#well she kinda hinges on this one thing of not getting the verses said to earn a jewel bc she wasnt able to say them-- totally fine! we'll

[redpiperfox]

But mainly, and really:

[kooala]

once you realize - chapter seven

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader, Taehyung x his girlfriend Mina

Tags: best friend! Jungkook, idol verse, friends to lovers!

Genre:  fluff, mutual pining, they’re really horny in this one! (like really... also kinda hands on if it’s not your thing)

Words: 7k

Warnings: language! flirting! nudity! teasing! mention of boner! sexy shower scene!

Parts: chapter one / chapter two / chapter three / chapter four / chapter five / chapter six / chapter seven

Summary: What a surprise it was to see you, indeed.

masterlist

A/N: Right guys - this is it. I cried when it was over but it just is what it is. Thank you so much for reading all my chapters and supporting my fic! There will be a new Namjoon one coming your way soon! 

Please let me know if you want the last chapter to continue with a smut drabble? I may upload it as a continuation. I’d love your feedback! Enjoy reading and may they be happy for ever 🥺✨

As you were knocking on the hotel room door you felt exhausted, nervously looking over your shoulder a couple of times to make sure none of the other doors in the hallway would open and give away your presence, but everything stayed quiet. As Jimin opened the door, looking at you, he quietly put his hand over his mouth, trying not to laugh at your appearance. “Don’t even start.”, you mumbled annoyed, pushing your suitcase inside as your wet hair fell forward, letting a few droplets trickle down and fall onto the carpet of the hotel room.

“Why didn’t you take a cab?”, Jimin asked, helping you push the suitcase inside so he could close the door. Once you sat down onto the bed, Jimin immediately rushed to the bathroom to get a towel for you. “I did! It’s New York, they took forever and right when I got out, it started pouring. So I just walked.”

With a grumpy face, you wiped over your bare face, drying off your sweater and hair a bit. You felt the water soak right through all the layers of fabric you had on, causing you to feel a little cool with all the wet clothes you were wearing. Bending down to open up the suitcase, you let out a disappointed grunt as you found all your clothes completely wet and stuck together in the suitcase.  

“Soaked?”, Jimin mumbled, feeling sorry for you as he sat down next to you to look at the damage the rain had caused. With a deep breath you sat up again to look at him and Jimin just smiled encouraging. “I’ll give you some clothes and you can go over and surprise that boy of yours. Take your time to calm down a little bit, ok? It’s all good, you got this.”, he smiled brightly and headed over to his suitcase to pull out a pair of socks, grey sweats and a simple black crewneck. 

You had planned to surprise Jungkook in New York for a long time. Barely seeing each other after that ominous night in his room over two months ago had taken a toll on both of you. Not seeing each other after just starting to get close wasn’t great and colliding schedules had made it a nightmare. As soon as you had figured out that both of you would be off on the same weekend, the only issue had been that Jungkook was on the other side of the world during that time and after plotting with Jimin for a while, both of you had eventually managed to convince management for you to come over for a few days. 

Sitting in a hotel room, soaked to your bones, looking less than cute, definitely dimmed your excited mood quite a bit. Although he tried his best to make you feel better you still felt like you didn’t want to ring Jungkook’s room looking like this, but you appreciated Jimin even more for trying. He had been very invested in making sure this would work and he had kept his mouth shut in front of the others. Surprisingly, management hasn’t told the boys about the ongoing fling with you and Jungkook, either. They respected that he wanted to do it on his own terms and you were thankful for that because the last thing you needed was the others of them bickering the two of you since they had been waiting for this to happen for a long time now. They could wait a little longer.

After drying you up, making you look presentable and blow-drying your hair, you looked and felt somewhat like yourself again. The only issue was, that you didn’t look like you just came all the way, just to see Jungkook. You wanted it to be this dramatic moment and now you looked like you were just going to take the trash out real quick. Pushing those thoughts aside, the excitement started creeping up.

“Right, I’ll head over. Thank youuu.”, you hugged Jimin in and he waved it off with a big smile on his face, standing in the door nosy as you exited his room. Turning around, you tried to shush him away but Jimin was going to peek no matter what you were going to do.

Sitting at his desk, Jungkook was just starting to get annoyed at the game he was playing. Today hadn’t been a good day, a couple of things hadn’t worked out the way he wanted them to and even as he had tried to sit down to get his mind off of things, he kept getting shot in the game. Clenching his jaw, he pushed his chair back, stroking over his face and leaned back, looking up to the ceiling of the hotel room. Something about the past weeks had been off and he knew what it was, but Jungkook didn’t really feel like admitting to the fact that he felt off because he couldn’t be around you. 

He knew that all of this was contributed to missing you and although he really tried to focus, something about the fact that he had you so close that night, seemed to make the distance feel even more crushing. His heart was aching and he was starting to struggle because of it. Who would’ve thought that missing someone after knowing they liked you back was even worse than not having someone to love all? Getting a taste if it only for it to be taken away so soon. 

The knock on the door forced Jungkook to close his eyes and take a deep breath. He didn’t feel like going to dinner with everyone so the only thing he could do was pretending he was already asleep. Not replying to the knock, he shut off his computer and turned around to stretch out on his bed, grabbing his phone.

It had been a while since you texted him back and with a nervous feeling, he read through the conversation again to make sure he hadn’t said anything wrong. Worried, he started pulling on his lower lip, trying to read between the lines of the text you had exchanged, just as he could hear another knock – louder this time. Now he wasn’t so sure if he was able to get out of it, so as he sat up and waited, someone knocked for the third time. 

Getting up, he ruffled through his hair and pulled up his hood to look like he had been sleeping as he made his way to open. Looking through the peephole, he could only see a frame walking away and as he stared for a little longer, his heart dropped. Feeling wide awake all of a sudden, he took a step back to rip open the door, almost pulling it out of its hinges.

“Y/N?”, he whispered through the hallway, not sure if he was mistaken since he could only see the back of her head and something about the clothes seemed off but as she stopped once he called out her name, Jungkook could feel that he was right.

It was you. 

Taking a deep breath, you let go of the door knob to Jimin’s hotel room and as you turned around, you saw Jungkook standing in the doorway, staring at you in disbelief. His hood over his hair that had grown even longer since you had seen him last, his expression absolutely overwhelmed, a hint of a smile in the corner of his mouth. Seeing him so sudden after you thought he wouldn’t open the door, made you feel all overwhelmed with your emotions and without taking a second to think about the fact that someone could see, you started jogging towards him with a bright smile on your face.

Jungkook’s face started to light up as he saw you running over and with a grin from ear to ear, he spread his arms wide open, ready to embrace you once you’d arrive. 

It wasn’t a hug but rather a crashing into each other as you wrapped your arms around him high and Jungkook pressed you so close against himself that he lifted you off your tip toes, leaving you to wrap your legs and arms around him tight. 

Your full body koala hug, made you feel so small in his arms and the feeling of him holding you tight and strong in the middle of the hallway, was everything you needed in that moment. With the brightest smile on your lips, you buried your face on his neck to take in a deep breath. Jungkook wrapped his arms around you a little tighter, swinging from side to side as he closed his eyes to embrace the feeling. Something about his scent was the most comforting thing to you. He always smelled clean, fresh out of the shower and his clothes always smelled like fresh laundry mixed in with just Jungkook.

“Why do you smell like Jimin.”, he chuckled and you had to laugh, leaning back in the hug a bit to look at him as he walked you into his room while holding you, careful to not bump you against anything. Of course he would smell that immediately. “Jimin helped me surprise you and I got caught in the rain outside so he lend me some clothes.”, you mumbled, still way too focused on his face. “Well no offense babe, but you’re gonna have to put some of my clothes on then. I can’t hold you like this when you smell like hyung.”, he laughed and you couldn’t help but start laughing. “Got it.” 

