#japanese dramas packs

[twidoramas]

first love icons

like if u use/save

[good-beans]

I know most of our focus goes (rightfully) to the trial songs, but I genuinely believe Baptism of Fire is equally a masterpiece of meaningful writing and intense vocal acting

Incoming tag rant because I need to yell about this, feel free to yell back

[numbuh424]

death note adaptations peaked in 2015 when these two came out months apart from each other.

[q-the-rockaholic]

RYO YOSHIZAWA as King Ying Zheng in "Kingdom 2 - To the Far Land" (2022)

[pikahlua]

I hope this will be short.

I guess this line is the fandom drama of the chapter?

I understand a lot of you are really passionate about the accuracy of the English translation. I just want to encourage you to try to engage with the official translation in good faith.

Ojama shimasu literally means "I am disturbing you/I will get in your way." It's often spoken as a greeting where the "apology" is implied (hence the brackets in my translation), but as usual context is everything in Japanese. Izuku is saying this line in defiance of Tomura's wishes. It basically comes across as Izuku plugging his fingers in his ears.

Me personally? If I were the official translator, I'd have strongly considered translating the line as "I'm coming in whether you like it or not."

The purpose in my pointing out the "common greeting" nature of this line was to demonstrate Izuku's sassiness. This is Izuku doing his "meddling where you don't technically have to" thing. The level of formality in Izuku's speech doesn't necessarily translate to actual politeness (check out @bakuhatsufallinlove's excellent post on that here).

Does "You will let me in," mean the exact same thing? Technically no, but it's the sentiment that counts. From an official translator's point of view, "You will let me in," is shorter, punchier, fits in the speech bubble a lot easier, and still conveys the general idea of what's happening in the scene.

I don't know. I wanted to talk about this because I guess a lot of people are concerned about Izuku's characterization and how it reflects on Japanese culture and how the official translation may be misrepresenting Japanese culture to the English-reading audience, and I just...can I ask that everyone take a step back a minute? Horikoshi isn't writing his story for an English-reading audience. He's not considering at all how any of this sounds to English speakers. That's the translator's job, not just to translate what is said but to translate that into the context of who is reading it. Localization is not a dirty word--it's an important aspect of translation. And the notion that Izuku is being polite and respectful here as a Japanese person is just such a...take. Izuku is being hella rude here lol. Japan itself, not just the MHA Japan but REAL WORLD Japan, notoriously has a bystander problem where people will ignore others who are being harassed because they don't wanna get involved. They won't step in to help nor will they even testify as a witness against others for fear of what it means to speak out and break from the pack. Izuku is quite obviously Horikoshi's direct answer to that phenomenon. He's meant to be an example of the morally correct thing to do, which is to be "rude" in these cases.

So I mean, sure, we can talk about what is lost in translation by the line, "You will let me in." But to me what's lost may just be grammatical and pedantic (like the passive voice that switches the onus of action onto Tomura instead of Izuku and what that may do to the focus on Izuku's rise to action here). In any case, it's not a BAD translation that changes Izuku's perceived politeness, just one that may prompt new discussion--and I don't think that's a bad thing.

[red-moon-at-night]

An Analysis of Haruka’s MVs: Distance and Disability

Hello! I’ve recently fallen down the rabbit hole that is Milgram and I have been itching to make some completely normal and sane analysis posts. My silly alternate title for this was gonna be “Things About Haruka’s MVs That Just Make Sense: A Hyperfixation-fuelled Analysis”, because honestly my autistic brain has been having a field day over here.

I am in awe with just about every single music video in this project; the animation is incredible and each one packs so much carefully laid out information. But I have been rotating Haruka’s in my head constantly since I first watched them, and I have a lot of Thoughts. Not about whether he’s guilty or innocent/forgiven or unforgiven. Not about whether or not I can justify his murders. Just some straight up imagery and symbolism analysis, through the lens of disability.

Haruka’s disability has not been specified, but I am confident we can at least say he is neurodivergent. I feel like the cultural differences in names for several things e.g. ‘learning disability’ vs ‘learning difficulty’ will just invite unnecessary drama, and is a little pedantic. What does matter here is that Haruka's experience as a disabled person is heavily intertwined within his story and his motives. 

So, without further ado... let’s get into this!

Trigger warnings/TW: I will be discussing ableism, eugenics and harm towards disabled people. Everything else will be related to the music videos ‘Weakness’ and ‘All Knowing and All Agony’, so any triggering content within them may also be mentioned. Read at your own discretion and stay safe!

Disability: some brief (important) historical context

It is only within the last few decades that those who are disabled have been ‘seen’ for the first time. A modern society is (ideally) expected to be built to include and accommodate for disability, and to acknowledge disabled people’s existence. But for many countries (even the ones making steps outlined above) this is still not the case. For a very, very long time, globally, that has not been the case.

For most disabled people, society makes it very clear that they are a burden to it and are better off not existing. 

I’m going to make this section as succinct as possible because...it’s heavy stuff. But it’s important, and I want you all to get the gist of what I’m saying. The weight of it.

Let’s highlight a piece of history regarding IQ and eugenics, surrounding the publication and subsequent worldwide reception of ‘The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeble-mindedness’ by Henry Herbert Goddard in 1913:

“In 1927, it was used as evidence in the case of Buck v. Bell, which culminated in a Supreme Court ruling that the involuntary sterilization of ‘mentally defective’ persons was not unconstitutional in the United States. By 1938, thirty-three US states had passed laws allowing for the forced sterilization of women with learning disabilities and twenty-nine had made sterilization  compulsory for people who were thought to have genetic conditions. Many European countries followed suit: Denmark in 1929, then Norway in 1934, and after that Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Latvia, Hungary and Turkey.”

— Limburg, J. (2021) Letters To My Weird Sisters: On Autism and Feminism, p. 126

This history of a ‘sterilization law’ includes Japan, who between 1948 and 1996 enacted the Eugenics Protection Law which “authorised the sterilization of people with intellectual disabilities, mental illnesses or hereditary disorders.” According to the government, about 25,000 were sterilized.

SO. It’s important to bring this up. To establish how much disabled people are not wanted, just from their governments. Let alone society. To this day, disabled people are hidden away from the public by families that are ashamed of their existence.

Japanese culture values collectivism, and maintaining the harmony of a group...to the extent of excluding those that don’t fit into the mould. That are different.

The question is: where do they go? The ones that are publicly rejected?

Haruka and The Curious Case of Distant Waters

Okay that’s enough of the heavy real-world stuff! Time to delve into some...*checks notes*...heavy fictional stuff. Fun!

Haruka’s MVs prominently display themes of distance and separation through the motif of water, specifically being submerged underwater. 

The name Haruka reinforces this concept as the specific kanji used (遥) translates to ‘distant’, ‘remote’ or ‘far away’. As there are many, many kanji choices for the name (including but not limited to: ocean/sea, eternity/permeance, clear/distinct/obvious, and spring/growth/cherry blossom) it feels like a particularly cruel and intentional choice to go with that one.

Through the exploration of this motif, we can see the extent in which Otherness/the state of being ‘Other’ drives Haruka to great lengths to close the distance and escape it.

What I noticed throughout both MVs (particularly AK&AA but note the beginning scene of Weakness), is that whenever Haruka looks at himself in a reflective surface (e.g. the vanity mirror, the fish tank), water either begins to rise and overwhelms him, or is already there and he appears submerged:

I think this is the “All-Knowing” part of AK&AA. He knows he’s different, and he knows there’s a huge ocean between him and his peers, his family, everyone. A disconnect when trying to listen and understand, but also when trying to be understood by others and listened to himself.

You know when you submerge your head in water, and your hearing gets all muffled and incomprehensible? And have you ever tried speaking underwater? You can’t, because if you open your mouth you’ll drown. It’ll just come out as bubbles rising to the surface.

I also think the bubbles symbolise rising tension, between what he wants and what he currently has. Bubbles are everywhere in these MVs, even in places where they shouldn’t logically be? Such as this scene, following the line “don’t wipe me out, don’t wipe me out”:

Immediately pans up to Haruka gasping for breath, droplets of water rising from...somewhere. For about a split second, and they’re gone. 

This boy is really going through it. I’m getting an ‘emerging from the ocean before I drown’ vibe from this one folks. When the line that follows this scene is “I can’t stop, I can’t stop”, what I’m REALLY hearing is “I can’t stop (killing) or I’ll drown”. This is his lifeboat, pulling him out from the depths of being neglected and hidden away, into the spotlight.

Some interesting images from Weakness in relation to that (of spotlights):

Anyways, onto the next point:

Blue to Orange: Water to...Nectar?

So, the orange liquid. It’s clearly representing blood, but I don’t think this is just a “danganronpa pink blood” situation of censoring/getting this video onto youtube without restrictions.

I think it’s most likely honey, specifically nectar.

The etymology of the word nectar shows its compounds translate to “death” and “overcoming”. Nectar is also called the drink of the gods, so it would make sense for it to be a ‘death-defeating’, immortalizing liquid.

For Haruka’s victims to contain nectar is very interesting. It reinforces that necessity to kill, to take the life of another, to sustain himself. To overcome the ‘living death’ he is experiencing by being hidden away from society. 

This is his means of escape from drowning.

However, as we all know, things don’t turn out great for him. By the end of AK&AA Haruka is rejected once again by his mother, after which the door is shut (the light with it is gone too) and we’re met with this imagery:

The nectar floods the room, engulfing him much like the water from earlier. 

There are many things we could take from this. One being that the nectar-gathering/killing-spree has clouded his vision; it’s so sweet, so sickly sweet and he’s addicted to the taste of attention, even if it’s very bad attention. 

