.” You pull him into a tight hug, and he silently sobs into your shoulder. “Your nightmare seemed worse than normal tonight. Do you want to talk about it?” You already know his answer, but you decide to try the question anyway.  

“I’m sorry, I’m interrupting your sleep, please don’t worry about me.”  

“No, ‘sushi. I care about you. That’s why I’m awake.” Atsushi looks at you, and you can see in his eyes that he’s begging you to leave him because he thinks he’s not good enough for your love.  

You know exactly what he’s thinking, but you also know that he’s wrong.  

“It was the director again, wasn’t it.” You can tell your statement catches him off guard, his body stiffens in your embrace and he looks at you with wide eyes.  

“How do you know about the director?” 

“That’s irrelevant. I just want to help you forget about your past. You’re with me now, and I swear on my life that I will protect you from anything.” Atsushi’s confused, but he sort of understands.  

All you want is for his nightmares to stop. You can tell the affect it’s having on him and his work, he shows up some mornings with heavy lidded eyes, slightly swollen from crying, lack of sleep evident in the way he carries himself.  

“Please, y/n, don’t worry about me too much though, I don’t want to hold you down.” You press your lips against his, kissing him gently and resting your forehead against his own.  

“I love you, Atsushi. I love you so much and that’s why I will always care, okay?” 

“Okay.” You sit in each other’s arms for a moment longer, the silence comforting. Before Atsushi finally falls asleep again, you hear him murmur in your ear.  

“But how did you know about my past… I never told you.” You don’t answer, and he falls asleep seconds after he speaks his mind.  

Kissing his forehead, you cuddle into his chest and let out a satisfied breath.  

“I’ll tell you one day. But for now, have a good sleep.” 

-> AKUTAGAWA RYUNOSUKE

“How's your sister doing?” the words leave your lips before your brain can even process what you just said, and you await an answer from Akutagawa, who’s sitting on the couch next to you. You couldn’t help yourself, Gin just fascinated you so much and you honestly really wanted to be friends with her.  

You were dating her brother, after all. 

“My... sister?” Ryu doesn’t really know how to answer, he’s never told you about his sibling, so how should you know that he has one? Maybe you just got confused and it was an accident. 

Screw it. You think. After all, I already slipped up so I might as well ask anyway. 

“Yeah, Gin? How’s she doing? It’s been a while since I've seen her around.”  

He’s completely at a loss for words. He understands the two of you are dating, but never has he mentioned his sister to you. He’s pretty sure he didn’t even tell her that you two were together. So there’s no reasonable explanation for how you know about Gin.  

“Uh... she’s... alright I guess. I haven’t seen her for a while now too. We've both been busy...” He narrows his eyes at you, and you strike a look of false innocence.  

“How do you know about Gin, y/n?” You shrug your shoulders, running full force with your lie.  

“I dunno. I just figured cause you guys look alike, you have similar personalities...” you keep rambling, listing things that the Akutagawa siblings have in common.  

“Alright, alright. I was just a little confused... that’s all.” He doesn’t really believe you, but he’ll let it slide for now because he trusts you enough to know you’re not hiding anything too severe from him. He also knows that one day you’ll explain to him what’s going on—you always do.  

“Okay!” You grab your empty mug from the table, springing to your feet and sprinting off into the kitchen. Your heart races as you start to mindlessly clean the small mess from earlier, and you wonder if Ryu bought your lie. You doubt it, but all the same you know he’s not going to push it.  

You just hope you don’t slip up again, otherwise he might just find out the truth. 

-> YOSANO AKIKO

Sitting at her desk, Yosano quietly sifts through her paperwork, eyes occasionally drifting up to where you’re also at your desk, scribbling in your notebook, most likely out of boredom. The loud opening of the door startles everyone in the office, and Dazai along with Atsushi walk in. The pained expression on Dazai’s face is evident of some sort of injury, and Yosano sighs, standing as the two walk over.  

“My wrist... can you fix it?” Your head snaps up from your desk, quick enough to see Yosano stiffen, trying desperately to mask her emotions but you can see the swirling emotions in her eyes as they stay fixed on Dazai’s sprained wrist.  

“Fix it yourself.” You practically growl from your desk, looking at Dazai with anger.  

“But it hurts so bad, and Yosano-sensei can just use her ability, no problem.” You slam your fist on the desk, causing him to jump, and you stand. 

“I said no. Fix it yourself.” 

“Y/n-” Kunikida tries to reason with you, but you cut him off.  

“Akiko isn’t a machine. She's a human too and her only job isn’t to heal you. Especially when it’s just a stupid injury that you can fix yourself. If you were dying, sure, I might have pity on you, but right now? Go and bandage it up yourself.” Yosano looks over at you, wondering why you’re getting so defensive about something she’s never mentioned to you. She can feel the heavy weight of the butterfly clip in her hair, and she turns away from Dazai.  

“Y/n’s right.” She expertly hides the shaking of her voice while she speaks, keeping her emotions well in check. “Just bandage it, make sure it’s tight enough that it holds the wrist in place, and don’t use it. It should heal in a week or so.” 

“But-”  

“No buts. Go.” Yosano points to the med room and Dazai sulks away, Atsushi following close behind. The office goes quiet, everyone surprised at your sudden outburst. You walk over to her desk and offer your hand.  

“Let’s go talk for a bit.” She willingly accepts, and you take her up to the roof. The both of you sit quietly for a moment, watching the clouds slowly move across the sky, before she finally speaks.  

“How did you know?” You continue to look forward, letting out a relaxed sigh. 

“That doesn’t matter.” Reaching over, you grasp her hand, giving it a squeeze. “You weren’t made to just heal people. You’re human, just like the rest of us. And I think it’s hard for people to realize that because your ability is so easy to exploit.” You finally turn to look at her, leaning in and kissing her cheek. 

“The only thing you need to know is that I love you for who you are as a person, Akiko. Not for your ability, as useful as it can be at times.” She smiles shyly, resting her forehead on yours.  

“I love you too, and thank you.” 

“If you ever need to talk about your past, don’t hesitate to come to me.” 

“I’ll remember that.” 

[jjkeverlast]

kick the goal | taekook (m)

>> summary If there's one thing everyone should know about Jungkook, it is that he cannot for the life of him stand Kim Taehyung aka. cocky and well known fuckboy on campus. Now, it wouldn't be as bad if they weren't for one, teammates and also within the fact that Taehyung brings out a whole new territory to their on-going hatred.

>> word count 12.7k

>> genre/au's college/university au // enemies with benefits // jock!jk // jock!th // fuckboy!th // soccer players taekook // bangtan are all soccer players in this // slow burn but they fuck the whole time // smut // humor // vers!tk

>> [series; chapter 1/?]

>> author's note re-upload from AO3 !! the first six chapters are done and will be uploaded every monday on here :)) other than that, enjoy!

“Guess what?!” Hector shouts as soon as he storms inside the living room. Ryu decides to turn, eyeing him up and down before rolling his eyes. 

“What?” 

“We got personally invited to the ugly sweater-themed party!” Hector jumps on the couch, landing in between Jungkook, Jori, and Ryu who are currently enjoying the Breakfast Club playing at full volume. 

The sweater-themed party Hector is referring to is hosted by Jungkook’s soccer team, but Jungkook prefers spending his Friday nights watching the Breakfast Club with his roommates in comfortable sweats.

Besides, he’s not missing out on a lot, just tons of beer pong and loud music. It’s never really been his thing to begin with, which is why he’s not having a severe case of FOMO but rather having as much fun as his teammates. 

It’s not a surprise that Hector comes bursting in to force them out to the party; since the very first semester Hector had his eyes locked onto Kim Namjoon, goalkeeper of the Red Devils. Parties and alcohol is the exact mix he needs in his system to gain a ton of courage to be honest with himself and eventually tell Namjoon that he likes him. 

“Hector, drop your fancy pants and put on some sweats. We’re staying in.” Jori informs before bringing a handful of popcorn towards his mouth and munching loudly. 

“No. No. You are all going with me.” He tries to pull Jungkook and Jori by the arm, causing Jori to whine in protest, determined to stay the fuck in. 

“Jungkook. Come on, please? You owe me.” 

Fuck. 

Jungkook knew he’d use it against him one day. Hector had one hell of a good memory. He remembers every minor inconvenience his roommates have experienced, even when drunk. Jungkook truly believes that if there ever was a job for people with a good memory, Hector would be the CEO. 

So maybe Jungkook did owe him, once. The reasons being he saved Jungkook’s ass from an awful date with someone from Chem class. It’s not that he wasn’t cute, he just constantly kept talking so much that Jungkook could barely squeeze a word out. 

Not only that, but when he finally managed, the guy in front of him pulled out a notepad and started writing things down. Jungkook soon found out those things were subjects he wanted to bring up when he was done talking. 

Yeah, Jungkook did not see him after that. 

“Okay, fine .” The words taste like vomit on his tongue. 

Hector cheers in victory as he runs to his own room. Jori and Ryu try their hardest not to laugh, knowing this night will either be a disaster or a win depending on whether or not Hector finally gets a taste of the infamous goalkeeper after he proudly confesses with zero hesitation. 

“Good luck, soldier.” Jori says while Jungkook slowly gets up, removing the duvet that covers him. 

“Thanks, I’m gonna need that.” 

They both hum in agreement as Jungkook leaves the living room and heads to his closet, aiming to find an ugly sweater. He digs as deep as ever, certain something is laying at the bottom, and he’s right. Jungkook pulls out a horrendous Christmas-themed sweater. Perfect in his opinion. At least now, he’ll be able to use it instead of the sweater collecting dust in the bottom of his closet. 

“Okay, you ready to go Hector?” 

Ryu and Jori have paused the film, both turned to face the kitchen where Hector is searching for a cheap bottle of wine to take on the go. 

“Hector wants to fuck Namjoon tonight.” Ryu chirps in, a smile plastered on his face while Hector’s is the complete opposite. His cheeks have turned a bright shade of red at the mention of Kim Namjoon.

“Ryu! What the fuck?!” 

“I did not need to hear that. Let’s not forget he’s my teammate.” 

“Exactly, gosh Ryu you and your vulgar mouth sometimes.” Hector says even though Ryu is ninety percent right in his observation. Hector does want to end up getting lucky. 

Ryu shrugs, his eyes returning back to the screen as Jungkook pushes Hector towards the door. This could go on for hours if they don’t leave at this moment and frankly, Jungkook would rather not go to this party. He would much rather watch the famous ending of The Breakfast Club and scream out the lyrics with his roommates as Bender raises his fist in the air in the middle of the football field. 

“Hector, let’s just go.” Jungkook manages to get them both out of the door as their roommates snort in the background over Hector’s obvious and immense crush on Kim Namjoon. 

Kim Namjoon is the definition of a hot guy with a great personality that keeps you hooked on a leash. Jungkook still remembers the gossip he overheard from a few students, going off about his dimples and the way he’s broadly built. So when Hector blurted out that he’s caught a teeny tiny crush on the famous goalkeeper, Jungkook wasn’t surprised. 

Jungkook knows Namjoon is a good guy, he’s one of the only guys along with Yoongi whom he talks to from the team other than during practice. And even though it feels a tad bit weird that his roommate of all people is seeing Namjoon, he doesn’t mind it. If Namjoon were to be a dick, Jungkook wouldn’t hesitate to make sure Hector doesn’t go near him. But truthfully speaking, he internally hopes Hector gets a piece of Namjoon tonight because Ryu wasn’t kidding when he said that Hector wants nothing more than to date him (and get fucked, hopefully). 

“My sweater isn’t that ugly right? I still look hot, yeah?” Hector is rambling as they reach the front door of Hoseok’s apartment. Jungkook studies Hector’s outfit, the green knitted sweater with a few silly garlands around it isn’t even remotely bad for an ugly sweater. 

“You look fine, Hector. At least you’re not wearing mine.” Jungkook smiles to convince him that it could’ve been worse and that seems to do the trick. His happiness shines through his face again, ringing on the doorbell with certainty. 

It’s Park Jimin who opens the door and before they get a chance to say hello, he cracks a laugh, almost dropping his red cup as he tilts his head backwards. 

“T-That’s the best ugly sweater I have ever seen, Jungkook.” He points directly to the white letters, spelling out ‘Nut Buster’. 

It was the only one Jungkook owned. He had accidentally bought it off a shitty website while drunk on tequila. Since then he’s reminded himself to never have access to his computer while intoxicated. Then again, he couldn’t care less what Park Jimin is saying — he’s just content with the fact he can even use it in the first place. 

Jungkook decides to curtsy as Jimin continuously laughs, hitting him on the shoulder to keep himself from falling down due to his uncontrollable laughter. 

“Shit— okay, my bad but come on in! Glad you could bring Jungkook, Hector. I don’t know how you did it, but you gotta teach me your magic skills.” Jimin smiles, pushing the door much wider as the three of them walk in. 

“I owe him, or else I wouldn’t even be here, Park.” 

“Well, thank fuck for that! Let’s get you two drunk.” 

The first thing Jungkook realizes when they step in is that the theme is not ugly sweater. People are wearing mediocre sweaters and Jungkook comes to an understanding as to why Jimin was laughing that hard. Fuck. Hector better get laid tonight or Jungkook just came here for pure embarrassment. 

“Namjoon is over by the beer pong table, just so you know.” Jimin’s smirk proves that he’s heard of the cute little dates Hector and Namjoon have shared and for a moment Hector’s smile falters quicker than lighting.

“Wha—”

“Thank you Jimin! But we need a drink first, right Hector?” He nods, his lips curling into a semi-smile as Jungkook saves him from explaining anything regarding Namjoon. 

Hector is already frustrated enough as it is. Talking about Namjoon to none other than his close friend and teammate wouldn’t possibly diffuse the situation. Hector would probably end up in doubt if this is even something , and he has a tendency to overthink a tad bit too much sometimes. But it comes from a good place, because Hector cares a lot . 

“Sure, follow me boys.” 

As they trail behind Jimin, Jungkook grabs Hector’s hand so he doesn’t start fidgeting out of nervousness. He whispers a thank you as the kitchen island comes into view. 

Jungkook and Hector agree with starting strong. It’s Hector’s idea, him opening the cheap bottle of wine and pouring a big amount in two red solo cups. Jungkook groans as he sniffs the white wine, immediately regretting being here in the first place. Hector encourages him to take the sip in one go and once Jungkook does, it tastes bitter at the tip of his tongue. 

“Fuck! Okay, we’re doing this Jungkook.” Before he gets to ask, Hector pulls him away as Jimin shouts out good luck to the both of them. What is he on about?

It’s not until Jungkook catches a glimpse of what’s in front of Hector that he wishes he’d stay back at home. 

Fuck. Biggest fuck. 

“Namjoon, hi!” 

Namjoon reciprocates with a dimple-filled smile and a tight hug. The interaction quickly reminds Jungkook why he’s here. He can do this. Be a good friend to Hector. He really needs it. 

Jungkook greets Namjoon right after, ignoring the person standing on the opposite side of the table. 

All goes well until Hector acknowledges him. 

“Taehyung!” 

Jungkook flinches at the name, plotting a way for him to go back home without offending his roommate. 

“Hector! Glad you could come, and with— Oh. Jeon.” His smile falters immediately when they gain eye contact and the air feels more stuffy than earlier. 

Kim fucking Taehyung. The midfielder on the team, accompanied by two great titles; fuckboy and dickhead all in one. Naturally that makes him the worst person in the world in Jungkook’s eyes. 

It’s mutual, of course. Because while Jungkook stays far away from Taehyung’s reach outside of practice, Taehyung does the same, wanting absolutely nothing to do with him. 

It’s only on the field that they’re even near one another. Jungkook is a midfielder just like Taehyung, and for the team to even play well, they have to pass the ball to one another when an attacker gets near. 

If you were to see one of their games, you wouldn’t believe that the two midfielders can’t stand each other, because one thing is for certain; they both love winning, and for them to win in the first place it requires that teamwork is exceeded perfection. 

Jungkook knows hate is a strong word and he barely dislikes anyone. But with Taehyung? The term naturally sticks . Whenever Taehyung starts talking, he immediately blocks out his ears because all that ever comes out of Taehyung’s mouth are his recent sexcapades. At this point, Jungkook is certain that Taehyung’s personality is how many people are interested in him, and who got lucky enough to fuck him. 

Jungkook wants to respond bitterly, but for the sake of Hector and Namjoon he decides to not start anything, settling on pure ignorance instead. 

“How about we play some beer pong?” Namjoon suggests quickly before the small space gets filled to the brim with awkwardness.Hector agrees with him on the idea, nodding excitedly. 

“Jeon, you’re with me.” Taehyung says and Jungkook is about to question why when he’s grabbed harshly by the bicep, Taehyung’s breath landing softly by his earlobe. “I need those two fuckers to fucking get on with it. Because if they don’t I’ll gain a permanent headache when I hear Namjoon whine about Hector after tonight.” 

And frankly, Jungkook can agree with that. Hector has been whining himself since their first date when Namjoon dropped him off by the apartment without a kiss, instead settling for a hug and Hector had tried to suppress a cry when he brushed his teeth roughly, thinking his breath stank too much. Jungkook had to deal with that at around midnight, and yeah, he doesn’t want this to ever happen again. 

“First, let fucking go.” Jungkook responds with gritted teeth, Hector and Namjoon ignoring their weird encounter, settling on a small flirtation back and forth, paired with blushes. 

Taehyung rolls his eyes, removing his strong grip around Jungkook’s bicep. 

“Second, you’re gonna shut your mouth and let me do the talking because one thing is for certain, you’re too impulsive for this shit to work.” Jungkook bites harshly, and Taehyung clearly suppresses the urge to roll his eyes again, instead settling on clenching his jaw with a painful nod. 

“Good.” Jungkook turns his back to him, facing Namjoon and Hector who are at the opposite side of the table. “How about we make this game more fun?” 

It quickly catches both of their attentions, eyes bulging out and Jungkook can filter out the panic his roommate is currently experiencing towards the evident road Jungkook is trying to make them take. 

“Like?” 

“Losers have to do seven minutes in heaven.” Jungkook crosses his arms, thinking he’s absolutely nailed this. 

“We’re not in fifth grade, Jeon.” Taehyung complains, just to be a total buzzkill of his dare. 

“Actually—” Hector starts off, a sly smirk on his face and Jungkook has a bad fucking feeling about this. “Sounds fun.” 

“You’re on.” Taehyung cuts off any word Jungkook is about to say to remove the cliché childish game as if they’re in high school rather than university, and suggest something more… wild . Seems like that’s out of the question because Taehyung begins to fill the cups while Jungkook toys with the plastic ball in between his fingers. 

“You better not miss, Jeon.” 

“I never do.” 

“Isn’t this your first time playing?”

Jungkook bites on his tongue. “Your point?” 

“All right, we’re ready when you are!” Namjoon says excitedly, leaning forward while Hector continues to sip occasionally from the cheap wine. 

Jungkook has seen tons of beer pong games during freshman year, and sure, he’s never played, but that doesn’t immediately makehim a bad player. Beer pong doesn’t seem to be that hard, it’s all about aiming right, and Jungkook has had a good aim since he was five years old and shot his first soccer ball into the net back in Busan. 

“Okay.” Jungkook places himself in the middle, shutting an eye to get a more precise view on the cups and just as he’s about to shoot, Taehyung moves to stand behind him. 

“Kim, stop breathing down my fucking neck.” 

Even though Jungkook can’t see him, he can tell he’s mocking him behind his back, Namjoon and Hector’s reactions a clear giveaway as they both try and bite back a giggle. 

With a final sigh, Jungkook tosses the ball and it lands perfectly down in the front cup. 

Namjoon and Hector share a look before Namjoon is the one to take it and downs it in one go. 

“What was that about me missing, again?” Jungkook asks with a bitter tone that Taehyung quickly catches as he scoffs. 

“Shut up, dickhead.” 

The game continues on, Namjoon and Hector surprising both of them with great aims and Taehyung seems to be a professional, yet to miss one. So maybe he has a reason to brag, but it doesn’t make him more likable. 

And then it gets really intense. They’re both standing with one cup each. Taehyung cracks his neck before he grabs onto the ping pong ball, about to aim and Jungkook isn’t one ounce worried. Kim Taehyung will get the last cup and Hector will finally get that godforsaken kiss from Namjoon in the storage room closet. 

“Thank me later!” Taehyung says in a cocky tone before throwing the ball with a direct aim. Jungkook is already on his toes, ready to jump in victory but it never seems to happen because for the first time, Taehyung misses, the ping pong ball tilting on the rim rather than plopping directly down in the foamy beer. 

“Kim! What the fuck was that?!” Jungkook is now yelling, infuriated because if Namjoon gets it, he’ll have to be the one stuck in a closet with Taehyung of all people, which is in Jungkook’s dictionary, worse than hell.

“We’re fine, Joon-hyung will miss.” Taehyung’s demeanor is nothing but nonchalant and Jungkook only begins to stress out even more, certain that fate has other plans. It’s like this bug in his stomach that won’t seem to leave since Namjoon has retrieved the plastic ball, returning to the table with a grin. 

Jungkook can’t watch. He feels his throat has gone dry, which is ironic because beer does the opposite of that and it’s all he’s been drinking the past thirty minutes. 

Taehyung fixes his snapback, shrugging when Namjoon says something that Jungkook doesn’t catch, too focused on praying to the universe that Kim Namjoon will fucking miss. 

“Hector, blow on it.” 

“What?”

“For good luck.” 

Hector grins, leaning forward and blowing carefully and then Namjoon straightens his back, arm in position and he shoots. 

Everything happens so fast Jungkook doesn’t even catch it, not until Hector and Namjoon scream in victory and Taehyung’s eyes are wide and staring down at the cup. 

“Thank me later!” Namjoon parrots Taehyung’s earlier words and Jungkook immediately sends daggers in Taehyung’s direction. 

“Joon-hyung will miss.” Jungkook mocks him. “God, you’re so full of shit!” He pushes his shoulder with one hand that seems to set a bomb off in Taehyung. 

“Come on you two. You owe us seven minutes in heaven.” Hector sing-songs, cutting off whatever Taehyung was about to say that highly would’ve resulted in an aggravated fight in the middle of the kitchen. 

Taehyung doesn’t say a word when he makes a beeline to the storage room, Jungkook trailing behind while silently cursing the universe for this bullshit. 

When Namjoon opens the door, he places a hand on Taehyung’s chest. “Don’t kill each other, please.” He sends a warning look to Taehyung who’s probably fuming with anger. 

“Whatever, hyung. Put on a timer.” And then they both step in, the tiny lightbulb attached to the ceiling with a string being pulled by Taehyung before Namjoon shuts the door. 

“We’ll be back!” Hector shouts from the other side and Jungkook hopes that it’s so he can finally confess to Namjoon so that not all is doomed tonight. 

Taehyung leans against the wall next to the vacuum, while Jungkook stands closest to the door, counting the cracks from the chipped white paint on it. 

Some NewJeans song is playing in the living room where Hoseok has created one hell of a dancefloor, their mutual stomping creating a vibration in the floor. 

“If I walk out of here and Hector still hasn’t confessed to Namjoon, I’m killing you in an instant.” Jungkook is not letting this conversation go, and it seems that neither is Taehyung when he’s quick to respond. 

“Well, if it weren’t for you we wouldn’t even be in a closet in the first place.” 

Jungkook turns at that. “What?!” 

“You heard me. Fucking childish game instead of, I don’t know, body shots like a normal person would suggest.” 

“No, only high level fuckboys with a dickbag personality would suggest that.” Jungkook crosses his arms. “And let’s not forget who missed their shot.” 

Taehyung rolls his eyes. “Whatever.” 

Jungkook thinks they’re back to square one, which is no talking, but Taehyung clearly isn’t done. 

“I might be a fuckboy, but at least I’m not some stuck-up who licks Coach’s ass like it’s their fucking job.” 

Jungkook can’t help but laugh because he’s anything but that. “You can’t be fucking serious.” 

Taehyung gives him a look that proves otherwise.

“Well, then I’m so sorry for being passionate about soccer and always wanting us to be the best of the best, Kim.” Jungkook’s tone is filled with sarcasm, aimed to toss Taehyung directly in a pile of dirt, and it seems to be working becauseTaehyung takes a step forward, removing his back from the wall.

“And I’m sorry for getting laid constantly, which is why I’m not a stuck-up bitch like you. Is that what this is about, Jeon?” Taehyung steps closer, Jungkook’s back hitting the door, knocking the air out from his lungs.

“What.” 

“You know, I could help you with that.” Taehyung takes another step. “Bet my cock could make you shut up for once, but you’re too much of a conceited asshole for that, no?”

Jungkook’s breath hitches by the vulgarity leaping out from Taehyung’s mouth and before he can respond with whatever the fuck comes to mind, the door opens making him fall backwards and stumble onto Namjoon.

“Oh look! You’re both alive. Guess you guys can stand each other somehow.” Namjoon jokes which neither find funny. Taehyung isn’t staring at Jungkook anymore, instead shrugging and walking towards the dance floor probably to dance with Jimin and Hoseok. 

Jungkook touches his face with both hands, realizing he’s burning up and he wishes it was because of the heat in the cozy apartment linked with fifty people but sadly, it’s about some certain words that have pulled all strings. 

Before he can even process what just happened in the storage room, Hector tugs at Jungkook excitedly, telling him that he and Namjoon came up with a drink that will blow his mind. 

It’s then he notices how their fingers are intertwined, paired with swollen lips as Jungkook turns to meet them eye to eye. 

Well, at least something good happened tonight. 

⚽️️⚽️️⚽️

“Jeon Jungkook! Get in here, now!” 

The high pitched shouting from Ryu doesn’t go unnoticed early in the morning on a Saturday and Jungkook might as well delete the clock app on his phone, seeing his roommate just signed himself up for the job of an alarm.

“What?!” Jungkook groans into his pillow as he hugs it around his face. 

Instead of Ryu shouting again, which Jungkook expects, he stomps to his bedroom, opening the door in an instant and plopping down aggressively onto his bed. 

