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blackdevilwhitedemon · 2 years

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P5 x HS AU no one asked for

I posted this as a first ch and never wrote anymore so I thought I should dump it here instead of just straight up deleting it.

It would've be fun to write one-shots for this AU, but I need to get my shit together and only have a few stories to work on bc I never write much or finish things. There goes all the work I put in using the Homestuck skin on AO3 for this,,,

Link to part 2.

The title was The Color of Jazz

Summary:

Your name is AKEERA KURUSU and you are a SEADWELLER. Your BLOOD color is FUCHSIA, making you a MUTANT seeing that you are male, not female. You like meowbeasts and your friends. FLARP isn’t really your thing, and you are quite the quiet fellow. By the way, your glasses are totally fake.

AKA the Persona 5 x Homestuck crossover nobody asked for. AKA the Person 5 cast, but as Homestuck trolls.

Chapter 1: Information

Here's the crossover no one asked for and nobody wanted but me and like, 2 people.

This is an informal chapter about the AU.

I'll be honest, I only made this because I'm obsessed with Persona 5 at the moment and I think I like the concept of trolls being an alien species more than Homestuck itself.

So yeah there's no cohesive plot to this, it's just going to be a series of One-Shots. Whatever shenanigans I imagine them getting up to. Perhaps there might be a small little subplot that spans a few chapters, but just know I came into this not planning anything. Besides making character choices.

Alright, first let's get into blood colors, then to the relationship chart.

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Characters with canonical birthdays and therefore signs:

Kasumi - Aries = Rust

Makoto - Taurus = Mud

Goro - Gemini = Yellow

Ryuji - Cancer = Lime

Ann - Scorpio = Cerulean

Haru - Sagitarius = Indigo

Yusuke - Aquarius = Violet

Futaba - Aquarius = Violet

I know I could have just made them the blood color that fit their personality the best or their color scheme, but nah. I like just by going off by their signs. Yeah it's lazy, but it's also like throwing darts at a blackboard. You just have a pre-made thing, and you just have to run with it.

Also I have put less brain power in it so…

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Characters with no canonical birthday so I assigned them a blood color:

Morgana = Olive

(He's a meowbeast Ryuji found as a kitten, and gave to his moirail Akira bc he knows how much he loves those things; since it's canon that some lusii can talk normally, he can too)

Hifumi = Jade

(That just fits her personality. Look at her! She's a jade blood. She looks like one. She got that air.)

Yuuki = Teal

(Since he has that power struggle thing going on with him, and because he's been beaten down by others with his tail between his legs, I just thought this fits. Technically considered a highblood and therefore granted those types of privileges, but lacks nobility and can be looked/beaten down by higherbloods because of that.)

Shiho = Purple

(Legit just cuz nobody else was purple. I also thought it would be funny. And writing a very nice, polite, well put together, purple blood would be interesting!)

Akira = Fuchsia

(Mutant Fuchsia. Like, he’s a fuchsia blood, but is male, so he shouldn't exist. Therefore he is a mutant. Pretends to be a violet blood tho. It would be kind of hard for others to tell what blood color he is if he gets flustered or whatever. And it would be unreasonable for lowerbloods to question him, but he probably schools himself anyway because he doesn't want other sea dwellers to know. Since they might be able to tell the difference between a fuchsia flush and violet flush. Originally indecisive between making him a Mutant Fuchsia or a Jade. Since if he was a Jade he would still be unique and also that would explain how he's so good with getting along with everyone. But then I thought, if he's a Pisces, he's compatible with a Gemini.)

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Shiping Chart:

Kasumi --<3--> Akira

Goro <--<3<3<--> Akira

Ryuji<--<>--> Akira

Ann <--<>-->Shiho

Haru --<3--> Akira

Yusuke --<3--> Akira

Yusuke <--<>--> Futaba

Okay, so if you can't understand that, here's the written version of it—

Kasumi had a flush crush on Akira, but after seeing this whole thing between him and Goro, she backed off. Sometimes she acts as their auspistice, but usually they don't need her.

Goro and Akira have this redrom—blackrom thing going on. It is this fluctuating thing, I think Karkat called it vaselining? Akira leans more towards red, while Goro leans more towards black, but they still have the other color feelings for each other. I just thought with the rivalry and soft spot for each other (especially after all that stuff in Royal) this is a fitting translation into Troll romance for them.

Ryuji and Akira are best bros, so they are moirails in this. You can pry this fact from my cold dead hands. You know Akira gave Ryuji something violet to wear so people know not to mess with him unless they want an angry seadellwer on their ass.

Ann and Shiho are moirails too! I don't even need to explain this one. Ann says Shiho is her only friend and the only thing good at the damn school. I,,, mustn't need to say more on that. Now, Ann doesn't need to wear anything purple as she has a comfy spot as a cerulean blood, but that hoodie she wears is totally purple just because she wants to wear it. She just wants to brag that her wonderful lovely moirail is a purple blood.

Haru having a crush on the Akira is canonical, right? Like it's kind of implied that she grows one on you in the beginning. Anyway, thought I would translate that here. She also loses her flush crush on Akira once she realizes how involved he is with Goro.

Yusuke has a flush crush on Akira and everyone knows it, but no one does a thing bc they all know he won't act on it. So it's just there. I decided to do that because, fam, listen to the dialogue he has about Akira in game,,,like wow. He really admires him, perhaps a little too much. He has such a blind faith and admiration for Akira. I couldn't not put that in here.

Yusuke and Futaba are moirails! Come on, look at their little silly friendship in game. You can't tell me that wouldn't translate to moirallegiance in troll romance.

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How the names are going to be changed:

Akira ---> Akeera

Goro ---> Gourou

These two names were remade by Meruz on Tumblr. Being one of the few people to do a Homestuck/Persona 5 crossover where the P5 cast are trolls.

Ann ---> Annnoo

The o's are silent.

Haru ---> Harruu

Ryuji ---> Ryujgi

Yuuki ---> Yuukie

Shiho ---> Sheeho

As you can tell, these last ones are not creative or well done. That's how you know I came up with them!

Everyone else's names follow the troll naming rules so I don't have to change them.

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Chumhandles:

Kasumi - icyGymnast [IG]

Makoto - muddyEmpress [ME]

Goro - pancakeDetective [PD]

Ryuji - nomoRules [NR]

Hifumi - shogiQueen [SQ]

Yuuki - chariotHelper [CH]

Ann - rottingSweets [RS]

Haru - noirExecutioner [NE]

Shiho - sunnyDisposition [SD]

Yusuke - oceanicPainter [OP]

Futaba - techgodFortuneteller [TF]

Akira - fishyGodslayer [FG]

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Typing Quirks:

I ain't making up 12 new one, so I'm using some canonical ones.

Kasumi - € for C and ends lines with --€

Makoto - Aradia

Goro - Kanaya

Ryuji - Karkat

Hifumi - uses / instead of L and \ for i

Yuuki - Tavros

Ann - every O is put as ooo also no punctuation

Haru - starts and ends lines with --(- uses ¶ instead of i

Shiho - Gamzee but no swearing

Yusuke - lower case with no punctuation

Futaba - Vriska

Akira - Eridan but no vv

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Signs:

I just did random signs, not gonna lie.

Everything I pulled out of my ass except for Kasumi’s, Yuuki’s, Haru’s, and Akira’s. They’re symbols from the Extended Zodiac.

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Things to note:

-Sumire is going by Kasumi because the others don't know that she's pretending to be her dead moirail. Basically Kasumi was Sumire's neighbor and was also a rust blood. They had very similar horns but completely different symbols. They got along extremely well and were very close moirails. After Kasumi is culled protecting Sumire from a higherblood, she pretends to be her and wears Kasumi's symbol to cope. (And using her typing quirk as well.)

-Akira is pretending to be a violet blood to avoid being culled for being a mutant. It's not necessarily illegal to be mutant blood, but other trolls will consider that's sacrilege to the hemospectrum. So they won't hesitate to cull him. It's easy for him to pretend since he's still a seadweller, and rarely gets challenged or questioned. Other seadwellers tend to mind their own business.

-This AU is going to take place on Alternia, but is this weird mix between what canonically it's like on Alternia and Beforus. Think about it like this, Feferi is empress and has been for quite a few years. And she's changing everything and reforming it to how she wants it to be, but obviously not everything has conformed completely. A lot of old stigma and old rules/traditions still hold its roots deep within the planet and its people. So it's still a very dangerous place even though it technically doesn't endorse "thoughtless slaughter"/"being more aggressive/dominant is the only way to go" mindset. She can't control everything, especially since Gl'bgolyb is dead or doesn’t exist in this one. Does that make sense? I hope it does.

-Akira survived by having some random Violet blood lusus decide to take him in and take care of him. Everything was all fine and snazzy until recently-ish when his blood color was discovered by some Seadellwers. His luse fights them off and culls like, one or maybe two in the process but ultimately dies. Akira, in a fit of rage and self preservation, culls the rest of them so it can't get out that he's mutant and flees the area. Later is found by Sojiro (who is not a troll but a lusus) when he's looking out for some food for Futaba. He takes pity on him and brings him in. Since Futaba originally had a different lusus who died, and he took her in, so this isn't his first rodeo. Akira and Futaba quickly bond and Sojiro loves his dumb fishy kids.

-Sojiro and Futaba's hive is this big spiraly place that is partially underwater and partially above it. The above area acts like a cafe where's Seadellwers can enter by swimming over to it and land dwellers can enter by boating to it.

-Akira lives at the top area more after he gets Mona from Ryuji, but still chills out in the underwater portion.

-Yusuke lives on the beach. He's rich and all, he just forgets to take care of himself since he gets so absorbed in things. Good thing he has his moirail and friends around.

-Lime bloods have since been reintroduced into the gene pool by the empress. But since she hasn't been ruling for awfully long, there's not that many of them. Making them rarer than jades but, not as rare as fuchsias. For this reason it's basically criminal to cull them, as there is so little of them. So Ryuji has gotten out of some debacles alive simply because the other troll realizes he's not an olive, but a lime. After becoming moirails with Akira (and finally swallowing his pride to wear his friend's color) that definitely helped deter trolls further. Even if Ryuji does get a little irritating and doesn't know when to shut his mouth. They just gotta look down and remember that he's filling some seadweller's quadrant and they don't want to deal with that repercussion.

-Akira is actually not that threatening, but he's fully aware of his position and takes full advantage of it.

-Goro of course is a celebrity lowblood. Making a name for himself and blah blah blah. His lusus left him for dead when he was pretty young, and actually was raised by another troll. But she ends up…she's the equivalent to his mom, so you know. He elevated himself to the status so he could up his chances of survival and to advocate for lowbloods.

-Haru lusus is very fierce and kinda owned this large section of property, but recently he has been defeated/culled and now her property is kind of been split. She's struggling to maintain her hold on it.

-Makoto gets taken in by a lusus that already has a troll under his care. But after a couple of sweeps he gets eaten, leaving the other troll take care of her. Obviously I'm referring to Sae. (I'll remake her name when I get to the bridge.) Sayyye maybe?

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Oh my God, you read all of that. Thank you so much! I feel like most people won't even read this and be really confused once I start making chapters.

For all your efforts I'm going to say something that you probably haven't heard since early 2013. Cuz I sure know I haven't.

Here's a digital cookie for all your troubles! (::)

#textpost #homestuck #persona 5 #homestuck au #persona 5 au #p5 homestuck au #no one asked for :)#scrapped idea

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thisisevenharderthannamingablog · 3 months

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Liveblogging notes for Ep 10.

Belated episode 9 reflection - Kim grew up in a world without innocence. He's what, ~4 years younger than Kinn? So was that much younger when whatever happened to their mother, and when Khun's kidnapping took place. He has a kind of caution that results from putting an observant child on the periphery of fucked up situations.

On to the episode.

Porsche has dropped the polite mode when he talks to Vegas? And now he's run off with him? Leaving Kinn hoping he hasn't just made the biggest mistake of his entire life??

Back to Chay. So was there a makeout session here, or a nap or...? Entertaining contrast from their older siblings' sex marathon.

Oh no, Kim.exe has crashed. You really are a Theerapanyakul; total fail at intimacy. Give yourself some time. More food, hm - but it doesn't get eaten.

Wow, broad daylight kidnapping Chay. There certainly is more plot happening all the sudden.

