#or she and Astro first get assigned to a group project together

[clouds-oc-corner]

...help I am starting to have ships for my ocs

[arohastrooo-blog]

Twirls pt2 (Rocky x Reader)

Part 1 can be found here :))) This is too long though, it consists of 1.8k words TT

Weeks passed by and you still can’t forget the mystery behind the sweater. You’ve also been creeping yourself out that some ‘ghost’ or a ‘creature’ put it there for you.

“Maybe it was our manager? Have you tried asking her about it?”

You shook your head as your co-trainees facepalmed at you. “Well you should! You’ve also been creeping us out with your assumptions you know!” You just laughed at what she said. “Okay, sorry. My fault.”

Just as all of you stood up to start practicing again, your manager walked in to your practice room. “Hey girls!”

“Hi manager-nim!” You all bowed at her and smiled. She also smiled at you as she asked how everything was. Training days were getting difficult especially when evaluation day comes. Fortunately, most of you can cope up with training and you each share one goal, and that is to debut together.

“I have a surprise for you today.” You all looked at each other as the previous surprise your manager had for you didn’t go very well; you just performed a random play dance and it was a mess. But good thing it wasn’t part of the evaluation process.

“I hated surprises ever since that day, manager-nim!” Your unnies whined and you just nodded your head, agreeing with them. Your manager laughed as she cleared her throat.

“Kidding aside, I want you to work on a project. Based on the results that we’ve evaluated decides who will be assigned as your partner on this project.” You immediately looked at each other, slowly getting excited and anticipating what will happen.

“But wait, you’re not going to work with each other.” As your manager said that, you exchanged confused faces as she gestured to the door. You all looked and much to your surprise, all six members of Astro walked in.

Your team resisted on squealing as your talented seniors stood in front of you. You and your group bowed a 90-degree one, “Annyeonghasaeyo, sunbae-nim!”

It was now their turn to greet. “Wanna be your star! We’re Astro!” You still cannot believe that your seniors, especially him, were standing in front of all of you.

 “They’re going to be your partners for the said project. I’ve asked their manager about this and he agreed. We believe that they can help you in honing your skills. Get acquainted with each other first as I get your results. And boys?!” Astro turned to your manager who is looking intently at them.

“Be nice. Arraseo?!” The six boys stood straight and all shouted, “Yes!”

They all turned to the six of you as an awkward atmosphere appeared. But MJ being MJ, the happy virus and the eldest of the group started talking, all of you got in the comfortable mood.

You introduced yourselves one by one and when it came to you, “You’re the one who covers Rocky-hyung’s choreos, right?”

A faint strike of red spread across your face as almost all of the pair of eyes inside the room looked at you. “A-Ah... y-yes... I’m Y/F/N.” Why does he have to remember that instead? Save me!

“Your covers were so good and smooth! How’d you do that?!” You slowly lowered your head as you send an emergency look to your unnies. You were really shy and you don’t know how to answer them plus, you’re not the kind of person who wants to be a center of attention.

And just in time, your manager walked in. You all lined up properly to listen to her announcement. It came down to the fourth one and your name hasn’t been called yet.

“...Jinjin and U/N and our last pair would be Rocky and Y/N.” You didn’t even heard the rest of your manager’s words as you still let the information of Rocky being your partner sink in your mind.

“Y/N? YN? Are you uhm, okay?”

You snapped out of your thoughts as Rocky waved his hand in front of you. You blushed slightly as you nodded. “Yes uh, sorry.”

Rocky grinned shyly as he scratched the back of his neck. “So uh…” He introduced himself as an individual and also you. The both of you sat down and get to talk about yourselves and you discovered how the both of you share the same interests and thoughts into things.

“Let’s call it a day, Y/N! It was nice meeting you.” He grinned at you as he stood up and stretched. You followed suit and went to your own practice rooms. As you entered the room, you can’t hide the smile on your face as your fellow members tease you about it.

“Wide smile you got there, Y/N!” One of them shouted followed by coos of cheering.

“Aish, stop it, unnies!” You laughed it off and changed the topic to practicing. You didn’t notice it was getting late at night as your choreographer dismissed you. Your unnies immediately packed their things but you on the other hand, went for the sound system and played some music.