Who else has honey imagery in their MV again?

Oh, right. 

Anyway, the nectar/honey situation could also be representing submerging into an even further level of distance. All that murder is gonna push people away, despite his motive being to close the gap between him and normal people. The 'ocean’ has lost clarity and become a maddening, delusional substance. After all, there is a type of honey literally called ‘mad honey’ known for its medicinal and hallucinogenic properties.

That’s enough about honey, though. Let’s move onto less unfortunate... oh, sorry, what was that? *checks notes*...Ah, yes. I meant to say, let’s move onto even more unfortunate symbolism:

The Necklace

So, this necklace. Haruka steals it from his mother’s belongings, and is his only material, physical connection to her. It is taken on the declaration of “making (her) love me again” and getting her attention once more, now he is no longer a child but a teenager closer to adulthood (at least, that’s what I consider the ‘shirt with a vest sweater and tie’ to represent. child him = the blue polo, teenager him = this one, adult him = an amalgamation of his teenager clothes).

I wasn’t sure if this was an opal or pearl/mother of pearl, but I’m leaning towards opal from the other depiction of it in Weakness:

Opals are fun because they can symbolise both good luck and bad luck, usually to do with whether it’s your birthstone. There’s something to be said of Haruka’s belief in his ‘misfortune’ and the superstition surrounding these gemstones.

But they are even more interesting for the powers they supposedly have; in medieval times the opal was considered the ‘patron of thieves’ for their ability to grant the wearer invisibility.

There is a deliciously sad irony to Haruka’s theft with that titbit of information.

Now, if this isn’t an opal, and it’s a pearl/mother of pearl there’s still some fun interpretation to be had! A little less sad, even. Pearls invoke strong imagery of the sea, of purity, and of a connection to the maternal. If this is the last thing he has relating to his mother, I can see this necklace representing a lifeline when he’s deep in the ocean. A reminder of why he’s doing all of this killing, and who it’s for.

His mother’s attention (or the idea of having a mother at all, any mother) is his driving force in life.

Speaking of that...

So We Really Need To Talk About That Fish Tank: AKA, Why Haruka’s Mom Wins ‘The Worst Parent of The Year’ Award

This fucking fish tank.

Okay, I’m gonna start by saying: I don’t think this is reading too far into things. When it takes an animation team months, sometimes years to create a 3-5 minute music video, and one as detailed as this...you don’t just wing it. There are storyboards, there are key frames and there are choices made down to the smallest of details.

From the sheer volume of animal/insect/fish décor that resides in the Sakurai household, you bet I’m gonna pay attention to what type of fish are in that fish tank.

For one thing, they live in saltwater. This is a marine tank, aka the harder choice of aquarium to have. I mean, way, WAY harder. For the experienced only.

These fish right here? One is a clownfish, and the other is a yellow boxfish.

Boxfish are a nightmare to keep alive. This article goes into more detail than I will, but all you need to know is: if there was ever a fish out of all the fish you could possibly want in your tank, this is the one to avoid like the plague.

They release deadly toxins when stressed, as a survival instinct. Boom. All your fish are dead. They need to eat a shit ton of food, but are notoriously clumsy swimmers and slow eaters. Boom. Starving, stressed out boxfish. Boxfish either dies from starvation or dies from stress and toxins.

For Haruka’s mom to have not just one of these fuckers, but a tank consisting ONLY OF MULTIPLE BOXFISH AND CLOWNFISH...

This is a high-maintenance tank. And it shows how much time and effort, how much care she puts into the things she loves.

How neglectful she is as a parent of a disabled child in contrast.

There’s something about the last scene between Haruka and his mother that reinforces this for me:

Haruka’s relationship with animals and himself: AKA, “why don’t I just become the damn fish tank?”

Let me backpedal a little bit. This subheading will make sense in a minute.

So, like I said earlier we have a lot of décor in this house relating to insects and fish. We also have a lot of pets. Both living and dead, taxidermized creatures in one household, proudly on display.

I think this may have created some confusion for Haruka regarding the value of animals being alive or dead, as in his perspective his mother values both equally. The fish in a tank may be full of alive creatures, but they’re still on display as if it’s artwork. Isn’t breaking the glass of a framed picture of a fish equal to breaking the glass of a tank with a ‘picture of living fish’?

(This isn’t to say Haruka is clueless to the impact of his actions, nor to justify any harm to animals. I just find the train of thought to be intriguing.)

So when considering these ‘objects’ are proud trophies of his work:

This is a carefully arranged display, which by the way, doesn’t contain a single fish. In fact the only piece of that moment visible here is the...large piece of driftwood? Okay. Keep that in mind.

We proceed into Haruka’s mother opening the door and seeing her son, for the first time in any of the MVs. Note the way they composed this shot:

I’m obsessed with this scene. The blue eye framing Haruka, with a literal fishbowl effect on him...

He is the goddamn fish in the aquarium now. His mother’s full attention is on him and him alone, with only the dead animals, the books, the lamp and the driftwood as window dressing to this wonderful display.

Doesn’t it just scream “Look at me! Look at what I did, mom!” to you?

That blue spotlight is on him once more. He is not just drifting deeper into an endless ocean, but contained in a vessel to be stared at.

One Last Observation

I didn’t know where to fit this in but I think the end feels appropriate.

His clothing here:

Is a frankenstein-esque mash up of clothes from his younger years. He wears this throughout AK&AA, and as I mentioned before it signifies him as an adult. However, I should clarify what I mean here as Haruka says “he thinks he’s 17″ and “doesn’t care about his age”. So... not an adult, but on the cusp of adulthood.

But I think he actually does care about his age, and quite a lot too.

This outfit feels symbolic of refusing to let go of the past, and of himself as a child. He’s literally grown out of his clothing, but he still clings onto it. He’s attached to the past because it not only contains his happiest moments, but the change from being loved to becoming neglected.

As a disabled person, you’re often treated with a lot more forgiveness when you’re younger. That is to say, some people don’t realise that children with disabilities grow up into adults with disabilities. There is a point where even support from medical and social services drops off like a cliff edge once you turn 18.

The ill-fitting clothing in this context becomes more than a reflection on Haruka’s feelings, and extends to reflecting society’s feelings on disabled adults ‘refusing to grow up’.

I don’t blame Haruka for holding onto his childhood like this. He’ll be even less publicly visible and seen once he is no longer a pitiful child, but a ‘weird’ adult in ill-fitting, children’s clothes.

[darkestprompts]

What sort of movies would the gang like watching?

Alhazred: Artsy and aesthetic movies. Sighs over "The Color of Pomegranates". Nobody else gets it.

Bigby: Historical dramas and thrillers. Liked "The Name of the Rose" but thinks the book is better.

Reynauld and Baldwin: Both enjoy historical epics. Cried watching "Kingdom of Heaven" together. Don't tell anyone.

William: Film noir, in particular John Wick movies. He's very invested in the revenge for the dog.

Junia: Watched "The Shape of Water" and found the fishman very charming. Don't tell anyone.

Bonnie and Missandei: Don't touch them. They watched "The Fox and the Hound" and are going through emotions. Have Ghibli marathons together.

Audrey and Barristan: Psychological and political dramas. Anything portraying complex social interactions.

Boudica: Usually follows anyone watching something fun and action-packed, but somehow became entranced by old Japanese samurai movies.

Josephine: Claims not to like movies, but in truth likes some real fucked up shit she hides from everyone.

Dismas: Varies from fun adventure to drama. Has a thing for pirate movies. Made a real attempt to understand Alhazred's movies.

Paracelsus: Old school horror and anything with Christopher Lee. Has marathoned "The Lord of the Rings" extended cuts and making-ofs.

Margaret: Documentaries about weapons, nature and military history.

Tardif: Westerns (or any Lone Badass story, really) and dark comedies.

Sahar: Watches swashbuckler movies just to mock the swordfighting.

Damian: Movies are of the devil.

Amani: Pays more attention to music, staging and costume design than plot.

Sarmenti: Has a fairly eclectic taste, still insults everybody else's choice just to be a little shit.

[writing-whump]

ma'am, for your consideration: arnie realizing he can weaponize his human fragility by forcing his bros to co-exist in the same space. Aka him purposefully getting hurt/sick and putting both Isaiah and Hector as his emergency contacts, because he's manipulative like that. I love this boy so much

Food poisoning

Hehe thank you for sending this! I was staring at this one for a long time, cause it has the right mix of drama and brother bonding, lol. It has a bit of a twist to it :D

Arnie sat down at the sushi place at the mall, going over his plan one more time.

He would make Hector and Isaiah talk. They couldn't avoid each other forever. And fortunately for him, neither could deny him anything when they were worried for him.

Shrimps were the perfect choice. A bit of runny nose, itchy eyes and some cramps that would go away quickly enough, but if he pretended he ate many, he could exaggerate the symptoms and have them both rushing to his side. He had been allergic to anything shellfish since childhood.

Arnie gathered the sushi rolls, shrimp and crab mixed in, some cucumber ones too. It was the kind of all-you-can-eat place, so why not enjoy himself why he was at it?

He kept coming and returning with new portions to his table with a great view from the upper floor to the lower one, where the exit and the escalator were. Watching people rushing in and out, the different clothes, the speed was Arnie's favorite pastime at places like these.

He got himself those Japanese cherries and a big coke to sip on when Hector suddenly shook his shoulder from behind.

"Hey. I thought I caught a familiar scent. What are you getting lunch for and not calling me?"

Arnie winced, wrinkling his forehead. "Hey. I didn't know you were in town."

