#but I'm definitely gonna stray more from my reference this time

[calamitaswrath]

Barely even done with my first drawing, and I already just gotta get started on the next one. . .

[starstruckkittensweets]

puppy love

Chuuya Nakahara x Reader

fandom: bungo stray dogs

My latest fixation, Chuuya with puppies! My precious boy deserves to be happy with a doggy of his own, so I decided to play into this little fantasy of mine (and his, probably). I'm planning on writing more parts to this lil series, I think it's helping me get out of my writing slump. Also parts of this fic are inspired by Shiloh, one of my all-time favorite books (so much nostalgia...) and a bit of a reference to that one puppy episode from Wan. And the panel I used for the banner is from the BSD manga (I think it's ch. 24) I hope you enjoy!

warnings: mentions of stray animals, Reader cries but it's in relief, mostly fluff, pet names (mostly "doll" but used only once in this part), the start of a slow burn perhaps? || words: 2k

Part I | Part II | Part III

He’s halfway through his usual trek home, muscles burning and head pounding from another successful night’s mission, when he realizes he has a shadow.

Chuuya doesn’t let up his pace; stay calm, don’t give anything away—but he has to wonder, who could be this stupid to try to follow a mafia executive? And they’re not being subtle about it either. Making no effort to conceal their breaths or their footsteps—

Wait a minute…that sounds too light to be footsteps…

He sucks in a breath and turns around to face the culprit. Hands clenched into fists at his sides, preparing for a fight—

“Woof!”

Staring up at him is perhaps one of the cutest fucking dogs he’s ever laid eyes on. (Not that he’s seen many dogs, but the point still stands.) Pointy ears, fuzzy orange fur, white paws and a belly that definitely looks too plump for a street dog.

He stares at it. The dog stares back, pink tongue lolling out the side of its mouth.

“…Woof!”

It takes every ounce of strength he can muster not to melt right then and there on the sidewalk. A thousand squeals on the tip of his tongue, gloved hands itching to scratch under that fuzzy little chin of his.

Never mind any dog hair, fuck that. Who’s gonna try to turn their nose up at this little cutie?

Chuuya briefly scans the area—not a soul in sight, just him and his companion beneath the lamplights—before dropping to his knees. The dog paws at the ground, his curly tail swishing madly in the air.

“C’mere boy,” he keeps his voice soft, holding out a hand. But the dog doesn’t budge. He just stares at him with that big dumb smile of his.

That really adorable dumb smile.

He tries again. The dog tilts his head and refuses to move. So Chuuya tries another tactic: “C’mere, girl?”

Still doesn’t move a muscle. Although now the dog looks amused as he paces from side to side, just out of Chuuya’s reach.

Yeah, gotta be a boy with that kind of attitude.

Chuuya sighs before pushing himself off the ground. Ah well, guess he’s too nervous to approach humans. Can’t really blame him for that; this city’s got its fair share of unpleasant people. He deals with them all the time, so he can kinda relate.

He shoves his hands back into his pockets (try not to think about how soft the dog’s fur must be) and turns on his heel to head home. It’s getting late anyway, and he’s got to get an early start tomorrow morning. He can’t be spending all night moping around some stray puppy following him around.

Even if he is the cutest thing he’s ever laid eyes on.

But he only gets a few steps in before hearing the unmistakable click-click of the dog’s nails against the pavement. He stops, the dog stops too. He glances over his shoulder, biting back a smile at the dog’s happy face.

“What do you want, huh? I don’t have any food, so if that’s what you’re looking for…”

Not that he looks like he needs any treats to begin with. He’s seen a few of the dogs roaming around Yokohama, all skin and bones as they pick through tipped-over trash cans. And the stray cats are no better, ears flat against their skulls as they hiss and claw at everything in sight.

So why does this dog look so fucking proud of himself?

Chuuya sighs and whistles to himself—and suddenly the dog comes running.

Two dirty paws plant themselves on his dress pants, that’ll surely be hard to get out, but how can he get angry when the dog’s trying so hard to reach his face? He chuckles under his breath as he kneels down to his level, as the dog plants kiss after kiss on his face with his slobbery tongue.

“Who knew all it took was a whistle?” he says more to himself than to the pup. The dog’s tail is wagging so hard he thinks it’ll fall off, the tiny little thing that it is.

He slides one of his gloves off, letting the dog sniff his hand before scratching him behind the ears. He was right, his fur is so soft… And his smile only gets bigger when the dog licks him again, not even minding all the drool.

But then he stiffens, slipping his fingers through the dog’s fur, noticing a red band of leather fastened around his neck. A collar? No way he’s someone’s pet. Then again, he does look a little too spoiled to be wandering the streets for food.

He curls his finger around the golden tag dangling from the buckle. No name, only an address he thinks he recognizes. Right on the edge of Yokohama, where the scent of sea salt is the strongest. Is it someone’s house? Apartment? Maybe a  shelter of some kind?

Chuuya steals another look at the dog, at those sweet brown eyes and twitching wet nose, trying his best to ignore the icy clench of his stomach. Maybe it’s for the best, just to bring him back. What’s he gonna do with a dog, anyway? Not like his job allows for much time raising a puppy, anyway.

Even one so cute as this little guy.

“Alright,” he sighs, scooping the pup in his arms, “let’s get you home.” He tries not to dwell on how warm the puppy is, or how softly he nestles his face in the crook of his shoulder.

And definitely not the way he can feel the pup drifting off to sleep as he starts down the sidewalk in the opposite direction. Gentle puffs against his skin, his curly tail twitching against his wrist.

“Kotaro! There you are!”

The engraving on the pup’s collar has led him to a tiny little shop a few minutes from the port. A bit shabby with a torn sign on the top and windows that have definitely seen better days, and he’s about to turn tail (no pun intended) until he sees someone nearly fly out through the set of double doors.

“Kotaro!” Your voice is strained, tears streaming down your cheeks as you sweep the puppy into your arms. Clutching him as tight as you can, smoothing down the fur on his head as he stirs awake from his little nap. “I was worried sick… How did you escape again?! I could’ve sworn I locked the doors… You’re just lucky I came back downstairs when I did—or else you would’ve been out there all night long!”

The puppy only wags his tail, staring up at you with those silly eyes and sweet little “smile.” He knows it’s your weakness, how could you be angry at a face like that?

Oh, well. As long as he’s safe, you can’t really hold a grudge against him. Not when he’s back in your arms, safe and sound, and it’s just the two of you, just as it always should be.

It’s only when you hear someone clear their throat that you realize you’re actually not alone. You hastily wipe your eyes with the back of your hand—it’s a little difficult with a nearly-twenty-pound dog in your arms—and stare up at the man before you. Kotaro’s savior, your savior. And suddenly you feel a fresh wave of tears surge forth.

“Thank you for bringing him back! I’m so sorry if he’s caused you any trouble, I know he has a habit of bothering people when he sneaks out—I thought I’d kept him inside this time! He just has a thing for running away like the little troublemaker he is. He’s still young, hopefully he’ll grow out of it when he’s older, maybe he’ll mellow out and settle down, and then…”

You bite your tongue and avert your eyes. No need to scare off the stranger with your incessant rambling, especially after he was so nice to bring Kotaro back to you. But he only shakes his head, a soft smile on his lips as he tips his hat over his eyes.

“Don’t worry about it, he didn’t cause too much trouble.” He lifts a hand, allowing Kotaro to sniff him before scratching the fur beneath his chin. “Keep an eye on him, though. You don’t want him getting lost out there, especially this time of night.”

“I know… I swear, he’s gonna give me gray hairs before the end of the year. The other dogs aren’t even this mischievous, I don’t know where he got it from!”

Wait, other dogs?

He glances over your shoulder, towards the dingy windows of the shop. Pet supplies and part-time shelter, the sign plastered on the glass says. And sure enough, the closer he looks at your outfit, he can see little bits of dog fur clinging to the fabric—some gray, some brown, some white, and then a hint of orange thanks to Kotaro.

Just how many dogs do you have in there?

“Anyway, I just wanna say I really appreciate you bringing him back here. You didn’t have to, I know you’re probably busy. Let me just run inside and get my wallet, I think I have some left over if you want—”

But he’s quick to shut you down with a shake of his head, even a wave of his hands for emphasis. No money, he’s already got plenty of that to spare. And besides, it doesn’t sit right with him, paying him for something that should come naturally to any decent person.

And he doesn’t want to sound mean, but judging from the shape of that little shop of yours, you look like you can use every last cent you have.

“Oh, if you say so… But still, why don’t I make it up to you sometime?”

An uneasy silence settles in the air between you; Chuuya blinks as he watches you shift your weight, partially hiding your face in Kotaro’s fur.

“…I mean, you don’t have to—I just wanna pay you back some way! Maybe I can treat you to lunch one of these days? I don’t have many days off, but I can make it work! Or maybe…do you have a dog of your own? I can give you a discount on anything in the shop!” You throw an arm out to the double doors behind you, still holding Kotaro to your chest. “Name it and it’s yours! I really don’t mind, it’s just me here anyway. Well, me and the dogs, all nine of us.”

Wait, nine, including yourself…

“You have eight of them?!”

A laugh bubbles up in your throat at the look on Chuuya’s face. He reminds you of a child on Christmas morning, staring at the presents strewn around the glowing tree. He doesn’t seem one to enjoy the company of dogs, given his fancy attire and confident aura.

And yet, he still brought Kotaro back home, when he could’ve easily turned and walked the other way. You’ve learned not to judge a book by its cover, after all.

“Eight dogs, and hopefully more by the end of the year.” Your cheeks grow warm beneath his startling blue gaze. (His eyes are really pretty up close, aren’t they?) “…I can tell you all about them on our lunch date, if you’re interested.”

He blinks, eyes flitting back and forth between you and the dog in your arms. You’ve got guts, he’ll give you that; he can see it in the way you talk to him, the way you hold the puppy in your arms. Gentle as ever, but a fire brimming in your eyes. You love this dog, no doubt about it.

And you’ve got seven more inside? Do you love them all the same amount?

What breeds are they? How did you come to adopt so many dogs at once? Or did you adopt them at once, or sporadically over the years?

So many questions, and yet the night is crawling by. He shakes his head again, giving Kotaro one last scratch behind the ears, before meeting your gaze once more.

“Lunch sounds perfect, doll.”

Your lips pull up in a smile, and he can’t help but notice how it nearly matches the one on Kotaro’s face. Bright and eager, melting under the attention of the ones around you.

And yet your smile is infinitely prettier, and he finds himself thinking about it as he starts the familiar journey back home, as the night hours slowly tick by.

[ashthemadwriter-archived]

Getting to be your first time

Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs

Pairing: Dazai, Chuuya X Fem!Reader

Request: "Chuuya and Dazai with a fem reader that’s a shy virgin that has never managed to pleasure herself, that’s what’s on my filthy mind rn" ◜By lovely anon!!◞

Genre: Smut

Format: Drabble

Warnings: NSFW! content, Pet names (Doll), Vaginal penetration, Cunnilingus, Oral (F receiving), etc

Word Count: 0.7K

A/n: Eye eye captain!

↳Osamu Dazai

The way you try to hide your face as his tongue goes deeper inside you has him losing his fucking mind. Dazai has taken a lot of virginities, he's been lots of people's "first time"; but not once he had ever felt special, not like how he feels now.

He's amused with how sensitive you are, and how you refuse to let go of his hand despite facing the need to squirm around. He's told you to let go and don't hold yourself back multiple times, but you just don't listen;

it's like you're asking him to take the lead and show you how loud he can make you become, without actually saying it.

Dazai is having the time of his life down there. He loves it when no matter how much he eats you out, your pussy still gets wet with even more arousal.

He decides to be gentle with you, to not rush anything and go on slowly. He takes his time, leaning closer to bask you with euphoria as he makes out with your cunt, delighted by the way you moan whenever he pokes your clit with his tongue.

"O-Osamu... I- I think I'm..."

No. He can't hold back anymore. Not when you call out for him this prettily.

Dazai Osamu is one greedy man, and he does not hesitates to show it off. He slowly rubs your entrance with one digit while focusing on the sensitive spot on your clit, and spares no pain to suck on the tender flesh to earn louder whines from you. Maybe you're just as greedy as he is; or else you wouldn't throw your head back and push his head further to your core, making the poor man suffocate between your thighs. But he is not irritated even one bit; Running out of breath while he has you screaming for him in his last moments are a dream he lives to see it becoming true.

He will try to be good for you, and maybe you will let him take his frustration out on your tight little pussy tonight,

and for many more nights to come.

↳Chuuya Nakahara

Chuuya can't decide if his pleased with the current situation, or annoyed.

Of course he's happy that he finally gets to have you all to himself, hell he will even refer to his current mood as "head over heels"; but it's not gonna work out if you keep hiding your face with your hands.

He gently grasps your hands and pulls them aside, revealing your gorgeous flushed face and an innocent look in your eyes that drives him insane. He just can't understand why you try so hard to keep him from seeing your pretty face and your cute little whimpers.

"Do you trust me, doll?"

Nod.