Kinn back to the power suits, no more cuddly. Big is suspicious. I kinda like how he always has his hands in his pockets? I don't know why.

Oh no Pete you just broke my entire heart with that speech. So brave. (I was so glad when he legit did find something useful.) Back on my chess metaphor, this is when his "piece" gets promoted from pawn to... knight, maybe? It goes unremarked in the dialog, but he has literally switched sides here. Would he have gone back in there on Kinn's orders? Absolutely. He wants to do it for Porsche.

Your writers know absolutely nothing about computer security. And how the hell did Tawan get out of the place? Oh right, mole.

Well this is getting very democratically unpleasant.

Tawan is legit pathetic. Still kinda gross. I can never get over how (relatively) short Vegas is. Porsche is SO confused. Vegas finally clues us in regarding his long game. It's evil! I love it! Porsche, wasn't untying yourself day one training?

This is probably the biggest family gathering Kim has attended in years. He's got Chay and Porsche is probably like who the fuck is that?! never mind, gotta fight people.

NOOOOOOOO I knew it was coming but damn. :( RIP perpetually annoyed supporting character, you deserved better. I hope Kim writes you a beautiful song.

Oh Kinn you will not let him live nobody's buying that.

Wow Vegas says a lot of shit. Even Porsche is like WTF that is messed up?? Spoilers did not prepare me for this whole Tawan/Vegas side story. Just put this guy out of his misery, yikes. Not right now, given that you're directly in one another's line of fire though.

That did indeed end poorly -- very much so for Big and Tawan, a little less for Chay, and kinda for Vegas who is now in a lot of trouble.

Kinn smoking this is new? Any chemical coping mechanism in a storm I suppose; this was not a good night for him.

I'm not sure if I'm going to watch the Pete/Vegas stuff or not. I hesitated to watch the show at all on account of this plot. Not here to harsh on anyone who likes that part of the story, just not my personal jam. Gotta say that is some intense eye contact there though. (What is with this show and freshman actors in major roles absolutely knocking it out of the park?)

Gun (? I've seen his name romanized like three different ways now) is pissed. Hard power vs. soft - we would never see Korn do something like that... himself.

Family meeting. Kinn's already down to the bottom of the glass (once I notice stuff like this I can't stop, sorry). "Your guy who betrayed us" nice verbal positioning there Gun. Khun not letting him get away with it, good job. Not quite ready to throw Vegas under the bus, eh.

Interesting micro-nod from Kinn there. He is so annoyingly hard to read in this setting. That was after Gun's line about punishment - an acknowledgement that yeah, he does want that, so what?

He lost Big, Could have lost Porsche. Chay's gotten dragged into it, which has dragged Kim into it. No matter how generally inured you are to violence, having your ex-lover shoot himself in the head three feet away is a little rough. And as much as he and Vegas hate each other, I doubt Kinn's thrilled that things have gotten to this point.

Gutsy move there, Gun! Korn would never kill him though (not with an audience anyway, or unless a last resort). That would completely upset Korn's whole meticulously arranged system. Gun (probably) knows that, and by forcing the question he removes the possibility that he'll get shot right now from the table.

Korn also (again, probably) won't let Kinn do it, and right now he is the bigger threat; Gun's eyes are mostly on Kinn in this scene, not his own brother. At Korn's "someone must be responsible for this," Gun looks at Kinn, who has another of those almost invisible nods. (There's his intro scene energy again. Mom must have been an interesting person. The main family and Kinn personally are surrounded by water, which is feminine? I don't know much about Thai symbology. Was she the last good chess opponent Korn had?)

Korn isn't going to let Kinn kill Gun for the above reason that he wants Gun right where he is, also because it would hand off way too much authority to Kinn, and finally (I suspect) because he wants to kill Gun. You can't go around letting people do things they find satisfying, what fun is that. (If Gun will hand over Vegas, though? Kinn can kill him, no great loss--or vice versa? Vegas is controllable. Kinn has been erratic lately. Just musing here, back to the episode.)

Victory doesn't come from taking advantage of the weak? Dude that is literally your entire livelihood. Making Gun accept that label of weak in public is far better than shooting him as far as Korn is concerned. Gun watching Kinn finish his drink, both of them aware that he would have pulled the trigger.

Still smoking. Stress-induced reversion to an old habit? They're arguing, but they're talking; I'll take it. Just gonna kiss the stupid out of each other, huh. Outside in broad daylight though, y'all getting reckless. Also getting better at fighting and making up like regular people. Kinn is not relying on vibes and sex, but explicitly checking in to agree the argument is over (a thing lots of people with much more relationship experience never learn, tbh).

So Chay wants Porsche to quit - not surprising - and it seems like Porsche is not inclined to? And Kinn kinda forgot about Pete...? On the other hand, at least there's besotted looks and cuddling.

#b watches kinnporsche #kpts

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resetmypatientviolence · 11 months

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*cracks knuckles* okay let's do this

1, 16, 18, 19

Ahhhh one is scary but let’s go!

1) Describe yourself through the eyes of a stranger.

A short girl that won’t turn down a taco but is strong. She’s quiet and polite and is kind. Shy but affable and a hard worker and fun loving. Also a little bit gay.

Tho if you see me online, well, probably a loud and annoying bitch.

16) Favorite form of flattery?

Ahaha fanfic comments? 😛 Jk Jk, idk tbh. I suppose heartfelt compliments and somebody complimenting me or my writing in way that’s legit and dives into sides of me that I wouldn’t say about myself or notice. It just shows that you… care and notice things I might not or things I intend but wouldn’t say. Does that make sense?

18) Describe your personal style

This is hard! I work in an office and then go to the gym so. I suppose you can say I’m basic and definitely a millennial when I’m in my work clothes— nothing fancy but not rolled out of bed. But if I’m in my gym clothes? Then yeah, somebody who lifts things.

I try to be comfy and casual most of the time and buy a few things I like a year that are in style. Always try to be a bit gay, too.

19) What’s the last concept that inspired you?

Witchy Night by Nico Vega!!!! I’m still working through a plot, mentally, and I go back and forth but I really feel some vibes from it and want to write something sapphic and mysterious and horror from it. Aka this is the moodboard for my idea I wanna make into a novel.

#ask game #thank you!#GREAT QUESTIONS

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1eos · 2 years

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I don't wanna defend that author that book was terrible but the racism against central Asians was supposed to be commentary on the society in the book. By the halfway point your def supposed to sympathize with the central asian characters and understand that the racism against them is bad. That said x*r*n is not a good writer and it was all very clunky and over the top and you can argue that they were having too much fun setting up the archetypes that they didn't do a good job deconstructing them later which ended up undermining the points they were trying to make. I think there's just some topics that you need a certain level of maturity to really do well and racism plots are one of those. But they were trying, imo they failed but they were trying.

yeah even when it’s one of THOSE stories i think the intent doesn’t erase the problem of the racism if that makes sense. for one you don’t NEED to tackle racism in your stories nd for two i find that media that is trying to confront racism badly is even worse than something that’s straight up racist ppl will automatically go ‘well you were supposed to think the racism is bad’. for example ive watched a bunch of video essays on how the show rwby fucked up big time by trying to create a racism allegory but then also saying that the bad guys are bad for not wanting to be oppressed in a nice way 😵‍💫 or the way millions of ppl have watched full metal alchemist nd come out pro military lmao.

my point being if you write racism badly you just look racist 😭 nd if you don’t address the criticism in it to be BETTER then your intent don’t matter anymore bc you won’t even listen to the ppl trying to help you be a better writer. like? who is the racist plot points even for if you’re not listening to criticism?????? cuz its def not for the offended ppl. idk. its hard for me to excuse badly written racism bc like i said you could just NAWT. but also you just end up getting a pat on the back for being woke while the ppl with legit crticisms get called haters for literally no reason. like just write a romance with political intrigue nd leave the racism subtext to good writers

#even if the racist plot is done well there’s always still room for more subtley nd things

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faorism · 3 years

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needing the au to drop wherein i can commit to writing a historical au,, because since i first watched the db cooper job my mind went straight to OT3! OT3! OT3! (unlike with the van gogh job, since i aint playing with that fucking lieutenant)

one day maybe one dayyyyy i will sit down and i will write the ot3 into that episode's story. so, it'll be the backgrounds for the characters in the flashback (so, stephanie ritter, steve reynolds, and reggie wilkins), but with the necessary personality adjustments (parker, eliot, and hardison respectively). basically, vintage ot3 with some hot as hell aesthetics and secrets and avoiding as much as possible producing copraganda.

so. my thoughts. what i see happening. and this got super long so im throwing this under a cut. and for ease i will call them by their modern day canon names except when making a point.

first, general thoughts about the characters.

and so: steve to eliot. nothing much here on the surface. eliot still volunteers, too much an indoctrinated white man to have been forcibly drafted. so its still one man gone to war. one man come back. eliot would had been noticed early in training for his ability to pick shit up, and they teased at maybe sending him to a special unit. maybe they do, or maybe they don't because they just need to funnel fuckers to the jungle. the vietnam invasion was a terrorist imperialist venture and there's no romanticizing from me about anything done being at all valorous or special or brother-in-arms'y. and eliot commits war crimes under the american stars and stripes instead of just to keep moreau's champaign running. but also maybe moreau is eliot's superior. he certainly would have been rewarded for this ruthlessness. (eliot of course strove to impress moreau because there aint an eliot spencer who wasn't that man's dog at some point, i!!!! dont make the rules). eliot's friend died and eliot's gone off to carry out his wishes and moreau lets him because he Knows eliot is gonna come back. whether its to come back to the same squad, or follow him into deeper spy shit for the military, or to fuck off and go private. then eliot meets parker.

now. stephanie to parker. beth plays normal so well im mad at her, but there's something edgy and strategic about stephanie that i think parker can grab onto. i feel that maybe she was kind of a thief still, but there's more realism to this world so archie wasnt a super secret spy with lasers to practice with, but just a guy with sticky fingers whos a little bored and wants a protege. parker is good really good at what she does, and not having to deal with lasers makes me easy. but she's into scams that are less grifts and more Catch Me If You Can slight of hands. she's always looking for easy money (she was into lifting cars at one point! literally she follows where the crime is). she's doing something in an airport and someone tries to recruit her as a flight attendant because she's got the Look. and yall, flight attendants? that shit was like being a model and an astronaut and a time traveler back then. and according to a teacher i had, who once worked as in the f.a. union, those ladies back in the day were rad and queer and free spirited and runnnnning shit. i think, yes, it's a Job which i think we might resist placing parker into. but! of the jobs, at the time, i really see her rocking it during the time period. (also come on, the opportunities to swindle distracted people of their shit would be endless. they would just think they dropped their stuff in the airport! not that it was stolen.)

finally, reggie to alec. i think hardison will be the hardest to translate. even tho i admittedly listen to a lot of true crime podcasts, i dont know much about fbi life and also definitely don't know about it historically. part of me desperately wants to put him somewhere else even if it does have to stay within the fbi. i might cheat and make him like a Q(uartermaster) to 007/00s like in james bond, and he's like UGH this is horrible god i hate working for the fbi but they will give me funding so...... anyway, here's this totally cool [radio term]. that said, if hardison is stuck in the fbi, why he ends up there is that he is a fucking savant when it comes to research and the man can put together a presentation like no one else. that white man gets all the credit for profiling but it was hardison who goddamn was the google of the microfilm days. reggie felt super square but that might be because he had to deal with mcsweeties db cooper shit day in and day out for years. hardison is more himself. and definitely still a nerd. alec would be into dime fantasy novels and comics and ham radios and oh god he also would be into star trek like the original star trek as it came out and he would be into the zines yes! yessss. omg. also he plays a mean arcade cabinet. but he's mostly well adjusted but lonely. his colleagues dont appreciate him because fbi esp during that time were fucking wilding out and racist as hell aaaaaand im sorry im srry im trying so hard to have fbi hardison make sense but also! acab. ANYWAY.

second, the relationship

i think it would be fun to play with what it means to have parker/eliot start off first and bring in hardison afterwards. (if white collar is your thing, it would be like this canon divergent ot3 fic wherein peter burke is the last to join in.) i feel they would be Super Intense esp since they are carrying this big ass secret. kind of broken and dysfunctional and there's the passion and the commitment, but i think there's also a tenderness that's super hard for them to achieve? and i think there's a way that hardison plays such an important part in who they are and how they are. like, sure i think parker/eliot would have joy but they won't have levity. they would have compassion but they won't have gentleness.