“Y/N.” The oldest one called you with a warning tone. You just grinned widely and others just shook their heads at you. You waved goodbye and started practicing on your own.

“This routine’s really hard!” You suddenly shouted as you rolled on the floor, looking at your haggard (yet still beautiful) face. You looked at the watch and realized it’s almost 2 in the morning. You stayed silent for a while and closed your eyes, falling asleep in the process.

And just in time, someone sneaked inside the room where you are in. The person sighed at the side of you but gently smiled and placed something beside you. He left the room with a smile plastered on his face, shaking his head.

You woke up moments later and turned to the side, your arm bumping to something cold. You cleared your eyes and saw a bottle of cold drink with snacks. You sat up and took notice of a post-it note on the drink.

“Don’t stress yourself too much!  You’re already great and talented!” It was just a simple note yet it made you smile really wide.

--

The snacks and notes kept on coming. When you took a break outside the building, you came back with the same snacks on top of your bag. Even if you just went to the restrooms, there’re simple notes you can find on the place or seat you left. You told your co-trainees about it but they shook their heads saying it wasn’t them, and teased you for having someone as a secret admirer.

One time, as you were practicing with Rocky, you can’t focus as you kept on thinking about the snacks and notes you always see. Is it the same person who covered me with a green sweater before? Who is he? Or she?  Why does that person do it? Did I do---

“Y/N. Y/N!” you felt someone shook you by the shoulders and found Rocky looking at you with a concerned face. “Are you okay? You seem pale and out of focus.”

“Ah, sorry, sunb—I mean R-Rocky.” Even if you are already friends and took a lot of practices together, you still can’t familiarize yourself with calling your sunbae with just his name, which Rocky insisted.

“Are you tired? We can stop for a while.” He went to the music player and stopped the music. You sat and leaned your back on the mirror. Rocky took the space and sat beside you.

Silence filled the two of you for a while as you decided to speak up. “I’ve been thinking about the notes and snacks I’ve been getting.” You looked at him and he gave you a curious look. “Snacks? Notes? What do you mean?”

“There’s someone who’s been leaving small notes together with snacks. It’s weird that I didn’t find those creepy but I’m curious and worried. I don’t know, but it made me feel better whenever I find those.” you trailed off as Rocky silently listened to you. You looked at him waiting for his response.

“Maybe that person truly cares about you. He went to that extent just to make you know or feel that he really cares, even if he knows it’s dangerous and against the rules, right?” You hummed at his answer. “ I see… but wait, why against the rules? And do you know the person? You seem to really know him.”

Rocky went silent for a while and stood up, reaching his hand to yours. You looked at him confusedly but reached his hands anyway. Before he starts the music, “

--

Weeks passed and your dance project with Astro members’ evaluation day will be held today. You’re in the waiting room together with your co-trainees and their partners. You looked at them and they seemed calm and can even laugh, while you can’t move on your own seat. You are calm when it’s your evaluations but now you weren’t.

“Hey, Y/N! Breathe!” Rocky tapped your shoulder and took his seat beside you. You let out a rather hard sigh, not realizing you were holding your breath. “I’m just nervous. What if I make a mistake? What if I just slipped, or lose my balance? What if I—“

“Hey.” Rocky held your hands and looked at you straight in the eye. “You got me. We’re partners here, right? We’ll work this performance together, after all those non-stop practices we had, you’ll stop here?”

“I’m just worried I’ll mess this up with you. I mean, you’re far greater than me and I don’t want to humiliate you or anything.” You sighed but he just squeezed your hands tighter. “We’ll not mess this up. C’mon, cheer up!”

He’s still staring right at you and you felt your heart thump. You slightly smiled at him as you nodded. “Mm, thank you.”

“Don’t stress yourself too much! You’re great and talented, okay? Remember when you covered my dance cover?” You slightly hit him as he waved goodbye to you as their leader called for them. You shook your head as you relaxed a bit.

You and Rocky will perform last so you went to the restrooms for a bit. As you get something from the pocket of your pants, a note fell on the ground. It was the first note you got that you keep with you anywhere. Upon reading it, you heard Rocky’s voice from earlier saying the exact same lines.