"Then stop holding back, ok? I wanna see you baby. All of you. You're so gorgeous sweetheart. Fucking breathtaking for me. So don't shy away anymore, alright?"

After seeing your nod of approval, he smirks and kisses your jawline as he starts rocking his hips back and forth again, satisfied when he finally hears your moans clearly. He hisses when he feels your hand approaching your mouth to cover it again, so he suddenly bites your neck.

Your loud whimper definitely fueled his ego, more than he expected.

Needy lips targeting the sensitive spot on your neck, attacking the warm skin with kitty licks and kisses are not exactly helping. You can't hold yourself from giving in anymore; digging your nails in his back while wrapping your legs around him are just making it more obvious.

Chuuya can clearly feel you getting closer to your release as your moans become louder and your grasp around him tightens, and he can't wait to feel your walls squeeze around him as you hide your face in the crook of his neck.

He would have told you that this was not going to be the end of the night, but the fun must be saved from ruining, right?

All rights reserved © 2022 AshTheMadWriter. Please do not copy, repost, translate, or modify my works on any platform.

[meanbossart]

Some art-advice asks I've been meaning to reply to!

I use Clip Studio Paint Pro, though I'm not sure what tips I could give just in general. Just experiment with new things often, draw as much as your lifestyle allows, watch how other people do their work but try to avoid "Dont do THIS thing ever" type lessons and tutorials. Use as much reference as you'd like and take your time! To this day a simple sketch can still take me several hours to do depending on what it is.

Thank you so much!!! I didn't do any kind of formal art schooling but I've always been inclined towards arts and crafts, and started taking drawing semi seriously when I was about 17 (I'm 27 now). I draw a lot of inspiration from western comics and my favorite artists are jason shawn alexander and sean murphy.

Oh I'm so flattered to hear my stuff's inspired you to take up drawing again, I have a bunch of little crafty hobbies but art is by far the most fulfilling one to me - largely because you're constantly learning and improving.

You're definitely onto something already, I am constantly looking at other people's art (even If it isn't a style I would want to emulate) and analyzing how the pieces come together to create the final product. In my opinion this is pretty much the best way you can go about learning besides real-life reference drawing. You can even take something into your software of choice/print it out and trace it (just to yourself, of course) to get a sense of hand-motion and line use.

As a beginner I think there's no shame at all in taking heavy inspiration from your favorite artists, as long as you aren't straight up copying things and calling them your own. Your personal style Is likely to come out naturally, with time. That's very much how I started myself!

Also, just be patient with yourself, try to have realistic goals for your skill level while simultaneously being proud of everything you do. Even if you absolutely despise a drawing, you still drew something! And even if it doesn't feel that way you most definitely learned from it. Use learning tools and tutorials to whatever point you feel comfortable with but don't get stuck on people's arbitrary rules - unless we're talking about something tangible like real-life application of traditional art tools, things like anatomy, perspective and light are to be referenced from - but It's not the goal to emulate them 100% unless you ARE going for hyperrealism. As someone who uses a ton of reference these days, I can tell you first-hand that I often find myself straying from it on purpose to make a piece look more interesting.

Lastly, draw things you enjoy! Don't let anyone else dictate what you SHOULD be doing and don't fall into the trappings of wanting to stick to one specific style, process, or subject matter.

Good luck!!!

LOL thank you so much for your very evocative compliments! I haven't ever done a timelapse, not that I remember at least. I'm not sure how they work but I do so much of "I'm gonna try this thing 5 different ways and then decide what I like" that I'm not sure how comprehensive that would be LOL

I could put together a process showcase or something though, I feel like that might be better even, since I get to explain a little of what I'm doing through text and display how I use reference. Something to consider!

[sunghanne]

STAR RACER － ENHYPEN GREASE AU SERIES | PART 3 🚦

racer!enhypen & flaggirl!reader

PARTS: PROLOGUE, PART 1, PART 2 , PART 4. coming soon...

TITLE: ST★R-RACER : PART 3. MAKING ENEMIES

feat. ENHYPEN, TXT, STRAY KIDS?!

PLOT: in a small town during the 1950s, seems the only thing keeping careless teenagers entertained are drag races where only the elite participate. and those elite are known as star racers.

WARNINGS: coarse language, sexual themes, sexist remarks, ooc idols, illegal acts, violence, tba...

TAGLIST: @lalalalawon , @strvlveera comment your @/user to be added!

WORD-COUNT: 8.5k

NOTE: heyy, in hopes to keep the 1950's setting authentic, there are sexist jokes so please watch out for that. because the reality is, that mindset was not rare to come across during those times. this chapter is NOT EDITED at all. i'm sorry if its not my best one. likes, reposts and comments are all heavily appreciated, thank you and enjoy!!

"ow, that hurts y/n! you've never done this before have you?!" the whining male cried out as you shushed him with a harsh tug of the tuff of his dark hair, his yells echoing off the bathroom walls.

you shot him a death glare through the mirror of your bathroom, standing behind riki's sitting figure with foil and bleach encased around his head like someone's grandma with a head of rollers, "no, but i know what i'm doin'! i saw this on a commercial, it's a piece of cake," you reassured, even snorting quietly in your throat at the stupidity in your words. riki wasn't sure whether to be even more terrified than before at such unhelpful guidance.

"if i come home bald, you're gonna tell my folks exactly what you'd done," he huffed as you painted a thick coat of hair dye on a handful of his strands. you tutted at his childish nagging and focused on the task at hand.

"the ladies are gonna be all over you," you sang while lifting a foil-covered bunch of his hair and waving it in the air for him to see in the mirror. his dark eyes shot open at the new colour enveloping his virgin hair, "look at that."

"shit, how many times do i gotta do this?" he asked when a concentrated yellow appeared from his roots to the ends of his hair.

you hummed at his inquisitive question and with a cheery smile you replied, "only around four times." his head was thrown back while he wailed out with a mocking cry, like a child on his first day of school. you nudged his head back forward with the bleach applicator in your hand so the foil wouldn't fall out of place.

"i better win this upcoming race," he sulked while sitting up properly as you enforced harshly. you giggled and immediately started teasing him if he didn't win, he'd be on a permanent ban from racing ever again. except, when the day arrived. you didn't know what kinda racer yang jeongin really was.

"shit," you cursed out aloud, having to almost yell it to be heard over the jostling barracks, feeling guilty, "we missed riki's takeoff," your eyes searched for sunghoon's and he ducked his head low am tousled some of his light silver hair in a fluster. you originally wanted to be cheering your heart out for riki's first race back in action but you were so lost in your conversation with chan and felix that you forgot all about it.

"right, yeah," sunghoon plainly responded, eyes scanning the scene of the flag girl skipping off to her side of the track, "he's made in the shade. let 'em be," he nonchalantly finished while the crowd's volume gradually decreased and currently in a waiting period.

definition:'made in the shade'. > success guaranteed.

"yeah, she'll be right," felix grinned, most likely referring to his mate, jeongin. you were curious about brace boy, particularly that last conversation he looked like he held with riki where riki held his pinky up and did a promise in the air. your attention was placed back onto felix who has turned away with a hand tucked into his pocket.

definition:’she’ll be right’. > he/she/they will do fine.

"you're a star racer?" you questioned the freckled-faced male diagonal from you and he shone a proud smile at your acknowledgement.

"that's right. why is everyone always surprised when i tell them this?" felix asked while turning his head to his familiar, chan. his voice uncertain and high-pitched at the backhanded reaction from you.

"you're just so friendly, the other stars i've met are too busy touching their gearsticks to come up to another star and chat," you explained and his nose scrunched at your misleading metaphor of gearsticks. sunghoon snickered beside you quietly, silently agreeing in his mind. you weren't entirely off the mark saying that, hell, soobin never cared for his opponent at the beginning or end of the event. too busy stroking his machine on wheels to unsuspecting girls from his side.

"aw, that's real peachy of you. where's this star of yours?" he wondered while pressing a flat hand above his brow bone and squinting his eyes, deliberately looking over sunghoon during his theatrical act. of course, only chan found this bit funny. sunghoon on the other hand was driving forward to brush his hand on felix's shoulder to spin him back around to where hyunjin stood.

"cut the gas. i need another weed," sunghoon demanded the childish counterpart of his, hiding his internalised annoyance for being overlooked. felix let out a toothy laugh and called out for the red-haired male several metres from where we stood.

definition:'weed'. > a cigarette.

hwang's fierce eyes faltered at the outlandish male calling his name in a deliberate baby voice and reluctantly came to his heed. leaving the makeshift spotlight of the lamp post behind him, his charming features were illuminated in the natural moonlight, half of his face hidden in the shadows. and as he approached even closer, he was surprisingly almost as tall as sunghoon.

"what is it?" he grizzled out, annoyance evident in the way he spoke at felix's antics. the male in question patted his disgruntled friend on the back and gestured towards sunghoon with his free arm like a tour guide.

"a cig for the gentleman here," the playful boy announced and hyunjin's dark pupils shrunk upon landing on sunghoon.

"park, where's your little groupie?" the newcomer asked, their voice tainted with boredom like he didn't care about the answer regardless. you were curious about their history together so you kept a keen eye on their interactions. hyunjin's slim hand hid in his jacket's pocket and when he retracted it, a cigarette was flown at sunghoon in an instant. your friend paused and reeled forward to catch the stick, startled. "need me to light it for you too, eyebrows?"

sunghoon's brows dipped at the name-calling from his opposite, ignoring such disruptive teasing and lighting his cigarette smoothly. he sighed peacefully, blowing smoke that lapsed the red-haired male in spite. the misty effect around the said boy with the mole beneath his left eye made you want to jump out of your sneakers and hope to catch a ride with him home. he had no reason to look so effortlessly gorgeous. eyes starting to water from the lack of blinking, a carefully placed hand spun you around towards the upper slope of the concrete walls.

"hitting the road so soon? tell lee i said hello," hyunjin's voice poured and you felt sunghoon's nails almost dig into your fabric-covered arm in frustration. he couldn't answer why the other men weren't with him, it'd only open more holes for the opposition to pry. so for your safety and his, the only thing he could do was turn his back and exit without a word.

"want a drink?" he questioned to break the defeating silence on the way up the slope. it felt like it was the two of you against the world, a familiar feeling with you and sunghoon being placed in difficult positions to crawl out of. it was so lonely, jungwon and sunoo didn't come with you and jake was somewhere in the crowd preparing for his upcoming race.

if you weren't sure which of the two boys from earlier would be against jake, you'd be safe to assume ruby locks. chan the creep was a close competitor but something about his appearance didn't scream racer. the reason you weren't familiar with this handful of boys was that they were not in town often. why? because they were from a nearby suburb and only came to your drag strip because it was better than whatever set-up they had. this only lead you to ponder what kind of people they were.

"yeah, please," you agreed to sunghoons suggestion and he changed directions of your footing to a nearby huddle of people around a foldable table, impatient hands of money held out to whoever was running the alcohol-selling get-up.

the rumble of an engine, the screech of tires, the painful sting of car oil and your sweet face amongst the strands of hair flying behind you. that's all heeseung could recall in his last moments of racing before everything turned cold.

when he saw you and sunghoon running away from him, getting chased by soobin, beomgyu, taehyun and kai, he knew he was at a loss. he fidgetted with his door lock, hands soiled in grease resulting in his fingers being slippery with the hard surface. then, with a dip in his legs, he limped out of his messy car and turned right back around to look at the state it was in. just his luck, the white shine of his vehicle was ruined by a clear brown slick splattered inside and outside it.

"fuck. fuck, what am i gonna do," he cursed while his wet fingers came in contact with the back of his hair, jostling his strands in frustration. he had two options, go to you and the mobs surrounding yeonjun or hit the road. he couldn't go home like this, and neither could he relish in humiliation from everyone. so, weighing his options, he began his journey up the closest slope with heavy footsteps.

he loathed the way his favourite jacket was now dirtied with car oil and his footsteps left marks on the dry pavement behind him. he just prayed to god that they would dry up by the time anyone else came to find him.

this side of town for heeseung was unexplored. the neighbouring school's turf, that's all he took in as his head turned while walking past the tall, brick building. the school for the higher-ups. the school where students probably didn't spend their after-school time in gas-ridden garages as he did. he had made quite the change in progress from the race track he crawled out of and now found himself deeper in the bramble bushes on the opposite side of town.

he smelled awful, like a gas station set on fire. he still wore his damp jacket, knowing it was a smarter idea to throw it off but the evening breeze was way too cold to discard it so easily. and, part of the boy believed there'd be a chance to save it when he got himself out of the mess.

a deafening beep of someone's car brought the boy out of his clashing thoughts when he found himself crossing a road, green appearing on every street light around him. his eyebrows furrowed and he clenched his teeth in annoyance, throwing up a middle finger to the driver as he picked his pace up while meeting the other side of the pavement.

he wasn't the type to dawdle stupidly. he was irritated at his thoughts tuning him out of the real-world enough to make him senselessly cross a road.  also half irritated at the scare and the loud beep made his heavy shoulders flinch. he was wondered what was going on in the drag strip right now. the other school was having their bash and you were probably with the other boys heading home or to sunoo's diner for burgers and shakes.

just his luck, the neon wiring on a shop's board spelled '24hrs' stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the dark windows of already closed establishments. he'd found a 24-hour dry cleaner and maybe he didn't hate the previous rage road for rushing him to it. the entrance bells rang as he stepped in, his hand leaving a thin coat of car oil on the door handle.

the cleaning service smelled of lavender-scented washing detergent and the warm smell of an iron pressed to clothes, a nice change from his burnt tire-smelling 'cologne'. behind a run-down service desk was an employee, looking up from her newspaper, glasses tilting up her nose bridge. her face was partly distorted behind the tip jar that only had two coins in it. the stranger's mouth was parted, most likely surprised a customer even came in at this time of night or maybe at the appearance of heeseung who looked like he'd crawled right out of some swamp.

heeseung was just as surprised to see a girl his age working, assuming it was a family-owned business and she was most likely forced to stay late nights as punishment for bad test results. but, he knew he would be able to use this to his advantage.