As you looked at him properly for the first time, you could see that Jungkook seemed more masculine since the last time you’d seen him. His face had changed and as you pushed his hood back to take a proper look at him, you smiled, biting your lip a little bit. “You got leaner, didn’t you?”, you asked quietly, noticing the soft pink hue on his cheeks as you mentioned it. Embarrassed Jungkook had to be one of your favorite versions of him. “I tried to work out more, yes.”, he mumbled subdued and you chuckled, sliding your legs off of him to stand in front of him in the middle of the room. “Well you look really good. Healthy.”, you added smiling and Jungkook scrunched up his nose a little bit, gifting you with his cute, little face you had missed so terribly.

“So do you... Hey jagi.”, he mumbled and the sudden shift in his voice made your spine feel all tingly. With a smile, you slid your arms around his waist slowly, hugging him in loosely. Jungkook didn’t even hesitate this time as he bent down to kiss you. His lips felt warm and soft and had a surprisingly familiar feeling to them. Trying hard to reach up further, you got on your tippy toes to bend deeper into the kiss, causing Jungkook to chuckle against your lips. Pulling you in on your waist, Jungkook deepened the kiss, leaving you with a little gasp for air as he turned his head, only to push a deeper into it again. Lifting your hands, sliding them over his neck into his hair, both of you stood in the room for a long while, busy embracing each other. Only as you broke the kiss to breathe again, Jungkook leaned his forehead on yours, a soft smirk on his lips. For some reason it was way harder than usual to stop kissing him today. 

“I really missed you.”, he mumbled, stroking his thumb over you cheek and you nodded, kissing his thumb once. 

“I know, I missed you terribly. I’m sorry I lied and acted like I was going for dinner with Mina when I was already on the plane.”, you chuckled and Jungkook only pecked your cheek once with a fake expression of pouted anger on his face. 

“Yea, how dare you.” He chuckled and took a deep breath, walking over to the bed to sit down. “How come you’re here? How did you do it?”, he asked as you sat down next to him and starting from the very top, you explained the entire thing to him, making sure he knew that Jimin had kept his mouth shut and that everyone had worked together to pull it off. 

“He didn’t say a word, I have no idea how he did it... usually he spills it immediately, at least to me.”, Jungkook chuckled and as he looked at your shirt again, he stood up to get you some clothes. Watching him walk over to his organized suitcase you watched him go through his clothes, choosing your new outfit carefully. He could be so soft and loving it made your heart melt sometimes. 

“I need something that I can wear out. Because you and I got plans, boi.”, you smiled and Jungkook rose an eyebrow, looking at you with a surprised look on his face. 

“We do?”, he put the sweats he had picked for you back into the bag and you smiled nodding. 

“We do. I had a few things sorted out.”, you smiled and all of a sudden you felt shy, blushing at the fact that you had planned out the first date night for the two of you. It all felt right and exciting but telling him to his face felt awkward for some reason. Of course you were more than friends at this point, but still very much friends and the dating part was still fresh and made it a little awkward. 

“Okay... Where are we going?”, he chuckled smiling and pulled out some jeans and a white shirt for you, looking at you with a questioning look. With a nod you smiled and you couldn’t help but feel absolutely ecstatic to wear his clothes. After grabbing them you slid off your sweats, still covered by the long shirt Jimin had given to you and sliding into his jeans, you smiled as they fit perfectly. “They’re too small now, I figured they could fit.”, Jungkook mumbled and you only smiled at him, knowing he had watched. Feeling a little friskier than usual, you wanted to undress in front of him rather than going to the bathroom. You loved his face when he tried not to look but he couldn’t help himself. 

“It’s a surprise.”, you smiled and Jungkook grabbed a few clothes for himself, unable to keep his eyes off of you though. He had seen so many legs and short outfits in the industry but nothing could ever compare to seeing hints of your legs whenever he was able to. Just as he was about to say something and turn around to talk, he watched you take off your shirt, leaving you standing opposite him in nothing but a lace bralette that left little room for imagination. 

With a dry mouth, Jungkook’s eyes lingered on you and as you looked up, he couldn’t even try and hide the needy look on his face. He felt guilty for staring so shamelessly but as he saw the smirk on your face he felt like someone had dunked him into hot coals. You definitely knew what you were doing to him and as you turned around, facing him with your back, you took off the bralette slowly. You only did it because the shirt was white and going without one was a safer bet than having your bra show, but taking the opportunity to let your hair fall over your shoulder, you took your time to put on the shirt. 

Jungkook clenched his jaw, he knew that you were doing it on purpose but he frankly didn’t mind at all. The fact that you did it only for him to see, made him feel hot and cold at the same time and letting his eyes trace over the settle curves on your hips, the few little birthmarks on your skin...

His face started to feel hot and he could feel the excitement rising up inside of him. It felt so strong, that he had to take his eyes off in order to be able to contain himself. Turning to the side a bit, he closed his eyes, starting to say the lyrics to an entire song in his head to stay focused and busy as he took off his shirt to get changed. 

As you turned around, folding Jimin’s clothes, you watched him take his shirt off and if you had thought Jungkook was toned beforehand, it was nothing compared to what he looked like now. His arms were veiny and defined, his back toned and muscular and you couldn’t help but wonder what running your hands over his skin would feel like. Tilting your head to the side you looked at him for a long moment, watching him as he put his shirt on, turning a little bit you could count the defined abs. 

Looking down with red cheeks, you grabbed your phone to text a few people, saying everything had worked out and you were about to head out.  Going on at this rate was dangerous and you tried your best to get back into safer territory, trying hard to look at his face as you talked to him. 

“Right so we can walk to the first surprise.”, you mumbled, walking to the bathroom to fix your hair to look a little cuter and more confident but Jimin had done a good job fixing you up earlier. Jungkook walked in, standing behind you to look at you through the mirror, sliding his hands around your stomach.

“Are you at least going to give me a hint?”, he asked and feeling his chest against your back you could feel his heart race nervously against your skin, causing you to feel the nerves as well. This was the first time the two of you were together like this after officially trying to be with each other. 

“Bucket hat Jungkook?”, you chuckled, wondering if he was going to get the hint but he looked up at into mirror confused, pouting while thinking hard. 

A couple of minutes later both of you were ready to head out. Jungkook in all black, his bucket hat glued to his head per usual, you, wearing his black wool coat, looking like the female version of your boyfriend with his black snapback on your head. 

“Ready?”, he asked as you held out your hand to take his phone and wallet to carry it in your purse for him like you usually did when the two of you were out and about. 

“Ready.”, you smiled and followed him out the door. Walking out of the hotel both of you felt a little unsure about how to behave around each other, especially after the extreme tension only a couple of minutes ago.  

“I really didn’t expect you to come over. I’m happy you did, jagi.” Jungkook’s hand hesitantly reached for yours and as he interlocked his warm fingers with your cool ones, you felt like floating for some reason. The past hour since you’ve been with him seemed so surreal and holding him like this made your chest feel like it was about to explode, unable to contain all those feelings he caused. The fact that he was your man now, not just anyone’s man, still seemed so far away for you. 

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, I was worried you wanted to spend your time alone and relax.”, you chuckled and Jungkook stopped you mid walking, looking down at you. 

“I’ll always want you around, babe. Always. Okay?” 

The intensity of his words made you shiver a little bit and you only nodded, blushing because you had doubted his affection for you. But Jungkook made sure to reassure you every chance he got. He wanted you to know that this wasn’t just something he randomly had on his mind, like he just randomly thought trying it out with you would be a good idea. He wanted you to know that he’s been wanting this for a long time. That he’d been wanting you for a long time 

You knew that everything you had planned out was going to hit the spot with Jungkook. His birthday had been close so you wanted to make sure the first date the two of you were going to be on was going to blow him away. You wanted to show your affection although it was very hard for you to talk about it so months ago you managed to look at artists that were going to be in New York around the same time, scoring tickets for the Post Malone concert. 