“But… I didn’t told him about…” Your heart started thumping nervously, not because of the evaluation, but because of the thought you made with the note.

You walked right back to the waiting room and you can’t believe what you just caught. It was Rocky, sticking a note in the usual drink you always get with the notes.

Part 3 will be found here! I cut it since it’s too long TT

[rodan-flyingmonster-blog]

Characters Want: Even in Kaiju Eiga

When I was teaching intro fiction during my MFA, one of the things I’d tell students was that envisioning a story was as simple as determining specifics for the following: someone wants something in a time and place.

From there, the author’s imagination can run wild. Who is the person? What are they after? Is it immediate or long-term? Concrete or emotional? Do they live in Russia during the collapse of the Soviet Union, or in your apartment building two doors down in 2016? You know they’re going to go after what they want, or at least fail to do so in some interesting, deeply imagined way, and so they find themselves at the center of their own story. We’ll get to open the window on an emotionally charged moment in their lives, and close it when the moment is done.

When people think of kaiju movies, they do not envision characters this way. Perhaps it’s because they play a visual second fiddle to their 80-meter (fify, if you’re a purist) co-stars. Perhaps it’s because for many of the genre’s high points, they’ve been pleasantly rendered archetypes. That’s okay. What I’m about to lay out is that the characters should still want. More specifically, and something understood by prominent Golden Age Godzilla screenwriters Takeshi Kimura and Shinichi Sekizawa, and more recently Hideaki Anno, their wants should dovetail with the monster action onscreen. That is, their desires and personalities should give them a reason to be involved with Godzilla and all of his monstrous cohorts. Never should it feel as if they’re simply there, trapped in the wrong place at the wrong time.*

I feel like every time I wind up discussing Godzilla 2014 on Toho Kingdom, I get closer and closer to creating a full-on Plinkett-style review of why despite all the right visual and design choices, it winds up being an emotionally hollow experience. Basically, it comes down to realizing that the reason Godzilla movies register isn’t simply because they feature a giant, fire-breathing invincible saurian, but because the people affected by his presence afford for interesting stories and commentary. It’s about realizing that, in fact, all the surface-level elements can be right, even beautifully executed, as is the case in that film, and the movie can still ring hollow because the characters it involves are simply ciphers who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I thought surely this was an issue shared by any number of the less stellar Japanese entries--characters whose involvement feels incidental, and therefore has trouble saying anything emotionally or intellectually--but let’s actually do a quick breakdown. In how many movies do the characters have a personal reason to be involved in the action, and in how many are they simply around because they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time?

A full breakdown of all the motivations among focal characters in Godzilla movies:

Godzilla (1954): A love triangle places three young people at the center of a decision that will shake Japan and the Earth when Godzilla arrives. Meanwhile, Professor Yamane’s justified interest in Godzilla as both a zoological find and a goldmine of research in combatting radiation poisoning puts him at odds with both his family and the government.

Godzilla Raids Again: We get a relative sense of what side-character Kobayashi wants, which gets some pathos out of a decision he makes in the climax, but by and large this is a story of characters in the wrong place at the wrong time. Does anyone love this movie?

King Kong vs. Godzilla: Mr. Tako’s desire for a kaiju-sized spectacle puts him and his hapless employees at the center of a brawl between Godzilla and Kong. An inventor and his loved ones get thrown into the mix due to the usefulness of his invention and proximity to the above-mentioned characters.

Mothra vs. Godzilla: In the second-best movie in the franchise (no arguments), our first among many teams of spunky reporters and scientists’ humanitarian interests put them at odds with both the slimy fat-cats laying claim to Mothra’s egg and the transgressions of human governments as they appeal to Infant Island’s better side. (Of note: The movie rightfully gets flack for their presence in the climax, in which they’re tasked with saving a bunch of kids after the monster action kicks off because they’re simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Their real roles end about twenty minutes before the movie does.)

Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster: A reporter-policeman sibling pair get roped into some kaiju action due to their mutual interest in a princess convinced she’s a Venusian. King Ghidorah arrives for a guest appearance in Roman Holiday With Giant Monsters.