"pick up for, er, nathan," he fibbed while fiddling with the cuffs of his jacket, praying to whatever god above that there was a customer named nathan. the girl's eyebrows raised, realising she actually had to do her job. so with the fold of her newspaper, she jumped down from her seat and tiptoed towards the long hanger racks with a collection of clothing hanging.

heeseung tailed behind her, proceeding to the opposite side of the two stripes of clothing racks and clicking the hangers together as he frantically sought clothes that could do the trick. long floral nightgowns, tuxedos, and even a wedding dress yet, no clothing fit for a teenager. "i'm sorry, no clothes under the name nathan," the employee fret while turning around to look at heeseung's opposite spot to hers.

he clicked his tongue in annoyance, not replying but only heightening his pace in scrolling through articles of fabric till his hands paused at someone's long pair of coveralls, clean and freshly ironed. he unhooked it and held it to the girl observing and smiled, "found it," he responded and the girl pushed her glasses up her nose bridge at the awkward feeling of being bested by a customer.

"really? oh, there we go then," she replied without a console and padded back towards her counter, leaning her elbows on the surface while picking her newspaper up. heeseung was silently celebrating in his mind at his successful act, treading towards the girl whose stationed right at the exit.

he calmly slid off his oily jacket and threw it on the edge of the counter she didn't lean on, a few rolling coins with it, "thanks, buttercup. i'll pick this one up next," the boy spoke with a wink at the broad. then, he pressed forward and left the building, stolen coveralls folded over one of his arms. as he disappeared from the store's large windows, he couldn't help a long arm of his being pulled back to his side in a celebratory dance, hoping on his light feet to an imaginary beat in his head as he skipped past dimly lit buildings.

you and sunghoon were regretful forgetting to watch riki's departure. because when he rolled in a fraction of a minute after jeongin, that's when hell broke loose.

you leapt up from your sitting position and pulled sunghoon with you to the middle of the track where riki had just parked. before getting a word in, the protruding male shoved through the circle of students encasing jeongin and raised a fist to the unsuspecting boy's face. about to strike, he was roughly pushed to the floor and met with the untamed clashes of three pairs of shoes.

"watch it, greaser!" chan yelled before laughing and settling his foot right on top of riki's reddening ear, earning a hiss of pain from the younger. your eyes widened in worry while you mirrored riki's shoving tactic to maneuver the crowd out of the way for you and sunghoon. you'd never expect such a rocky entrance from your friend.

"beat it!" you yelled while trying to shoo off hyunjin, felix and chan who had been kicking and stomping on riki's fetal position. sunghoon aided you by rutting his shoulder into the trio of men to make space for you. you placed your drink on the floor while ducking down to help riki up. he was roughed out, swipes of dirt in the pattern of shoe prints all over his clothes and face.

"what's the big idea?" sunghoon grumbled while glaring at the prosecutors, chan swiped his nose, sniffing inwards while his eyes searched the crowds like he was expecting someone. the look in the other two boys echoed the same reaction and sunghoon was taken aback by their behaviour. they were waiting for everyone else, jay, jungwon, sunoo and heeseung to interfere but no one came. sunghoon could tell, another light of pride flickering off in his mind. they weren't here.

only jake was running down the concrete slopes while his dark leather jacket flew behind him with every airy step he took.

"what's our prob? like you didn't just see your yoot strike ours first," hyunjin replied while his shoulders seemed to relax at the lack of our crew members. your head turned to riki as he grappled onto your hand and slowly unfurled himself, wincing during the gradual motion.

definition:'yoot'. > a younger sibling.

he wasn't looking at hyunjin, nor sunghoon at that. he was only staring at one boy. the boy with a sadistic grin spread across one cheek to the other, braces shown and all, "what happened, riki?" you questioned lowly in case you'd tripped on a wire that lead to the alarms going off in his head. his eyebrows furrowed while he wiped the back of his palm against his nostrils, a crimson fluid left behind on his pale skin.

"take a look at it yourself, this brute just dented jay's ride," he explained while your head flicked back to the boy's car he had borrowed from jay to use. jake positioned himself next to riki and viewed the area like a radar, a serious scowl on his face from his usual sweet smile.

"no rules in drag racin'," jeongin spoke up, and it was the first time you'd ever heard him. he sounded youthful and the cruel smile still on his face only added to it.

"you wanna pay for your damages? go ahead," riki rasped, a clothed arm against his nostrils to try and soak up his bleeding nose. the boy opposite to him only raised an eyebrow, looking over to his older peers like riki had just told a bad joke.

"i'm not the one losing the race, why would i?" jeongin rhetorically questioned while his smile finally dropped and only then did he finally give you the creeps. riki seethed through his teeth and stepped forward with hunched shoulders before he was stopped by sunghoon's hand.

"relax, he's just tryna bug you. ts'only the first race. jake and i got this," sunghoon reassured and rubbed his hand on riki's shoulder. the younger affirmed with a nod of his head and took a few steps backwards, almost bumping into you if you didn't move away at the right time.

"come on riki, let's get you fixed up," you persuaded the other and tugged on the cuff around his free hand. he reluctantly turned around, his eyes being the last of his body to disappear from the four boys.

"his mom came to pick him up, ain't that nice," you heard jeongin mock, only earning a small snicker from the crowd here and there. but you didn't care. cheaters would never have real skill and that's that.

you lead riki back towards the slanted pavement, in hopes of finding some tissues or an ice pack around somewhere. as you left lightly, you heard jake's voice question sunghoon about what happened and the crowd slowly disburse in preparation for the next race.

with a cold glass of beer against riki's sore face, his eyes never lifted off the concrete you two sat on. you clutched onto your long skirt and bit your bottom lip while mindlessly tracing your eyes on the tire tracks left in the dirt as jake and hyunjin already started their race.

"so... what really happened?" you asked the boy gently and he groaned at the forming bruise on his cheek that hurt every time he tried to speak.

"that son of a bitch' decided to play dirty when i was ahead of him for half the race," his voice was nasally due to the two twisted tissues stuffed up his nostrils and you could laugh at his state if it wasn't such a serious situation.

"he just rammed into you?" you questioned in uncertainty a boy so sweet looking like jeongin could be so fierce on the racetrack. but riki wanted to prove you wrong.

"yes. before the race, he told me no hard feelings for whoever won. so much for that act," he spat in betrayal, his gold locks draped around the sides of his face like a curtain. you assumed that's why riki held his pinky up before his race, motioning a promise to that flawed oath. you lightly chewed on the insides of your mouth, thinking his outrage seemed justified.

"what a joke," you commented while tucking a piece of your hair behind your ear and looked off towards the distance to not pile on the shame the boy was already drowning in.

"ts'tough. i wanted to win so badly. now everyone still thinks i'm a joke," he vented while continuing the shield on his expression. you immediately consoled the doubtful boy, a gentle hand stroking his back soothingly.

"that's not true. shit, i doubt anybody could handle the stress of being crashed into during a race," you pleaded while trying to cheer the boy up. he lifted his face slowly and his bangs fell to their correct placement, eyes lightened at your encouraging resolve.

"think so?" he asked in a low voice and you nodded with a small grin at his change in attitude.

"keeno," you responded and he sighed in relief while closing his eyes and rocking his head back.

definition:'keeno'. > keen, sure.

"this little kindness thing you do, is this what you learn in bible study, y/n?" his tone suddenly changed as he teased you with his usual banter. your eyebrows furrowed before you abruptly tore a tissue down from his nostrils and he cried loudly at the sting and the gush of blood that came out with it.

jake won his race. you were glad to see the smug grin wiped off of hyunjin's face upon his arrival. this glimmer of hope made your shoulders lift at the chance your crew could still win the night. it was you, jake and riki sitting together along the pavement waiting for the winner. riki's previous beer was now being used for its actual purpose and he gulped it down without a care in the world once his bruise stopped hurting and his nose quit bleeding.

jake was talking about how some pack of girls kept crowding around him like flies when he first arrived, hence his disappearance when you and felix first met. you thought it was a little funny why jake was always trying to run away from his group of fans every time he raced and riki made some comment about how jake probably swung the other way which he immediately denied.

the topic changed, rotating between what holiday jay was forced upon by his father, whether riki's voice had dropped yet and if heeseung was going to come back or not. where would he be? what could have taken him two weeks of his life from racing? not only was the absence at his desk at school starting to grow a pit in your stomach but also the doubt whether he was coming back or not.

you and the seven boys were childhood friends, in preschool, middle school all the way to high school the seven of you were inseparable. heeseung wasn't the kind of person to throw away years like that just for some hurt pride. so he had to come back.

the loud echo of an oncoming vehicle's radio sounded from atop the slope opposite your side. it was a roofless, bright blue automobile but the pack of men inside it is what surprised you the most. the two boys in the backseat were standing up and cooing like wild animals, fists in the air that held bottles of liquor. the people sitting on the concrete slope had to jump and run out of the road for the vehicle barging through them to avoid being squashed flat.

the men standing up only held onto the top of the front seat headers to retain their balance as the car veered forward down the slope dangerously to the point it could almost tip over. the air out of your lungs was socked out at such a stunt as the rolling vehicle came to a halt once it met the flat ground. the bass of the radio reflected off the pavement and you could hear your ears thumping to the same rhythm of the music before it clicked off and the four men jumped out.

"yeah, the boys!" chan's loud voice yelled while he ran from his previous viewing position to greet the other individuals with bear hugs and handshakes. your head steered towards the two boys beside you, curious about their reactions as well. jake's lips were parted and with clenched teeth, he fidgeted in his position steadily. riki's eyebrows were raised far enough for his forehead to crease in interest to what the appearance of these newcomers entailed to the event.

your eyes squinted while watching the figures below where the three of you say upon and their interactions. they behaved like sleazy, booze-infested apes who only knew how to communicate by yelling and wooing at everything. "who are they?" you questioned, not directed to either of your friends but jake took the initiative.

"that's the rest of their gang," he cooly replied and his lips licked out of habit and discomfort. if sunghoon didn't win, he would be the bud of jokes between the just-arriving men.

"shit, there's a mob of them," you cursed while counting up the numbers of your crew. four to eight did not look appealing to you at all.

"they're bad news," jake quietly continued while his eyes traced the furthest he could of the race track for any sign of sunghoon or felix. and you believed him. the appearance of such a feral group muddled with the only familiar handful of men you knew from them completed a perfect puzzle in your head. they were much worse than yeonjun and his group. way worse.

heeseung didn't have anywhere to stay the night. but when the company of his worn coveralls found him tiptoeing in the night, they invited him in. the owner of the repairman company, an old, balding man asked heeseung where he found the uniform which the boy answered shamelessly. unexpectedly, the old man laughed at such brutal honesty and offered heeseung a job.

so for the upcoming days, heeseung spent every day and night on the job, using the telephone outlet to call home and promise his temperamental mother that he'd be home soon and was just out with the boys. the owner of the establishment loved heeseung and his surprising work on vehicles.

"you seem to know a lotta 'bout cars, son. your old man a mechanic too?" his low antique voice asked while heeseung lay on a creeper on the undercarriage of a car, toying with something. a bead of sweat rolled down his dirt-staining temple while he licked his lips to answer.

"nah. just a knack i picked up," he lightly responded in such a bent-over position, his voice was coarse and throaty.

"impressive. skilled with your hands, aren't ya," the old man chuckled at his gag and heeseung just softly chortled at the dirty joke.

"no sweat," heeseung replied while focusing back on his work. that was the domestic dynamic he held with the owner who so generously offered food, shelter and a job to him. but all things come to an end and heeseung had a group to return to and a race to win.

and that's where heeseung found himself, sprinting out of the joint with nothing but a cigarette in his mouth and handfuls of scrunched cash stuffed into his pockets and crowded against his stomach as he ran away with the infuriated man behind him. of course, being at such old age made the owner give up easily and retreat to inside the store and to the nearest telephone for the police.

heeseung was smiling, laughing breathlessly at such a successful act that merely took a week and a half to achieve. the loud steps of his black converses came to a stop in front of the only store with a neon sign at this time of night. the dry cleaners where he could finally collect his jacket.

he swung the door open, ignoring the glare of the same girl at the run-down counter as he raced to the hanger racks to find it. the loud scratch of the girl's chair bounced off of the poster-ridden walls when she stood up in disbelief at the return of the boy who left her with a hand of dirty pennies and a destroyed jacket.