“Come on! We have to celebrate. Hector finally got a piece of Kim Namjoon.” Ryu is more excited than all of them combined, and yes, that includes Hector. 

“Can it wait? It’s like…” Jungkook has no sense of time but catching a glimpse with a squinted eye and seeing nothing but white, he can easily guess it’s around, “nine in the morning.” 

“Eight, but close enough. And no, it can’t wait. Do you have any idea how long we’ve been waiting for this? First semester, Jungkookie.” Ryu gets up, holding onto his ankles, and before Jungkook can warn him, he’s immediately dragged backwards, his ass landing down with a thump onto his gray rug. 

“You owe me coffee for this.” Jungkook yawns, rubbing his swollen eyes.

“On it, chief.” 

His bangs are shriveled, bouncing on top of his head as he moves to stand, still drowsy from the early waking. 

Jori is already annoying Hector, who’s hugging into a pillow, probably to hide his obvious blush at the ongoing conversation about Namjoon. 

“Mornin’.” Jungkook mumbles, slumping down on the couch and yawning once more in his sleeve before Jori decides to speak up.

“Someone had a wild night.” 

“Yeah well, blame the game of beer pong I played so that Hector and Namjoon could finally have the balls to do that shit.” 

“Which failed miserably.”

Jungkook groans, covering his eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie. “Don’t remind me.”

But that’s all it does. And especially a certain someone’s words that had haunted him in his sleep last night. 

Bet my cock could make you shut up.

Jungkook hasn’t even been able to process Taehyung’s offer—not that it’s even a real one to begin with, because of course the other used the opportunity to throw him down onto literal train tracks by hurting his ego.

And that’s exactly why he’s not taking it to heart, completely unfazed instead. Even though it was certainly a first that their bickering took a route to end up remotely sexual, so it’s no wonder Jungkook was taken aback, but that barely lasted a minute. 

Okay, five tops. 

And maybe for a good minute before he fell asleep. It’s a thing Jungkook does whenever he’s about to lay down and go to bed. He reminisces about his evening, just like a child counting sheep, and what Taehyung said in the storage room counts as a part of it, unfortunately. 

Absolutely no other reason. 

Also, if Taehyung did mean it, he would’ve probably done more than just spew nonsense, right? Not that Jungkook wants it to happen, absolutely not— it’s Kim for fucks sake.

“Well I’m officially intrigued. What happened?” 

“No! Nothing. We’re here to celebrate the two lovebirds who smooched for the first time yesterday, not me losing in a ridiculous game of beer pong.” Jungkook tries to shut it down, finding it unnecessary for Hector to be bringing up how he ended up in a storage room with Kim fucking Taehyung for a dare that wasn’t even supposed to be for them.

Luckily enough, just as Hector is about to announce what happened that night between Jungkook and Taehyung, Ryu returns with his coffee and plops down in between him and Hector. 

“So, tell us everything. Actually, let's take it from the beginning. This is way too good.” Ryu is very invested, and Jungkook sips silently, ignoring the excitement happening beside him.

“Well, I should say that Jungkook was indeed a savior that night, because if it wasn’t for his idea of adding a seven minutes in heaven dare to the losers, then Namjoon and I would’ve barely gotten some time alone in the first place.” 

“Seven minutes in heaven? With who?” Ryu asks and now Jungkook can’t run away from it anymore. 

Fine, he’ll just leave out some crucial details. 

“Kim Taehyung.” 

“T-Taehyung from your soccer team? The one you—”

“Absolutely hate? Yes.” Jungkook continues to sip on his coffee, a way for him to avoid talking further about something that is completely irrelevant. 

“How close were you to killing him? You can tell me.” Ryu looks at him with a grin and Jungkook ignores the question, looking away as he continues to drink the warm beverage. 

“Fine. Then what happened?” 

“Namjoon took me back to the kitchen and we started talking about different liquors and then, I just told him that I like him, and he kissed me.” Hector buries his head back in the cushion while Ryu and Jori scream in excitement, Jungkook almost spilling his coffee all over himself. 

“Fucking finally . So what now? Are you guys going out or…” Jori takes the lead.

“Well, he did invite me to this cabin trip during the fall break with the rest of the Red Devils.” 

Ryu raises an eyebrow. “Jungkook? Did you know about this?”

“Yeah, it’s this annual trip they do. I never went.” Jungkook shrugs like it’s not important, and it isn’t for him, but with the looks from his roommates he’s doubting his answer.

“You haven’t?!” 

Jungkook swallows a clump in his throat. “No…”

“Well, this year you should, no? Could be fun, and Hector is going!” Ryu encourages even though he knows Jungkook already planned to stream One Piece all break and never leave his room unless it’s to go down to the convenience store to buy some kimbap. 

“I don’t know.” 

“Actually, Namjoon said I should invite you and Jori. There’s space for like twenty people in that cabin.” Hector intervenes.

“Sick! I’m in.” Ryu is quick to jump into the idea. He’s nothing but impulsive. If he had other plans, he would’ve found a way around them to land in these instead. Hence the impulsive title. 

“Yeah, I’d love to.” Jori agrees, getting up to make some more tea for the group and that’s when Ryu and Hector stare down at Jungkook. 

“What.”

“You’re coming with us, there’s no way out of this.” Ryu settles, clasping a hand onto his thigh and Jungkook whines in protest.

Despite this, they’re quick to shut him down, loudly voicing various reasons for him to come; including spending quality time together, and the fact it’s their first real trip together as roommates. 

“Okay, fine!”

⚽️⚽️⚽️

Hector was definitely not kidding when he said the cabin had enough space for twenty people. The house is one of the biggest Jungkook has seen: two floors and a big patio with a small path towards the lake. 

Jungkook knew Hoseok was rich, he just didn’t know he was rich . 

“Holy shit!?” Ryu says when he pulls the car to a stop in the driveway. 

Hoseok comes out from the front door to greet them properly, waving excitedly as the rest of the boys join him, and soon Jungkook catches sight of Taehyung again. 

The week after the incident, everything pretty much returned to normal. Taehyung still talked about his hookups like he was paid for it, and Jungkook kept a respectful distance, wanting nothing to do with it. 

Over time, Jungkook didn’t spare the moment in the storage room a single thought, focusing on soccer and his studies instead. 

And now they’re here, on fall break, about to spend four days in Hoseok’s aunt’s cabin. 

Jungkook had attempted to pack light, but as soon as Ryu had caught sight of his backpack, he had insisted that Jungkook go repack and bring a larger bag. Because even if it was only a four day trip, you never know .

So instead of Jungkook bringing two pairs of pants, he brings five. 

When they all step out of the car, Jungkook goes straight for the baggage claim to collect his bag, slinging it over his shoulder as the rest of his roommates greet his teammates excitedly. 

They had met a few times throughout the first semester but it had never gone this far as to be stuck in the same place for a few days. Jungkook could tell that his roommates being here made the scene more pleasant. 

“Thanks for inviting us.” Ryu is the first to say, when he squeezes Hoseok in a tight hug. 

“No problem! Come in, I’ll show you around, then you can pick rooms.” 

Jori walks towards Jungkook, helping out as they collect the baggage to bring inside. 

Hector doesn’t hesitate to wrap his hands around Namjoons neck as he embraces him in a warm hug which makes everyone around them coo and cheer. 

Seems like everyone has been waiting for ages for them to get their shit together. 

Everyone follows Hoseok inside the house, small conversations breaking up the silence as they move around and get their assigned rooms. 

“This must have cost a fortune!” Ryu comments when he notices the expensive paintings and decorations in the living room as they walk by to go upstairs. There are eight bedrooms in total.

“Yeah, my aunt still doesn’t want to tell me how much this is.” Hoseok chuckles. “Alright, there are three rooms left available. I take it Hector and Namjoon can share, just don’t get too loud, okay? Some of us are still single and rotting.” 

Laughter erupts around them as Namjoon scratches the back of his neck in nervousness and Hector hides his face in the crook of his neck. 

Ryu thanks Hoseok before he moves to the first room he sees, Jori moving along and that leaves Jungkook with the room right by the stairs. And it’s more than okay until he realizes who his neighbor is.

“Don’t kill each other, this is supposed to be a vacation okay? There’s a wall for a reason.” 

Jungkook grits his teeth when Taehyung throws a grin in his direction. “We’ll be fine, right Jungkookie ?” 

“Watch your mouth, Kim.”

“Guys, come on, we haven’t even been here for a day and you guys are already starting to piss me off.” Yoongi says suddenly, groaning loudly when Taehyung lifts his arms in surrender.

“Don’t look at me hyung, I’m just being nice.”

“You call that, nice ?” Jungkook raises an eyebrow. 

“I’m making some lunch, is kimchi fried rice okay?” Seokjin pipes in, already putting on an apron beneath the stairs, looking at the crowd. 

“Sounds great.” Hoseok beams, following Seokjin in the kitchen to help him out, whereas the rest go back to their rooms to unpack and change. 

“Well, neighbor, try not to be too loud, okay?” Taehyung says with an annoying tone just as he’s about to shut his door.

“Loud? Says the fuckboy.”

“At least I fuck rather than yap.” 

Jungkook scoffs in offense. “You—”

Taehyung shuts the door in his face, leaving Jungkook stranded in the hallway. 

This is going to be four days in straight up hell. 

⚽️️⚽️️⚽️

Lunch goes by smoothly, Ryu and Jori settling nicely with Jungkook’s teammates. Despite it being Fall, there’s sun shining through the large windows that lead to an outside patio with couches and chairs. There seems to be a jacuzzi as well, wrapped up. 

Hoseok suggests a hike for anyone who wants to join, and Namjoon, Hector, Jori and Yoongi end up taking him up on the offer. 

Ryu and Jungkook decide to play a board game while Seokjin bakes cookies, Taehyung and Jimin sitting on the counter chatting loudly. 

“Are you sure that Taehyung is the guy you hate, because…” Ryu looks behind him, Taehyung adjusting his annoying baseball cap that he wears backwards like the cliché pompous asshole he is. 

“Oh, I’m sure.” 

“Jungkook. He’s fucking hot .” He whispers the last word, raising his eyebrows to make a statement and Jungkook moves closer, annoyance reaching his ears. 

“Well, I’m sure you’re his type. You have a pulse.” Jungkook mutters, annoyed. He focuses back on the board game and notices that Ryu is clearly winning. 

“Shut up, he literally looks at you whenever you aren’t looking.” 

Now that makes Jungkook pause completely. 

“What—” He clears his throat. “What do you mean by that?” 

“Come on, it’s obvious that you guys just need to fuck it out. Taehyung seems well aware of that.” 

Jungkook chokes on his own spit, the words from a few weeks ago returning and ringing loudly in his ears. 

Bet my cock could make you shut up for once .

“Jungkook.”

“Hmm?”

“Is there something you’re not telling me? You’re doing that thing that you do with your face when you’re thinking.” 

Damn Ryu for being so fucking observant.

“No no, just can we talk about something else?” 

“All right, big boy.” 

Ryu ends up winning against Jungkook and it puts him in a bad mood, his sore loser tendencies showing rather quickly. Seokjin treats him to some warm cookies that he ingests with a frown on his face. Meanwhile, Jimin and Ryu talk about some k-drama they’re both watching currently. 

Before they know it, the afternoon passes like a blur, Hoseok and the others returning from their hike all tired and hungry, Yoongi going straight to his bedroom for a nap. 

The sun outside is about to set, multiple lights being turned on in the living room and around the house. Jungkook can feel himself grow tired the more he slumps around in the living room, only focusing half on Hector and Jori’s discussion about what they’re doing for Christmas and when they should decorate the apartment.

“Hey, Jin hyung and I are gonna go to the store near here to buy some alcohol. Do any of you wanna join?” 

“Sure.” Jungkook figures it’s best if he does something with his afternoon and maybe also to distract himself from the fact Ryu beat him in a game that’s labeled “ages 7 and up”. 

“Great!” 

They all walk outside to the car, Jungkook throwing a hoodie over his head and a beanie. Seokjin is the one to drive, settling in the front with Hoseok next to him and Jungkook enters the back.

When Seokjin turns on the ignition, Hoseok looks outside his window. “Is that Taehyung?”

The shouting is distant when Taehyung gets closer to the car until he opens the door next to Jungkook and doesn’t hesitate to sit down. 

“Taehyung?”

“I need some stuff from the store.” 

“What, condoms?” 

Taehyung looks Jungkook directly in the eyes before smiling. “Yes.”

Jungkook gulps when a clump forms in his throat the longer he stares down at that fucking smile on Taehyung’s face. He thinks he might throw up, or maybe it’s just nervousness. Either way, there’s a patch of nerves in the pit of his stomach and not the good kind. 

“We’re literally in the middle of nowhere.” Jungkook points out, but Taehyung continues to carry that secretive smile that Jungkook wants to rip off of his face.

“So?”

“Well I don’t think some chick will magically show up and want to fuck you.” Jungkook drags it out. It’s stupid but buying condoms when they’re in a cabin, far away from the small store, is even dumber. So really, who’s the stupid one between the two? Exactly.

“Yeah well, the condoms are cheap there.” He reasons and Jungkook is just about to throw another retort when Hoseok beats him to it.

“He’s not wrong. They are extremely cheap. He does this every year.” 

Now , Jungkook feels like the dumbest one in this car. Whatever, he shrugs it off, settling on watching the large trees beside the road. 

Seokjin and Hoseok have a huge debate on whether baby pigeons exist or not, something about them being robots from the government to spy on all of us. Jungkook manages to tune them out,  especially since Taehyung decides to open his big mouth and add things to the conversation that are only incredibly stupid. 

The store comes to view not much later, the large neon sign shining bright in yellow colors, flickering with age. Jungkook is the first one to get out, wanting this to go as fast as possible but it seems to be a rather hard task when Taehyung takes his fucking time. 

The store isn’t even big to begin with. Five different aisles for all the important items you need when you’re on the road, and that apparently also counts for condoms and lube. 

Tons of fucking lube. 

That’s the aisle where Taehyung has been standing the past ten minutes, Hoseok and Seokjin already having accumulated the alcohol that they need for their four day trip.  

“Go tell him to hurry up.” Hoseok bumps into Jungkook’s shoulder. Meanwhile the owner starts scanning one bottle of beer at a time. 

“Fine.” He says through gritted teeth, walking over the aisle where Taehyung is tapping a finger at his chin.

“Come on, Kim. Stop being picky, we have to go back.” 

Taehyung turns around for a split second, cracking a smirk before he cranes his neck back towards the different bottles of lube.

“I’m not being picky . I have a certain taste, unlike you.” That’s when he grabs the strawberry lube, reading the label and Jungkook makes an exaggerated gagging noise.

“Flavored lube? Disgusting.” Jungkook comments, continuing even after Taehyung scoffs in offense. “I feel bad for everyone you’ve been with. That shit not only tastes bad, but the smell? Absolutely not.” 

Taehyung rolls his eyes, grabbing two instead of one. “I shall have you know I have gained zero complaints about the lube I’ve used. It’s just you, meaning you’re absolutely wrong. Flavored lube is fun. But, oh right, you don’t know that word. Makes a lot of sense.” He smiles again, this time faking it on purpose to showcase Jungkook something even worse than a prominent middle finger to his face.

“Sorry for being a normal person, Kim. There’s nothing wrong with plain lube, also it’s the cheapest one there is. Saves you a lot of money instead of flavored shit in a bottle.” 

“I’m not discussing this with you if you’re not the one I’m fucking. Move out of my way, Jeon.” 

The words are said so casually that Jungkook loses all train of thought in what he originally wanted or could’ve said back. He’s thrown in an instant to the night where Taehyung had suggested to shut him up with his cock of all things. Not a punch, not a kick, no. His cock. Jungkook needs to walk away, he’s gaining a heat stroke over this debate in the first place. 

Lube of all things. What’s next? Dildos? 

Maybe the words are also extremely effective because Jungkook was certain that, one, Taehyung was drunk when he said it and two, he forgot . 

Hoseok and Seokjin are almost done and Jungkook grabs what’s already been checked out to the car, saving himself from watching Taehyung pick out lube and condoms. 

The moment he’s sitting down in the car with the others, Taehyung walks out at a slow pace with a black plastic bag around his wrist. He seems to be whistling up until he opens the door. 

“All settled in back there?”

“For a good five months. Thanks, hyung.” Taehyung claps Seokjin's shoulder playfully and Jungkook hates himself for wanting to see exactly how much lube and condoms there are in that ridiculously small plastic bag. 

The curiosity vanishes as soon as Hoseok opens his mouth again about a new debate, this time it’s about whether or not Bigfoot is real, because he could’ve sworn he’s seen one last year on a ski trip with his father and older brother. 

Jungkook for once joins in on the conversation, saying if Yeti isn’t real then neither is Bigfoot. For once, Taehyung is quiet.

⚽️⚽️⚽️

“We’re playing never have I ever!” Hoseok shouts from the living room, placing down the bottles on the coffee table meanwhile everyone scurries to the big room. 

They’re all in pajamas, having done a fun movie night right after dinner to let digest. Now it’s a few hours later, clock about to hit eleven in the evening. The lights are dimmed around them and Hoseok managed to make the ambiance very soothing for everyone, even though a game of never have I ever can end up as a terrible disaster.

It wouldn’t be such a terrible game for Jungkook if his roommates weren’t there. But they know him better than anyone else, and have heard a lot more than his teammates. This is a ticket to hell and Jungkook is shaking in his seat while pouring some vodka that he mixes with juice from the fridge.

Instead of asking questions themselves, Hoseok brought a deck of cards with specific questions that they all have to lose a point for saying yes and drink to say no. 

They each have a little cardboard sheet in front of them that starts every player off with twenty points. With each passing yes, you cross one out. The one who loses first has to do a dare. 

Thankfully, that’s not something they have to come up with either, as there’s a stack of cards with nothing but dares. 

Plus, it saves them a lot of trouble and to have to be extremely imaginative the drunker they get. 

Jori settles in between Jungkook’s legs, sitting against the couch. 

Ryu and Jimin sit together in excitement, meanwhile Taehyung is whispering things to Yoongi that has him rolling his eyes. 

Hector and Namjoon are, of course, snuggling while Hector's lips trail on his neck that makes him giggle.

Hoseok is the only one by the other end of the coffee table, settling down for the game while Seokjin is still cleaning up after movie night. 

When everyone gets their point board and a drink in hand, Hoseok grabs the first card and reads it out loud. “Never have I ever peed anywhere other than in a toilet or on the street.” 

Jungkook groans when Jori taps his legs, nonverbally reminding him of that one time he got stuck in the elevator in their building and couldn’t hold it in much longer. It’s one event Jungkook didn’t want to reminisce about but here he is, saying yes to it while others drink in front of him. Taehyung is the only one beside him that also says a clear yes. It doesn’t surprise Jungkook the slightest. 

“Oh! I forgot to say, when you say yes you have to explain why and if you don’t want to, it counts as losing two points instead of one.” Hoseok says quickly, reading on the backside of the cardboard box of the game. 

“I peed in a sink when a certain someone took their time in the bathroom.” Taehyung eyes down at Namjoon. 

“Dude, I had a job interview that day. If I didn’t look great I wouldn’t have gotten it. Not my fault you have a small bladder and dare I say, zero patience. ” Namjoon bites back, and that makes the whole room laugh meanwhile Taehyung bites down on the rim of his cup, mumbling a small whatever. 

“And you, Jungkook?” Hoseok seems to have his eyes out on everyone so neither can escape it.

“In an elevator. I got stuck and yeah, couldn’t really hold it in.” 

“That’s disgusting.” Seokjin says between laughter and Jungkook just shrugs. Better act like you don’t care than seem offended and embarrassed. 

“Never have I ever slept with someone ten years older than me.” Hoseok raises both brows reading the question out loud, and it seems to be only Taehyung saying yes while everyone takes a sip. 

Everyone waits for Taehyung to explain but instead he just takes a sip, losing two points that he crosses off. 

“Bummer.” Hoseok mumbles under his breath getting rather excited to hear it and Jungkook is surprised by the sudden change in Taehyung.

Usually he never shuts up about who got a mouth or a hand around his dick, mostly a hole. But no, he’s quiet . Kim Taehyung being quiet is like Shakespeare not writing tragedies. 

“Never have I ever gotten laid more than five times in one night.” 

“Yes. Jesus, this game is only attacking me. Pick better cards, hyung.” Taehyung complains while the group takes a sip in silence. 

“Fine, then pick one, Taehyungie.” Hoseok hands him the deck, giggling as Taehyung huffs under his breath, grabbing one in the middle for pure coincidence. 

“All right. Never have I ever gotten a tattoo.” 

Everyone exclaims a loud yes at the question, taking turns on explaining their tattoos to each other. Yoongi has a whole sleeve decorated with his favorite music artists and lyrics. Namjoon has just one on his thigh, his parents' birth year. Jimin has a few on his ribs and torso, going off about each detail. Ryu has a snake tail on his back, explaining how drunk Jungkook got him to make it less painful at the appointment, even though he ended up puking the minute they got home. Seokjin has one on his shoulder, matching with Hoseok after a drunken night out. Jori has his star sign behind his ear and then Jungkook explains his sleeve, shortly.

He feels an intense gaze drilling onto his arm and that’s when he catches Taehyung licking his lips as Jungkook moves his arm, pointing a finger down on each one that melts together. He feels his throat grow tighter the more Taehyung stares.

And then it’s Taehyung’s turn and Jungkook wishes he had looked away. Taehyung pulls up the material of his short black shorts, exposing the different thigh tattoos adorning his skin. 

It feels like a trap. Jungkook doesn’t know why but it does, and especially when Taehyung licks his lips, looking at Jungkook when he drags his slender fingers on the exposed skin. 

Fuck . 

He’s onto him. There’s no other way around it. Focus, Jungkook. 

Mentally slapping himself knocks him back in his place, looking at the liquor in his cup, taking a sip just because . But in reality it’s to make him stop thinking about what the tattoos would look like beneath him as he rides—

“Never have I ever cut my own hair.” Hoseok reads aloud, stopping Jungkook’s train of thoughts. He can’t even believe he let himself think this way. 

This is Kim Taehyung. Wake up, Jungkook. 

“Yes! I still have the video when I cut my own bangs. Never again, though.” Seokjin exclaims while everyone takes a sip. 

While Hoseok finds another question, Seokjin’s phone goes around to show the video where he’s using kitchen scissors to chop off the ends of his hair. 

“They’re not even bad!” Jori comments and Seokjin raises an eyebrow. 

“Of course not. Can’t do anything wrong when your name is Seokjin.” 

Namjoon slaps Seokjin’s shoulder, probably tired of his overly confident self. 

“Ah, this one is fun.” Hoseok wiggles his eyebrows when everyone grows quiet to hear it. “Never have I ever worn a thong.” 

Ryu’s eyes brighten up and Jungkook is so fucked. 

“Hey! Why are you drinking Jungkookie?” 

He’s officially removing Ryu from the list of best friends and roommates. 

“That was not a thong.” Jungkook defends but it doesn’t seem to lessen Ryu’s excitement in getting Jungkook thrown in the big, deep puddle of embarrassment.

“Now, now. You don’t have to explain but you shouldn’t lie.” Ryu raises an eyebrow when Jungkook dares to say yes.

“It was a speedo . There’s a difference.”

“Speedos don’t have lace. Just say yes, Koo.” Jori slaps his knee and Jungkook catches the way Taehyung licks his lips, adjusting his pants when it’s revealed that yes, it was a thong. 

“Fine. Yes. Happy now?”

“Very.” Ryu grins against his palm. 

Thankfully he escapes the need to explain himself. That’s the last thing he’s doing. 

“Well, I never saw that one coming.” Hoseok jokes and Jungkook just bites down on his bottom lip in annoyance. 

“Never have I ever tried naked yoga.” 

Jori grins as he answers yes as the only one. “It’s actually quite freeing.” 

“Noted, maybe I should try it out one day. What do you say, hyung? Are you down?” Hoseok grins when Seokjin’s makes a noise out of protest.

“ Separately .”

“Mhm.” Hoseok doesn’t drag it out, grabbing another card. “Never have I ever done something to impress someone else.” 

Taehyung groans and Yoongi laughs for the very first time since they started this game. Oh this is bad.  

“Yes. There was this really pretty girl that loved golf and I lied and I told her I’ve played it for years and so we went on a date and I failed terribly.” Taehyung finishes it, crossing off a point and Yoongi shakes his head.

“That’s not all of it.” 

Taehyung sends him a cold glare. “I continued to play golf afterwards just to get laid and impress her. It worked and now I’m a pro at golf.” 

Jungkook shakes his head because of course Taehyung would go to a certain extent just to get his dick wet. It’s quite impressive, to be honest. Now he’s a pro at golf because the pussy just had to be wrapped around him. 

“You’re about to lose, Taehyungie. Ouchie.” Hoseok notes and that’s when everyone notices Taehyung is the one with the least amount of points on his scoreboard.

“Shit.” 

“Never have I ever said the wrong name in bed.” 

Taehyung is definitely losing this. Jungkook can see how he’s gripping hard around his cup, probably wondering what kind of dare lies beneath the card that he has to accomplish before they all crash down. 

“Yes, and I’m not explaining myself.” 

The game goes on for another hour, many of the questions targeting Taehyung especially, and then he’s down to four points until his cardboard is empty. 

“Never have I ever had a piercing.” 

“Yes.” 

Jori starts off first, explaining his bridge piercing and how much it hurt the first weeks after he had it done. Ryu goes on a rant about his nose piercing and the cleaning progress. 

Jungkook reminds everyone how he had looked with his head down in a bowl of salt water for eight minutes every day of the first six months. It’s a payback of some sort when Ryu gains a blush and hides his face in Jimin’s chest shouting at Jungkook and telling him to shut up. 

Jungkook admits to having one but doesn’t say where and the raise in Taehyung’s eyebrow stays put even as he’s about to answer for himself. 

“Well, I lost a bet and got my dick pierced.” Taehyung says it so casually while Jungkook’s mouth slacks in a dramatic drop.