Rapper Jungkook with his bucket hat was thriving throughout the entire show. You couldn’t have been more thankful to realize that you never lost your best friend after all. You only added to your relationship and as the both of you were freaking out, singing and dancing on the sidelines throughout the concert, all your fears seemed to be wiped away. Having drinks, partying to the songs you had jammed to in the car endless of times already made you feel like you were home and Jungkook seemed to feel the exact same way. The fact that he rapped along to all the good parts, having the time of his life, made you more than happy after all.

Jungkook felt nothing but thankful for all of this. No one had ever put that much effort in for him. The boys always made sure to make days special but Jungkook felt like you really knew him, taking him to the concert, showing him cool places in the city afterwards and as you topped it off, already half drunk in a burger joint, he knew that you were the one he could never let go.  

“I swear to god we’re going to regret this tomorrow.”, he mumbled, shoving some fries in his mouth as you couldn’t help but reach the giggly point of being drunk, hating yourself for not being able to stop laughing. Jungkook watched you with a smile on his face, half worried you weren’t going to stop and as he saw how happy you were, he couldn’t help but join into your laughter.  

“My stomach hurts so bad.”, you mumbled, leaning back in the booth, rubbing your full stomach. “Well aren’t you lucky there’s no bra cutting into your skin right now.”, Jungkook laughed and you raised your eyebrows. “Oh so you remembered that part, huh?”, you laughed and Jungkook wiped his fingers after finishing his and your burger on the table.

“You think I’ll forget important details?”, he laughed and had a sip of his beer. You leaned in on the table and couldn’t help but smirk a little. “Why did you start working out, kook?”, you asked provocative  out of the blue and Jungkook cleared his throat, putting down his glass.

“Just.. ‘cause.”, he mumbled and started stacking the plates, putting them to the side so the waitress could take them. 

“You sure you didn’t do it so you’d look good naked?”, you smirked, teasing him, leaning back again to take a sip of your cocktail and Jungkook’s face turned bright red all of a sudden. You weren’t sure why you loved teasing him so much but you weren’t willing to stop, definitely not how that you were tipsy. Jungkook leaned in on the table this time. 

“What if I did it so you’d feel like pressing your legs together when you undress me?”, he mumbled so low and sexy, you opened your mouth in shock. 

“Two can play that game, so be careful.”, he smirked, leaning back again and with the shocked expression still on your face you simply watched his satisfied smirk. Touching his leg with your crossed leg, you stroked over his inner calf once, making his eyes shoot up from his phone to meet yours.  

“No need to be careful.”, you smirked and Jungkook took a quick glance around the place to make sure that no one saw the two of you getting touchy in the corner of the restaurant. “What?”, you mumbled, chin leaning on your hand, an innocent cute look on your face as you watched him, moving your leg slowly over his. 

“When did we start being like this.”, he chuckled low, leaning on his elbows towards you, his eyes flickering over your face, stopping at your lips. 

“Oh trust me, just because I haven’t mention it doesn’t mean I never thought about it.”, you laugh and only as you finished talking, you realized what you had just confessed to, turning your cheeks pink in embarrassment. 

“Ohohooooo did you now?”, Jungkook laughed, reaching for your hand as you turned away embarrassed. 

“Don’t bend away now, Y/N.”, he laughed, pulling your hand a bit so you had to look at him. 

“Dish it. When was the first time you thought about getting nasty?” He wiggled his eyebrows but asked jokingly to loosen the mood, but Jungkook wanted to know. He was dying to know what made you think of him that way and made sure to watch your expression carefully as you talked about it. He could remember the first time he saw you in a different way because it really threw him off back then. 

“Nooo.”, you mumbled with a quiet laugh, covering your face with one hand, your other hand holding Jungkook’s across the table. 

“Jagi...”, he begged quietly and bent his head down to meet your lowered gaze. Taking a deep breath you played with his fingers on the table, blushing because you were sure it wasn’t going to be as early as his answer. It had taken you some time to realize your feelings and that made you feel almost embarrassed in front of him. 

“First time I genuinely remember it was the Love Yourself tour finale in Seoul where we all attended.”, you mumbled subdued and Jungkook chuckled at you turning shy all of a sudden. He couldn’t help but fall even more for the way you talked about it a little embarrassed and bent in to kiss your hand soft.

“What about it though?”, he kept digging and you slapped his hand a little bit playful. 

“Dude do you just want me to make you compliments?!”, you laughed and Jungkook joined in. 

“Nooo? I just.. I don’t know. I really want to know.”, he chuckled with rosy cheeks and you chuckled again, leaning in. 

“You guys did the Dope, Silver Spoon medley thing and you looked sooo good.”, you laughed, thinking about it again, biting your lip a bit. “And back then the other girls were there as well and I knew you had met up with one of them a couple of times and I realized how bothered I was by that.”, you chuckled embarrassed and not too proud of being jealous. Jungkook looked over with a smirk on his face and you slapped his arm again a little bit. 

“I’m telling you this confidentially but I only went out with her in hopes to make you jealous.”, he laughed and you felt stupid for falling right into his trap. 

“Well good for you Jeon Jungkook, you did it.”, you chuckled and after Jungkook looked around one more time, he came around the booth, scooting in next to you. 

“I’m kinda glad I did, not gonna lie.”, he mumbled, his lips close to your ear as he pouted a soft kiss on your cheek, causing you to get goosebumps all over your body. 

“Yea?”, you mumbled and turned your head towards him a little more. 

Jungkook’s eyes were dark and sultry, staring right into your soul and as you felt your body getting all hot, you turned to face him more. “So is this where it’s gonna go, huh?”, you mumbled smirking and Jungkook rested his head on the back of the booth, looking over low through his lashes. 

“I don’t care where it’s going to go as long as you’re with me. But if it were to go there, I wouldn’t mind either.”, he chuckled and sat up more as the waitress walked over, asking if you needed anything else. 

“No thanks, just the check please.”, Jungkook smiled, opening your purse to get out his wallet. 

“You’re sexy when you speak English.”, you chuckled and he had to laugh, looking over. 

“You’re just trying to make me feel better.”, he smiled and bent over, kissing your cheek soft once, handing over his card as the waitress returned.

“Thanks for paying, babe.”, you mumbled, blushing because calling him babe still felt surreal. 

“You’re very welcome, love.”, he replied in English, smirking at your expression and after Jungkook had paid for the both of you, he got up, taking your hand as the two of you made their way to the hotel. 

Feeling happy and tipsy, Jungkook wrapped his arm around your shoulders and he couldn’t help but smile bright as you took his hand he had around your shoulder, kissing the tattoos a few times. The both of you took your time to walk back to the hotel and as you made your way up the elevator, arms tight around each other, ready to walk down the hallway, you almost had a heart attack as the elevator doors opened. 

Not only did the sudden noise confuse you, what was worse was all the others standing in the hallway, yelling and seemingly having a hallway get together as the two of you stood in the elevator entangled. 

“Oh great.”, Jungkook mumbled low as they started yelling, mocking you two and with an embarrassed expression on your face, you buried your face on Jungkook’s chest. 

“GUYS! FINALLY!”, Jimin yelled while clapping hit hands and from the sound of it all, they seemed to be just as drunk as the two of you were. Exiting the elevator, Hobi started making kissy noises while Jungkook held your hand tight as the two of you walked over to everyone standing in the middle of the hallway in sweats and no shoes, playing beer pong on what seemed like two desks from the hotel rooms pushed together. 

“Uuuuuh how was it?”, Namjoon teased, looking at the two of you, still holding hands, your faces and giggles probably giving away that the two of you were more drunk than sober.

“It was good she took me to the Post Malone concert.”, Jungkook bragged proud, knowing that almost all of them had tried to get tickets but didn’t make it since they found out too late. 

“You didn’t.”, Namjoon said shocked and you could only chuckle at his shocked expression. 

“Yea I did, was an early birthday present.”, you smiled and Jungkook pulled you in proudly, pulling your arm around himself so he could hug you in more. 

The faces of some of the others staring at you confused since they had never seen Jungkook being that close and personal with anyone made you feel a little awkward but the alcohol seemed to help. 

“Are you going to join us?”, Jin asked and Jungkook shrugged a little bit, putting on his super obvious ‘I’m about to lie’ face. 

