#watching mute 2018

[coconut530]

Sulk in the sea of your sadness, starlight

textless/bg under cut

[ethan-bears]

Man I'm going to the women's team USA vs. team Canada tomorrow and I should be excited but I'm just sad I can't go with my mom

[azzibuckets]

For the Love of the Game [Pazzi | Part 10/10]

paige bueckers x azzi fudd

summary: the end 🙏

a/n: decided to combine the last two chapters into one! don’t mind the abrupt ending

word count: 2.1k

masterlist w/ all parts

“You and Paige played together on the U16 and U17 USA Basketball teams, where you guys won a championship at the 2018 FIBA World Cup. Has there been a noticeable difference in your on-court chemistry from USA Baskerball to UConn after the development of your more personal relationship?”

Azzi stared at Leo blankly. “With Paige’s ACL, we haven’t gotten many opportunities to play together yet, so I wouldn’t know.”

Leo raised her eyebrows expectantly. When Azzi crossed her arms and looked away, refusing to speak anymore, she sighed in frustration and clicked her pen. “Okay…” she drawled out. Her eyes scanned her notes for the next question. “Paige was the first freshman to win the AP and Naismith Player of the Year. Although she’s still an underclassman, it would be fair to say she has a lot of valuable experience and natural leadership. What have you personally learned from Paige?”

“That she’s a fuck ass bitch,” Azzi whispered under her breath.

Leo leaned forward. “What was that?”

“Nothing.” Azzi smiled charmingly at the blinking red dot on the camera. “Paige definitely makes her presence known on the court.“ She paused, gathering her thoughts. Leo sent her an encouraging smile, her pen finally scribbling for the first time in the entire interview.

Azzi thought back to the way Paige had used to speak to her, both in their time playing together at USA Basketball and in the months leading up to their agreement. “It’s the fact that you can’t shoot a mid ranger without getting the ball turned over. These are basic foundations of basketball, Fudd. You’re playing college ball now. It’s time to grow up.” Paige had spat, months earlier. Azzi pursed her lips, her anger further fueled from the words they’d thrown at each other in the hospital bathroom the week before. “If she sees a weakness or a flaw in your play, she won’t hesitate to point it out. She likes having her way with things.” Leo’s smile slowly faded. “She has a whole system set up at UConn, and if you dare challenge it, she’ll make you regret it.” By the end of her rant, Azzi was rigid in her seat, the tips of her ears on fire as she riled herself up.

Leo’s pen slowly started moving. She aggressively slammed down her pen and paused the camera. “We can’t use that!”

Azzi looked innocently at her. “Why not?”

“No one is gonna watch this film and think you guys are dating with the way you’re speaking about her,” Leo scowled.

Azzi rolled her eyes. “I doubt Paige said anything positive about me either. Why can’t you just bin the interviews and work with the segments you already have?”

“No, she didn’t,” Leo answered roughly. “Paige gave great answers. You’re the one that’s hard to work with.”

Azzi’s leg stopped jittering. “What do you mean great answers?”

Leo clicked away on her laptop before swiveling it around to face the dark haired girl. “Watch,” she demanded, pressing play.

The video was dark and muted at first, until someone adjusted the camera and it showed Paige, sitting in one of those director’s cameras. A mic was attached to the collar of her jersey, and her hair was pinned up in her signature two braids and ponytail. Azzi’s heart ached. This was her first time seeing Paige since their incident in the bathroom, and she looked good. Better than good. She’d obviously recovered well from her surgery; her skin was glowing and the bags under her eyes were lighter than normal. Her deep blue eyes were sparkling, and she looked in a good mood.

Leo’s voice filtered in from off camera. “What do you like about Azzi?”

Paige smiled uneasily. “Basketball wise or uh,” she shifted in her seat, “girlfriend wise?”

“Both.”

“Well, in terms of basketball, I don’t really have to speak for her,” Paige laughed all nervous, and Azzi could feel her blood pumping faster through her veins. “I mean, everyone knows how good she is. She has a killer pull-up and unlimited range. Her jump shot is perfect, and she’s lethal with her catch and shoot threes.”

At that moment, Leo cut in. “Many people have been saying that with you out, UConn suffers a major drawback. Are you worried about the position of your team without your guidance on the court?”

Paige’s expression changed. “I hear that, and I understand that, but honestly, I’m not as worried as people think I am. Each player on the team is a valuable asset. If we’re talking about Azzi, she’s been putting in extra work to expand her offensive role ever since my injury. I’ve been watching her at practice, and let’s just say, I think that other teams should be even more scared of UConn this upcoming season.”

Azzi felt like someone had just dumped an entire bucket of ice water on her head. What was Paige saying? She’d expected Paige to be condescending, that of course the team was going to suffer badly without her, to laugh at the idea that Azzi would be able to compensate for her loss. But here Paige was, talking about Azzi like she’d hung the damn moon.

Leo’s voice on the video brought her back to attention. “Now, what about personally? You and Azzi have been recently named the ‘it couple’ of women’s baseball, even despite your…” Leo hesitated as she searched for the right word, “tumultuous history. We’d love to learn about what you appreciate about who fans have dubbed as the people’s princess.”

Paige smiled tightly. Azzi noticed her tapping her finger against the side of her leg, a nervous tic that not many people knew she had. “Azzi is a really good person.”

“Can you expand on that?”

Paige’s eyes focused on her lap. “She’s very selfless. Especially in the beginning, I struggled a lot mentally with my injury. Basketball means the world to me, and not being able to play it is devastating. But Azzi, you know, she’s torn her ACL before. She was there for me in the whole process, driving me to rehab sessions and making sure I always ate and doing stupid things with me to get my mind off my knee.” A faint smile flickered on the blonde’s lips as she thought to herself. “I probably wouldn’t have survived it without her.”

Azzi swallowed, trying to dissipate the knot forming in her throat. She’d been so furious at Paige just moments before - for minimizing her struggle to find her sexual identity, for trying to make their situation and her feelings so black and white when everything was a muddled grey for her. And now, Azzi was positively vibrating, like she was a little schoolgirl whose crush had just complimented her.

“You see?” Leo shut her laptop, giving Azzi a pointed look. “This is what we’re aiming for.”

Azzi rubbed her palms together, thinking. Paige had callen her confusing, but right now, Paige was the confusing one. She’d essentially told Azzi to go away and never speak to her again, and then pulled shit like this. How could Azzi stay away from her when Paige was putting her name on a banner and waving it for everyone to see?

———————

Paige studied the notepad of plays in front of her. When the circles and xs and lines started blurring together on the paper from her staring at it so hard, she exhaled, letting her eyes shut for a moment.

“Hey,” Geno said gently from besides her. “Stop stressing. The girls got it.”

Paige nodded, looking up to watch her team as they warmed up for the season opener. Every bone in her body itched to be out there, stretching and warming up her shots with her girls. But she couldn’t, and right now she had to trust her team. Besides, she had an important job out here too. She’d helped draw up half of these plays, going over the strategy and who to place where in order to maximize each player’s individual talents and get as many points as possible.

Her eyes fell on Azzi. She looked nervous for her first official debut of her college career, and Paige wanted to mentally send her a message - to tell her to keep her chin up, to play as hard as possible and show everyone why she was the #1 high school recruit of her class. But Paige knew that talking to Azzi now for the first time in a month would probably heighten the girl’s nerves even more, so she kept her mouth shut, forcing herself to look away.

At half time of the game, Azzi had already scored 10 points, but Paige could tell that she was off. The crowds in the stands were large and loud, even for a season opener, and she could tell it was getting to the younger girl’s head by the way she kept missing shots she normally would’ve aced.

Someone tapped Paige’s shoulder from behind her. She turned around and saw a few guys sitting together who looked like they attended UConn. “Hey,” one of them nodded. “You miss being part of the action?”

Paige liked talking to fans, but right now she wanted to focus on the game, so she only gave a quick nod in response before turning around.

Soon, another tap came. Trying not to roll her eyes, she turned around again. “Yes?”

“It looks like your team needs you,” one of the guys chuckled, his eyes fixed on the court. Paige followed his gaze to the girls playing, and right on cue, Azzi sailed another shot. Paige’s heart lurched as the younger girl bit her lip and sprinted back to defense, a hollow look in her eyes.

“You carry the team, bro. Number 35 just missed again. You might need to give her some pointers.” The guy grinned at her, as if what he’d said was a compliment. Then, as if he couldn’t get any more audacity, he whipped out a Sharpie and dropped it on her lap. “By the way, can you sign my jersey?”

Paige stared in disbelief at the Sharpie before she picked it up and threw it at his face. She felt a sadistic sense of satisfaction as the Sharpie hit the guy right in the eye and he howled, hands going to up to massage the area.

“I’m not signing any of your shit,” she growled. “Number 35 has a name, and Azzi Fudd would drop 20 on your sorry ass any day.” With that, she turned around, fury pulsing through her veins and enlivening her senses. She secretly applauded herself for having the self control not to punch the living daylights out of that guy right then and there.

Thankfully, Azzi seemed to get ahold of her nerves after Geno’s inspiring speech at half, going on to score 10 additional points while barely missing any more shots, an impressive performance for a freshman debut. The game ended with Aaliyah pulling through to hit the game-winning buzzer beater.

Deciding that was cause for celebration, the team decided to go to Tim’s for drinks together after. Paige went straight to the bar as soon as they arrived, ordering a Shirley Temple. When she turned around, she came face to face with the guys from the game earlier.

“Hey,” one of them smirked. “Go tell your lesbo girlfriend good job for me. She looked a little rusty tonight but if you give her my number I can help her with that.” Laughing, he threw a crumpled up piece of paper at Paige, hitting her in the chest, and that’s when everything went red.

Flinging her crutches to the side, Paige moved towards him with a ferocity she’d never felt, grabbing the collar of his shirt. “Listen here, motherfucker,” she hissed. “Clearly your mother didn’t teach you any manners so I guess it’s up to me.” She let go, and the guy stumbled back, fear in his eyes. Then she reared her first back and punched him.

The guy cried out in pain, blood gushing from his nose. Incensed, his friends turned on Paige. “Come on,” she becked her hands at them. “Give me all you’ve got.” The guy she’d hit with the Sharpie earlier lunged towards her, but before he could reach her, hands grabbed Paige’s hips and pulled her back.

“What the fuck are you doing?” A familiar voice growled into her ear, restraining Paige as her other teammates rushed to intervene.

“I was giving them what they deserved,” Paige said bitterly, turning away from the scene. She shook out her hand, her knuckles aching.

“In case you haven’t noticed, there’s three of them and one of you.” Azzi forcefully moved Paige’s hips so that they were facing each other now. “What the hell has gotten into you?”

“Azzi! Take Paige away before she does any more damage,” Nika demanded as one of the guys she was pushing away started spitting curses at Paige.

Azzi grabbed Paige’s crutches, marching her off to the bathroom. She slammed the door behind them, anger evident in the slanting of her eyebrows and flattening of her mouth. “Are you serious, Paige? Getting into fights at the bar? You could get a suspension for this!”

“It doesn’t matter.” Paige fixed her eyes on the peeling paint on the wall. “I can’t even play anyways.”

“You said you don’t need my help.” Azzi paced back and forth angrily. “But here you are, throwing yourself at the hands of three grown men.”

“I didn’t need your help. I had the situation under control,” Paige said coldly.

Azzi grabbed Paige’s shoulders, shaking them. “You’re in crutches, Paige. You can barely even move. I get that you’re frustrated with your injury but you can’t just ignore it!” Azzi slumped against the sink, her head in her hands. “Why’d you even start attacking them anyways? Nothing is worth putting yourself in danger like that.”

You’re worth it, Paige thought. But she stayed quiet, hoping Azzi’s anger would blow over.

“Are you serious? You’re not even gonna tell me what started this whole thing?” Azzi threw up her hands in exasperation. “Is this what you’re like now? Being all moody and mysterious and hitting people whenever you feel like it? I don’t even know you anymore.”

Paige clenched and unclenched her fist. The soreness was starting to get her. Azzi must’ve noticed, because she took her hand and examined it.

“It’s gonna bruise,” Azzi said, her voice now soft.

Paige shrugged.

Sighing, Azzi gently led Paige’s hand under the faucet. She gently washed away the blood on her knuckles. Paige flinched - not at the pain, but from the all too familiar feeling of Azzi’s fingers touching her.

Azzi managed to find some bandages after rummaging through the cabinets. She slowly wrapped the gauze around Paige’s knuckles, her touch sending electric sparks through Paige’s hand. Neither of them spoke as Azzi patched her up, the tension in the air thick.

Paige swallowed, the silence becoming overbearing. “They were saying things about you.”

Azzi’s eyes shot up, her hand stilling. “What?”

Paige ducked her head, avoiding her stare. “The guys. They were at the game and making stupid comments the entire time, and I mostly ignored them.” She huffed. “But then they came here, and when they said something else, I just lost it.”

Azzi’s jaw clenched. She finished wounding the bandage, but she didn’t let go of Paige’s hand, and Paige didn’t move either. “I don’t need you defending my honor,” Azzi said quietly. Her thumb brushed once against Paige’s knuckles. “People like those guys are always gonna talk. It’s better to just ignore them and not give them what they want.”

Paige grunted, clearly not heeding Azzi’s words.

Azzi’s lips parted. “I miss you.”

Paige grinded her teeth.

“And I know you miss me too.” Azzi put her finger under Paige’s chin, forcing her to make eye contact. “I watched your interview with Leo.”

Paige cursed. “I told her not to show you that.”

“I would’ve seen it eventually, once she published her film.” Azzi studied the blonde’s face, memorizing the features she’d missed so much. Her long eyelashes, the way they fluttered. The wrinkle in the corner of her eyebrow. The turn of her pretty pink lips.

“I know you’re angry that I couldn’t tell you what I wanted. I was still figuring myself out. And these past few weeks, I’ve been working at it. Trying to come to terms with my sexuality.” Azzi took a deep breath, stepping closer. Paige’s hands instinctively went down, brushing the younger girl’s waist as the distance between them grew closer.

“I think I’m bi,” Azzi breathed out. “And if you can’t respect that, then I don’t think we can be together. But I don’t think my sexuality was the issue. I think that you were hurting, and you were impatient, and you wanted an immediate answer, and when I couldn’t give that to you, you ran away.”

Paige’s eyebrows furrowed.

“We’re killing each other, P,” Azzi whispered. “It’s torture not being able to see you and kiss you every day. And you’re obviously not coping with it any better than I am.” She brought her hands to cup Paige’s face, pressing their foreheads together. Paige relaxed, leaning into her touch.

“I need you, Paige,” Azzi begged. “I need us.”

Paige’s heart erupted, and she closed the gap between them, bringing her lips to Azzi’s and pulling her in for a bruising kiss. Azzi gasped, but recovered quickly, tangling her hands into Paige’s hair.

“‘M sorry,” Paige breathed as soon as they broke apart. “I was so awful. I should’ve never made you feel stupid for trying to figure out your sexuality.” She bit her lip, anguish in her eyes. “It’s just always been so easy for me. I’ve always known I liked girls. I was being hot-headed and I didn’t consider how you were feeling.”

Azzi laughed. “Yeah, that was pretty shitty of you. But I did some selfish shit too.” She nudged her nose with Paige’s. “And I think it’d be fair to call us even.”

Paige trailed her hands up Azzi’s sides. “What I told you at my surgery was complete bullshit. You’re always on my mind, driving me fuckin’ insane. I’ve missed you so much.”

“I know. Getting into fights and everything. A little part of me is flattered,” Azzi joked. Paige groaned in embarrassment, hiding her face in the crease of Azzi’s neck. Azzi brought her hands up to rub her back in calming circles. “Everything’s over. We went on the Europe trip, where you ignored me the whole time,” she laughed at that. “And Leo’s done with her film. She’s set to submit it tomorrow.”

Paige nodded, drawing back to look Azzi in the eye. “No more of this fake dating shit. I want you to be my girl for real.” She tenderly caressed Azzi’s cheek, not believing how someone as beautiful and kind as Azzi could want someone like her. “I meant everything I said in the interview, ya know? About how talented you are at basketball and how selfless you are in real life.”

“I know,” Azzi whispered, “I know.”

“I’m gonna take you on a date,” Paige rambled. “A good fucking date. The best date you’ve ever had. Gonna make you forget about all the other girls you’ve ever been with.”

“That sounds great, baby,” Azzi giggled softly, her hand playing with the wisps of hair at the base of Pige’s neck.

“Gonna make you fall in love with me,” Paige mumbled, her head dropping on Azzi’s shoulder. Azzi smiled. You already have, she thought silently.