His dick has a what now?

“I removed it after a few months.” 

“Only because you fucked the piercer and they were a bad lay and the piercing reminded you of it.” Jimin exposes Taehyung fully and this makes a lot of sense why Ryu and Jimin click so well. They’re both incredibly shameless when it comes to their best friends.

“Well thanks Minnie.” Taehyung rolls his eyes and they proceed with the game. 

It’s when Taehyung stands with one point that everyone is fully drunk. The words are more slurred between them, giggles erupting faster and Hector and Namjoon have gotten more handsy . 

“Last one. Taehyungie you’re gonna lose.” Hoseok hiccups before he picks up one more card from the deck, reading it out. “Never have I ever had a threesome.” 

Taehyung isn’t the only one to say yes, Yoongi joining him and Seokjin too. 

Yoongi and Seokjin don’t go into detail because Taehyung has lost either way. 

“Fuck this game!” Taehyung pulls his hair, slumping back down onto the couch and spreading his legs. 

Jungkook gulps down a clump of spit at the sudden view. Taehyung’s neck is strained, exposing a few moles painted on it. His shorts have rolled up by the action, exposing one of the tattoos he has on his thigh.

“Dare for Taehyungie baby!” Jimin grabs the deck, picking a random card. “The game of never have I ever dares you to jump into the nearest pool.” 

“In this weather? No way.” 

“Hey, come on. It’s fun and it’s just the lake. Just run until you can dip and come back up.” Hoseok suggests so simply and Seokjin adds in, explaining that they’ll be holding a warm towel ready for Taehyung when he comes back up so he won’t catch a cold.

Somehow it convinces him and Taehyung gets up, followed by everyone behind him. Jori wraps an arm around Jungkook as they walk down with the rest, hands in the pockets of their pants and hoodies. 

It’s completely dark outside, their phones in hand with the flashlight feature in use. Thankfully it’s a few steps until the lake appears. It’s really just a small path. 

“All right, Taehyungie. Whenever you’re ready!” 

Taehyung doesn’t waste another second, throwing his t-shirt over his head and removing his black shorts, remaining in his Calvin Klein boxers. He’s wearing a slim gold chain around his neck with a green pearl. 

Jungkook doesn’t catch any more because, then he runs. Goes straight for it, diving into the lake and coming back up,drenched and shouting over how fucking cold it is and that he regrets everything. Seokjin wraps his arms around Taehyung and pats him down with the warmth he’s providing. 

When they’re all  back in the house, Taehyung is still visibly shaking and turns to walk upstairs to take a warm shower. 

At that moment, Seokjin throws him his clothes, and that’s when Jungkook catches sight of the prominent bulge in Taehyung’s soaked Calvins. 

He hates himself for looking down but it’s like this annoying reflex. 

At least, that’s what he blames it on. 

The thing is, the bulge isn’t even small , which would make a lot of sense since dicks shrink when they’re met with anything cold. 

So how the fuck does Taehyung’s cock look big when it’s supposed to be— Jungkook stops himself from thinking further because it’s stupid that he’s wondering about this in the first place. The more he’s in over his head about it, the more he’ll end up making a bad decision.

Ryu and Jungkook decide to hang out with Jori a bit longer while the others have resigned to their bedrooms. They’re sobering up, drinking water and eating kimbap that Seokjin made as an afternoon snack. 

“Dude, your teammates are so fun. Can’t believe you don’t hang out with them more.” Ryu says, mouth full of kimbap. 

“Yeah they’re…” Jungkook pauses, realizing how much fun it’s been even though Taehyung has been on his ass this whole time, clouding his mind and overtaking it, which usually never happens to Jungkook. “They’re great. We always have fun on the field, just didn’t expect to be more than that.” 

“It’s good to know you don’t regret coming here.” Jori shuffles closer to Jungkook and lies down on his arm. 

“Yeah, I don’t. At least not anymore.” 

Then the conversation diverts, Ryu explaining how much fun he’s been having with Jimin and that they’re going out when they come back from fall break. Jori talks a bit about a date he had and that the girl left the moment she found out he was asexual.

“It’s not your fault, Jori.” 

“I know. I don't know, I just wish my sexuality didn’t stand in the way of my dating life, but it really does most times.” 

Jungkook runs a hand through his curly hair. “Don’t say that. Someone out there will love every part of you.” He kisses his forehead and Jori thanks Jungkook for his kindness and the support Ryu voices out when they talk more about dating in general. 

When the conversation turns a bit lighter and Jori has fallen asleep on Jungkook’s shoulder, Taehyung emerges from his bedroom, walking down the stairs in oversized sweatpants, a snapback, and no fucking shirt. The golden necklace shines bright under the living room lights, and Jungkook hates himself for staring so much, but so is Ryu beside him.

“Hey, sorry. Just grabbing some water.” 

It doesn’t jolt Jori awake that there’s sudden noise happening in the open kitchen. 

“No worries, hot stuff.” Ryu says jokingly and Taehyung chuckles before downing the glass of water in front of them. It seems to have spilled down onto his neck, droplets trailing further down his torso and Jungkook holds his breath the entire time. 

“Shit, I’m a bit clumsy.” Taehyung jokes but nothing is funny with the way he’s staring down at Jungkook as his finger trails after the droplet of water before it reaches his waistband.

He’s doing this on purpose. This can’t possibly be all in Jungkook’s head.

“Well, goodnight you two.” And then he’s gone, retrieving to his bedroom as he stretches his arms, flexing his back muscles. 

“Are you sure you don’t find Taehyung hot?” Ryu questions the moment they hear the door close.

“I really don’t.” Yes. 

“Really? Your drool says otherwise, babe.” He points out and Jungkook realizes how watery his mouth has grown since Taehyung did that scene in front of them like it was the start of some godforsaken porno. 

“I—“ Jungkook wipes his lips in a hurry that are probably slick with spit. “I’m not.” 

Ryu doesn’t buy it, just continues staring down at him. 

“Fuck off. I’m going to bed.” 

When Jungkook moves, Ryu doesn’t drop it. 

“Be quiet when you jerk off to Kim later.” 

“You suck.”

“You wish you did. On his d—“

Jungkook blocks out his ears the whole way up and ignores how Ryu giggles loudly until he earns a slap from Jori that stirs awake from it, claiming it to be annoying and loud. Jungkook couldn’t agree more. 

The house has gone quiet when Jungkook lies under the warm covers, staring at the ceiling as if it’ll change the longer he stares it down. He doesn’t know why, but a part of him can’t sleep. 

It’s mostly because of Ryu’s words throughout the day, along with Taehyung’s annoying antics that got him wondering what if , and even debating if he should just allow Taehyung to shut him up with his cock.

But it’s mostly based on how dry and sad Jungkook’s sex life is. That’s how Ryu describes it every time they talk about sex. The last time Jungkook got laid was through Tinder and because of Ryu’s extraordinary skills in texting. 

That was seven months ago. 

Again, dry and sad .

Jungkook shuts his mind off, closing his eyes to permit himself to sleep but all he sees is Taehyung in front of him, his words whispering against Jungkook’s ears again like they’re being said for the very first time. 

Bet my cock could make you shut up . 

Imaginary Taehyung’s upper body is soaked, hair wet until it’s pulled back in that ridiculous snapback that never seems to leave his head and god, the fucking bulge. 

No. No.

Jungkook opens his eyes again, deciding that he’d rather lose five hours of sleep than close his eyes and see that again. 

He’s not caving in for Kim Taehyung. He knows he’s waiting for it, probably lying in bed with an arm tucked under his head, whistling slowly as his fingers tap on the exposed skin of his stomach like a ticking clock's rhythm for each passing second, until there’s a knock on his door by Jungkook.

Absolutely not.

Don’t cave in. Be strong. 

The image of Taehyung’s prominent bulge really doesn’t want to stop lingering in Jungkook’s head when he lets himself space out while staring at the ceiling again. 

Unconsciously, Jungkook licks his lips, and that’s when a certain devil lands on his shoulder, whispering sweet words.

Fuck it. 

Jungkook takes a deep breath, admitting defeat to the imaginary devil that, in reality, is just the horniness that’s been creeping up on him since Taehyung showcased his thigh tattoos. 

He’s doing it. No going back.

Thank god they’re neighbors because it would’ve made it even worse if Jungkook had to walk a few meters to reach the door. Now that’s desperation. And Jungkook isn’t desperate, no. He’s just… taking Taehyung up on the offer that he’d laid out. 

With a soft knock, Jungkook doesn’t think anymore because then Taehyung opens the door, smiling already as if he knew Jungkook would eventually stand here like a horny idiot.

“Jeon, to what do I owe the pleasure?” 

Jungkook steps closer, their lips grazing against each other by the action. “Make me shut up, Kim.”

With a harsh grip to his waist, he’s dragged inside his room, the door closing behind them when he’s pushed against it. Taehyung doesn’t waste a second, trailing his hot, wet mouth against his jawline. 

“You want my cock, Jeon?” 

Of course Taehyung is one to fucking talk. Jungkook doesn’t know if he’s able to handle it.

“If I say yes, will you just shut up?!” He’s frustrated, has every right to be because he’s just taken a big step and of course Taehyung finds it to be the perfect moment to drag it out. Have Jungkook tell him just how much he wants him. 

That’s not happening. Jungkook will make sure of it. 

“Maybe.” He responds, warm breath ghosting over his earlobe before Taehyung bites down softly. Jungkook refrains from moaning because of the sensation. 

He just wants to get fucked, not give in to whatever this dirty-talk bullshit is, because all it does in the end is feed Taehyung’s huge ego.

“I fucking hate you.” 

Taehyung grins against his skin, kissing his neck before moving back to meet him eye to eye. 

“Yeah. But you’re gonna love my cock.” Taehyung doesn’t wait for Jungkook to respond, grabbing him by the waistband instead so they can lay down on the bed and get to it. 

It’s rushed, frantic when they remove everything. Jungkook’s sweatpants and t-shirt joining the floor fast, meanwhile Taehyung is ready to go, already in boxers and that fucking snapback. 

“Fuck. So that’s where the infamous piercing is.” Taehyung watches the sparkle of the silver barbell under the moonlight as Jungkook moves towards him. 

“Shut up. Take that off.” Jungkook points to the snapback, but Taehyung only shakes his head.

“No, gonna fuck you in it.” Taehyung tugs on Jungkook’s boxers so that he falls down to join him on the mattress. 

It’s then that their cocks rub against each other and Jungkook really gets to feel just how big Taehyung is. 

“No—“ Jungkook bites down his bottom lip, refraining himself from moving. “No you’re not.” 

Taehyung bucks his hips, their tips pushing against each other so effortlessly, Jungkook’s grip tightens around the covers. He’s so fucking doomed.

“Yeah, I am.” He finalizes, rolling them so he’s on top of Jungkook now. “And we’re using the strawberry lube.”

“You’re— fuck. The worst.” Taehyung isn’t done moving against him, making it hard for Jungkook to keep his focus on answering like he usually does. Strict and precise. Now it’s blurred out with hisses and soft gasps that reach his lips. 

“Mhm.” Taehyung agrees as he presses his lips down onto Jungkook's collarbones, careful about marking him. They clearly don’t want this circulating in the friend group during their stay in the cabin. 

Also, it makes it ten times hotter that no one knows that Taehyung has Jungkook pinned down, of all people. 

It shouldn’t be surprising that Taehyung is able to do a lot more with his mouth than talk shit. His tongue traces everywhere, teeth biting down softly onto Jungkook’s pecs until his mouth closes down on the pierced nipple. 

Jungkook wishes he could see it, but he’s too busy trying to control himself from being louder than he is, covering his mouth with his fist, fingers in between his teeth.

“You’re dragging this out, Kim. Just— come on, shut me up.” Jungkook doesn’t want to return to his bedroom when the sun is rising above the trees. 

Taehyung chuckles against the metal, removing his mouth and looks up to meet Jungkook’s hooded gaze.

“So impatient .”

“I’m not.” 

Taehyung moves again, grinding down onto Jungkook’s cock and that’s when he feels the softness of his ass. 

“Say you want my cock, Jeon and it’s all yours.” 

Jungkook’s throat has gone dryHe licks his lips, firmly grabbing onto Taehyung’s thighs. Drags it out when he caresses them, still staring at Taehyung who’s waiting for an answer. 

Then, Jungkook holds on tight, bucks his hips, his clothed cock pushing directly against Taehyung’s frenulum. He catches the way Taehyung’s mouth drops in surprise and that’s when he decides to be really annoying. 

“You wish, Kim.” 

“Then leave.” He’s not even suggesting it, just laying it out as a possibility but Jungkook feels like he can’t just back out of it now. He’s come this far. He’s gonna get fucked. 

“Get the lube and stop fucking talking .” 

Taehyung rolls his eyes in exaggeration, does it regardless by getting up and Jungkook takes the time to take off his boxers. His cock is hard against his abdomen when they’re kicked off. 

Surprisingly, Taehyung doesn’t come back with the strawberry lube, but a normal one. Interesting. 

Jungkook debates whether or not to comment on it. 

Fuck it.

“What happened to the top tier strawberry lube?” 

Taehyung removes his boxers slowly when he answers him, eyes snaking down to catch Jungkook’s cock before returning to his face. 

“Knew you were gonna cave, big boy. Thank me later, hmm?” 

“You’re such a piece of shit, Kim.” Jungkook laughs until he allows himself to watch Taehyung’s cock, hard in his palm. 

And big. Yeah. Kim Taehyung is fucking hung. 

“Turn around, ass up.” 

“Ask nicely. What happened to your manners?” 

Instead of saying the magic word please , Taehyung grabs Jungkook’s hips with both hands, turning him around and causing him to arch his back with the way he pulls him back against him.

“Please .” 

Jungkook bites back a bitter word, not caring anymore. He just needs this. 

“My cock hasn’t even been inside you and you’re already shutting up.” Taehyung pecks the skin on his ass, biting down onto the flesh causing Jungkook to gasp.

“Kim.” It’s all he manages to say. Taehyung smiles against his skin, lips curled up and everything. Jungkook feels every inch of it. Doesn’t know if he wants to push into it or scold Taehyung for even smiling in the first place.

He does neither because he hears Taehyung open the bottle of lube that’s brand new. The lube he bought because he knew Jungkook would give in. It feels like a half compliment. Taehyung going out of his way to buy something he wouldn’t use himself but knowing Jungkook likes it, and therefore buying it. But then there’s the knowing part that shuts off the complimentary side of it. 

Jungkook doesn’t think further when he feels the pad of Taehyung’s fingers circulating around his rim. The bed dips behind him when Taehyung moves closer, trying to find the perfect position to finger Jungkook open. 

Breath stills in Jungkook’s throat when Taehyung inserts a finger. They’re longer than Jungkook’s own because there’s no way he’s gaining this much pleasure by a finger resting inside of him. But he is writhing from the touch the moment Taehyung’s finger curls inside him, searching for his prostate as he fingers him open.

“Fuck you’re so tight, Jeon.” Taehyung allows him to get accustomed to the feeling of having something inside of him again after so long, not that his own fingers haven’t found their way towards his entrance when he’s been touching himself under the shower once or twice.

The moment Taehyung locates his prostate, he knows this won’t end well. Slowly, while the pad of his finger is rubbing against it until it hardens, he pushes in another finger after slicking it up with enough lube. 

The sounds are wet when he pushes the fingers back and forth, the stretch getting to Jungkook. Thankfully he can bite down onto the covers rather than having to do it with his own fist. 

“Actually,” Taehyung takes out his fingers, and Jungkook turns around to ask why he did it, butTaehyung continues to talk as he traces his fingers in circles. “Kinda don’t like you shutting up on me. Want you to show me how good you feel.” 

“Yeah, good luck with tha— fuck!” Jungkook feels the wetness of Taehyung’s tongue on his rim. It surprises him so suddenly he finally lets out a decent moan since Taehyung got behind him, eyes back down onto the covers.

“Yeah that’s it.” Taehyung breathes out on his hole, diving back in, both hands holding his cheeks apart. 

Jungkook tries his best not to push into Taehyung’s tongue that manages to slide inside him easily. His lips pucker around it, as if he’s making out with it and Jungkook is thankful he’s not able to watch how Taehyung looks while his moving his mouth so fucking fast yet slow on him. 

“You—” Jungkook interrupts himself with a sudden gasp as Taehyung goes back to fingering him while the slide of his tongue never stops running in circles. 

“Not gonna fuck you until you tell me you want my cock, Jeon.” He warns, goes back to kissing and licking all over the area while Jungkook debates whether it’s worth confessing the words that Taehyung so desperately craves to hear.

He’s on the verge of doing it, but then he remembers. He doesn’t owe Kim Taehyung shit. 

“That… sucks for you because I would’ve—“ Jungkook tries to form it into words but it’s so hard when all he feels is pleasure building in his gut. “Let you come on my face.” 

Taehyung pauses when Jungkook's words sink in. He feels the heat of his mouth leave his hole, but the grip is still tight on his skin. 

“Fuck this.” 

Jungkook smiles against the covers, forehead still pressed hard against it and knowing he’s won when Taehyung rips apart the package for the condom behind him. 

More lube is added onto Taehyung’s cock when he gets the rubber on, and Jungkook arches better than when he was rimmed as the dip of the bed changes behind him whenTaehyung moves closer.

“You’re gonna fucking kill me one day, Jeon.” Taehyung puts a hand on his spine, keeping him still and Jungkook tilts his head, smirking when he catches the dark gaze from Taehyung.

“That’s the plan, Kim.”

No other words are said the moment Taehyung pushes in. Jungkook muffles the moan that slips past his lips from the stretch in the covers, biting down onto them. Taehyung’s grip tightens onto Jungkook’s skin when he bottoms out, breathing heavily as they take a moment.

Then Taehyung starts moving and yeah, his cock definitely makes Jungkook shut up because he can’t even let out a moan, his neck completely strained as pleasure keeps building in his gut. He’s so out of it and Taehyung has barely shown what he’s capable of. 

“You feel so—“ Taehyung tips his head back, overwhelmed by everything that’s happening himself. Jungkook almost grows addicted to the stretch, which is a big no in his book because this is just a one time thing. 

Fucking it out, the tension, the hatred. All of it.

And well, they certainly fuck it out. 

Taehyung is precise when he does it, holding all the right places as the pounding grows faster, the smacking sounds of flesh on flesh filling the room. He allows Jungkook control too, letting him fuck himself on his cock, moving in an arch back and forth. It’s not as fast as Taehyung, but it feels just as good. 

The snapback never dares to leave Taehyung’s head and Jungkook makes the mistake of looking behind him when Taehyung is so focused on watching his cock disappear inside him and fuck . He looks so fucking good, Jungkook bites down on his lip in irritation. 

“Like what you see, Jeon?”

Jungkook removes his prying eyes, cheek pressed back onto the covers. 

“Maybe.” He manages to say before Taehyung picks up a brutal pace that only tells Jungkook one thing. He’s not going to last long. 

He’s lost all sense of time, or if they’re being loud enough for the others to hear. All he wants is to come. 

Jungkook doesn’t warn Taehyung when he moves a hand to wrap around himself, stroking it to fit it with the fast pace of Taehyung’s hips against him. 

“Yeah, touch yourself, fuck—“ 

The encouragement makes Jungkook groan into the sheets, each tug adding onto the pleasure along with the brush against his prostate by Taehyung’s cock. 

“Gonna—” Jungkook warns, not catching Taehyung’s response as his sole focus is on the stimulation he’s no longer in control of, resulting in a wild shake in his legs as he comes undone. Strings of come land beneath him and Taehyung slows down, pulling out when Jungkook regains his breath. He hears Taehyung tear off the condom and that’s when he speaks again. 

“Turn around. Wanna see your face.” 

Jungkook doesn’t waste another second, pushing himself up and turns around, on his knees still, face planted right by Taehyung’s cock. He strokes it fast and hard, Jungkook wanting to put his mouth on it but he’s unable to make up his mind, and before he knows it, Taehyung curses a few times, come landing right on Jungkook’s cheek and neck.

Instead, he pecks the tip, tasting the come that’s still coating it before dragging the pad of his fingers up the shaft, accumulating what spilled over and dragging it to his mouth.

He sucks his fingers clean while Taehyung watches him with a parted mouth, removing his hand from his cock that’s starting to soften. 

“You’re filthy, Jeon.”

“Thanks for shutting me up, Kim.” 

“My pleasure.” He removes the snapback finally, letting his damp hair fall out in pretty waves, curling against his forehead.

“Do you have some sort of kink with that?” Jungkook asks out of pure curiosity, wondering why he waited until they were done fucking to take it off. 

“Are you willing to beg for that answer?” 

Jungkook scoffs. “No.” 

He gets back on his feet, ignoring the slight shake in his thighs. Instead he grabs the remains of his clothing, putting it on while Taehyung lies back down onto the gross sheets.

“Goodnight, Jeon.” 

Jungkook rolls his eyes, flipping a middle finger in his direction before closing the door behind him. 

Well, they still hate each other but at least they fucked it out. 

Progress.

[pointparadox]

My Issues With Blind (In No Particular Order)

Now I am not above admitting I was wrong so if these questions are answered in the drama and I just missed it then please do tell but so far here are all my qualms: 

1. How did Yoon-Jae and Sung-Hoon actually get Sung-Joon to believe he was Yoon-Jae? 

I understand the whole story about Yoon-Jae pushing Sung-Joon off of the playground set and everything, but `1) amnesia would definitely not happen from such a minor fall like that, especially when he did not fall headfirst and 2) How did they get Sung-Joon to remember the fact that he is Yoon-Jae from the Hope Center but not the fact that the information is coming from Sung-Joon? It just seemed like tacky plot armor. I literally rolled my eyes when Sung-Joon conveniently remembered that after Yoon-Jae pushed him down a flight of stairs (another thing that would not cause someone to regain memory). I know Yoon-Jae made some off-hand comment about “the shock therapy working” but there is no way in hell that LITTLE BOY got his hands on a torture device. 

2. Why did the parents adopt Sung-Hoon? 

I don’t understand what part of the story explained the reasoning for this. Sung-Hoon delivers the personal account of the atrocities of the Hope Center, Judge Ryu ignores them, and then somehow time skips to the judge adopting him? Like it would be one thing if they adopted him out of shame for what happened at the center but it seemed like he didn't care when he dismissed Sung-Hoon’s petition so what really changed? 

3. Why did Sung-Hoon admit he was an accomplice -- better yet, how did he even get sentenced? 

This one irks me the most because, unlike Yoon-Jae, all of the evidence against Sung-Hoon was circumstantial. Yes, Sung-Hoon saw him leave the wedding banquet but the cameras did not--even if Yoon-Jae testified against him there was not a single time in which it was implied that there was anything that connected him so why the hell did he confess? It makes me feel like there must have been some scenes that I was missing because one second he is fighting with Sung-Joon out in the rain and the other he is in jail; I don’t think we even saw anyone read him his rights. 

4. How were the police so inefficient? 

Now I understand that they were working under a corrupt chief but it is not like anyone listened to that dude--they were essentially working on their own. How does the police not have software that can show them what Yoon-Jae would realistically look like 20 years later--I know it’s a thing that exists also faces do not really change *that* much so upon seeing Yoon-Jae and Sung-Hoon the police chief and Crazy Dog should have realized it was them way sooner. 

5. What is the point of making Yoon-Jae and Crazy Dog fight to the death? 

I guess there's no technical issue with this It just seemed like such a big fuck you to victims of abuse that might have resonated with the character kind of. Like did he really have to lose his life just to avenge the other children? I am in no way saying Yoon-Jae is a saint (though I firmly believe he is also not a psychopath) but c'mon why couldn’t he get this one win against someone who was a lot worse than him

6. What is the random switch-up between Sung-Hoon, Sung-Joon, and Yoon-Jae? 

I saved my biggest issue for last but I feel like these characters all acted in such a contradictory way to how they have been written since the beginning of the drama. To start with Sung-Hoon; I think his switching up on Sung-Joon out of nowhere in the last few episodes and completely dropping the facade is so tacky. It’s not like Sung-Hoon was ever an emotional character, to begin with so I feel like they didn’t have to try and make him comically evil with the whole “Ooo guess what I'm going to do next Sung-Joon ooo I never liked you I just wanted to use you Sung-Joon oooo I don’t care about you at all Yoon-Jae” bullshit. I find it hard to believe he didn’t care about Yoon-Jae at all, and while I think it’s fair for him to say that maybe he never thought of Sung-Joon as a brother (since it’s probably hard to think of the man who raped your sister and his wife as parents) I don’t think it’s fair to say that he never cared about Sung-Joon. I wish they dug into that concept of Sung-Hoon maybe not feeling any brotherly connection to Sung-Joon but still looking out for him because he feels bad for him. We know Sung-Hoon can feel emotions towards people: he felt genuine hurt and rage when Yu-Na was killed so I find it hard to believe that he didn’t have any sort of connection to Sung-Joon (especially when he also told Yoon-Jae to spare Eun-Ki and made sure her only punishment would be finding out about who her father really was) since he is essentially the same as Eun-Ki in the sense of being born to people who did bad things. 

On the topic of brotherly connection, I also find it unrealistic that Sung-Joon can switch to hating his brother so quickly. I don’t expect him to condone Sung-Hoon’s action’s in any way, but the scene where Sung-Hoon tried to take his life and then Sung-Joon came and called him a coward and said that he hoped he would live in pain for the rest of his life or whatever was so random? I was expecting an emotional outburst, yes, but I feel like something that would be more in character for him would be the continuation of the whole “How could you do this to me when I did all this for you” thing they have going on (which is how the interaction did start but alas). I just thought it was weird. 

Finally, for Yoon-Jae, why did they make him so comically evil after the reveal? Every interrogation scene made me roll my eyes because they just made him act like the Joker in all of them and it was just so overdone. Sung-Joon calling him a “psycho who is obsessed with murder” was annoying too because it’s like--you’re missing the whole point he’s not doing this cause he enjoys killing people he’s doing this cause he was backed into a corner by his abusers. It’s one thing to not condone his actions but to completely ignore what got him to that point just seemed foolish (which is also what I have to say about Eun-Ki). 