Hector rolled his eyes, hurling himself into the chair opposite Arnie, immediately grabbing for the sushi on his carefully arranged plates. "This place is like 5 minutes from the pack base. It's the center of my work radius."

"H-hey! That's my food! Go get your own," Arnie exclaimed.

Hector grinned, throwing the sushi and the shrimp into his mouth, not even taking time to use the cutlery. "Oh shut up. You can't eat half of this amount, are you crazy? Way too much for your tiny human stomach."

"Very funny," Arnie glared. Now that he was caught like this, he couldn't pretend not to notice the shrimp or that he ate more than Hector saw him eat.

Not that there was much left to eat, Hector devoured his plates without even looking.

"What are you so hungry for? You had a giant breakfast," Arnie said in irritation, sipping on his Coke. Hector was like a bulldozer to his plans.

"Hungry like a wolf," Hector said with a wink.

Since the little New Year's debacle Hector had been a lot more cheerful and friendly, although that wasn't really his style.

Arnie had to appreciate the effort he was putting into looking like he was alright with Arnie getting messages and Saturday lunches with Isaiah. Like he was happy for him when he clearly wasn't.

Arnie wasn't sure what the most prevalent emotion was for Hector. Jealousy? The sense of betrayal and hurt? From him or from Isaiah? Seriously, couldn't the two just sit down and have a long talk about what happened?

Not that Arnie was getting much in that department. He still didn't dare to address it directly and Isaiah skillfully dodged the topic or ignored any hints Arnie threw in to warm him up to it.

Arnie all but lost his appetite as he watched Hector clean out the plates with speed and getting more.

"You in a hurry? You are eating like there is no tomorrow," Arnie commented with a scrunched nose.

Hector rolled his eyes. "You want me to have table manners at a mall sushi stand? For real? Couldn't you have picked one of the fancier restaurants down the street? We are at the center, we got money, why don't you enjoy it."

"Oh, and I thought you would tell me to eat something more local instead of a risky fish stuff." That's what Isaiah told him last time, which Arnie couldn't take seriously after Isaiah took him for their first lunch after years at his favourite sushi restaurant. This small family place made everything fresh right there in front of their eyes.

Hector gave him a look, his cheeks puffing out and he muffed a burp against his fist. "You are the smartass here. Fuuh, I'm full." Didn't make him slow down as he threw himself at the rest of his half-filled plate.

"Then stop eating," Arnie said with a fond eye-roll. "It's just a mall sushi place," he added teasingly.

Hector's eyes narrowed and he smirked, taking it as a challenge as he ate the last bits before getting more dessert. Arnie would have popped from that amount a long time ago.

"Urrrrp, okay I'm done," Hector said after the next 15 minutes, leaning back in the chair. "That was pretty good. The sushi seems a bit old and wrinkly, but the taste is good."

"Remind me why I don't usually invite you for lunch," Arnie said dryly as Hector burped, loudly this time. "Come on, let's take a walk by the river. Help you settle and all."

Hector just grinned shamelessly, standing up to pay the bill for both of them.

Hector could complain all he liked, the mall had a good location. Just next to the river, the bank made into a beautiful park with nicely cut grass, fancy trees and those little gym instruments along the way.

The weather was gray and uninviting, but the temperature was actually quite pleasant, so Arnie didn't complain as they made their way against the current.

Hector walked like an old man, unzipping his jacket to free space for his bulging stomach. Arnie didn't notice how huge it got from behind the table.

Hector even planted his hand on it, rubbing slightly as they walked.

It hit Arnie then that it was Sunday. "Wait wait wait. You don't have any work in town today. You came to- you wanted to have lunch with me! Just like Isaiah did yesterday!"

Hector gave him a sour glare. "That's not-not why I did it at all."

Arnie giggled. Oh my god, that was so neat. Hector couldn't stand him and Isaiah having something he didn't have.

"Stop-urrrp-stop laughing," Hector said angrily, cheeks turning red.

"You know, you can always come with me? Isaiah would be happy to see you," Arnie said, still smiling wide.

"Happy my ass," Hector grunted.

"Oh come on! I know you want to."

"That's not, hiccc, that's not the issue-" Hector stopped as they came to the little bridge that people took pictures from, leaning heavily against the railing as another hiccup shook his shoulders.

"What, you worried he is angry about any of the mean stuff you tell him? I'm sure he is not," Arnie said, a smug smile growing as Hector's eyes widened that he figured it out.

"He knows you. He would forgive you anything. Can't you just-"

"Okay, Arnie, stop, I-"

"No," Arnie interrupted, bracing against the railing beside him. The chilly air, the river flowing with such force, it all gave him courage to breach this topic. "I think it's time you act like an adult and had a talk-"

Hector suddenly heaved, hands gripping the railing and threw up over it.

Arnie stagged in shock, not expecting that. "Geez, a little warning, eh?"

Hector didn't seem to be finished, leaning over only for another projectile vomit to shoot out. Distracted by the conversation, Arnie only realized now that Hector was sweaty all over, pale and breathing hard, bracing against the railing with all force.

"Hex? Hey, it's okay, get it up. I told you it was too much..." Arnie said, carefully placing a hand on his back, feeling the muscles move underneath the jacket.

"Think-ughhh-think there was something wrong with the food," Hector said with a grimace, bowing to lean his forehead against the cool metal of the railing, still gripping it with both hands as if for balance. "My stomach's fucking killing me."

Arnie rubbed his back with more vehemence now. Was the mall sushi worse than he thought? Was it spoiled and he didn't notice? He didn't have a single bite and Hector said it tasted old...

"Ughhhh," Hector wrapped both his hands around his stomach, face going white and then abruptly red and then white again. "Christ, this fucking hurts."

"Okay, uhmm," Arnie wracked his head with what to do. They were stranded between the mall, the river and the park. And Hector never said a word when he was hurting, this was bad.

"Do you want to- wait, wait, don't do that!"

Hector's knees gave out underneath him and he crouched down, moaning.

"Let's sit you down on a bench. Look there is one right over there, come on." Arnie felt himself panicking a little, rubbing Hector's arm, trying to coax him to stand back up.

Hector just curled more onto himself, clutching at his stomach like his organs were about to spill on the sidewalk.

He was bright red, white spotches on his face and neck and his throat was bobbing dangerously with each deep heaving breath.

"Told you...not to trust cheap places like that," Hector gritted out between breaths.

Arnie felt cold settling in his stomach. The food was bad and he ordered it, was about to eat to make Hector worry about him. This was way worse than any allergic reaction, this was downright food poisoning. This should have been him, not Hector.

"I'm so sorry. Hold on to me." He managed to free one of Hector's hands and pull it around his shoulders, tagging at him to get him up.

Hector groaned, but let Arnie hoist him up. It was a fragile position, because Hector was two times Arnie's size, all muscle and height while Arnie had the slim built of a teenage boy.

Hector swayed on his feet and Arnie wrapped his arm around his back while supporting his chest with the other. If Hector fell down, he would take Arnie with him, no stopping it.

"Okay, steady. Don't fall down," Arnie begged.

Hector burped, then doubled over Arnie's arm and vomited again, chunky pieces of dark and light pink sushi all over the ground. The smell had Arnie's nose wrinkling in disgust and he held his breath, planting both legs apart to find a stable center.

A woman and a kid passing by scrambled away quickly with a squeal.

Hector's shoulders rolled with another heave, all muscles in his jaw clenching and tensing as he fought against the next wave, but it came all the same, another chunky slimy mess. At least it shot up with such force it didn't hit any of them yet, though it sprayed around as it hit the concrete with a splash.

"A-are you okay?" Arnie hated the anxiety that made his voice sound all small and childish but there it was.

Hector spat out a pink frothy mouthful on the ground, straightening up at his question. "Good-uuuuuurp-I'm good. A bench you said?"

"Yeah, right over there." Arnie used all his strength to turn Hector around and guide him towards the bench. He was left sweaty and out of breath by the time they made the five steps towards it, Hector swaying with each movement in a different direction.

Hector collapsed on the wood gratefully, immediately spreading his legs and bracing on his knees to burp loudly on the ground. Nothing came up this time, but his stomach had a piercing angry growl that had Arnie jumping up.

Hector moaned, one hand back to clutch at the top of his belly, hanging his head. It was terrifying how someone stronger than the world could be reduced to a shaking mess by food.

And it was all Arnie's fault.

The blond sat down on the bench as gently as he could, hands on Hector's back and upper arm, quickly soaking with sweat. 

"Feeling any better? It's not even been an hour since you ate, maybe you will get rid of it and feel better soon," Arnie said pleadingly, clasping Hector's shoulder as a sudden heave had him wincing.

"Everything's-... everything's spinning. Where..." Hector blinked several times, one hand still on his stomach but the other sneaking over towards his younger brother.

Arnie grabbed the hand quickly, clutching it tightly. "You feel dizzy?" This was getting worse and worse. He was seriously afraid now.

Hector shut his eyes, grimacing as he took deep erratic breaths.

"We need help. I can't get you anywhere like this. I'll call an ambulance." Anyone or anything to get Hector from looking like that, face contorting in pain.

"Nahhhh...I'm kay-justbadfoodsnonsnese..."

"Yeah, but your shadow won't work on food poisoning and you are slurring your words and-" Arnie pressed his face into Hector's shoulder trying to calm down enough to think. He couldn't just panic and leave Hector like this.

Would an ambulance work though? What if Hector's shadow acted up? It was fine now, not even budging, but that’s because Hector was used to Arnie. A bunch of strangers when he was confused, dizzy and in pain? Bad combination for a wolf. He could rip someone's head off and not notice.

There was only one solution. Ironically enough, Arnie would get his wish after all.