[f10werfae]

The Summer I Met You

pairing: Chris Evans x Shy!Reader

Summary:Chris meets Shy Reader. The reader is traveling with girlfriends and is mostly ignored and turned on. Such as eating less or talking more. Chris can't look at it more and goes there and says that the reader is beautiful (Req by Anon)

Requests are open/ Likes, Comments and Re-blogs are appreciated♥️

Chris Evans Masterlist Full Masterlist Taglist Form

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

It was the summer of 2018, a time where Y/n found herself on holiday with some of her friends from high school, granted they weren’t as close before but Y/n couldn’t find it in her heart to say no. Thing is though, a group of guys were coming with them. Stephanie's older brother and his friends, which only made Y/n's social battery already start to sputter.

Arriving at their beach resort on Hawaii, the group of girls and guys got all their luggage, hotel room keys and headed to get settled in. Y/n carried in her small suitcase for the 7 day vacation, the smell of the salt water nearby already heightening her sense in a good way, she always loved being close to nature.

“Ya need any help?” She heard a deep Bostonian accent ask, looking up to see one of the guys on the trip with them, Chris Evans.

Before Y/n could even reply Grace had already spoken for her, “Nah don’t bother with her Chris, she won’t speak to you, that girl’s basically mute”

‘Here it all starts’ Y/n thought to herself, deciding to ignore them all and head on up to her room, if we was going to be on holiday then she was going to enjoy herself.

Her room was beautifully decorated, flower petals all over the place, courtesy of the hotel staff. Y/n has begun unpacking her phone buzzed,

Vacray GC 2022!!

Stephanie: Ok yall meet at 7pm for the dinner downstairs? Until then do what your heart desires :)

Everyone had replied with ‘okays’ so throwing her phone, Y/n got out the tiny notebook she brought with her, there she had written down all the things she wanted to do in Hawaii. Things the others didn’t want to do.

1. Snorkelling

With her bathing suit already on under her tshirt and shorts, all she had to do was gather her valuables and off Y/n went.

(Y/n’s P.O.V)

Closing my hotel room behind me, I bumped into one solid mass, only to hear it grunt right back at me.

“Y/n right?” Rubbing my forehead I looked up to see Chris from earlier, a charming smile on his face, a backwards cap pulling his hair back.

“U-uh yeah, you’re Chris?” I said avoiding eye contact, seemingly finding the floor more interesting than his intimidating dark blue eyes.

“Are you joinin us with the spa massages Stephanie booked?” He asked crossing his arms over his chest, see somehow only us two were put onto this floor, making it that more awkward knowing no one could interrupt this.

“Spa massages?”

“Yeah the one she sent us? She sent the invites separately”

I knew this was going to happen. I was only brought along to be the butt of their jokes, something I expected but was used to. I was not going to waste this vacation

“Uh no. No i’m not. I have my own list” I smiled holding up the tiny blue notepad in my hand, letting him read it when he reached up for it, his eyes concentrating on every single word.

“So you’re going snorkelling then first yeah?”

“Mhm I wanna see turtles” I smiled remembering the documentary I watched a while back about how they are endangered and how amazing it is to see them out in the wild where they belong.

“Can I join?” Chris asked cocking his head to the side, his thumbs now tucked into the front pockets of his swim shorts, a small smile on his face.

“I-I mean yeah of course, don’t you wanna go to the spa though?”

“I mean sure but i’d rather see some adventure, plus I dont want ya to be alone” He explains starting to walk down the hallway, causing me to run up a little to catch up to his massive steps.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

(Chris’ P.O.V)

Y/n and I got into the boat we were using for the snorkelling trip we were doing, my phone was switched off because of all the spammed texts I was receiving from the others. Straight from the get go I could already see they were trying to alienate Y/n, for no other reason than them thinking she was too shy to actually be fun.

“Look Chris! It’s a baby turtle!” Y/n shouted once she got into the water, pointing towards a spot where a tiny guy was floating towards the boat, even deciding to boop Y/n's finger with its head before swimming away rapidly.

“Alright alright m'comin sugar” I laughed getting into the water beside her, both our hands interlocked as we floated over the water, both our heads submerged looking at the wildlife underneath. I had even decided to buy an underwater camera at the lobby of the place, Y/n and I deciding it’d be a good idea to have ways to remember it.

Looking over at her under the water, her face was lit up by her gorgeous smile, her hair flowing freely in the water almost as if she was some siren.

(Time Skip)

“Omg that was amazing! I’m so glad we got to do that” She squealed jumping up and down once we got changed back into our clothes and showered off, both of us choosing to have a sneak peek around the gift shop.

When something small and blue caught my eye, a turtle stuffie on a keyring, perfect for her.

So while she was busy looking at some other things, I bought ut and stuffed it into my back pocket, waiting on her by the front door. The taxi waiting to bring us back to the hotel for dinner, I could tell both of us were sleepy from the activities with the way our eye lids lidded.

Y/n's shoulder had landed onto my head,

“Hey Y/n? Thanks for today, I had a lot of fun” I whispered pushing back some of her wet hair away from her face

“No problem, I had a ton of fun too! Maybe you can join me for mountain tubing tomorrow? I understand if the others-“

“I’d love to go mountain tubing with you, and between you and me, the others’ plans seem boring. All just therapeutic bullshit, which don’t get me wrong I totally get, but for the whole week? Really?” I scoffed feeling her giggle onto my bicep, my chest feeling that bit tighter, and my cheeks feeling that bit more redder.

“Also I-uh got you this earlier, reminded me of ya” I said fishing for the turtle keychain in my pocket, her fingers immediately reaching for it and squishing it like crazy. Without seeing her face, I could already tell that her eyes were probably wide and doe.

“T-thank you so much Chris, it’s so cute. I may just name it after you” She smiled looking up at me, then putting it straight onto the bag she carried around with her

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

(Y/n's P.O.V)

“Ah so there you guys are” I heard Chloe groan, the rest of the groups already sat down for dinner, stephanie at the head of the table looking grumpy.

“Didn’t we say 7 for dinner?” Grace grumbled throwing me a shady look, the other guys choosing to just remain silent and engage in their own conversations.

“Yeah sorry our boat took a bit to get back, there was just so much to see with the turtles-“ Chris explained before he was interrupted

“Y’all went snorkelling without us? Was it Y/n’s idea? God Y/n you’re so fucking rude, where was our invite?”

“W-well I thought you guys had massages, so I went to do my own thing and Chris wanted to come along” I explained, feeling my cheeks heat up at all of their glares, my fingers starting to fidget under the table when I felt Chris' hand grip onto mine under the table

“Uh she wasn’t rude, I know you guys purposefully didn’t send her an invite today. Frankly I’d prefer to spend my vacation with her than a bunch of assholes. Oh and Grace? She isn’t fucking mute, maybe if you took the time to talk to her like a person you’d understand that she does have a mind of her own and can speak for herself”

By the end I could see a vein throbbing at the base of Chris' neck, his face flushed because of his rant, the girls’ face red with embarrassment for being told off.

“Come on Y/n, I read up about a good restaurant a few minutes away”

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

(Chris’ P.O.V)

“Thank you so much for treating me to dinner, standing up for me and just being there” Y/n said as we walked towards our respective hotel rooms, our pinkies linked, which somehow happened on our way home. I definitely wasn’t against it.

“It’s no problem, honestly. Thank you for making my first day here absolutely amazing, and I know I might sound stupid straight off the bat, but I think I like you? Of course I know you said during dinner you prefer to take things slow so-“

I could barely even finish my statement when U felt her lips kiss my cheek, a small squeak leaving her as she rushed to close her bedroom door and rush inside; not even letting me process what the fuck just happened.

“You dropped Chris out here by the way” I laughed seeing the poor tiny turtle stuffie had been cut off the rashness of the door. I heard her door unlock slowly before her hand slowly reached out with the palm open, a cute gesture.

“Alright here’s Chris, and my spare room key. I-I saw that it’s due to thunder tonight and I remember you saying earlier you were scared of storms so..”

Closing her hand around both items her hand retreated into her room again, a few seconds I just stood there standing for some reason, when I saw her hand hold out something to me. Her notebook.

“I-incase you wanna add anything else you wanna do, l-like for future trips I dunno” She whispered now shutting the door for definite, a bashful smile on my face as my heart started to race a tiny bit.

“See ya tomorrow bright n' early for mountain tubing then!” I shouted to her door before walking off to my room. Lowkey awaiting her presence at some point during the night, hopefully.

———

Taglist Tags (Form is up there^^): @cevansgurl @imboredat2am @adoreyouusugar @fdl305 @stormcloudss @patzammit @pandaxnienke @thereisa8ella @chrisevansangel @evanstanwhore @seren-a-ity @chrisevansdaughter @bxdbxtxh15 @madebylilly @vrittivsanghavi @uwiuwi @jackslover12 @marvelgurl @caps-shield1918 @xoxokiaraaxoxo @mirikusashes @taramaria @mysticfalls01 @royalwriteroftheuniverse @inlovewiththefictionalcharacters @sairsei @dumb-fawkin-bitch @kimhtoo17 @itsaylayay1213 @mrspeacem1nusone

[dreamauri]

♪ — 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗦 - part seven charles leclerc  x  fem! driver! reader (angst) “… forgetting is troublesome especially when you used to be enemies.”

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It was certainly a miserable feeling. Waking up alone when you have become so used to the man you shared a bed with everywhere you went. Muffled sobs echoed in the room no matter how much you tried to cover your mouth or quiet down. You didn't want to wake up.

You'd been jolted out of your sleep, skin drenched in cold sweat. You couldn't get the image out of your head nor get your sobs to silence as you quietly walked through the room to the washroom where the locked door would cut out any noise to protect the sleep of the Monégasque on the queen sized bed.

"is he going to be okay? i—is he going to be okay? . . . please talk to me. please tell me he's going to be okay." you sobbed in your hands as you waited in the pitlane, the rain pattering on your helmet as you sobbed in your palm.

you wouldn't have been alone had Jules been here to comfort you. The vivid memory of watching him crash out at only your third ever grand prix was horrifying. Especially after starting your short lived friendship.

But that wasn't all.

"are you okay? y/n? y/n, are you there? can you hear me? it was all to hazy. was the sky grass? or were you upside down? everything was blurry and muffled, your body was numb, and your throat was sore. "y/n, you copy?" "i'm— i'm just going to take a little nap." your hushed voice promised over the radio as you pulled your glove off to reach up, or apparently down, to touch the grass.

After being demoted mid season in 2016, to make space for Max verstappen at red bull, you were scrambled to say the least. Sauber was not the best to you in 2017. Neither was Ferrari in 2018. The post redbull struggle was real.

Even more than ever after your crash at the Mexico gp during fp1. You were sent to the hospital with a brain injury, a few fractured ribs and fractured ankle. You remember how everyone was sure you were done for. You couldn't stand on your own, more or less even hold a glass of water without violently shaking.

What ticked you off the most was you remember seeing Charles' Sauber in your side mirrors before colliding with the wall.

You traced the surgery scar on your ankle as you sat on the floor, biting on a towel to mute the cries. Your attempts to stay quiet were all in vain. Charles was up from the moment he heard you shuffling in your sleep on the couch. He'd followed you to the bathroom after you shut the door.

He wanted to comfort you. To hold you again. "I wish everything could just go back to the way it was." His heart clenched hearing your words, leaning his head on the door tired. "Why can't you just come back. I don't want to be here. This is wrong."

"Every fucking time!" You slammed your hands on the steering wheel. "Fuck I hate this." "Alright Y/N, cool down."

"FUCK! FUCK!" With a rough tug and an angry scream, you slammed the steering wheel on the asphalt. "I HATE THIS, I HATE THIS, I HATE THIS. FUCK FUCK FUCK!" "It's a red flag—" "OH REALLY? REALLY?! I WOULD'VE NEVER GUESSED."

With a quick and angry tug you pulled your gloves off and climbed out the car. You kicked the tire that had not been drilled in well and had caused you to spin out on turn 9, copse corner.

Wrestling with your helmet, you pull it off, drop kicking it in anger. You wanted to throw glass, slam a vase, rip paper, break something, anything. Your blood was boiling and you were going to snap at any moment.

You didn't return to the garage. Heading straight for the motorhome, your dad joined you on the walk back. "Non hai notato la gomma? Avresti potuto dirglielo." [you didn't notice the tire? you could've told them] "stavo tornando alla fossa. non sarei riuscito a uscire da quell'angolo." [i was on my way back to pit. i wasn't going to make it out of that corner]

"vai a prendere le tue cose così possiamo andarcene." [just go get your things so we can leave] You complied with a huff, stomping out of your driver's room after stuffing all of your stuff in a bag. "Y/N." Looking up to see Charles. Of course you would. "Où vas-tu?" [where are you going]

"Leave us." Your father pulled you away from your bicep, dragging you along from your bicep. You looked back only to see Charles' disappointed face. You tried to turn around and reach out to him only to be tugged back.

The ride back was quiet. Your dad made you stay with him at his hotel till your flight. You sat at the window while he argued with someone in Spanish, probably your mother. A deep sigh escaped your lips as you hugged your legs, leaning your chin on your knees.

You were regretting this; calling in your father, letting him be in control. But he was your father, and it was your mistake calling him in. No matter how much you wanted to go back to Charles.

You were beginning to learn how much you loved him, how much you needed him. You wanted him to hold you and kiss you the way he does.

"It's you, Carl." Your hushed voice was weak and hoars. Charles who had been sitting on a chair against the wall had rushed to your side immediately. "Why are you crying? Your ruining your pretty eyes." Safe to say the anaesthetic was doing it's job. You gently ran the back of your finger on Charles ( or Carl as you thought he was ) 's cheek, wiping his tears. "How come you always find me?" You giggled weakly. Charles held your hand gently, leaning his forehead on your knuckles. "I know someone who has that same exact shirt. I had one as well." You pointed at his top, the Sauber logo with the sponsors filling in the empty space. "His name is Charles. He's really pretty. But a pain in my ass." "Pretty?" Charles chuckled weakly, wiping the fresh tears. "Yeah. He has beautiful eyes . . . kind of like your eyes. But I promise you have the prettier ones." "Do you . . . like Charles?" "No. I like you."

You closed your eyes with a short sigh. The memories were becoming more frequent. You could almost put puzzle pieces together, string out the story. But you weren't becoming any more . . . normal. You didn't even know what was normal at this point, but you wanted to be the 25 year-old woman everyone thought you were.

This . . . "you", she needed to leave. You were causing way too many problems. With your team, with your husband, with your family, yourself as well. It just wasn't right.

"Voglio prendermi il resto della stagione libera." [i want to take the rest of the season off] You called through the room. "continua a sognare." [keep dreaming]

★ ☆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Regret regret regret, you felt as you walked through the airport. You wanted to dump your dad. You were pretty sure you could easily find Max ( cause who doesn't paint their private jet team colours and put their lion logo on the jet's tail? )

But you couldn't just leave your dad like that. No matter how much he was unlikable or how much you wanted to go back to your husband, he was still your father. You respected him ( to a certain level ) and feared him. Maybe 25 year-old you could. Maybe you were just a coward.

Maybe? You are.

"I wanna go home, to Monaco." "non essere un bambino, that's not your home." [don't be a baby] You groaned. How much more can you take?

You tucked your hands under your armpits as the plane took off, bracing yourself with shaky breaths.

"We're gonna fall— we're gonna—" "Hey hey, we're okay." Charles held your hand, kissing your knuckles. "We're flying. We're going home." He assured you with his charming smile. He pulled your head to lay on his shoulder, kissing your temple. A laugh rocked through his chest as you gripped onto him for dear life. "Oh, amour." [love]

★ ☆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Its five in the morning, who's knock-" To say your younger brother in law, Arthur, was surprised and confused to see you at his door with a awkward smile was understandable, especially since your family and Charles had been looking for you around the planet for the past two hours.

"Sorry, I need a place to hide."

[mononijikayu]

the moon during the day — ryomen sukuna.

"You found a way." you whispered, your voice barely audible against the backdrop of chaos. “This was your doing, wasn’t it?”

He regarded you with a gaze that held centuries of unspoken words. "I promised, didn't I?" His voice, resonant and familiar, cut through the clamor around you. “One way or another. We are bound to each other.”