I personally think that the show should have gone more into the brotherly relationship between Yoon-Jae and Sung-Hoon because it’s like yeah we see that Yoon-Jae feels betrayed by Sung-Hoon but why should he be? They did no development on that and honestly hindsight 20/20 the whole “Sung-Joon on the run” arc should have been a lot shorter to allow more time to develop this relationship. 

7. Why is everyone except Sung-Hoon allowed to be corrupt?

The whole basis of this show is how corrupt bad people can be (the police chief, the guy trying to bribe Sung-Hoon in episode 1, the producer, the taxi driver, Crazy Dog) so I don’t see why Sung-Hoon, Yoon-Jae, and Charles couldn’t have gotten off under the same basis of corruption. Like you cannot tell me this man is gonna work his ass off and become a judge, orchestrate a whole string of murders with literally nothing technically connecting him to them, and then go to jail because of his OWN CONFESSION when he could have just used his status as a well-known judge (and one that refuses to do anything that isn't by the books) to just deny (hell, he wouldn't even look guilty so he doesn't even need to do that) and then stack the jury so Yoon-Jae could get a not guilty charge. Call it tacky, but them doing that would make so much more sense than them just putting their hands in the air and going to jail/committing suicide. 

That’s all I got for now but if I think of anything I guess I’ll add it. The ending of this show just seems so drab and dull; I don’t really understand what the theme or point is supposed to be. Sung-Joon’s monologue about “oh if they had someone like Eun-Ki things would have probably been different...what a shame :/” like no shit sherlock if Eun-Ki was there they probably also wouldn’t be used for slave labor like...it was just so random. The acting was great, but the writing and plotting just took a nosedive I am afraid. 

Also. the bury your gays (or idk homosexual leaning) thing that happened with Charles and Yoon-Jae was so tacky I’m sorry. 

[quaddmgd]

Thoughts on Yakuza

I finished the original Yakuza for PS2 with Yakuza Restored re-translation patch I was talking about. I beat the game, including every substory (except hostesses) and Amon. I enjoyed it much more than I originally assumed I would, I had a lot of fun throughout the week, however I can't say it's a must-play PS2 classic, even though I really want it to be. Yet I believe it's a good way to either start your journey with the series or play more of your favorite franchise while you wait for a new game.

First things first, the translation patch is a godsend, without which I wouldn't be able to approach this game seriously. My japanese is non-existent as of now, so the original Ryu Ga Gotoku release wouldn't be for me; on the other side the western translation + dub don't do this game justice, to put it lightly. Ability to play it with english subs more in-line with later games in the franchise, with the original dub, is a dream come true and I can confirm that now, it's writing is on Kiwami level of quality.

This review contains spoilers for Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami. Comparisons to the latter are a big focus throughout this text, so it's mostly for people familiar with the story and the overall structure of either one. This game is a good start for newcomers, especially with the patch, but this review isn't.

Plot

I'm not a fan of the plot of the first game, albeit it was much more bearable now, than when playing Kiwami, just after 0. Judging it as a first game in the franchise was much easier. People that played only Kiwami should feel right at home, and sometimes even better.

Contrary to Kiwami, Yakuza is much more straightforward. Additional Nishiki cutscenes are absent here and his Joker arc will probably raise eyebrows for most. It's not well explained at all and, due to pacing of the story leaving a lot to be desired, most of his motivations are touched upon during the finale. Fortunately, Nishiki is charismatic enough to make a good villain and I enjoyed following his development throughout the game nonetheless.

What's also missing is the entire "get the ring" quest that is forced on the player in Kiwami. Honestly, I'm happy with it being gone, as its inclusion wasn't really done well. I'd love to see those cutscenes, but during my first Kiwami playthrough in 2019 it really confused the heck out of me timeline-wise. My biggest problem with it was, that the gameplay consisted only of rage-inducing fetch quests, that don't have a place in the prologue of such a story-focused game.

I feel like I need to talk about Majima for a bit. No matter if you play the original or Kiwami, his behavior is out-of-place in context of the entire franchise. Playing Yakuza and judging it on its own merit helped me see him as this unpredictable chaotic evil psycho with a questionable motivation. The lack of "Majima Everywhere" works in favor of that feeling, as there are no longer those weird out-of-place pace-breakers, where he pauses the entire plot development to have Kiryu fight with his goofy self from future installments, after which he goes back to being his Yakuza 1 self and almost killing people for no reason (chapter 11 in Kiwami was the worst in that regard). Here, he just diversifies the cast without becoming a nuisance.

Fighting

Before I touch on the gameplay, in need to mention that I played through the game doing every substory as soon as they became available, due to many of them being missable. That being said, I fought Amon in Chapter 11, just before visiting Shangri-La with Haruka. Soon, after visiting the place, I maxed out my skills in the menu and with Komaki.

The biggest issue of Yakuza is its fighting mechanics. Kiryu is really slow, which isn't a problem on it's own, but his inability to lock-on while performing a combo makes it hundred times worse. For the most part I didn't have an issue with that, as most enemies are quite slow (gosh Shimano was so easy in contrast to his Kiwami self), but performing almost any combo on characters that constantly dodge attacks, sends Kiryu punching air. The faster the enemy, the bigger this issue becomes, so for example, both fights with Majima were quite hard to get through. Same goes for enemies with guns, like Arase or Amon. Hell, it's safe to say that most of Amon's difficulty is related to Kiryu's slowness and lack of lock-on in this game.

That being said, most fights weren't a problem, and even those that were, were much easier and more enjoyable than in Kiwami. In the original, enemies don't heal themselves and aren't based off other bosses that made appearance in the franchise starting with PS3 games. I can count the times I died while playing main story on one hand (barely) and went through bosses with ease, including Arase, and even more surprisingly, Jingu - I hated their guts in Kiwami.

Keep in mind, that at any time, Kiryu's skills were as developed as possible, due to me focusing on beating substories over story, while I played Kiwami the opposite way. I am also a big Yakuza 3 apologist, so I don't have an issue with a more technical approach to fighting. I kinda learned how to exploit the weaknesses of most enemies, but dealing with fast enemies was problematic anyway. I can imagine that people that want to just enjoy the story, will encounter some serious difficulty spikes, whenever someone fast appears. That can be a dealbreaker for some and it's the biggest flaw of the game. It's not a good brawler. There were times where I died fighting during substories or random encounters, because my opponent happened to be good at dodging and blocking.

Playing only for the plot could be troublesome in the case of Yakuza. Kiryu doesn't even have his □□□□△ combo until he levels up a bit. Not only that, but this time Komaki won't teach him anything until he levels up quite much, and as always, there are some useful Komaki moves you want to learn. I'm not gonna try it anytime soon, but I reckon doing some of the best substories in the game would improve the overall experience greatly. Fighting in Purgatory helps to level up too.

Substories

By and large, Yakuza's substories are nothing special. Most of them are uninteresting and short. There are some quests that flesh out Kiryu's and Haruka's relationship or help develop him into a better person he becomes in the end. Most of those are in Kiwami too, but there is a caveat.

Yakuza has the biggest amount of substories with animated cutscenes. These are present in Kiwami with an exception of one, that is set entirely in the underground casino (I don't know why they left it out, it has some good implications). Yakuza, though, has a time limit for most of them. After certain points in the story (mainly finishing chapters), the most interesting substories become unavailable. It's a big flaw, obviously, especially that at times there is no mention of them being available (or, in case of "The Truth Behind Fake Mizuki", they are accessible only in-between two consecutive interactions with story characters). The fact that substory locations aren't visible on the map doesn't help; playing with a guide is essential to beat them all, especially if you don't want to fail any.

There are advantages to these substories of course, but I'm really glad they aren't like that in every game. Time-sensitivity is a thing only for the most important quests, and that ensures you play them when developers want you to, even if their availability often isn't conveyed to you at all.

I also loved how many times Kiryu can get scammed when interacting with people on the streets. In general, NPCs Kiryu's interacting with are either unpleasant or someone is being unpleasant to them. Thanks to that, fights that often break out feel more natural and Kamurocho really feels like a place you wouldn't want to be in.

There is one more upside worth of mentioning - there are substories that have animated cutscenes, whereas in Kiwami they don't. Now, there are only two I'm aware of: "The Price of an F-Cup" and "The Truth Behind Fake Mizuki". Both of them being animated like story cutscenes, enhance the weight of stories they want to tell. In the former, Mai goes into a physical contact with Kiryu, they don't just sit and awkwardly look at each other. But it's the attention to the latter that makes it worth mentioning at all. The finale of "Fake Mizuki" is really somber due to what it implies. Where in Kiwami plays a typical sad substory music and there practically no animations, in the original it's fully voiced and animated, with emotions visible on pAres's owner's face with the nightsky and snow falling in the background (the quest is time-sensitive after all), accompanied by a dedicated sorrowful track - finished with nothing but silence and the weight of implications it made.

Graphics and audio

When it comes to visuals, the original impressed me much more than Kiwami. Crowds and the environmental detail are superb for a PS2 game - Kamurocho is simply full of life, even in 2005. I completely understand decisions behind the fixed camera view and splitting Kamurocho into separate zones, even if it means constant loadings between camera cuts. While loading was getting tiresome after fifteen hours, the intended feeling remained.

Even though for the most part locations are comparable, I loved how Tojo Clan HQ looks in the original. Even if it appears only two times, it nails the atmosphere, especially in chapter 3. Contrary to sunny and clean presentation in Kiwami (a good one, I must say), the original adds to the significance of the funeral, with an overcast weather, paths laid out with fallen autumn leaves, covered in a slightly yellow-ish filter that makes it look like it's about to rain. How is it that any time Tojo Clan HQ appears in a RGG Studio game, it becomes my favorite location in that game?

My knowledge on music is non-existent, so I can't really say much about the soundtrack, other than that it's great to listen to and Kiwami's electronic spin on it is quite good too. I prefer the original due to it's use of vocals (I can't remember that well, but Yakuza seems to have more of them) and dirty guitar riffs, that in my view slowly disappeared from the franchise over time. They greatly emphasize the rawness and brutality of the combat.

What I can say, though, is that I love finally hearing original Receive You in the opening and the instrumental version during both Majima fights. I love this track so much, it defines the entire franchise, just as it should. Whenever I hear it, it's instant goosebumps for me.

Is it worth to play now?

From my standpoint, yes! But only in japanese or with Yakuza Restored patch. For the newcomers to the franchise, it's a good way to start, as long as you are ok with janky gameplay. That way you can assist Kiryu, as he and the nature of this series develop. If you're like me and already played through the franchise, but didn't play the original, why not try the game that started it all? It does some things differently than Kiwami; some even better. It's worth keeping in mind that it's a flawed PS2 title, the one to start a still ongoing franchise, but a lot of love has been put into making this game and it shows.

To think that the original western release would put me off for the entire four years since I know this series. Compared to the original version, tonally it's so different and seems out-of-place. I'm so grateful for this patch, so if you're interested, please try it and give some love to the creator.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Ok there hasn't been much aside from a magazine shot and some kinda confirmation, what are your thoughts on the protagonist of metaphor, 1 having their own backstory, and 2, apparently not being a fully silent protagonist? I ask bc I know some similar points come up with the p5 protagonist and eheheh I can guess how ya feel about that

Well I mean.......I'm fine with P2, P3, and Catherine, and those all fulfill either one or both criteria. TT0TT

P2 has a firm backstory for chars, and they speak/technically speak at some point.

P3 they have a firm backstory that plays into the main plot later (P3/4MCs have the more varied personality tho).

And Vincent.....alksfjdkjff Vincent is self explanatory, but one of the best examples of a voiced MC who's personality can greatly differ from the sliding law/chaos scale as make certain choices.

Hell, Serph from DDS1, I thought he could totally be voiced during those dialogue choice scenes. Was kinda let down they didn't even though I found the opportunity to be right there!

So like I don't mind a silent MC, I don't mind a silent MC with a backstory, I don't mind a silent MC with a vague/small backstory, I don't mind a voice MC, I don't mind a voiced MC with a backstory, I don't mind a voiced MC with a vauge/small backstory.

As long as they handle it well I'm good.

(now for the P5 rant uwu, oh you know it was coming)

My issue with P5 is......contradictions. I'm really suppose to believe that the boy who saved a woman he didn't know, would try to creep on (at best) a sex worker/maid? (at worst the undertones of possible sexual assault esp with two other guys hiding in the same room really......makes my skin crawl, I know that's not their intention, but god could you imagine being Sadayo for a minute???? it's already bad enough it's her STUDENT! And now she has to figure out if it's intentional or not, but if she knew about the two hiding???? I'd freak).

I'm supposed to believe he is cool with creeping on his female friends (it's not about being horny, it's the fact they don't keep it to themselves it really isn't that hard)? He'd stand bye and allow Ryu to creep on them and make pervy plans that involved the girls? That'd he'd say he's "so jealous" when he sees a fake Anne on Kamo's arm?

It just doesn't add up. It's either "we put it in there for shits and giggles but yeah it doesn't make sense for his char," OR worse yet.....they do coexist and Joker is actually a piece of shit with a fucked moral compass. (which the latter COULD BE interesting, but it's never explored so :'D can't really argue it being a good writing choice).

Like shit, let's ignore his established character moment and backstory and focus on Anne/Ryuji. What bothered me was......these two are his ride or die. They had his back and he had their back. Ryu tried to protect him with his life after just meeting him. Anne put her trust in him, and pushed him to become Joker. Like if Ryu is the reason formed the group PT. Anne's the reason Joker pursued being a PT in the first place (she gave him the push he needed).

....yet the game gives you a biiiit too many opportunities to shit on them???? Sometimes it's not even optional! Like the dialogue choices are all somehow negative towards them at times and it's like???? Why???? I can maybe get Yusuke, but then he joins! But nooooo no 100% negative option for Makoto, even tho she drives off one of your leads! (tbh I think that's the starting point the game even calms down on Anne/Ryuji choices too). But really??? Why am I fine leaving Ryu alone with two harassers??? Why do I treat them like this? If there are two chars that the MC should go to bat for regardless, it should be Anne/Ryuji.

Just....why? Why? Can't I have a choice where I 100% agree with them? I don't care if they are in the wrong, I don't care if they thing 2+2=7. Let me talk them up!

It's like the opposite of the Junpei/P3MCs issue. I can't buy a friendship between Junepei and P3MC because I don't see them develop as friends in the main story (and I don't get even a side story/SL with him). I have a hard time stomaching parts of Junpei/FeMC friendship (but reverse), because even I can easily see them as friends, he still acts all pissy! And you'd think that'd damage their relationship.

Now replace Junpei with P5MC, and P3MCs with Anne/Ryuji/*insert other char* and I have the same issue. It's not about "I don't want people kissing MCs asses all the time" it's not about kissing ass, it's about making sure they feel like they are actually friends when the game tells me they are. TT0TT

Between that and.....P5MC.....feeling like they WANTED to write a more concrete MC BUT felt compelled to make him silent.....I think hurts his writing more.

One benefit for the P3/4MCs is the diversity in personalities it created with the different choices (of course you can easily make contradictions, but those contradictions are PLAYER BASED rather than STORY/GAME BASED like P5). Esp between the good endings vs the bad endings.

I can buy P3MCs choosing ignorance and killing Ryoji, because of the meaning of SLs, ignoring them, or doing them and being absolutely HORRIBLE and reversing/breaking them (male side). FeMC it's more ignoring them and her just smiling hollowly.

P4MC I can see giving into the bad ending or even the accomplice ending for the most part. Esp if they choose to ignore SLs, be an ass/loner when possible, and be as unhelpful in the investigation as possible as well. Considering he still hangs out with his friends outside SLs, him still being horrified by what he's done and not 100% evil in the accomplice ending still makes sense. (needs some tweaking but still makes sense)

But P5MC? Giving into Yaldy? I dunno. I can kinda see it, he does insult his friends at times (reason why? who knows! is he jaded because of his arrest? Maybe? But his friends are also outcasts too??? At least with P3/4MCs it can be played off as loners right out the gate who get wrapped up in shenanigans. P5MC? he's deliberately giving motivation by his first friends and his strong sense of justice so????? doesn't that contradict????). The only thing that seems to foreshadow this ending decently is him saying some greedy and outta pocket/"sinful" things.....at times. Like I've said before, it's contradictory. Wishy washy!

At least with P3/4MCs, the fun times they experience could be explained by they are faking it (either emulating emotions for P3MCs and are still hollow inside/fear death, or hiding their true intentions for P4MC aka for the accomplice ending). Hell! P4 even puts the idea in the players head by Shadow Yosuke that Yosuke is only looking into this case cause it's "fun" and "to play hero" and maybe P4MC is doing just that (in P4G at least). Otherwise the "fail" ending for P4MC doesn't really have any personality contradictions, you just fail to see the truth and/or convince the others.

P5/P5MC relies on a moral choice of the MC (chosen by the player). But the MC himself has a lot of set personality traits and said choice contradicts the majority/prominent/establishing traits (compared to the minor ones that align with that choice but contradict the establishing traits). It just feels....weird.....

Like it's not allowed to breathe. Joker isn't open-ended enough like P3/4MCs to rationalize the bad ending. But he's also not concrete enough to stay consistent and just stick with set ending.

If P5MC was written more like the approach they took to Vincent, that might've helped it.

Cause Vincent (looking at just Catherine Classic for this btw, but I think it also applies to FB just a few more hoops) can be Loyal/Neutral/Cheater without too much contradictions.

He's already shaky on his stance, and is unsure of himself (maybe a bit flighty and changes his opinion on things)

He is thrusted into a situation he had no control over (he does start off as loyal leaning so it's most likely a situation he wouldn't have ever found himself in if he wasn't targeted)

That incident causes him to change via reevaluating his outlook on life. From his choices in dialogue, to the questions in the confession. Those small choices affect his psyche and causes him to constantly change

With each change to his psyche, we see a new rationalization pop into his head.

Every ending rationalizes each thing, even the ones that contradict (aka the bad endings).

Yes it's the players choice, but 99% of the options feel within reason. And not just within reason, they are rationalized.

Basically what I'm saying is P5 needs to rationalize it. Either by making P5MC MORE openended like P3/4MCs....or make him more into a fixed character like Vincent but give different rationalizations as you make choices.

Back to Refan, as long as it handles itself well and isn't wishy washy or contradictory, I'm fine with however they wanna handle the MC. Silent or not. TT0TT

[xoxo-teddybear]

Chaotic Family Tingz - Bakugou Katsuki

Bakugou x f!reader ft. Older brother L/N Ryu and Younger brother L/N Itazura

Warnings: Cursing, Crack, Fluff, Tatted Bakugou bc ✨SPICE✨

Summary: You have a very….special family. You were nervous to not only bring your Tatted, motorcycle riding boyfriend to your home but also to show your very loving boyfriend your insane family. Unfortunately, the truth cannot be hidden for long. Unfortunately for your boyfriend, Bakugou, he learned the truth in a very L/N family way.

BAKUGOU’S MASTERLIST

A/N: Heavily inspired by Good Luck Charlie. ALSO, I wrote this more based around Y/N and her life but Katsuki plays part in it. I still think it’s good bc imagine Bakugou being in this situation 😆🤣

You and Bakugou Katsuki have been dating for a year. You fell in love with the Bakugou Katsuki.

He who had a sleeve full of tattoos, who wore black combat boots and chains, who rode slick black motorcycles yet was a total softie when it came to you

Even though you had been dating for over a year, you didn’t bring him home for multiple reasons

1. You wanted to be sure he was the one before he met your crazy family, 2. You didn’t want him to meet your crazy family

Notice how we keep saying crazy?

Eventually, Bakugou got tired of waiting. He wanted you to be comfortable but he also wanted to know you loved him enough to think he was the guy you would want to bring home to meet your family

Meeting the parents and meeting the family is a big step and shows that you really want him as part of your life. It would mean a whole lot to him

And when he requested to meet your family and you shut it down again, he began to question you

“Do you not want me to meet them because…of me? Do you not want them to meet me?”

You looked at your boyfriend with a sad look as he stared at you like a kicked puppy

“Baby, no. Of course I want my family to meet you.”

“Then why haven’t they?”

“….Because I don’t want you to meet them.”

“What?”

“Suki! They’re insane! I’m just- *sigh.* What if their craziness drives you away from me?”

Bakugou laughed at you in disbelief. Leave you? Like hell he would. Bakugou’s done a whole lot in his life and you are the one thing he got right.

“Yeah no. Sorry princess but you’re stuck with me for life. I’m not going anywhere.” When he said that, he kissed your knuckles before leaving a kiss on your lips which convinced you to let him meet your insane family

He celebrated right in front of you

Anyway, what you need to know is that you’re family is….crazy crazy. Crazy as in things are never boring in your house because things are always happening

(Mind you, the actions below happened before you said yes to letting Katsuki meet your family)

Now back to what we were saying

Bad things happen a lot. Things like your little 11 year old brother, Itazura, always getting into trouble at school. In fact, this time he got into so much trouble that his teacher called for a parent teacher meeting

Not wanting to get in trouble at home, Itazura had you and your brother pretend to be his parents and go to the meeting

Now you said no in the beginning, but he blackmailed you by threatening to tell your parents you broke their priceless-antique wedding china and so you had to give in

It didn’t take much convincing for your older brother, Ryu, to join in on Itazura’s plan. Ryu was a very….simple person.

“You’re just gonna give in like that?” You asked him

“I mean, in the end it just saves time.” He said, referring to how Itazura will always find a way to get what he wants

“Yeah, that’s fair.”

And so, you and Ryu posed as Itazura’s parents. You dressed in your mom’s work clothes while Ryu dressed in a suit and put on a fake mustache for gags

You both presented yourselves along with Itazura to his teacher, who can barely see straight, and the plan went on perfectly. You guys got away with it!

That was until Itazura’s teacher, who was named Mrs. Iko, saw you at the movies on a date with Katsuki

And this is where it all goes down. Take a seat my bitches, and bros, and non-binary hoes cuz shits about to get real

(Shoutout to you if you get the reference ;)

—

*Ding Dong*

Your brother was sitting on the couch with his boyfriend when all of a sudden the doorbell rang, catching Ryu’s attention.

Opening the door, Ryu was met with the sight of Mrs. Iko. She took notice of his younger clothes, appearance, and mustache-less face. “Mrs. Iko? What’re you doing here?”

“Mr. L/N!” Mrs. Iko said with a shocked face and hand over her mouth. “You look so much younger! And your mustache has disappeared!”

Ryu grew visibly nervous at her words and gulped before letting out a shaky laugh. “O-Oh! Right! Yes, Uh- yes I’ve always been known for my Uh- youthful looks! And I just recently shaved- wanted a new look, you know?”

“Oh, well that doesn’t matter. I’m afraid I have some awful news.” Mrs. Iko said with a worried face as Ryu listened. “It’s about your wife.”

At that, Ryu’s longtime boyfriend, Daisuke, stood and walked towards the two. “Your wife? You have a wife?”

“No.” Ryu said.

“You don’t?” Mrs. Iko asked.

“Of course I do!” Ryu said, turning to her. Mrs. Iko looked around as if everyone in the house was crazy (they were) before speaking.

“Who are you?” She asked Daisuke.

“I’m his boyfriend.” He said. At that moment, you walked into the house holding Katsuki’s hand, ready to introduce him to your family, totally unprepared for what was about to go down.

“Hey guys! We’re back from the- GAH!” You said, yelping once you saw Mrs. Iko in the house. Mrs. Iko looked at you and Katsuki in shock as she pointed to you both.

“And here she is with her boyfriend!” Mrs. Iko exclaimed. Ryu felt pressured to play along and tried to save Itazura’s secret by keeping the husband act going.

“You’re cheating on me?!” Ryu said to you. “You’re a married woman!”

“You’re married?!” Bakugou asked you with an angry and hurt voice.

“No! No, no, no, no.” You said with a nervous laugh, trying to reassure him.

“You’re not?” Mrs. Iko asked.

“Of course I am!” You said, snapping your head to her. At that moment, Itazura walked in from the kitchen, but once he saw Mrs. Iko, he quickly turned back to go to the kitchen once more with a shocked expression.

“Geeeh!” He exclaimed before turning around, unfortunately caught by you.

“Uh- ITAZURA!” You shouted from the door as Bakugou held you close by the waist as a way of claiming his territory just in case things were in trouble for the two of you. Don’t worry, they weren’t. He believed you when you said you weren’t married but he’s starting to notice the weird shit that goes down in this house.

Itazura then came back, slowly poking his head in from behind the door as he stepped out. “Yes, Mother?”

Hearing you referred to that, Bakugou’s eyes popped before looking down at you. “Okay! I’m starting to see why you didn’t want me to meet your family.”

You nodded your head in a very ‘yeah…sadly,’ type of way.

“Uh- Itazura,” you said, walking towards your little brother. “Mrs. Iko has found out that your father and I are having problems.” You said in a ‘help us out of this you evil mastermind,’ type of way.

“Uhhh..and does she know that you guys are the reason I misbehave?” Itazura said, loud enough for Mrs. Iko to hear, hoping she would.

“Oh, I do now!” Mrs. Iko said sympathetically. Itazura came in like the evil mastermind he is and pulled out his fake tears.

“Well, maybe some good can come from all this pain,” he said with his fake tears and pouty lip towards his teacher. You faked a laugh before whispering to your younger brother.

“Hehehe…dial it down.” You said to him before turning to his teacher. “Um, Mrs. Iko, if you’ll excuse us, this family has some healing to do.”

“Which! I would like to do with just my parents and their apparent significant others,” Itazura said pointing to Daisuke and Katsuki.

“Welp! You should be on your way! Stay warm now!” Ryu said, beginning to escort Mrs. Iko out the front door by her shoulders. “Don’t wanna freeze off your toes!”

Unfortunately, right before the two reached the door, your actual parents came in. At the sight of them, you and your siblings flinched, sighed, and groaned before facing them. Luckily, Itazura came in once again to try and save the day in his lying ways.