Still holding Hector's hand tight, he reached with his free hand to his pocket to get his phone out. The panic and the fact it was his left hand made him clumsy, but Isaiah's number was still there from yesterday.

Isaiah picked up on the first ring. "He-"

"Isaiah, thank god," Arnie interrupted. "You have to come get us. Hector's super sick, he can't even walk or see straight and I can't- I need to get him home, but maybe he needs a hospital? What if he needs a hospital, how d-do I k-know? I have no one to call, you know how angry he would be if I called someone from the pack in his state- can you come?"

"Arnie. Arnie calm down, you are talking too fast. Deep breaths. I'll come wherever you want. Now where are you?"

"At the park behind the mall? You know the big one in the centrum, I-I don't know w-what it's called..." Arnie was all but choking on tears right now.

Hector's grip on his hand tightened and he was heaving again, loud and horse guttural sounds accompanying the process. White pink vomit covered the ground between his legs and there was puke hanging from his nose and chin.

"I know where it is. I'll be there in a sec, you hear? It's going to be okay."

Hector made another horrible sound, moaning between burps. Arnie still held his hand, pressed between Hector's straining stomach and his tight.

"Arnie? What's wrong with Hector? Is he hurt?" Isaiah's voice was smooth and calm, holding the worry deep behind.

Arnie latched onto the sound. "No, but he ate really bad sushi and-"

Hector groaned at the mention like a hurt animal.

"And it hit him out of nowhere and he can't stop throwing up and Isaiah pleasepelasehurry..."

Hector gave him a side long glance, straightening up. His chin was slimy with spit and puke and Arnie realzied he didn't even have handkerchiefs on him.

"I'm on my way." Isaiah hang up.

Hector looked dazed, leaning back, rubbing at his stomach. It still looked full and distended, a sliver of skin sticking out from under his white shirt. Sweat run down his neck, creating a dark splotch around the collar.

"Feeling any better?" Arnie asked hopefully.

"Feeling awful. But it's fine. Stop crying, geez. It's not like it will kill me." Hector let his head hang back, voice raspy like he gurgled glass, sniffling. His hands hovered towards his face but he didn't dare touch it.

"I-I'm not crying!" Arnie protested, quickly swiping the back of his hand over his eyes to get rid the moisture. "You just look super bad, that's all."

Hector burped, cheeks puffing out with the movement. "Stop panicking and get me some napkins or something."

Arnie stood up at the order, Hector's face did look awful all covered in puke and saliva..."I can't leave you like this. Isaiah's on his way. Just a minute."

"The heck you calling him for?" Hector complained, rubbing at his chest, working out an airy burp. "Just caught me off guard, that's all."

"You can't walk and you are too heavy for me to-"

"No, you are just too tiny," Hector teased with a weak half-smile.

Arnie sat back down on the bench in relief. He knew what Hector was doing, playing it off like that, but it worked all the same.

"I'm so sorry," Arnie clutched his pants on his knees, "I should have been the one sick, not you."

Hector closed his eyes, head still leaning back, lips locked tight together. The stench from the puddle of vomit between his feet probably wasn't making it better. "What's that about? You couldn't have known it was bad."

Hector's stomach let out an unhappy gurgle, making the older blond wince and hiccup. "Ugggggh. Feels like there is a storm in my insides." He gulped down audibly.

"The nausea coming back?" Arnie said, palming Hector's arm anxiously.

Fortunately, that's when Isaiah appeared from the other side of the mall where Arnie now noticed the parking lot.

Isaiah quickly assessed the situation, frowning at both of them in concentration, a backpack half-heartedly thrown over one shoulder.

"Hello there. You need a ride home?"

"That would be fantastic," Arnie said, shooting up and tackling Isaiah in a hug. He was so glad they had someone to call, all but forgetting about his previous plan. He knew Isaiah would come, but it really counted now.

Isaiah huffed, staggering back a little, hugging him back with one arm. He squeezed Arnie's shoulders once, before sitting down next to Hector.

Hector didn't open his eyes, though his lips curled in a grimace. "Geez, I'm the one sick and the two are having the time of their lives."

Isaiah rolled his eyes, getting a bunch of paper towels from the backpack and handing them over to Hector. The sick man eagerly cleaned his chin and blew his nose.

"Let's see," Isaiah planted a hand against Hector's cheek. "You don't have a fever. How is your stomach?"

Hector's eyebrows drew together and he straightened, moving away from the touch.  "Cramping like hell, but manageable. Really, you are totally useless at this point. The fun part's over."

"That's good, at least you won't puke in the car. Ready to go?" Isaiah handed Arnie a small bag with all the dirty paper towels. The youngest quickly scooped them up and threw them in the nearest trashcan, happy to have something to do.

It was amazing how quickly both of them calmed down when Isaiah showed up. Hector was putting himself together for Arnie's sake before, but despite his words, his shoulders sagged in relief and his face went from angry strained red to only a bit sickly white.

"We are going to my place this time," Hector warned, which had Arnie's eyebrows shooting up in question.

Hector obediently leaned forward though, sidestepping the mess on the grass to get up.

Isaiah grabbed Hector's arm to help him stand, reaching to wrap his own around his back, but Hector stepped away. "Keep your grabby hands to yourself. I can walk." He swayed on unsteady feet, but kept himself upwards, which Arnie counted as a win.

Isaiah said nothing, slightly amused. He took the backpack that had Arnie wondering what other first help things he got into it to make it so big and the trio got on their way.

"Front or back?" Isaiah asked once they reached the car.

Hector eyed Isaiah's car with a frown. It was an older model of Audi. Not too fancy or obvious, but that was a quality vehicle.

Hector didn't answer, opening the back door and sitting down, though he didn't close it, lips pressed tightly together. Arnie wasn't sure if he was fuming at being helped, at how cool the car model was or if he was getting sick again.

Isaiah shrugged, sliding the backpack to the back seats next to Hector and starting the engine.

That's when Hector let out a loud belch and leaned forward, legs out of the car and braced against the door. He spat on the ground, his body going rigid.

Arnie hurried to his side, hand on his shoulder. "Starting again?"

"No-I just...fuck, give me a second." He was breathing fast again, grimacing, his stomach making loud bubbling noises Arnie could hear even over the running engine.

Arnie could hear the liquid running up Hector's throat before his brother leaned forward with a retch.

The first wave was small, pinkish in colour, but the next one was big and thick, all bright pink and orange. Hector was hurling it out with a force that had him almost face-diving to the ground, weren't it for Arnie's hold.

"That's disgusting," Hector panted, mouth hanging open. Arnie noticed Isaiah turned from behind the wheel to reach over, his hand now on Hector's back too.

Arnie hoped they weren't overwhelming him with all the touches, but Hector didn't seem to mind as another gush of puke joined the first one on the concrete with a loud splash. Arnie moved his feet away a little to save his shoes.

"You can't possibly have anything left in you," Arnie said in a stunned voice as Hector went from vomiting to a coughing fit, wrecking his whole frame.

"Huh, you wanna bet?" Hector said with a sound somewhere between a cough and a burp, leaning back. His face looked white and pinched again.

Isaiah had a bottle of water unscrewed and ready, holding it up for Hector.

The older blond took it and rinsed his mouth out before planting himself back on the seat, eyes shut and breathing fast, but getting slower.

Isaiah eyed him like he was an interesting puzzle to solve. His calm nerves had Arnie impressed. "Let's just drive. You can continue with that at home. The bag is right there, when you need it."

Hector muffled another burp, angrily looking at Arnie who took the offered bag, positioning it next to his sick brother.

The drive back was silent. Isaiah kept looking back at them in the mirror while Arnie watched Hector anxiously.

Hector, for his part, was tense and quiet, arms wrapped around his middle. He held himself as still as possible and Isaiah was driving carefully, but Arnie could tell the ride made it worse.

Just when they turned towards the building where Hector and Arnie shared an apartment, Hector suddenly grabbed for the bag and dry heaved over it for several minutes. The car stopped a long time ago, when he was finished, burping emptily into the bag, bringing up the smallest mouthful of brown-pink puke. It hit the plastic with a splash that had them all cringing.

Arnie was tired from the ordeal and he wasn't even the one being sick. The guilt burned his stomach like acid as he urged Hector to let go of the bag.

Isaiah circled the car, opening it, but Hector just sat unmovingly, sagging to the side.

Isaiah's expression softened. "I know you are wiped, bud. Almost home. You will lie down, sleep this off and be good as new." He cupped Hector's cheek gently, patting it until Hector's eyes unscrewed open. He didn't even have the energy to muster up a proper glare, sliding into Isaiah's ready arms.

Arnie was grateful for Isaiah's wolf strength as he held Hector up and dragged him inside, following after them with the backpack.

[absolutebl]

Was wondering if you keep track of BL music videos and if you have recs for something similar to Tu Tem (https://youtu.be/4GuR_g75ufY) and Tu Tem 2 (https://youtu.be/5d6IiLmjQYg)

These two vids have so much drama packed in and w/ their god damn plot twists, I ended up wondering if there's more like these out there

You want ...

The OnlyOneOf BL MV series 

YooJung (main dancer, visual) - begin - BL love story continued in... 

KB (lead rapper, visual) - be free - continuation and other side of above story 

JunJi (lead vocalist, lead dancer) - be mine - second BL couple story continued in... 

Rie (lead vocalist, lead dancer) - because - other side of above second couple, this one has the BL pool trope and is a break up MV 

Mill (main rapper) - beat - this is my favorite of the series it’s a “saving him from his bullies” romance, very cute, completed in... 

Nine 'beyOnd' (vocalist, mak) - beyond - other side of above third couple, bit of a bad boy trope

These last two are the ones who are reported to be staring in forthcoming KBL Bump Up Business.