“I don’t know we’re both kind of tired we wanted to get inside.”, he mumbled and even you had to laugh from this obvious, awful lie. 

“Booooo, if you wanna get her naked just say so.”, Jimin yelled and although you loved the guy, the way he was so blunt sometimes made you want to kill him. 

“Pffff, no?”, Jungkook’s face turned red again and before he could get into the entire conversation you just pushed him towards his room, laughing, praying he wouldn’t try and save the situation by lying some more. Jungkook grabbed two beers off the table as he walked past and winked to the guys on his way. 

“Night guuuuuys.”, you mumbled, putting your hand in Jungkook’s bum pocket to get the room key out and slid it into door quickly, getting inside before they could run after the two of you. 

“God you’re one terrible liar.”, you laughed as you closed the door behind the two of you and looked at Jungkook, holding up the beer bottles. 

“Maybe, but I’m an excellent thief.”, he laughed and handed you one after opening the bottle on the table in the room. 

“Did you really not want to drink with them?”, you asked after taking a sip and put your purse on a chair, taking his coat off and hanging it up neatly. 

“I don’t know, not really. What about you? If you want to we can totally go...”, he mumbled and pointed to the door and you chuckled, taking another sip as you watched him kick off his shoes. 

“To be honest, I really want to take a shower I feel so, so gross after all the drama today.”, you laughed and Jungkook nodded, opening his beer bottle. He seemed a little torn all of a sudden and just nodded smiling. He turned on his music box then and put on some music, the way he usually did as soon as he got home. 

With a sigh, you walked over and took the beer out of his hand, putting it on the nightstand next to yours and grabbed his hand to pull him up. 

“There’s no way we’re not drinking with them and then just going to chill in here. So what’s it going to be? Hallway party?”, you mumbled as you pulled him up and Jungkook rose an eyebrow. 

“Do you want me to show you what I meant with those abs?”, he said half joking but judging by your more than willing expression, Jungkook blushed a bit and almost got a little shy all of a sudden. There hadn’t been a lot of situations like this one in his life and certainly none that mattered as much as this one did. 

“I’d love to see what you meant.”, you mumbled, walking backwards a few steps into the bathroom as you unbuttoned your jeans slowly. Jungkook swallowed hard as he watched you, his head spinning and thoughts running, and all of a sudden it felt like his brain was turning on autopilot. He ran his fingers through his hair to get a good view of you walking into the bathroom and turning on the massive shower. He licked his lips nervously as he watched you, leaning in the door frame as he watched the hot steam fill up the entire bathroom, watching you peel your jeans off painfully slow while watching him. 

There was no way Jungkook was going to survive this and his breath started going faster as he watched you, taking in every movement. You stepped into the shower in his shirt and underwear that seemed to be matching the bralette you took off earlier and as he had trouble making out your silhouette in the fogged up shower, he saw both the wet shirt and panties hit the tiles outside the shower with a loud thud.

He took a deep breath. The thought of you naked in there alone made him feel way more excited than he was ready for in this state and clenching his jaw, he almost felt embarrassed for following up into the shower being clearly very aroused. Standing there for a while he debated on whether he was supposed to go in or not, wondering if it would be way too straight forward to follow up while being turned on the way he was at that moment and after his jeans started feeling a little too tight, he looked around worried, hoping for some sort of sign to calm his nerves. 

There was no doubt he wanted to join you in the shower, he was simply scared he was being too straight forward right now. All of a sudden, you wiped over the steamed up glass and looked at him through the shower wall, the outlines of your silhouette clear to see this time. 

“You coming?”, you mumbled and Jungkook had to swallow hard at the request, only able to nod as a reply. 

He grabbed his shirt on the back of his neck and pulled it off with one swift motion, leaving you breathless in the shower, wiping the glass one more time to see him properly as he undressed. Biting your lip you watched him unbuckle his belt and turning around, you stepped back under the hot shower to not shamelessly stare him down as he got undressed.

Feeling the hot water run over your body, you turned your head up to face the stream coming down, taking a deep breath as you felt a soft hand slide around your waist. Holding your breath for a moment you enjoyed the touch before opening your eyes, looking at Jungkook’s dark eyes looking down at you, his hair pushed back and some strands falling wet into his face, causing you to take a shaky breath. 

There hadn’t been many moments where Jungkook felt as nervous as he had right then and there. The closer he got the more of your body he was able to appreciate and as he stood there, right in front of you with his entire body on fire, it was hard to hold back. His hand around your waist, he was too hesitant to pull you close, too scared to give away how excited he felt. 

As he watched you closely, Jungkook held his breath as you placed both of your hands on his shoulders, slowly stroking down over his chest and stomach, trailing your fingertips back up slowly, leaving a trail of goosebumps and hot skin wherever your fingers had touched his skin. 

“Did you really work out for me?”, you broke the silence, sliding your hand over his chest one more time before looking up at him. With a short nod, Jungkook’s eyes stayed fixated on yours and as you stepped in against him, he took a deep breath, feeling embarrassed for being so exposed all of a sudden. Reaching around you he turned the water a little cooler because he felt like burning up under your touch. 

Bending in, you placed a few soft kisses on his neck and collarbones, leaving a trail of burning skin for him. Every kiss seemed to make his stomach tense up and with closed eyes and parted lips, Jungkook enjoyed your touch. 

Opening his eyes wide as you trailed your fingertips over the side of his hips he swallowed hard, looking down at you. That was the first time he felt the courage to look past your face, letting his gaze slide down over your chest pressed against his, he could feel his dick twitch hard against your skin. Closing his eyes embarrassed he tried to calm down and only opened his eyes as you chuckled at this reaction. 

Sliding your hand over his neck, you pulled him down into a kiss, deep and intimate. Kissing him with a longing you weren’t aware of before right now, you pushed your body against his more, burying your hands in his hair, tugging on it until he gasped into the kiss, almost forcing him to take action and not be so nervous. Jungkook clenched his jaw, sliding both his arms around your waist, scratching the skin on your back hesitantly before sliding his hand over the soft skin on your butt, squeezing it lightly as he pulled you in closer against his hips.

For a moment the thoughts started running wild in your head, thinking about how long it had taken to reach this point and realizing how far you’ve come in your relationship with each other. The thought of everything turning out as perfectly as it did, gave you a feeling of pride and pure happiness, rushing through your body right in this moment as he stood there with nothing separating the two of you. 

All the obstacles you had to overcome in order to have each other close like this,  finally sharing moments like this with each other, gave you goosebumps and as you grabbed his hair to pull him closer, you realized that there was no way the two of you would ever be just friends. You knew this was way more. 

“I love you, noona.” Jungkook had broken the heated kiss to speak while he was pressing you against the glass wall of the shower. His forehead was leaning on yours, his nose brushing over yours so soft you felt like you were about to just melt to the floor under his touch. Turning slowly under his touch, your body just molding against his, you looked up at his face. Unable to say anything you nodded, stroking your thumb over his lower lip soft, pulling on it gently. 

Sliding both arms around him, you kissed over his neck, up his jaw until you reached his lips, the kiss meaning way more than any of the other kisses ever could. “You too Jungkook. Really do.”, you mumbled softly against his lips and from the bright smile on his face you could tell that he must’ve heard it. 

Pressing his lips against yours hungry again, Jungkook slid his hands down both of your arms, interlocking your fingers before pinning them against the wall above your head. Something was telling you this was going to be one of the best nights you ever had.  

taglist: @beamingmaylyn​ here you go hun 😊✨

If you’ve managed to read this far, I’d be more than thankful if you could like and reblog my chapter if you enjoyed it! If you have any suggestions for improvement or any drabble requests - make sure to shoot me a message!

Thank you so much for taking part in this fic and giving me so much love and feedback for it! Again - a Namjoon fic will be following shortly! 

Also don’t forget to give me feedback about the continuation smut drabble if you want one (: Thank you guys! Love you 💖✨

© kooala (stealing, translating or reuploading to other sites is prohibited.)