“Grandma! Grandpa!” Itazura said going in to hug his actual parents to play his part. Your parents looked down to your brother in confusion and suspicion, well aware that your brother can get into some mischievous trouble.

“What’s going on?!” Your mom said, shaking off your brother’s hug.

“I’m Itazura’s teacher, I came to talk to his parents.” Mrs. Iko said introducing herself and gesturing to you and Ryu, to which the two of you scrunched your faces at being caught.

“We’re his parents.” Your dad said, gesturing to your mom and him. Mrs. Iko grew a face of utter shock before Itazura opened his mouth again.

“Hahaha, that’s right grandpa! You’re my dad!” Itazura said before whispering to Mrs. Iko. “He thinks he’s the president too.”

Your mom looked unimpressed at your brother’s lie until she caught sight of Bakugou in his white v-neck tee, and his big beefy arms covered in tattoos, holding his green bomber jacket, wearing his black ripped jeans and black combat boots. “Who are you?”

“Hey, I’m Bakugou Katsuki.” Your boyfriend said, waving with his gentler voice. Your dad looked outside and pointed to the foreign vehicle in their driveway before turning to Katsuki.

“Is that your motorcycle?” Your dad asked, making you nervous before you jumped to stand next to Katsuki to defend him.

“Um, yeah, about that-“

“I love motorcycles!” Your dad exclaimed with a smile.

“We’re dating!” You proudly said with a bright grin as you wrapped your arms around Katsuki’s as he looked down to you with a loving smile, loving when he heard you say those words to other people.

“Will you stop throwing that in my face?!” Ryu said, still playing his act.

“We’re not doing that anymore.” You blankly said to him with a dead stare.

“Great! Because I was getting a bit confused,” Ryu said and wrapped his arm around Daisuke’s waist.

And on that night, Mrs. Iko left, just as confused as Ryu.

—

“Alright,” your mom began, beginning to speak to you, your siblings, Daisuke, and Katsuki. “You, you, you, you, and you, sit. Now.”

“Uh, sorry,” your boyfriend said, “but I’m not your child. I don’t think you can tell me what to-“

“Did. I. Stutter?” Your mother asked with her devil eyes. Your gentler father stood behind her with a pleading look to your boyfriend to try and convince him to save himself. Katsuki felt his heart shake in fear at your mother’s tone and he opened his mouth to speak before closing it and taking a seat next to you on the couch.

“Mama Bear?” He asked you, referring to your mother.

“Mama Bear.” You confirmed. Bakugou nodded his head before relaxing into the couch.

“Okay. Now somebody tell me what’s going on.” Your mom demanded. You and Ryu remained quiet while your boyfriends sat in confusion. You all looked to Itazura who sighed before giving in.

“Okay, fine. I was getting in trouble at school and it got to the point where I had to have a parent teacher meeting. I didn’t want to get in trouble at home so I blackmailed Y/N and Ryu into being my parents so I could get away with it.” Itazura then explained.

“I guess somewhere along the line, Mrs. Iko caught me and Katsuki together so I guess she came here to tell Ryu, who she thought was my husband, that I was having an affair.” You then explained. Ryu was just sitting on the couch with his arm still around Daisuke before he raised his hand.

Your mother sighed at her oldest child being so..childish. “Yes, Ryu?”

“Uh- no I was just wondering if I could put on the fake mustache again.” He stupidly said with a genuine heart. You and your younger brother sighed in disappointment at his idiocy before turning to your parents.

“So? Are you going to punish us?” You asked your mom. She smiled at you sweetly before taking a seat in front of you on the coffee table.

“Oh, sweetie…..of course we’re going to punish you.” She said while placing a hand on your knee. She then stood to hand out her dealings. “Itazura, no video games, no sleepovers, no tv. Ryu, Y/N - no phones, no tv, no going anywhere after school. All of you, grounded. 2 weeks. We’re letting you keep your laptops for school work so if you need to communicate, use those. Am I clear?”

You and your siblings all nodded before your mother sighed and addressed the last thing. “Now finally, what did you say your name was, sweetie?”

“Oh! Uh, Bakugou Katsuki.” Your boyfriend said. Your mother smiled at him kindly before dropping that smile and giving him a look.

“Age?”

“18.”

“Grades?”

“Straight A’s.”

“School?”

“U.A.”

“Tattoos and Piercings. Why?”

“Most of them are to honor the people in my life.”

“Motorcycle. Why?”

“It was a gift I decided to not let go to waste.”

“Are you an asshole?”

“Only to idiots.”

“Why my daughter?”

“Because when she smiles everything in the world instantly makes sense to me.”

His last answer made you smile at him in awe as you scooted in closer. It also made your parents smile before your mom reached over to place a hand on his arm. “Welcome to the family, Bakugou.”

—

“So that’s your family, huh?” Bakugou asked as you both sat in your backyard on the hammock looking at the starry sky.

“Heh, yeah. A bunch of clowns.” You said, resting your head on his shoulder as his arm held you close.

“I don’t think so. They seem fun.” Bakugou said, trying to uplift your spirits.

“Fun. Crazy. Same shit I guess.” You said causing you both to laugh. Katsuki sighed in gratitude at finally getting to meet your family and allowed his head to drop on your own. “Umm..you’re not gonna leave me though..right?”

“Never.” He said with a small laugh and kiss to the crown of your head. “Like I said, you’re stuck with me. Besides. I now know if I’m ever bored, your family will always be around. S’like free entertainment.” He said making you giggle. “Plus, Itazura doesn’t seem so bad. I don’t know, might wanna pull a few pranks on him just to teach him a lesson.”

“Aww, baby.” You said kissing his cheek. “No you don’t, it’ll backfire on you and he’ll set your ass on fire. Doesn’t matter if you’re 5 years older than him.”

Bakugou widened his eyes in offense before chuckling and cuddling in closer as you both swung on the hammock. That was when you raised your head to look at him. “So…when can I meet your parents?”

Bakugou’s eyes once again popped as he thought about his timid father who was a doormat to his demonic mother. “Uh…I don’t know..They’re kinda…insane.”

Here we go again.

Taglist: @sxcker4you @aomi04 @tessabrown101 @ebiharachan @is-this-ash @iris-shihabi @sxturn-stars @isolight @lanantoine @whatdidshesayyy @qtsuki @lazyafgurl @dessykcm @misssugarless @unicornlover25 @sweethcnvy @hanamura-manami @thisuserlovesyouandyouandyou @ssurewhynottt

[osakaso5]

IDOLiSH7 6th Anniversary Special Story: Full of Heart...

Chapter 6: Wishing

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

Sogo Osaka: Tsunashi-san, thank you for bringing us to this limited edition Rabitty-kun shop.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: It's no trouble at all, really! I never got to play with a Rabitty-kun, myself.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: I was planning to come check this place out for the show anyway, so I'm glad you two could tag along.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Thanks for sending us the photo from when you were little, too! Me and So-chan were super hyped about it!

Sogo Osaka: Tamaki-kun..!

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Ahaha! It's a little embarrassing, considering what a country bumpkin I must've looked like.

Tamaki Yotsuba: You looked cute standing on the beach, almost like a girl.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Huh..!? Nobody's ever told me that before! I've always been tall for my age...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Okay, maybe not like a girl, but your arms and body were all skinny and stuff. What do you call that again? Slendy...

Sogo Osaka: Slender.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah, that. You had the same face, but you weren't all buff.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Oh, okay! I didn't know that's how I looked... What did you think, Sogo-kun?

Sogo Osaka: Um... How should I put this...

Sogo Osaka: It... It was more than I could bear.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: .........

Tamaki Yotsuba: So-chan, you sound like a creepy old man!

Sogo Osaka: No, I didn't mean it in a weird way! I've juat never had a taste of such a different type of Tsunashi-san..!

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Taste...

Sogo Osaka: Uh... Maybe "taste" isn't the right word for it, but it was very satisfying to see..!

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Satisfying...

Tamaki Yotsuba: So-chan, you gotta stop it with the big explanations and be more casual! Call it cute, or nice, or something!

Sogo Osaka: Nice! It was nice! Very nice!

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Ahaha! Thank you!

TV on Shop Window: ...The secret to Rabitty-kun's birth!

TV on Shop Window: Who would've thought our famous mascot had such a story behind him!?

TV on Shop Window: Look forward to our 6th Anniversary Rabitty-kun! Toi toi toi~♪

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Ah, here it is.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Wow! They've got Rabitty-kuns in all kinds of colors! I wanna go touch them!

Sogo Osaka: Tamaki-kun, you must ask the clerks for permission first...

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: It looks like these are samples. Go ahead and touch them.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I'll go with this one first...

Red Rabitty: Ooh, ooh! Hold me!

Tamaki Yotsuba: Whoa! It's so cute!

Orange Rabitty: Ooh, ooh! Pet me! 

Hot Pink Rabitty: Ooh, ooh! Yawn...  Let’s go to bed! 

Sogo Osaka: You're right... They're really cute.

Grey Rabitty: Ooh ooh! Tyt ty tyt ty ty ♪

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Ah, this one seems to be singing something!

Tamaki Yotsuba: Wow! Where do you push to make it sing? Is it here?

Turquoise Rabitty: Ooh, ooh! That tickles!

Sogo Osaka: Maybe it's here?

Yellow Rabitty: Ooh, ooh! Dum dum dum dee dum ♪

Tamaki Yotsuba: Ah, it danced! So-chan, let go of it! It's trying to dance!

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: I'll make this one dance with it!

Dark Red Rabitty: Ooh, ooh! Chaka chaka chan chan ♪

Tamaki Yotsuba: Awesome! This is so much fun!

Sogo Osaka: They're so energetic.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: I think you're supposed to feed these carrots to them? Go on, Tamaki-kun, give it a try.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Okay! I'm gonna give one to this guy...

Green Rabitty: Ooh, ooh! Nom... nom... nom... Yummy~!

Tamaki Yotsuba: It ate! What about this one?

Rosy Brown Rabitty: Ooh, ooh! Chomp, chomp, chomp! I want more!

Tamaki Yotsuba: Ahaha! This one eats a lot!

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Hmm..? Look, they have a guide to exchanging defective toys.

Sogo Osaka: There were malfunctioning toys mixed in with the ones they released a few years ago. It says they'll exchange those for working ones, free of charge...

Sogo Osaka: Maybe these samples are the defective toys... But how exactly are they malfunctioning..?

Navy Rabitty: Ooh... ooh... Help.. me...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Holy crap!!! Why's this one so creepy..!?

Pink Rabitty: Oh, ooh... Don't... leave me...

Ivory Rabitty: Oh, ooh... You... saw..?

Pale Green Rabitty: Oh, ooh... Ehehehe... Eehehehehe...

Sogo Osaka: These ones are definitely defective..!

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: They're awful..! Why would anyone make them like this..? The poor kids who had these must've been terrified...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah, seriously! If I had to sleep with one of these, my mattress would be all soggy the next morning!  

Sogo Osaka: You'd wet the bed?

Tamaki Yotsuba: So what if I would!? And I don't mean right now, I mean if I was still little!

Sogo Osaka: If you were little, then it's not something you could control much, anyway...

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Ah, why don't we take a break from these Rabitty-kuns, and go look at those ones instead?

Tamaki Yotsuba: What..? "Face three Rabitty-kuns against each other, and they'll go into gossipy teenage girl mode".

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: "Gossipy teenage girl mode"..?

Lavender Rabitty: Oh. Em. Gee. I think my nail just broke.

Light Blue Rabitty: It's gonna be 36 degrees today. Lame af.

Ocean Blue Rabitty: I'm like, low key freaking out about this test tho.

Sogo Osaka: ......... I guess they don't do the "ooh, ooh" thing in this mode.

Tamaki Yotsuba: So-chan, they've got an "office workers in an elevator" mode, too.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Apparently they have a Showa-era small talk version as an extra rare option, too.

Sogo Osaka: Do children really play with modes like this..?

[Phone rings]

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yukirin's calling me... Hello!

Tamaki Yotsuba: Huh? Seriously!? You guys found the uncle who took my picture already!?

Sogo Osaka: What!?

Tamaki Yotsuba: I knew that legendary detective could help..! Okay! Thanks!!!

Tamaki Yotsuba: Guess what! They said they found the guy!

Sogo Osaka: That's great, Tamaki-kun!

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: What business did you have with a legendary detective?

Tamaki Yotsuba: I need a photo from when I was little, so I was looking for this uncle who took a family portrait of us.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Oh, I see...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Awesome! Now I get to show off my picture, too!

Sogo Osaka: I'm happy for you.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Let's take another picture you can show off. I want one of the face you're making right now.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Right now?

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Yeah. Your smile is so nice, I want us to have something to remember it by. Come on.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Ehehe... This is a little embarrassing, but I'm still super happy! Thanks, Ryu-aniki!

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Thank you, too!

Tamaki Yotsuba: Ah... So-chan, wanna be in the pic?

Sogo Osaka: Me?

Tamaki Yotsuba: You found your photo, too. We can both show Ryu-aniki how proud we are. Right, Ryu-aniki?

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Of course! I'd love for you to be in the picture too, Sogo-kun.

Sogo Osaka: A-alright.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Hurry up!

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Stand next to each other. Laugh on three. One, two, three...

MEZZO": Ahahaha!

[Snap]

- - - -

Sogo Osaka: I'm glad your family photo will be found soon.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Me too.

Sogo Osaka: I'm sure Aya-chan would be happy about it.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah. I'm glad you'll get you and your uncle's photo, too.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Is it gonna make it to the show, though?

Sogo Osaka: It will. I'm flying to pick it up at our nearest yacht harbor tonight.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Tonight? You gonna be okay?

Sogo Osaka: I'll be fine. I have tomorrow off, anyway.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Apparently my pic's coming in the mail. Ah...

[Rainfall]

Tamaki Yotsuba: It's raining.

Sogo Osaka: ...Not to mention the wind is really strong all of a sudden.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Can your plane leave in this weather?

Sogo Osaka: I... I think so. But I should hurry to the airport, and you need to get back to the dorm...

[Thunder]

MEZZO": Ah...

MEZZO": ...A blackout..?

- - - - 

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: I'm home. And completely soaked.

Kaoru Anesagi: Here's a towel. Take off your socks, shirt, and pants. There's a hot bath waiting for you.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: You're here too, Anesagi-san?

Gaku Yaotome: There was a power outage until just a minute ago.  Apparently some parts of Tokyo are still dark.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: What!? That sounds bad.

Gaku Yaotome: It's not the only bad thing here. Your bath's a little too hot...

Tenn Kujo: Hot as in, practically boiling. Want to go take a dip?

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Thanks.

Tenn Kujo: What is that?

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Ah... They're gifts for you and Gaku. I thought the Rabitty-kuns were too cute not to buy any.

Gaku Yaotome: Ahaha! Fair enough!

Tenn Kujo: I'm getting all nostalgic.

Ocean Blue Rabitty: Ooh, ooh! Hold me!

Kaoru Anesagi: Gosh, how adorable. I'll take care of you, little one. Come here.

Ocean Blue Rabitty: Ooh, ooh! Rat tat rat tat ♪

Kaoru Anesagi: Heh, it's singing.

Kaoru Anesagi: Hey. Does any one of you know why Rabitty-kun says "ooh, ooh"?

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: I don't Is there some bigger reason for it?

Kaoru Anesagi: Apparently it's based on a child's imitation of a famous sweets mascot.

Kaoru Anesagi: Which one was it, again? The one with a crown, a closed mouth, and an overall neutral expression...

Tenn Kujo: A crown..? Doesn't ring a bell.

Kaoru Anesagi: It's right on the tip of my tongue, I swear. It's still around, too, and you see it everywhere. It's also got a ribbon, I think...

Gaku Yaotome: Mascots with ribbons are a dime a dozen.

Kaoru Anesagi: Sometimes flames come out of its back, and it punches things. Sometimes it gets so emotional, it starts spinning fast. Ugh. I can picture it in my mind, but I just can't remember the name.

Kaoru Anesagi: In any case, it's something that originates from before the CEO of Toi Toi Toi was making the kind of profit he is today.

Kaoru Anesagi: He tried to turn his parents' business into a toy shop, but he just couldn't make it succeed.

Kaoru Anesagi: Apparently that's when he saw one of the neighborhood kids mimic the mascot I was talking about.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: And that kid was the basis for Rabitty-kun?

Kaoru Anesagi: Yep.

Kaoru Anesagi: Apparently the kid said something along the lines of "His mouth is closed, so he probably talks like, 'ooh, ooh'!"

Kaoru Anesagi: Then the kid would start dancing while singing "ooh, ooh", and that was the blueprint for Rabitty-kun.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Wow..! I think it's really nice that Rabitty-kun was technically born out of a child's idea.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: I'm sure the CEO must really like kids, too.

Kaoru Anesagi: From what I heard, he's had a rough life. He was separated from his sibling, and when they reunited, he had to fight the reason for their separation...

Gaku Yaotome: Fight..? I can't even imagine what that might entail.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Everyone has something going on.

Tenn Kujo: How did he and his sibling reunite?

Kaoru Anesagi: Their parents were photographers, and they both just so happened to have a photo that proved their relation.

Gaku Yaotome: Maybe they kept each other's faces in a locket or something.

Tenn Kujo: There's no way it'd be something that cliché.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Still, I'm sure they were happy to see each other again.

Ryunosuke Tsunashi: Those two should be happily walking home right about now, too.  

- - - -

Tamaki Yotsuba: So-chan, wait up!

Sogo Osaka: I need to hurry to the airport. If the weather gets any worse than this, all flights might be cancelled.

Tamaki Yotsuba: There's a blackout, and you're soaking wet! What if you can't get home, and you catch a cold!?

Sogo Osaka: You can go home if you want...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Why are you always like this!? I swear, you haven't changed at all!

Sogo Osaka: .........

Tamaki Yotsuba: You seriously can't even ask me to come with you!? Grow a backbone already!

Sogo Osaka: ......... That's not why.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Then what is it!?

Sogo Osaka: It's not that I'm afraid of causing you trouble. I want to prove something to you.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Prove what..?

Sogo Osaka: We may not have had the best lives, but we haven't done much bad, either.

Sogo Osaka: So... This isn't a punishment. 

Tamaki Yotsuba: ...So-chan...

Sogo Osaka: I'll go, Tamaki-kun. And once I'm back, I'll show off my picture, and you'll get to see what my uncle looked like.

Sogo Osaka: I'm... I'm going to treat this as an adventure. And I'm going to ward off any disasters.

Sogo Osaka: Because I learned that from you.

Tamaki Yotsuba: ......... But...

[Toot toot!]

Tamaki Yotsuba: .......!? Someone got out of that car...

Mysterious Man: .........

Sogo Osaka: A masked man..!?

Tamaki Yotsuba: W-what do you want!? Stay away..! Ah..!

Sogo Osaka: Tamaki-kun..! ...Don't you dare do anything to him..!

Mysterious Man: ........!

Sogo Osaka: .........!? You're...

[Tap tap tap]

Sogo Osaka: Ah..! Wait, please..!

Tamaki Yotsuba: So-chan!

[Wroom...]

Sogo Osaka: ...Are you alright, Tamaki-kun!?

Tamaki Yotsuba: That guy gave me this.

Sogo Osaka: A parcel... Did you see how he looked when he gave you this?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Dunno. He was wearing a mask and sunglasses, so I didn't really see anything.

Sogo Osaka: I see...

Tamaki Yotsuba: But, for some reason... I kinda didn't get a bad vibe from him.

Sogo Osaka: ......... Neither did I. He felt familiar, somehow...

Tamaki Yotsuba: ...What do you think this is?

Sogo Osaka: I don't know... Let's open it.

Tamaki Yotsuba: What if it's a bomb?

Sogo Osaka: ...I hear no ticking, but we should still be careful. Hand it over, I'll open it.

Sogo Osaka: There's no people around, probably due to the rain. You should stand back, too...

Tamaki Yotsuba: ........

Sogo Osaka: ...Or don't.

Tamaki Yotsuba: You sure?

Sogo Osaka: Yeah. We'll open it together. I'm sure we'll be fine, because of the rain.

Tamaki Yotsuba: ...You sure it won't explode?

Sogo Osaka: It probably won't... In this kind of rain, any spark should  fizzle out instantly. Though we can't be 100% sure.

Sogo Osaka: Besides, you're a good kid. If there's a higher power, then I'm sure the'd want to reward you, not punish you.

Tamaki Yotsuba: ...I don't wanna have nay more regrets. Are you sure this isn't stupid?

Sogo Osaka: I don't want any regrets, either. Which is why I refuse to act like a coward.

Tamaki Yotsuba: ...Fine. Let's open it, So-chan.

Sogo Osaka: Yeah... Here I go.

Tamaki Yotsuba: ...Maybe there's a fuse hidden in the paper..?

Sogo Osaka: ...This is oil paper, so it doesn't get wet in the rain... Ah...

Tamaki Yotsuba: It doesn't look like a bomb... What's that rectangular thing?

Sogo Osaka: ...It's a photo, and a card...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Card? What's it say?

Sogo Osaka: "Dear customer. Here are the pictures you ordered."

Sogo Osaka: "I can't thank you enough for the help you once gave my brother, so I've included your friend's photo, as well."

Tamaki Yotsuba: Wait... Could it be..?

MEZZO": The legendary detective..!?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Is that how the guy knew where we were!? He wasn't a shady guy, he was a private eye!

Tamaki Yotsuba: But what does his brother have to do with me? And I dunno who the friend he's talking about is, either...

Sogo Osaka: ...Tamaki-kun, look...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Huh..?

Sogo Osaka: My uncle... This is the picture of my uncle and I. Look, here he is.

Tamaki Yotsuba: And a mini So-chan...

Sogo Osaka: ...Uncle... It's because I had him that I'm making music now.

Tamaki Yotsuba: ...So-chan... Look at my photo, too.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Ta-dah! That's Mom, that's little Aya. And that's me...

Sogo Osaka: It's a tiny Tamaki-kun...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah. So what do you think? You can stop staring at your uncle, already.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Hey. Say something.

Sogo Osaka: I think it's a wonderful picture. Your mother looks gentle, beautiful, and...

Sogo Osaka: ...I've finally had the chance to see her...

Tamaki Yotsuba: .........

Sogo Osaka: Tamaki-kun... It must've been so hard for you. But you're fine now.

Sogo Osaka: It's going to be fine...

Tamaki Yotsuba: ...Yeah...

Tamaki Yotsuba: You look like you had a rough time, too... Being in this stuffy place, wearing stuffy clothes. ...But at least you could still smile.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Hey, little guy. Believe it or not, but you're gonna be making music in a couple years. And I'm gonna sing your songs with you.

Tamaki Yotsuba: So, it's gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay.

Sogo Osaka: Yeah...

Sogo Osaka: Thank you, Tamaki-kun. 

- - - -

Tsumugi's Thoughts: And that...

Tsumugi's Thoughts: ...Is how all 16 idols got their pictures, safe and sound.

- - - -

Mister Shimooka: Well then, it's about time we got Welcome to Kids' Room started!

Re:vale: OK!

TRIGGER: Alright.

IDOLiSH7: Yaaaay! Let's gooo!

ŹOOĻ: Yeah!

Mister Shimooka: It’s the moment of truth! We'll be taking a look at these idols' childhood pictures!

Mister Shimooka: But before that, it's time for our special guests!

Mister Shimooka: Please welcome the CEO of Toi Toi Toi, Jiro Ito!

Mister Shimooka: As well as the man who gave a loan to Toi Toi Toi when it was on the verge of bankruptcy, Taro Ito!

Sogo Osaka: Huh?

Torao Mido: Hmm?

Mister Shimooka: Let's give both of the  men who made Rabitty-kun what he is an  equally warm welcome!

Mister Shimooka: Here they come!

All: Ooh, ooh!

???: Hello. I'm the CEO of Toi Toi Toi, Jiro Ito.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Ah..!

Tamaki Yotsuba: That's the uncle who took our picture..! 

The End.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

April 2021 Part 3

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. 

Ongoing Series - Thai

Second Chance Ep 3 - this is proper YA, they are dealing with actual high school issues, picking uni, first crushes, online dating, etc... We even got a senior prom trope which almost never happens in Thai stuff (just the freshman uni competition variant). Standard plot pacing means PaperFah’s kiss was too early, might indicate we’re moving to uni in the second half of the series? Tropes included: let me feed you, hand hold, black & white striped shirt, floppy drunk & first kiss. 

Y-Destiny Ep 3 - the first MaxNat ep. Such fun to see them playing different characters. This one is enemies to lovers, tutor/student, but it’s using the “poor little rich kid loose cannon” archetype. Nat is doing his best, but it’s leaving me cold. Lots of tropes tho: boyfriend’s closet, floppy drunk, pillow clutch, the loom & water bottle. 

Lovely Writer Ep 8 - solid installment, good use of many tropes. I really like the leads and I’m glad there isn’t much side dish action, SibGene gave us: punish, touch your face, boyfriend claiming, kissing, sleep cuddling, symmetry, rooftop, cheek kiss, hand hold, and pillow clutch. 

Call It What You Want Ep 3-4 - couldn’t find the subs, don’t really care, will watch if it crosses my radar, otherwise I’m just not into it.  

Brothers Ep 11 - the “everyone wants Chol” show continues (but WHY?), he and Tri are cute together, and now I kinda just want Prab to end up with the twins. I’m confused by the teachers, but Boston showed up (from UWMA), and my boys KhunKaow got together (YES!), so I’m ultimately delighted with the episode. 

Fish Upon The Sky Ep 2 - the makeover happened, and we go from cute with glasses and braces to cute without them. (I’m reminded of those 90′s Pygmalion teen movies where the girl has glasses + ponytail and then *GASP* does not and *GASP* she’s HOT. This was the BL version.) Meanwhile, writers better be careful with Pi, he’s getting too tsundere to like. Did you see they gave AJ a 2gether music intro & pick up line? Well, it’s actually his brother JJ who plays Ohm in 2g. I cackled. GMMTV - you so cheeky. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai 

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 5 - half way point. My poor confused babies. It was a really sweet episode... if what happened before hadn’t happened in the way that it had. Also, these boys have a GREAT friendship but are probably the worst advice givers ever. 