eliot meets hardison after being recruited by nate. i think they get close because while nate and eliot have an interesting and compelling mentorship/friendship, nate is still eliots superior; sometimes its nice to complain about your boss, as hardison will say to eliot to try to make friends. i think hardison and eliot would become legit friends and not just work buddies because they are just not cut out of the same cloth as the rest of their colleagues. they grab beers after work. after hard days, hardison cajoles eliot into going to the arcade. they are friends. real real truly deep best friends, in a way hardison didn't think he could have with a fed and eliot didnt think he would have after his friend died. but also? they are like "buds" who are buds who are desperately tryna to cross any lines because there's a.... tension? an UST between them they dont know what to do with.

parker meets eliot by way of a "lets have my friend for dinner, he's a blast." and immediately immediately hardison is like... wow this woman is beautiful but like, really attracted to her personality. and parker things hardison is kinda dorky but cute dorkie? anyway, they have a puppy love situation growing. and it keeps growing until bam. eliot and parker are like. are we into alec???? fuck we are aren't we.

i think stephanie and steve would never tell reggie (even if somehow they were to be a thing). but parker and eliot? hell yeah they tell hardison. eventually. after a while. sooner than maybe they should. the tension if they should say something is one of the things that build up as UST between them for so long; parker and eliot know they are carrying this huge thing. two huge things. eliot being db cooper and also their massive crush on him.

if i could control myself to stick to a pwp, it would be another christmas. maybe the christmas nine (more?) years down the road. the damn snow grounded hardison's flight back to his nana's, and parker and eliot hear this and invite him over. the egg nog gets flowing and parker eventually is like,, fuck this. and comes onto hardison. and hardison would be like wow wow what but... idk, free love and swinging were In The Thoughts And Minds Of The People. he still checks in with eliot who is like. her body, man; i aint gonna tell her what to do. and for a sec hardison is like, man is this a cuck situation? i guess i can be for it but also...... aint mad if i aint alone. and eliot is so grateful and idk. i just want them all to be happy and having fun and no one to be left out. and yeah i am kinda brushing over a lot of the racial politics which, in a more developed fic rather than a pwp, would definitely need to be brought in; but idk that needs to just be in the bedrock of whatever plot is going into this.

it takes a lot of maneuvering of their lives but they make it work and eventually hardison is a keeper of eliot's secret too.

(apart from the historical aspect, another reason i probably won't actually write this is because i know myself. i would want to do worldbuilding. i would follow eliot and alec to their jobs, but i wouldnt want to write outright copaganda. the grit/realism i would be comfortable with would take a level of research i dont think i can commit to. but if someone wants to take this up or if you figure out a way around this issue, pls do i wont be mad)

#eliot spencer #parker leverage #alec hardison #leverage #thiefsome #okay i srsly am not this active but this week got me wanting to talk and talk about these three beauties #the db cooper job

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maria-scribbles · 4 years

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loyalty’s all i got | part one

summary: three years ago, you had it all: great friends, good grades, and an almost perfect relationship with your boyfriend, jj. it all came crashing down when your mom relocated your family to california for work and you were forced to trade the outer banks for malibu, leaving your broken heart behind in the place you were just starting to think of as home. now you're back in town for college and to pick up the pieces, hoping to make things right again with your friends and the boy you never stopped loving.

word count: 8.9k+ i'm legit incapable of writing something short 😅

ship: jj maybank x female!reader, pogue friendship

warnings: mentions of child abuse, non-graphic injuries, weed, swearing, underage drinking, learning to be vulnerable, trust issues, first love, jj getting the love and affection he deserves, underage sex (nothing too descriptive but it gets a lil spicy, just fyi), teenage heartbreak, failed long distance relationship, angst with a happy ending, references to some taylor swift songs 'cause she's a queen.

a/n: got a lil plot bunny that wouldn't leave me alone so here we are lol. title and inspiration for this fic comes from train's song "rescue dog" that gave me 'jj x reader where they're both damaged goods' vibes the second i heard it. this is semi canon-compliant as the treasure hunt never happened but big john is still alive and kie and sarah still work out their issues and become friends again. i used the names daisy, daniel, deke, and mack as a tribute to agents of shield, one of my favorite shows that had just had its series finale (and i'm still an emotional mess). enjoy and keep an eye out for part two, coming soon!

~masterlist~

part one: when our love was young and easy

For you, having a traveling nurse as a mom was both a blessing and a curse. When you were a kid, you loved bouncing around the country to a new town every so often and finding new places to explore with your rebellious big sister. Back then, she was all you needed to be happy: you'd go anywhere and everywhere as long as Daisy, your best friend, was by your side.

As you both grew older and started school, you slowly realized that packing up your life every few years sucked. Yeah, seeing new places was cool and all but the novelty wore off fast when you found yourself making friends with your classmates, kids who weren't your sister for once, only to lose touch whenever you moved again. You felt like a ghost, haunting a new school for a while and then leaving behind nothing but a memory, one that gradually faded over time until it was gone, as if you never existed at all. You wondered if anyone actually remembered you.

It was hard. You gradually became more sullen and withdrawn, finding it more and more difficult to make friends when you knew they wouldn't last, while Daisy acted out even worse than usual and ended up being grounded almost every week. It took her getting arrested while graffitiing the school gym on New Year's Eve for your father - a bit clueless about being a stay-at-home dad to two girls but he tried his best- to put his foot down and tell his wife enough was enough.

"Our kids need stability, Rebekah. They need a chance to make real friends and stay in one place for longer than two or three years. They need a home."

Thankfully by some miracle, your mother agreed and promised the next move would be the last until you graduated high school. You wanted to believe her so badly but you weren't sure if you could as you packed up your life once again and headed down south from Rhode Island.

That's how you ended up in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, finishing eighth grade at some fancy ass academy that you weren't sure your parents could afford. Daisy, a sophomore, seemed to have no problem fitting in on the north side of the island when she landed a job as a lifeguard at the country club and made fast friends with the rich kids that frequented the pool. It stung a bit when she eventually started ditching you for them (and some older boy named Kelce; you knew she'd snag a boyfriend eventually but you didn't realize it'd be so fast and with someone so...douchey) but you tried not to let it bother you too much, as you were okay getting by on your own and honest-to-God happy for your sister. Making friends was a scary thought when you remembered all the kids you've had to leave behind over the years, all the friendships that crumbled into dust in the wind so you tried to stay at arm's length from your classmates and told yourself you were just fine the way you were.

The loneliness was hard to ignore though, and you soon found yourself slowly, reluctantly becoming friends with a girl named Kiara that sat beside you in algebra after she helped you cram for a test you completely forgot about, even as warning bells rang loud in your mind. It wasn't long before you started sitting with her and her friend Sarah at lunch, which led to being invited to the beach and the movies and sleepovers and just like that, you remembered what friendship felt like. For the first time, you felt like a normal teenager with a best friend that wasn't your sister and although you liked Sarah, Kiara was the one you were closest to, especially when you found out she hated the kook academy as much as you did.

"Fuck it," She said at one of your sleepovers, sitting on the floor at the end of your bed and rifling through your box of movies. "I'm done with acting like something I'm not, I'm done with being fake, and I'm done with rich kid politics." She tossed Legally Blonde in your direction and then joined you in leaning against the headboard as you slipped the DVD into your laptop.

"Yeah, this whole kook thing kind of sucks." You replied, tapping through the previews to the main menu. "That's why I don't give a shit."

"And that's why I'm so happy you're my friend, Y/N," Kiara said. "You're just yourself and don't try to change for anybody. It's cool."

Cursor hovering over the play button, you paused and glanced over at the other girl. "I'm happy you're my friend, too. I...I only really had my sister growing up so just...thanks, I guess. For being here."

Kiara pulled you into a fierce hug after your impromptu confession and you hugged her back, understanding for the first time what true friendship looked like.

More kids get added to your posse -three boys named John B, JJ, and Pope- after a catastrophic falling out with Sarah over her fiasco of a birthday party and from the very first time you met them, you realized the south side of the island was where you belonged. The pogues were unabashedly, unapologetically real and you felt the freest you'd ever been when you were hanging out with them and from the way Kiara seemed so much happier, you knew she felt the same way. Those kooks and their status quo could suck it.

You vowed you wouldn't let yourself get too attached to your new friends (cohorts, as your dad jokingly called them), lest you get your heart broken when your mom inevitably moved on to the next job in a year or two; despite her promise, you just had a feeling that it wouldn't last and wished you weren't always waiting for that other shoe to drop. You didn't plan on them becoming your second family and you definitely didn't plan on falling in love for the first time, but life always found new ways to surprise you.

You were fourteen when you started to notice that one of your friends was cute as fuck. To be honest, you thought all of your friends were pretty cute but there was something about JJ that made you flustered beyond belief every time he crossed your mind. You found yourself more than a little fixated on his golden hair, his bright blue eyes, and the way you always felt at your happiest when he was around; he lived like a wild, out of control hurricane and you wanted to get swept up in the eye of his storm, despite your brain telling you not to.

You never had crushes before, always too busy anticipating worrying about your family's next move to really look at anyone like that but you were definitely looking now while you tried to balance on JJ's surfboard in the gently bobbing waves, your trembling hands planted firmly on his -bare, tan, strong- shoulders as he held it steady.

"Lookin' good, Y/N," He looked up at you with a proud grin before glancing back down at your stance. "Just bend your knees a little more and you'll be perfect."

His praise, along with his calloused palms carefully adjusting your legs made your face feel hot and you shifted on the board to correct your balance, slowly raising your arms until you were standing, albeit a little wobbly, mostly on your own.

"Holy shit!" You yelled, the smile on your face growing more ecstatic at the encouraging cheers of your friends as they watched from the beach twenty feet away. "I'm doing it! I'm actually doing it!"

"Almost," JJ gave you another one of his killer smiles, the ones that you quickly found out made breathing normally quite the challenge, then let go of your knees to give the board a solid push forward. "Now you are!"

Frantically, you recalled everything he taught you that afternoon and managed to make it halfway to shore before you lost your balance and fell into the surf with a giddy laugh. "Guess I need a little more practice," You giggled as he splashed his way over and offered you a hand, a teasing glint in his blue eyes.

"Just a little?"

You flicked some water at him for that and your laugh grew when he wrapped you up in his arms and spun you around before flinging you both into the waves. The others immediately ran to join you and an all out war broke out, everyone splashing each other with no holds barred.

When he casually suggested giving you another lesson the next day as you all laid on the sand to catch your breath, you were unable to say no and the soft, dimpled smile on his face made your heart skip a beat in a way you'd never felt before. For the first time, you told the warning bells in your head to just shut the fuck up and allowed yourself to think about the future, to dream about what you could become and where you could be in two, five, even ten years. You let yourself have hope.

The next morning, you put on your favorite bikini -the green high waisted one that made your butt look good- and caught a ride with Daisy and Kelce to the beach, ignoring the teasing looks and jabs your sister sent your way and the sly smirk on her boyfriend's face.

"Hey, Juliet, looks like your Romeo's already waiting for you."

You rolled your eyes and hopped out of Kelce's Range Rover, flipping them both the bird behind your back without a second glance. As they drove away, their laughter followed you to where JJ was indeed waiting by the walkway to the shore, surfboard under his arm, and his face broke out into a wide grin when he laid eyes on you, one that you couldn't help returning.

"Sorry I'm late, my sister was being a bitch."

He laughed at that and reached out to take your hand, sending warm tingles through your whole body. "I was kinda worried you forgot about me, Y/N."

In a sudden burst of courage you didn't know you had, you laced your fingers with his and started pulling him toward the water as you sent him a wink over your shoulder. "I would never."

You started your lesson on the sand, reviewing how to stand up and balance on the board, before moving to the ocean. You catch your first waves on your stomach to get used to the movement and when you get comfortable with that you move to your knees and then your feet; each time JJ was there to catch you when you inevitably bit it, hugging you close to his bare chest and speaking enthusiastic words of encouragement in your ear, and with every passing try you became more and more confident until you finally nailed a small wave from beginning to end without falling on your ass.

"I did it!" In a flash, you jumped off the board and into his arms, your mouth curving into a joyful grin when he spun you in circles like yesterday with your own arms locked tight around his neck.