[dailyaudiobible]

01/07/2020 DAB Transcript

Genesis 16:1-18:15, Matthew 6:1-24, Psalms 7:1-17, Proverbs 2:1-5

Today is the 7th day of January, welcome to the daily Bible I’m Brian and it is a joy, every day it is a joy to come around this Global Campfire that…that we all share, where the fire is burning and no matter what time of day or night it is we can kinda come…come out of the cold, come out of the heat even and just come to this place, this space that overtime just kinda becomes an oasis. It’s like this one space, this once period of time a day that we kinda step out of all of the chaos that’s swirling around and just simply allow God's word to wash over us and then we go back out into it. It'll still be there, but we may go back out into it with some perspective and some transformation in our lives, And, so it’s a beautiful thing to be here with you today for the next step forward. And we have been reading from the New International Version this week. And we have, in the book of Genesis, been reading about this guy named Abram who has entered into a covenant with God and God has given him a promise for lots…like an innumerable amount of offspring, but he doesn't have any kids at all. And he has followed this God into a land that is not his homeland, a land that God has said will become his ancestral homeland, but that hasn't happened either and God has just told him yesterday that it’s gonna be like for centuries of mistreatment before that stuff starts to happen. And all of a sudden, we see, “oh… the stories in the Bible are full of ups…ups and downs just like my life is. There's no straight line to anywhere. It goes through all of the issues of life” and where we arrive is how we respond to those things. And, so, we continue with that journey. Today we’ll read Genesis chapter 16 verse 1 through 18 verse 15.

Commentary:

Alright. There are a few things we should touch base on in our reading today. I’m trying to think of the fastest way to go about this. So, let’s go into Genesis. And we read within the last couple of days of Lot and Abram separating. Like, they’re close relatives, but their…their households have grown too big to sustain them in one place. So, they go in separate directions and subsequently Lot is captured in sort of a nine-king battle and Abram goes and reclaims Lot and retakes all of the things that have been stolen and those get divvied up and Abram takes nothing. He won't let anybody claim that they made him rich, it was only God. And then we have up person, like right after that battle a person kind of comes in and his name is Melchizedek. Okay. So, pause for a second. Some of the things that we’re doing in our time going to the Bible this year is to try to look below the surface, not to find hidden Bible codes or secret messages and stuff like that, but because we need to be below the surface at the level of our hearts to allow the Bible to begin to speak to us deeply. And, so, every time one of these little, strange kind of references show up, and it's happened several times in the book of Genesis so far, where we get a peek into the spiritual realm, most of time we just kinda move past, go like, “that's weird. That's something. That's something spiritual but it's weird. I don't understand it.” And we just kinda move on trying to find the things that would apply to our lives today, which is okay. But since we’re realizing that as we follow Jesus and as we look at Jesus in the Gospels we’re looking at a whole person who is their Spirit and their soul and their body integrated and they’re working through the world and realizing that we are spiritual beings and there is a spiritual realm. I guess we should look at that when it peaks up. So, Melchizedek shows up. This strange figure who is the first named priest of the most-high God. I’m gonna go into all kinds of things about Melchizedek right now because he will show back up for us later when we…when we wind our way into the book of Hebrews, but to connect it to the story that we’re in in Genesis, Melchizedek blesses Abram. And this incident that we witnessed at the Tower of Babel a couple of days ago where the…the earth's languages were confused and people went off into their language groups, that actually has significance because we’re moving one story to the next, to the next, to the next and it can seem like, “well, maybe that was a thousand years, or maybe…who knows how long that was” but there does seem to be a cohesive story being told underneath it all. And we are most definitely watching apparent spiritual beings communicating and being seen on the earth by humans. We see that in today's reading alone. So, we see that a flood happened on the earth because everyone on the earth had only evil in their hearts and the Bible talks about them essentially kind of a devolving into animals, which I guess is a really decent way of describing what happens to us when we are separated from God. And, so the flood goes away, but the evil in the hearts of people is still there. And then we move right into God calling Abram who has today become Abraham and has today entered into covenant with God and the outward representation of that covenant is circumcision. This idea of circumcision is gonna carry us because it's from a Hebrew perspective through the rest of the Bible, but now God’s saying, “okay. There is a mark, a very intimate mark, one that will be observed in the most private and intimate times of life, and for that matter, one that will constantly be a reminder of the covenant and who you belong to, and who you are submitted to.” And what God is doing with all of the language of Abram whose name is turned to Abraham is to tell him, “a new people will be raised up and they will be my people. There are lots of people that are in absolute rebellion and disobedience. These people I’m raising up through you, Abraham, my covenant partner to be my people.” And that's gonna become more and more important as we go on and that is actually gonna cause problems that need to be worked out when we get into the letters of the New Testament's early church era. Okay, so we know Hagar, you know, Sarai gave Hagar to Abram. And, of course, Abram agreed. And, so, a child was born. His name was Ishmael. And we read of the tension that happened between Sarai and Hagar and that's pretty understandable, but Hagar was mistreated to the point that she ran away and she had an encounter with a spiritual being upon the earth that she could see, the angel of the Lord. And often among biblical scholars, the angel of the Lord means the Lord. This is like a physical visible representation, but God. So anyway, after they have this conversation, she says something really, really profound. It's…it's fairly famous, but it's pretty profound, “you are, the God who sees me. I have now seen the one who sees me.” This is actually quite beautiful, because we will remember back in Genesis chapter 3, that as soon and Adam and he realized the separateness from God that rebellion had made them aware of this and even caused this, that they realized they could be seen, and they hid. And that has really been a fundamental reality of a fallen mankind existing until today. We still struggle. We don’t want to be exposed. We don’t even want to be exposed before God. The thing is, people, like when you’re in a relationship with somebody, they only know of you what you're willing to reveal to them. They can only know of you, what you will let them see. So, if we understand that we understand how much we are hiding and how pretty much nobody really sees us, no one really knows us. And here is Hagar in ultimate distress, a really difficult situation and what we’ll find in the Bible and what we’ll find in our lives is that this is where God dwells a lot of the time, when we…when we have unraveled ourselves to the point that we, in our own strength cannot move forward. So, she's in distress but she is also saying that she is seen. And if we could all just understand that the more we are willing to reveal…we could say, “well, God knows everything about me. I don’t…like…He sees it all” but that's different than opening your heart and revealing it all. We can be seen. We can be seen by one another. We can be seen by God. It's all really hinging on how vulnerable we’re willing to be.

And man, I feel like I…I…I should…I could stop there, but there's more and can't really skip this because Jesus gave us the Lord's prayer today. Maybe we even recited it as we were reading it. And, so, the Lord's prayer is certainly very, very famous. But Jesus kinda comments on portions of the Lord's prayer as soon as He ends the prayer, right? So, like, “forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors.” This isn't just debt, like you owe somebody some money. Like this…this is a transgression against you or a transgression that like you are indebted to somebody because you've done them wrong and it needs to be made right. So, we get through the Lord's prayer and then immediately Jesus says, “if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Okay that is certainly a posture of heart. But if we’re looking at what Jesus says and we’re looking below the surface then we begin to realize that the underlying truth is that when you set someone free you are being set free. And when this is the way you live then…then you live in freedom.

Then we get into the Psalms today and we read, “whoever is pregnant with evil”, right? And I mean, let’s just like stop there. “Pregnant with the evil.” How do you get pregnant with evil? So, the language is out of the Bible, pregnant. Pregnant is that you're incubating something within you that has been put…put their very intimately. “Whoever is pregnant with evil conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.” We can say a ton of stuff about it, but there is one of those sentences that we can ponder and invite God into as we meditate upon it.