Most Peaceful Place (Vietnam) Ep 3 fin - so cute! Our boys confessed and got together. There was an adorable mutual kiss (I love me a mutual, like Ingredients). Afterwards, they actually seemed to communicate with each other about both sex and their relationship. OMG. How original for BL! This was the last episode, so the series is short, but I still enjoyed it very much. RECOMMENDED. 

My Lascivious Boss (Vietnam) Ep 1-2 - oh boy this one is rough, we started out with homophobia child abuse and moved on to family drama + drunken dub-con one night stand. But production values and subs are better than normal for Vietnam (You Are My Boy levels) + our queer babies are out & proud + it’s higher heat + I’m weak. So I’m watching. 

Word of Honor (China) Ep 25-27 - honestly not much happened, lots of back story. Things are looking dire for the ghosts unless they can turn the Scorpion (I LOVE HIM, he’s my precious deadly baby). Don’t know how they managed to make loosing a battle with an immortal sword god ex-friend cute... but they did. Did some calculations and at 36 eps, mathematically speaking, ep 30 will be the equivalent of a standard BL ep 11. Should I be scared for next week? 

Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (Korea) Ep 1-2 - it’s so effing adorbs, soft bois do old fashioned tropes like arranged marriage + evil stepsisters meets the more modern fake relationship + secret identity in a surprisingly comfortable mix. It launched with baby is a floppy drunk, forced proximity, performative I saw you feed him, and some fun gay panic. It’s a lot lighter and faster paced than I was expecting, but this is Korea so I don’t know why I’m surprised. 

Stand Alones 

K-pop band OnlyOneOf dropped a new MV that is basically BL bait, using many of the tropes we know and love. I promise I’m not trying to lure anyone into K-pop I just thought it was interesting how consciously they’re yaoi dipping. 

Spin-off We Best Love Fighting Mr. 2nd, Shou Zhen | the Only Love Letter Once Written (SERIOUSLY WITH THE TITLES TAIWAN?) anyway there’s a something or other 25 minutes featuring Pei Shou Yi and his boy that aired Friday. It’s about 10 minutes of reboot footage with 15 min of new content, mostly set in the past. It entirely rests on Chih Tian Shih’s acting, fortunately for us he’s great. However, it doesn’t substantially change or add to these characters’ arcs from the finale of WBL season 2. I don’t know if there will be more or if this was just an extra footage fan service. 

COLOR RUSH GOT ITS MOVIE!!! Okay this is almost the tipping point for me to get Viki Standard. It’s listed at 1:56 minutes long but the original series had only c.120 running time - that is a lot of new content. Although i was disappointed by To My Star’s movie I loved Wish You’s, so I am hoping Color Rush got Wish You level treatment. That said, I feel Color Rush the series is damn near perfect already, hard to improve on perfection. 

Breaking News

Close Friend the series got an updated trailer featuring MaxNat (no subs) so if you like them in Y-Destiny or in Why R U get ready for them to play different characters again, this time for a sports romance segment. Like Y-Destiny, Close Friend looks to be another series of vignettes (Original trailer) coming April 22. 

2gether the movie (Thai trailer) was intended release April 22 but is now postponed due to a surge in C19 cases in Thailand.

Tell the World I Love You, a Thai BL movie that was supposed to release last week, is similarly delayed.  

My Ride has been postponed indefinitely with no airing date. 

The Miracle of Teddy Bear got a teaser vid, no eng subs. 

Gossip

Thai BL actors Nanon (Bad Buddy), Yoon (YYY), and Mark Siwat (LBC, Bite Me) have tested positive for C19. Press releases stated they’re fine, tho filming has paused fore their various projects, obvs. (No word on whether Nanon’s current project was Bad Buddy or not, although it seems likely given his recent Arm Share episode.) 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International accessibility reasons.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

[garne--tt]

x japan iceberg explained;

before i start, i probably didnt explain something right and if u want to correct me or add something, feel free and even dm me about it! + i will add trigger warnings for possible triggering content in this post

1.

formed in 1982 - x was formed in 1982 after toshis and yoshikis previous band disbanded

X --> X JAPAN - they changed their name from X to X JAPAN in 1992 in order to distinguish themselves from the american punk rock band X 

Saw IV - a horror movie from 2007, x japan did a theme song I.V. for the movie, it was their first song released since 1998

new album - an new x japan album that was supposed to be released lots of times over the 10+years but still (to this day) wasnt released

coachella 2018 - x japan performed at coachella 2018, many fans are saying how the sound was bad (usually blaming it on the sound production team?? or whatever its called) and apparently sugizo and yoshiki were seen arguing with the sound production team

we are x - a 2016 documentary about x japan (or rather yoshiki, because apparently it was mainly focusing on him)

psychidelic violence crime of visual shock - a slogan, mainly seen on the blue blood album cover, the term visual kei was derived from the slogan yoshiki, toshi, hide, pata, taiji - the most known lineup, from 1987 to 1992

2. tw// suicide mention

violet uk - one of unfinished yoshikis projects, started in 2002, didnt even debut but was supposed to in 2012

V2 - unit of yoshiki and tetsuya komuro, was active in 1992, they released one single and did one concert

ra:in - patas band, active since 2002, members are - pata, michiaki, die (also former member of spread beaver), ryu

noise/dynamite - toshis and yoshikis first band, formed in 1977 as dynamite, then they changed the name to noise, noise disbanded in 1982

s.k.i.n. - superband (group) of yoshiki, gackt, miyavi and sugizo, their only activity was in 2007 and it was live, they announced more activities but they were stopped

xfreaks - an international xjapan fan forum created in 2006

dope headz - band that had heath and pata as members, active from 2000 to 2003

hide with spread beaver - hides live band, other members were kiyoshi, k.a.z, hiroshi watanabe, satoshi miyawaki, d.i.e, i.n.a

zilch - supergroup formed by hide in 1996, other members were ray mcveigh,paul raven, joey castillo and i.n.a

lynx - one of heaths band, active from 2004-?, the vocalist for this band was issay from der zibet

yokosuka saver tiger - hides former band, he was member from 1981 to 1986 sugizo - luna sea guitarist, he joined x japan in 2008

hides death - hide committed suicide in 1998 (he hanged himself) update: this is what authorities said and what is official

3. tw// suicide

taijis death - in 2011 taiji was flying from japan to saipan, on the flight he got into fight with his manager (or flight attendant?), he was arrested after they landed in saipan and then he hanged himself with bedsheet in his cell

x japan translations - an site that had xjapan translations (like toshis book etc...), the site was active and up until 2018

taijis departure from X - taiji left X in 1992, but we dont know the exact reason why he left

toshi was in cult - toshi was member of cult known as home of heart from the late 90s (1998?)

1997 - the year x japan disbanded

yoshiki and queen elizabeth incident - in 2019 during royal windsor cup yoshikis scarf accidentally landed on queen elizabeth

yoshiki knows everyone - (not everyone ofc) but he met a lot of celebrities, politicians (barrack obama, johnny depp, prince phillip, bts etc,,)

art of life - a 29 minute song released released in 1993, it was was recorded only in english, the theme of the song are yoshikis suicidal tendencies, art of life was meant to be released in the jealousy album (1991)

yoshikis father - yoshikis father committed suicide when yoshiki was 10 years old

taijis cut off joint on finger - taiji when he was kid, showed his hand into a factory machine (his family owned factory) and cut off his first joint on his finger

yoshikis health problems - yoshiki has tons of health problem since he was child (asthma, he was always sick and spent most of the time in hospitals etc,,) and suffers from many of health problems even now

4.

toshis healing music - toshis music he made during the home of heart era

kaori moritani & masaya - kaori moritani is toshis ex wife, they met in around 1993 when they played in rock opera hamlet, they got married in 1997 and divorced in 2010, she introduced him to masaya (and got him, or rather manipulated him, into home of heart) 

masaya -  real name tōru kurabuchi - musician and leader of home of heart

-more about home of heart and the whole situation here: https://bloodydesertrose.tumblr.com/post/96662764536/support-toshi-dont-buy-or-listen-to-any-of-his-songs

debut in usa - x japan was supposed to debut in usa in the 90s (and even changed their name because of it, x-->xjapan)

extasy record - label formed by yoshiki in 1986, the first release under extasy records was x orgasm ep, the label had bands like xjapan, luna sea, glay, zi:kill tokyo yankees and more

yoshiki paid for taijis new teeth - after hides funeral yoshiki noticed that taijis some teeth were missing or chipped, so he handed him around 2 million yen (around 18 497 usd) to get his teeth fixed

l.o.x. - punk rock supergroup, yoshiki was drummer in this band, they also used to be named masami & l.o.x (masami was their vocalist), masami collapsed and fell into coma in 1989 and died in 1992 due to pneumonia in coma, l.o.x released one album with different vocalist (one of them which was toshi and yoshiki went by the alias shiratori rei here on the album) in 1990, l.o.x. released one song in 2002 in memory of masami

standing sex promotional shot & single cover - the promotional shot & single cover basically shows yoshiki nude (with his intimate parts covered of course + this wasnt the only time yoshiki has done something like this) 

rose & blood -indies of x- - an unofficial album with demos and unreleased x songs

unreleased & old songs - there are a lot unreleased songs + unreleased old songs or just old songs that dont get played anymore

5.

rosenfeld - crows in black - blue blood has similar guitar riff (i dont know how to say it) to this song (crows in black / b was firstly recorded on demo in 1986)

former members - x japan has big amount of former members - 11 former members (excluding taiji and hide from this)

terry - a former member of x, he was one of the original members (being a member from 1982 to 1985), terry died in 2002 in car accident

yoshiki got sued by hides brother - yoshiki got sued by headwax (hides company which hides brother owns) for using hides photos, apparently they had a contract but it expired and yoshiki still used hides photos even though the contract expired

x japan condoms - they were released in 1993 with the intent to help increase awareness and prevent the spread of AIDS. the reason why they probably did this is that toshis fan died at the age of 19 due to AIDS (toshi even dedicated a song to him - passion of love and became a active member and sponsor of association of struggle against AIDS)

heath cow story - when heath joined xjapan they celebrated it by drinking and then driving 2 hours to cow farm, then they drove to aquarium but it was already closed

heath leaving x japan - in 2009 there was a rumor that heath would leave x japan, apparently this was caused due to heaths contract problems (?) dementia - taijis former band, he was member from 1984 to 1985 and went under the name ray

pata was roadie for x - before joining x in 1987, he was roadie for x (or the member hally) around the time in 1986 (1985?)

6.

pink spider was a suicide note - this one is a rumor/theory that is circulating around, fans analysed the lyrics and came to conclusion that its suicide note

x stayed at different hotels than other bands - when x was on tour with other bands they were staying at different hotels than other bands, because one time (on tour with other bands and in hotel) hide got into drunk fight with juichi morishige (lead vocalist of ziggy) and sprayed the entire hotel lounge with fire extinguisher

taiji was homeless - taiji was homeless for around 2 years (1996-1998), due to financial issues + he got divorced at this time

heaths myspace account - there was heath myspace account, but it wasnt him, it was someone pretending to be him

weekend pv theory - (i dont know if i should have put this here to be honest) a theory that x members chose what their death would be in weekend pv (yoshiki - suicide, hide - suicide in drunken rage??, taiji - murder, pata - alcohol poisoning, toshi doesnt die in the pv)

7.

hide vocaloid - hides unreleased song co gal got finished via vocaloid (using his voice samples from various songs of his)

yoshiki lead singer - before toshi was chosen to be the lead vocalist for x, yoshiki was the vocalist (there is also a recording of stab me in the back with mostly yoshiki on vocals!)

hide and marilyn manson meet up story - im gonna just attach a screenshot of the story

taiji was murdered - taiji committed suicide in 2011 in his cell on saipan, but there are some things that point to the possibility that he was murdered (his manager insisted on cremating his body and got cremated without autopsy, money got transfered on his account, information missing from the internet?? etc,,) 

juns tape - demo tape recorded in 1986 by at the time X guitarist jun, tape contains instrumental recordings of unreleased songs right now, only way, tune up and one unnamed song.

ill kill you single cover - cover of 1985 X single ill kill you, it contains photos of victims of the vietnam war

feel me tonight - demo tape from 1985/1986, it contains songs feel me tonight and stab me in the back (all of them are under one minute here) sung by their at the time guitarist hally (apparently there aslo should be yoshiki version of it, but i dont know how much we can trust metal archives)

8. tw// eating disorder mention

yoshiki hired someone to kill taiji - this one is a rumor!!!, yoshiki was supposed to get/hire yakuza to kill taiji hide had an eating disorder - this one is unconfirmed!!! hide  suffered from bulimia (yoshiki walked on him purging - and this story was also apparently told by yoshiki???)

[kaistarus]

Mistexting Mayhem

Pairing: Nishinoya X Reader

Words: 1.6K

Summary: You accidentally send Nishinoya a text that was meant for Yachi and now he’s knows secrets you were hoping he never found out

A/N: If you think this fic is anything but crack you’re wrong lmao I’ve always wanted to write a fic with this style and Noya is great for the chaos i needed. It was fun

Masterlist

[6:40pm] idiot⚡: look y/n without adhd id be too powerful

                         i could beet god himself in handtohand combat

                         god was afraid of my raw fuckin awesomeness wen i bursted from the woom

[6:41pm] y/n: there is so much wrong with what u just said

[6:41pm] idiot⚡: i have absoltly no clue wat

[6:43pm] y/n: put those 3 brain cells to work. I believe in you

[6:43pm] idiot⚡: but theyve reached their daily quota

                          plz there so tired and overworked

You snorted, a dopey smile on your lips as you laid surrounded by textbooks and homework, swinging your feet in the air behind you. You focused intently on the cell phone in your hand doing everything you could to procrastinate the schoolwork around you.

[6:44pm] y/n: noyas so stupid

[6:44pm] yachi❤: i thought you liked him?

[6:45pm] y/n: jeez Yachi. dont come for my throat

                       i cant help that i have bad taste 🙄

[6:46pm] yachi❤: if it helps he tripped over a stray ball today

                               maybe think of that till you don’t like him??

Unfortunately, the image of Nishinoya waving to everyone then biffing it only had you smiling like a dork. How you’d gotten to a point that Nishinoya being an idiot made you swoon, you’ll never know.

You raised your eyebrow suspiciously at the new notification on Snapchat from ‘Tanaka’ and after swiping it open you nearly dropped your phone. Looking back at you was Nishinoya, his head tilted and eyebrow quirked in confusion with a gari-gari kun shoved halfway down his throat. The caption at the bottom reading ‘daaaammn look at your prince charming go 😩’.

You frowned at the picture, letting out a frustrated groan at how your heart accelerated against your ribcage. You quickly tapped out of it and reopened the messenger app.

[6:57pm] y/n: we have to kill Noya

[6:57pm] idiot⚡: we??? what kind of mission is this??? 😤

[6:58pm] y/n: i like him too much. he has to die. its for my own good

You waited impatiently for her response and almost debated doing your homework since it took longer than you felt necessary. You supposed you had suggested murder to Yachi, but still…

When you finally received a response your entire body froze.

[7:11pm] idiot⚡: U LIKE ME?!?!? 😍

                          UR KILLING ME?!?! 😢

                          IM SO CONFUSED......

                          and a lil turned on ngl👀

Your hand covered your mouth in horror as you processed what the hell you had just done. This didn’t happen to people in real life. Mistexting was stuff people made up when they created fake texts for social media to get likes. You didn’t think people actually went through this.

You opened new notifications to escape the hell that stared you straight in the face.

[7:15pm] Tanaka💪: Yo, whatd u do. Whys Noya having a panic attak

[7:16pm] y/n: I accidently texted him instead of Yachi and told him i liked him 😣

[7:16pm] Tanaka💪: O wtf thats hilarious 😂

[7:17pm] y/n: ITS NOT HILArIOUS

[7:18pm] Tanaka💪: Hes askin if its a prank. Wat do i do?

[7:19pm] y/n:I DONT KNOW SDKFHJN IM THE IDIOT WHO STSRTED IT

He stopped responding and you banged your head against your pillow anxiously.

[7:23pm] y/n: YACHI ITOLD NoYA I LKED HIM AND NOU HE NOS WAY DO JI DO!?!????! 😭😭😭

[7:23pm] idiot⚡: THIS ISNT YACHI!!!!

                           HOLY FUKC U DO LIEK ME!!!

You screamed into your pillow. Were you fucking kidding? This could not be happening.

[7:25pm] Tanaka💪: dude, twice? i cant save u now 🤪

[7:25pm] y/n: betraying me in my time of fucking need? i’ll remember this asshole

[7:26pm] Tanaka💪: so vulgar 👀

You growled at Tanaka’s uselessness and bravely peeked through one eye as you went back to your conversation with Nishinoya.

[7:24pm] idiot⚡: STOP IGNORING ME I KNO UR TEXTING RYU

[7:26pm] idiot: IM GONNA KEEP SPAMMING U TILL U ANSWE RME😤

[7:26pm] idiot⚡: 1

                          2

                          3

                          4

                          5

                           6

                           7

                           8

                           9

[7:27pm] y/n: what is this twitch chat? fuck 

[7:28pm] idiot⚡: your heeeeererererreee 🥰

[7:29pm] y/n: soooooo………..

                        clearly there has been a misunderstanding

[7:29pm] idiot⚡: oh nonono. I understand PERFETCLY. u LOVE me

                         its ok. this is a safe space. we can discuss feelings 😌

[7:31pm] y/n: there are zero feelings to discuss

[7:31pm] idiot⚡: then y did u say u like me too much so i have to die?

[7:34pm] y/n: i am filled with rage 🤬

[7:34pm] idiot⚡: rage over how much u liiike me???🥰🥰🥰

[7:36pm] y/n: definitely not

You racked your brain for some kind of reasonable sounding excuse, eventually landing on:

[7:36pm] y/n: It was autocorrect

[7:36pm] idiot⚡: HAH????? FROM?????

[7:38pm] y/n: HAH???

                       ....Nora?

[7:38pm] idiot⚡: Who TF is nora???? 😡

[7:39pm] y/n: someoe i like obviously 😏

[7:40pm] idiot⚡: so u like them but u use my name so much it autocorrected to me? 🤔

[7:44pm] y/n: OK MR DETEcTIVE WHERE TF ARE THES BRAIN CELS COMIN GFROM?

[7:45pm] idiot⚡: i pull them out for special ocasions 😌

[7:45pm] y/n: well how bout you pack those up and put em away

[7:46pm] idiot⚡: how bout two people who LIKE each other SAY something so they can DOOOOOOOO something bout IT 🙄

You began typing a frantic message about how it was none of his business until you processed the message. Then you read it over several times before letting out an audible, “what the fuck.”

[7:50pm] y/n: YOU LIKE ME

[7:50pm] idiot⚡: I FLIRT WITH U ALL THE TIME WAT DO U MEAN yOu LiKe Me!?!

                          FUCKING OBVIOSLY

[7:51pm] y/n: literally when. name one time.

[7:52pm] idiot⚡: I WALK WITH U EVERY MORNING!!!

[7:53pm] y/n: I thought that was a coincidence???

[7:54pm] idiot⚡: I BRNIG U SNACKS DURING LUNCH!!!

[7:54pm] y/n: I thought they were leftovers??

[7:55pm] idiot⚡: …....I call you cute and invite you to my games.

[7:56pm] y/n: you call everyone attractive and i thought there was like a audience quota or something........?

[7:57pm] idiot⚡: ….i cant tell who i should be upset with rn but i think its u 😑

[7:58pm] y/n: WAT WHY!?!

[8:00pm] Idiot⚡: I LIKE U+U LIKE ME=WE LIKE EACH OTHER

[8:01pm] y/n: whoa. slow down. I hate math 😣

[8:02pm] Idiot⚡: ===WE SHUD GO ON A DATE!!!

[8:02pm] y/n: HAH!? i think you started multiplying that addition problem buddy 🤨

Your cheeks were beginning to ache from how wide your dopey grin was. You couldn’t help but tease Nishinoya-it was second nature at this point-even if you now knew your feelings were mutual.

[8:04pm] idiot⚡: i suk at math but thats NOT the point

                         point iiissss i think deep down u want to hang out and cuddle and fall in love

                        maybe even..... 😏 kiiisssss

[8:04pm] y/n: WHOA WHOA WHOA

                        WARN ME BEFORE YOU GET NSFW

                        i would never premarital eye-contact. let alone k🤢ki-🤢🤢kiss🤢🤮🤮

[8:05pm] idiot⚡: well we would have socks on 🙄

[8:06pm] y/n: oh. well if there’s protection

[8:06pm] idiot⚡: Im not a maniac

[8:07pm] y/n: i suppose as long as you dont do something stoopid

                        like faceplant in public

                        that would be humiliating

[8:08pm] idiot⚡: I-

                          who told you that 😠

[8:08pm] y/n: i have spies everywhere noya

                        youre never safe

[8:09pm] Idiot⚡: kinda hot 👀

                         makin me fear for my life like that👀

[8:10pm] y/n: i hate that i like you

                        It kills me inside 

                        i feel braincels leaving with every conversation

[8:12pm] Idiot⚡: fan behavior 😏

                          so am i taking u to eat tomorow or wat?

[8:14pm] y/n: if I HAVE to 🙄

[8:14pm] Idiot⚡: No u GET to

                          I am a fucking delite 😤

[8:15pm] y/n: whatever helps you sleep at night

[8:15pm] Idiot⚡: nothing helps me sleep at night. this mind never rests

[8:16pm] y/n: thinking 24/7 and still not a smart thing comes out of that mouth 👀

[8:17pm] Idiot⚡: yas, bully me more 😫

[8:19pm] y/n: ok thats as much as i can handle for one day......

                       im gonna pretend to do homework

[8:20pm] idiot⚡: okie... good luck my sweet baby pogchamp 🥰

[8:20pm] y/n: no

[8:20pm] Idiot⚡: 😘😘😘

[8:22pm] y/n: 🙄✋

[8:23pm] Idiot⚡: oh FUCK yas 🥵 shut me UP

[8:25pm] y/n: suddenly all i feel is endless regret

[8:26pm] Idiot⚡: i have that effect on people

                          See you tomorrow 🥰🥰🥰

[8:27pm] y/n: unfortunately 😘

[8:27pm] idiot⚡: 🥵

You flung an arm over your eyes and let a small giggle bubble up from your chest. Nishinoya was probably the biggest idiot you’d ever met, but you couldn’t help that thinking of spending time with him had you kicking your feet with excitement.

You supposed you should actually get started on your homework. You reached forward when a notification popped up from Yachi, asking if her idea worked and you had stopped liking Nishinoya.

...you should probably break the news, huh?

[cryingcow]

Yellow Dragon Wandering Chronicles [RGGO] --- Ch. 4

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Side Story | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

[4-1] | [4-2] | [4-3] | [4-4] | [4-5] | [4-6]

(I ran out of official art renders, so have this official art of Joon-gi asking for more food instead :D )

Previously: After beating up his bike while his new “friend” watches him suffer, Ryuji continues being one-half of the most conspicuous pair of buff Korean tourists roaming Japan in 1999 by going to Onomichi, Hiroshima. Just as he gets Joon-gi to lighten up and enjoy the food trip with him, Go-Ryu Clan Captain Takayama shows up and pays the Yomei Alliance to let him fight nepotism on their territory. Joon-gi gets shot protecting Ryuji, but thanks to Ryuji sweet-talking Daddy Iwami, he does not end up getting Secret of Onomichi’d. Unfortunately for them, the Tojo Clan decides it’s time to get involved.

Important Read before Proceeding: when Chapter 4 first came out last year, it was during other not-so-good changes in RGGO (disabled sprite animations, shorter events, stuff that had older players claim the game was going down the drain, etc). Perhaps there was a change in management, or cost-cutting measures, or whatever COVID-related reasons. So if things here on out feel abrupt/rushed to you storywise, that’s sadly why :< but at least we had a Side Story to give us a taste of what happened in the few weeks between the previous chapter and this :D

Finally, Chapter 4! Alt title: “In which Ryuji asks Han Joon-gi to be his business partner, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, ‘til death do they part.” Spoilers for Y0 and possibly Y7 (RGGO and/or Y:LAD)!

[Chapter 4: A Fleeting Dream]

.

CHAPTER 4-1

.

|Ryuji and Han. A few weeks after escaping from the attack of the Go-Ryu Clan and Takayama—|

|Fukuoka - Nagasugai.|

Han: “Phew . . . Chief, another serving please.”

Ryuji: “Hey, me too.”

Food Stall Chief: “Okay.”

Ryuji: “Phew~. Washing down motsunabe with tonkotsu ramen is heavy on the stomach.”

Han: “Is that why you’re on your third bowl?”

Ryuji: “You’re on your second bowl too, though. You eat well for someone who got shot.”

Han: “I need nutrition to recover.”

Han: “. . . So what do we do? I don’t think Takayama will give up. He should have regrouped by now and pursued us. How about we don’t stay in one place for too long?”

Ryuji: “No matter how many of those guys come or how long it takes, I’ll fight back and defeat them.”

Han: “Pretending to be tough won’t work on the opponent. As expected from a direct subsidiary family of the Omi Alliance.”

Ryuji: “Sorry I can’t praise the enemy.”

Han: “It’s just an objective evaluation. Ryuji-san should also understand the strength of the opponent.”

Ryuji: “. . . I guess.  . . . Haa~. What should we do? Running around until the opponent loses interest hurts.”

Han: “. . . . . . Would you like to go to South Korea? Ryuji-san.”

Ryuji: “. . .”

Han: “I expect they will not follow you overseas. If you become a member of the Jingweon Mafia, you should have asylum under the organization.”

Ryuji: “. . . That’s right. South Korea may be interesting, too. What do you think, Han. Would ya like to leave the Jingweon Mafia and start a business with me in South Korea?”