"nathan?" she abruptly spoke up and heeseung's pace faltered for a brief moment while he ignored her calling. she had a lot of questions in mind as to why he was running with wads of cash glued to him and why it took him to long to collect his jacket.  "those aren't yours, are they?" her glasses adjusted on her nose bridge as two shakey fingers pressed against them. she was referring to his coveralls now soiled in stains. he had almost forgotten the fake name he used so he didn't even realise she was referring to him.

"s'course they aren't mine. you realise this world is full of cheaters," he rhetorically asked through messy heaves of his chest while still flicking through articles of clothing. he was drenched in sweat and, motor oil and dirt, almost as dishevelled as the girl first saw him. her hands, once preoccupied with the newspaper she once read grasped onto her long red polka-dot skirt, uneasy with such a mean response.

the brief moment of silence broke at the relieved sigh that left the tall boy's parched lips as he found his beloved jacket. before he could pad back towards the entrance, the bright flash of red and blue reflected off the windows as police cars drove past at a deathly slow pace. they were searching for him. heeseung's dark eyes widened and he ducked down in an attempt to hide before his vision was clouded by red and white polka dots. "nathan, behind here," the gentle voice above the endangered male brought him back to reality and the crisis he was in.

the employee gestured to behind the front desk and he complied, side shuffling on his aching knees behind it. the girl was like his reflection, mirroring his positioning to take light steps and use her wide skirt to cover his face while he made haste getting to behind the desk. he met with the grim dusty table legs and leaned his back against it with a clamouring heartbeat. the unnamed girl returned to her usual position, reading a newspaper but all the tiny printed letters were too blurred by her adrenaline to actually process anything.

police cars swarmed by, their loud tires burning rubber against the road outside and their brash sirens singing out. heeseung was more than grateful for the little helping hand as he would've been toast if he was still out in the open. the only thing he thought about was the son of a bitch who ratted him out and sent a flock of police after him. he'd understand one or two cars but half a street full was asking for too much. it wasn't like he robbed the man's entire life savings, only a till full.

his partner in crime only took the flashing reflection in her glasses as a signal that the police cars had finally passed by and she craned her guilty head down to the man below her. his pearly white teeth shone, smirking in his pleasing tactic of avoiding the authorities, "thought you were a good girl. turns out y'not," was the only sentence he formed as his nerves calmed as his breathing regulated.

the quiet girl suppressed the tint of red growing from one of her cheeks to the other at his words, turning away in an instant to not blow her cover. "hit the road, hood," her voice changed while she referred to the criminal acts of the boy and now realised the kind of character he was.

the smoke of heeseung's cig left an imperfect line in the air as he stood up cautiously, eyes darting through the wide glass panes to see if the coast was clear. once he confirmed it was, he graciously stepped out of the desk and back on his previous path to the exit. the nickname 'hood' amused the boy, as well as the sudden fierceness in the girl he only thought was innocent.

"thanks, sweetheart. my name's heeseung," he revealed through a light whisper before he ducked out of the thrown-open door and to the opposite direction the police cars came from. the employee raced to the doorway upon his departure and leaned her head out of it to watch as the male escaped to an alleyway hidden in the shadows.

a knot in her heart snapping at the thought it would be the last time she'd ever see the boy. she knew from the beginning the coveralls weren't his and she knew his name wasn't actually nathan. because the tag on the jacket he left behind was claimed with blue pen that spelled his real name. all she knew about the dangerous boy was that she had fallen head over heels for him.

heeseung swerved past tight corners, cautiously avoiding the open from the fuzz that was most likely circling the area. he was trying his best not to move so violently and risk papers blowing out his pockets so he stopped once and found himself in an alleyway between some grocery store and two large skip bins where the stink was more detrimental than being caught by the police.

fortunately, there was a telephone hooked to the wall of the grocery store and as long as it wasn't hooked up to the services of the actual store, this could be his one-way ticket out of this muck. so, within two beats he held the phone up to his ear and dialled the only reliable service he knew. park jay.

sunghoon lost. the ear-defeating celebration from the pack of animals in the middle of the track only rubbed salt in the wounds when sunghoon exited his vehicle and scrambled his hair in his fingers out of frustration. jake stepped forward and rubbed the dishevelled male on the shoulder out of encouragement but he didn't bite into it. the cold winds brushed against the equally cold atmosphere and it sucked having two losses in a row.

you stood beside riki and began to turn away as sunghoon and jake were an inch past you when felix's loud voice yelled, "that race was child's play. i thought you had more fire in you, but i guess you put out," he mocked cruelly, indicating something unrelated to racing.

"s'got a broad with 'em. whaddya gonna do on the way home? this a gangbang?" another male you never met before slurred out, clearly mixed with alcohol. the disgusting comment made your nose scrunch and riki's steps froze.

"ey, let me tap in then," another one drunkenly laughed while his arms were slung around chan and the previously spoken male.

"what'dya meant to do the other 23 hours and 45 minutes in a day, han?" hyunjin teased immediately and han was laughed at while the other boys yanked his clothes mockingly.

the laughing group of hyenas in contrast to your silent crew made you grow embarrassed by the inappropriate remarks. well, until riki's fist banged into han's snickering face and made the boy almost collapse like a folding chair. your eyes shot open, sunghoon and jake immediately spun back around to stop the incoming throttle the seven active men were about to induce on riki.

the mobs of drunken teens were reeled around the scuffle, making it almost impossible for your two friends to pull their youngest out of the rut. your fingernails seeped into riki's shoulders as you attempted to help them hold riki back from going any further than a punch against han and the other men did the same with the said male.

"bust a gut, but you'll be blown off when i get my hands on you-" riki hissed out, voice hindered by the violent thrashes he used to try and get out of the lock sunghoon and jake had on him. han's lips were sneering in anger, cheek reddening while fought against his kind.

definition:'bust a gut'. > laugh out loud.

'blown off'. > defeated in a race.

"bite me!” han yelled before getting shoved to the ground by felix and chan, the two men who were slightly guilty for their friends' behaviour having met you beforehand. you stole a glance at felix, eyebrows furrowed in anger at the switch of personalities the men had around their friends. you thought they were cool at first before their true colours showed.

"cool it!" chan shouted while han was still itching to get his hands on riki. riki finally complied with the grip on his arms, calming down his heaving chest that was so clouded by anger and humiliation.

"i'm warnin' you ever utter a word about y/n," sunghoon rasped, for once his pink lips not clouded by the smoke of a cigarette between them. felix gulped down dryly, eyeing you through the gap between jake and riki's shoulders sympathetically.

"these chicks're only good for one thing," the male with dark hair who previously brought up the idea of the 'gangbang' spoke so confidently and your stomach turned at his controversial words. riki's body jerked at the immorality of the other and sunghoon called out for him to relax.

"fuck up, changbin, for fucks' sake," felix cussed in irritation while turning to his aggravating companion who never got the hint of the situation. you hand rubbed at riki's warm back to continue to settle him down as a blanket of intense silence ensued, consisting of death glares being shot from one boy to another.

"if you're cruisin' for a bruisin', this is our turf and we can get you kicked out anytime y'want," sunghoon warned lowly and felix's head angled downwards at his threat. before he uttered a word, hyunjin stepped forward with his red hair stealing the attention of everyone else.

"how 'bout we settle this? let's cop this side of town so you looneys can't reach us," hyunjin suggested and it piqued interest with his clique nodding in agreement.

"this s'not your turf and neither is it ours," sunghoon retaliated referring to the other side of town owning it. and to be exact, he meant yeonjun and his lackeys' ownership. hyunjin's head tilted in amusement, one eyebrow raised at the correction.

"well then, better defend their turf or you'll be bruised by 'em too. lets race. same spot, same time, tomorrow," hyunjin gambled and for one, you knew bets like these never ended well. you bit your lip uneasily and stole a glance at sunghoon. his eyes didn't falter, and neither did he move an inch from his position when his hands clapped against hyunjin's in a passive-aggressive handshake.

"winner takes the turf," he concluded while he released his hand from hyunjin's robotically and started to turn around to his vehicle parked behind him. you, jake, and riki copied his mannerisms and with hunched shoulders, you refused to return the sorry gaze felix conveyed to you. the tension in the air broke and was followed up by the loud celebration of the opposition's win.

sitting on four leather seats, you and the three others leaned on the counter, chewing your nails anxiously at the upcoming rumble in 24 hours. "i mean, surely you can bring your salt shakers and maybe sprinkle it in their eyes," jake humoured while looking over at sunoo who burst out laughing at the idea.

definition:'rumble'. > a fight among gangs.

"effective, don't you think? five bucks if i land it in jeongin's eyeballs just for you, riki," sunoo joked, previously hearing all about the events thirty minutes ago. riki just sighed out a less than enthusiastic laugh, clearly still torn on jeongin and his personal fight.

"you learnt better than that to set up bets again," you spoke with upturned eyebrows, staring at sunoo with a smile on your face to try and get him out of the habit.

"five bucks is not gonna empty my wallet," he replied while pouting his lips slightly to exaggerate his pronunciation.

"you paid your debts back?" you questioned, sounding a little more surprised than you intended to and the male was almost insulted.

"yes, actually," he rolled his eyes at your tone and then shifted his gaze to sunghoon whose head was in the clouds somewhere, only the fog of a cigarette blowing out of him. your eyes traced the long, slowly wavering line of smoke all the way up to the ceiling that danced before it disappeared into the air.

"sunghoon," you called his name and only his eyes moved to the direction of your voice, which you flinched in your seat, "oh my god. he's possessed."

sunoo and make cracked up quietly, not wanting to bring the male back to his right senses by being too loud. because for some reason, sunghoon's spaced-out periods were entertaining to watch. "must be heeseung's ghost. hey hyung," sunoo piled to the humour and you chewed the inside of your mouth not to giggle as well.

"stop," you begged while silently laughing while tugging sunoo's wrist to try and stop his hand from waving like a robot at sunghoon as if he were greeting heeseung.

finally, sunghoon's eyes blinked and he awoke from whatever curse was placed upon him, "fuck. we are so canned this rumble," he groaned while his hands clawed at his roots, palms drowning his eyes in darkness while he covered them.

"cool it, hyung. we've got weapons," sunoo calmly reassured while sliding a bottle of ketchup to jake which the male effortlessly caught and raised in the air playfully.

"'m being serious. six of us and eight of 'em, if they don't bring any other hobos with them, we're dead," he responded while his hands dripped from his anguished face and resided on the table.

"it was your bet, jackass," jake's brows crossed as he placed the bottle on the table and crossed his arms. sunghoon grunted while he slowly looked back at the other.

"yeah, i know that. how else would i have gotten them off us," his dark faze darted to riki's unsuspecting face next, "some fucker decided to strike 'em first, not once but twice."

riki's mouth fell open in treachery at his scolding, "lay off, hyung. you saw the way they were talkin' to y/n," he retorted while his blonde hair bounced with every word he spoke.

"i saw, we were jus' outnumbered. it was a bad move," he explained as quickly as he could before you got the wrong idea. his reasoning made sense but riki still thought he was getting heat for shit.

"whatever," the younger scoffed, pride partly hurt when he recalled the amount it took to calm him down from lashing out at han further.

"hey, riki. you wanna drop jay's ride at his garage for jungwon in the morning?" you asked the other to change the subject and ease the growing pressure in the room. the boy nodded his head and jumped up from his stool without another word and you trailed behind him to the entrance, "catch you later."

"i don't get it, he would've done the same for you," riki opening complained, hair grasping at his roots in stress as he steered with one hand. you leaned your chin on the back of your palm, listening intently to his worries while the gusts of cold night winds blew past you through jay's roofless automobile.

"no one was in the right in that situation," you responded and riki's eyes flicked up to you in the rearview mirror for a split second while he tried to piece together why, "i don't care about the shit they said. i know the only girl they'd ever kissed is probably their moms so why should i," you grumbled and a quiet noise in riki's throat signalised that he was laughing just a tiny bit.

"so you agree with sunghoon hyung then?" he mindlessly questioned as he turned a corner and the come and go of neighbourhood lamposts illuminated him briefly.

"i didn't say that. riki, he would've done the same if heeseung or jay was also there. but they weren't. can't you see that their absence is affecting him more than you think?" you asked with a simple reflection and riki's lips closed while he thought about it for a second.

"you're confusing me," he blabbered while his eyebrows furrowed at your complex analogy. you hummed for a second to piece together a version that maybe he would understand.

"i'm saying that he was trying to keep you outta trouble. he was scared of them and scared you'd get hurt even more," you finalised and riki released the grasp he had on his blonde tufts while he sat up straighter.

"hyung doesn't get scared, y/n. we could've taken them, easily," he contradicted whilst he pulled up to jay's father's abode. you clicked your tongue at his stubborn disregard and unlocked your door to step out.