GENRE: Heian Era to Shibuya Arc, 2018;

WARNING/s: Alternate Universe ─ Canon Divergence, Romance, Emotional Hurt, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Heavy Angst, Heavy Pining, Domesticity, Friends to Lovers, Character Death, Grief, Miscarriage, Mention of Depression, Mention of Mourning, Depiction of Physical Touch, Depiction of Mental Anguish, Depiction of Violence, Depiction of Harm, Depiction of Blood and Wounds, Depiction of Miscarriage, Depiction of Death, Depiction of Harm, Pseudo-Incest, Adoptive Cousins, Portrayal of Misogynist And Degrading Acts and Language, Smut, Detailed Depiction of Sex, Depiction of Sexual Foreplay, Sexual Penetration, Consensual Sex;

masterlist

ashes of love

song: the moon during the day by ahn ye eun

ko-fi

note: i was supposed to write this a while ago, but i was busy writing my web novel on tapas!!! if you have the time, please come by and enjoy it!!! malefica arcana updates bi-weekly~ anyway, i want to thank you for all your love and support for ashes of love. i enjoyed writing it and i feel like i can scrap up extra stories in the future, but for now - i hope you enjoy the ride. i'll see you in the next update for us and them!!! <3

8:40 PM

THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A DAY OFF. But it cannot be helped. If there was a summon where they were needed by other sorcerers, then they must be there. It was a duty they must not shy away from. Mikoto Akihiko stood at the forefront of the Mikoto team, flanked by Mikoto Nobuhiko and Mikoto Aina. The sleeves of his kimono were already brushing against the wind. And yet, it was not as strong. It was odd. But he supposed that the curtains their foes had set up were too powerful. Expert, even. More expert than what the Mikoto would have done.

The bustling streets of Shibuya, now eerily quiet, were shrouded in an unsettling atmosphere. Dark clouds loomed overhead, casting long shadows across the empty storefronts and neon signs that flickered sporadically. Mikoto Akihiko couldn't shake the ominous feeling gnawing at his gut. He glanced around, his eyes scanning the deserted area for any signs of movement.

"Why Shibuya?" Akihiko muttered under his breath, his grip tightening on one of his sword hilts. "What do these curses want here?”

Mikoto Nobuhiko, standing beside him with a stern expression, broke the silence. "Is Genmei–neesama already in the area?"

Akihiko nodded. "She came with Gojo Satoru. I received a message. They’re trying to neutralize threats as much as possible.”

Mikoto Aina, her usually calm demeanor tinged with unease, tried to reassure the team. "We should be fine then. As long as Gojo Satoru is around, everything will be dealt with. Our Genmei will be fine. How could she not be? No one will be capable of fighting against both of them.”

Akihiko turned to Aina, his brow furrowing with concern. "Let's hope so, Aina–sama. But we need to stay vigilant. Just because Gojo—sama and Genmei—sama are here doesn't mean we can let our guard down."

Nobuhiko's phone buzzed, a sharp interruption to the tense silence that had settled between them. His eyes flicked to the screen, the glow casting a serious shadow across his features. The message held weight, its contents pulling his brows together in concern. He read it again, absorbing the implications with a growing sense of urgency.

The room around them seemed to hold its breath, the air thick with unspoken tension. His companion watched him intently, waiting for him to share the news, sensing the gravity of the message from the subtle shift in Nobuhiko's demeanor. The silence stretched, broken only by the faint hum of the city outside and the muted glow of the phone screen reflecting in his eyes.

Finally, Nobuhiko looked up, his expression a mix of determination and apprehension. "We need to go there." he said, his voice steady despite the underlying urgency. "Now."

Aina’s face scrunches. “What’s wrong?”

"The assistants have messaged me, Aina–sama." Nobuhiko announced, his voice steady despite the rising tension. "There are sightings of curses all around the routes leading to Shibuya, especially near the Meiji–Jingumae station."

Aina's brow furrowed deeper, worrying etching lines into her features. Her eyes darted between Akihiko and the dimly lit surroundings, where long shadows stretched ominously across the pavement. The urgency in Nobuhiko's message weighed heavily on her mind.

"Which ones should we prioritize?" she pressed, her voice laced with concern. "We can't be everywhere at once. And with other sorcerers..."

Akihiko paused, his gaze sweeping over their small team gathered under the flickering streetlights. Each member mirrored his own apprehension, their faces a blend of determination and uncertainty in the face of imminent danger. They must do well here — there cannot be any room for mistakes.

"We need to make a decision, and quickly too." Akihiko said, his mind racing. "If the curses are converging on Meiji–Jingumae station, it could mean they're trying to cut off reinforcements or trap civilians. But Shibuya is their main target; we can't afford to leave it undefended."

Nobuhiko nodded, his eyes narrowing in thought. "What if we split up? We can regroup once we have a better understanding of the curses' movements."

Aina hesitated, glancing between Akihiko and Nobuhiko. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Nobuhiko–kun, splitting up might make us more vulnerable."

"It's a risk, but we don't have many options, Aina–sama." Akihiko replied, his tone firm. "We need to cover as much ground as possible. There’s few of us sorcerers available already. We must maximize what we can. Nobuhiko, make sure you keep in constant contact. If anything feels off, we regroup immediately."

He bowed his head. “Of course, nii-sama.”

Akihiko's sharp gaze swept over the faces of his team, each expression a blend of apprehension and steely resolve. Their eyes, wide with the weight of the impending challenge, mirrored the tension that had settled over them like a heavy, suffocating fog. The dim street lights cast long, flickering shadows, adding to the eerie atmosphere that seemed to press down on them all.

The gravity of the situation was undeniable, a constant reminder of the stakes they faced. It was as if the air itself was charged with the energy of impending danger, making every heartbeat louder, every breath heavier. Despite the unease that gripped them, Akihiko knew he had to be the anchor, the unwavering force that would keep them grounded. He was a descendant of Ryomen Hiromi. He must be strong, as she once was.

"We have to make sure everyone is going to be fine," he said firmly. "No matter what, our priority is to protect and assist."

Nobuhiko stepped forward, his voice filled with concern. "Then I and Aina–sama will go together to the Fukutoshin line, Akihiko–niisama. It's better if we stick together. I may be able to protect Aina–sama, if she heals.”

Akihiko nodded his head, his expression resolute. He turns his head to Aina. "I agree. There might be more along the way that need medical help, Aina–sama. Your expertise would be invaluable."

“I suppose so.” She nodded her head. “There are very few healers. We cannot burden Shoko–dono as much with healing.”

Nobuhiko's face tightened with worry. "Will you be okay, nii–sama?”

A reassuring smile crossed Akihiko's lips as he moved his haori slightly, revealing the four-piece katana strapped to his side. "I'll be fine, Nobu. The ancestors will lead me well."

Nobuhiko hesitated, then sighed, knowing Akihiko was right. "Alright. But we have to rendezvous at Shibuya station, nii–sama. Promise me that."

Akihiko's eyes gleamed with determination. "I promise. I'll bet on that."

With a final nod, the team split up, Nobuhiko and Aina–sama heading towards Meiji–Jingumae station, while Akihiko turned towards the Fukutoshin line. He took a deep breath, steeling himself for the challenges ahead. He had to believe in Nobuhiko. He’s capable enough. He wasn’t made a first grade sorcerer for nothing. 

He had to be confident that their paths would cross again in the heart of Shibuya. Still, he could not help but feel his gut say otherwise. He hadn’t had this feeling in a very long time. The sense of unease lingered, but he pushed forward, determined to face whatever awaited him in the darkened streets of the Shibuya itself. 

‘It will all be fine.’ He thinks to himself as he runs as fast as he can. ‘I must trust that it will be fine. Gojo–sama and Genmei–sama are both here. They’re special grades. Everyone is doing their part too…’

He wanted to believe it, to hold on to the hope that whatever they have planned will overcome whatever comes their way. They had the favors of the gods at this moment. Gojo Satoru was the strongest among all the sorcerers that have ever come, past or present. And Genmei–sama, she’s powerful enough to deal with things. She is Hiromi’s successor. None could go against Hiromi in her lifetime. Who could ever try and surpass her too?

But the gnawing fear in his gut refused to be silenced. Something’s not right about all of this. He doesn’t know what. But it’s making him feel some kind of way. As he takes a deep breath, he keeps muttering prayers as he rushes through the empty streets. He could only pray that he was wrong — that everything will go smoothly. That they could save lives. That he would be enough.

As he sees his first target, he draws one katana.

His eyes hardened as his blade met the curse’s flesh.

He knew that this was going to be only the beginning.

9:20 PM

HE TAKES A DEEP BREATH. Mikoto Akihiko had been in the thick of it for what felt like an eternity. The weight of the station's gloomy ambiance seemed to amplify the urgency in his every movement. Gripping his katanas tightly, he drew them with a fluid grace that belied the tension in the air. Their blades, polished to a deadly sheen, caught the dim light in a chilling glint.

With a sharp exhale, Akihiko unleashed his cursed technique, Wind Swipe. The air around him seemed to thrum with unseen energy as he moved with lightning speed, slicing through the transfigured humans with relentless precision. His blades danced through the chaos, leaving arcs of crimson in their wake. 

Blood sprayed against the walls in macabre patterns, painting a grim tableau of violence and desperation. The metallic scent mingled with the acrid stench of fear and decay, filling the station with a haunting atmosphere. 

Akihiko's movements were a blur of calculated strikes and swift dodges, his senses attuned to every shift in the battlefield. The urgency of the situation pressed upon him, driving him to push beyond physical limits as his blades struggled to keep pace with the fury of his attacks.

Each swing of his katanas was a testament to his skill and determination, each cut a measured response to the relentless onslaught. Amidst the chaos, he remained a stoic figure, his focus unwavering despite the carnage unfolding around him.

He fought his way through one of the stations of the Fukutoshin line, every swing of his katana an act of desperation and resolve. As he cut down one enemy after another, he also focused on evacuating any civilians he encountered, urging them to safety with hurried, breathless commands.

But he knew there were more trapped by the curses. As he ascended the stairs, the screams grew louder, echoing through the tunnels, a chilling reminder of the terror unfolding above. His heart pounded in his chest, sweat dripping down his face, mingling with the grime and blood that clung to his skin.

Emerging into the chaos above, his suspicions were confirmed. Curses attacked non-sorcerers mercilessly, their grotesque forms reveling in the carnage. Akihiko gritted his teeth, the exhaustion weighing heavily on his limbs. He was tired, every muscle in his body screaming for respite, but he couldn't stop. Not now.

"I am the blood of Ryomen Hiromi." he whispered to himself, drawing strength from the legacy he bore. "I will not fail her. I will not fail here!”

With renewed determination burning in his eyes, Akihiko surged forward, his katanas becoming extensions of his will. The blades sliced through the air with a deadly grace, their movements swift and precise. Each strike carried the weight of his resolve, a silent oath to honor his ancestors and protect those who depended on him.

The station's dim light flickered overhead, casting long shadows that danced with his every movement. Sweat trickled down his brow, mingling with the adrenaline coursing through his veins. The echoes of battle reverberated off the walls, the clang of metal against flesh punctuating the air.

With each opponent he faced, Akihiko's movements were a ballet of death and defiance. His katanas flashed in intricate patterns, cutting down transfigured humans with calculated efficiency. His mind was a whirlwind of strategy and instinct, anticipating their every move with practiced precision.

Amidst the chaos and the screams, he remained a steadfast figure, unwavering in his commitment to the fight. Each foe he dispatched fueled his determination further, driving him onward through the relentless tide of  curses and adversaries.

Akihiko's movements melded into a frenzied dance of survival, a blur of steel and sweat that echoed the urgency of the moment. Each strike of his katanas carried the weight of his determination, each swing a desperate bid to carve a path through the writhing curses that surrounded him. The air crackled with tension as his Wind Swipe technique cleaved through their twisted forms with deadly precision, leaving behind a gruesome trail of dismembered limbs and dark, oozing blood.

Amidst the chaos, his senses honed in on a group of civilians cornered by a particularly monstrous curse. Its grotesque maw gaped wide, hungering for their flesh. Without hesitation, Akihiko's fierce cry pierced the air as he surged forward. His katanas gleamed in the dim light as he closed the distance in a heartbeat.

With a swift, fluid motion, he struck with all the force he could muster. The first katana sliced through the curse's thick hide, sending a spray of dark ichor into the air. In the same fluid motion, the second blade arced through the creature's neck with lethal precision. The curse's head toppled from its shoulders in a clean sweep, landing with a sickening thud.

The creature's massive body convulsed and twitched, its death throes rattling the ground beneath them. Akihiko didn't pause to watch; instead, he turned his attention to the civilians, ensuring they were unharmed and ushering them to safety amidst the carnage.

Adrenaline surged through him, sharpening his senses and driving him onward. The battle raged on around him, but in that fleeting moment, as he stood amidst fallen curses and the faint cries of survivors, Akihiko knew that every life he saved was a victory against the encroaching darkness. But he cannot stop now, just because he saved others. He rushed across the bloodied rubble.

"Go! Run to safety!" he shouted at the terrified civilians, who wasted no time in fleeing the scene. “Don’t waste time, run! I will shield you!”

Akihiko's chest heaved with each ragged gasp, the weight of exhaustion pressing down on him like a physical force. The relentless onslaught of curses threatened to overwhelm him, their twisted forms closing in from all sides. His katanas felt heavier with every swing, his muscles burning with the strain of relentless combat.

The station's dim lights flickered overhead once again, casting eerie shadows that danced with the chaos unfolding around him. The paperwork for this damage was going to be a headache. But he cannot think too much about it now. ‘Fight,’ he thinks. ‘Bills can wait!’

Blood and ichor splattered across his clothes, mingling with the sweat that soaked his brow. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, drowning out the cacophony of shrieks and clashes. In the corner of his eye, he could see people fleeing. One curse tried to encroach towards the running civilians, but he jumped in front of it, attacking it with a thrust.

Despite the mounting fatigue and the blurring edges of his vision, Akihiko refused to yield. He couldn't afford to, not with the lives of so many innocent civilians hanging in the balance. Each strike he made was fueled by sheer willpower, each parry a testament to his unwavering resolve. He has to continue on. He can pass out later. He can do all these defeatist things later.

A sudden burst of energy surged through him, a mix of adrenaline and sheer willpower. He thought of his ancestors, of Hiromi, whose blood ran through his veins. Their legacy was his to uphold, their strength his to draw upon. With a renewed roar, he cut through another wave of curses, his katanas moving with blinding speed.

In a brief moment of respite, Akihiko looked around, assessing the situation. The station was a battlefield, littered with the remains of curses and the fallen. The cries of the injured and dying filled the air, a haunting reminder of the cost of this battle. His heart ached with the weight of his responsibility, but he knew he couldn't falter.

He made his way deeper into the station, the screams growing louder. He knew there were more people trapped, more lives hanging in the balance. His body screamed for rest, but he forced himself onward, his katanas ready for the next onslaught. He gritted his teeth as he continued on.

As he rounded a corner, he saw a young girl, no older than ten, cowering behind a column, tears streaming down her face. A curse loomed over her, its claws inches from her trembling form. Without a second thought, Akihiko sprang into action, his blades slicing through the air with deadly precision. The curse let out a final, gurgling scream as it disintegrated into a pool of dark ichor.

The girl looked up at him with wide, tear-filled eyes. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice trembling.

Akihiko knelt down, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten. "It's going to be okay," he said gently, offering her a reassuring smile. "You're safe now."

As he escorted her to safety, his thoughts drifted back to Hiromi. Her legacy was a heavy burden, but it was one he bore with pride. He would not fail her. He would fight on, no matter the cost, until every last curse was vanquished and the people of Shibuya were safe. With a final look at the chaos around him, Akihiko steeled himself for the battles yet to come. He was the blood of Hiromi, and he would not rest until his mission was complete.

He’s going to hold on, he’s not bowing down.

One way or another, he’ll get to Shibuya Station.

He will exercise all these curses once and for all.

10:50 PM

HE COULDN’T SEE IN ONE EYE. Taking a deep, ragged breath, Akihiko fought to steady himself amidst the chaos. His one functioning eye burned with determination, though it struggled to focus through the haze of blood, sweat, and the lingering echoes of battle cries. The station's dim lights flickered erratically overhead, casting fleeting glimpses of the gruesome scene unfolding around him.

Akihiko's katanas lay shattered and splintered at his feet. It was obvious that it was a ferocious battle. Blood seeped from countless wounds that marred his once-unyielding frame, the fabric of his clothing torn and stained. The relentless assault had taken its toll; he could feel the throbbing ache of broken ribs and possibly other fractured bones, each movement sending waves of agony through his battered body.

Despite the overwhelming pain and weariness that threatened to drag him down, Akihiko refused to yield. He clenched his jaw against the torment, drawing upon the last reserves of his cursed energy. Every fiber of his being screamed in protest with each step, each swing of his arms. Yet, driven by a fierce resolve, he pressed forward.

Before him, the first-grade curses surged with unnerving precision, their movements mirroring his own with a chilling synchronicity. They seemed to anticipate his every strike, their claws and fangs a deadly symphony of aggression and intent.

Akihiko knew he was at the brink of exhaustion, his senses dulled by pain and fatigue. But in the heat of battle, with the lives of innocent civilians hanging in the balance, there was no room for retreat. Every ounce of strength he could muster went into his defenses and counterattacks, each movement a struggle against the encroaching darkness.

As the battle wore on, the station echoed with the clash of steel and the agonized cries of curses. Akihiko fought on, his body pushed beyond its limits, clinging to the desperate hope that his endurance and skill would be enough to turn the tide.