Han: “!”

Ryuji: “Then we’ll conquer the world together. Will ya think about it?”

Han: “. . .”

Food Stall Chief: “Yes, thank you for waiting for your additional servings.”

Han: “. . . Heh. How stupid. Now, let’s eat quickly.”

Ryuji: “. . .”

----

Han: “Are you planning to sleep around this area today?”

Ryuji: “Yup. Right where there’s no people.”

?: “Sorry, but could you wait a bit before you take a rest?”

Ryuji: “Ah?”

Kasuga: “Kasuga from the Tojo Clan Arakawa Family. Are you Goda Ryuji and Han Joon-gi?”

Han: “! Tojo Clan . . . ?!”

?: “What kind of person bothers to introduce himself to the enemy he’s going to kill? Idiot.”

Kasuga: “. . . Sorry.”

Man in Sunglasses: “Let’s get this over with, Kasuga.”

Kasuga: “Yes . . . Kuze-no-aniki.”

.

-END-

.

.

NOTES:

1) Nagasugai, Fukuoka = based on the Nakasu red-light district in Hakata Ward, between the Naka River and the Hakata River. It is located in Fukuoka Prefecture on the Kyushu Island. It has 18 bridges and a lot of food stalls and back alleyways. Look how far west they’ve gotten since Sapporo!

2) Motsunabe = Fukuoka specialty hotpot made of motsu or organ meat (usually of beef since they are soft and spongy), garlic chives, cabbage, and tofu cooked in soy sauce or miso broth. It is customary to cook rice or noodles in the remaining broth to end the night of food trips.

3) Tonkotsu ramen = first came into being in Fukuoka, this ramen uses thinner and straighter noodles compared to other ramen types. Another unique factor is that food stalls offer noodle refills and you can indicate your noodle hardness preference, exactly like in that Y5 minigame :D Ramen in Hakata are commonly milky white from the boiled pig bones making up the soup.

.

.

Next >>>>>>>>>

Side Story <<<<

[4-1] | [4-2] | [4-3] | [4-4] | [4-5] | [4-6]

Masterlist

[renegadewangs]

Van Zieks - the Examination, part 9

Warnings: SPOILERS for The Great Ace Attorney: Chronicles. Additional warning for racist sentiments uttered by fictional characters (and screencaps to show these sentiments).

Disclaimer: (see Part 1 for the more detailed disclaimer.) - These posts are not meant to be taken as fact. Everything I’m outlining stems from my own views and experiences. If you believe that I’ve missed or misinterpreted something, please let me know so I can edit the post accordingly. -The purpose of these posts is an analysis, nothing more. Please do not come into these posts expecting me to either defend Barok van Zieks from haters, nor expecting me to encourage the hatred. - I’m using the Western release of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles for these posts, but may refer to the original Japanese dialogue of Dai Gyakuten Saiban if needed to compare what’s said. This also means I’m using the localized names and localized romanization of the names to stay consistent. -It doesn’t matter one bit to me whether you like Barok van Zieks or dislike him. However, I will ask that everyone who comments refrains from attacking real, actual people.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

How the turnabouts have turned! It's time for Twisted Karma and His Last Bow!

Episode 2-4: Twisted Karma and His Last Bow

With Van Zieks's tragic backstory (…) exposed, it's time to head on into waters we've charted before, waaay back in the very first Ace Attorney game: The Prosecutor becomes the Defendant. It all starts off with some shenanigans which appear to have very little to do with Van Zieks (the arrival of Mikotoba and Jigoku, the Red-headed League, a missing prison warder, etc.).. Ryu does still run into Van Zieks very briefly in Stronghart's office, with Susato noting that there appears to be an awful lot of tension in the air. I expect Van Zieks is questioning that decision to leave Genshin Asogi's son in his care, but even so, he's very civil towards Stronghart. Susato also notes that Van Zieks gives Ryu a cold stare as he leaves, with Ryu wondering what he's done to earn that. This may also be a result of him being besties with Kazuma, since Van Zieks had already buried the hatchet towards Ryu for the most part. When Ryu asks about the decision to leave Kazuma in Van Zieks's care, Stronghart explains it was to best keep an eye on this 'mysterious amnesiac with no identifying papers'. Well OK then. Stronghart also explains he made Kazuma wear a mask because he didn't want to “burden Van Zieks with tiresome explanations about why he had an Eastern appearance.” … I would assume the very simple explanation is that it's because he's of Eastern descent, Stronghart. Regardless, the Lord Chief Justice has high hopes for Kazuma's future and isn't at all bothered by the fact that the guy has gone missing for a little bit.

Things take a turn later when Gina Lestrade comes barging into 221B with some pretty shocking news. Inspector Gregson was murdered. Yes, THAT Inspector Gregson. The suspect has already been arrested:

It's true that to the average civilian like Gina, Van Zieks's name is pretty much synonymous to the Reaper (of the Old Bailey). Even so, to have her outright calling him by that title adds a sort of emotional distance that's really striking. Gina explains they caught him at the scene and there were several witnesses, but Ryu thinks to himself that there's no way Van Zieks would have taken Gregson's life. So naturally, we owe it to our good pal Gregson (who actually was just coming around and being nicer to Ryu) to find the truth. Time to go have a talk with Van Zieks in prison!

… Okay that's funny. Don't worry, Barok, one day we'll all look back on this and laugh. Anyway, Van Zieks says he's in the last place on earth he'd want to be, with the last person on earth he'd want to see. And this line can easily be misinterpreted as Van Zieks saying he hates Ryu more than anyone else in the world, but what he's actually saying is that Ryu is the last person he wishes would see him in this troublesome situation. Ryu says he couldn't very well not come, but Van Zieks tells him to go home since it has nothing to do with him. Susato interjects, pointing out that Gregson has helped them out on numerous occasions and so, they're indebted to him. She pleads for Van Zieks's help with the investigation and he's silent for a moment, only to say: “There's really nothing I can tell you.” Which I suppose means he doesn't think he has anything helpful to say. Ryu asks about what Van Zieks was reading when they came in and assumes it to be a case report. Van Zieks says the Yard wouldn't share case details with a suspect (keep that one in mind) and explains it's a letter from Albert. Dear Professor Harebrayne has arrived in Germany safely! Ryu notes that Van Zieks usually never minces his words, but they seem to have less bite than usual now. No wonder, really, since he's in prison for the murder of an old friend. Van Zieks asks how much they already know about the case, so the two of them go through the facts and Van Zieks says they're well-informed. He's got nothing to add, because... Well.

Oh, this is going to be another one of those cases, huh. Susato asks what Van Zieks was doing at the crime scene in the first place, but Van Zieks points out he doesn't need to answer that, as they aren't representing him. When asked who is representing him in court, he says it'd be anyone other than Ryu. That said, he doesn't actually have any representation because of his reputation as the Reaper. Sixteen people he's prosecuted have mysteriously died and now that he's actually been apprehended for a murder, that whole Reaper ordeal is sure to be thoroughly examined.

BOY, have we got news for you! When it's pointed out that Van Zieks didn't actually have anything to do with those mysterious deaths (right???), he replies that no one wants to know the true identity of that killer more than he does, but it seems things may come to a head before he can uncover the truth. Van Zieks basically tells Ryu to leave, but being the kind-hearted gentleman that he is, Ryu offers to advocate for him in court. Van Zieks asks whether Ryu trusts him, which is a pretty fair question to ask. He's built up so many racist scumbag points and has such a bad reputation in town, it would be weird for Ryu to trust him unconditionally. Luckily, Ryu has been paying attention just as much as I have; he's heard Van Zieks speak in court and seen the way he treats people (uhh, English citizens, anyway), so he doesn't believe this 'Reaper' has it in him to take a life. Unfortunately, Ryu also has to acknowledge that feelings can't be used as evidence in court. Van Zieks considers the offer gracious, but...

“Not the police, not the judiciary... And not you Nipponese.”

One more scumbag point for putting “you Nipponese” in its own category for no reason. Either way, this man has built up such high defensive walls, you could see them from three galaxies away. Trusting no one is a pretty drastic way of living. Ryu thinks to himself that there's a chasm between the two of them that's 'just too wide and too deep'.

As a sidenote, presenting the attorney armband doesn't lead to any interesting conversation this time, but we can also present the Red-headed League advertisement! Van Zieks surmises that if it were a Black-headed League, Ryu would join without delay, which Ryu then confirms. Van Zieks says that sadly, his hair is neither black nor red. He goes into a most curious identity crisis of sorts, where he looks quite anguished as he wonders which coloured league he should join instead. There have been several debates over his hair color, actually, from lavender to purple to grey. Regardless, Susato points out that “people are troubled by the most unexpected problems at times.” It is unexpected, since Van Zieks needs neither the money nor the company that he would get from joining any such league. It's just the principle of the matter, I suppose.

Over by the crime scene in Fresno Street, Gina gets a little razzled when she suspects Ryu is thinking of defending “that Reaper bloke”. Susato points out that if “Lord van Zieks” really is responsible for the crime, he'll be judged fairly in court. This gets Gina to calm down again, because she really wants to know the truth of what happened and much like Van Zieks, she must know that getting the truth is what Ryu does best. A bit of conversation later, Gina points out one more interesting thing; Gregson apparently held a lot of respect for 'the Reaper'. “I take my hat off to that fella,” were his exact words, apparently. Ryu is skeptical, as am I, because I've seen the way Gregson talks about Van Zieks behind his back.

Gina explains that's exactly why he respected Van Zieks. That's... a little weird and ambiguous. So either he respected Van Zieks's ability to stand tall despite all the public scorn, or he respected the fear he struck into people's hearts. There's one more option; Gina keeps talking about the Reaper instead of Van Zieks, so it's possible that Gregson was talking about the actual Reaper. This seems unlikely, though, since he didn't seem to enjoy being part of the Reaper organization.

And now that we know Van Zieks is the defendant, one might be wondering: Who is the prosecutor? Who is the antagonistic force who will try to stop Ryu from uncovering the truth? Well, we find him over in Stronghart's office. Apparently he took an express train back to London from wherever it was he's been these past few days.

YOOOOUUUU!!! Though before we can address his presence properly, we need to discuss the new case. Stronghart wastes no time asking Ryu and Susato whether they've heard “the sickening news about the Reaper's latest devilry.” Which stands out, to say the least, since Stronghart has always been a strong supporter of Van Zieks up until this point. When Susato points out that surely he doesn't believe it, Stronghart says he believes only in facts, which all point to the unavoidable accusal of Lord van Zieks. Someone sure had a quick turnaround when it comes to his number one prosecutor, geez... Stronghart points out the irony that there's no salvation for anyone prosecuted by the Reaper of the Bailey, and now the Reaper himself must stand in the dock. Just as Van Zieks had already alluded to, Stronghart now claims the public will want answers about those mysterious deaths. Ryu and Susato both point out that which had been rubbed into our faces several times already; Van Zieks denies any involvement, and also there have been several investigations into whether he had anything to do with it. Stronghart kind of brushes this off, though. Turns out, Van Zieks is being traded in for a newer model number one prosecutor: Kazuma Asogi! Which seems weird at first glance, since Kazuma is a defense attorney, but Stronghart considers that a bonus:

“A devastation combination, wouldn't you agree?”

I do agree. Granted, it seems Van Zieks had already figured out the defense's strategies too, he just never actively used them to his own advantage. It also turns out that Kazuma personally requested the prosecutor position for this trial. Susato thinks it's pretty unprecedented to grant a newcomer exchange student such a request, but Stronghart offers some petty excuse about how this way, it won't look like the judiciary are closing ranks. Kazuma, who assumes his friend will take on the defense, says he'll see how Ryu's skills have been honed after practicing law in England for so many months. (Uhh. Actually, bestie, it was only about two months of being a defense attorney and six months of disbarment.) Ryu notes that Kazuma is being hostile towards him and wonders why. On a final note, when asking Stronghart about the gun found at the crime scene, we're told that it's issued to all members of law enforcement, including prosecutors. Van Zieks claims to have lost his. That's a troubling claim indeed, because it's difficult to prove or disprove. GOSH, if only fingerprints were allowed in court.

As Ryu and Susato turn to leave, Kazuma stops them. He once again states he wants Ryu to witness this trial as the defense counsel, to “see how it ends”. Since Kazuma has a very distinct vision for how he wants it to end, I guess this means he intends to confront Ryu with Van Zieks's guilt and have his bestie see that a man like him is unworthy of his trust. Either that, or he expects Ryu to use this trial to find the truth of what really happened with the Professor ten years ago, just as he used Albert's trial to dig into that incident. Still though, this reads as pretty scummy to me, because it means he wants Ryu to lose a trial and lose some of his belief in his clients. In the trial itself, it seems to me that Kazuma desperately believes Van Zieks to be a horrible person deserving of the guilty verdict. Therefore, he in no way can hold hope that Ryu will prove him wrong (unlike what went down in case 2-3 with Albert). Anyway, Ryu says that Van Zieks would never put his fate in his hands.

“... It's not easy to see behind the facade sometimes.”

Case 2-3 already told us this, but it's nice to have it confirmed by someone who was closer to Van Zieks. Because remember, Kazuma spent three months by Van Zieks's side (and even fighting by his side), so of course he would know more about his personality than we do. Kazuma hands over a photograph of Barok when he was younger and

GOOD LORD, HE CAN SMILE. Or he could when he was younger, anyway. Kazuma states the picture was displayed in Gregson's office. What he's 'trying to say' is that if Ryu really thinks he can trust “the Reaper” (distancing choice of words again), he might find that some straight talking will change his view. I got the impression we've been straight talking Van Zieks ever since we first met him, but okay. Let's take the picture and back to the gaol we go! Van Zieks is once again reading from some paper and Ryu points out that either he's an incredibly slow reader or it's an incredibly long letter, but either way, Ryu might even be able to read English faster than him. Naturally, this was said loud enough for Van Zieks to overhear.

Scumbag point for hypocrisy, but also a scumbag point for “Nipponese”. When Ryu asks whether it's still Albert's letter he's reading, Van Zieks says he had the case report brought to him in secret. So wait, the Yard does share case details with its suspect? Hilarious. Once again, Van Zieks insists the situation has nothing to do with Ryu, up until the prosecutor's name is revealed to him. And so, the masked cardboard cutout student has become the master! Ryu notes that all the color drained from Van Zieks's face, which is pretty impressive when there's barely any color there to begin with. Ryu has the opportunity now to thrust the photograph into his face, so let's do that. He's immediately alarmed, since he assumed it to be lost and would never have expected Gregson to have it. When Ryu says that Gregson had a deep respect for him, he dismisses that as nonsense, only to correct himself. “There was a time things were like that.”

Van Zieks thanks Ryu for that nice glimpse into the past, and Ryu thinks to himself that there was a glimmer in Van Zieks's eyes- a brief twinkle. He considers that “an insight into the true nature of this man known to all as the stone-cold Reaper of the Bailey”, with “the true nature” being highlighted as orange. So this right here is undeniable; this is what the narrative is illustrating to us now. The true nature of Barok van Zieks is that of someone who was hopeful and jovial; kind-hearted, as Albert knew him. What we see now, that harsh exterior full of harsh words, is not his nature at all.

Van Zieks is more willing to talk now. He once again speaks of Klint, rehashing the same story we've heard several times already. Van Zieks claims there's not a single day where he doesn't curse the name Asogi. He considers it a cruel twist of fate that the man's son intends to crucify him in 'some kangaroo court'. Clearly, he doesn't think highly of the upcoming trial if he refers to it as a kangaroo court, but that's likely because he knows he isn't the real killer. When Ryu points out that he still doesn't understand why Stronghart apprenticed Kazuma to Van Zieks, the explanation is that “it's what he does”. Van Zieks believes that Stronghart knew Kazuma's true identity from the outset, but still provides no real explanation as to why Stronghart 'did what he did' and even assigned Kazuma as the prosecutor this time. Van Zieks goes on to contemplate the name Asogi some more and calls it 'the epitome of his bane'.

I've talked before about how utterly flawed it is that Van Zieks attributes Genshin's crime to his race and/or cultural upbringing and proceeds to tar every single Japanese person with the same brush. There's no need to go into this again; we all know it's wrong. Turns out, even Van Zieks knows it's wrong, but we'll get back to that momentarily. First, Van Zieks needs to talk about Klint even more. (good lord...) He explains that Klint van Zieks was hunting down a mass murderer and “assigned to the investigation as his partner was a certain visiting student dispatched by the Yard.” This was Genshin, of course, and I believe this is the first time it's said that he too was looking into the Professor case. So Van Zieks already mentioned in the previous case that the Japanese students had left a deep impact on him, and also that he once toasted friendship with a Japanese person, but now we have this:

“But none of us saw the true nature of the man.”

True nature is once again in orange here, but this time as a red herring. Van Zieks believes that the Professor murders were Genshin's true nature, when it isn't quite true at all. Regardless, since Van Zieks was still in university at the time the exchange students were in the country, I don't think he would've had that much contact with Genshin. I expect he encountered the man on rare occasion while Klint associated most with him. Every meeting was enough to foster this respect and friendship, though, so it's clear that young Van Zieks was easily influenced and had a very open mind towards a foreign exchange student. But then, that's what makes the next portion of the story all the more damaging.

“My esteemed brother... The people I believed in... And any semblance of right prevailing over wrong!”

As Van Zieks also already alluded to in the previous case, he found himself in a very dark place. That isn't surprising. Every positive thing Van Zieks knew in his life, from his family to his closest friends, was ripped away from him in extremely close succession. What must've been the final nail in the coffin was Genshin outright admitting to his crimes. It erased all doubt that perhaps there was some sort of misunderstanding or a frame job. Going over everything Van Zieks has said so far, it seems he didn't just blame Genshin for the tremendous loss he suffered; he blamed himself. He must believe that his trust in Genshin blinded him to this supposed 'true nature', just as it must've also blinded Klint, and that the whole tragedy could've been prevented if only he'd been more cautious. So now, in present day, he no longer trusts anyone. He outright says so.

Van Zieks goes on to talk about how he was the one who prosecuted the Professor. Since he'd only just graduated, such a thing usually wouldn't be allowed, but he “beleaguered the ascribed prosecutor until he consented.” This person was Mael Stronghart, who back then was apparently still no more than a prosecutor. A highly accomplished one, but a prosecutor nonetheless. Since Klint was the Director of Prosecutions (or Chief Prosecutor???) at the time, that means he actually ranked above Stronghart. Interesting. Regardless, since Stronghart agreed to let Van Zieks lead the prosecution and instead only acted as an advisor, Van Zieks now feels indebted to him. That certainly explains why he's usually so good about following Stronghart's orders and not asking questions.

“And, of all things, as a lawyer.”

Ahhh, this is the part where Ryu enters the chronology. Our protagonist points out that he's felt Van Zieks's animosity since the first time he faced him in the courtroom; his obvious deep loathing of Japanese people. And here comes perhaps one of the most important, yet most overlooked lines Van Zieks will ever utter in these games:

“But for so many years, that hatred had festered inside me, I could no longer control it.”

So here, Van Zieks admits to two things. First of all, he admits that he was wrong to hold such deep loathing and by extension, to give that loathing a voice. He's a man of logic, after all. To cling to something which he refers to as illogical is about as wrong as one could get. Not only that, he admits that this was an unstoppable force he should have controlled, but was too weak to do so. The hatred overpowered him and did away with common sense. He behaved stupidly and irrationally because for ten years, hatred and negativity was all he knew. But what's even more striking here is Ryu's answer, which is also often overlooked:

Ryu, bless his heart, doesn't blame Van Zieks for succumbing to this weakness. Bear in mind, he's the victim here. Van Zieks wouldn't have encountered many other Japanese people in those ten years, if at all. This means the first person he lashed out against was Ryu. Naturally, Ryu can't speak for Susato or Soseki, who received their own verbal assaults and might have different opinions on the matter. Ryu is just one man, but in our narrative, he's the main protagonist and the main target of these outbursts. Is it misleading and perhaps even problematic in the grand scheme of things to have the protagonist sympathize with such motivation? Well, that depends on many different factors. There's no easy answer for this because it's a nuanced, cultural sort of thing. Personally, I was a bit bothered by it, but not to the point that it ruined the experience for me.

Van Zieks admits that just as the Japanese were the bane of his life, Kazuma Asogi must believe Van Zieks to be the bane of his. He is, after all, the Reaper who sent his father to the gallows. Van Zieks thinks that Kazuma intends to take revenge in court and... Really, this is true.

There's a quick bit of conversation about Gregson now. Turns out, the only reason the Professor was caught at all was because Gregson forced an autopsy on Klint despite it being considered the highest taboo at the time. Van Zieks says that as a result of Gregson's powerful conviction, he could avenge his brother's death. He looks quite torn, a bit pained. He must believe he owes Gregson something for this. The conversation then moves on to Van Zieks's revolver, which he claims to have misplaced an undetermined amount of time ago. “I must have stowed it somewhere, I suppose. Or left it somewhere, perhaps.” Van Zieks clearly doesn't think highly of firearms as a weapon, since he's constantly carrying a sword around instead. Susato points out that Ryu has a talent for misplacing things in common with Van Zieks, which leads to one more scumbag outburst.

… Dude. Come on. You just admitted it was illogical. You came so far! Scumbag point for you. Still, as the conversation rounds to a close, Van Zieks utters the words “Mister... Naruhodo”, much to Ryu's surprise. This is the first time he's actually said Ryu's name! Van Zieks once again reiterates that he's lost all confidence in England's judiciary system. He doesn't trust the police, the judiciary or lawyers. Even so, there's still one thing he's willing to believe in.

“That which you see in the eyes of another across the courtroom: a simple determination to know the truth. From the very first time we clashed in the Bailey almost a year ago now... I couldn't deny it, even though I dearly wished I could. 'Here is a loathsome Japanese... who has absolute integrity as a lawyer.' There are only two other men I've known with that same look in their eyes: my brother, Klint. … And Genshin Asogi.”

This is interesting. So at first when he saw that look in Ryu's eyes, he must've been reminded of Genshin. And again, this is why he directed such hatred towards Ryu; he saw someone who wasn't alive anymore. But now he recalls that Klint also had that same gaze, and so he wants to believe that Ryu is not similar to a deceitful murderer, he's instead similar to his beloved brother. (Boy is he going to have to reevaluate how he judges people when he finds out that his beloved brother was the deceitful murderer.) Van Zieks says that when he saw the photograph, he was reminded of a time when he could laugh, free of the shackles of mistrust which plague him now. This is very relevant since Van Zieks indeed can't laugh anymore. We never see him do it. He can't even smile.

“But at times the mire into which I've sunk makes it almost impossible to breathe.”

Someone please get this man to a professional therapist. If he means that in a more literal sense and he does occasionally feel like he can't breathe, that's telltale signs of panic attacks. It could just be, of course, that he's being overdramatic and the “impossible to breathe” bit is just fanciful wordplay to go with the mire analogy. Still though, considering he's also mentioned being in a dark place and that he's willing to die so long as it serves a useful purpose, and that he drinks his wine to stave off tedium... He's clearly depressed. But then, he seems to know it. He acknowledges that the way he is now is not the way things should be, and that he needs to fight to overcome it. And so:

“... In tomorrow's trial... Will you advocate for me?”

Boom. Swallowed his pride and turned to Ryu for help because he knows it's what's best for him. He no longer trusts anyone, but he's willing to trust Ryu because once he starts opening up again and has that trust repaid, then perhaps things can gradually go back to the way things were when he was younger. Mind, he still hasn't apologized for his actions, but that doesn't change that Ryu at least is willing to extend a hand to Van Zieks. It's a little sad that Susato doesn't properly form her own opinion on this and instead just goes along with whatever Ryu says. I would've liked to know just how she feels about Van Zieks's attitude and whether or not he deserves to be helped. She doesn't object to it, at least, and since Susato usually always speaks her mind, I can only assume she genuinely agrees with Ryu's sentiments.

The next day, in the defendant's lobby, it's remarked there's a 'menacing tension' in the air and Ryu surmises out loud it's the result of the menacing appearance of the defendant. Well-deserved, that remark. Touché. Van Zieks asks him for a little more courtesy in a polite enough manner, but considering the lack of courtesy he's shown Ryu over the past 8 months, that's hypocritical. He informs Ryu that this is a closed trial without a jury, which bums me out because it means no more Summation Examination. I would've liked to see Asogi react to that. (S)Holmes comes in and has the weirdest little banter with Van Zieks that I honestly can't... really decipher. There's several things about it that really strike me as being off:

- “And I you. I see London's celebrated great detective is as active as ever.”

- “Oh, you exaggerate, my dear fellow. Compared to my paltry engagements with a few trivial cases... The Reaper's overbearing presence is a far greater deterrent to the black roots of crime in our capital. And whilst I may not agree with your methods... There is at least one point on which I would readily commend you.”

- “What an honour. And that would be...?”

- “Your eye for a good lawyer, sir. […] Behind this lawyer there is a very great mind. My own.”

Alright, so... First of all, we know (S)Holmes is super arrogant and would never refer to his past cases as “trivial” in all sincerity. Plus, it's established that he's very weird with compliments, such as referring to Gregson as “the best of those blunderers of the Yard”, so complimenting Van Zieks directly on the effect he has on crime feels off. Aside from that, (S)Holmes addresses Van Zieks as the Reaper and continues to talk about 'his methods', when it's already been established (S)Holmes doesn't believe Van Zieks has anything to do with the Reaper killings. Taking all that into account, I can only really assume that the first half of this above conversation is (S)Holmes being weirdly passive aggressive towards Van Zieks, with Van Zieks being passive aggressive in turn. It really, truly feels as if there was some sort of backstory between these two that they had to scrap at the last second. Regardless, the exchange ends with (S)Holmes warning Van Zieks that this will be “quite a trial”.