I talk about some of the BL MV's that I know about at the bottom of my Kpop Idol ins BL tracing post:

More Kpop MV BLs:

K.will - Please don't... - unquestionably the most famous, this is a tragic BL and features two extremely famous Kdrama actors from almost a decade ago! 

Park Won - Fuxxxxx crazy - features Han Se Jin from Mr Heart and Lee Ki Hyun from Light On Me) 

Park Won - Fuxxxxx crazy - in English, vocal by 스텔라장, with additional sexy footage 

The Rose - Beauty and the Beast - 3 fairy stories, one of which is gay 

OnlyOneOf’s hit libitO also has BL themes. 

LOVE is RIGHT

Bonus: 'Fuxxxxx Crazy' MV Making Film 

Most of Holland’s stuff is hella gay, but not necessarily BL. 

Taiwanese BL actor, Lin Yu (OuWen in Love is Science?) featured in a sad gay MV

[lurkingshan]

✨2023: A Summary✨

Post your most popular and/or favourite edit/gifset/analysis for each month (it’s okay to skip months!)

Tagged by @dribs-and-drabbles, thanks dribs! It's kind of fun to go back and see what I was on about at various points this year.

January

This blog was a mere bebe this time last year and I hadn't started posting anything substantial yet, so nothing of note here.

February

most popular — Making fun of Hira in Utsukushii Kare 2 (affectionately)

favorite — Praising Moonlight Chicken's character writing

March

most popular — The Glory does revenge right

favorite — Whining about people using the friends to lovers label wrong

April

most popular — Celebrating Queen Ae Ri from The Eighth Sense

favourite(s) — Making sure people understand Ji Hyun is a drama dork, helping to kick off the most batshit week of discourse in T8S fandom, and of course the first (of many) appreciation posts for Porsche's sweater

May

most popular — On Step By Step removing a scene critiquing BGP because of fan outcry

favorite(s) — 10 Things I Love About WDYEY and 10 Things I Love About Khun Chai (please watch them if you haven't yet people!)

June

most popular — Having a ball with King the Land

favorite(s) — Breaking down Pat's effect on Phupha in Our Skyy 2, the complexity of family trauma in Our Dining Table, and Jeng's reaction to his failed confession in Step by Step (ugh remember when this show was good). And of course this was the month that the La Plue meta round up was born.

July

most popular — Bitching about romance discourse (it was about King the Land at the time but it's quite widely applicable lol)

favourite(s) — Hysterical praise for La Pluie's conflict writing, kudos for Be My Favorite's character work for Kawi, breaking down where Step By Step went wrong

August

most popular — Ah the good times when we were still so amped about Only Friends

favorite(s) — Every moment of the My Ride rewatch, great moments in subtitlery from Laws of Attraction, and praise for Sing My Crush

September

most popular — That one time I actually liked a Mew thing in Only Friends

favorite(s) — Trying to get y'all to watch Love in Translation, comparing Someday or One Day and A Time Called You, clarifying the differences between Boston and Brian Kinney

October

most popular — Boston and Nick my beloveds (it would be shocking if they didn't make this list they are responsible for many of my most popular posts)

favorite(s) — A couple I Feel You Linger in the Air breakdowns: why the romance works despite being underwritten, and Fong Kaew's excellent character arc

November

most popular — Goofing on the unseriousness of Kiseki: Dear to Me

favorite(s) — Breaking down how the writing choices in Only Friends sent toxic messages and final thoughts on the IFYL finale

December

most popular — Japanese BL starter pack

favorite(s) — Simping over Mohk simping over Day in Last Twilight, yelling about Cherry Magic Thailand, kicking off bl superlatives 2023

--

In addition to all the people dribs tagged that I am double tagging because I want to see your answers (@wen-kexing-apologist @grapejuicegay @btwinlines @twig-tea @rocketturtle4 @waitmyturtles @telomeke and @respectthepetty) I am adding some other folks I know wrote/created a lot this year because I'm curious what stuck with you most: @bengiyo, @ranchthoughts, @jemmo, @chickenstrangers, @chicademartinica, @slayerkitty, @my-rose-tinted-glasses, @colourme-feral, @blmpff, @liyazaki, @wanderlust-in-my-soul, @troubled-mind, @benkaaoi.

[sexlovelitpodcast]

Sex Love Lit girlies! I watched Crash Landing On You (my first k-drama) and now I have a conundrum: A) I want to watch more k-dramas, and B) No k-drama can seem to measure up to CLOY 😭 Could you put together a playlist of entry-level k-dramas for new fans that capture the CLOY magic? Bonus points if they’re on Netflix

@sliceoflifegirl thanks for the ask!

(Corinne here) First of all, welcome to KDrama land! Crash Landing on You was my second ever KDrama, and the one that really got me hooked. I’m gonna be honest, it’s a hard one to top when you’re mid emotional hangover! That said, I love this ask and recommending KDramas to people, so I’m more than happy to recommend some. My strategy here, rather than recommend something that exactly mimics CLoY (because imo, there’s nothing exactly like it), is to recommend dramas that I think are some of the best of their genre—with some aspect that might help scratch that CLOY itch ;) So, without further ado, here is your KDrama Starter Pack: 

Goblin aka Guardian: The Lonely and Great God—This fantasy romance is a classic for a reason. The set-up: 900+ year old goblin Kim Shin is on a quest to find the goblin bride to pull the sword out of his chest and finally let him die. The catch: when he finds goblin bride Eun-tak and starts to fall in love with her, he wonders if there might be something to this whole “life” thing after all. Also featured: a glum Grim Reaper, with whom Kim Shin has a top tier bromance, who has a doomed romance of his own. Goblin gave me one of the biggest emotional hangovers post-CLOY in my early KDrama days. One caveat: Kim Shin meets Eun Tak when she’s in high school, so if huge age gaps in fantasy romances give you the ick, maybe give this one a pass (in which case the fantasy romances I recommend checking out instead are Alchemy of Souls and Doom at Your Service, both on Netflix atm). (On Viki)

Mr. Sunshine—My pick for one of the best historical (aka sageuk) KDramas out there. Set in early 1900’s Joseon, just before/in the early days of Japanese occupation, this drama follows the lives of five equally compelling characters as they navigate the political turmoil of the time. At the center are Lady Ae-sin, an aristocratic lady with a tendency for dressing up as a man and sneaking around at night on missions for the rebels, and Eugene Choi, an American Marine now stationed in Joseon who escaped enslavement there as a child and has mixed feelings about the land of his birth. This one resonates with the forbidden/doomed love of people from different classes and cultures from CLOY. (On Netflix)

Reply 1988—This slice of live drama set in Seoul in 1988 follows five families who live in the same neighborhood, and especially five of their high school aged children as they grow up during a particularly vibrant time in South Korea’s recent history. Like the other installments in the Reply series, the series uses two of the main characters in the present day (or present to when it was released, anyway) looking back—which means that viewers know the Deok-sun ends up married to one of her four besties, but which one?? Still, while the love triangle mystery is fun, at its heart, this story is about community. It’ll scratch the CLoY itch for the North Korean market lady shenanigans, and a few others as well (especially if you like intense yearning in your dramas). (On Netflix)

Business Proposal—If you’d like romance of a completely different genre than CLOY, look no further than Business Proposal! In this KDrama, Shin Ha-ri goes on a blind date in place of her friend as a favor only find out that the date is with her boss. This tightly plotted romantic comedy plays with more rom com tropes than you can shake a stick at, but never sits with one so long that it gets old. The B couple is also fire, and helps move things along whenever the A couple gets into a rut. This drama also features some chaebol (rich business family) shenanigans a la CLOY.  (On Netflix)

Extraordinary Attorney Woo–If you’re in the mood for a workplace comedy/drama, look no further than Extraordinary Attorney Woo. Featuring the incandescent Park Eun Bin as rookie attorney Woo Young Woo, this legal drama features about a case per episode as Attorney Woo finds her way in the world alongside a delightful main cast of characters. (On Netflix)

Little Women—My choice for the makjang to include on this list (a genre in which extreme storylines are treated very seriously), this drama focuses on the three Oh sisters as the oldest finds that her friend who died under mysterious circumstances has left her 70 billion that a powerful political family will stop at nothing to get their hands on. Will the story always make complete sense? No. But will the stellar performances, fast-paced, genre-mixing drama, and wild cliffhangers keep you on the edge of your seat as you binge the whole thing? Absolutely. (On Netflix)

Extraordinary You—Youth dramas may or may not be your thing, but if you have the patience for the shenanigans of high schools, Extraordinary You is my top pick. In this fantasy romance, Eun Dan-Oh discovers that she is actually a character in a comic–and she’s not even the main one! While still high school appropriate, Eun Dan-oh’s literally doomed-by-the-narrative and impossible circumstances romance with Haru, another side character, is another one from my early KDrama days to stick with me just as much as Yoon Se-ri and Ri Jeong-hyeokk’s. (On Viki)

Search: WWW—Ayanni’s particular contribution to this list, this modern romantic drama focuses on intersecting lives of three women working in the fast-paced tech industry at the top two competing web portal companies. Just as interesting as each woman’s various romantic entanglement are their entanglements with each other as they put their careers ahead of just about everything else. Ayanni says she especially appreciates this one because it focuses specifically on three women (also in this genre are Be Melodramatic and Because this is My First Life). 

Happy watching--and do let us know if you pick any of these up!

[a-forbidden-detective]

Toto: Do you know her? (Referring to Fin Fennec)

Ron: Yes. That should not surprise her.

Ron: I am going to change my clothes.