"you didn't see it but i did," you swore before knocking on the garage door a few times and awaited a response. jungwon was usually still here at this hour so you had nothing to worry about. riki stayed inside jay's car and tapped his long fingers on the steering wheel to an imaginary beat. the garage door finally revolved upwards and you saw the expected boy alone in the empty garage. your eyes widened at the lack of heeseung's car that left behind a few splatters of oil in the centre of the room it used to be in.

"where's heeseung's car?" you asked the boy and furrowed your eyebrows at the last remnant of the boy being gone. jungwon's cat-like eyes peered back at you and stepped to the side of a wall to make way for jay's car.

"what do you mean? i gave it away," he quietly muttered while carefully scanning your shift in expressions. your heart panged at the very words and although you expected it since it was a race for the pinks and all, this just revealed that the only reason jungwon spent late nights at the garage was to clean the vehicle for the enemy.

your mouth pursed and you steered your gaze away from jungwon, hurt, "oh. right," you mocked remembering the bet. you tried to hide your solemn expression through a thick lie, "i forgot."

riki turned off the engine of jay's car and stepped out after parking it in the middle of the garage, he tapped the hard metal of the vehicle and looked up at jungwon, "it's dented. when i took it out for a spin, i didn't know if be racing with some psycho," riki explained while jungwon walked away from you and towards the rear of the vehicle to see the damages.

"that's totalled," jungwon's eyes widened at the large vacant indent captured just beside the boot of the car. he slipped his white thick gloves off and placed them in the pocket of his coveralls, "you guys win or lose?"

"lose," you softly responded laced with a layer of anguish and defeat. jungwon's lips just downturn at the disappointing reply.

"i was about to catch some z's so i'll head out nd fix it tomorrow, cool?" he questioned the male who was striding closer towards him from the hood of the car.

riki's eyes show up and he immediately shook his head, "you gotta fix it sooner or later, i don't want jay to flip when he sees i've broken his car," he wailed while he put his palms flat together as if he were praying.

"don't flip y'lid, rug rat. jay isn't coming home anytime soon," jungwon conceived while he buttoned down his coveralls and took his arms out of the sleeves, revealing his clean white tee in comparison to the dirty pair of coveralls he wore. he linked the two sleeves of his coveralls and tied them around his waist, settling on his hips. from the lack of fabric around his forearms, you could finally see what laid underneath that baggy fabric. well-toned biceps formulated by the tired labour of car work.

"first thing in the morning," riki pleaded next and earned the eye roll of the older male as he turned on his heel and began to walk the other way.

"they still at the diner?" jungwon asked, knowing the usual routine of the guys after a race and completely disregarding riki's whining.

"i'll tell you if you promise to do it tomorrow!" riki yelled out from within the garages jungwon was already skipping towards the direction of the diner anyways. you just gave the asking male a nod at his question and that's all he needed to go. the male now left with you sighed through his nostrils and you made haste in clicking the automatic door button to start to close the door, leaving the boy inside. he screamed out and jumped out of his frozen position to meet you outside, making you laugh out at his skittish behaviour.

sunghoon was worried about being outnumbered. if sunoo and jungwon came with us tomorrow, that would be six to eight. it would be fine if the race really was just a race. but from the intense atmosphere where the bet took place, you knew it would most likely result in a rumble regardless of who won or not.

rumbles happened every blue moon or so. your crew never really thrived on gang fights but only did when it was necessary. and to get these stray kids off your turf was definitely needed. so you needed allies, at least a handful of them for undeniable succession.

that's where you found yourself outside snob-high. the place where you wanted to find the very man you dread. choi yeonjun.

[forcebookish]

I love the takes on Twitter that Boeing is like Porsche from abaab and is Top prob only friend and or he's a doctor who help Top sleep and knows about Mew and is gonna help Top cause I can't seriously see after all that Top has done trying to get Mew back Top would fuck this up by sleeping with Boeing

yeah! i doubt they're as close as gun and porsche were since top referred to him as "someone from my past" though. my guess is that boeing was top's most serious relationship before mew, and therefore knows about his insomnia. seeing as we haven't met any of top's friends outside the gang (if he has any🥺), i wouldn't be surprised if he turned to boeing to talk about the relationship too. and if he just started talking to him again to sleep over, it'd definitely come up like, "my boyfriend dumped me, i can't sleep."

doesn't it look like he might know about mew?

like isn't that kind of an, "ohhhhhh shit, THAT'S mew? wow that is bad timing. also he's hot. nice pull, top" expression?

honestly, i'm pretty happy that this is the context we get boeing in. it seems more like a contrived hiccup than what i thought it might be. a lot of us were really worried that boeing assaulted top (still possible of course but unlikely) and when top picked up his phone i thought he might be calling beam. tbh in an episode of annoying contrivances, this was the least annoying lol i would have PREFERRED topmew kissed first BUT WHATEVER

and GOD i hope he's not trying to get back with top and that's what this is about

like it doesn't surprise me that boeing is competitive (like i said, top clearly has a type skdkks) so i'm hoping that's all it is because ughhh that is so overdone... like with porsche, it's really common in gay world to stay friends with your exes! i really don't need to see someone actually trying to compete for top's affection, that's so boring. and top even considering straying when he's that in love with mew and he's so close to getting him back would be beyond bad writing. AND IF THEY DON'T KISS IN THE NEXT EPISODE..... 🤬

thanks for stopping by, anon!💗💗

[hiiroamagisbestfriend]

hey i was wondering if you were open to writing fics about coming out as a trans girl? I can never find any fanfics for trans girls + I really need support right now because of irl stuff TT. If you are okay with making some then could you preferably use kanata, tsumugi, arashi, or tsukasa? Thank you for your time!

Coming Out

w/ Kanata Shinkai, Tsumugi Aoba, Arashi Narukami, & Tsukasa Suou x TransFem!Reader

im not transfem myself, so i really hope i did this justice 🫰 i made the reader not have any form of surgery yet, so i hope that's fine

Warnings: Some slight mentions of body dysmorphia. I tried my best to keep it wholesome and fluffy and strayed away from anything potentially triggering. There's still some tiny instances of anxiety before the coming out moments, so tread with caution.

Kanata Shinkai

✩ Kanata doesn't really know much about the "surface" much less about the customs of the humans that reside in it.

✩ So you're probably gonna have to explain it to him as directly and honestly as you can. Thankfully, Kanata has always been open-minded and he sort of just understands what you mean once you elaborate.

✩ It'll probably be easier once he realizes that there are lots of fishes in the ocean that can change their sex. Of course it's not that simple for humans, but a point of reference helps him alot!

✩ Once he realizes that, Kanata notices that he knows that feeling quite well, spending a good majority of his life living as something he was not. Now, striving to change and become something he wanted to be rather than what he was assigned.

✩ I feel like when you finally decide to tell Kanata, you wouldn't even be that nervous? His general carefree nature kind of just makes it easy to approach him with these kinds of things.

✩ It probably wouldn't even be a planned event, just the two of you hanging out near a body of water, of course with Kanata doing his usual puka puka-ing.

"it is nice that we get to spend time together again, (y/n). it has been quite a while since we last 'conversed'. hehe." Kanata would say in his usual light, airy, voice. "still, it seems that... you've been having some 'trouble' recently. would you like to come and puka puka with me?"

Whether you choose to join him or not, he'd probably just give you the same cute dopey smile that makes you feel like he'll always have your back no matter what. You've been friends for long enough, and he seems like the type to not judge you for it, right?

"Kanata. Can I tell you something?" The man in question tilts his head slightly, but nods and encourages you to continue. "I'm..." It was harder to say than you expected. Sure Kanata has always been accepting and kind, but it's still a bit scary. "I'm actually, uh, how do I say this?"

Kanata kept quiet, somehow just knowing that interrupting you was not the right course of action. When your eyes met his, it somehow felt like you were filled with courage. Kanata was a hero, after all, he would never abandon someone in need.

Maybe posing it as a question would be easier, you thought. "Kanata, what do you think I am?" His face scrunches up a bit in thought and you worry that the question might have been too complicated for him.

"i think that... you are a 'good friend'... why do you ask?" Yep, definitely should have phrased that better.

"Kanata, have you ever felt like I was hiding something from you?" A few more moments of silence as he dwells on your question.

"we all have things that we do not 'share' with others. so even if you did, i would not mind. blue flames are the mark of 'mystery' after all~"

Hm, fair enough, you think. "Then, Kanata, would I still be a good friend if I revealed one of my secrets to you?" He nods again, the water rippling at his actions. "I'm a girl."

His eyes would probably go wide at that, seeing as this was a pretty big revelation. Still though, something wasn't adding up in Kanata's mind; as far as he knew, you seemed to have the same parts as him, not that he ever checked.

He'd refrain from saying that, somehow feeling that it was most definitely not the right thing to say. "i am sorry. i do not think i understand." He'd pout, feeling bad that he couldn't even understand something important you chose to confide with him.

You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding, that reaction was certainly better than a myriad of worse options. "Hmm... It's kind of like how anemone fishes can go from male to female."

Kanata would like to say it was like a lightbulb lit up in his head, but it still wasn't that clear to him. "why... would you do that? unlike the 'fishes' you don't need to become a girl because all the girl fishes disappeared...?"

"That's exactly it. I'm not a girl because I have to be, but because I want to be. I want to be... No, I am a girl because it's what makes me happy."

It'd click for Kanata at that moment, just like how he desires to be a normal human living on the surface, you too just want to live life as a girl. He kind of felt stupid for not understanding such a simple concept in hindsight.

Though Kanata still doesn't really understand the how or why you became a girl, he's content with this for now. Getting up from his spot before giving you a hug, and you couldn't even find it in yourself to complain that you were getting wet.

"i still do not fully understand. but thank you for telling me. nothing will change between us... you are still you, after all." Kanata knew just how it felt being ostracized for who you were, and he doesn't want you or anyone else to ever have to bear that cross. This is why he swore to be a hero, after all.

Tsumugi Aoba

✩ Tsumugi is a smart guy, he'd probably know you were trans before you did.

✩ He'd always listen to your complaints about how much you didn't like your body and the stuff about it you'd love to change. He was just a tad bit faster at connecting those dots for you.

✩ Though he'd still wait before you yourself approach him, knowing that if he meddled beforehand it could only make things worse for you.

✩ So, he'd probably spend a good time researching on how to properly help you out, so that he'd know what to say and do if the moment ever comes.

✩ Tsumugi was just relaxing in the library one day, when he suddenly saw you burst through the door and run up towards him, your eyes sparkling.

"Tsumugi! I've made a great discovery!" You shout out in excitement, before Tsumugi shushes you and you're reminded of where you were. "Oops, sorry. Anyway, I've recently figured it out!" You whisper-shouted, still finding it hard to contain your excitement. "I'm gonna be a girl!"

Only after saying it did you realize what exactly it was you were doing. Sure, Tsumugi was nice and all, and he always listened to your complaints; but maybe he wouldn't accept you like this?

Your worries were quickly dispelled however when Tsumugi closed the book he was reading before lightly clapping, loud enough for only the two of you to hear. "Congratulations~ I'm really happy you trusted me enough to tell me this."

His words didn't seem to betray his expectations, Tsumugi genuinely seemed happy that you were able to come to this conclusion and tell him about it. "So, what's on the agenda?"

You realize that he was probably talking about all the things you used to hate about yourself. Back then, you could never understand why you wanted to change so bad, and that lack of understanding made you afraid of trying to change. Now though? You can finally put an end to all those things and then some!

"I guess my name comes first? I've always thought (Y/N) was pretty good, what do you think?" Compared to other things, changing the name you were called seemed relatively easy, not to mention costing nothing in money and effort.

"Oh, that's a great name, (Y/N)~ It really suits you~" Tsumugi picks up the new name pretty easily, partly because he didn't want to disappoint you and partly because he was just a smart and flexible person like that. "I'm not sure what kind of style you want to wear, but I'd love to join you shop if we're both free~"

✩ After that is just some insane amount of spoiling from Tsumugi. He'd follow you around to whatever shops you wanted to look at, and would just shower you with compliments.

✩ He looked up some good salons and such beforehand, so he took this time to inform you of them. Even if you're the type to not actually want to change much about how you look, he wouldn't consider his research to be a waste at all, since your happiness is what matters to him right now.

✩ Tsumugi would also answer any questions you had when it comes to legal documents, operations, and such. Even helping you out wherever he can. He studied all of this stuff for your sake after all, so he's glad that one of his skills is being put into good use.

✩ He really is, just that chill of a guy. He wouldn't ask you for your reasons or anything like that at all. He understands that that sort of information is on a need-to-know basis, and he's fine if you don't deem that knowledge as necessary to share.

✩ Either way, whether you accept all his help and tell him everything, or you just mention it in passing and go about your day. Tsumugi will be happy, how could he not be? You're an important person to him, and your happiness is his happiness.

Arashi Narukami

✩ Arashi! Queens support their fellow queens! Just like Tsumugi, she'd simply know regardless if you tell her or not, and she'd never force this information out of you.

✩ She knows exactly what you're going through and would love nothing more than to give her aid if you ask for it. Arashi's relationship with her own gender and sexuality is complicated, so she completely understands if you're confused and lost.