"Hell yeah you did!" The proud smile on his face made your stomach do a little flip and so did the way he held you close, his hands hooked under your thighs. "You're gonna be a pro in no time."

"Well," You said, twirling your fingers in the fine blond hair at his nape and hoping you didn't just imagine the shiver that ran down his spine. "I do have a great teacher."

His pretty blue eyes locked onto yours and you couldn't look away even if you wanted to (which you absolutely didn't). You'd been reading about moments like that ever since you were a kid, alone in your room with nothing better to do than drown yourself in overly sappy fanfiction until 2 AM, so you knew all about the magnetism, the butterflies, the invisible string tying two lovers together by fate, but it was just a fantasy, a pipe dream, something to yearn for when the loneliness became too much. Never in a million years did you imagine you would ever feel like that.

And yet you did. You felt it in your whole body, coursing through your veins like liquid fire, and when JJ started to lean in, you didn't hesitate to meet him halfway. It wasn't your first kiss -that happened two years ago when you were still living in Rhode Island, during a rare party you actually got invited to and with a pretty girl in your class- but it was the first that set every single one of your nerves alight. He held you tighter against him as your hands moved to cup his face, letting him deepen the kiss with a tilt of his head and the soft swipe of his tongue against your lips. You never thought you'd find yourself in the middle of a make out session in broad daylight and in full view of everyone on the beach but there you were, not giving a single shit about who was watching. All you cared about was memorizing every detail about the way he kissed you, the feel of his mouth on yours and the heat of his palms against your thighs, the rough touch of drying saltwater on his skin under your thumbs and that little noise he made low in his throat when you wrapped your legs tighter around his waist. You could've kissed him for hours (holy shit did you want to do that) and never run out of new idiosyncrasies to notice.

You pulled back some glorious time later with a breathless smile and swollen lips, heart racing against your ribcage and forehead pressed to JJ's as he smiled back, an endearing pink flushed across his face.

"I've wanted to do that for a while." His quiet admission made the butterflies in your stomach go haywire and you leaned down to kiss him once again, no longer able to deny yourself the happiness you longed for for years now that you'd had a taste; he returned the kiss and you laughed against his mouth as he spun you around before gently setting you on your feet in the surf, his forgotten board -thankfully still tethered to your ankle- bumping into your legs with every wave.

"Me, too."

"Good." He shot you a smile that make you weak in the knees and tucked a wayward strand of hair behind your ear, then it was his turn to lean down to press his lips to yours.

After that day, life was practically a dream. You had the greatest friends you could've asked for, your family was the happiest you'd ever seen them, and you had a boyfriend. A loyal, affectionate, chaotic boyfriend who somehow managed to keep you on your toes while being your guiding light all at once and you wondered how you got so lucky that a boy as wonderful as JJ wanted little old you, with all of your insecurities and shattered edges and tendencies to push people away when they got too close.

You told him that one day as you laid together on your bed, sharing lazy kisses in the warm late-summer sun streaming in through your window while Fleetwood Mac played quietly from your phone resting on the nightstand. Fall was in the air and with it came cool breezes and that nagging fear in the back of your mind that screamed none of it would last. It was the first time you cried in front of him -in front of anyone other than your sister- and he held you tight to his chest, hand running soothingly over your back as you let everything out in one massive, embarrassing flood of years of pent-up emotions.

Another thing your boyfriend was good at, you found out, was comfort. He didn't say anything as he hugged you close but he didn't need to, the fact that he was simply there and listening was all you needed from him. You spent your whole life living in the shadows until then, when he made you feel seen, heard, and important, validated, all without saying a single word and after your tears had run dry and you pulled your face away from his damp shirt, you killed that urge to flee and buried it so deep you hoped you'd never find it again.

That day, you poured out your heart for the first time to a person you knew in your very bones you could trust and received nothing but unconditional acceptance in return. JJ took you as you were, flaws and metaphorical scars, dark secrets and past mistakes, and you weren't quite fifteen yet but you wondered if that spark you felt in your blood when he kissed you was love.

It was less than a week later when he showed up at your door late at night, bruised and bloody, and the thrill of a clandestine meeting in your room faded the second you saw the small, pained smile he sent your way. Daisy, swapping roles with you for once, distracted your parents so you could sneak him upstairs like she did with Kelce practically every week and only when you were both safely hidden away in your room did you speak, keeping your voice as soft as your touch against his bruised cheek. "What happened?"

You cried in front of him for the second time when he finally answered, after you cleaned him up with the first aid kit your mom always kept under your bathroom sink and helped him change into some of your dad's old clothes your sister swiped from the laundry room ("if you need anything, just text me, 'k?" she said and you sent her a grateful smile before she left, quietly shutting the door behind her.). JJ was your echo as he spilled all his secrets, too, bringing his demons out of the deep blue darkness and into your golden daylight where they slowly burned to ash, little by little. You held him close, your legs tangled together and his head pillowed on your chest, and you ran your fingers through his hair over and over until he talked himself hoarse and his hands loosened their white-knuckled grip on your sweatshirt.

Words had never been your strong suit so you let your actions speak for you and gently wiped the tears from his cheeks with your thumbs, leaning down to press your lips to his forehead, then his closed eyelids, his nose, all over his face until there was no inch you hadn't kissed other than his mouth; you saved that for last, letting each delicate touch linger against his slightly chapped lips like bright beacons of light guiding him through a storm in hopes that he'll make it to shore.

"You'll always be safe with me."

You whispered it into his hair sometime later, through swollen lips that hurt in the best possible way and you felt his slow smile into the curve of your neck, his reply coming in the form of a soft and feather-light kiss against your heated skin. You fell asleep that night with your boyfriend wrapped up in your arms, safe and warm and far away from the father who hurt him in more ways than one.

Your parents, on the other hand, loved JJ so much to the point you thought they'd adopt him if they could, especially your dad. They were constantly inviting him over for dinner, fishing trips, movie nights: you name it, your parents wanted him there, and you were pretty sure he was spending even more time at your place than at John B's. He won the 'favorite boyfriend' category by default because Kelce barely made the 'tolerated' list, much to your and Daisy's amusement.

Despite that fact though, you still snuck JJ out your window that morning to meet him at the front door just as your mother was leaving for her shift at the hospital. Rebekah greeted him with her customary hug before touching his bruised cheek with a gentle hand and concern in her eyes.

"What happened, hon?"

He shrugged, expertly bullshitting some excuse about defending your honor when one of Kelce's friends started going off about how good your ass looked and it instantly appeased your dad, who reached over to clap your boyfriend on the shoulder.

"Good job, kid." Bill said with a pleased grin, then kissed his wife goodbye and headed back down the hall toward the living room. "Hear that, Daisy? Your boy needs to get better friends!"

"Dad!"

"Even better, just get a better boy in general!"

As your father and sister squabbled, your mother pulled you both into another fierce hug and whispered "You always have a place here," before she headed out the door; JJ looked a bit stunned at Rebekah's words and you reached over to give his hand a gentle squeeze, smiling softly when he slowly did it back.

Your parents weren't stupid. They knew your boyfriend didn't come from the best of homes but they loved him anyway, showering him in ordinary, everyday affection they knew he rarely got. You noticed it more and more as the months passed: your dad always asking him for help fixing Daisy's clunker of a car when it broke down and both would come inside with grease-stained hands and easy smiles, your mom keeping all the first aid kits fully stocked and hugging him a little tighter when he looked a little worse for wear, both of them making sure he was fed and safe and cared for like he deserved. Even Daisy had a penchant for leaving snacks on your bed like some sort of food fairy and offering to give rides to the beach or the Chateau, especially after she finally dumped Kelce and had, as she said, 'nothing better to do.'

And you? You fell harder each passing day, each moment you spent with him, each kiss that made your veins hum with white hot lightning. Of course, your friends teased you mercilessly but neither of you really minded, knowing that each joke was born pure joy at seeing you both together and happy (though you never missed an opportunity to be extra affectionate in front of everyone as revenge.). JJ continued to teach you how to surf until you could hold your own with the rest of the pogues and when you turned fifteen in late spring, they gave you the surprise of your life in the form of your very own board.

You stared in shock at the sea foam green board propped in the sand beside your friends,' gaping like a fish out of water as they all screamed "happy birthday, Y/N!" at the top of their lungs.

"You...you guys -are you for real?" You reached out to run your fingers over the smooth epoxy surface, the mounting pressure behind your eyes becoming harder and harder to ignore when you caught sight of your friends' identical bright grins. What did you do to deserve them?

"We figured it was time you had your own board instead of that shitty hand me down," John B said, ruffling your hair with brotherly affection that made your heart feel full. Pope nodded enthusiastically and added, "You're gonna improve so much with this -not that you weren't already, I mean!"

"She's already good 'cause she has me for a teacher," JJ said with an overexaggerated wink as he pulled you closer and planted a kiss on your cheek. "Taught her everything she knows."

"Oh, please, you just wanted to mack-"

"Taught her how to make out-"

"What they all mean to say, Y/N," Kiara interrupted, sending the boys a pointed look, then gave your shoulder a quick squeeze, "is that we love you. That word won't kill you guys to say, you know."

"I-I love you guys, too. All of you." You admitted thickly, hastily wiping away the tears you just realized were slipping down your face. It didn't scare you to say it. You didn't feel the urge to run or pretend you didn't care for them as much as they cared for you 'cause you loved your friends like you loved your sister, your parents, and the thought filled you with joy instead of terror. "I don't know how to thank you."

You suddenly found yourself in the middle of a colossal group hug, laughing and crying at the same time as four pairs of arms all tried to wrap around you at once. "How about you start by getting out there and showing us what you're made of?" John B said with a nod toward the ocean and you wiggled your way out of the tangle of limbs, darting forward to pull your new board from the sand.

"Come on, slowpokes," You called over your shoulder as you jogged toward the water, "You aren't gonna let the newbie have all the fun, right?"

The water was a bit too chilly for surfing but the five of you dove in anyway and you grinned so hard you were sure your face would split in two when you nailed your first wave to the rest of the pogues' cheers. You all surfed until the cold was too much to bear before packing up and heading back to your house, where you spent the rest of your birthday surrounded by all of the people you'd ever loved, making s'mores around the campfire in your backyard.

"I meant what I said earlier." You blurted when JJ was the only one around to hear it, the others already headed inside for the night. The two of you laid together on a blanket beside the dying fire as you stared up at the stars and when you spoke, he tore his gaze from the sky to focus on you, one eyebrow raised in the cutest confused expression you'd ever seen.

"Meant what?"

Maybe it was the look in those pretty blue eyes of his or the feel of his fingers running through your hair or your brain remembering every single moment you'd ever shared with him all at once but something screamed at you to say those words, the ones you'd been thinking about saying to his face for a long time. Though you'd already said them earlier, this time was different -so, so different- and you took a deep breath, fighting away the nerves that made your hand tremble as you cupped his face and ran your thumb over his cheekbone.

"I love you."

The funny thing about words: once they're out in the air, there's no taking them back. These words, though? You never wanted to take them back. Ever.

"I love you, too."

It wasn't like the movies. Fireworks didn't go off, the world didn't stop spinning on its axis, nothing magically clicked into place, but you did feel the most wonderful warmth you could ever imagine slowly sinking into your bones when he said it back, the soft smile on his flushed face snatching the very breath from your lungs. He loved you. You loved him. It was simple, uncomplicated, effortless and you smiled into his kiss with the moon and stars as your witnesses.

Summer came again, setting you and Kiara free from the hell known as the kook academy and its rich kid hierarchy and the two of you ran wild -from sunrise to sunset- with your boys at your sides, like birds escaping their cages or horses let loose in the grasslands, untamed and thirsty for adventure. It had only just begun and yet you already knew it was the best summer of your life.

Your dad, a man able to make friends with a rock, struck up a camaraderie with Sarah's father of all people during a deep sea fishing trip and snagged five invitations to some fancy party called Midsummers.

Kiara nearly had a coronary when you shared the news, her face lighting up like a kid on Christmas morning. "Oh, thank God!" She breathed, sitting up on her towel and pushing her sunglasses up onto her forehead. "Maybe I'll actually have a good time for once."

The two of you were relaxing on the beach, taking a break while the boys surfed and you turned away from admiring your boyfriend's bare back to look her in the eye. "So what you're saying is-"

"-it fucking sucks. Just..." She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "a bunch of bourgeoise pigs throwing a party to stroke their overinflated egos."