His attacks grew more furious, each strike fueled by frustration and desperation. He had to reach Shibuya Station. He had to. Nobuhiko and Aina–sama were waiting for him. He can’t give in to all this now. He had to finish this fight and go to where he needs to be. Pushing himself to his limits, Akihiko’s movements became a blur, his remaining blade flashing through the air with lethal intent.

But it wasn't enough. The curses continued their relentless assault, their grotesque forms mocking him with their seemingly boundless resilience. Akihiko's frustration simmered beneath the surface, boiling over into a primal roar of defiance that echoed through the station.

With a surge of desperate determination, he threw himself back into the fray. Every ounce of his dwindling strength fueled his attacks, his katanas slashing through the air with a frenzied intensity. The curses countered with eerie precision, their claws and teeth gnashing against his blades with a relentless ferocity.

His once-proud katana began to betray him under the strain. The metal groaned and protested, small cracks forming along its length with each forceful clash. Splinters of steel sprayed into the air, a testament to the overwhelming force of the onslaught he faced.

Akihiko gritted his teeth against the pain that shot through his arms and shoulders with every blow. His movements became a blur of desperation and resolve, each strike a gamble against the odds. Sweat mingled with blood on his brow, his vision narrowing to a tunnel of focus as he fought to maintain his footing against the relentless tide.

The station's walls seemed to close in around him, the air heavy with the stench of blood and sweat. Every breath burned in his lungs, every heartbeat a painful reminder of his mortality. Yet, fueled by a stubborn refusal to surrender, he pushed himself beyond the limits of endurance.

In the midst of the chaos, Akihiko's mind raced with strategies and calculations, searching for any advantage to gain an upper hand. But the curses, relentless and unyielding, matched him blow for blow, their mocking resilience a grim reminder of the uphill battle he faced.

Still, amid the cracks in his blade and the searing pain that threatened to overwhelm him, Akihiko fought on. His roar of defiance echoed through the station once more.  In a final, desperate effort, he thrust his katana forward with all his might. His eyes widened in shock as a blinding white light erupted from the blade, engulfing the curses in its brilliance. The explosion of energy was immense, a searing burst that annihilated the first-grade curses in an instant.

The force of the blast sent shockwaves through Akihiko's body, hurling him backwards like a ragdoll. He collided with the unforgiving ground, the impact stealing the breath from his lungs. Pain radiated through every limb as darkness threatened to envelop him. The world spun in disorienting swirls, his vision clouding and flickering as unconsciousness tugged at the edges of his awareness.

Through blurred eyes, Akihiko caught a fleeting glimpse of the station bathed in an eerie, ethereal glow of white light. It bathed everything in its spectral embrace, casting stark shadows that danced across the walls.

As the radiance began to wane, a figure emerged from the epicenter of the light. The brilliance coalesced into a humanoid form, its features shrouded in the remnants of the fading glow. Purple eyes gleamed with an otherworldly brilliance, scanning the chaotic scene with an expression of profound bewilderment.

The figure stood tall amidst the wreckage, its presence commanding yet enigmatic. Akihiko struggled against the encroaching darkness, trying to make sense of the surreal sight before him. Was this a savior, a harbinger of hope amidst the devastation, or something more ominous, drawn by the chaos that had unfolded? He did not know. But his eyes were slowly closing. He was too exhausted. Too exhausted to continue.

Despite the throbbing pain and the haze of confusion that clouded his thoughts, Akihiko's instincts prickled with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity. His breath came in shallow gasps, each heartbeat a drumming echo in his ears. He couldn't move, couldn't speak—only watch as the figure observed the aftermath of the cataclysmic event with an inscrutable gaze.

“Where am I?” the figure muttered, their voice tinged with confusion as though they had just awoken from a long slumber.

The once tumultuous station fell into an unsettling silence, the reverberations of the fierce battle fading gradually into nothingness. Amidst the debris and scattered remnants of conflict, the figure stood as a singular enigma, its existence seemingly born from the ethereal glow that had engulfed the surroundings moments before.

Purple eyes, luminous and inscrutable, surveyed the aftermath with an air of detached curiosity. The figure's form radiated a quiet power, a presence that seemed to transcend the mortal realm, yet its intentions remained veiled in mystery.

Meanwhile, Akihiko lay sprawled on the cold, unforgiving ground, his body battered and unconscious. His breaths were shallow and ragged, oblivious to the strange turn of events that had unfolded in his absence. Around him, the station bore the scars of the recent conflict—broken walls, shattered debris, and a pervasive sense of unease that lingered in the air.

As moments stretched into minutes, the figure remained motionless, a sentinel amidst the aftermath, silently observing the delicate balance that had been disturbed. The station, once a bustling hub of activity, now lay in disarray, its future uncertain in the wake of the inexplicable events that had transpired.

Ryomen Hiromi did not know what to do.

How could she be here, alive and well?

“What has been going on here, little ones?”

11:02 PM

IT WAS A STRANGE THING, LIFE. But as strange as it was, you don't think the mystery of life could ever answer the reason why you were still alive. You don’t remember how you got here. Your eyes widened as your kimono mingled with the blood that swept through the rubble-strewn tiles. The metallic scent of blood and the acrid stench of burning flesh assaulted your senses, a smell you knew all too well. You’ve lived long enough to remember, to know. You didn’t understand why you were here at all. Fear clawed at your heart. All you remembered was the darkness.

Your memories were hazy, fragmented like shattered glass, but one thing was clear: you should be dead. You should have been dead a long time ago. The confusion and terror churned within you, threatening to consume you. But amidst the chaos, a relentless need to understand burned bright. You needed to know. You needed to know what was happening.

Staggering to your feet, you glanced around, your mind struggling to piece together the fragments of your existence. The station was a warzone, littered with bodies and the remnants of a fierce battle. You spotted a group of sorcerers in the distance, their expressions a mix of determination and desperation as they fought off the relentless onslaught of curses.

You took a hesitant step forward, your feet slipping on the blood-slicked tiles. Your heart pounded in your chest, each beat a reminder of your confusion and fear. As you moved, you noticed a figure lying amidst the rubble, their form battered and bloodied.

Compelled by a force you couldn't explain, you approached the fallen figure. It was a young man, his body broken and his breathing shallow. Something about him seemed familiar, tugging at the frayed edges of your memory. You knelt beside him, your hands trembling as you reached out.

"Who... who are you?" you whispered, your voice barely audible over the distant sounds of battle.

The young man stirred, his eyelids fluttering open slowly until his gaze met yours. There was a familiarity in the way he sat, a subtle resemblance to Masaomi that tugged at your heartstrings. Memories of Masaomi's youthful expressions flashed through your mind—the way he would scrunch his face in a playful manner while seeking shade under the trees.

In that fleeting moment of awakening, a spark of recognition flickered between you, an inexplicable connection that defied rational explanation. It was as if time had momentarily folded upon itself, linking your past with this present encounter.

Your eyes fell upon the pin adorning his haori—a double heron, a symbol etched deeply in your family's history. A jolt of realization coursed through you, and your eyes widened in astonishment. Could it be possible? Could this young man sitting before you be... your descendant?

The notion seemed improbable yet undeniably stirring. Generations separated you, yet the echoes of lineage and shared bloodline whispered softly in the recesses of your mind. The heron symbol, a mark of ancestral legacy, seemed to bridge the gap between past and present, weaving a narrative of kinship and continuity that transcended time itself.

As you gazed upon him, the young man's features softened with a hint of curiosity, perhaps sensing the unspoken question that hung in the air between you. The station, once a site of turmoil and conflict, now bore witness to a quieter revelation—an unexpected connection that carried profound implications for both of you.

"Akihiko," he managed to rasp, his voice weak but resolute. "Mikoto Akihiko."

The name resonated deeply within you, stirring memories long buried beneath the weight of time. Mikoto Akihiko... Each syllable carried with it a profound sense of familiarity, a resonance that transcended mere coincidence. As you gazed at him, a realization dawned like a gentle awakening—a connection that stretched across generations.

He is your descendant.

And a fine one, at that.

He has survived all this.

The revelation settled upon you with a quiet intensity, weaving threads of ancestry and legacy into the fabric of your being. Mikoto Akihiko, sitting before you, embodied more than just familial resemblance; he embodied the continuation of a lineage steeped in history and tradition. He embodied strength.  The heron pin on his haori, a symbol etched with significance, spoke volumes of the ties that bound you together, echoing through the corridors of time.

“You’ve worked hard, little one.” You whispered lowly as your hands traced his hair. “You are a worthy descendant.”

You glanced around, your gaze settling on the distant group of sorcerers gathered amidst the remnants of the battle. Questions churned in your mind, a relentless pursuit for understanding amidst the chaos that had unfolded. Why were you here? What had transpired to bring you to this pivotal moment?

But amidst the clamor of uncertainty, one thought remained steadfast: you needed to ensure Akihiko's safety first and foremost. He lay nearby, unconscious yet surrounded by an aura of ancestral significance that now bound you together.

With a determined breath, you moved swiftly towards him, your steps purposeful despite the lingering unease that gnawed at your thoughts. The station's shadows danced around you, a reminder of the recent turmoil that had engulfed the place. 

With Akihiko's name lingering in your mind, you took a deep breath, steadying yourself against the overwhelming tide of fear and confusion. Determination sparked within you, fueling your resolve to uncover the truth. You carefully lifted Akihiko, supporting his weight as best you could, and began making your way toward the group of sorcerers in the distance.

Each step was a struggle, the weight of the wounded man and the treacherous terrain slowing your progress. Blood and debris littered the ground, a grim testament to the ferocity of the battle that had unfolded here. The sorcerers fought on, their cursed energy clashing against the monstrous forms of the curses that still plagued the station.

As you drew closer, one of the sorcerers noticed your approach. A young woman with fierce eyes and a determined expression broke away from the group, rushing to meet you. Her gaze flickered to Akihiko, her concern evident.

"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice sharp with urgency. "What happened to him?"

"I'm..." You hesitated, the uncertainty of your own identity gnawing at you. You don’t even know if they understand you. "I don't know why I'm here. But…. I found him like this. His name is Mikoto Akihiko."

It took her a while to understand you. But you supposed it was because you lived in a different world with a different manner of speech. Still, she needs only look at the man in front of her, in your arms to understand what you meant. Recognition flashed in the woman's eyes, and she quickly signaled for the others. Two more sorcerers joined her, their expressions grim as they assessed Akihiko's condition. 

"We need to get him to safety," one of them said, his voice firm. "There’s a safe zone not far from here. We can regroup there."

Together, you and the sorcerers moved as swiftly as possible, navigating the chaos of the station. The safe zone was a makeshift shelter, shielded by powerful barriers that kept the curses at bay. Inside, wounded sorcerers and civilians were being tended to, their faces etched with a mix of relief and exhaustion.

The sorcerers gently laid Akihiko down, and the young woman who had first approached you knelt beside him, her hands glowing with healing energy. You watched, a sense of helplessness washing over you. Despite your confusion and fear, you couldn't shake the feeling that you were meant to be here, that your presence held some significance.

One of the other sorcerers, a tall man with piercing eyes, turned his attention to you. "Who are you, really? And why are you here?"

You met his gaze, struggling to find the words. "I... I don't remember. I woke up in the station, and everything was chaos. I should be dead, but I'm not. I don’t understand any of this."

“I….I see.” He whispers to you as you purse your lips. “Thank you…for bringing him here.”

“No problem.”

Just then, a curse began to scream angrily as it lunged toward them. Without warning, a piercing beam of white light shot through the air with incredible speed. You turned in time to see the curse vanish into nothingness. 

The tense moment peaked with the curse's furious cries ringing out, only to be abruptly silenced by the blinding light that engulfed it. In that fleeting instance, you witnessed the curse dissolve into faint wisps, leaving everyone momentarily stunned by the inexplicable event that had just unfolded before their eyes.

“How did you—”

“I don’t know.” You responded in a soft mumble. “I whispered it in my mind….and it worked.”

“You’re a sorcerer?”

“I….” You stopped yourself for a moment. “A long time ago.”

You did not wait for them to say anything else as you turned your back. You walked away as much as you could. Your head was starting to hurt as you disappeared into the alleys. You tried to walk through the undamaged pathways, but every turn revealed more bodies, their stillness stark against the chaos that surrounded them. The air was heavy with the metallic tang of blood, mingling with the acrid scent of burning flesh. How did this happen? How had such devastation come to pass?

The eerie silence of the alleyways amplified the grim reality around you. Shadows danced eerily across walls painted with tragedy. You pressed on, each step a struggle against the rising tide of despair and disbelief. This new world that you tried to help build. All the blood, sweat and the tears. How could they end up repeating the mistakes of the past? How could they seek more wrongs, more destruction?

Memories flashed unbidden from where you stood — moments of laughter, faces now forever frozen in time. The scenes of destruction etched themselves into your mind: shattered buildings, twisted metal, and the haunting stillness of the fallen. They were all people. Just as you had once been. And they were robbed of their  world. They were robbed of their peace. You purse your lips softly, your heart breaking over and over at this tragedy.

Questions gnawed at your thoughts like relentless echoes. How did it come to this? This  city, once vibrant with life, now lay ravaged and desolate. Every corner turned revealed more devastation. One that you had never hoped to see, one that you had hoped no one ever will experience again. And yet, it does.

You do not know yet, the full extent of this madness. But you knew that it could not be good. You could feel it all across from where you stood. Over and over, ripples of powerful cursed energy. Not just one, but multiple. There must be quite a few battles happening one at a time. One which you thought had died with your generation.

In death, you had hoped for peace, believing your sacrifice would bring an end to suffering. But now, as you witnessed the aftermath unfold before you, that hope crumbled like fragile glass. The reality was stark and bitter: peace had been nothing more than a fleeting illusion. The cycle of violence, far from being halted, continued unabated, its tendrils spreading like a stain across the world.

The scenes of devastation bore witness to the futility of it all. Buildings reduced to rubble, streets littered with remnants of lives abruptly cut short — each shattered window and twisted piece of metal echoed the relentless brutality that persisted despite your sacrifice.

You had believed in the possibility of redemption, of a future free from the horrors that had plagued the children of the future Yet, as you walked through the haunting silence of the ruined alleys, it became painfully clear that the cycle of violence was an insidious force, unyielding and pervasive. It stained not just the physical landscape but also the very fabric of existence, casting a long shadow over any fleeting moments of hope.  

Nothing had changed. 

And that broke your heart.

How could this be what humanity is?

You navigated through the remnants of what was once familiar, the weight of despair settled upon your shoulders. The dream of peace, for which you had given everything, now seemed like a distant, unattainable whisper in the wind. As you emerged from the carnage, disoriented and confused, you felt a presence before you. There, standing amidst the wreckage, was someone you hadn't expected to see again. You could feel the air be knocked out of your chest as you stumbled backwards.

Your purple eyes widened at the sight of the world burning all around them. The way he stood before you, the cruel twist of fate, felt like a descent into hell. He appeared as he did when you were both young. This, you realized with a sinking heart, was your personal hell — a thousand years, countless lives apart. His wish had come true. He had vowed to follow you to any hell, so long as he could be with you.

Ryomen Sukuna stood before you, his presence overwhelming even in a body never meant to be his own. Despite the vessel's unfamiliarity, you recognized him immediately. It was in the way he held himself, the intensity in his eyes, and the aura of power that surrounded him. There was no mistaking it; he had found a way to return, defying the bounds of time and fate.

As you stared into those eyes, memories flooded back — moments of shared laughter, fierce battles fought side by side, and promises made under different skies. The weight of a millennia of distance, all this time pondering separation pressed upon your soul, mingling with the realization that despite everything, the bond between you had endured.

Your heart pounded with a mixture of disbelief and longing. The world around you continued to burn, but in that moment, everything else faded into insignificance. Ryomen Sukuna stood before you.

“You’re here.” He says as you feel frozen in place. 

"You found a way." you whispered, your voice barely audible against the backdrop of chaos. “This was your doing, wasn’t it?”

He regarded you with a gaze that held centuries of unspoken words. "I promised, didn't I?" His voice, resonant and familiar, cut through the clamor around you. “One way or another. We are bound to each other.”

A surge of conflicting emotions swept through you — relief, fear, and an undeniable sense of completeness. Despite the havoc wrought upon the world, his presence brought a strange comfort, a reminder of a bond forged in the crucible of adversity. A bond that you had long rejected, as he did. And yet all the same, a thousand years later, hundreds upon hundreds of human lives lived and ended — and you were still here. Together.

As you stood face to face, the echoes of past lives reverberated between you like whispers in the wind. The weight of centuries hung heavy in the air, mingling with the uncertainty of what lay ahead. The world around you continues to burn, consumed by turmoil and unrest.