Invasion of Astro-Monster/Monster Zero: Nick Adams plays an astronaut who wants to put it in an evil space lady. His partner is a no-nonsense older brother who doesn’t approve of his younger sister’s marriage to a hapless inventor whose rape alarm might be the only device possible of stopping an alien plot to use giant monsters against the governments of Earth. You almost forget Godzilla and Rodan show up.

Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster: A group of twenty-somethings get shanghaied by their friend when he tries to steal a boat to search for his brother. It turns out the boat was already stolen by the bank robber on board. While searching for said brother and overcoming personal shortcomings, they run afoul of a band of terrorists and have to set Godzilla loose on them. A native islander interested in saving her people also gets involved.

Son of Godzilla: A team of scientists, a never-take-no-for-an-answer reporter, and an island woman they encounter have to overcome differences to protect each other and their important weather experiments when both they and the Godzilla family come up against Kumonga and other giant insects. They all have personal and ideological reasons to be on, and stay on, the island through the end.

Destroy All Monsters: A team of super-science heroes wind up combatting an alien plot to turn Earth’s monsters against it because they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. None of them have any personality.

All Monsters Attack: A latchkey kid dreams about befriending Minilla in a universe in which Godzilla and co. are fictional, maybe?

Godzilla vs. Hedorah: A young boy maintains unshakeable belief in Godzilla as a fantastic hero who can combat a fantastic representation of the rampant pollution of industrializing Japan. His father is a scientist who’s maybe a bit too interested in studying and finding a solution to Hedorah. His uncle and the uncle’s girlfriend are hippies who host an end-of-the-world party at Mt. Fuji, because that’s the kind of people they are.

Godzilla vs. Gigan: A struggling mangaka winds up at the center of the plot of alien cockroaches because his girlfriend is insistent he find work (so good). The rest of the crew are spunky civilians who task themselves with investigating the situation for various personal reasons. Godzilla and Anguirus show up because something funny’s going on; better check it out.

Godzilla vs. Megalon: Okay, so two dudes own a robot that gets stolen and is a central point of the film’s plot (“plot”?), but by and large this is a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe Jet Jaguar’s the real main character.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974): A group of spunky reporters and scientists’ investigations into various mysteries on puts them close to both a villainous plot and some light commentary on the plight of the Okinawan people.

Terror of Mechagodzilla: An Interpol agent’s investigation and infatuation with the daughter of someone he’s assigned to investigate plays a key role in stopping a crisis, as do the personal decisions of the daughter.

Return of Godzilla: A reporter and survivor of a Godzilla attack wind up deciding to become part of government action against a newly awoken Godzilla. To be honest, this is kind of a borderline case, as their involvement is pretty incidental, stemming from an early encounter with Godzilla, and they’re really pretty lightly defined outside of that, though everyone still has a personal reason to not just go home.

Godzilla vs. Biollante: Our main characters include a scientist who wants to use a combination of Godzilla DNA and rose cells to bring his dead daughter back to life. A younger scientist comes to grips with the ethics of genetic research, and an aging military character decides to pin his pride on stopping Godzilla as a younger generation seems poised to rise to the top. We get introduced to Miki Saegusa, a psychic without much to do here, but who will eventually become one of the earliest figures sympathetic to this continuity’s Godzilla.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah: I’m sure I’ll write an essay-length post on this at some point, but a cast of characters with various personal and philosophical stakes in Godzilla come together for a sweeping series of complicated statements about Japan’s meteoric economic rise.

Godzilla vs. Mothra: A family drama about divorced parents takes center stage in a universe in which their only chance to make amends with one another involves interaction with Mothra and her twin fairies.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1993): A robotic engineer’s desire to prove himself within special anti-Godzilla projects and a scientist’s personal connection to a newly hatched Godzilla keep them at the center of the action. Saegusa becomes a full-on champion for Godzilla in this movie.

Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla: In this movie, which is 105 hours long, a rogue ex-military character seeks revenge against Godzilla for his friend’s death, and most of the action revolves around him and his choices.