✩ Hell, even if she's confident the way she is now, she knows there are still some parts of herself she's yet to discover. Due to her naturally maternal and guiding nature, she'd love to ease the mental burden that this kind of thing has on you.

✩ She knows what it feels like when you want to beat yourself up so badly because you find it so hard to conform and be 'normal'. She knows what it feels like looking in the mirror and seeing a person that isn't you.

✩ Still though, she values your independence and is waiting for your actions. She'd be elated if you were a stronger and wiser person than her, a person that could take all the stuff life throws at them and shrug it off.

✩ Likewise, she'd love nothing more than to support you in these moments. She was only able to become the woman she is today because of all the love and help she received from her wonderful friends, so she'd love to pay back that favor by helping you this time.

✩ She'd always try to hang out with you whenever you two would engage in 'girly' hobbies, because she knows full well how awful it feels to be alone.

It was during one of your regularly scheduled tea parties when Arashi noticed you were acting a bit off. Like you were really nervous but also somewhat excited. Arashi realized that this was probably the moment.

"Arashi, can I say something?" She could feel her excitement bubble up at that, you looked so cute! Girls are at their prettiest when they're being honest after all.

"Of course you can, dear! Big Sis will always listen to you!" She smothered you in a hug, ignoring your joking pleas as she squeezed you tighter. "Big Sis Arashi is always on your side, okay? Don't forget that."

When Arashi let go, she could practically see the nerves dissolve from your face, and she's just so glad that she was able to create such a safe environment for you.

"Arashi! I wanna be just like you! A strong, yet beautiful and kind woman!" Her heart grew three sizes just hearing that, being a role model for you makes it feel like everything she suffered through was worth it just to see your smile.

"Oho? Being a Big Sis is a pretty hard job, you know?" She ruffled your hair, smiling to herself when she realized that she was able to help you find yourself. "Though if it's you, I'm sure you're more than qualified!"

✩ After that, it's like nothing really changed between you two. She already treated you like her own sister before, but now that she has confirmation, she's definitely just a tad bit more aggressive with her love.

✩ She'd hand you a bunch of her old clothes, and her unused makeup. She'd draft outfits for you and even offer to style your hair some time. Overall, she's just happy. Full of hope that you can be a stronger and more beatiful queen than her one day.

Tsukasa Suou

✩ Tsukasa the silly little gentleman. He was raised in a pretty archaic household and some of his values definitely seem a bit dated, so coming out to him would seem pretty difficult.

✩ Thankfully, his experiences with Arashi have made him a much more open minded person. He still doesn't quite get it, but he does realize that it's his job as a knight to protect the princess, regardless of their circumstances.

✩ So yeah, coming out to him would be easier than you expected. He'd have a bit of trouble adjusting to your new name and pronouns if you decided to change them, but he's doing his best, okay?

✩ You and Tsukasa are good friends though, and you know he'd never treat you badly regardless, so you decided to just come out to him. You trusted him enough, and this would just be another step forward in your friendship, you thought.

"Say, Tsukasa. What do you consider essential to being a proper knight and gentleman?" It was just some idle chatter that you decided to start while the two of you were eating lunch, but Tsukasa, ever the serious man; put down his chopsticks in order to think of a proper reply.

"Well, of course they would have to carry themselves with a certain ELEGANCE. After that is following some basic CHIVALRY. It's a man's honor to protect a PRINCESS, after all."

"So, would Tsukasa protect me~~?" The aforementioned man seemed to be taken aback by the statement, coughing as if his words literally got stuck in his throat.

"Well, I would protect you regardless, seeing as the two of us are very close friends." Geez, he really knows how to play it cool, doesn't he? You didn't dislike that part about him, though.

"Then what if I was a princess?" He coughed again, seemingly caught off guard for a second time.

"As I said before, PRINCESS or not, I would protect you. What kind of KNIGHT would I be otherwise?" Wow, smooth talker. You wonder who taught him that, he could definitely make anyone's heart skip a beat with lines like those.

"Hey, Tsukasa. I've decided I want to be a princess." You made your tone more serious, wanting Tsukasa to know that this part was no jest.

There were a few moments of silence before Tsukasa turned to you, grabbing your hand and placing a kiss on the back of it. "Is that so? Then I'm glad to be of service to you, dear PRINCESS."

You couldn't help but smile, you knew that Tsukasa was trying really hard right now. The normally combative and headstrong Tsukasa just accepting your words for what they were was just a sign of his growth.

"Thank you, Tsukasa." You could see his eyes soften at your words, a smile showing on his face as well. You really were lucky to have a friend like him.

"Of course, my PRINCESS. This KNIGHT shall serve you well until I draw my last breath."

im done!! i really hope i was able to capture the emotions you wanted me to! i do apologize if tsukasa and smoogi seem a bit ooc? i didnt really know what to do in their parts 😔

Likes and Reblogs are greatly appreciated!

[foibles-fables]

20 questions for fic writers

Snagging this one from @mehoymalloy, tagging @tjerra14 @finrays @poetikat @saltygirafe and anyone else who'd like to do it!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

75!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

348,609

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently Horizon, Stray Gods, Control, and [fingers crossed] HOPEFULLY BG3 soon...lots more in the past, and potentially again in the future! (Warrior Nun, Legend of the Seeker, Critical Role, the list goes on. That tends to happen over 18 years of fic writing.)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I'm gonna turn this question around a little and pick the top by kudos in each of my current- and/or most-active fandoms....if I went purely by numbers, the power of Avatrice would overrun the results, hahaha.

Because the Light Is Close (Warrior Nun), The Weight of Us (Legend of the Seeker), rest like you belong here. (Horizon), the veins grow in slow (Critical Role), and brave this time (Stray Gods).

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Absolutely, to every single one! I appreciate, cherish, and return to every single kind word I get--and I gotta make sure that appreciation is known. Nothing makes me feel better than taking the joy of others and reflecting it back with gratitude!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh man uh....I think waiting through daybreak (Stray) (yes the cat game) fits the bill here. That, or so i'll stay half away (Horizon).

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh no, SO many!!! Lemme pick just one here....today I'll toss embodiment (Horizon) into the ring.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not to my face, which I'm glad about!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Hell yeah I do. Primarily/exclusively F/F, mostly of the very soft variety. But just because it's soft doesn't mean they're not fuckin' Nasty™

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I actually have never written a crossover.

....oh I LIED, I definitely crossed Grey's Anatomy over with Private Practice back in the day. But does that even REALLY count?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I hope not!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I've been asked a few times, and I've accepted, but they're not complete yet!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not in earnest!

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME. FORCING ME TO PICK ONE FAVORITE???

I won't choose between Aloy/Talanah and Cara/Kahlan. They can tie.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I am holding them in my teeth and growling. I am refusing to let any of them go.

16. What are your writing strengths?

prose-craft with evocative syntax, emotional immediacy, identifying parallels, descriptive introspection, character voice, strength in narrative POV

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

PLOTTING. Can't plot my way out of a paper bag. I am working on this.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Totally would if 1) it actually fit within the fic/fandom itself and 2) if I had a trusted resource/knowledgeable person to reference and check my work!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

the Xenosaga series, so many years ago.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

This is always the most difficult question to answer, and I feel like it changes by the day. I'd say it's either rest like you belong here. (Horizon), for the pure nostalgia of being The First fic I wrote for my current and long-lasting brain rot--or Because the Light Is Close (Warrior Nun), as a product of the exhilarating fandom time in which it was written.

[demonsfate]

Idk why people insist on Kazuya being a protag in this game when it's clear as day this is Jin's story + his mother coming back. I also feel like they want to see Tek6!Jin again for some insane reason but thankfully that train wreck won't happen this time.

Harada was the sole one who wanted Jin to be a villain. Literally the writers all argued against him. It's one of the reasons why his depiction in Tek6 is so sloppy and inconsistent. (Him being unnecessarily cruel to Alisa and then moments later saying "I did it for the greater good :(") - due to creative differences, and both Harada and the writers couldn't agree on what Jin's character should be and it forced them to come up with this awkward compromise that doesn't work at all. And even now, it's clear Harada realized what a mistake it was to make Jin a villain. Maybe because of how awkward Tekken 6's writing was, but mostly because of the backlash this decision received. Like the writers, most fans agreed Jin shouldn't have become a villain because it's boring (rehash of Kazuya) and also goes against what Jin's character was.

And Tekken 8 has been REALLY hammering that Jin's the good guy again. Not just with him going against Kazuya who's literally destroying the streets - but also just some of his win animations. The way he looks at the camera and say "I shall never stray again" and telling Lars, "I'll take it from here" (a direct reference of Jin becoming the main protagonist because Lars was once his replacement.) Even if Jin may have moments in the game where he nearly loses himself over the devil gene, they're definitely not gonna do a switcharoo in the end. Hell, it's far more likely that Azazel will be the final boss than it would be for Jin. Especially because if they had gotten backlash for Jin in Tekken 6 (as Harada had even acknowledged once) - they're not gonna risk backlash again.

I think a lot of certain fans want to see Tek6!Jin again because that's the biggest scapegoat / strawman that toxic Kazuya fanboys could use. The ones who desperately want Kazuya back as a protagonist would always point to Tek6 to show that Jin is actually "worse" than both Heihachi and Kazuya, and then say how it makes him the true antagonist, and how Kazuya should be the protag again. Now that Tek8 is making Jin a good guy again (and HOPEFULLY will retcon a lot of Tek6) - they don't really have that argument anymore. Jin being Tek6!Jin is the only way they can have Kazuya be the more "morally correct" one in this situation. (Which everyone missed the point if they were rooting for Kaz in Tek6, too. Kaz may have not started the war, but he certainly wasn't opposing Jin out of the kindness of his heart.)

And like, Kaz can totally be "redeemed" in the story by Jun still without making Jin Le Villain. I've even seen ppl say fucking Hwoarang should help Kaz fight Jin and I'm like what????? Why???? (The excuse is usually because of Tekken 5 / Tekken 6 events) and it's like. There's already been implications that Hwoarang doesn't see DJ as Jin, thus doesn't blame Jin. And like yeah... there's the Tekken 6 shit. But even fucking Lars is acting buddy-buddy with Jin in Tekken 8. So it could be like what I'm hoping for, Tekken 6 is gonna get retconned to some degree. (In a way that doesn't put Jin at fault. By either doing my excuse that the Devil was indeed in full control and Jin wasn't aware, or Azazel was brainwashing him)

[staytinys]

My “Get to Know ATEEZ”

Requested by a new anon Atiny: Hellooo! I'm a new atiny and I was wondering if you could help me get to know the boys a bit, I mean if you could describe them in a few words, what you think about them. I'm also curious who are the trouble makers and who are the mom and dad of the group who keep them in check. Thank you! This is gonna be a some of my opinion since they asked me to describe them. If you disagree, please do so kindly.

This is not a recent picture, I just think it’s cute as fuck.

ATEEZ is an 8 member group that debuted on October 24th, 2018 under KQ Entertainment which is a pretty small company. From what I’ve seen, KQ has been amazing to the boys and I love them. I’ve been a fan since shortly before their debut. Like I literally found them a week before they debuted😂.

Debut songs: Pirate King and Treasure

So before they debuted, they were called KQ Fellaz. Currently, there is a KQ Fellaz 2 group and they’re amazing. Definitely check them out. They opened for ATEEZ this tour and I’m just amazed. Yes, I went to the concert this past month. Yes I went to the rescheduled one earlier this year too. I waited too long to see them.

Fandom name is ATINY: it’s ATEEZ and Destiny combined. Light stick is LIGHTINY. There are currently two versions, I have the second one.

Anyway, back to ATEEZ, here are some MUST SEE KQ Fellaz Content, I still go back and watch them:

Performance Video I

Performance Video II

Performance Video III

Yunho Solo Performance

KQ Fellaz - From (they performed it at their concert and I cried)

Any of the KQ Fellaz Episodes, here’s episode 1

Bonuses:

Demon line: Hongjoong, Seonghwa, San

Now onto each individual:

Captain (Leader if the group) Kim Hongjoong

Rapper and composer

November 7th, 1998

Dad of the group. I feel like 90% of the time he’s a single dad, 10% he has Seonghwa’s help.

One of the best leaders in kpop hands down.

He has an older brother.

He was the first to join KQ.

The laughs in the songs… yeah. That’s him

POSSESSIVE AS HELL OF ATINY. When I went to the concert back in January, he told us we weren’t allowed to listen to anyone but ATEEZ.

He’s my original bias. Please don’t tell him I strayed…

Please listen to this David Bowie cover

INFP-A (yes I’m looking this up bc it matters)

Visual and Vocalist, Park Seonghwa

Oldest member, April 3, 1998.

You honestly wouldn’t think he’s the oldest…

Has an older brother

Mother of the group. Has a love hate relationship with Hongjoong tbh… Not really, don’t send me hate. Jfc. They’re just old and married (I say as I am the same age…)

You will see him referred to as Mars (his name backwards is Hwaseong and it means mars), toothless, and angry bird.

If I remember correctly, it took him and Hongjoong a while to be as close as they are, but they have such a strong bond now.