Yet, in this poignant moment of reunion, you couldn't escape the unsettling truth: he was a force of destruction, a catalyst for chaos. His presence alone seemed to amplify the flames that engulfed the world. You knew deep down that he would leave a trail of devastation in his wake, more than he already had in his relentless pursuit of power and dominance.

His touch was gentle yet charged with a dangerous allure as his fingers traced the loose strands of your hair, brushing against the edges of your ear. His eyes, intense and unwavering, lowered to meet yours, studying your expression with a mixture of familiarity and calculation.

In that fleeting exchange, you sensed the complexity of his emotions — a blend of longing and determination, tempered by a ruthlessness that mirrored the flames consuming everything around you. As you stared into his eyes, you grappled with the undeniable pull he exerted over you, knowing that despite the chaos he wrought, there was a part of you that couldn't resist him, even as the world burned.

"You're a force of destruction," you whispered, your voice tinged with sorrow and accusation. "Everything you touch turns to chaos."

He didn't flinch from your words, his touch lingering on your cheek. "I've never claimed to be anything else," he admitted softly. "But you've always known this about me."

"I thought... I hoped..." Your voice faltered, emotions swirling within you.

He tilted his head, a faint smile touching his lips. "That I could change?" he finished for you, his tone gentle yet unyielding. "Some things, love, are beyond change."

"But the cost..." you trailed off, unable to voice the fear that gripped your heart.

He sighed, his gaze searching yours with a mixture of affection and regret. "I never wanted this for us, you know this." he confessed, his voice thick with emotion. "But I can't walk away. Not now. It is too late.”

Tears welled in your eyes as you struggled with conflicting desires — to embrace him, to run from him, to beg him to turn back from the path he'd chosen. "I love you." you admitted, the words a desperate plea. You lowered your gaze. “I….I loved you.”

His fingers tightened gently against your skin, a silent promise in his touch. If he was hurt by the last words you said, he did not show it. No matter how you hurt him, or hate him — even back then. You knew that Ryomen Sukuna could care less. So long as he could be near you, so long as he could look at you, as he does now; nothing else truly mattered. The world can burn, so long as he can be with you.

"And I love you." he replied, his voice a solemn vow. "But this is who I am."

You could feel your breath stolen from you as he leaned forward, his lips pressing against your cheek with a tenderness that cut deeper than any blade. The sensation shook you to your core, a visceral tremor that reverberated through the very essence of your being. 

You didn't want this. It was like witnessing the moon in daylight—forbidden, impossible, a betrayal of everything you knew. Yet, despite your inner turmoil, he dared to make it real. He forced the possibility into existence with each tender touch, each lingering moment that defied logic and reason.

Anger and resentment welled up within you, a primal urge to push him away, to sever the ties that bound you together. You wanted to hate him for complicating your life, for shaking the foundations of your beliefs. The weight of betrayal hung heavy in the air, threatening to suffocate the fragile threads of your resolve.

But amidst the turmoil of conflicting emotions, a stubborn truth remained—you couldn't abandon him, not completely. Even as you struggled to reject all that he represented, all that he stirred within you, a part of you remained tethered to him, unable to sever the bond that fate had woven between your souls. You were always bound by fate. One way or another, the red string you hold was always going to be with him. And you hated it. You hated it. And yet—

"I have something to deal with," he murmured, his touch feather-light against the edge of your jaw, gently lifting it so your eyes met his. His gaze held a mixture of determination and tenderness, a silent promise echoing in his words. "I will come back for you, night flower. I always will."

His words hung in the air, laden with a weight that seemed to anchor you both in the moment. The faintest hint of a smile touched his lips, a fleeting reassurance amidst the uncertainty that surrounded you. 

You wanted to speak, to protest, to demand answers or assurances. Yet, his touch, his gaze, held you captive in a silent understanding that transcended words. The nickname, "night flower," whispered a story of intimacy and longing, of moments shared beneath the cover of darkness. One which should never be. Never again.

As he turned away, his silhouette framed against the dim light filtering through the shattered windows of the station, you felt a pang of reluctance. His departure left an ache in your chest, a yearning for his return that defied reason. Tears welled up on your face. 

“How much more blood will he put in my hands?” 

You looked as the world turned to ruin over and over.

He burned the entirety of it all and you, you watched it all.

And you knew, all too well, that he will never let you go.

facts about the chapter

this was about 7000-8000 words. i debated whether if it should be longer, but i realized if i made it any longer, it would break the time frame of shibuya

i was a bit stumped when i made this part of the story in the draft process, because i know what was gonna happen in the end, but i didn't know how i'll get there. i realized this was the best way to do it. hiromi meeting her descendants has always been on my mind.

mikoto akihiko is a minor member of the ryomen-mikoto clan. he's from the mikoto side of the family. he's a devoted servant and minor relative to genmei and satoru!!! he's served the main family since he was a boy and has pride for it.

akihiko's curse technique, wind swipe, is a speed power. he can use how fast he is to stun and defeat enemies in an instant. he can see things in slow-mo and in fast pace. he always knows what's happening time wise.

hiromi will later say that akihiko does in fact look like masaomi. in shinjuku showdown, akihiko gets slashed by sukuna because he reminded him of masaomi. sukuna's hatred is in fact generational!

his swords are called '照明' lighting or illuminations. it moves so fast that it looks like flashes of light, so it stuns opponents when they come and fight him.

the swords were taken when kenjaku left sukuna's embalmed corpse in his hide out. tengen kept the corpse for themselves, but the swords were gifted to hiromi's grandson. and it was passed on to whoever best uses it. akihiko managed to get that privilege when he was fifteen.

kenjaku put hiromi's soul into the sword after hiromi fought him back when memories started returning. he restrained her, easily as she didn't have a body. this happened at the same time when sukuna sought him for his expertise. kenjaku wanted to keep hiromi around as a companion, and a future leverage against sukuna.

hiromi experienced a thousand years as a weapon. it was one of the four swords that never broke and was called the '根性' or the strong willed because it never needed to break.

hiromi did not feel a thing despite being stuck in the blade. she was hidden within a pocket dimension which kenjaku created. he intended to keep her for a long time.

sukuna only knew about hiromi being kept by kenjaku during the culling games. he had hopes all that thousand years that she will be reincarnated and be with him again.

though hiromi and genmei lookalike, she isn't her reincarnation. souls are the one that reincarnate. hiromi's soul never got to rest, so it truly can never reincarnate until she fully dies and her soul is at peace.

hiromi's ability to use her mind with commands for her use of her power is something she hasn't been used to just yet. but genmei started to do it when she developed it. the problem is that it takes a lot of energy to use.

hiromi will be in the culling games, and wants to kill sukuna to end all the suffering. she believes that killing sukuna means the suffering of many will end. only then can she rest in peace.

sukuna and hiromi will interact a bit in the culling games and pre-shinjuku showdown. sukuna like he did all those years ago, cannot help himself when it comes to her. he's really obssessed with her.

hiromi throughout this refuses to gain use of a body for a vessel. she thinks that as she is not permanence on this situation, she does not need a body. her power is enough to maintain a state of solid body for now.

[haveyouseenthishorrormovie]

Stats from Movies 1201-1300

Top 10 Movies - Highest Number of Votes

Splice (2009) had the most votes with 854 votes. Dark Cloud (2022) had the least votes with 290 votes.

The 10 Most Watched Films by Percentage

Ghostbusters (1984) was the most watched film with 83.3% of voters out of 756 saying they had seen it. T Blockers (2023) had the least "Yes" votes with 0,3% of voters out of 732.

The 10 Least Watched Films by Percentage

Salem's Lot (1979) was the least watched film with 64.4% of voters out of 449 saying they hadn’t seen it. A Snake of June (2002) had the least "No" votes with 6,9% of voters out of 391.

The 10 Most Known Films by Percentage

Ghostbusters (1984) was the best known film, 0,5% of voters out of 756 saying they’d never heard of it.

The 10 Least Known Films by Percentage

A Snake of June (2002) was the least known film, 90.8% of voters out of 391 saying they’d never heard of it.

The movies part of the statistic count and their polls below the cut.

Bingo Hell (2021) The Descent: Part 2 (2009) The Reckoning (2020) The Lair (2022) Dream House (2011) The Other Lamb (2019) Unsane (2018) Children of the Night (1991) Manichithrathazhu (1993) They Live (1988)

Chasing Sleep (2000) The Special (2020) Grabbers (2012) Blood and Roses (1960) Eating Miss. Campbell (2022) Violated Angels (1967) A Snake of June (2002) The Alligator People (1959) eXistenZ (1999) Blood Widow (2014)

Blood Widow (2020) Honeymoon (2014) Uninvited (1987) Scarecrows (2017) Talon Falls (2017) They Reach (2020) Devil's Gate (2017) Killer Sofa (2019) The Ghost Within (2023) Hidden 3D (2011) Grave of the Vampire (1972) Lamb (2021) See No Evil (2006) Planet Terror (2007) Lights Out (2016) Gerald's Game (2017) Webcast (2018) The Love Witch (2016) No One Gets Out Alive (2021) Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)

Wounds (2019) Paintball Massacre (2020) A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) Charlie's Farm (2014) Child Eater (2016) Monster Brawl (2011) 247°F (2011) Dark Cloud (2022) The Hole (2001) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994)

Hazard Jack (2014) Pumpkinhead (1988) The Resurrected (1991) Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010) The Curse (1987) The Dunwich Horror (1970) Earth vs. the Spider (2001) The Fan (1982) Mute Witness (1995) The Call of Cthulhu (2005)

The Suckling (1990) It Conquered the World (1956) Bug (2006) The Signal (2007) Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) Gehenna: Where Death Lives (2016) Monsters (2010) YellowBrickRoad (2010) The Blood Spattered Bride (1972) T Blockers (2023) The Facts in the Case of Mister Hollow (2008) The Mothman Prophecies (2002) Baba Yaga (1973) Kill List (2011) Splice (2009) The Crazies (2010) Fire in the Sky (1993) Banshee Chapter (2013) Angel Dust (1994) Blood and Black Lace (1964)

It Came from Outer Space (1953) TerrorVision (1986) Lurker in the Lobby (1998) A Night to Dismember (1983) Altered States (1980) Cube²: Hypercube (2002) The Dark Half (1993) Darkness (2002) Ghostbusters (1984) The Keep (1983)

Cobweb (2023) The Empty Man (2020) Bloody Hell (2020) The Green Inferno (2013) Turistas (2006) Salem's Lot (1979) Stir of Echoes (1999) Christine (1983) Found (2012) The Hole (2009)

[weaselfactoryex]

what’s your opinion on the show (the original not the dub) and what’s your favorite character?

Hey! Thanks for sending in an ask!!

I find Squirrel and Hedgehog fascinating honestly. I’ve been familiar with the series since 2017-2018, but i didn’t get this much into it until recently when I watched the video Paper Will did on youtube. (It’s a great video and I certainly recommend it to any SaH or North Korean media fans.

There’s just something so methodical about the show in general that catches my attention. The muted color tones and overall somber aura of eps 1-26 that makes the show instantly captivating and recognizable to me.

I think I like the show since It’s certainly alien compared to the bright and pastel colors in kinda the western (US) sphere of animation. Hell, even anime (back then and now) doesn’t really have the look or feel of SaH. I especially like the first four eps, and how despite the chaos the characters face, it gives a feeling of November.

As for my favorite character…

Its this freak of nature (Commander Jogjebi)

He’s so delusional im glad he gets blown up lmao I think it would take 15 different miracles to fix him (why would you try and fix him?) but he’s an overall neat villain till the end.

A close second is the glasses weasel from ep 30

Bro is just dragged along for the ride. I dont think he was as in on the coup the Chief of Staff was planning. I honestly just cling to the idea he’s still alive but knowing how weasels tend to end up in the show, well…who knows.

Feel free to ask me more stuff, this was fun 👋🏾

[linghxr]

I watched all the Chinese idol survival shows so you don’t have to (but you should anyway)

About three years ago, I watched 创造101 Produce 101 China, and it kinda changed my life. Yes, really! This show dragged me down a rabbit hole that eventually led to me watching many more Chinese shows and listening to almost exclusively Chinese music. I’m even branching out to cdramas now. All under the guise of, um, improving my listening comprehension!

OK, so “all the Chinese idol survival shows” might be an exaggeration. I’ll be talking about these three classic idol group survival shows from the “golden age” period of 2018-2021:

>> 偶像练习生 Idol Producer/青春有你 Youth with You (iQiyi)

偶像练习生 Idol Producer

青春有你1 Youth with You 1

青春有你2 Youth with You 2

青春有你3 Youth with You 3

>> 创造101 Produce 101/创造营 Chuang (Tencent)

创造101 Produce 101 China

创造营2019 Produce Camp 2019

创造营2020 Chuang 2020

创造营2021 Chuang 2021

>> 以团之名 All For One/少年之名 We Are Young (Youku)

以团之名 All For One

少年之名 We Are Young

Here is the order I actually watched these 10 seasons in:

创造101 Produce 101 China

青春有你2 Youth with You 2

创造营2020 Chuang 2020

创造营2019 Produce Camp 2019

偶像练习生 Idol Producer

青春有你1 Youth with You 1

青春有你3 Youth with You 3

创造营2021 Chuang 2021

以团之名 All For One

少年之名 We Are Young

I started 创造101 Produce 101 China in late 2019/early 2020 and finished 少年之名 We Are Young on Christmas Day 2022. I was literally tearing up. Three franchises, ten seasons, something around 1000 contestants, and three years of my life.

In order to refresh my memory for this post, I rewatched almost all of the performance clips from these shows. I didn’t watch the initial evaluations or any practice room videos (it’s simply too much content). It was simultaneously fun and exhausting. I will go over why you should/shouldn’t watch each season and give any other notable remarks. Let’s get started!

*Please note that for any YouTube links below, there is a risk of muted sections, parts/entire episodes being unavailable, and missing/out of sync subtitles. For official links, whether or not a VIP subscription is needed may change in the future. Fansubbed content may have sections or entire episodes missing.

>> 偶像练习生 Idol Producer/青春有你 Youth with You (iQiyi)

iQiyi rebranded the series by changing its name from 偶像练习生 Idol Producer to 青春有你 Youth with You after the first season. However, they really didn’t change much about the format at all. From what I’ve heard, iQiyi doesn’t have as large a budget as Tencent, which you can see reflected in the show’s production quality. However, I’ve long felt that this franchise has a real charming quality that makes up for lack of flashy sets.

偶像练习生 Idol Producer

Watch on iQiyi (English subs, VIP needed) Watch via Idol Producer Subs (English fansubs, missing part of finale)

Why you should watch it: Though not China’s first idol survival show, this show was the first of a new era. It’s iconic! The theme song is a bop, 10/10. Also, I had heard of all of the winners before I watched this season, so there’s some real cultural relevance. I can’t believe it was nearly five years ago! The whole top 20 remains iconic to this day. In most seasons, there are at least one or two popular contestants who I don’t really like or don’t see the appeal of, but that wasn’t the case this season. This season is also a lot shorter than later seasons, so it’s easier for those who are new to survival shows.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: As I mentioned, there is a lack of flashy sets/stages here. The background of the stage often looks empty. There were some performances that were better than I remembered, but there were others that were...not. I’m pretty sure 黄明昊 Justin was 15 when the show began, which shocks me in a BAD way. And if you’re a Jackson Wang fan, I think he barely appeared in the second half of the show.

My picks: 郑锐彬 Zheng Ruibin, 周彦辰 Zhou Yanchen, 蔡徐坤 Cai Xukun, 王子异 Wang Ziyi, 朱星杰 Zhu Xingjie, 周锐 Zhou Rui

Favorite performance: PPAP A组 PPAP group A This was a powerhouse group. And it was hilarious to watch the boys’ reaction when they heard the whole song and realized the style was not at all what they had initially expected! They totally pulled it off though.

Iconic moments: 蔡徐坤 Cai Xukun’s outfit (and ego) in the initial evaluation, B-A-L-A-N-C-E, when we realized 朱星杰 Zhu Xingjie can sing too, 林彦俊 Lin Yanjun's platinum hair, one of the songs was called Mack Daddy which causes me great distress to this day, 周锐 Zhou Rui aka 周美锐 Zhou Meirui, I’m still laughing over 朱星杰 Zhu Xingjie’s resemblance to 胡巴 Huba.

Verdict: Though this was not my first idol survival show, I think it would be a great first foray for anyone. It’s iconic for a reason. You should watch it (and I might rewatch it). 

青春有你1 Youth with You 1

Watch on iQiyi (English subs, VIP needed) Watch via Qing Chun You Ni Subs (English fansubs)

Why you should watch it: This season is the forgotten child of the franchise, but it still had some great performances and a lot of talented contestants. The theme song is also probably my favorite out of all ten theme songs! It was love at first listen. Personally, I enjoyed this team of mentors more than the first season’s. I also feel that the vocal-based performances were stronger this season. For instance, there were great performances of 李荣浩 Li Ronghao songs.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: I feel that some of the magic of the first season was lost, and overall the contestants were not as memorable or charismatic in my opinion. There were also several contestants I found extremely irritating and some contestants who ranked much higher and last much longer on the show than I feel they should have based on their skill level...but I won’t name names.