You groaned and flopped back onto your towel, throwing your arm over your eyes. "Great, a night of rich people being rich people."

Kiara laughed and reached over to grab a bottle of water from the cooler. "You have no idea."

Despite her misgivings, the party wasn't as bad as you thought it would be. Sure, the general stench of opulence and wasted money -so much wasted money- was overbearing and quite frankly disgusting but you did your best to ignore it, focusing instead on having a great time with two of your best friends, making fun of the kooks and sneaking liquor when the adults weren't looking. One of those friends happened to be your boyfriend and you found it very, very hard to keep your eyes off him in that suit of his, with his hair slicked back in just the right way that made your knees weak; JJ couldn't stop staring at you either and you'd lost count of how many times you glanced over to find him already looking at you, something you'd never seen before behind his gaze. You wanted -needed- to find out what it was and you were hoping you would tonight, even if you didn't exactly know how.

"Why don't you two take a picture? It'll last longer." Kiara said sarcastically and you flicked your eyes down to your lap, smoothing a non-existent wrinkle in your deep green dress to hide your embarrassment. What was it about that damn suit that made you feel so flustered?

"You know me, Kie," JJ replied, grabbing your hand and tugging you toward the dance floor. "I like to live in the moment." He grinned down at you and you couldn't help smiling back, giggling as he twirled you under his arm before pulling you close, resting his other hand low on your back.

"I didn't know you were such a good dancer," You said, letting him lead you in a simple waltz across the cool grass.

"Well, I'm not but I might've spent the last week practicing with your sister while Kie distracted you." He admitted casually, shooting a thumbs up over your shoulder and you turned to find Daisy grinning in your direction as she swayed with some guy (Daniel, you thought, or maybe Deke? You weren't sure.) you'd seen hanging around the pool a few times. 'You're welcome,' She mouthed before spinning under her partner's arm, her wine-colored dress fanning out around her legs and you smiled wider, twirling back into your boyfriend's embrace and surging up onto your tiptoes to press your lips to his.

He dipped you low as he returned your kiss, grinning against your mouth when you flung your arms around his neck in surprise, your fingers holding tight to the collar of his suit jacket. "You did all that for me?" You asked once your feet were firmly back on the ground and your heart skipped a beat as his hands brushed the skin exposed by the low-cut back of your dress.

"Anything for you, Y/N."

Later, after dancing until your shoes started to dig uncomfortably into your toes, the two of you snuck down to the beach, your heels in your hands and two stolen drinks in JJ's. You felt a bit guilty ditching Kiara but from the wink she sent your way as you passed by, you were pretty sure she didn't really mind. The sand was cool on your legs through the thin layers of your skirt and yet you felt nothing but warm, both from his arm around your shoulders and the alcohol burning down your throat.

"Shit," You coughed, regretting following your boyfriend's example by knocking the whole thing back at once and playfully jabbing your elbow in his side when he outright laughed at your struggle. "I'm not used to drinking straight...whatever this is."

"It's bourbon, babe." He took the glass from your hand and set it aside before tucking you closer against him to ward off the slight chill of the mellow ocean breeze. "Don't worry, I still love you even if you can't take shots."

"Ha ha. Love you, too, you jerk." You rested your head on his shoulder after they stopped shaking with laughter, perfectly happy to sit in silence together and watch the waves crash against the shore. A pleasant tingle flooded through your body after the bourbon finally stopped burning and you realized you liked the feeling, even if it paled in comparison to the high you reached when he kissed you, when he ran his hand through your hair, when he made it crystal clear you were loved.

"Hey, Y/N?"

JJ's voice pulled you out of your thoughts and you shifted your head to look up at him, hooking one of your ankles around his. "Yeah?"

"Gimme your hand."

You obliged, your confusion slowly melting away into something more closely resembling pure, unadulterated affection as he tied a bracelet around your wrist. And not just any bracelet, you noticed when you brought it closer to your face to examine it in the dim, distant light of the party: this one was obviously, beautifully handmade, woven with threads in shades of green, blue, and tan and tied off with two green beads on each end. You ran your thumb over a spot where the intricate motif was just a little messed up and smiled when JJ looked embarrassed, the tips of his ears turning red.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I was in a hurry and fucked up the pattern," He confessed sheepishly, spinning a similar bracelet around his own wrist. "I was gonna give it to you on your birthday but I kind of underestimated how long it took to make-"

"It's perfect." You interrupted, tackling him onto the sand with your arms around his neck as you pressed a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth, leaving a bright red lipstick mark behind. "I love it. I love you."

The smile he sent you was one of unabashed relief and he slid his fingers into your hair to pull you down for another kiss. "I love you, too."

For awhile after that, you let your lips do the talking in a different way and you made out on the beach for -surprisingly- only the second time until you rolled onto your back and accidentally got a little sand in your underwear (he laughed at that but you immediately got your revenge by stuffing a handful down the front of his shirt). You snuck back to the party hand in hand to drop off the forgotten glasses and wave a quick goodbye to Kiara, who just smirked at your smudged lipstick and the golden crown of leaves sitting crooked on your head, before walking toward your house a mile down the road. Well, JJ walked, you hitched a ride on his back when he wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Babe, your feet hurt and you have sand in your ass. No way in hell I'm letting you walk."

You just smiled against his shoulder and let him carry you the rest of the way to your house and then even up the stairs to your room as you fired off a text to Daisy letting her know where you disappeared to. She sent 'check your dresser, thank me later' with a winking emoji back and you felt your face get hot when you caught sight of the small box tucked into the corner of the drawer, quickly placing the phone facedown on your bedside table before tossing your shoes onto the floor by your closet and carefully pulling the crown from your messy hair.

"Thanks for the ride, my feet and ass are in your debt."

"Let's make out again and I'll consider that debt paid."

You laughed but gave in 'cause hell, you really wanted to keep making out, too. You pushed JJ backwards until his knees hit your bed and you ended up on his lap, your hands pushing the suit jacket off his shoulders as you leaned down to kiss him. He slid the pins from your hair one by one until it fell around your face and he tangled his fingers in it, pulling your head back so he could trail his lips down the sensitive skin of your neck and you gasped, pausing in the middle of trying to undo the bowtie around his neck.

Something shifted in the air then and you knew that once you took that next step, there'd be no turning back but you were ready to meet it head on as you finished with his tie and tossed it behind you, then started on the buttons of his shirt. That look from earlier was in his eyes again and you nodded, smiling in anticipation when you finally understood what it meant and he languidly slipped one of the straps of your dress off your shoulder.

You bared your body like you bared your soul and soon there was no part of you that he didn't know. You learned every part of him, too and together you brought each other to a high you'd never felt before. It wasn't perfect, of course, but it was perfect to you: every awkward, beautiful touch, when you breathed his name like that for the first time, the way your hands clutched his hair like a lifeline. You were burning up from the inside out, every single nerve on fire and blazing brilliantly under your heated skin and you'd never felt more alive when you came undone in his arms.

In the afterglow, you laid wrapped up together like the woven bracelets you both wore, JJ's fingers steadily tracing the curve of your bare hip as yours soothed the darkening red mark you'd left behind on his neck. The fairy lights strung above your bed cast soft, welcoming shadows all around, highlighting that wonderful look in his eyes, open and awed and oh so loving and you knew your gaze held the same.

"I'm, I-" He started, then shook his head and leaned down to place a lingering kiss on your cheek. "I just -shit."

"Whoa, you're speechless," You teased, sweeping a wayward strand of sweaty blond hair away from his forehead. "Guess I really blew your mind, huh?"

"Fucking fried it." He shook his head again with the dopiest, dreamiest smile you'd ever seen and you giggled as he pulled you closer, calloused palm flat against the small of your back. "I'm so fucking in love with you. Straight up head over heels, babe."

You smiled even wider at his words and how they ignited that flame burning inside you once again. "Good thing I'm fucking head over heels, hopelessly in love with you, too." You replied and pushed him back onto the bed, swinging a leg over his thighs so you were the one on top this time. "And I'm gonna blow your damn mind again."

You weren't sure what you expected life to be like after you had sex for the first time. You'd always heard it was this momentous occasion, that you'd suddenly feel like a real woman or whatever stupid label society came up with to further control girls and their sexuality but honestly, you still felt like the same person. All those rom-coms and their jokes about having that look after getting laid were total and complete bullshit, you realized; to you, sex was just a different, more intimate way to show your love and you just happened to like showing it often (and luckily JJ did, too). You flaunted it in other ways, too, his bandanas tied in your hair and shirts in your closet, your necklaces resting against his collarbone and bracelets you learned to make around his wrists, but there was nothing like the marks you left on each other's skin -necks, inner arms, hipbones- when you were alone together in the dark.

Life went on. Months flew by and things were nearly perfect for you: great friends, good grades, a wonderful relationship with your loving boyfriend. The girl of your past, the one who kept to herself and avoided anything that had to do with being vulnerable like the plague was dead and gone and in her place was the person you always wanted to be. You were happy -ridiculously, deliriously happy- sixteen and so in love with the life you built that you'd almost forgotten about your mom's tendency to relocate your family every few years; that nagging thought was still in the back of your mind but you refused to let it control your life with fear of losing everything -everyone- you'd come to love.

But you knew how the saying went: the bigger you are, the harder you fall.

The higher you climb on an unstable mountain, the more it hurts when it inevitably crumbles beneath you.

Your mountain didn't just crumble: it was violently torn apart, ripped into pieces by a devastating earthquake, a destructive landslide caused by the one person who promised she wouldn't hurt you anymore but the catalyst that unintentionally set it in motion came from someone you never expected: your sister.

Daisy graduated from the kook academy and got accepted into her dream school, UCLA, alongside her boyfriend Daniel (see, you knew his name wasn't Deke) but you didn't think too much of it. After all, you knew that day would come eventually, the day your big sister would head off to college and leave you, her shadow, behind but the thought didn't fill you with dread like it used to. You had friends, a found family to soothe the inescapable sting of the Daisy-shaped hole in your heart and keep your spirits high when she hopped on that plane to California in the fall.

You still had the summer though and you made it count, days spent with your friends and nights spent with your sister, doing all the things you used to do together when you were little; watching movies, playing games, making a total mess in the kitchen when you baked batches and batches of cookies that had both your boyfriend and hers always hanging around like dogs begging for scraps. You and Daisy started putting them to work the second they ate two dozen snickerdoodles by themselves (Daniel was an excellent cook while JJ was a total disaster) and those nights always ended with the four of you squished together on the couch, wrapped in blankets and cookies and warmth while a scary movie played on in the background.

The day before Daisy left for LA, you met your parents and sister at The Wreck for what you thought would be your last family dinner until Thanksgiving break but it turned out you were the only one who believed that. You should've known something was wrong the second your dad didn't even make a joke about your friends dropping you off in John B's rust bucket of a van or when JJ pulled you back in for a kiss that was just a little bit too risque for the public eye (You'd laughed when John B and Pope both pretended to gag and just kissed him harder, not giving a single shit about who saw, even your parents.). You should've known when your mother's smile was a little strained or when your sister wouldn't meet your eyes. You should've known but you stupidly didn't see the signs and that made Rebekah's words so much harder to swallow.

"We're moving to California."

You dropped the loaded nacho in your hand back onto your plate as you stared at her, gaping like a fish. "E-Excuse me but what the actual fuck?"

"Language, Y/N."

"I don't give a shit about my language, Mom, I give a shit about the fact that you broke your promise!" You hissed, roughly pushing your plate away and almost knocking your glass of water over.

"Sweetheart-"

"You promised."

Your mother winced at the tightness of your voice and how you snatched your clenched fist out from under her hand. "I know, dear, but I couldn't pass on this offer and I know how much you're going to miss your sister-"

"Yeah, I'll miss Daisy but I don't want to move across the country just to be near her! God, let her be her own person for once!"

"Y/N-"

"And what about me, huh? I'm happy here! This is my home! I have friends, a boyfriend -I'm not leaving!"

"Honey, I understand you're upset-"

"Do you?" You interrupted your dad with a bitter laugh, fighting the tears you felt pricking at your eyes. "Do you understand what you're forcing me to lose?"

Bill looked away as Kiara arrived with your food and set the plates down in awkward silence. You gave her a tight smile when she quickly patted your back and then returned to the kitchen, sending you a concerned glance over her shoulder before she disappeared through the double doors and you turned to face Daisy.