Prayer:

Father there’s…like there’s plenty of other things that we could…we could maybe talk about just from today's reading alone, but it feels like this is…this is where we’ll land today. And, so we thank You for all the many facets in today alone that…that gives us pause and gives us a chance to reflect, gives us the opportunity to invite Your Holy Spirit, gives us an opportunity to…to just observe ourselves and the past that our lives are on, understanding now that it doesn't all have to be pure confusion, it doesn't all have to be a mystery. There is a way. There is a way that leads to life. And as we interact with Your word every day it is revealing that path. And, so, come Holy Spirit and lead us into all truth we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here. And there's always something or another going on around here.

And I've been spending the last…well…since we began this year just maybe pointing out a few things here and there that are good to know about. And, so, today I’ll tell you about the transcriptions. So, like, if, you know, you’re listening and you’re driving or whatever, and something sticks out, something you want to remember, whatever. Every day, everything that…that we’re saying here gets transcribed by a team of very dedicated volunteers that…ahhh…well…it wouldn't exist without their labor of love and it is seen, and it is valued by many, myself included. And, so, you can access those by going to the community section at dailyaudiobible.com and then clicking the Social Media tab which brings up all the links to all the different social media channels that we interact on. And one of those links is DAB transcripts and that will take you where you want to go. So, that's a great resource to know about.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in the mission that we share that is to bring the spoken word of God to anybody who will listen anywhere on this planet any time of day or night, and to build community around that rhythm so that no one has to feel alone in this journey, if that is life-giving to you then thank you for your partnership. There's a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request a comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial or you can just press the Hotline button. That is the little round red button at the top of the app and just start sharing from there.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi this is Wayne from the Chicago area. I’ve not called in quite a while. I need prayer. Please, just pray for me. Everything’s falling apart. Thank you for praying for me. Thank you so much.

Hi. Hello Brian and fellow Daily Audio Bible listeners my name is Brian Milikan and I’m in Anniston Alabama and I’ve been listening to the Daily Audio Bible for most of 2019 and I will continue to do so in 2020. I am very thankful for what this program offers for listeners as far as the word and fellowship and prayer. It’s just…it’s incredible that were able to come together like this. But my call today is a praise report. First time I’ve ever called by the way, but it’s a praise report. I wanted to share what God spoke to me or how He spoke to me through today’s reading. Today’s December 29th and today’s reading focused on…well…it focused on a few books, but Proverbs 31 was one of the Scriptures. And after the reading Brian focused also on what Proverbs 31 was teaching us. But for the past month or so my wife and I and our little six-year-old daughter have been in the process of acquiring legal custody of my nephew whose name is Justus. He spells it JUSTUS but throughout this entire process we’ve been seeking God’s wisdom and God’s guidance from the first day that it became apparent that his home life in Indiana had gotten to a point where somebody needed to step in and…and rescue him to an extent and God put that on our hearts to do so. And he has spoken to us, God has spoken to us in numerous ways. And today as I was listening to Daily Audio Bible, of all the Scriptures, of all the teachings Brian could’ve focused on after reading today he focused on Proverbs 31 and the idea of justice and that is not just political…

Hey Daily Audio Bible my name is Isadore I’m from New York and this is my first __ year of ever using the Daily Audio Bible. And I didn’t really think I was actually going to call. One of my childhood best friends, one of my childhood friends passed away about two days ago. So, December 28th. He was shot and killed on the block that we grew up on. So, if you guys could just pray for his family, pray that we could sort out the funeral that we have and that we can hopefully catch the individual that shot him, that would be greatly appreciated. Also, pray for me. Trying to just figure out how to sort how I’m feeling, I guess. Pray for…that God would give me wisdom, understanding. I’m still kind of getting into this Christian lifestyle, trying to be a better person and all that. Just been a year be a married in June of this year and I just kinda need help. It’s kinda hard understanding how to grow together and things of that nature. So, pray for my marriage __ and lastly the New Year’s about to start and I’d like to ask for prayer because I’m currently training for the 2020 Olympics and, you know, going to school full-time and everything like that and just I could really use the support.

Hi this is Ben…Hi this is Bella and we live in Pennsylvania and wanted to wish everybody on the audio Bible…blah…the audio Bible a happy New Year’s and everybody on the Daily Audio Bible family a happy new year and a nice beginning of the new year and a fresh start. Goodbye.

Hi this is Bruce Pittman calling in for the first time from Northern Nevada and I discovered the Daily Audio Bible this past…toward the end of this summer and I really love it. I really love the idea of a community of people being able to join together and discover God’s word together. And, so, I just want to thank you Brian and your family for bringing such great value to the kingdom of God. And I will be…today is the last day of the year, December 31st…and I will be joining this community to embark on the journey of going through the entire Bible in 2020 and I made it a goal to not miss any days whatsoever. And just God bless this whole community. Thank you for…for being there. Let’s do this.

Hi, my name’s Cricket from Colorado. I called in the other day and left a message for Anonymous and told her I would be praying but I failed to introduce myself to the community and say hi. I was a first time caller then and I’m new to you guys since August but I spent this whole year, remaining of it, trying to catch up and finish the entire Bible with you and I plan to do it forever until I die, to listen to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m grateful because of this community and not because it’s a place where I can read the Bible every day, which I’ve never done until now, but because I have all of you that I can learn and grow from and you’ve all taught me so much in just the prayers alone. There’s so much value in this group and in this family. I thank you Brian, I thank you God, I thank you everyone who participates, and I encourage everyone who might be hearing this for the first time or deciding if they want to do this. Don’t just do this because you’ll hear the Bible in a year, do this because this is a family. I’ve finally found a church home. I love my church, but it doesn’t fill every desire that I have, but listening and connecting with everyone every day at 2 o’clock in the morning while I milk my cows is just amazing to me. It’s helped me so much. I thank you and I love you and I will be praying for you all in the new year.

Hi guys this is Michaela from Gloucester. It is Tuesday, the 31st of December 2019. I was thinking earlier today about the change of the decade and things to highlight of the decades that have gone before and then I realized that this last decade has been Daily Audio Bible. So, I found it in 2010 and, although I haven’t quite made it through the year yet, it has been a real blessing to me. So, I wanted to say a massive thank you to all those who were listening before me and left reviews which enabled me to find. A huge thank you to Brian and family and Mike and SarahJane and all of those people on the tech side who make this magic happen every day. And, so yeah. And, yeah, okay. Father God, thank You so much for the Daily Audio Bible. Thank You so much for the blessing that it has brought me, and I pray Lord that it will find its way to those who need it. Father God thank You for this journey we’ve been on in 2019 and I pray Lord that You would seal what we have learned in our hearts. And Lord we look ahead to 2020 and we look forward to what You’re going to do, and we’re expecting for what You gonna do. Please be blessing us greatly Lord. And Father God we do lift up the people of Australia and I pray Lord that You’d be giving people wisdom on how best to tackle these fires and how best to protect lives and property. Father God, please bring an end to these fires. Please be at work in the situation. Please be blessing Australia in Jesus’ name. Amen.

[greensconnor]

rod + hero for the mc thing uwu

INTERESTING mix time to display what could have been and leak the ending of letterman verse let’s GO

rod mc: coretta cruz

how tall are they?

coretta is 5′5″! she’s pretty short, especially compared to the rest of the mercy park crew

how do they tend to dress?

blue langston sweater & jeans every day jk except not really. she has a really comfy kind of art heaux aesthetic? she loves vibrant coloured turtleneck and interesting scarfs and big overcoats and flare-leg pants in interesting colours or patterns. if you’ve ever been to a city that was a ‘hipster’ city she dresses like how those people dress now. yeah. also she wears glasses you will not take that headcanon from me.

do they like how they look?

yes! in highschool she was very shy about her appearance and pretty easy to make insecure, but since the whole thing with the mercy park crew and getting to college she’s become a lot more sure of herself and has really settled into her aesthetic.

are they an only child or do they have any siblings?

as established by rod canon she’s an only child, but in my personal canon her dad adopts logan and they really do have a sibling-esque dynamic

are they a morning person or night owl?

morning person ahskshs. her friends all rip into her for being like “well goodnight :-)” at 9:30 pm on the dot after having been poring over her biology textbooks for two hours with six different coloured highlighters and organized sticky tabs only to get up at 5 am the next morning to be able to watch the local news station’s breakfast broadcast

are they a cat person or a dog person?

cat person! she loves cats and she likes small dogs but she has a bit of a fear of larger dogs, and although she’s not terrified of them, her nervousness around them prevents her from loving them as much as cats.

got any favourite foods?