My picks: 夏瀚宇 Xia Hanyu, 李振宁 Li Zhenning, 周士原 Zhou Shiyuan, 连淮伟 Li Huaiwei

Favorite performance: 隔壁泰山 A组 Neighboring Tarzan group A This is a very unusal song, but it’s so catchy and memorable. 夏瀚宇 Xia Hanyu really made this performance for me. And this song still gets stuck in my head months later!

Iconic moments: 冯俊杰 Feng Junjie and 夏瀚宇 Xia Hanyu trying to outdo each other, 胡春杨 Hu Chunyang looked angry 24/7 for no reason, they literally got 蔡依林! Jolin Tsai! as a mentor, 李汶翰 Li Wenhan was everyone’s older brother, their performance made me fall in love with the song 耳朵 Erduo, they kinda did a steampunk concept which I love.

Verdict: It’s not necessarily a must-watch, but I still enjoyed it. If you’ve fallen into the black hole of survival shows and want more, I think it’s worth your time.

青春有你2 Youth with You 2

Watch on iQiyi (English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (English subs) Watch on YouTube (no English subs, missing several parts/episodes)

Why you should watch it: As iQiyi’s first time with female contestants, this season was highly anticipated. iQiyi stepped it up with subtitles, got Lisa from BLACKPINK as a mentor (I saw people say they came for Lisa and stayed for the trainees), and made a lot of content available on YouTube. As a result, some of the performances from this season have millions of views. It’s well deserved—a lot of the contestants are overflowing with talent and charisma. And honestly, you should watch this for 蔡徐坤. He’s a great MC/mentor to the girls and was truly a highlight of the season for me.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: This is the only season that I watched week by week as it was airing. It was EXHAUSTING. iQiyi started pumping out two episodes a week, doubling the overall episode count. I was literally burnt out by the finale. So if you watch this, please take it slow. Also, I forgot how much they did that thing where they cut away from the performances to show other contestant/mentor reactions and then have to go rewind on the performance...it really drives me nuts. They overdid it for sure.

My picks: 刘雨昕 Liu Yuxin, 喻言 Yu Yan, 王承渲 Wang Chengxuan, 刘令姿 Liu Lingzi, 许馨文 Xu Xinwen

Favorite performance: 不奉陪 No Company This was a tough choice! I went with this performance because I actively sought it out for relistens. That’s so rare for 主题考核 theme evaluation songs for me. All the members got to shine yet they were a very cohesive team.

Iconic moments: Bad Guy was the ultimate dark horse, how no one knew the song 想见你想见你想见你 Miss You 3000, 王承渲 Wang Chengxuan defeated the evil quads, 乃万 Nineone basically replaced Jony J as rap mentor, seeing 刘雨昕 Liu Yuxin with a wig was terrifying, they let the girls wear shorts if they didn’t like skirts #feminism, I still think about 张钰 Zhang Yu and 王清 Wang Qing’s initial performance all the time.

Verdict: I don’t think I could rewatch this season due to its length, but if you can commit the time, I think you should watch it. I’m sad I’ll never get to see a second 青春有你 Youth with You female season.

青春有你3 Youth with You 3

Watch on iQiyi (English subs, no VIP needed) Watch on iQiyi (no English subs, no VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs, missing several parts/episodes)

Why you should watch it: This season was probably the one I felt most emotionally invested in. I feel like I got to know the boys and was in it together with them (parasocial relationships, I know). And the friendships between contestants were so touching. Like 青春有你2 Youth with You 2, this season was also extra long, but I watched this season after it aired, going at my own pace. There were so many charming contestants and memorable performances. The dancing especially shone, but we got some great vocal moments too. I think iQiyi did a really good job picking songs this season.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: Sadly, the finale never aired. Due to the infamous milk-wasting scandal, the show was cancelled (but a winning group still formed and debuted). Even though I knew this before watching the show, it was still quite sad to never see a conclusion. Additionally, I believe this show started with more like 120 contestants, and I felt that increased number. Lastly, there was some painful singing and lots of very uninspired rapping. I feel like the gap in skill between the contestants was larger, and some of the teams felt very unbalanced as a result.

My picks: 姜京佐 Jiang Jingzuo, 杨昊铭 Yang Haoming, 十七 Shiqi, 徐子未 Xu Ziwei, 张思源 Zhang Siyuan, 连淮伟 Lian Huaiwei

Favorite performance: 燕尾蝶 Wings of Love This performance was everything I could ever dream of. 徐子未 won the world over instantly. He has the voice of an angel. Love the song, love the concept, love everything about it.

Iconic moments: 罗一舟 Luo Yizhou and 余景天 Tony Yu Jingtians’s friendly rivalry, 徐子未 Xu Ziwei’s back-to-back victories, Yuta’s adorable accent, 王南钧 Wang Nanjun would not shut up about 竹 Bamboo, touch 梁森 Liang Sen’s head for good luck, 刘隽 Liu Jun dances like he’s possessed (in a good way), that 雨爱 Rainie Love stage was a trainwreck tbh.

Verdict: Despite the scandals and lack of a finale, it was worth the watch for me. I feel so fond thinking of this season. Truthfully, season three has surpassed season two for me.

>> 创造101 Produce 101/创造营 Chuang (Tencent)

I read somewhere that Tencent officially licensed the Produce 101 name from Mnet, making this franchise more “official.” For season two, they ended up changing the name to 创造营 Produce Camp. The Chinese name remained the same for seasons three and four, but the in English they started promoting the show under the name Chuang. I think they wanted to beat iQiyi in the contest to see who can have the most titles for the same show.

创造101 Produce 101 China

Watch on Tencent Video (English subs, no VIP needed) Watch on 腾讯视频 (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs) Watch on YouTube (no English subs, episode 7 here, episode 10 here) Watch via Produce 101 China Subs (English fansubs)

Why you should watch it: This is the only season I’ve seen twice, so that says something I guess! This season holds a special place in my heart as my first survival show, so I rewatched it earlier this year with some friends who hadn’t seen it previously. One thing that stood out to me about this season was that it felt like there were several dark horses who started to shine closer to the middle/end of the show. I liked this because it’s boring when the debut lineup is completely predictable! And if you’re not already a 孟美岐 Meng Meiqi fan, you will leave as a 孟美岐 Meng Meiqi fan, guaranteed.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: Not gonna lie, I was not a huge fan of this mentor team. I am fine with these people individually, but together it was not an ideal combo in my opinion. They collectively made some very odd decisions that I strongly disagree with. After my rewatch, I’m just kinda done with 黄子韬 Huang Zitao. I also realized there were a lot more instances of...rough singing than I remembered, so be warned.

My picks: 孟美岐 Meng Meiqi, Yamy, 刘人语 Liu Renyu, 许靖韵 Angela Xu Jingyun, 吴映香 Lucia Wu Yingxiang, 李紫婷 Mimi Li Ziting

Favorite performance: 别人家的小孩 Other People’s Kids This is one of the most iconic performances (and one of my favorites) ever from all of these shows! It’s so unique and really has everything you could want. It was truly a perfect collab performance.

Iconic moments: When they had to tap 杨超越 Yang Chaoyue so she wouldn’t miss the beat, 王一博 Wang Yibo’s blue hair was gorgeous, Triple A group reunion, Look What You Made Me Do with creepy marionettes was perfect, when 陈嘉桦 Ella went barefoot on stage, 黄子韬 Huang Zitao literally screamed at them all, I’ll never forget the iconic 乐华 Yuehua performance.

Verdict: Even the second time, this was a season filled with surprises. It’s not perfect, but I think it will manage to charm you anyway. There are some real hidden gems here.

创造营2019 Produce Camp 2019

Watch on Tencent Video (English subs, VIP needed) Watch on 腾讯视频 (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs)

Why you should watch it: This was the first ever male season I watched, and I remember being apprehensive. I ended up having a lot of fun! This season really tugged at my heartstrings with the touching friendships between the boys and the intense 导师推荐生 mentor recommendees segments. I felt like I went through the wringer with them as they were forced to repack all their belongings, endure the brutal F班 demotions, hike across the beach, and more. There were countless hilarious moments too. If I were to rewatch, it would be for 周震南 Zhou Zhennan AKA 南南 Nannan. He just dominates the stage (despite his short stature)!

Why you shouldn’t watch it: I’ll admit, this season probably has the greatest number of contestants that annoy me. Sometimes it’s for no good reason...I just look at them and go ugh. The first round especially has some pretty painful singing, so be warned of that as well. Also, my rewatch made me realize I remembered very few performances from this season, which probably isn’t a good sign. Also, a lot of the performances were very short, sub-three minutes, which personally bothers me.

My picks: 周震南 Zhou Zhennan, 高嘉朗 Gao Jialang, 姚琛 Yao Chen, 陆思恒 Lu Siheng, 李鑫一 Li Xinyi, 贺俊雄 He Junxiong

Favorite performance: 开门见山 Kaimenjianshan I’ll admit that this performance was not as good as I remembered it being (probably because now I’ve heard the original by A-Mei many times), but I picked it anyway to acknowledge the amazing 高嘉朗 Gao Jialang.

Iconic moments: 张颜齐 Zhang Yanqi giving away jars of 老干妈 Lao Gan Ma, we never saw 王晨艺 Wang Chenyi again, 姚琛来了~ (Yao Chen is coming), when 周震南 Zhou Zhennan had his hoodie on but his ears were sticking out omg, try saying 李昀锐 Li Yunrui's name ten times fast, they had 30+ year old men here, this was the OG 乘风破浪 chengfengpolang.

Verdict: Among so many seasons, I don’t think this season stands out that much, but I still remember it fondly. If you want a good laugh and some fun, check it out.

创造营2020 Chuang 2020

Watch on Tencent Video (English subs, VIP needed) Watch on 腾讯视频 (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (English subs, missing episode 3) Watch on YouTube (English subs, missing episode 3) Watch on Viki (English subs, no Viki Pass needed)

Why you should watch it: They went all out on the sets, the location, the accommodations, everything. The performance setup was that the seats were in the middle and various stages were located around the perimeter. The seats would rotate to face the stages!! Some of the stages were stunning. I also want to mention that there were some great vocalists this season and I feel like they got to shine, which always makes me happy. The best round by far was the second round (专业方向). We got some beautiful vocal performances and intense dance performances.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: This season felt messy to me. I think they tried to mix things up, but not everything landed. The beautiful sets almost got distracting…they were more interesting than some of the performances. Several very talented and promising contestants never even made it past the first round. And since the final group only had seven people, the finale was just a frustrating experience. I never want to hear that 小摩托 xiao motuo song or 夏天的风 Summer Wind again. I don’t feel this season lived up to 创造101 Produce 101 China (unless you wanted MORE comments about weight/thinness).

My picks: 王柯 Wang Ke, 华承妍 Hua Chengyan, 刘些宁 Liu Xiening, 苏芮琪 Su Ruiqi, 朱主爱, Joyce Zhu Zhu’ai, 王一桥 Wang Yiqiao

Favorite performance: Manta There were a lot of performances I liked, but I really struggled to pick a favorite. I ultimately went with this because it’s one of the most memorable dance performances I’ve seen on these shows.

Iconic moments: That thin waist contest was simply the worst, they were in a literal castle, we all went crazy for the band and 王柯 Wang Ke, 朱主爱 Joyce Zhu Zhu’ai won the collab stage, wtf stop filming 姜贞羽 Jiang Zhenyu, I want to ride that cute train up the mountain, 毛不易 Mao Buyi did not want to talk, pretend that 吴亦凡 Wu Yifan wasn’t there.

Verdict: This season was competing against 青春有你2 Youth with You 2, and I chose to prioritize 青春有你2 Youth with You 2. I would make the same choice now. If you decide to watch, just be warned it may be a frustrating experience.

创造营2021 Chuang 2021

Watch on Tencent Video (English subs, VIP needed) Watch on 腾讯视频 (no English subs, VIP needed)

Why you should watch it: I wasn’t sure I was going to watch this season because of its international theme. Having foreigners is nothing new, but such a large number was certainly going to alter the show’s dynamic. Well, I watched it anyway. Overall, I’m glad I did. There were some talented and lovable contestants that made this season all worth it. The mentor squad (mostly 宁静 Ning Jing, 邓超 Deng Chao, and 周深 Zhou Shen) were so entertaining. Lastly, compared to the 2019 season, there were more popular vocalists this season, which I 100% support. I’ll be honest, I didn’t remember a lot of the performances from this season, but I ended up pleasantly surprised by how many great ones there were!

Why you shouldn’t watch it: It felt like there was so much focus on Nine and Patrick, Santa and Riki, the Intersection boys, and eventually Lelush as well. The other foreign contestants honestly had very little impact. This didn’t ruin the show or anything, but sometimes I got a little sick of the Santa and Mika show, you know? Also, none of my favorites made it into the winning group unfortunately. While I acknowledge the talent of the winning members, for whatever reason I wasn’t really that invested in most of them.

My picks: 俞更寅 Yu Gengying, 井胧 Jing Long, 林墨 Lin Mo, 奥斯卡 Oscar, 张星特 Zhang Xingte

Favorite performance: Lover Boy 88 This performance was simply infectious! I even made my friends watch to it. 林墨 Lin Mo is so charming. And 张腾 Zhang Teng and 张星特 Zhang Xingte’s vocals were perfect. Just wish it had been longer!

Iconic moments: Mika and 曾涵江 Zeng Hanjiang = my last two brain cells trying to communicate, I still can’t believe Lelush went viral worldwide, 刘宇 Liu Yu broke the Produce curse, Nine and Patrick only learned Chinese for how long???, Caelan kinda does look like Leonardo DiCaprio, Oscar AKA 熊熊 Xiongxiong, the 网红 wanghong group was so talented actually.

Verdict: I think this season got more international attention than 青春有你3 Youth with You 3, and while I prefer 青春有你3 Youth with You 3, this season is worth a watch for its uniqueness and improvements over the previous year.

>> 以团之名 All For One/少年之名 We Are Young (Youku)

I watched both seasons of Youku’s shorter-lived franchise in 2022 only after (and only because) I had finished the other two franchises. I think Youku had a smaller budget and thus tried to stand out by shaking up the traditional survival show formula. I think they made some poor choices and some good choices. I don’t know the story behind the name change between seasons, but the seasons are so different from each other that it makes sense.

以团之名 All For One

Watch on Youku (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs)

Why you should watch it: I’m going to say a lot of negative stuff below, but I wanted to add at least a few positive words. During the finale, the remaining contestants sang S.H.E’s 你曾是少年 Wings Of My Words, and I don’t think I’ve ever gotten so emotional over a performance ever. 任家萱 Selina was a delight throughout. I also really grew to appreciate 奶茶 Naicha and what a great and thoughtful leader he was.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: As I mentioned, this show had some unique features that made it stand out. The contestants formed ten groups of eight, and the composition of the groups remained unchanged throughout. Entire groups got eliminated together. This created a dynamic where some really talented contestants went home too soon due to their group. It also meant that some groups were popular really just due to having one popular member. In the end, one group won...but I guess they realized this was a bad idea, so they formed a second winning group of the most popular contestants from the non-winning groups. I didn’t like this format and felt is really negatively impacted my viewing. Personally, seeing new team lineups form is one of my favorite parts of survival shows. And because the leaders were constant, they had there was too much focus on them. Also, the mentors were so harsh all the time. Maybe it was deserved, but it really bummed me out to watch them constantly talk about how disappointed they were.

My picks: 奶茶 Naicha, 田书臣 Tian Shuchen, 龙泓昊 Long Honghao, 赖煜哲 AJ Lai Yuzhe, 热亚提 Reyati, 赵品霖 Zhao Pinlin

Favorite performance: 饕餮 Taotie This was not one of the performances that stood out in my memory, but it stood out to me when I did my rewatch. I feel like they really nailed every element, and I don’t think the other teams could have pulled off this song.

Iconic moments: 何展成 Jonathan Ha gave up on speaking Chinese and 袁娅维 Tia Ray had to translate for him, the 王霏霏 Wang Feifei and 孟佳 Meng Jia reunion, 龙泓昊 Long Honghao’s beautiful dance to a Shawn Mendes song, I’m not sure why 奶茶 Naicha chose milk tea as stage name, AJ vs. the hidden snacks, they made 周艺轩 Zhou Yixuan perform a UNIQ song.

Verdict: Maybe you can skip this one. I definitely didn’t devote my full attention while I was watching it. And it felt like the show and the mentors were being mean to the boys all the time.