"Day, did you know?" Your sister avoiding your sudden, sharp gaze was all the answer you needed and your heart dropped like an anchor, weighing heavy on your stomach. You felt sick. You felt furious. But most of all, you felt betrayed.

Suddenly, the sight of your favorite meal in front of you wasn't so appetizing anymore and you abruptly stood, your chair scraping roughly against the floor. Heads turned to look in your direction but you ignored their curious stares as you snarled with all the venom you could muster across the table at your mother, "I knew I never should've trusted a word you said."

You turned away from her hurt expression -the sheer audacity she had, acting like she was the one whose heart was shattering- and ran out the front door of The Wreck before anyone could stop you, pretending not to hear their voices calling after your retreating back. You didn't know where your feet were taking you but you really didn't care, just as long as it was far, far away from your family.

You ran until your aching legs forced you to stop and you doubled over, hands on your thighs as you tried to catch your breath and it wasn't until you saw the water dripping onto the sidewalk beneath you did you realize you were crying. Footsteps slowed to a stop beside you and your braced yourself to hear Daisy's apology or worse, your mother's, but got Kiara's winded voice instead.

"Did you ever think about doing cross country? 'Cause holy shit," She gasped with her hands on her hips. "You can run."

Despite feeling like your whole fucking world was falling apart around you, you still managed a snort of laughter at your friend's remark and eagerly returned her embrace when she wrapped her arms around your shoulders, burying your face against her neck. She held you as you cried, running a soothing hand up and down your back until the rest of your friends pulled up in the Volkswagen and you found yourself crying on a different shoulder, one you knew better than your own.

The white hot fury had left your body and now all you felt was numb. Numb and empty and hollow as you quietly explained everything on the ride back to the Chateau, avoiding your friends' sympathetic stares by playing with a loose thread at the bottom of JJ's shirt. He ran a hand through your hair while you leaned against him and you let his touch slowly bleed life back into your heart.

"You're not leaving, okay? My parents love you so you can stay with me." Kiara declared later as you all lounged around the bonfire, passing a joint back and forth.

"Or me. My dad would probably let you stay if you helped out around the shop," Pope piped up, handing it over to you without taking a drag as John B added, "Me, too. We have an extra room."

"Tijuana's always nice, too, babe." JJ suggested, grabbing your hand holding the joint and bringing it to his mouth so he could take a hit. "Just a thought."

You smiled softly and took your own hit, slowly blowing smoke into the air. "You guys are the best. I doubt my parents'll change their minds...but I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." It would definitely hurt if your desperate bid to stay didn't work but you tried not to think about that and focused instead on having a good time with your friends, forgetting all about your phone that was switched to silent and burning a hole in your purse.

Later, after the others headed inside for the night and it was just you and JJ left, you were reminded of your fifteenth birthday. You'd laid like you were now, on a blanket under the stars beside a dying fire and you told him you loved him for the first time and as much as it tore you apart to know it might all come to an end, you didn't regret it. You didn't regret befriending Kiara back in eighth grade or letting the pogues become so important to you or falling so hard for the boy holding you in his arms. And right then, all you wanted to do was hold onto that feeling by showing him your love and getting loved in return.

You propped yourself up on your elbow and leaned down to kiss him, your other hand slipping under his shirt in the flickering glow of the flames and you smiled against his lips when he immediately rolled onto his back so you were on top, his hand doing some exploring of its own under your sundress.

"I don't want to feel anything but you tonight." You answered the question in his eyes when you broke apart some time later, both breathing heavily with your skirt hitched up over your thighs and his shirt tossed somewhere on the grass behind you. "Please."

"Here?"

You'd never fucked outside before but you figured now would be the perfect time to try and to be honest, you were too impatient to make it to a bed so you nodded, slowly rolling your hips against his. "Right here."

You lost yourself in the ardent touch of his calloused hands with the haze of smoke hanging in the cool night air, letting everything slip away until he was the only thing that remained. He was all you needed, tan skin slick with sweat and mouth searing hot, your nails trailing scratches down his back while your lips left smudged marks of blood red on his face. He took you higher and higher, doing exactly what you asked him to, over and over until you nearly forgot your own name and when you finally came back down, he held you close until your limbs stopped shaking and your heart slowed back to its normal rhythm.

"I don't want to lose you." You admitted quietly into the dark, wiping at a stubborn lipstick stain on the corner of his mouth and your thumb caught on his lip when JJ shook his head, then leaned down to drop a kiss at your hairline.

"You won't."

You wanted to believe him so badly it hurt but you didn't know if you could so instead you threaded your fingers through his hair and pulled him down to press your mouth to his, his cheek, his jawline, everywhere you could reach, drowning yourself in the right now in hopes that the future would never come.

"I love you, Y/N. Don't you dare forget it." He whispered it against the shell of your ear before trailing his lips down your neck and the light scrape of his teeth on your skin turned your voice into a breathless sigh as you repeated his words into the air, your back arching from the blanket when he hit a particularly sensitive spot and sent electricity racing through your veins. You may have spoken your love softly but you showed it fiercely, each touch a little harder than the last, each kiss a little rougher and together you burned through the dark like a funeral pyre.

Hope was a dangerous thing to feel; it was fragile and delicate, hard to keep but oh so easy to lose for someone like you, a girl who spent her whole life searching for a home, only to have it ripped away when she finally found it. It didn't matter what you said or how much you cried or even when Kiara and her parents advocated on your behalf, your time on the island was up and just like that, whatever hope you had left disappeared into thin air and left you wondering if you'd ever get it back again.

tagging some mutuals who might be interested: @sinkbeneathwaves @jiaraendgame @sunnypogue @alexa-playafricabytoto @maybanks

#outer banks #obx fic #jj maybank #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank x y/n #obx imagine #outer banks imagine #obx netflix #jj x reader #obx x reader #jj imagine

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worldsendgirlfriend · 3 years

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actually tbh i think the reason javas like, like ok so my schizo brain has certain things it just Cant parse no matter how hard i try and how intensely i study or whatever (a prime example of this is irl politics, i have like surface level onions but i couldnt phrase my thoughts correctly and understand everything to save my gd life) but with java it like, its like not even like learning another language like jpn or sth it sorta registers in my brain as like, a different writing style than what i usually do. if that makes any sense. and like idk i think since it 'intersects' w my love of writing thats also why im like so like yeah ill fuck around in java for hours and not even realize ive spent half a day plinkin away in my ide. but like the reason i believe i do so much better with it rather tgan c++, a language universally believed to be Easier than java, is bc java is like. theres a fuckton going on everywhere so when theres an error theres plenty of places to check. and even if i cant find it and get all programmer rage and log off then when i come back w fresh eyes im able to locate it. but with c++ its like so straightforward/'simple' that like. if theres an error i just dont know where the fuck to look bc everything is The barest bones like theres no real (like. visible) reason there should be an error. and so ill try and figure it out but Nothing will ever work so ill just like not even rage ill be like fuck it i dont even care anymore

anyway this is just a long winded way of saying i thrive on complexity. things like zexal and qi ye get me so good because theres like a million moving pieces happening at once and it makes my brain do happy flailing. which is why tho im stil like Fuck Twitter and all that i do wana finish my qy multichap. bc ive made this plot so convoluted that im like legit having fun with it and even if it takes me forever i do wanna finish it. also just 2 like prove to mhself too ig that like yeah i can actually do this kinda shit if i want to idk

#do i even need to disclaimer that longass posts abt nothin are the product of dabis schizo brain on stims. no

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wanyinchen · 4 years

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(I may have accidentally deleted the ask and the post whoops sorry, anon!) HOLY CRAP YES PLS OMG TALK TO ME MORE They literally are the best team ever? Like I am such a sucker for found family tropes you have no idea. The idea of these four people, so different from one another and are, in varying degrees, considered as outsiders found a bond with each other so strong and I- AHHHH I CAN’T NOT LOVE THEM. I’ve always imagined them to be all orphans and then finally, they found these people who could and would always be their home, and where they could feel safe, loved and cared for, a family. I-I’m weak-*chokes back the tears* I have always had a hard time making friends in my younger years and I was a bit of a loner at childhood, and now as I am older and found friends who I could laugh with and keep secrets with, who I could be myself with and who I could always be with, I FELT THAT WITH TEAM GAI, OK? THEIR TEAMWORK AND CLOSENESS?? YEAH BABY! Sure I could relate on Nart or some other character but something clicked in me with Rock Lee and Gai. Like holy crap these are not the type of characters I usually love but there’s something about these two adorable bowl-cut, spandex wearing angels that compel me to them so much. Hardwork, effort, and dedication is something I very much value but not always “do”, they’ve become one of my inspirations to do better and be better and all around help me make good decisions with the question “would Lee and Gai be proud of me if I do this?” fuck I am such a loser but I just hecking love them so much. Rock Lee is the love of my life and I love him to bits, this kid is super precious and so sweet and so polite, like omg I want him, he literally is boyfriend material and I just super love him and whoever ended up with this sweetheart, I congratulate you, you have eyes more powerful than all the ‘-gans’ in the world and you have caught the greatest treasure. Neji is a complex character, a true genius but always considered to be inferior from the main Hyuuga family just because he was from the branch family, he was this happy kid and then was so jaded by his dad’s death, like I just want to hug him. He had such a compelling character arc and development, evolving from this bitter (and with reason!) and angry kid to this mature teen who empathizes and loves his team and cousin very much. He became somewhat more mellow, gentle, and approachable now that he found a true family with team gai. HE SHOULDN’T HAVE DIED, IT WAS A BS PLOT DESICION AND I WAS LIKE CRYING AND WHAT???? FOR WHAT?? IT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE, HIASHI SHOULD’VE DIED INSTEAD FFS. And then there’s my queen Tenten, the one who aspired to be like Tsunade, the greatest medical nin and the strongest kunoichi, but along the way, with her DAD’S (Gai’s) help, she discovered that she just wanted to be a great and strong kunoichi at her own right and at her abilities(!!!). Despite her clear insecurities, hotheadedness, and not getting what she wanted at first, she still strived to be better, and perseveres to keep up with her team mates. And hello? Space time ninjutsu is super cool? Like summon a shit ton of weapons all at once out of mid air and heck?? How was this not exploited and utilized by Kishi?? Give me a solo Tenten sword fight with a powerful enemy?? She’s a weapon’s mistress FFS, how come Sasuke and Orochimaru gets sword fights when SHE, the thing she specialized on, didn’t get to have one?? Fuck what this is BS I swear AND HOLY ROCK LEE I need all of my kids to be legit taijutsu masters and is actually shown to be unparalleled at it compared to other nins and kids since its KING MAITO GAI himself teaching them taijutsu holy ass is that too much to ask for??? Wait, let me gush about Gai, he’s literally my favorite character. He’s the best dad, I want him to be my dad. I really love my father but I want Gai (and Dai) to be my dad, ya know what I mean?? He’s so supportive, loving, and he really just gives his all in caring for you. He’s forgiving and firm and crap I want a mentor like that. He’s such a excellent sensei and are one of the best adults in Naruto. He’s so unconventionally handsome and attractive?? He’s so confident?? He’s so amazing?? He’s so emotionally intelligent?? He defies the unjust expectations set by others and said “fuck you” to it?? And he’s super crazy strong? Like literally feared and famed, I bet enemy and rogue nin just tremble at the mention of his name, a peep about “The Noble Blue Beast of Konoha” would have enemies wetting their pants. He’s one of the elites and is one of the strongest in the Konoha? Heck the world?? He went from this below mediocre adorable runt to this feared and very powerful jonin?? And he did this without ninjutsu, hacks, and any kekei genkai?? Only through pure hardwork and dedication?? He developed the Strong Fist style?? Yeah break dem bones, my king!! I only stan legends. He is literally the light of my and Kakashi’s life. Whether you ship kakagai platonically or romantically, dude you better believe that Gai is one of the most precious people of Kakashi. Kakashi literally trusts no one more implicitly than Gai. Like this hella paranoid and self-sacrificing silver haired dog boi trusted Gai to watch his ex-anbu traumatized ass and be there for him at all times of trouble??? And Gai being there for Kakashi so unfailingly for all of their lives??? For all the dark times in their lives, they'll always have each other no questions?? They're each other's constant?? They love each other so much?? No one knows them like the other??? Uhh hello?? Like why do some writers write Gai as this weird ass buffoon idiot who goddamn annoys Kakashi 24/7? And then Kakashi doesn't even like him and pushes him away, super annoyed?? What. Are we talking about the same characters?? They are each other's best friend. Goddamned soulmates. Eternal rivals. They all have such untapped potential that I am breathing hard in frustration. I still stand by my claim that we should’ve had Team Gai as protagonists like fuck. This is the hill I will die on, I want them, I want to see their bond, I want their stories, I want to witness their development?? Like why nerf these beautiful characters I hate it here WHOOPS, HAHAHAHAA! That was rather ineloquent and vulgar, uuhh forgive me! I hope I could talk to you again, anon! Thank you for enabling me and helping me warm up my brain in answering my summative essays, I feel like writing again! And pls send asks, i wanna make new friends

#kakagai #team guy #might guy #rock lee #tenten #neji hyuga #kakashi hatake #i could talk about them for days #sorry again anon! HEHEHEHE #i said what i said #hahahaha #asks

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lady-grace-pens · 3 years

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Wip Excerpt: HTKAG

In light of this wip hitting another 10k word goal recently (currently sitting pretty at a whopping 120k/150k 😅), another excerpt is due! This babe I wrote today, buut I actually loved it so much I knew I had to share it with y'all right away. That all being said, let's stop wasting time and get straight into it!