THE CORETTA SPECIAL OFC!!!! she loves anything with bacon in it, and she and her dad used to have ‘bacon wednesdays’ where they would try to cook a new dish with bacon in it every week. she also loves apple and rhubarb crumble, and she and her dad like to bake it together because it reminds them both of baking it with her mum before she passed on.

how about favourite drinks?

she loves tea! iced tea, hot tea, milk tea, whatever! if it’s tea based, she’ll drink it, and she also loves a good berry smoothie!

what are their favourite movies/tv shows?

coretta really likes romcoms! mona rolls her eyes at having to watch them, but coretta is a huge romantic and she loves that kind of stuff! she’s also a big fan of animated movies and has an interest in foreign films as well! she tries to go to as many film festivals at langston as she can!

do they have any hidden talents?

she has a really good memory! she can remember weird little facts that someone told her years ago that just stuck with her ahsksh.

do they believe in love at first sight?

yes! she’s a romantic and the world kinda sucks so she likes to believe in sweet, positive things like that. she doesn’t personally think she’s ever experienced that, but she also doesn’t feel like she’s missing out in that regard! even if it doesn’t happen to her, it’s nice to believe there’s something like that out there.

who is their love interest?

mona! i said fuck canon lives and basically everything is the same instead of mona getting shot it was logan & instead of dad being reluctant to help he was on board so with fbi questioning he says that he got coretta and the mpc crew to work as his informants in secret because he suspected jason was corrupt, because they’re just kids! anyway it all works out okay and mona comes with coretta to langston where both she & logan are doing bridging courses at a community college to finish high school while working part-time, and she and coretta are very happy together!

what are they afraid of?

she’s minorly afraid of large dogs, and she’s not really a huge fan of loud noises, especially not after the showdown with the brotherhood.

what are their guilty pleasures?

expensive berry smoothies... the healthy “organic” ones.... yeah.... and logan’s a filthy enabler so they’ll be in the supermarket and she’ll be like “oh i don’t NEED one” and logan is like “well... what if.... and just hear me out here pip.... but what if.... we got two”

what was their dream job as a kid? is it still their dream?

she wanted to be a zookeeper! now her dream is to be a zoo vet and so she’s studying veterinary science at langston to be getting on that! i actually don’t know how american colleges work but i know they are cracked but that’s her goal and her ambition and she’s on to it!

have they ever broken a bone?

nope! miraculously she didn’t even break anything when she wrecked her car to face the brotherhood!

have they ever been in trouble with the law?

w. well. yes and no... for a bit she was, but after her dad testified to say the mercy park crew helped out, they were pardoned and so she technically hasn’t been charged with anything, although obviously ride or die kind of hinges on the fact that she has been ahslshsjs

+ three other random facts about them!

because she’s so much shorter than the mpc, logan gave her the nickname “pip” which is short for pipsqueak. she had a crush on ingrid for most of high school, and she and ingrid have talked about this in college and had a good laugh about the fact that ingrid liked her back and they just never knew it. aaand finally she’s learning how to ride a motorbike! colt transferred to langston and he’s been teaching her!

hero mc: ronan bishop

how tall are they?

ronan is 6′1″! tall boy!

how do they tend to dress?

uhhh kind of a hybrid of casual and formal i guess? he has a lot of button up shirts, but whether he’s wearing them for work or personal purposes depends on whether he adds a sweater or a jacket over top! he likes a very clean aesthetic and he’s very neat in his style of dress (kenji likes to make fun of him by calling him a prep ahsjs)

do they like how they look?

yes! he’s quiet and a bit shy, but poppy is an amazing hype woman who really boosts his confidence a lot because if he ever feels insecure he can just message her a selfie and she’ll gas him up until he’s achieved god-like status of self-confidence

are they an only child or do they have any siblings?

only child! his mother fostered some kids in his late teenage years, and still does, and he still keeps in touch with a few of them who were either adopted permanently or outgrew the foster care system!

are they a morning person or night owl?

a night owl! he fights the good fight getting up in time for work, but not without a large amount of coffee and a lot of mournful stares back toward his bed.

are they a cat person or a dog person?

cat person! he likes dogs, but he prefers the more calming energy of cats! you just didn’t see her in hero but he has a pet cat named apple ! she’s a very small light ginger cat and he adores her! kenji and poppy have been taking care of her while he’s in the prism dimension. dax isn’t allowed to because he spoils her and overfeeds her ahsksh.

got any favourite foods?

BIG fan of soup. he made a lot of soup when he first started living on his own because he was working long hours at prescott industries and it was easy to refrigerate and then reheat with some toast and it was nice and warm and reminded him of home! he cooks more now that he has a more solid job and he doesn’t have to work ungodly hours, but he still loves soup.

how about favourite drinks?

coffee is his best friend! he drinks a lot of black coffee, but every now and again he’ll treat himself to a flavoured latte when at brunch with one of his friends. his favourite flavour is caramel lattes!

what are their favourite movies/tv shows?

ronan doesn’t really watch a lot of tv or movies. he didn’t have a tv in his apartment for a while, and he reads books a lot more, but since he finally caved and got netflix, he’s a big fan of documentaries, both tv shows and movies! he’s really interested in them ahskshs.

do they have any hidden talents?

being a superhero i guess ahslshsks! aside from that not really? he’s a really speedy typer but that’s not a hidden talent because it baffles grayson whenever he sees him typing at his computer he’s like “that’s abnormal. how r u doing that” and he doesn’t know. he just does it. he’s at 120wpm and climbing bro.

do they believe in love at first sight?

he’d like to believe in that! he’s definitely felt lust at first sight before, but he thinks it’s sweet to believe in having an instant connection, even if he’s not quite sure one could immediately translate that connection to love.

who is their love interest?

kenji! ronan had a BIG crush on grayson for a lot of their college years but he kind of figured it was unrequited, and kenji being so openly into him and so vastly different from him in terms of mannerisms just really intrigued him! they’re kind of an opposites attract couple, but they really care about each other and ronan was really surprised that he did end up loving kenji the way he does, but he wouldn’t change it for the world.

what are they afraid of?

never being able to get back from the prism dimension for one! he’s afraid of hurting his friends with his powers and also he HATES mice. he’s TERRIFIED of them.

what are their guilty pleasures?

sometimes he splurges on expensive underwear that he doesn’t need but he thinks they make him look hot but then he never has the courage to wear them ahskshs. kenji found his stash once and made him do a full modelling show so he’s gotten better with them a bit now but most of the time they stay in his drawer never to see the light of day.

what was their dream job as a kid? is it still their dream? 

he wanted to be a cowboy, but he spent a summer in highschool helping out on a cattle ranch and decided that the life just wasn’t for him, mostly because he’s actually really bad at riding horses and struggled to get the hang of it. now his dream is to get into environmentalism, and he feels like he’s helping through working with grayson!

have they ever broken a bone?

he broke his arm in middle school but aside from that nope! no breakages.

have they ever been in trouble with the law?

aside from his brushes with authority while in his superhero persona... not really. he and grayson did almost get caught for underage drinking once at a frat party in college, but they jumped the fence into the neighbour’s yard and pretended to be watching the party get shut down instead

+ three other random facts about them!

ronan can play the piano! he has a sweet tooth and loves this little artisan bakery just down the road from his apartment block (their carrot cake specifically is to die for) andddd he’s a really strong swimmer! he was on the swim team for highschool and a lot of college!

ask me about my choices mcs!

[fallxnprxnce]

First off, thank you for always indulging my silly questions. Second, I have a new one, lol. Blame it on too much free time on my hands. Since the Hellboy comics seem to imply a zombie apocalypse ending to the universe, how do you think Nuada would deal with the new development? Would the plague affect Fae as well? Or the general fauna and flora? Would Nuada fight the zombies, join humans in their efforts?