Toto: Uhm…

~

Toto: What kind of person is this Dr. Hirsch? (Swallows)

Fin Fennec: We begin asking the relatives.

Toto: Certainly!

~

Shachi: What? You are turning a blind eye when it comes to Kamonohashi, Madame!

Volume 7 intermission flaps, DE version

That Ron and Toto still refer to each other with the formal Sie/Ihnen makes me think, “you are saving each other’s lives and you still Siezen?!”

When are they going to say “du” to each other?

Bonus ….

Toto’s birthday presents from Ron, Amamiya, Spitz, Kawasemi san, Dr. Mofu and Chicory from Chapter 58

Ron: the 100-meter scarf he knitted all by himself when the two of them first learned to know each other from Chapter 1

Amamiya: a pack of white bread with beans that could last for 10 days, only the due date was next day.

Spitz: incense sticks with mugwort essence

Kawasemi: a custom-made tweezer-shaped throw pillow that could fit Toto’s head

Dr. Mofu: a wrecked self-baked cake because of her clumsiness

Chicory: a T-shirt from her favourite TV program “Seibu Keisatsu,” a Japanese police detective drama series in the ‘80s.

Ron would like to know which of the gifts Toto had received that was off the track based on the number of beads of sweat on Toto’s face.

Toto: Don’t ask this kind of strange questions. Of course, all the presents made me happy. (Sweating profusely)

They are so cute.

[stardomtrash]

Giulia recently did an interview talking about, among other things, the shitshow that has been going on behind the scenes in Stardom recently.

There's just A LOT going on here and it's gonna get salty so I'm gonna put this under a read more.

First off, he's a translation of the relevant parts of the interview. I used ChatGPT-4 as I find compared to other platforms it provides the most coherent translation. Obviously, as this is machine translated, it misses nuance and some context, so don't take it as gospel - pinch of salt necessary for consumption. But I digress...

Here's the translation of the interview with wrestler Giulia:

Interviewer (Kaku): The conversation shifts a bit, but this month, Giulia, you expressed your determination and dissatisfaction with the staff's response on Twitter. Or earlier, at the strategy announcement meeting, you spoke up to the president about revising the 5★STAR GP schedule. It seems like you've been quite outspoken recently. Has a lot been happening during this period? Giulia: Yes, a lot has indeed been happening. I'm the type of person who often voices my opinions. This has led to conflicts in various aspects of my life, even before becoming a wrestler - with friends, family, work, school. I've always been the type to speak up when I think something is wrong. This might not be very Japanese-like. Normally, people hesitate to speak up, especially women and most of our staff being male. I think there were many things people wanted to say but couldn't. Kaku: Hmm. Giulia: I've felt this strongly and have tried to communicate it internally within the company and through the media. But nothing changed, in fact, things seemed to get worse. The final straw was the handling of the Ushiku event (operational mistakes and insufficient announcements), followed by the subsequent responses (staff interactions raising questions). I wrote on SNS (Social Networking Services) hoping it would reach (Owner of Bushiroad) Takaaki Kidani… I just had to write it. Kaku: Yes. Giulia: Otherwise, nothing would change in this organization. I was frustrated to see what Rossi Ogawa had built up breaking down… We had momentum until last year, but since this year, it's been crumbling. That's why I spoke out. Kaku: There's been a packed schedule, and things seem to be moving too fast, without giving time to "get into" the feelings before the next match. How did the wrestlers feel about this? Giulia: Exactly that. I realized how great Rossi Ogawa was. He prioritized the wrestlers' feelings. That's no longer the case. Kaku: Hmm. Giulia: Wrestlers, especially women, have various emotions, and these clash to create a story, a battle, a drama. But now, (laughs) it's like we can't do that… One thing after another is arranged without considering our feelings. I think that's the difference from Rossi Ogawa's time. Kaku: I see. Giulia: Fans understand how we feel in the matches, who our rivals are, who we hate, and see the intense rivalry. Rossi Ogawa used to see this and set up matches accordingly… That's gone now. The reason isn't just the packed schedule. Kaku: A separate issue. Giulia: Yes, it's different. What the wrestlers want to show and what the "company" wants to do are completely different. I've been able to create various rivalries, like with Tam Nakano or Suzu, because Rossi Ogawa understood the wrestlers. Now, all of that is ignored. So, the fans can't get emotionally involved, and the wrestlers feel like expressing their emotions is pointless… Something really needs to be done about this (laughs). I hope the new president, who says he loves wrestling, will listen to the wrestlers' voices.

Kaku: Did you hear the new president's greeting today? Giulia: I did, I did. Kaku: Any impressions? Giulia: Impressions? He seemed fresh and clear-cut, which is good. But I'm a bit distrustful of people (laughs), especially towards the company. I'm the type to dive deep into things, so I'm watching how he responds. It's hard to build trust immediately, and I think President Okada (Taro) feels the same. I can sense that he's being careful in the same space. Kaku: Is he trying to respect the wrestlers? Giulia: Or is it that in the same space, with just a greeting, I can feel whether he's being considerate or looking down on me? Kaku: You mean through the president's gestures? Giulia: Gestures, or the aura he gives off. That's what I felt, so I hope he's a good president (laughs). Kaku: So far, you've felt good about it? Giulia: Yes. Kaku: His tie was also red. Giulia: The red tie of passion. Regarding Words Giulia Repeatedly Shouted Before Reaching the Comment Booth at the Osaka Event Kaku: Lastly, I'd like to include this comment if possible. When you were heading backstage in Osaka, it wasn't officially recorded, but (before reaching the comment booth) you said: "Please, let me have a normal match, I beg you, I beg you!! A normal, a normal match would be good…" What were your feelings behind those words? Giulia: Exactly that. The original plan for that event was the World of Stardom Championship, but it was canceled, right? Honestly, I don't think that match (the Moneyball final) should have been called the main event. It was more like a bonus match. The audience expects to see a main event, especially when a significant title match was canceled. We can't be playing around. This ties back to what I said earlier, about the disconnect between the wrestlers' feelings and what the company wants to do. I thought with that lineup, we could have shown an amazing six-person tag match without any weird gimmicks. Kaku: Yes, yes. Giulia: So, isn't that enough? I keep thinking. We didn't even know what was prepared, and then on the day of the match, baby powder falls in the ring. It might be fun for some, but it's incredibly dangerous. It looks funny, but it's slippery and doesn't make for a real match. It was really dangerous, especially in such large quantities. I have a bit of an allergy, and inhaling it caused symptoms. It was really itchy, and my nose and throat… There are minor details, but the ring was so slippery, we couldn't even do proper rope work. Climbing the corners was also dangerous. There was no proper planning. Just, "Okay, go do it." Kaku: Hmm. Giulia: I'll do it. I'll give it my best, but I wonder what the audience thinks. Do they want to see something like this? Maybe now, more than ever, we need to show a heated battle. Isn't that the essence of professional wrestling? To show a heated match, especially at times like this. Why are we doing this? It was really embarrassing. (Note from Kakutou Log: Despite Giulia's views due to this year's events, the match was exciting, with team play and enjoyable elements.) Kaku: I heard that outcry loud and clear, and I really took it as your soul's cry against the staff's response and your proposal to the president at the strategy announcement meeting. Giulia: Thank you

So, as you can see, everything is on fire. I went OFF on Discord about this interview. The baby powder spot... I just cannot even. I don't want to get angry again. I'm exhausted.

I thought it was a dangerous spot at the time, and that if they were going to do it, they should have pulled that box last... but to not tell the wrestlers at all they were going to use baby powder is dangerous as fuck! Every wrestler needs to go into a match knowing EXACTLY what's in store for them. Wrestling is dangerous enough as is and I have NO TIME for anyone who makes it needlessly and recklessly more dangerous.

FUCK. ALL. OF. THAT.

And to top it off, Giulia has mild allergies to the stuff...

As you can see she was heartedly embarrassed to be a part of that match and didn't even want a weird stipulation in the first place, but she had to tow the line. Honestly, after reading that interview, I cannot blame her for considering going to WWE. Girl, RUN.

Stardom has been a shitshow as of late for a multitude of reasons, some preventable and some not. The injuries have been coming thick and fast, and I've already spoken at length on that. But it seems that the booking side of things, the whole process, has changed backstage, and that seems like a big contributor to why things just aren't working so well anymore. Giulia pulled no punches in this interview, and to talk about how Rossy just doesn't seem to care anymore, that he's not letting the wrestlers tell the stories they want to tell, and he's not letting matches come together naturally... Giulia said that it's harder for both the fans and the wrestlers themselves to get emotionally invested in the product at the moment. I've been struggling to connect with it as much as I did a good few months back, and now I know that the wrestlers aren't as happy themselves... yeah it's harder to enjoy something when you know the people you love don't have their hearts in it as much as they once did.

If Giulia leaves for WWE it will be a damn shame, and not in the least because they'll lose a locker room leader who isn't afraid to speak out harshly against management on behalf of the talent. There seems to be management shake-ups going on right now, so we'll see if that changes anything.

I hope the product improves going into the new year and they make all the changes they need to in order to rebuild the hype they lost post Oedo Tai/QQ match, which I'd argue has been the last really great thing Stardom has done. There's been some stellar matches and it's obvious people are trying despite everything working against them, but some changes at a higher level need to be implemented to get Stardom back on track, starting with Rossy giving a shit about the booking again.

[vaaaaaiolet]

You move to the big city in search of bigger and better, so naturally, you get your first place.

You just don't anticipate the roommate that comes along with it.

f / m, strangers to lovers, slow burn, hijinks and shenanigans, leon is bad at feelings :( but don't worry because there will be so much fluff omg, he is a sweetheart, like a romcom, and banter!! so much banter

a/n : inspired by the Japanese drama Good Morning Call!

chapter masterlist // read on ao3

chapter 1: what fine print??