Our scene begins with Allister entering a restaurant to have dinner with Mikko, Fingal, and Perci, but Perci is late.

—

Upon telling the hostess Fingal’s name, she leads me away to the right half of the room. Off in a booth stowed away in the corner sit Mikko and Fingal jabbering away mid-conversation. Once they notice me, they stop and smile.

“Hey! There’s the man of the hour,” Mikko exclaims, throwing his hands in the air.

“Not late, am I?” I grin, taking a seat beside him.

“Nope. Right on time to get some drinks,” Mikko starts smouldering at our hostess.

“With what money?” Fingal retorts with a glare.

Mikko blinks, struggling to come up with a defense. It seems he mustn't have anticipated Fingal to interrupt his attempt at flirting…

“Wha - With our money, of course,” he laughs, trying his best to make a smooth recovery.

“Aye. Which is why we’re not using my money to buy alcohol while a minor is here.”

Mikko doesn’t reply. Then again I suppose he doesn't need to, his confusion is written all over his face.

“Don’t tell me you forgot about Perci. He’ll be here any minute.”

“Oh! Fuck, that’s right. Him. Well obviously he won’t be getting any. And come on! You know how fast I can down a beer Fin! It’ll just be a few. Just a few rounds! Don’t be an ass.”

“Watch yourself Mikko, it's not polite to use such language in the presence of a lady.” I chime in, giving the hostess a polite smile.

“Oh I’ll show you what’s not polite-” Mikko says before slapping my head.

I try to hit him back, but he catches my hand before I can. Before we know it, we’re caught in a ridiculous slapping fight, both laughing our asses off.

“Not in a restaurant, not in a restaurant!” I speak through gasps, trying to end things.

Mikko obliges, tossing his hands back in his lap.

“A waiter will be right with you,” the hostess makes a case to look at each one of us except for Mikko before finishing her sentence, “... gentleman.”

Much to my surprise, Mikko doesn’t seem to be affected by that backhanded insult. Instead he kicks his knees up against the table and rests his head back, totally listless.

“Mikko, I would’ve thought you’d be more offended by that.”

“Huh? Why would I be offended at something when it’s true?”

“I’ll say. You and Al couldn’t be any more opposite. If there’s anything larger than the truth, the fact that you’re not a gentleman is way beyond it.”

“Exactly. And Mikko, you are aware of the fact that she was just a hostess, right? It isn’t even her job to serve us drinks.”

“I... “ Mikko laughs before leaning over the table again. “Listen. You two just don’t get it, do you? No. You don’t. Allow me to be the one who graces your palettes here, eh? Let me tell you what I’m gonna do. Okay? I’m gonna give you a tip. A piece of advice that will change your lives forever. All for free! You don’t even have to pay me. All you gotta do is listen. Got it? You both ready?”

Fingal and I share a look. I can tell we’re thinking along a similar vein of confused intrigue. We should most likely stop Mikko here, as whatever will come out his mouth won’t be anything good. However, we’re both too stunned to stop him, so…

Mikko beckons us to lean closer to him. Fin and I oblige. We’re almost touching heads when at last our dear mentor speaks once again, in a hushed voice. “It’s not about what you say. It’s about how you say it.”

…

There are no words. For about a minute straight Fingal and I are just staring at each other wearing the same expression that exudes two questions. ‘What the fuck? You’ve heard that too, haven’t you?’

Soon after that’s established and our shock subsides, we burst back to life. Fingal starts us off with, “Dammit Mikko. What the fuck? Where did you learn that? Who taught you that?”

“Some guys from the bar! Why, what’s wrong with it?”

“Which guys from the bar?”

“I don’t see how it-”

“Mikko. Which guys from the bar taught you this?” Fingal insists, a flash of anger showing in his eyes.

Mikko seems to notice this, and complies straight away. “Leo, John, Peter and Paul!”

Fingal buries his head in his hands. This sparks my curiosity. I haven’t heard these names before, but Fin clearly has.

“I can’t say I’m familiar with them, who might they be?”

“Bar friends-” Mikko starts, only for Fingal to finish for him.

“Jokesters. Jerks. Cheapskates always looking for a laugh. Assholes. Can’t wait to give them a piece of my mind.”

Mikko shrinks away from Fin. His head is turned away from me, but I don’t need to see it in order to know how stunned he is. It’s expressed flawlessly through the abnormal quietness of his voice. “Fin? What’s up, why’d you-”

“Because those dicks have been filling your head with shit like this every damn time I turned my back, Mikko! Dammit, this - this is why you always get rejected! Universe, I just wish you would’ve checked with me first about things like this. Not some strangers you barely even know, yet idolize them anyway.

You wanna know how you get a girl Mikko? Huh? You be nice. You be nice to them, you talk with them, and you listen. Compliments and flirting, all that helps, of course, but not forever! And you sure as hell can’t build a relationship strictly off of it. Okay? Standards and expectations vary from girl to girl, but with each and every single one there are a few things that you just have to do. Be nice, have respect, help them just for the sake of helping them! Don’t expect anything in return. Overall just - just be a decent fucking human being. That is how you get a girl.”

Mikko sits there, staring at his brother. I can’t help but do the same. In every respect, Fingal is right. Of course he is. It’s just… rare that we see him so worked up. I can hardly believe my eyes. I can hardly believe my ears, I… I can’t imagine how Mikko must be feeling.

Oh so gradually his head sinks down into his lap. He slumps over, and I swear I can see fractions of tears reflect the golden light radiating above us.

“Can’t believe I’m actually telling you this when you’re eighteen. Fucking eighteen,” Fingal scoffs, crossing his arms.

“I’m sorry-”

“Don’t be. I’m not mad at you. This is my own fault, I blame myself.”

“Aw, come on man! That’s even worse,” pouts Mikko.

Fingal then turns to me with an abruptness that makes me jump. “Al, what’s up? You’ve been quiet for a while. You can back me up on this, can’t you?”

“I…” I force a chuckle to try and lighten the air some. “I don’t think that I’m currently in a position to give advice like this, to be honest with you.”

Fingal leans his elbows on the table, holding his head with one hand. “Why? Something happen with Maddie?”

“Oh, did it ever,” I shake my head.

—

Aand that's all you guys get for spoiler reasons! Lmao

(also because that's all I've written today but shhhh don't tell anyone)

Buut yeah. Legit I swear I didn't mean to go so hard on feminist Fingal 😂 I mean don't get me wrong here, he's absolutely right and I'm keeping it in. But still, the words just kept on coming and coming and we ended up with this

y'know

yeah

writing is super fun sometimes

Plus tbh, writing the part where Mikko is stroking his ego and whispers his ‘top secret trick to get women’, I was literally laughing out loud 😂 like he's just so wrong, and I love how horribly Mikko fails in life. It's just super funny to me, I enjoy it a lot.

Fingal, however, clearly does not enjoy it, lmao. Legit I had no clue he could be so protective until today! Especially over Mikko. I mean I always knew their dynamics, but today… it really hit home for me.

Go back and look at the line of dialogue Fingal says right after Mikko apologizes (a rare occurrence, actually).

It’s just one little piece of dialogue, barely a few sentences! Yet I feel like it hits you. You know? It reveals so much about his and Mikko’s vibes, their situation. A pair of brothers poor and orphaned by their birth parents and raised by their grandmother, who is only growing older and weaker each year. Fingal, the eldest, having to take responsibility often. He feels pressured to raise his little bro, and feels like he's failed when Mikko turns out to be the way he is. Ya know? It's just one little thing of dialogue but I feel like it makes you feel the pressure Fin has to bear in a situation like theirs. Even if it’s only for a moment.

And Mikko! While he does incite a lot of the comic relief in HTKAG, I wouldn’t call him a strict comic relief character because that's never what I had in mind while writing him. He and Fin actually play a vital role in the plot of the story! Much more than what I can currently reveal to y'all.

Buut anyways, I'll stop rambling now. I really hope you guys enjoyed this little excerpt just as much as I adored writing it :)

—

taglist (let me know if you want to be added or removed!): @vampire-with-a-pen @writingonesdreams @justyouraveragewriter @kazenokaori @dahladahlabills

#creative writing #writing #my writing #my wip #my writing wip #wip #wip excerpt #writblr #writeblr #writers of tumblr #writeblr community #writing excerpt #writing community #wip: htkag

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365days365movies · 4 years

Text

January 1, 2021: Dirty Dancing (Review)

Well, I liked it! The soundtrack is literally the music I was born to, so I guess I would like it, right? Anyway, for somebody who isn’t a big fan of romance films, I do think this is an engaging film, with an engaging central romance. Plus, the dissection of class politics during the time is interesting, if a liiiiiittle superficial. From what I’ve read, there’s more to this film subtextually, particularly in terms of the Jewish-American population at the time during which the film takes place. But I won’t get into that here.

Let’s jump right into the Review, yeah? If you’ve only seen this post, check out the Recap if you’d like more info on this film! OK, let’s go!

Review

Cast and Acting: 8/10

Great cast, great acting, and GODDAMN, Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey have some amazing chemistry. It’s the highlight of the movie, and sells it all on its own. But then, why an 8? Because the casting of literally every character just...doesn’t fit with their age. Yeah, the ages are all of here, and NOBODY looks their age, and it DISTRACTS ME SO. And so, there are a few points taken away in this category. But for what they have, these guys are awesome.

Plot and Writing: 7/10

This is, by far, the weakest part of this movie, and not really for the writing. The script is a partially autobigraphical work by Eleanor Bergstein, a “teenage mambo queen” whose family summered at a resort hotel in the Catskills, where she would dance. Neat, huh? Anyway, this was a pretty solidly written film. Shame the plot is pretty goddamn cardboard. Yeah, it’s a REALLY simple and overdone plot, sorry to say. And that’s OK, it still works fine, but it is noticeable. And so, for a relatively unoriginal Romeo-and-Juliet style plot, we’re taking off a couple of points.

Directing and Cinematography: 8/10

Emile Ardolino hadn’t exactly directed a lot of well-known films. His most famous films were this and Sister Act. Sadly, he died from AIDS complications in 1993, and I would’ve liked to see more from him, as the direction was great in this movie, especially for a movie centered around dance. Jeffrey Jur’s cinematography is also worth talking about...when it really matters. He doesn’t get to show off too much, but we see it highlighted in some of the less-cluttered scenes, like the one above.

Production and Art Design: 8/10

Does this film scream early ‘60s? Does it say it? yeah, it says early ‘60s, sure. Pretty well, even. But even then, it’s not exactly loud. May be it doesn’t need to be, but this film legitimately feels far more ‘80s to me than ‘60s.

Music and Editing: 9/10

Why in the hell is this not a 10, you ask? Here’s the thing, the music in this movie? GREAT. Part of that is due to the composers for the movie, John Morris, Erich Bulling, and Jon Barns. And the other part, of course, is due to the kick-ass sampled soundtrack. What can I say? It’s fantastic! BUT...also anachronistic. Some background songs are clearly ‘80s songs, and the most famous song of the film, the Academy Award and Grammy Award-winner, the Jimmy Ienner song “(I’ve Had) The Time of my Life...” is CLEARLY an ‘80s song. And as much as I love that song, AND I DO, that is a legit issue with the period setting of this film. But still, despite that, the editing and music of this film deserve nearly full credit.