Godzilla vs. Destroyah: Focal characters include the niece and nephew of Emiko Yamane from the original film, who become involved in the Godzilla plot due to reporting and producing an independent study on the monster, respectively. All characters disappear into command centers halfway through the movie, which is too bad, but the setup is all nicely motivated.

Godzilla (1998): Everyone is a horrible cartoon, but between our venerable stable of Reporters and Scientists with interpersonal drama, as well as some French secret agents, everyone has a reason to stick around in New York.

Godzilla 2000: A father-daughter team run an independent Godzilla prediction network because it’s their hobby and belief it’s the best way to handle the monster. The antagonist is a hawkish head of a government crisis organization and former colleague of the main character until their differing opinions on Godzilla put them at odds. A reporter’s desire for more Godzilla coverage keeps her close to the GPN. Everyone is there because they want to be.

Godzilla vs. Megaguirus: Military revenge plot + slacker scientist driven to prove himself keeps everyone around for personal reasons.

GMK: A reporter for a bad cable cryptozoological show’s desire for higher quality content finds her pursuing myths surrounding a newly resurrected Godzilla. Her father is a patriotic military officer who considers it his duty to go up against the supernatural threat.

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla: A military character responsible for the deaths of her colleagues during a confrontation against Godzilla finds restored purpose in the opportunity pilot the latest superweapon against him. Mechagodzilla itself is designed a lonely single father, whose daughter finds reason in the the project and proximity to the main character to come to grips with the death of her mother. It’s all much sillier than it sounds, but oh well.

Tokyo S.O.S.: A guy … likes machines? And gets to pilot Mechagodzilla and come to terms with its spiritual desires? He convinces the government to listen to Mothra because his uncle happens to be the main character from her original movie? This is pretty messy; the characters sort of have a reason to be there, but their involvement with the plot doesn’t seem to speak to any personal arcs or bigger ideas. Their roles feel pretty coincidental as a result.

Final Wars: A team of super-science heroes wind up combatting an alien plot to turn Earth’s monsters against it because monster-hunting is their full-time job. None of them have any personality.

Godzilla (2014): Joe Brody gets closer and closer to a clandestine giant-monster-tracking organization because of his desire to reveal a cover-up surrounding his wife’s death. Dr. Serizawa has dedicated his life to said organization because he believes its research can help stop atrocities like his father witnessed at Hiroshima. Instead of following those characters, we follow Ford Brody, who has no personal connection to goings on and whose sole motivation is an Odyssean desire to get home despite constantly being waylaid by giant-monster-related combat and destruction. A character who is continuously in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Shin Godzilla: A team of politicians find themselves at the center of plans to stop Godzilla due to various personal motivations: careerism, a sense of outsiderness, patriotism, pragmatism and personal confidence, etc. There are side characters who aren’t committed to their jobs and simply find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, but that’s because it’s realistic and offers contrast to the characters we do follow, for whom the experience is a watershed moment.

That’s around six or seven movies in the series wherein the focal characters don’t have very clear reasons to want to be involved in the plot, and instead simply have to react to Godzilla’s presence in a way that doesn’t speak to personal motivations or ideas. Some of those are quickie camp sequels; two are spectacle-heavy team action movies that don’t pretend to be character pieces. Godzilla 2014 is unique in presenting itself as a character-centric film, one with plenty of time and budget put into it, but that follows someone who would be a side character in any other Godzilla film.

Even in spectacle-heavy movies, we don’t want these types of characters to be our focal point into the world. We sense the hand of the author selecting them. These aren’t their personal stories. They’re the stories of someone who wants an audience to see Godzilla, and could only half-imagine a person-shaped vehicle for facilitating it. Even a kaiju eiga should feel richly imagined. We want to believe its characters, however lightly drawn, can exist off-screen, and that the reason they’re there stems from their own wants and needs.

*I’ll say that it’s not that someone trapped by circumstances couldn’t provide an interesting focal character. But in absence of a reason to stay involved, we need to understand how personal arcs are going to be informed by their proximity to the action. It is important we understand, again, why this is a relevant moment to open and shut a window into their life, rather than just “that time I survived Godzilla, and let me tell you, there were some pretty close calls!”