Gina Lestrade shows up with Yujin Mikotoba (….. when did they meet???), saying they intend to watch the trial, and I am very impressed with how (S)Holmes manages to disappear from the scene and not say a word when his old partner arrives. Anyway, Gina looks Ryu square in the eye and asks him why he agreed to take Van Zieks on. Everyone's saying it was him who killed Gregson. Considering everyone was saying it was her who killed Pop Windibank six months ago, you'd think she might want to tone down her attitude, but she's clearly in mourning and lashing out. See? People who are hurting can say insensitive things. Ryu insists he doesn't believe it to be true, but Gina demands to know that if it wasn't him, then who?

“An' if it turns out it was 'im wot killed the boss... Then God 'elp 'im!”

It's interesting to remember that during The Unspeakable Story, Gina wasn't afraid of Van Zieks for his Reaper reputation. She didn't believe in the curse and didn't think she would end up like the other defendants. Now, she absolutely no longer gives a damn whether Van Zieks is the mysterious Reaper or not. She only thinks he might be a murderer who took away her mentor and that's what has her judge him so fiercely. Van Zieks remarks on her fiery eyes and tells her that the culprit does indeed deserve every inch of her loathing. “At least that may be some solace to the deceased.” So here, in a roundabout way, it rather looks as if Van Zieks is sympathizing with Gina's anger. At the very least, he's condoning it, just not towards himself.

Entering the courtroom, it becomes clear very fast just how serious this trial will become. Just as was alluded to before, the judge confirms that the 'Reaper of the Old Bailey' has been undermining Her Majesty's justice system and therefore, the people will demand answers on this matter. Ryu thinks to himself the trial will be a lot more far-reaching than just Gregson's murder. Sure enough, Kazuma is at the prosecutor's bench and ready to get that vengeance Van Zieks referred to in jail. Shockingly, the first witness he summons is actually Van Zieks himself. The judge is surprised, but Kazuma explains that as a prosecutor, Van Zieks believes in the oath of office he's taken; he'll be compelled to tell the truth. Because contrary to what happened in Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro, Van Zieks is against perjury! (I WILL NEVER GET OVER WHAT HAPPENED WITH SHAMSPEARE!) Sure enough, he takes the stand and Kazuma says the court would like to hear him explain some things away.

He really is just brutally honest, isn't he? Both in his courtroom methods and in how he shows his emotions. He doesn't sugarcoat, he doesn't beat around the bush, he definitely doesn't lie... At most, he may withhold some information. Unfortunately, his testimony is mostly useless. The judge remarks that he didn't want to imagine this day would come, but ever since Van Zieks became known as the Reaper, he's been dreading it. The judge, our neutral ground, seems to be convinced that Van Zieks may have actually done the deed. That's not good. Kazuma acts all smug, saying that Van Zieks indeed hasn't explained anything away and that his testimony barely qualifies as an excuse. Van Zieks notes that his 'mute apprentice' has a way with words. Meanwhile, Ryu thinks to himself that Kazuma isn't behaving like himself, which is a sentiment they'll keep repeating throughout the case. … I gotta be honest here, I didn't notice all that much of a difference between this Kazuma and the one from the very first case of the game. I mean, come on, he sliced a man's hair off and cursed his descendants just for insulting Ryu. He's slightly more arrogant here, maybe, but since he was only the assistant there and is a leading counsel here, it makes sense for him to be more proactive and confident in his methods. Then again, I'm not a Kazuma expert; maybe there's something I'm missing.

In his testimony, Van Zieks revealed that he was investigating Gregson, but when pressed on it he won't admit the exact reason for it. He only says he'd identified a distinct possibility Gregson was involved in a case he was investigating. When asked how he even knew where Gregson would be, he openly admits to having stolen into his office and consulted his diary. (“Dear Diary, today I dropped my fish 'n chips on the way to Fresno Street-”) When told that illegally entering Gregson's office would warrant serious consequences, Van Zieks says he was aware of that risk.

The rest of the testimony is pressed without further hitches, though what did strike me as interesting is that at one point, Ryu suggests the gunshot might've originated from outside the room, but Van Zieks immediately says it's out of the question. He shoots the possibility down with evidence only he could have experienced (the bang sounded inside the room and he could smell gunpowder), and in doing so, only implicates himself further. Detrimentally honest, this one. Not only that, but he picked the gun up.

NO KIDDING that was carelessness. Is he related to Miles Edgeworth after all? Kazuma talks about how three street peddlers overheard the bang and burst through the door with some force. Van Zieks states they almost gave him a heart attack in the process (omg) and Ryu thinks to himself: “(But you're supposed to be the Reaper...)” C'mon Ryu, haven't you seen enough of this man by now to know he gets jarred easily?

When the testimony rounds to a close, things get interesting. Kazuma uses his defense attorney skills, as promised. He uses evidence from the Court Record to point out contradictions in Van Zieks's testimony, thereby 'proving he's lying'. Hey, what happened to Van Zieks believing in the oath of office and being compelled to tell the truth? Did Kazuma call Van Zieks to the stand just to expose him as a liar? He wins the judge over quite easily by illustrating these contradictions and casting doubt on Van Zieks's integrity. Tragic, because as Van Zieks says:

Van Zieks steps down from the stand and disappears for the remainder of the trial day. He doesn't even show up during intermission in the defendant's lobby. Characters do still talk about him, though!

I mean... He ain't lyin'. At one point, Kazuma utters the words “the defence is fated to lose. And the prosecution to win,” which once again confirms that Kazuma basically asked Ryu to take part in an 'unwinnable' trial. Which, y'know, is technically fine. Losing a trial isn't the end of the world, especially when the defendant (in Kazuma's eyes) is actually guilty. Still though, personally asking Ryu to take on Van Zieks just so he can watch the man be exposed as a killer is kind of... Kazuma, sir, are you also unable to control your hatred and having it lash out in illogical ways? Is that a parallel with Van Zieks I spy?

The rest of the trial isn't directly related to Van Zieks. It's just a whole bunch of roundabout arguing with street peddlers, red-headed scammers and the revelation that one of those peddlers is actually Daley Vigil, the missing former prison warder. Despite knowing of the dangers, Kazuma asks Ryu to help him forcefully break some of the man's black psyche-locks (c'mon, we all know that's what's impeding his memories) and they send the man to the hospital as a result. Welp. Unveiling the truth is becoming increasingly dangerous in this game and that's really upping the stakes for us.

Into the next investigation day we go! Ryu surmises that it's clear now “Van Zieks definitely didn't do it.” Even so, there are some unanswered questions about the man. What was he even doing at the crime scene and what's with that investigation into Gregson he didn't want to talk about in court? Heading on over to the Chief Justice's office, we overhear him pressuring Kazuma into 'continuing the trial as instructed'. Once he takes note of Ryu and the others, he tells them that he wanted Van Zieks's trial concluded that day and blames 'Asogi's unwelcome inquiries' for it taking longer than necessary. Stronghart's becoming increasingly ominous, here... I don't know for certain why he doesn't just go the extra mile to have Van Zieks proven innocent so he can keep using his Reaper tool to intimidate the masses. I suppose it's because with Gregson dead, he's lost his most important strategist in the killings and the tool of the Reaper's curse can't be used as easily anymore. Assassins probably come a dime a dozen, so Shinn can be replaced, but Gregson... Not so much. Ryu asks Stronghart whether Kazuma truly believes Van Zieks to be the Reaper, but Stronghart says he wouldn't know. He once again talks about the history of the Reaper with its very long run of coincidental deaths and tells us nothing new or interesting.

To prison we go, to visit Van Zieks himself! He's reading a book now, but we're never told what it is. He tries to ignore the visitors, but just as always, eventually comes up to the bars to talk.

YOU FREAKIN- I CAN'T- WHY- How many more times must we teach you this lesson, old man?!!! Thankfully, even Ryu is fed up at this point.

Finally. He spoke up. I've seen a lot of people criticize the fact that Ryu never properly confronts Van Zieks with the damage he's been doing, and on the one hand I would agree. Calling people out on their bullshit is a very useful step in having them notice their mistakes. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that is also a very Western view. It's very easy for us to think that Ryu should stand up for himself and call Van Zieks a prejudiced little tosser who needs to think before he speaks, but that simply isn't part of his character. There may be several reasons to explain why he doesn't confront Van Zieks more firmly, but I'd like to focus on just two. The first is that Ryu is an exchange student who came to England as a 'guest' and is facing not just one racist. Not even five or ten. Everywhere he goes, he's surrounded by people just like Van Zieks. We've seen it in the judge, we've seen it in the jurors, we've seen it in Gregson and in witnesses... Ryu is a minority in a very literal sense, since there's only one other Japanese person (two if we count Soseki) we know of in this entire city. There's a very natural, very understandable defense mechanism which may kick in when surrounded by potentially dangerous individuals, and that is to withdraw; to be as quiet as possible and to attract as little trouble as possible, since 'they outnumber you'. Bonus points for the extreme difference in social standing between Ryu and Van Zieks.

There's one other thing which adds to the above. Ryu was written to be your everyday Japanese person, and their view on confrontation is quite different from our own. I remembered this from a job interview I once had with a Japanese company and looked into it again to refresh my memory: Japanese people are non-confrontational. It's very important for them to maintain a sort of harmony during conversation and therefore, they'll rarely utter negative sentiments, such as criticism, in a way that will cause embarrassment to the person they're addressing. Instead, they employ something often referred to as indirect communication. “The pattern of Japanese indirect communication uses far less words to convey intent in a more subtle manner. Indirect communication uses expression, posture, and tone of voice of the speaker to draw meaning from the actual conversation.” This is very deeply ingrained into the Japanese culture and, if the sources I reviewed are correct, it goes all the way back to the feudal days. Mind, this attitude isn't even limited to Japan. I've been told there's several other countries who adopt that very same attitude and if you cause someone else to lose face, it can have some very severe repercussions for you. Kazuma is a bit more outspoken than Ryu, for example when they face Jezail, but this makes sense also, since Asogi was written to be more progressive. It seems to me that Ryu has been using indirect communication quite often already and, since Van Zieks is woefully unequipped to read this type of communication, Ryu has now finally resorted to something more direct. It's still not a sharp call-out, but rather, the above line reads to me as something in-between direct and indirect communication. And it works.

HELL FROZE OVER! We've done it, lads! Or, as Iris puts it:

So even the rest of the cast is acknowledging this is a big deal and we've made tremendous progress. Could someone else have confronted Van Zieks in a more direct, more Western way before this point? Sure. But would he have listened? The judge has already snarked at him several times during trials and it's always been brushed off as nothing. The only person he might've listened to would've been Albert, but what is the narrative significance of having a side character confront Van Zieks? There isn't one. This was a very impactful moment where Ryu himself resorted to a more Western tactic to get his point across and Van Zieks, in turn, finally uttered an apology. So now we get to have an earnest conversation with the man at last. Van Zieks says he was impressed; not by Ryu but by Kazuma. On first glance, this seems like a mean thing to say, but... Van Zieks is already intimately familiar with Ryu's performance in the courtroom. Why would he still be impressed by that? Kazuma, however, he's never seen in action before. Van Zieks thinks it's all rather “sardonic”.

It's called a cruel irony, Barok. A common tool in storytelling. He himself considers it “retribution for having played the part of the Reaper all these years”. So once again it's discussed how the Reaper minimizes the amount of crime in the capital and since that's a goal Van Zieks is committed to, he never said anything to disprove the rumors. Ryu insists that someone else is profiting off Van Zieks's silence on the matter and is basically using him as a scapegoat. As it turns out, Van Zieks wasn't quite as passive about the matter as he's led us to believe.

Hm. Alright, so he thinks it's good the Reaper's curse is reducing crime in London, but clearly he wants the Reaper organization brought to justice. In a way, he's profiting off these 'accidental deaths' since the fear that comes from them aligns with his goal of crime reduction, but he doesn't actively condone the Reaper murders and wants them halted. Since there's so much accurate information about the accused used in the killings, Van Zieks surmised a while ago that someone from Scotland Yard must've been involved in the killings. It's taken him “many years” to identify the central figure in the organization: Tobias Gregson. Naturally, everyone is shocked. We knew Gregson! And sure, he wasn't exactly a kind person, but he certainly didn't appear to be a killer. He was very rough around the edges, but from what we'd been led to believe, he had a good heart. … A decent heart. Mediocre, one might say. Ryu asks whether the reason Van Zieks was investigating Gregson was to expose him as the Reaper, but Van Zieks repeats the notion that the Reaper is not a single person. He doesn't have a doubt, though, that Gregson was a key member of the organization who did all of the planning. Believe it or not, Gregson was the brains behind the killings; the tactician who investigated and plotted, then left the dirty work to an assassin by the name of Asa Shinn. (LOCALIZATION WHY)

So now that we have this information, we can come to a very interesting conclusion. Both Gregson and Shinn are dead now, so by Van Zieks's reasoning, the Reaper is dead. You'd think this is good, but it does in fact make it very difficult to find the truth. Rather, Van Zieks believes that the truth died with Gregson (he hinted as much twice already) and while the seasoned Ace Attorney player knows it won't be impossible to expose a dead person as a killer, it'd be a hectic ordeal. The seasoned Great Ace Attorney player will know the Reaper hierarchy extends just a bit higher and the two who died are only pawns, but... Y'know. Approaching this from a first-time-player point of view, you'll know things will get troublesome.

There's another topic of conversation where Van Zieks once again addresses how sharp Kazuma is in court. He didn't miss a thing.

OUCH. So when Ryu first arrived, Van Zieks saw Genshin whenever he looked at him, not only due to his roots but due to 'the look in his eyes when searching for the truth'. Now, he sees Genshin in Kazuma, which surely makes a lot more sense. Van Zieks goes on to say that it's true some of the aristocracy from 10 years ago were problematic and abusing their power. “In a way, Asogi was carving out a canker from society that we British couldn't deal with ourselves.” So here, he sounds almost complimentary of the Professor's actions- specifically Asogi's actions. As if it would've all been well and good, were it not for the Professor's final victim. “But that's precisely why it makes no sense. Klint van Zieks was a noble and upstanding man. He wasn't corrupt.”

Remember way back in The Unspeakable Story when I surmised that Van Zieks boiled Genshin's actions down to his race in order to avoid the belief that there might've been a reason his brother was killed? We see it here again. Van Zieks is in doubt. He may say vocally that “it makes no sense”, but that line in itself is already telling. The fact that he acknowledges it and draws it into question implies to us that he's skeptical of the story. Deep down, he knows something is amiss. He knows there's some sort of explanation he's missing, but if he were to dig too deeply into it, he'd have to acknowledge that perhaps his brother was corrupt. And this still isn't all of it. There's one more thing Van Zieks has to discuss before we can round this conversation to a close. Ten years ago, shortly after Klint died, Genshin saved his life.

There's that phrasing again. “True nature”. It's not in orange this time, but it's there all the same. Van Zieks is convinced that Genshin is the one who had a hidden true nature. In this story, we learn that 'the scum of London' had already targeted him several times even before he became known as the Reaper, simply because of who he was and who his brother was. JEESH. Harsh. So on the night in question, a couple of thugs also tried to kill him (allegedly) but Genshin stepped in to protect him. Genshin became lightly wounded as a result. This is the part where I would have expected them to explain Van Zieks's scars, but he never mentions being wounded himself, so we can't be sure this is when it happened. Curious. This was the perfect opportunity and they let it slide. So anyway, two days after that incident, Genshin was arrested.

Some more telling lines here. Van Zieks thinks he'd never recount the story to anyone; not because there's no need to tell it. It's because it must be difficult to talk about. On its own, that might be a farfetched conclusion I wouldn't make, but Ryu confirms it with his follow-up line: “Thank you... for confiding in me.” We can take this line to mean exactly what it says; Van Zieks confided something painful. He let down some more walls. Growth!

So with all this out of the way, there's a whole load more investigation to do before this case is over. Most of it has to do with Genshin's will, a mysterious trunk belonging to Gregson, the missing time of death on the autopsy report... Nothing too relevant to Van Zieks's character. However, if we go into the prosecutor's office and examine things while Kazuma is there, we do get some fun tidbits about how Van Zieks wouldn't trust anyone else to touch his things and would rearrange it all himself whenever needed. From the sound of it, Van Zieks is very meticulous and a loner, which aligns with what we know about him. Some more conversation later, we reach the topic of the Reaper with Kazuma. He agrees that Gregson was definitely involved in the Reaper organization, but there's one thing that's more important. “Who's been giving orders to the Inspector?” In my eyes, it's a bit of a stretch to assume with certainty anyone was giving orders; Gregson might've just taken up the vigilante justice by himself and found some way to pay Shinn enough money to get in on it. Kazuma insists, though, that Van Zieks is 'the real Reaper'. We as the audience already know that's nonsense, we know Kazuma is wrong. Or perhaps we might think that if somehow Van Zieks pulled the wool over our eyes and Kazuma is correct, that'd be one heck of a wild twist. Kazuma gives no real reason why he believes this, he only goes on to say that ten years ago, it was Van Zieks who 'decided his father must be a mass murderer'. Shockingly, Susato is the one to jump in here and outright say to Kazuma that he's wrong; that Van Zieks only saw that 'justice was done as the law dictates' and he wasn't to blame for Genshin's execution. Kazuma insists that people condemn people and the law is just a tool they use for it. So I suppose that's exactly what he's doing right now. He's condemning Van Zieks, just as Van Zieks once condemned Genshin. We're cycling! And my main question now is this: If Stronghart had been the prosecutor in the Professor's trial instead, would Kazuma be just as vengeful towards him? Because remember, it's people who condemn people. This implies that anyone who had taken on the job of prosecutor at that time is the one who 'decided that Genshin must've been a murderer' and would need to take responsibility in Kazuma's eyes. Kazuma's beef isn't with Van Zieks personally, it's with the prosecutor who used that tool of the law and also evidence.

HAHAHAAA! HAH! If you align this screenshot next to the “Klint van Zieks was a noble and upstanding man” line, you get a wonderful parallel. These two prosecutors are both dead wrong about their beloved family, and they're about to find out in the worst way possible.

One murder mystery spread out over two episodes? You bet! Stay tuned for the last case, The Resolve of Ryunosuke Naruhodo!

[ketchupqueenboiiii]

Black Cat and Desert Flower

'Kaldur, what are we doing in Paris? We finished the mission, we should be heading back home.' Said Robin, via mind-link.

'Patience, my friends, I arranged for us to have a day in the city. A vacation, if you will.' Aqualad said to the team.

'Kaldur, I don't know if you noticed but it's night.' Kid Flash was also getting impatient.

'Why are we standing under a bridge with a bunch of locks on it?' Superboy asked. He hated not knowing things.

After busting a minor league drug ring in Versailles they expected to relax in the Bioship until the arrived back in the US, not stand under a bridge.

'Can you at least tell what we need 'patience' for-' Kid Flash whined until he was interrupted by a voice.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my city?" The voice was like steel. In a way it sounded like Batman's. Not in sound, but in its tone of command. It sounded young and feminine.

'Brace your selves.' Said Robin, hands inching towards his tool belt.

'There are 6 of them. Should we attack?' Superboy adds.

'No. These are friends.' Aqualad sounded completely at ease. It would have calmed them if he wasn't always calm and collected.

Before they could refute he walked into the moonlight. They heard the voice take in a sharp breathe. So they recognized them, maybe it will prevent a fight.

"I am no less than a black cat." What? The team had no idea how this conversation took such a turn. What was she saying?

"And I am no more than a desert flower." What was their leader saying? It must have meant something because the voice squealed and a figure clad in red and black polka dots came barreling at him.

'Stand down.' He sound completely unbothered. How could he be so whelmed?

'But she's-' One tried to reason.

'Stand down, she is a friend.' He sounded, breathless? Something was going on, maybe M'gann should do a scan of his mind when they get back.

The force of the girl's impact knocked them both over. They were both smiling, eyes never straying from each others. They got a clear view to analyze the girl. She look developed and fit, but still pretty small. She shouldn't have been able to knock down a door, let alone a military trained Atlantean. Was this a secret Kryptonian?

"You're, you're here," she sounded out of breath, though clearly out of amazement rather than the run. "Oh kwami, it's been to long. Is Roy here too?" How did she know Roy? Did she know all of their civilian I.D.s?

"Sadly no, Speedy is not here. But my team and I are." He said as they stood up. They could see exactly what she was wearing. A red and black skin tight body suit with a open black leather jacket and a hood. The bodysuit was red down to her navel and black the rest of the way. Each of her palms had a black circle with a unknown ideogram in red on them. Her shoes were black army boots with red laces. So she has a theme.

She moved her gaze behind Aqualad to look at the team. They took note of her mask. Her hood covered her forehead and her eyebrows, and she wore a mask connected to her body suit that cover everything nose and down.  Leaving only her eyes exposed.

"Aqualad, who is she?" Artemis asked, hands already itching towards her arrows.

"Team, this is Ladybug. Ladybug, this is the team." He introduced, stepping away to allow them to assess each other.

"It's an honor to meet you all, Aqualad has spoken fondly of all of you. Welcome to Paris." She greeted professionally.

No one returned her greeting. They looked to Aqualad for more context.

He then gestured to Ladybug to speak. "You're probably confused as to who I am. I'm Ladybug, one of the heroes of Paris. We surfaced to reclaim a misused ancient magic artifact."

"Who is we?" Robin asked.

"Well, I realized that one city to one hero wasn't an equal ratio. So I formed a team to take some of the responsibility. Bunnix, Carapace, would you like to introduce yourselves?" A woman with an umbrella jumped from the top of the bridge and a man walked out from the shadow behind Ladybug. Both taller than her. Based on their themes, the man was Carapace and the woman was Bunnix.

"Sure thing, Boss." They said in unison and with exaggerated bows and salutes.

"Good Kwami, don't call me that." She said, pinching her nose.

"Our deepest apologies, Master. We beg your forgiveness." They spoke in unison again and with straight faces, too.

"God damn it, I'm not even fully trained-" She was interrupted by poorly muffled laughter behind her.

"Singe, you've been doing this for 3 years, and you still manage to reveal your presence in almost every situation-" Robin felt like he should interrupt before this escalates.

"Is that an umbrella?" He genuinely wanted to know.

"Are you judging? 'Cause, you shouldn't judge since you spent a year or so running around Gotham in green panties and a pole." Robin blushed in embarrassment. The team looked ready to fight these so called heroes.

"Ryu!" Ladybug reprimanded, looking affronted. Wait, Bunnix didn't say it? Then, who did?

"I'm so sorry about her. They're all really defensive about the umbrella." Okay?

"Who spoke then?" Kid Flash asked, still looking all little miffed about the comment.

"You know, Aqualad, there's enough of us for a spar." She said smirking, and ignoring Kid's question.

"If we're sparring, I want a few minutes with who ever said that stuff about Robin." He said glaring in no particular direction.

"Actually, I was thinking we do a group spar. Aqualad's team versus mine."  She suggested.

No one seemed to be against it.

"Okay then, prepare yourselves-" Aqualad started.

"Wait! I have to call of Pegasus." She brought her hand up to her ear and looked toward a building.

"Woah-woah-woah, hold up, you have a sniper?!" Kid Flash exclaimed, speedily looking around to see them.

"You have to be prepared for anything." She responded after finishing her comm-call.

"Yeah, but still, you have a sniper-"

A turquois portal appeared and a white-haired man in a brown leather bodysuit stepped out of it. His hair was held back in vertical braids gathered in a ponytail. He also wore pitch black sunglasses, even though it was the middle of the night.

"Hello." He greeted the teams before walking to stand next to Bunnix and Singe.

"Let's get ready to spar." Aqualad announced, walking not-to-subtlety towards Ladybug. The teams both walked of to strategize.

"You sure your ready to fight me again? It's been a couple months since our last spar." She quipped with pop of her hip and challenging smirk.

"If my memory is correct, you were the one with the losing streak." He smiled back with his patented sass.

"We'll see about that." They shared eye contact and a firm hand shake.

With a quick turn of a heel, "Formation!"

Bonus #1

For more context: Mari and Kaldur were not always this touchy feely. Mari spent a year or so out of Paris to train for Guardian purposes. She would have cataclysm herself before leaving Paris alone. But Tikki and Plagg convinced her that she was unstable with all of the guardian power and she would have to learn to control it. Outside of Paris. So they decided to give out the miraculous and have the new team pass around Tikki and she would take Plagg out of Paris (too many billboards and Plagg wasn't good at emotions).

So she was backpacking America, trying to find someone to help her. Unfortunately someone found her. Namely Aquaman and his partner.  Interrogating her just left them both offended.

But she did learn that she was now fluent in ancient languages, like the guardian language and Atlantean.

("What are you doing here?"

"That's not your problem."

"You sunk Atlantis! Of course it's our concern!"

"You Atlantean's think you're entitled to everything. That's why Plagg sunk your city."

"{In Atlantean} My King, should we take her to Poseidonis-"

"{in Atlantean} Excuse me, but I'm not going anywhere other than out of this cell."

"{In English} How do you-"

They call in the JL for backup and try to interrogate her, until Diana vetoes and pardons her. She offers to take her to Themyscira and train but Arthur vetoes that so now she's going to train with Roy and Kaldur. [Because they are the oldest and I believe that they worked together most pre-canon YJs1.]

{Whispers and Glares}"Atlantean bitch."

{Whispers and Glares} "Guardian scum.")

5 months and numerous fights later, Roy was tired friendTM of their shit and sat them down to make them talk. They spoke of both versions of the Sinking of Atlantis and came to the agreement that Plagg was sorry for taking things too far and that modern Atlanteans could not be blamed for the mistakes of one of their selfish past monarchs. [king whoever tried to use Plagg's miraculous to conquer and terrorize neighboring kingdoms, so in retaliation Plagg cataclysmed the entire country/city]

After getting over that they both realized, 'Hey, he/she's actually pretty cool."

Everyone kept in touch after she went back to Paris and bitched to each other about teammates and leadership and how it's, quote-unquote, 'unfair that it's legal for Mari to drink but not Roy'

I'm not good with timelines so I'm going to say that, Kaldur still has hopes for him and Tula, Mari's not entertaining anything more than friendship (no distractions), and Roy is too focused on teenaged rebellion.