少年之名 We Are Young

Watch on Youku (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs) Watch via We Are Young Subs (English fansubs)

Why you should watch it: They improved on basically all the issues I had with the first season, and I was pleasantly surprised. Also, this is basically a 青春有你1 Youth with You 1 mini reunion with a few 偶像练习生 Idol Producer alums plus some future 青春有你3 You with You 3 contestants. It was so wonderful to see how the contestants I already knew had grown, and I loved seeing them get new opportunities to shine. There was surprisingly a lot of good raps/rappers on this show! Also, there were some truly incredible performances this season that aren’t like anything I’ve seen on other idol survival shows. And I enjoyed almost every performance—there were only a few that I disliked or thought were, um, not good. The mentors did not always agree...but I don’t care!

Why you shouldn’t watch it: Because they have to be different, when doing the initial evaluations, only about 50 contestants advanced to the next round. This was nice because it meant fewer names/faces, but wow, it felt so mean. Sometimes I wished they had stuck to a more traditional format. Besides that, I don’t have much else negative to say!

My picks: 郭震 Guo Zhen, 寇聪 Kuo Cong, 胡文煊 Hu Wenxuan, 左林杰 Zuo Linjie, 李希侃 Li Xikan, 崔少鹏 Cui Shaopeng, 杨超文 Yang Chaowen

Favorite performance: Don’t Start Now I don’t think I’ve ever seen this exact concept on one of these shows before. This performance was instantly a standout for me, especially because it had some of my favorite contestants!

Iconic moments: They literally had a corgi, 林 (Lin) MUA, everyone shipping 薛恩 Xue En and 程潇 Cheng Xiao, 胡文煊 Hu Wenxuan in a CROP TOP, 胡彦斌 Hu Yanbin told 寇聪 Kou Cong to wear less to show off his body what, 崔少鹏 Cui Shaopeng’s entrance through the pink smoke, 左林杰 Zuo Linjie really bungee jumped with his eyes closed, how 郭震 Guo Zhen, 左叶 Zuo Ye, and 胡文煊 Hu Wenxuan were in the same group four times without anyone noticing.

Verdict: This season ended up being better than it had any right to be! I think it’s worth checking out, especially if you are missing the boys from the 偶像练习生 Idol Producer/青春有你 Youth with You series.

>> Conclusion

If you actually read this entire post, I’m thoroughly impressed. If you, like me, have spent way too much time watching these shows, feel free to send me a message because I need someone to commiserate with. 

I honestly have this weird feeling that a chapter of my life is over. I have so many treasured memories from watching these shows—moments of laughter, tears, shock, pride, and more. They’ve provided a way to ground my language studies and engage with Chinese pop culture. They made me feel less alone during earlier COVID times.

Well, I’m off to find something to fill the survival show-size hole in my heart...maybe I’ll just rewatch 偶像练习生 Idol Producer.

[aydaptic]

I imagine that being a Gavin fan when the dbh fandom was in its early stages must have been exhausting. I've been scrolling through dbh blogs, just to catch up on what I've missed out on and occasionally I'll come across posts like "if you like Gavin you're [insert stupid insult here]" or "Gavin is the personification of evil and if you even watch a single scene with him in it without feeling hatred, then you're [insert another stupid insult here]"

Following you, I've realised that Gavin is honestly not a bad guy. Yeah, he's not the most positive/friendly guy in the world but that doesn't make him evil. The only time we've seen him in a bad light is when he's interacting with something he does not like ex. androids, hank (both of which he has valid reasons for not liking). When he's not with either of them, he's pretty alright. Even Neil has said that if you met Gavin in a bar or something, he, at the very least, would be polite to you.

I know it's been said before but people can dislike Gavin (everyone is entitled to disliking who they want) but looking back, I believe that the hatred he received was so unnecessary.

If any of those people could have just looked beyond "he hurt my fave/disliking him for moral points", they would have seen that too.

This is why I'm happy that reed900 became so popular. Not only because it showed that there were people who wanted to delve deeper into Gavin's character but it also created a huge headache for everyone who hated him.

As someone who has been a Gav fan since launch day -- May 25th, 2018 -- I can confirm that it was indeed exhausting. I admit I'm biased, though. It was worse for me for reasons I'll get into down below.

There's still a lot of undeserved vitriol towards him posted on the regular, but my having muted 90% of the fandom makes it not nearly as noticeable. Ofc I can't avoid them all bc the amount of shit he gets always slips through the net. His haters are that obsessed with him (...which is not only pathetic but hilarious as well.)

Several ppl have told me that I was the one who made them see the layers involved when it comes to Gav. Hearing that warms my heart. It makes me feel like I'm doing something useful in this fandom.

As for my personal bias, I've been told multiple times by multiple ppl that I remind them of Gav. It made me realize that's one of the main reasons why I defend the guy. If you don't like Gav, you wouldn't like me, so I -- in the beginning -- took the hatred for him personally. Thus it was extra exhausting to have negativity constantly aimed at me (in theory) as an individual.

I feel the same way he does. I'm pissed at Hank and wouldn't stay quiet knowing that he gets special treatment from Fowler. I dislike Con and would try to stop him in The Interrogation/Last Chance, Connor. I dislike AI. I wouldn't believe androids were alive. I'm terrified of losing my livelihood, etc. I could make a list with dozens of things he and I have in common (even the smallest/unusual things like being unable to wink with one eye bc I can't do that either, lol.)

I share your amusement on his haters having to deal with not only Gav's popularity, but also Reed900. I'd say that's karma.

[nocandnc]

Character ask: Kitaro (any adaptation) 😁

Really outing myself as a Fake Fan here by saying I've only watched the 2018 iteration, BUT THAT'S ALL I NEED because it's the only one with Mana in it

Kitaro is such a fascinating little guy, and he has such an iconic design, it's no wonder he's persisted throughout the ages. Truly the character of all time!

Speaking on the 2018 version specifically, I love him in that he's the type to act cold, but yearns to be warm. He loves humans so much, and yet he's so, so angry with them because they keep. Disappointing him. He's tired and doesn't want to get burnt yet again... But he can't help giving it another try, and try, and try. He's too old for this shit, and a lonely kid with a bit hope left in him at the same time.

I left A Beast Unleashed unchecked because while Kitaro is certainly a powerful fighter, he doesn't want to be. If humans die they Die, so he'll take down the youkai instead if there's trouble, but he hates it. He hates having to hurt his fellow youkai, hates that these two parts of his life can never seem to reconcile...

Despite his often muted expression, he makes me feel whole a lot. And when he is able to smile, I feel like there's a bit hope left in me too.

Aaaaah, I should rewatch the series again... I wonder if the movie is available yet!?

[wooahaeruby]

Chapter 7: New World Unraveled

Chapter Word Count: 2,463

TW

None, silly hehe haha time

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Now that you were living a ‘double life’, everything just felt a little off. 

So far in the past week, you have done everything Seungcheol needed of you in regards to letting Wonwoo have access to the servers and plant information to lead them off SVT’s trail. It wasn’t hard, truly much easier than anyone would expect, and it was clear to see how Seokmin was able to get Wonwoo connected to the servers in the first place. Though you teased that you were better at coding, you wouldn’t say that Wonwoo’s work wasn’t good. He was meticulous with his lines, checking things over twice before moving onto the next piece of the metaphoric puzzle. 

He didn’t change that much from your freshman year in college. He carried himself with the same cool aura and quiet personality. Much like then, he was always watching, observing every little thing that happened around him. There was a joke that a classmate you tutored used to say; Wonwoo was a cat that perched on the highest place in a room and simply watched. He was independent, didn’t say much, but when you got him riled up or challenged him, he was always ready to pounce. 

When he basically dropped off the face of the planet once your second semester ended in 2018, you tried to find any trace of him to ask why.  Curiosity did get the best of you at one point, no one in your classes compared to the rivalry between the two of you quietly. You wouldn’t call him a friend back then, he was more someone that mutually hung out with people from class or at the occasional party when you thought about it. With the type of person you were, no one really piqued your interest, Wonwoo challenged you and replied with just as snarky comments when he felt up to it. 

Jeonghan had also been texting you constantly. Sometimes he would ask how you were doing, if you were ‘ Following orders like a good little bee’ , or – in the most obnoxious way – talking about himself . He would vaguely go on tangents about things he was doing, insinuating that it was illegal but never saying what it was. The worst was when he knew you were working and he would double, triple, even quadruple text just to be annoying and you’d mute his conversations until he started calling you. On more than one day throughout the week, you texted him to shut up and let you work but that only spurred on his messages. 

On Friday, Seokmin told you that Soonyoung wanted to see what your self defense was like and he’d be taking you up to the house in the morning on Saturday. Wonwoo had also messaged you that he would be working on the code and Seungcheol wanted you to help him. Seokmin had suggested you just bring an overnight bag and stay at the house but the idea was uncomfortable. 

It was only your, what? Third time going over? And the idea of staying in a house with a bunch of people you don’t really know was weird. College had you hating living with a roommate but you couldn’t afford a place on your own then, let alone in a college town. It’s the main reason you lived alone in a one bedroom apartment that took a majority of your paycheck. Plus you didn’t want to intrude on their home, it was their place to be themselves and relax and each time you were there, you felt like the others outside of Seokmin put this act on instead of fully relaxing, which you couldn’t blame them for. 

You respectfully declined the offer, even if it meant him having to drive you back and forth each time. Feeling bad at one point, you tried to explain why you weren’t okay with it but all he did was pat you on the head and smile, telling you that he didn’t mind as long as you were comfortable. 

As you pulled into the garage, Soonyoung was practically pulling you out of Seokmin’s car and dragging you out the backdoor. 

It was the first time you got to see the backyard. Directly outside you were led around the pool, big enough for all of them to swim and play around, along with a swimming lane if anyone wished to use it. A grilling station and a nice outdoor table was covered just beside it for the time being. There were a few small shed-like structures out here, one shed more long and rectangular, and another that was smaller, more a simple box of a building. The grass and trees expanded for as far as you could see beyond the buildings and the air was so fresh thanks to being a decent bit from the city. 

Soonyoung pulled you into another boxy building with Seokmin following behind the two of you. It was a gym, kept cool with a few large fans on the ceiling and AC vents littering around it. Truthfully it reminded you of a chain gym franchise with how many machines and weight racks there were, the only main difference was the large expanse of padding in the center of the room and the combat equipment on a rack beside it. 

He had you kick off your shoes and pulled you onto the mat, leaving Seokmin to pull one of the benches up and sit back to watch. Soonyoung insisted you warm up even just a little so you didn’t hurt yourself, not wanting to fall victim to Seokmin’s berating if you did. 

“Alright,” Soonyoung stood up with a bounce, tugging off his sweatshirt. “What do you know?” 

“My instructor said he taught us some Krav Maga and Jiu Jitsu for self defense. I’m pretty good at getting someone off of me, but I had a bad habit of just trying to kick guys in the groin.” You laughed, holding the ends of your sweatshirt sleeves. 

“All I’m asking is that you don’t kick me in the dick and I think we will be okay.” He laughed along with you. 

Soonyoung took his time to assess what you knew. It was a majority of him moving you into certain positions and checking over your form to see if there was anything wrong with them. He made you punch the air and kick a few different ways while he held a foam pad for you to hit. He let you know that he was fairly impressed with how much you knew and that your form was pretty good for someone with no background in proper martial arts training. 

You were sitting on the ground drinking some water that Seokmin grabbed, joking with the two of them. “Oh! I learned how to drop someone a few different ways.” 

“Really? I’m surprised they taught you that.” Soonyoung lifted his head from where he was lying on the floor, an eyebrow raised. 

“I had a personal trainer for a bit and she taught me. She even had some of the bigger guys in the gym as test dummies so I knew how to take down different types of people.” 

Seokmin spoke up, chuckling quietly. “Can you drop me?” 

“I might hurt you.” 

“You can always hurt me.” He winked in your direction and you rolled your eyes. 

You stood up and motioned for him to follow. “Run at me.” 

“You want me to run at you?” 

“Yes, run at me.” 

You took a decent amount of steps back to make space and stood as you normally did, motioning him once more to come towards you. At first he looked a little unsure, but you called him a pussy and that got his ass in gear. 

Seokmin started towards you, probably thinking that you were joking but complied nonetheless. He went to grab you but your hand jetted up between his arms and caught him under the chin, pushing his head back with all your might. His momentum was hindered and suddenly he was leaning backwards while his feet were still mostly planted on the ground. He felt something hit the back of his legs and suddenly his feet were off the floor, sending him falling back hard onto the padded ground, knocking the air out of him slightly. 

He stared at the ceiling in shock, blinking up at your smirk as you hovered above him. “God…it’s like the Bahamas all over again…” He sat up.

“Me next! Me next!” Soonyoung was hopping around, looking at you with stars in his eyes. 

You decided to indulge him, telling him to pick how he wants to start it and you’ll find a way out of it. He went for a grapple arm around your neck, showing it to you first before wanting to continue at a normal pace. When he did it for real, you quickly dropped your center of mass and leaned forward some, bending your knees and getting your hips lower than his center of mass. You continued to lean forward quickly and soon he was rolling over your shoulders, even straightening your knees at the last moment to give him some extra oomph to his heavy fall. 

As you looked down at him, Soonyoung was in similar shock to Seokmin earlier, eyes staring up at you in a starstruck gaze. His mouth hung open in awe. “You’re hot…” 

“You aren’t too bad either, hot shot.” You held out a hand and helped him up, dusting off his back. “Are you happy?” 

Seokmin gasped and looked at both of you with the widest shit eating grin. “I have an idea.” 

That is how a majority of SVT was called to the gym, or they started gradually showing up when Seokmin texted their group chat and said he had the best thing ever to show them. 

Jeonghan had walked in first, bored from sitting on the couch and playing on his phone. He questioned what the commotion was, but was shot down and told to sit and wait for others to come by Seokmin. Junhui and Minghao were out of the house and wouldn’t be able to come but Mingyu had dragged Wonwoo and Jihoon along to get them out of the house even if it was just to the backyard. Seungkwan and Vernon came for the entertainment and Chan came with Joshua not long after. When Soonyoung had explained it to them a thousand and one times, and you even demonstrated on Mingyu when he walked in, they said you needed to try it on Seungcheol no matter what.

Jeonghan took the liberty of calling Seungcheol, asking if he was home first of all despite knowing that he was home. When Cheol mockingly said yes, the former insisted that he come to the gym and to hurry it up. Before Seungcheol could question, Jeonghan hung up the phone and smirked. He showed up about ten minutes later, frowning and confused seeing nearly all his group sitting spread out around the mats. 

“You know, I chose to ignore his text to go take a nap.” Seungcheol sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Why am I here?” 

Soonyoung stepped up and took his elbow, watching the leader stumble to get his slides off and traverse onto the mat near you. “I need you to try and attack Honey.” 

“What?” He shook his head, confused. “Attack her? Why?”

“Just do it. Run at her.” 

Seungcheol took a moment to look at you, taking in your attire of a sweatshirt and leggings, shoes off and hair tied up in a bun. You were smirking at him, you didn’t try and hide it. It was amusing to have him left in the dark, he probably wasn’t used to not having some sort of control over a situation. 

Your smirk held, placing a hand on your hip as you leaned onto one side. You didn’t say anything, only giving him a once over from head to toe. 

“This is stupid.” 

Jeonghan called out from the floor, resting his head on Seungkwan’s thigh who sat criss-cross on the floor. “Just shut up and do it!

With one more moment of hesitation, Seunghcheol sighed and rolled his shoulders back. “This is still stupid.” 

Watching him, you knew he wasn’t taking it seriously, he was too relaxed and honestly you were going to use that to your advantage. He started for you, walking rather than running and when he reached his arm out to simply grab you, you grabbed his forearm and pulled him forward. Quickly you turned and placed your back to his chest, dropping your center of mass like you did to Soonyoung. You leaned yourself forward and a curse of fuck- was heard from him behind you before you rolled him over your shoulders. His back hit the mat with a thud and instantly your arm was grabbed. 

It happened so quickly that you almost didn’t understand the change in position. Seungcheol had yanked you down and your back hit the floor but your head was cushioned by a hand. He was hovering over you, leaning down as he held your head, feet planted on either side of your hips. 

Seungcheol didn’t look mad, maybe a bit amazed if you had to place an emotion to it. His smile was more a smirk and his eyes were narrowed but pupils blown wide. “Don’t ever try that shit again, princess.” 

He removed his hand from your head and straightened his back, continuing to smirk down at you before stepping over you. “I’m ordering pizza for dinner.” Was all he said before walking off the mat and out of the gym. 

You were a bit stunned, breathing a bit hard as you stared absently at the ceiling. Seokmin came over to see if you were okay but you just nodded and sat up, shaking your head some to get whatever shocked feeling to go away. 