Couch surfing, living off canned beans and rice, giving up your potted plant collection. Nothing has gone your way since you packed up shop and left your hometown behind for the big bright lights of the city, but things have never been this bad.

In typical you fashion, you hadn’t read the fine print of your apartment lease before signing it. It was too good of a deal not to snag: a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom suite fit for Zack and Cody and for an unbeatable price! With a mediocre waitressing salary and a hefty college tuition to boot, you figured beggars couldn’t be choosy. You certainly weren’t when you’d signed the lease with flourish.

So now as you shove a chair in front of your bedroom door while an intruder jiggles the handle to force their way in, you think that moving into your first place couldn’t have possibly gone worse. 

It had to be a setup. The sweet old landlord lady must have set you up in some mafia den and now you’d gone ahead and stepped on their turf. What kind of intruder breaks into a new apartment anyway? How’d they even get in through the front door? This neighborhood was supposed to be safe!, you whine to yourself as you cram your back against the door.

After a few seconds, the jiggling stops. You let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness your old habit of locking doors from dorm-

BANG! 

You land ungracefully on your butt with a surprised yelp as the intruder bashes the door in with a shoulder. Firm shoulder, honestly. You’ve tried that before and it’s nowhere as cool as the movies make it look. From your seat on the floor, you grab the nearest dangerous weapon (a particularly nasty curling iron) and brandish at your assailant. He, in turn, points a handgun at your face.

Cool, a loaded weapon! No biggie.

And just like in the movies, you both shout at the same time: “Who the hell are you?”

“I asked you first.” he points the barrel of the gun at your face. “You’ve got 5 seconds.”

“What?”

His blue eyes narrow as he slowly inches forward. “I said,” he repeats, “Who. The hell. Are you?”

“I live here!” 

“Huh?” Now it’s his turn to look surprised. “You’re lying.” 

Okay, rude. “What are you talking about?” you shoot back. Pretty rich of a burglar to break into your home and then accuse you of lying about it.

“You can’t live here.” he says as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. 

“I don’t think you get to tell me I don’t live in the apartment you just broke into.”

You gesture at the half-unpacked moving boxes surrounding you and he has the nerve to frown.

“No, I didn’t.” he shakes his blond head as if he couldn’t believe you’d accuse him of literally breaking down your new bedroom door. 

“You didn’t?” 

You think that this back and forth could go on all day until he quickly raises a pair of keys to answer your question. A pair of keys, you realize with a start, that are identical to the ones sitting on your dresser right now because they’re the ones to your apartment. You piece together how he got in through the front door; he’d simply unlocked it with his own keys. 

You lower your curling iron as you take in the scarily well-built form of your would-be intruder. He mirrors you, smoothly clicking the safety back on his gun. A couple of snowflakes drift to the floor from his shearling biker jacket as he tucks the weapon into an inside pocket and you wonder how big men’s pockets really are if he could fit a whole freaking gun in there.

“Can’t break into my own apartment, can I?” he says drily. “But hey, this makes for one hell of a move-in day.”

back to the chapter masterlist...

[supernovasilence]

The Song Stuck In My Head

Late, but I'm determined to keep going with Futuristic Four Week. Prompt 2 was Role Swap, so please take this offering of time traveler!Hiro, actor!Wilbur, superhero!Penny, and scientist!Violet. I just want to get this posted so this is rushed and wildly unedited; I might clean it up before posting to ao3.

Summary: Something is wrong with the timeline. Gen/friendship, drama, mention of injuries but nothing super graphic.

Hiro’s hands shook, but he gulped in a deep breath and forced them steady. He couldn’t afford to spill any fuel.

He only had enough for one jump left as it was. If he ran out mid-travel…

Well, one way or another, he wasn’t redoing this.

He finished loading in the fuel, triple-checked that he had everything packed, quadruple-checked he had the right coordinates punched in, and drew in another deep breath.

A photo beamed at him from the dashboard: an old-fashioned polaroid, faded and crumpled now, the faces of the four kids in it starting to blur. The energy from repeated jumps was corroding the film. Sometimes it felt like it was doing the same to Hiro’s memory.

He pushed activate.

~

Flash!

Wilbur grinned into the light bursting across his face. He waved, paused for another storm of flashes, and kept weaving through the crowd. Flash—flash—flash; it seemed to take forever for him to reach the sanctuary of a bathroom.

Thankfully, it was empty. Wilbur exhaled hard and leaned on the sink. Looking up, he saw his reflection staring back at him. He was still grinning widely.

He shook his head like a dog shaking off water, grin dissolving somewhere along the way.

“Come on, Wilbur, keep it together,” he told himself.

He didn’t know why he felt so off tonight; premieres were easy. No acting to do except act like a cool, handsome TV star, and that Wilbur Robinson didn’t have to fake. Smile and wave and make sure to be seen by all the cameras, and don’t say anything rude to anyone. Easy peasy.

He was just…tired of events right now. He’d just come off a flurry of interviews to promote the new season, and now had bunch of premiers to attend (movies from the same studio they wanted to drum up publicity for), and after that they were jumping right back into filming for next season—Wilbur couldn’t remember the last time he’d been home.

One of his family members was always with him during shoots, of course, and he called the rest regularly, but it wasn’t the same. And just hanging out at the mall or park or chargeball court with friends seemed like a dream anymore.

For a moment, it really did seem like a dream. The mirror in front of him shimmered, and instead of pretentious tile, he saw funkily patterned carpet and neon lighting. A retro-style arcade, a Japanese boy with a robot hoodie leaning against a pinball machine, the redheaded girl playing scolding him not to make it tilt, mouth moving silently across the glass while the boy laughed just as silently, and the black-haired girl walking up to them with bags of gummy frogs and popcorn turned and looked back at—

Wilbur was standing in a glitzy bathroom staring at his own reflection. He felt dizzy for a moment, and then he had a headache, but by the time he rubbed at his temples, it had already gone.

“What the—”

He tapped the mirror. A second later he looked frantically around, but luckily the bathroom was still empty.

“Okay, I think that’s enough soda for one night. There’s no way I actually…”

Actually saw…he’d seen something right? He couldn’t remember what he’d thought was so strange about the mirror now.

Shrugging, Wilbur splashed some water on his face, checked his hair was perfect (it was, of course), and went back to rejoin the paparazzi party.

~

Penny climbed in her window and closed it as quietly as she could. It was harder than usual; her shoulder throbbed angrily. Peeling off her supersuit, she saw a nasty purple-black splotch across her upper arm.

She groaned—quietly; her mom did not need to know Penny was sneaking out to fight supervillains—and dug around for the first aid kit she kept under her bed. Crouching down and stretching out her arm didn’t play nicely with her tired body, and she teetered. A wave of vertigo swept her.

She fell, and while she fell her hands rubbed antiseptic into a cut on a girl’s arm, serious scarlet-and-black supersuit tied about her waist to reveal a cheery bubblegum pink tank top and a circus of bruises across her skin.

“Ow,” yelped one of the boys beside her, the one in the purple armor, as the one with hair like a black cockatoo’s crest tried to pull the armor off without jostling the other’s sprained wrist.

“This is exactly why you need our help,” complained the crested boy. “If you let us fight with you, you wouldn’t come home all banged up.”

“You don’t have any powers.” The armored boy shook his head. “It isn’t safe.”

“Neither do you!”

“I have genius intelligence and high-tech armor.”

“So why can’t you make us armor?” Penny asked.

“Do you really want to go through this every day?” the girl said, gesturing at her scraped up arm, as sarcastic as she was kind. “You two should—”

And then Penny slammed onto her bedroom floor, breathless and stinging with rugburn.

She just lay there, her shoulder aching and her eyes watering, but a moment later she realized her mom might have heard the thump and come to check on her. She grabbed the first aid kit and jumped under the covers with it.

When fifteen minutes had passed with no sign of her mom, Penny decided she was safe, and climbed out of bed again.

It took a bit of willpower; her bed was soft and she just wanted to go to sleep. She wasted no time changing fully out of her costume and into pajamas. Something flicked inside her head as she opened the first aid kit, pressed against the inside of her skull as she scrubbed dirt from her skinned palms and raw knuckles.

Crime-fighting would be so much easier in a team, she thought—and then was struck by how familiar the question was, like she’d asked it a dozen times before. Whatever it was pressed harder against Penny’s thoughts.

She almost had enough energy let to be curious about it. But the feeling came with a sense of vertigo, and she’d already fallen enough tonight. She shook her head, and was surprised to find her eyes wet; they shouldn’t still be stinging from her fall. She wiped them and pulled out ointment for her aching shoulder. A thought tried very hard to get into her head as she rubbed the ointment into her arm, but it wouldn’t come clear, and she was too tired to chase it. Maybe it wasn’t a thought at all, only exhaustion.

Shoving the first aid kit back under the bed, Penny climbed back under the covers. This time, she didn’t fight her weariness.

~

Violet rubbed her eyes, then looked at her worksheet again. The numbers refused to come clear. She glared at them.

“Oh, sure,” she mocked her past self. “I’ll just do a quick little investigation into the weird readings, even though Mr. Harrington told me it was just the sensors glitching. How long could it take? It’s not like being a teenager in college is hard enough.”

She sank back in her seat and sighed in frustration.

The thing was, the sensors were getting weird readings. And these weren’t the local weather station’s thermometer and windsock. These were state of the art pieces of equipment from a college science department—and a pretty good college, too; Violet’s scholarship afforded her that. Atmospheric pressure, gravitational shifts, a dozen other things that shouldn’t all be interconnected but were, somehow, in some pattern Violet could not figure out: they all said something was strange about the world.