80%! B for Baby!

This was supposed to be a “chick flick,” right? Although...in retrospect, maybe I don’t truly know what that means. Let’s re-examine that term, yeah (and also whether that term should even be used, let’s be honest)? But...with which movie? There are SO MANY choices. Was...was this a mistake?

February 2, 2021: Pretty Woman (1990)

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fizzingwizard · 4 years

Text

Episode 30, the alleged halfway mark, at last!

I’m fresh out of jokes so let’s hop right into the review!

Pictured above: Characters who supposedly exist in this series

More under the cut as usual

So last week I listed the things episode 30 needed to do to make me not hate it. They were: 1) Sora had to stay with Taichi and be part of the action, 2) the other characters had to feature here and there to progress their storylines even if the main focus remained on Taichi, and 3) WarGreymon’s appearance needed to be dramatic.

Well... guess who didn’t get Bingo this episode -_____-’

I am... seriously... mind-boggled. This is bizarre. Yes, we all understand that evolutions just aren’t the big deal they were in 99 Adventure, BUT this episode DOES try to convince us that WarGreymon IS a big deal. It just fails at it spectacularly, in my opinion at least. As for the rest: Sora stays with Taichi, but he tells her to take the helpless Digimon to safety and then we don’t see her do anything but stand around waiting for Taichi. Most of the other characters don’t even get a cameo, let alone story progression. Taichi reflects on them briefly at one point but it’s unbelievably stupid. Only Koushirou has anything to do and he is STILL JUST STARING AT HIS COMPUTER.

My expectations for episode 30 weren’t super high, given the current storyline, but I’m honestly slackjawed by how BORING this episode was. They really seem to have decided to rest the entirety of the show on Taichi, and much though I love him, I just don’t think he CAN carry it by himself. Not only has he long been unbelievable as a grade school kid even for shonen anime standards, he doesn’t crack jokes, he doesn’t show personality... all he does is fight. Like, the show isn’t ALWAYS like this - I’ve legit enjoyed it a various times, and I know why - it was always when the team was together and we learned things about them and the fighting was balanced out. So I never know from one week to the next how I’m gonna feel about the new episode. But I do think this is the episode I hate the most to date. :/

We had a promising start with Garudamon still actively fighting several Megadramon at once, simultaneously barbecuing Sora.

Fortunately it’s magic so she’s not dead, nor has she fallen to death.

Taichi and MetalGreymon continue fighting the Allomon on the ground.

The mysterious Lopmon looks on with a judgmental glare, wondering why he isn’t currently being carried like a baby. Walking is hard, he wants to be carried. Taichi do your job

Taichi: cmon lopmon you have to learn to do things on your own

Lopmon: no I want to play video games

Taichi: well then I refuse to buy you any more games. if you want them you’ll have to get a job and earn the money

Lopmon: daaaad! youre ruining my life! uggh!

Koushirou keeps an eye on the misbehaving satellites.

Taichi and Sora debate what to do. It’s difficult to protect the forest Digimon while fighting at the same time, so Taichi tells Sora to bring them to safety while he fends off their enemies on his own. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS PLAN. Since it’s a shonen anime, I normally wouldn’t whine about this but... it was just last episode that we were shown Taich cannot cope with the combined attack of that many enemies at once on his own. He needed Sora’s help. Why he now thinks he can do it is a mystery.

Taichi can maybe handle the Allomon and Megadramon on his own, but last episode Tankmon also appeared, and this time, lo and behold, in comes Parrotmon. Sorry Taichi but you brought this on yourself.

Meanwhile Koushirou communicates with “someone from the Internet” and learns that the satellites are all rerouting to converge on the same location:

The freaking International Space Station!

Which will then surely explode! And cause lots of trouble both in space and on earth!

^Pictured: Koushirou’s “oh shit” face

^Pictured:MetalGreymon’s “oh shit” face

MetalGreymon proved to be weak to the lightning Parrotmon emits. If there’s a reason, they don’t explain, but I like the idea that he’s particularly weak to it because he’s a cyborg and the electricity disrupts his... circuits :P Then Parrotmon gets hit with a beam of dark energy and evolves!

Into Klosmon? Krosmon? IDK, IDC.

^Pictured: Taichi’s “oh shit” face

They get their butts handed to them. Taichi and Agumon fall unconscious. Rather than take the chance to deliver the finishing blow, Klosmon or whatever politely waits for them to wake up.

Taichi’s consciousness is swept into a white empty world...

where he finds the Crest of Courage looking weirdly sentient... or maybe that’s just me...

MetalGreymon just looks possessed

Taichi: Are you alive?

Agumon: Yeah... you okay?

Taichi: Yeah... uhh... well... sort of...

Not being dead = I’m still ok

So here’s where the episode really loses me... After visiting the blank world, Taichi is suddenly able to recall what happened after Devimon ate him.

This makes little sense since he seemed pretty KO’d at the time, but okay, find, he woke up long enough to see WarGreymon and now he’s remembering it, sure why not. But I hate that they did this whole “ohh he doesn’t remember!” thing and then solved it like this. Presto! Now he remembers! It’s maaaagic!

And as ADORABLE as the two of them holding hands like this and resolving to keep fighting is... I just can’t be impressed by a battle with Parrotmon. Or Klosmon or whatever it is now. There’s a reason most shows save dramatic moments and big epiphanies for battles that actually progress the storyline. It makes a much bigger impact. This just feels like someone saying “Woohoo it’s Tuesday!” and then you ask “what’s special about it, is it your birthday or something?” and they say “Nope I just felt like being excited that it’s Tuesday!”

I mean points for optimism and all but it doesn’t make a very good story.

Taichi helps Agumon walk x’D They are planning to keep fighting even like this.

And I get that the “never give up!” attitude is essential to the shonen anime protagonist, but when you literally can’t walk by yourself anymore, it’s important to take care of your health is ALSO an important message this show might consider teaching kids once in a while -.-”

In spite of his unsteady legs, Agumon’s still able to evolve again and powers up to fight Klosmon.

It uh... doesn’t go well.

The one cool thing here is the way Taichi sets about attempting to make MetalGreymon evolve. Although we already knew the children play an important role in evolving their partners, Taichi seems to really understand it now, and focuses deeply. It’s a much more active role than we’ve seen before - it seems like more than the usual “encouraging thoughts and emotional ties” spurring the evolution.

At least he’s still super cute.

So we have already seen the Crests many times, I knew that... but my theory was that, in order to reach the final evolutionary stage, they would need the help of the physical Crests. So that’s what I thought Mimi was doing with those crystals.

But Taichi is indeed about to call WarGreymon. So... I have no idea what use Mimi’s gonna find for those crystals x’D I suppose she’ll make herself and Palmon matching necklaces. Or sell them on the black market.

From her super safe hiding spot, Sora watches in awe, wishing she too were a real character on this show and not just an inconvenience as far as most of the writing staff are concerned

I love WarGreymon’s shield.

BAM. He appears. It’s dramatic. But only just.

WarGreymon defeats Klosmon and explodes the forest... Uhhh, weren’t we supposed to be protecting it?

Taichi and WarGreymon then join Sora and the forest Digimon and uh... that’s the episode.

Oh yeah, we get one more hint that Lopmon is more than just some random idiot. Lol. This episode hinted at Lopmon, reminded us that Hikari’s been abducted, and told us that the International Space Station might explode, and then addressed none of those.

The message on the bottom says that the next episode will be on January 10, meaning there will be no episode next week as per usual due to New Year’s holidays.

Next week’s episode:

Turns out Lopmon is one of the holy Digimon or something. Honestly not a surprise, I mean, it’s Lopmon. Should have occurred to me earlier.

Also we got what I think is our first named mention of Millenniumon and it looks like Hikari might find out somethig about him. So that’s cool. The rest of the episode seems to stick with Taichi and Sora’s group... The only thing I can say hopefully is that, since WarGreymon’s appeared, MetalGarurumon ought to be not too far off. So that should mean we at least get a Yamato-centric episode in the not too distant future.

Okay, a couple weeks ago I said I had some stuff to say but would wait till episode 30 to do it... so stop here if you don’t want to read me ranting :P It mostly amounts to what I complained about in the beginning: This season is just so hyper-focused on the fights and seems to treat the team aspect as an afterthought. Which makes no sense to me. Honestly, I don’t mind the excessive fighting - that’s common in shonen anime and grown up me can’t expect to be interested in the same stuff that interests 8 year old boys.

I don’t even mind the idea of Taichi’s role as main character getting an upgrade - like, in 99, he was the main character, but it was felt a lot less. Better balanced with the others’ roles, I mean. I think it’s totally okay to make Taichi a more central character and the plot focus in the new season - it wouldn’t be my choice, of course, but that doesn’t mean it’s inherently bad. But the way they’re going about it just doesn’t make sense to me. Even Taichi isn’t interesting half the time. He just fights.

Like I said before, this isn’t the way the show always is. There have been some highlights. I truly loved a few episodes, and the show does seem to have fallen into a pattern of being good for a while and then degrading into something like today’s episode. I don’t know why: budget? pandemic? or is this really, legitimately, what the show producers want to show kids? I guess, in the end, this show really may be about selling toys and selling toys only. (But, if that’s the case, I’m even more surprised that they don’t make a bigger deal about all the evolutions...)

A lot of things I liked the most happened in the very beginning - the first three episodes in particular. The characters interacted with each other. Their feelings and actions influenced each other. Fighting happened, a lot, but it wasn’t the only thing happening. I was pretty excited then. I didn’t expect to love this show like I love 99 - that’s just not possible, I’m too old and 99 is too special to me for me to trust my judgment - I was just happy to see the Adventure kids back and entertaining a new generation.

But since then it’s been a roller coaster with few highs and a lot of lows. Although it’s hard to imagine how the pandemic would have changed the storyline, episode 4 was where they paused the show for Japan’s lockdown-but-not-really, and once they picked back up the tone just seemed kind of different from the first three episodes. Not right away - I think the intro episodes for the rest of the team were pretty reminiscent of “Digimon Adventure” - but that makes sense, they had 4 ready to go and probably had made headway on the next few episodes before they closed down the studio. Anyway, that’s just a guess, since it seems like everything’s been affected by the pandemic, but with a few exceptions we have all been back to work more or less normally since June...

The thing is, there are lots of fighting shonen anime - tons of protagonists who never give up and never fall in spite of how hurt they get, and who get unlimited “evolutions” in return for their tenacity. That’s all fine. It’s the genre. But the thing is...! The thing is, those other shows, they all tend to have humor, to care at least marginally about character relationships, and understand that that’s how you build up a main character: just winning fights alone doesn’t cut it. So I just don’t know what to make of this new Adventure show. It’s FINE when the team is together. We get cool character moments and insights and even some joking around. But they KEEP SEPARATING THEM. This time they didn’t even have more than a single episode together before they were all split up again! I wonder if it’s because they’re having trouble getting all the voice actors in due to pandemic-related issues and budget issues etc. If so, HUGE bummer. Of all the years for Digimon Adventure to get a reboot... why did it have to be this miserable excuse for a year...

Le sigh.

But there’s nothing we can do about it. I’m just going to like what I like and hope for the best in the future. I really would love for the new Adventure to be popular with kids and keep that cast going. I don’t expect it to compete with the lids of Kinmetsu no Yaiba or anything. I just hope that, when we hit the final episode, we look back and say that the season was overall worth the reboot. I hate the thought of looking back and saying “well, that sure was dull.” It’s just an insult. 99 Adventure wasn’t the most unique storyline in the world, but it had a lot of uniqueness IN it, and what made it special was its treatment of the team and the child-partner relationships. The reboot doesn’t need to be exactly the same, but it shouldn’t be forgettable.

That’s why us being at the 30 episode mark concerns me. At this point we know how the show is paced and what’s it like. We can’t really argue that we just don’t know enough to make a judgmenet yet. It’s hard to believe things will suddenly change. If they do, assuming the change is for the better, I’ll be thrilled, but I’ll also feel sad that we missed out on so many chances for cool things to happen in the first half.

#digimon adventure 2020 #digimon adventure:#digimon adventure reboot #digi spoilers #digimon #fizz watches digimon 2020

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