Jeonghan sat up and made his way over, squatting down to better see you. “You alright, little one?” His tone was genuine unlike the teasing he used when typically speaking to you. 

You nodded again and pushed any stray hairs from your face. “Yeah- Yeah, I’m good. I just didn’t expect that.” 

“Hmm, it’s okay.” He raised his hand and brushed a strand of hair that fell back in your face behind your ear. “You need to be careful.” 

“I know- I know.” You nodded again. 

“Watch yourself.” He helped you up and checked your forearm for any marks from Seungcheol grabbing your arm in return. A smirk was wide on his face now. “Cheolie is like a lion, leo signs and all, and you are basically just a mouse in his eyes."

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@unlikelysublimekryptonite @iiaweirdo @aurorajoye

[cant-get-no-worse]

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lionel messi of barcelona (2005 - 2021), who could ever reach up to you? you tried to leave several times, you went through the best and the worst of times, you fought with the board, you had some shaddy stories going around, you were an imperfect human and player like all, subject to money, selfishness or foolish actions, but thank you.

thank you so much.

thank you for being La Masia’s, for being so fucking quiet they thought you were mute, for making friends with Piqué and Cesc, thank you for hanging out with Dinho, Deco and the Brazilian’s in 2007, thank you for rising up to stardom as the team was crumbling down, for shining on the brightest Treble stage, for the out of the blue friendship with Zlatan, for staggering drunk and happy at that celebration, for those 91 goals, for bringing the Ballon d’Or again and again to the Nou. thank you for orchestrating our field with Xavi and Andrés, for being at Tito’s side, for the silly doping post on missing Xavi’s press conf, for your utterly selfless friendship with Luis and Ney, for that 2018/2019 UCL run and the bravery of realizing home wasn’t it anymore.

thank you for being 13 and giving the bare minimum to trainings yet still blowing minds away, for being 22, reckless, cocky, kissing that boot, for being 24 and ready to devoure the world whole, sticking your tongue at the most random ass occasions, for being 25 and destroying teams drinking coke, 27 and dribbling Atlético and Bayern, 29 getting those tattoos and bleaching those hair in that ridiculously fine haircut, 30 and exhibing your name to Madrid, 31 for that free kick, carrying a numb team up to the brightest stages on your sole back, 34 and saying goodbye.

the entorno is rooted in Barcelona’s every issues, something that drove Cruyff, Guardiola and so many others away, and eventually, after putting up with it, you too. being the face of our many glories made you the one for our every defeats. you somehow put up with it too. i’ve watched my team summon oases in the desert; i’ve watched my team dig its grave in the sand, and all this time, you never left.

players come and go, and the club remains. you’re not above the club, nobody is: and you never claimed to be. you’ve forged unforgettable parts of its History, and much like Argentina, you are now inalienable to its legend. you were La Masia’s child, the team’s starboy, the Nou’s prince and the people’s king. i believe a few years, maybe decades down the line we will realize the depth of your stature in this club. who else could pretend to do so?

this city and this club gave you somewhere to grow up, to develop your talent and work ethic in a unique football team and a vision forged by Cruyff’s and Pep; in return, you gave it twenty years of love and genius. as i said, you’re not immune to anger, greed, selfishness, pride, every trait that such a high-paced, public, stressfull, millionaire life can offer; you wanted to leave, your role at the club could exceed that of a normal player, we never know what kind of background politics and arrangements went on all those years. but you’re also a guy i kind of grew up with and one of the very rare football players who never deceived me character-wise. to think Fate or God gave such talent to a seemingly good person, and to see such individual play weekly, at my club, is a peace of mind numerous supporters can only dream of having.

i love you. nothing, apart from seeing you representing my country, rendered me more proud than seeing every version of you play in Blaugrana. i can’t describe the pride, the utter joy, the passion when you kissed the crest, the game, the euphoria when you pulled up a trick we never thought possible. to see you wriggle out of defenders, dribble a midfield, run like the wind, slot an inch-accurate pass. to get so used to your shape, your attitude on the pitch, that i could spot you from the corner of my eyes on the posture alone. that season when a free kick was like a penalty, the nervosity, the tenderness. i pity those who haven’t been lucky enough to see you being draped in their club’s colors at eighteen, twenty five and thirty four; it was not something for History to explain, but for people to witness. you made me fall back in love with football every week. your partnership with Dinho, your endless combinations with the nerds of midfield - Xavi, Busi, Andrés -, your firey one-two with Alves, your connection with Luis and Ney, your calls for Jordi on the wings, your willingness to help Ousmane, Antoine and Pedri. you made me want to pick up a ball and see if i too, could run faster with it than without.

i know this club’s institution made you go through hell times and back. but despite all, i still hope the memories of people chanting your name, of the Barça’s anthem resounding in the Nou on a UCL night, of the buzzing excitement and blind trust we gave our team before a Clasico, of the thunder erupting after a goal, of our colours displayed in our tifos, i hope all those remain untainted by the actions of politics. these moments, not the contracts, the empty promises, not the desperate calls or futile debate on social medias, these were the most sincere and spontaneous demonstration of love this club has ever given you.

i would have wanted to chant your name in the Nou one time in my life. I remain hopefull one day I will. life is so damn strange and opens so many paths— I know one of them will somehow bring you here. I know we will give you your proper farewell in a stadium full of people who witnessed who you are, what you gave, how you failed and how you conquered. I’m strangely peaceful about it. but in the meantime, 10, thank you. thank you so much, for everything. i hope you’ll spend time with your family, you’ve earned it. and above all, I hope you find back the joy in playing football, delivered from all pressure, races, debates, discourses, expectations, missing pieces; because, after having seen you do what you do best for more than a decade, I know that spark can’t be gone very far. you just gotta pick a ball up and run right ahead.

thank you so fucking much. i will never forget what it was like to see you in blaugrana.  i love you.

[earthgoddessmusings]

This is a clip of a river baptism in the St. Joseph community located in Franklin, Louisiana (St. Mary Parish). The man who captured this video is a family member of the preacher.

My grandfather is the man in the blue tinted shirt who assists with the baptism. He served as a decon at the church in this small community. My grandmother is the woman in all white with glasses (white feathered hat) who walks behind Mama Jackson as they help her to her car. This clip makes me emotional. My grandfather died when I was 8 years old, but I remember how much he loved me. He called me his little lump of sugar. My father has his face, and I look like my father. I spent a lot of time with my grandma in the years she became ill before her death in 2018 and I learned so much about myself from bearing witness to her light.

These are scenes from everyday black life that we take for granted because we live it. When I stand back and watch black people just being I'm in awe of how beautiful we are. I love how everyone lays hands on each other, the muted sense of joy, the smiles and hugs. When I say my people, this is who I speak of. I love that I'm a product of these people. Most of the elders in this video have transitioned, while the children in the background have become elders and most have moved away from this small community.

I hope that when you look at the ancestors that stand behind you, you find beauty in who you're from, where you're from; and that it heals you and gives you a sense of pride.

[reblogs are off because I don't own this video. I'm so happy that Mr. Wiggins captured this moment so that years later I could see my grandparents in their younger days (long before I was thought of). It makes me want to record more moments for my future kin to discover]

[haveyouseenthis-childhoodshow]

Have you seen this childhood show: Pickle and Peanut (2015-2018), United States (English)

Commentary/Context/Memories: No user commentary

[Mod A: This show was about two photorealistic pieces of food, one a pickle and the other a peanut. They get into shenanigans that were inspired by the creators’s teenager years in the 70s. Pickle is an adult and Peanut might either be a teenager or an adult (hard to figure out from the research), but they both work at the Mjärt Mart. Pickle is a bit of a nerd while Peanut’s goal is popularity and wants to attract the ladies. This show was aimed at preteens and includes a lot of body/fart/potty humour as well as very odd side-characters, for example Sneaky Patty (“a woman who hides in the bushes at Pickle's house”), Wayne (“mute character with an ugly face and creepy stare”) and Ragga (“a Jamaican goose who sells crazy products to help the boys whenever they need help”)(all descriptions quoted from the Wikipedia). This gives off similar vibes to adult cartoons, like Big Mouth or Rick and Morty (but I don’t watch them, so idk how true this comparison is). Apparently the creator of this show, Joel Trussell, also created Fish Hooks, which I vividly remember watching only because my crush at the time had the characters from that show cut out for her binder cover haha]

[hotasfahrenheit]

So you wanna get into NCT, eh?

Part 2 - NCT 127 - Introduction and MVs

I promised I would do more of this and the holidays are done and today is the first of the year so that seems like a great time to get to it!

Tumblr has a 10 video limit so I'll actually make a second 127 post tomorrow(?) with some more MVs, but these are my personal picks for 10 most crucial 127 MVs so that's what we're starting with.

I mentioned in my intro post to NCT that NCT 127 debuted in July 2016, on the 7th, after the larger whole group of NCT had debuted in April of that year. 127 is the longitude of Seoul, and with the original intent of NCT to have a multitude of subgroups focused on different parts of the world, 127 were established as the first of these groups with a focus on Seoul and South Korea.

NCT 127 debuted with seven members:

Taeil, Taeyong, Yuta

Jaehyun, Winwin

Mark, Haechan

In December of 2016, two ungrouped, already debuted members of NCT were added to 127, Johnny and Doyoung, and then the final member, Jungwoo, was added in September of 2018 after he joined NCT earlier that year.

Johnny, Doyoung, Jungwoo

(All pictures taken from the NCT official Facebook page from the Golden Era promo posts, so these photos are all from summer 2023 and I'll use the same set of photos for the other subgroup posts to be consistent)

If you're interested in putting in the effort to learn the members and looking at this single set of photos isn't going to get you there (how could it?) my pro tip for learning kpop group members for ANY group is to pull off a split screen or makeshift split screen and make use of the many many fan-made lyric videos on Youtube. If you have a computer, have two windows open on Youtube with one having the official MV and the other a lyric video (you can find these by typing in the group name, song name, and "lyric video" and trust me, you'll find plenty). Mute one, compare the video lengths, then time them to coincide- the lyric videos will typically light up a picture of the member singing as well as have their name at the bottom of the video with the lyrics, so you can have a constant guide to who is singing what throughout. Makeshift split screening can be done by watching the MV on your TV while watching the lyric video on your phone at the same time. I've done both of these and it's helped me a lot!

Okay, back to 127 members specifically- despite the focus on Seoul, 127 is an international group member-wise, with Winwin coming from China, Yuta being the first SM artist to come from Japan, and members Mark coming from Canada and Johnny from America. Jaehyun also lived in America for four years growing up, so they started out with a pretty solid English speaking base.

They debuted with Fire Truck (소방차) in July 2006 as we've already covered, and their first EP which was just titled NCT #127 - The First Mini Album. They've released a whole pile of albums, mini albums, various singles, special releases, and several Japanese albums over the years so there's quite a big pile of songs and material to go through.

Now a factual, historical way to get into discussing them here would be to list songs in order of how they were released and talk about how successful songs and albums were and etc, but I don't really feel like doing things that way so I'm just going to follow my heart and list them in the way that feels right to me to talk about them. These posts are a formalized version of the spam of messages that friends of mine have gotten when they dare tell me they want to get into a kpop group, so I'm going to follow more of that kind of format where I'm going to post the songs that I think will hook you with only a few bits of info between most of them so you can just get into the music. If you really want info about album successes and statistics, Wikipedia and other websites have got you. I got you for the music videos and fun facts instead.

HERE WE GO.

Kick It (Mar 4, 2020) reigns supreme as NCT 127's most viewed song on Youtube, and is one of NCT's top viewed MVs overall out of all releases. This song has a grip on everyone after almost 4 years and it's not letting go anytime soon. They've performed it live at all kinds of big awards shows and music festivals and still do, including a few days ago at the big SBS Gayo Daejeon festival, and Taeyong is famous for complaining about his older sister watching one of their award show performances and him discovering later that all the screenshots she took were of shirtless Johnny and none of him or anyone else dancing or singing.

Listen, I wasn't going to include songs I put in the intro post, but Fact Check (Oct 6, 2023) made it into my top 5 Spotify songs of the year in barely over a month so like I had to include it anyway, and I figure some people will see this post first without seeing that one or whatever. This song feels triumphant and bombastic and the number of times I've blasted this while cruising down the highway recently is HIGH so you get it again. A fun fact I didn't include in the other post is that Taeyong did some of the choreography for the song, so uhhh yeah that can justify me posting it again I guess.

Ahhh Superhuman, my criminally underrated beloved. I'm constantly waffling on what my favourite NCT 127 track is, but Superhuman is definitely one of the top contenders. It's such a gem and I managed to miss it when it originally came out since I wasn't super into NCT yet at the time, which is a shame since it came out the day after my birthday (May 24, 2019) so it was a birthday gift I didn't even realise I was getting. The MVs always cover a decent amount of the choreo up with other things happening but it has some of my absolute FAVOURITE choreo that 127 has ever done which thankfully someone preserved the dance practice video of so you can appreciate it fully. Stellar song, stellar vibes, stellar choreo, it's perfect, thank you.

If you're newer to kpop and you haven't learned about repackage albums yet, it's something that happens where a second version of an album will be released usually a month or two after the initial release. A few songs will be added, a new lead single MV will be released, and a new theme will go with the whole thing. Punch (May 19, 2020) was the new lead single on the repackage for the album that Kick It was the lead single off of (Neo Zone) and is one of the many NCT 127 songs that a lot of people have lumped into being so-called "noise music" since it has some less traditional sounds with the electronic, synthy bits in it but it's honestly amazing with layered sounds and textures and very much worth taking the time to give it the chance it deserves.

The benefit of coming to a post like this instead of only listening to released albums is you get the overlooked masterpieces like Save (June 4 2021) thrown at you! Save was a special collab with Amoeba Culture, an independent record label in South Korea, so it didn't get regular promotion and it's not on any of 127's albums but it is SO CATCHY and such a treat. It's got heavy dance beats and it's so hard to not move while listening to it. I DARE YOU TO TRY.

Cherry Bomb (Jun 14, 2017) is close behind Kick It as 127's second most viewed MV and is an absolute classic from the song itself to the iconic choreo. You'll understand why the choreo is iconic after you watch it, trust me. They've ripped a lot of pants for this song over the years. Mark has an epic rap break, Winwin was still around, Taeil hangs from a giant hook in the middle of a warehouse, Johnny gets dragged around on a couch, there's a lot going on.

Simon Says (Nov 22, 2018) is another repackage album song (from the repackage of Regular-Irregular, Regulate) and is from the brief, sweet spot where 127 had all ten members active, making it one of only two MVs with everyone before Winwin debuted as part of WayV and became inactive in 127. Haechan and Taeil always crush high notes but something about their section that starts with Haechan at 2:53 and has Taeil right at 3:00 always gives me goosebumps.

The original version of Highway to Heaven was released on the Superhuman album, but the English version got an MV (Jul 22, 2019) so that's the one you're getting here. Just 127 playing around in the American desert with a sparkly jangly feel good song with immaculate vibes, what more could you want?

Limitless (Jan 4, 2017) has some truly tragic hair and was one of the worst eras for 127's hair health, and this MV is a really weird assortment of incredibly random nonsense (what is even GOING ON in this entire video) but the song itself is another one of my favourites so I usually just try to pretend the MVs don't exist (yeah there's multiple) and appreciate the song itself for what it is and try to forget Mark's ramen hair and Winwin's dreads (that I think are mainly only in the second MV) and Jaehyun's icicle hair and whatever it was that they did to Taeyong.

READY TO GET DIVISIVE? Either you're going to love Sticker (Sep 16, 2021) or hate Sticker, there is no middle ground. This song SPLIT the fandom and general public, but according to Wikipedia, the album sold "a combined 3.58 million copies [and] broke the record for the best-selling album of all time by an act under SM Entertainment and earned the group the Daesang award at the 31st Seoul Music Awards". Internationally, it "debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, becoming the longest and highest-charting K-pop album in the US in 2021", so obviously some people loved it (it's me, I'm people). This is peak 127 being weird and experimental and there's viral memes of the boys reacting to the demo of the song before recording their version of it that are hilarious. I think it's great. You might not. That's okay.

Okay that's the 10 song limit so you'll have to come back for more MVs hopefully tomorrow. The next post is going to include some more divisive stuff, some softer things, and some Japanese releases so stick around for that! (haha get it, stick around, since I just posted Sticker, see what I did there?)

This post is the second in a series of posts introducing new fans to NCT in a way that makes sense, by getting familiar with one subgroup at a time before moving on to the next. Linked down at the bottom is the intro post, and the rest will be linked as they're added.

Still to come about 127? More MVs, then a guide to some of the fun stuff like their extra content they post on Youtube, before we move on to NCT Dream!

Dedicated as ever to @catatonicrainbow and @poetry-protest-pornography 💖

[So you wanna get into NCT eh? 1 | 2 | 3]