Violet was pretty sure they said something was wrong.

But she couldn’t prove it, and if she didn’t do her actual homework, she was going to flunk right out of her scholarship. Shoving her hair angrily back from her face, she turned to grab her calculus notebook.

The cover shifted as she reached for it. It shook again, and again, harder each time, and then it flew open. The pages flipped past at high speed and the papers she had shoved inside it went flying. Violet shrieked and grabbed for them, but the whole room was suddenly filled with papers and empty chip bags and clothes and everything else light enough to be swept up by the wind buffeting the walls. Violet leapt for the window only to slam into cold glass; it was already closed. She whirled and stared at the room, clinging to the windowsill.

There was a flash of light—a deafening silence that left her ears ringing. And then everything was still. Lying on the floor in the middle of the room, where the chaos had been worst, was a small, metal object.

Violet walked over cautiously, waiting any moment for the laws of physics to go haywire again. They didn’t. She crouched down and peered at the object. It looked a little like a cellphone, and a lot like a prop from an old sci-fi TV show, assuming that prop had spent the last few decades being dropped and tossed in basements and dug out by kids who repaired it with duct tape and aluminum foil so they could use it to play space invaders. The cracked screen was blank and dark.

“You better not be giving off radiation,” Violet muttered, and picked it up.

The screen flickered to life.

“…ome in…nny? Wilbur? Anyo…Guys, if you’re there, please come in.”

Violet yelped and almost dropped the whatever-it-was (a communicator, apparently).

“Hello?” The crackly, compressed voice came again. “Is someone there? Hold on—”

The static covering the screen jerked, wavered into a different pattern of static, jerked again, and cleared enough for Violet to see a boy her own age looking out. He had either ash or a bruise smudged over his cheek, and around him Violet saw glimpses of tangled wires and control panels askew in their settings in…what? A machine? A lab? Wavering, distorted images moved nauseatingly on a glass panel behind the boy’s head.

He looked up from whatever buttons he was worrying over and at the screen with a rather desperate expression. His entire face lit up.

“Violet?” He laughed in disbelief, then whooped, pumping his fist in the air and directly into the glass overhead; it must be a dome, because the entire thing bonged ominously. He flinched away, looking fearfully at it, but nothing happened. He shook his hand. “Ow… Violet, are you okay?”

“Who are you, and how do you know my name?”

He stared, and then his frantic look came back.

“No, no, you have to know me. It wasn’t supposed to be this long—you should still remember—”

“Remember what? Who are you?”

The boy looked at her, and for a moment she thought he might cry. She was left breathless at how much it hurt. Something inside her sat up and whispered inaudibly along as the boy said:

“Hiro. I’m Hiro Hamada. I’m your friend.”

“I’ve never met you before.”

“But you should have; don’t you get it?” Violet just stared at him. He shoved his hands into his hair. “We’re best friends—us and Wilbur and Penny. But something happened, and now everything’s wrong.”

He stopped to draw in a breath. This was Violet’s chance to tell him whatever he was mixed up sounded dangerous, and if he kept stalking her, she was going to call the police. And then turn off the communicator. But he looked so upset, and the communicator had appeared in her room in the middle of indoor storm. And something was wrong. She knew it was.

Hiro was the first person who’d believed her.

She sat on her bed and tightened her grip on the communicator.

“What do you mean, ‘wrong’?” she asked.

“I don’t know exactly.” Hiro gestured in frustration. “I think the timeline got changed. I just keep getting weird readings on everything, but I don’t know what they mean! I think maybe time travel’s not actually my field, so I don’t really know what I’m doing. Except I don’t know how I know that, and—”

“What’s the tensile strength of steel?” Violet blurted.

“Uh—” Hiro blinked at her. “It’s, it’s not a constant. It depends on the grade of the steel and thickness of your material.You want to consider yield strength and elongation percentage, too, so depending on what you’re building…”

He trailed off, then drew in an uneven breath. He looked at Violet with wide eyes. She looked back with a hammering heart.

“Let’s not go off in a spiral,” she said, snarky tone rather shaky.

“How did you know to do that?” Hiro asked.

Violet shook her head.

“I don’t know.”

They stared at each other for a moment, and then she watched determination spark in Hiro’s eyes.

“Something’s wrong with the timeline, and now I have to put it right. We have to put it right.”

“Who’s we?” Violet asked, even though part of her felt she already knew, lost names on the tip of her tongue…

“You and me, Wilbur, and Penny. I—” Hiro suddenly looked sheepish. “I don’t really know who they are, or you. But the anomalies all center around the four of us, so either we did something in the original timeline, or someone else was messing with time travel and we’re involved. Does that makes sense?”

“None of this makes sense.” Violet’s head was spinning. “How do you even fix a broken timeline?”

“I think we can if we put things back the way they were. There are rules about time travel—key events? I’m kinda guessing here. I was hoping you’d know.”

“I don’t know.” Violet hesitated. “Maybe one of the others does.”

“You see what I’m dealing with?” Hiro cried. “I know things, but I don’t know how I know. I definitely think one of you knows more about time travel than I do. I was trying to fix things, but I messed up. The last jump stranded me…whenever this is, and now I don’t have enough fuel to get out. I barely managed to get the comm out.” He looked around at the swirling colors. “I think I’m between whenevers, actually.”

Violet realized the wavering scenes weren’t on the glass, but behind it. A shiver of horror went down her back.

“Is there anything you can do?”

Hiro looked back at her, and the fear in his face softened away again. He grinned at her.

“I have a plan. But I need your help—Wilbur and Penny, too, if we can find them.”

Violet hesitated again. This was insane. And if it wasn’t insane it was wildly dangerous, not just to her but potentially to the entire world—the entire time-space continuum. But she liked Hiro’s grin. She felt like she could take on the world with that grin at her side. Maybe the four of them had, in the old timeline.

“I’m going to be grounded for a decade if we destroy the universe, you know,” she said. “What do you need me to do?”

[averagewriter-inthedark]

Pair of Foxes 🦊 | Kira Yukimura Headcanon

Teen Wolf masterlist

Requested 📨 yes/no (rules for requests)

Being a fox shapeshifter (were-fox) and Kira’s best friend would look like:

I guess you can say foxes are drawn to each other because when Kira first moved to Beacon Hills you immediately befriended her—literally walking straight up to her in the library with a beaming grin. “Hi! You’re Kira right? I’m Y/n, mind if I join you?” Not even waiting for her to say yes you dropped your things and began pulling out homework for you history class. She was a little taken aback but polite nonetheless, “U-uh sure. I don’t mind.”

You’d known Scott and Stiles since middle school but hadn’t become friends with them until the whole Alpha fiasco when Peter bit you in hopes of making you a member of his pack. However, the little trickster you naturally are, ended up shifting into a fox instead of wolf—eyes glowing more orange instead of yellow and canines smaller than Scott’s. When Peter discovered this—shortly before his untimely death—he bestowed you with the nickname ‘Little Vixen’. Eventually you managed to fully evolve into a fox like Malia could as a coyote.

When it was revealed Kira was a Kitsune, a Japanese Fox spirit, you couldn’t help but go, “Look at us, Ki, we’re a pair of foxes! Ain’t that neat!” Of course her fox was different from your fox—for example she brought forth her spirit when wielding her sword and you could shift into yours as you came and went. Even when Kira’s fox spirit was thrown out of balance due to the Dread Doctor’s, it was like the Kitsune recognized the fox within you and held some sort of respect.

Basically the Fox didn’t attempt to kill you like it did everyone else. “Maybe it thought we were relatives or something.” “Well whatever it thought from now on you are gonna have to step in whenever I lose control.” “You’re my best friend, of course I’m gonna help you.” From that moment on you and Kira became each other’s anchors. She was there to calm you down on a full moon and you were there to put the Fox in her at ease.

“We’re like platonic soulmates, Ki.” “Platonic soulmates who are a pair of foxes. The best combo if I’ve ever heard.”

Kira always had a pack of extra clothes that fit you in her bag. Shifting into your fox form or fighting to the point your outfits are tarnished enough times had your best friend come prepared to everything.

There are days where Kira will catch you and Malia in your fox & coyote forms chasing each other on the lacrosse field or play fighting. This will have Kira running after y’all because bystanders are calling animal control, “Get back here you two!”

Another time you were stuck in your fox form and unable to shift resulting in you having to stay at Kira’s house until the pack could come up with something to fix you. This also meant Kira had to come up with something to tell your family when you were a no show at home for nearly three days, “the drama club had a competition in Los Angeles—Y/n got the lead role in their production of ‘Wicked’ so she’s there right now.”

In return you always covered for her when she’d be with Scott. “I’ll be your scapegoat, Ki. Just tell them you’re going camping with my family this weekend. They’ll never know.” “You really underestimate how good my mom is at finding things out.” Sure enough, they got the truth pretty quick when Noshiko spotted your parents out to dinner the night ya’ll were ‘camping.’

You two will have girls nights with Malia and Lydia whenever y’all are in need of a break from the world. During the three month period between the shit with the beast and the Wild Hunt you four spent every penny you owned going to concerts, festivals, comic cons, and weekend trips to L.A or San Fran. As you can expect, the boys would get jealous.

When Kira decided to go with the skinwalkers you were devastated to say the least. It felt like a piece of you was missing with the absence of your best friend. But Kira made a promise to check in every once in a while and you’d be the first to know when she was coming back.

After all, there was nothing that could stop the pair of foxes when Beacon Hills was in need of saving.