Has been in a drama called Imitation… Just look it up.

FLIRT FLIRT FLIRT

HIGH NOTES, such amazing vocal dexterity. Bc he also has a deep voice

ENFJ-T

Performer and Vocalist, Jeong Yunho

March 23, 1999

Six foot, fucking one. Tallest member. Y’all king.

Deep. Fucking. Voice. God kill me.

Block B is one of my favorite groups and they covered Nillili Mambo… but here enjoy our deep voice kings (mingi, Yunho, Yeosang…)

His growl is combined with Mingis in pirate king…

He’s also in Imitation with Seonghwa. 👀 look it up…

A GOLDEN RETRIEVER I SWEAR

Energizer of the group

Has a younger brother

Also is a Harry Potter fan

Um enjoy this

ENFJ-A

Vocalist, visual, and performer, Kang Yeosang

June 15th, 1999

Former BigHit Trainee. Yes he’s friends with TXT.

Wooyoung is his best friend… more on this later. I swear there’s so much jealousy

Has a birthmark on the temple area. He’s so cute. Please look up those pics

An MC for music bank!

An absolute savage. No one can escape him. Please save ATEEZ.

I love him. He’s just… 10/10 would be my best friend. Just saying. If anyone in ateez, it’d be him.

Has a sister

Here’s a video showcasing his… yes.

ISFP-T

Performer and Vocalist, Choi San

July 10th, 1999

His name means mountain

Will make you think unholy thoughts 24/7

He’s a child…

Surprisingly introverted. Before their MBTI, I always thought he was an extrovert

Loves Wooyoung with his whole chest

Shiber. He loves his shiber. I’m pretty sure he has to sleep hugging something so there’s that thought for you

Was also in IMITATION with Yunho and Hwa

Trained in taekwondo. He’s a black belt if I’m not mistaken, I cant remember what degree though

His accent when he speaks English is so cute

HAS A CAT

INFP-T

Performer and Rapper, Song Mingi

August 9th, 1999

Princess Minki

He’s fucking six feet tall

Thighs for days but is insecure so his wardrobe is like 98% baggy pants or loose fitting. (Thiccc too. There’s a tiktok. I’ll find it) found it 😁

Thing 2

FIX ON

Growls with Yunho in the beginning of Pirate King

Pretty sure he and Yunho are platonic soulmates and this

(lowkey certain Yunho is borderline his sugar daddy😂)

Big clingy baby

ENTP-T

Performer and Vocalist, Jung Wooyoung

November 26, 1999

Thing 1… him and mingi together. Boom chaos

He and San are besties

But he and Yeosang… yes. This man legit followed Yeosang when he left BigHit So they could stay together. Just remember that.

Hongjoong’s number one problem child. I promise.

Everything about this man is just chefs kiss

He’s a social butterfly and friends with everyone I swear

He has two brothers!

ENFJ-T

MAIN VOCALIST, performer, fucking love of my life, Choi Jongho

October 12, 2000

I literally love him so much

Maknae

He was in IMITATION

Has a younger brother

STRONG BOY… literally used to break apples in half all the damn time

Can be quite the annoying little brother

Loves his hyungs though… so much

Look at him

I’m literally cryingggg

Be afraid

High notes vs the reactions

ISFP-T

[sitron-artblog]

Wei Wuxian

WIP 10/11.07.2023

A3 paper, acrylics, bristle brushes and zorn palette with a tiny touch of ultramarine.

I was pretty tired yesterday and just wanted to spend some chill, no-pressure time working on a fun and somewhat easier project than any of my current wips, so I started this. Everything else I've got going right now are portraits, and if your line is just one, two, or god forbid, five millimeters off the mark in a portrait, your man's gonna look like he was crafted by Picasso, rather than God. I love portraits, and they're what I do most of, but capturing someone's likeness is hard. Something like this is far more forgiving. Make a section a little too wide? Okay, so his hair is more voluminous now. Your proportions aren't fucked, they're just different. Working at a larger scale than what I typically do also helps with this.

I started watching the untamed for the first time during the past week (currently on ep 25, so no spoilers pls!), and that's where I got this reference from. I'm really enjoying the show, but also trying not to binge. This project is great in allowing me to engage with the show without burning through the episodes too quickly, so yay.

This is also my first ever landscape, and it's kinda exciting! I have a tendency towards locking myself pretty tightly to a reference and struggeling to stray from the picture, but here, I'm finding it much easier. I find myself thinking about what little I know of composition, and perspective and ideas, rather than just squinting at a picture on my phone. The blurriness of the reference is definitely helping in driving some of that more desicion-based painting, but I'm taking the win.

I guess that's all for now? I hope some of y'all like the untamed, cause the show has some beautiful shots, and I'll hopefully be painting a few more of them<3

[lostanddancing]

Stray Kids 5-Star Review

This album did not disappoint, but I think that phrasing has become pretty cliché when talking about Stray Kids. I've loved almost everything they've put out, so I was a little nervous that this would be the one that did let me down.

I should know better. These guys are still amazing, and I have thoroughly enjoyed every song here. The S-Class MV is spectacular, and I can't stop watching the choreography, it's mesmerizing.

That being said, here's my reviews of the individual songs:

Hall of Fame

Love this album starting out with Seungmin's voice. This man deserves more of this. I also like the call back to Changbin's Doodle. Originally not one of my favorites, but it's growing on me the more I listen to it. All in all a fun track, but not their deepest and that’s ok, it doesn't have to be to hit hard.

S-Class

These. Boys. This song is a killer and they know it. Love the contrast of Seungmin and Felix's voices. Changbin never disappoints. I.N. on the bridge is angelic.  This sticks in my head so bad, all day. They described the sound they were going for as "funnily annoying" and they hit it and I can't be mad. Dang.

Item

This song just shows off the musical humor that absolutely endeared me to Stray Kids from the beginning. I adore how they play with the game sounds and references. The whole thing is ridiculously catchy. People keep comparing it to Domino, but to me its more like Cheese. Just a great, funny, confident clap back at their haters and I love it.

Super Bowl

God's Menu, but sexy. I'm glad they went with God's Menu first, it's definitely the better song, but this is a fun sequel. Like, how many food/restaurant related lines can we stuff into a song and still make it sound sultry? Also, I LOOOOVE what they've done with the rhythm in this one. It's unique and delightful.

Topline

Aside from the not quiiiite there vulgarity, I love this one. The beat is incredible, they clearly love it and it shows. The lyrics are fairly typical "I'm awesome so don't act like you're as good as me", but they have some clever moments. I loved the reference to "rolling my waves" on the "grand line". There's also a sense of "Yeah, we're good, but we're not resting on our laurels. There's more to do" that I like.

DLC

Look, Changbin's intros are legendary, but this time he's SINGING? Yes, lets go! Love that for him, he needs to sing more often. This one is so dang catchy, and I know I'm going to be singing along a lot. It's got a sad undertone of loneliness in pain, but there is hope there, a desire to escape the prison by doing something you love, and I get that.

Get Lit

Feels like a sequel to DLC, but with a lot more confidence. I loved the line "we're not gonna die young", and reference to playing the music on your phone even after the speaker dies gives a feeling of "keep going, keep dancing even when things are tough." Also just so dang catchy.

Collision

This is a very different style for them, and they pull it off beautifully. I hope these guys have healthy relationships one of these days. The lyrics are gorgeous though because of course they are since Han wrote them.

FNF

This may very well be my favorite track. For all that it's a catchy, driving chorus, the pathos of this can't be denied. They use Seungmin, I.N., and Felix's voices to perfection to drive home the desperation of helplessness in watching something terrible happen to a place you love. It leaves you with a feeling of hope and recovery, but not without feeling deeply their pain and loss.

Youtiful

Aside from the slightly cheesy portmanteau, this song really is sweet. I think it may be the first fully English original song on an album, and the reasoning behind it is kind and comforting. On top of that, we get to hear all the guys flexing their vocals, and I am ALWAYS down for that. In this instance VocalRacha and Hyunjin really shine, but they all sound amazing. It's great to hear Felix singing more and with greater confidence as well.

The Sound

This one never fails to hit hard, and I think it may be one of my favorite "translated" pieces. I usually struggle with these because my brain gets used to whatever language I heard it in first, and anything else feels weird, but this one feels very natural. Maybe it's just because I love the song, but I'm not arguing.

Time out

Fun, summery, delightful. This one will always have a place in my playlists.

I love all of the songs, and they deserve all the hype they are getting for this album. There may be a day when Stray Kids disappoints me, but it is not this day!

[toskarin]

so re: urobu chi in madoka we are just replacing the "man/ghost" with a girl with grey hair, right? I buy that.

I think he has strayed away from these basic conventions a lot as of late, but he also has been working a lot less in general. I'm curious if you have a favorite of gen's work or if you feel you haven't absorbed enough of it to have an opinion (or maybe you just don't like any of it). while it does boil down to the basic framework you describe I feel like on the journey to that he explores some pretty interesting ideas. Just as well I also like the different ways he resolves his "everything sucks" narratives. at least I feel by the end usually there is more there than that basic idea but sometimes it takes too long to get there.

As far as zero is concerned, Nasu approved it basically all the way through its release and worked with gen on it so there is that. And when you consider Gen was basically given free reign there's no real reason for him to stick to the original concepts, I don't think (but I understand the argument for him to do just that). I guess my takeaway is if you find them incompatible (zero and stay) then that's fine because they were made by two completely different people, the same way I don't have Aliens in the same headspace as Aliens. They are different things that just happen to have the same characters.

I spent a lot of time just stating my own opinions rather than asking yours, sorry. Whatever you feel about Gen (I'm not a big fan but he's made some stuff I like), it's hard for me to say he did some interesting things that a lot of authors would be too afraid to do (or perhaps simply wouldn't be allowed to by their publishers).

anyway if you can/want to point me to where you've written more about these topics I'd be curious to see it!

I'm gonna apologize in advance because I'm using your ask to write my most comprehensive (and sympathetic) post on Urobuchi so far lmao

I should definitely open by clarifying that when I drop an opinion like that, I'm exaggerating my actual stance because I think it's funny to do it, so I'm not actually as anti-Urobuchi as I come off, it's just that I'm just not especially a fan (and at the end of the day, no matter what I say on here, I'm a pretty big Madoka fan who thinks Saya no Uta is a fantastic piece of horror and likes Nitroplus vns as a whole)

in general, when I sound overly negative about an author, it's usually because I don't feel the need to write out every time I find a piece of media okay or even good, so playing up some stronger opinions for a punchier line is always gonna result in what looks like a paradigm of blind praise and seething hatred. it can come off especially rough when preexisting connotations attach themselves to my rambles and rants

for example, me complaining about the misogynist tendencies of Urobuchi's writing is more of a ribbing than a hard moral judgment on whether it's got merit. I've got no idea what he's like outside of his work, besides that we like a lot of the same movies and he seems to get along with other people I hold in high regard. that's a big part of why I make a point of tending towards more tongue-in-cheek references to his choking fetish as opposed to anything with real substance

all that being said!

even though my stated opinions are oversimplifications of what I actually believe, I'm a little unfair to him, and I'm fully willing to acknowledge that. I disagree heavily with the way Zero was handled, especially in regards to how it handled preexisting characters, and it's one of those few situations where I wonder whether Nasu was actually right to lend so much creative freedom to a partner on a project he was (by all accounts) so closely involved with

Gen has a fantastic sense for horror and despair, and it's solely because he produces stories so close to what I'd consider amazing that I complain about the things holding them back. an example I'll point out is that I've never gone after the low hanging fruit of gun jokes because, while it is a recurring theme in his writing, I genuinely appreciate his fixation on the specifics of firearms

I haven't kept up with Urobuchi's stuff recently, largely because of time constraints, but I really do hope he's been working his way out of the boxes he worked himself into. if he were a purely mediocre writer who made consistently okay work, I don't think I'd have any opinions on him at all, after all

in the end, I really dislike Zero because of both what it tries to be and what it doesn't try to be. if it had been a more boring production, I'd have much less to say about it. I think that's a pretty good encapsulation of my feelings on him. I'm never bored, regardless of whether I'm having a good time

[wildflowerwoodsworld]

32 & 43 for the ask game please ^^

What is it with you and asking me the hard questions?

32. Copy and paste your top three favourite lines/jokes/sentences you’ve ever written. What fics do they come from?

Okay, I know it says favourite ever, but I've answered this a couple of times so;

Favourite Cryptid'verse line, I'm gonna have to go with this one from Cross The Same River Twice;

But only an idiot—or someone as battle-crazed as Luck, which often amounted to the same thing—willingly fought Captain Yami when there was no other option.

Favourite line from a published fic, I think it has to go to this paragraph from Owen vs the Black Bulls, though the entire fic was fun to write (Owen deserves a pay raise).

Okay, so maybe the back-door recruits were easier to deal with overall than the original strays, but Owen was pretty sure no patient could be worse than Finral fucking Roulacase. Though, some of the third group of Yami's squad, generally referred to as "Yami's brats" gave him a run for his money. Yami's brats, as a whole, didn't suffer from the same problems the original strays and the back-door recruits did. No, the problem with Yami's brats was the fact that they kept getting injured. There wasn't a week where Owen didn't have to patch up at least one of them.

And my favourite bit from an unpublish fic is this snippet from a currently unnamed au where Finral and Vanessa end up in a series of challenges designed for Yami with the captains watching them.

"Hey," Charlotte's attention was drawn back to the screen as Vanessa spoke again. "there's a door here. Captain can't be mad at us if we bust out before he even realises we're gone. We can just say we went to town or something." "'Nessa, I love you, but there's no way Yami doesn't know we're gone. We were literally right in front of him." Finral said, wandering over and staring at the door. "Shit, we were, weren't we? Hey, think we can use it as an excuse to get out of physical training? That stuff's brutal." "You try that and Yami'll just say that it's another reason why we need to do it. I have no desire to do more because you wanted to get out of the thankfully small amount we actually have to do." "You- you have to do the least!" "It's called knowing when training's coming up and getting the hell out of there. Hardly my fault you can't portal." "Oh, and here I thought it was your alternative methods of persuasion." "Actually, that doesn't work anywhere near as well as you'd think it does. Yami's surprisingly hard to bribe." "Wait, seriously? Then why the hell do you portal him everywhere and do the paperwork if not bribes?" "It's called making a deal that's overall in my benefit-" "It's called you being a pushover is what it's called." "It's called knowing what the training plans are in advance and working out how to avoid them actually." "Wait, you can figure that out from the paperwork?" "Yeah. Yami has to get permission if he wants to do something that'll take us out of action for a while." "Huh." "Anyway, we're getting off topic. There's a door. How the hell do we open it?" Finral gestured to the large door next to them. "Dunno if you missed this little fact, but there's no keyhole. Which means we can't just pick the lock." "Damnit. There aren't any hinges on this side of the door either, are there? No. Of course not. Because that would be too easy," Vanessa paused for a moment. "hey, are you sure this isn't some training exercise Captain thought up as punishment for dodging so many of his other ones?" "No." "You sound certain." "There's no obvious time limit. If it was Yami, there'd be death spikes on a slowly lowering ceiling or something because he's a sadist." "You'd know, wouldn't you?" "Oh, shut up and help me find a way out of here!"

43. Talk about a positive experience with fanfiction or the fanfiction community that you will always remember.

Oh, that definitely has to be the small server of Black Clover writers I'm part of. Every single person in that group, and you guys know who are are, is an enabler and it's great.

Post a random story snippet or idea and five minutes later there's half a dozen questions about things I haven't even thought about. Brilliant for spotting plot holes and filling them

[geminai-rambling-trinkets]

『REVAMP』 XOXO AU

SUMMARY: Choosing this life was not the hardest option to make, if it meant that his brother would live another day, however, what wasn't included was the ability to denounce their humanity. How could they be heroes together if they didn't understand the basics of what is like to being human...? Well, that answer is easy, no?

Hello!!! It's me, Gemini!!! I'm back with a revamp of my XOXO AU that has been left forgotten for quite some time now! And it will follow this idea similarly but not 100% accurately.

QUICK RECAP

This AU followed the guise of Bakugou being Gyutaro and Midoriya being Daki from Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer). And it implied that demons are alive without Muzan being the progenitor. Which is very confusing, to be honest, and not my proudest accomplishment.

THE REVAMP

Now, this revamp still follows the ideology of Bakugou being similar to Gyutaro and Midoriya being similar to Daki.

Note that they will be similar to Gyutaro and Daki but not exactly like the characters.

Instead of Midoriya being sold to the Red Light District it's more of a hate crime being committed towards Midoriya for being quirkless or some bullying taken too far and Midoriya is near death's door because of it. Either Bakugou was a witness or he wasn't there to witness what was happening to Midoriya and he finds his battered body.

I'm leaning on Bakugou not being there to witness it because it would add flavor to his characterization.

Anyway, instead of meeting Dōma, trust me I don't know how he snuck into my head, either Bakugou met All for One or the Doctor that created the Nomus. This is where we get the plot points here!

PLOT POINTS

Now, for clarification, I'm gonna summarize the characterization of both Bakugou and Midoriya first before dabbling into the plot points because you'll need to know how they think/act before getting into the plot.

First Bakugou:

Bakugou's characterization in this AU was surprisingly easy, though that's because I was considering season 1 and season 6 of Bakugou's characteristics with Gyutaro.

Bakugou can be summed up into three main characteristics: sadistic, volatile, and prideful. However, that's just the tip of the iceberg of his character.

I combined Gyutaro's sadism, projection, and worry into Bakugou's character since it was the most fitting here.

I didn't want to stray too far from Bakugou's character but I also didn't want to make him like an exact version of Bakugou in the anime/manga.

So, I choose to reference Bakugou during season one as his inspiration for this AU. However, he also isn't just like season one because Gyutaro doesn't act like that either.

I know this doesn't make sense but hear me out! If you were to meet Bakugou in this AU your first impression would be intimidating, scary, and powerless since in this AU (if I haven't made it clear) Demons are alive.

Bakugou's looks are similar to his fantasy AU design, however, he would have four pairs of horns, black scleras, almost a kitsune makeup look, black wing eyeliner, and a black high-neck tank top. (Though I'm not sure if that's what the type of shirt would be called. I'm not very versed in clothing so don't come after me. :') ) which is also why I have the Fantasy AU GIF up there.

That's how I imagine he (Bakugou) would look like. (And yes, I drew that, so please DON'T steal it.

Midoriya, on the other hand, would look more androgynous. He would have medium-length hair, an open-collar button-up shirt, and makeup inspired by an oiran minus the white-powered face.

Again, this is how I imagine this AU's Midoriya would look. I did draw this; PLEASE DO NOT steal this.

His personality wouldn't be like a brat (unlike Daki) but more or so on the lines of childish.

He would definitely be manipulative and try to make you relax and lower your guard before he lure you in with false promises.

Between Bakugou and Midoriya, the lesser evil here would be Bakugou because you would know you would be gone because of how rough and bloodthirsty he would be.

Midoriya, on the other hand, would mess you the fuck up. He would toy with your mind and make you question your very existence since he would deflect the blame and make it seem as if you were the problem.

Both of them wouldn't probably even let you be near their presence, and they are both very dismissive and would only use you till you longer needed for their plans.

However, I didn't mention that Bakugou and Midoriya would have a caring side, albeit for each other and no one else, because the world has clearly only shown them pride and prejudice.

But it's there - it's there somewhere underneath all of that cruelness they present to their victims.

I wouldn't say Bakugou or Midoriya have a preference on who they would - uh - devour, but Bakugou would definitely prefer people with flashier quirks to consume rather than weaker or quirkless people. Because, in his mind, the stronger and flashier quirks will give him more of a boost than those without. Yet the person is still dead either way. So.

On the other hand, oh boy - Midoriya, he would take the outcasts, luring them into a false sense of security and devour them quick and easily. He has some empathy for them since he too, was in that position, but it doesn't deteriorate his preference for them because, in Midoriya's eyes, he's doing them a favor by ending their miserable lives quick and painlessly.

Now, this leads me to their backstory! Yay!!

THE BACKSTORY

It was hard to think at what age they would turn into demons since, in the anime and manga, Midoriya and Bakugou have been shown to be deadset on being the best heroes, even at a young age.

So, I chose around 10-13 because that's the age Midoriya is set after transforming into a demon. Bakugou looks around 15-17 since he is dead set on being the older sibling here.

To further clarify, Midoriya looks to be around 13 while Bakugou looks to be 15 or 16 to lure and confuse their opponents about their true nature.

This leaves me with 'how are demons alive?'

Easy, the Doctor, Mr. Garaki.

I wouldn't be sure where they met or how they came across each other but the Doctor will be the one to make the offer to Bakugou about being part of an experiment that (if it goes right) will heal Midoriya and, in turn, make Bakugou much more stronger, and much more capable in protecting Midoriya.

Garaki would have to word his motives carefully since Bakugou would be able to tell about there being another motive behind the offer.

In the end, whether Bakugou figures it out or not, it doesn't change that he takes the offer up because there wouldn't be any other way to save Midoriya in the state he's currently in. Which is a critical danger.

They take up different names because after transforming into demons, they don't remember anything.

They remember something about justice, how they only had each other, and the cruelty inflicted upon them.

Which in turn, makes them mad, envious, and disoriented about who they are, what they are, and where they were before meeting 'Sensei' and 'The Doctor.'

They have an odd─and sick─way of justifying their crimes.

Their end goal is to make the world a better place. To have the strong and weak co-living with each other. Idealistic? Definitely. Unreachable? Not exactly.

Transforming into demons doesn't automatically make Midoriya and Bakugou loyal to Sensei and The Doctor. They've seen what the Doctor and Sensei have done and how far they took their actions to make their end goal a reality. Kinda hypocritical if you ask me.

And their actions don't correspond with Bakugou and Midoriya's ideal world, so, they make a plan behind their backs to take them down.

This is definitely shorter than my other AU's, but I didn't want to make this post longer than it should be. (Cough, Puppet AU, cough).

Also, the amount of times I accidentally posted this while I was trying to keep it in my drafts has frustrated me enough times to just cut it to where we are now.

So, this is part one out of (I don't know yet!)

The next post will be about the actual plot rather than just characterization. So, be on the lookout! Thank you, and goodbye!

[lanternburning19]

My prediction for the next Midnights single

Maroon - This song is one of the most streamed songs from Midnights, possibly due to it being situated in between 2 singles on the album track order. There is still potential here for it to be a single. I don't see it as a fan fave and the bridge would have to be made radio-friendly somehow. Taylor has also not made many Easter eggs or references to this song, so I would be pleasantly surprised if this song was a single.

Snow on the Beach - I honestly thought this song was gonna be the first single off Midnights because it is a feature. But as time goes by, I think the likelihood of it being a single has decreased. It's not on the tour setlist and there aren't any Easter eggs for it. I think if this song was a single, the version with more Lana Del Ray would be the one released to radio.

You're On Your Own, Kid - No doubt, this song is a fan favorite. This song is so personal, but Taylor's never strayed away from releasing personal songs as singles (Wildest Dreams, Delicate, The Archer...). This is a shorter song that radio likes. I think this would be an awesome song to wrap up the Midnights era with, and I could see this being a tour music video for the Eras tour, celebrating how far Taylor has come as an artist (if Cruel Summer wasn't already basically confirmed to be the tour music video). I don't know how well this song would chart without major help from Swifties, but I don't completely discount it as a single choice.

Midnight Rain - this is one of my top contenders for a potential single. This song has really shot up to be a favorite. This song has classic Taylor Swift lyrics with a clever production style that would be welcomed to spice up radio. This song is also part of the tour setlist and is a highlight of every night ("'cept when I'm on TV"). This song also has an Easter egg in the Lavender Haze music video. Also, this song really does express the theme of Midnights well. It would be a good choice for the era.

Question...? - This song BUMPS. I think it could do well on radio because it's so catchy. However, there is some controversy over the song, I don't think Taylor wants to draw attention to it.

Vigilante Shit - THIS IS MY JAM. I would be stoked if this was the next single! I've seen Swifties on Tumblr not give this song much attention, so I wouldn't classify it as a fan fave. But the tour performance definitely is a favorite part of the show. It was is on the setlist with a killer performance, and Taylor has referenced this song many times. It was the first song she made a TikTok about in the Midnights era! It also has an upside down phone on Midnights Mayham with Me. Was this a hint for it being a future single? I think the only point I have against this song being a single is that it's very similar to Karma in terms of theme. Will the GP get sick of hearing Taylor sing about revenge?

Labyrinth - Yeah, this songs not gonna be a single.

Sweet Nothing - Neither is this song.

Mastermind - This is my other top contender for a single choice. This song has gotten some hype from the fandom. The lyrics were promoted with the album release. This song is on the permanent tour setlist. And Taylor laid and Easter egg for it on both the album photoshoot and the Lavender Haze music video. A point I have against this song for a single is ~recent events~. Will Taylor still want to promote this song? Still, it would be pretty iconic to have a hit on the radio bragging about how much of a Mastermind she is.

Hits Different - I honestly thought this was gonna be the summer single before Cruel Summer was announced. Taylor did promote this song on TikTok for the Lavender Haze edition of the album. She also put it on the 'Til Dawn edition so more people could listen to it. There was a bunch of buzz with this song this summer as some Swifties theorized it was going to be on the Barbie movie soundtrack. Maybe this song will be put on hold until next summer. Taylor does love to stretch out eras for as long as possible.

No single at all - I feel TS11 coming SOON. I made a post about this earlier, but I wouldn't be taken off guard if Taylor announced TS11 as soon as Eras tour was over. Plus, she still has 3 more TV albums to do and each is going to get more and more fanfare. Maybe the next single will be from 1989 or Reputation. Maybe Taylor doesn't want to do any more singles from Midnights. However, I think she's gonna have a single out for international tour dates - so I think something will happen in between the breaks (September-November and January).

My top predictions for single:

1. Midnight Rain

2. Vigilante Shit

3. Mastermind