No problem! Your questions aren’t silly, they’re actually quite good! I think this one got buried in my AskBox though, so I’m sorry if this reply is super late. =(

So… you are kinda gonna be sorry you asked, because I am a zombie apocalypse enthusiast, haha, and this might be super long. I am a huge fan of the Resident Evil games and movies, all the Night of the Living Dead movies and their various future incarnations, the Left 4 Dead games, the 28 Days/Weeks Later movies, Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, a number of viral/nuclear/magical zombie B-movies I’ve seen haha, and even non-traditional zombie-like worlds and themed media like The Crazies, The Happening, Silent Hill, [REC] and its American remake Quarantine, etc. The only popular zombie media I haven’t gotten involved in are World War Z and The Walking Dead. So I’m fairly well versed in zombies apocalypses, their causes, and how they affect various living things.

In a general sense, I think Nuada would be fine as far as surviving being attacked by zombies. He’s got plenty of weapons and plenty of skills, so I don’t see him becoming zombie dinner. He would also be very smart about where and when he sleeps and I feel like he would be able to keep himself pretty safe most of the time.

Having said that, if he is capable of becoming “infected” by whatever is causing the outbreak, then he might have a problem. Actually, two problems. First of all, he does not use ranged weapons. He uses daggers, swords, and spears. Those are… not what you want to be using against zombies. Well, I mean, use whatever you have in an emergency, haha, but ideally, you want weapons that will cause blunt force trauma to the head, or you want guns. Slicing and stabbing weapons will spread contagious blood everywhere and increase your chances of infection. Even if he doesn’t get blood splattered in his mouth and eyes while he fights (which is likely) he might accidentally infect himself while cleaning zombie blood off his weapons later on.

That’s the first issue. The second is that Nuada honestly probably does not know about or understand bacteria and viruses and microorganisms. Maaaaybe he knows of their existence? But he wouldn’t know how to protect against them as far as contagious infection. It’s not like he would practice good handwashing, use antibacterial/antiviral soap, and remember to never wipe contagious blood on his clothes when cleaning weapons. He probably also wouldn’t know to not touch infected corpses, even just to move them somewhere or check their clothes, etc., with his bare hands. So he may be exposing himself to a lot more danger of infection than the average human for that reason.

Now… the question as to whether a plague that results in human zombies would also result in zombie fae, or would affect plants and animals, is far more complicated. Let’s just break everything down and work through this, shall we? XD

Of course, if your zombie apocalypse is caused by some sort of necromancer’s spell or shady nuclear accident, haha, then only those affected by the magic/meltdown would turn into zombies. Magic and nuclear radiation aren’t “contagious,” they only affect unfortunate individuals who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or the butt of a necromancer’s bad mood. But assuming we’re dealing with something contagious and microbial, let’s continue on.

Although, the original Night of the Living Dead was very sketchily defined, with some “strange phenomenon” or “radiation” potentially causing it, and yet the zombies were highly contagious. Of course, the true cause was never really defined, and it may very well have been some sort of virus anyway. Romero kindof left hings very open, which was all part of the mood of the whole thing. 

Humans vs. fae. I would think… that flesh and blood humanoids might be affected in similar manners by bacteria and viruses. So, as long as you’re not plant-based or reptilian or dragonian or anything that would have an entirely different biology than flesh and blood humans or elves, you might be susceptible to infection. I would think that this would also extend to trolls, ogres, and orcs, so long as the microbe causing everything is not very specific. If it is specific enough to only infect humans, then elves probably wouldn’t be infected. It would depend upon the nature of the microbe.

If you get something like the rage virus in 28 Days/Weeks Later, or something like kuru or mad cow disease caused by a prion, or a virus that functions similarly to rabies like in [REC] and Quarantine, then it may be very contagious yet nonspecific, affecting all living mammals equally. The symptoms of the infection, the gestation period, and the mortality may vary by species, but infection would still probably proceed, but would be limited to flesh and blood mammals. Cold-blooded organisms and plant-based organisms would not be affected.

In this case, though, the infected would not result in true undead zombies, they would just be infected humans until they die somehow. However, if you have something like the highly versatile and mutagenic T-virus from Resident Evil, now you’re in deep shit, heh. It’s highly contagious and can infect ANYTHING. Because of what it is, a DNA virus that is highly efficient in what it does and can cause uncontrollable mutation in hosts beyond their original forms, the virus can cross species and infect all living things. Granted, it seemed to only kill plants (there weren’t like… mutated sentient trees walking around hahaha), but it did kill animals like dogs and crows in addition to humans, and turn them into true undead zombies. So this is worst case scenario, right here, haha.

With something that infects everything and has the ability to keep the dead animated past their demise (and keeping their contagious nature), I would say that something like the T-virus would screw everybody over and infect elves, other fae, other non-humans, dryads, fairies, orcs, trolls, bark children, ogres, nymphs, mermaids, unicorns, and anything else that it damn well wants to infect. Pandemonium resulting from a true pandemic, heh. Extinction level pandemic, most definitely, for all species on earth.

I think Nuada would do his best to first protect his own people. But… since he is the last warrior of his kind, I think he would only be able to do so much before his people just died off. What’s interesting about this scenario is that.. he would have to guard Nuala like a freaking hawk because if she dies, he dies. So her not being a warrior at all is a serious problem for him. I think he might try to force her to become one out of necessity.

But once things got really bad… we’re talking a good 3-5 years out from initial infection where the whole world is just dying, his worst fears have already come true. Most of his people are dead, the world is irrevocably destroyed, almost all species are extinct, so… I forsee only two options for him, one of which might not be voluntary…

One is that he becomes very ill and passes away. Honestly, like… he might become so saddened by what has happened to the world and might not see what he is even supposed to be fighting for anymore, that he might slip into something like the Iron Malady and die. Assuming he can keep his spirits up enough to avoid this, let’s move on to the second option.

Yes. Eventually, long after it really mattered and long after everyone and everything (or close to it) he cared about was already gone, he would help humans if he found them. I think he would eventually get kinda lonely, heh, but beyond that, he wouldn’t see the point in being angry at them anymore. Most of them are dead too. It’s just kindof like welp… we’re all fucked so there’s no use in belly-aching. Here’s how we’re going to survive, so do what I say, haha. I can see him trying to become a leader among humans, and among any non-humans who may have survived. He may just end up wanting to band together whatever survivors he can to prevent all life from dying.

I hope I covered all aspects of what you were asking, but if I didn’t, feel free to ask more questions! This was cool, I hadn’t thought about this myself, heh. Nuada in a zombie apocalypse thing………. I would LOVE to do that with someone. XD

[akria23]

The one with the foundation:

I’ve heard Sterek referred to as a crackship more time than I can remember. Every time however, I find myself laughing more than side eyeing, and that’s not just because this is a term usually used by the same fools that think we have enough power to ruin their ship but not enough intelligence to alter the reality of our own…

No, you’ll often hear many stereks say that Sterek is the only ship within Teen Wolf that’s makes much sense romantically. That’s not just them bragging on our fabulous ship. That’s them speaking on the natural authenticity that makes up the duo. The potential that was squandered and tossed aside. The fact that reality that unlike some Sterek isn’t built on the pretense of only exterior planes, created to steer the story.  But, the fact that they’re compatible because of internal builds that genuinely comes from own individual personality.  That their development points are naturally highlighted. There obstacles already would’ve been set. Haters call Sterek a crackship when it’s one of the few relationships in the show that kinda writes itself.

Thats in part the reason we’ve got the most fics....

Romance in story form is essentially the viewing of two characters falling for the true essence of one another. They have the ability to not only see each other for who they truly are under their self-created mask, but also show the audience the potential they both individually cater to and through their relationship the growth both can substantially achieve. A character’s ‘perfect match’ is one of logical reasoning. Motivation, like it does with everything else, pushes the romantic subplot. These characters are thought to be destined because they ‘fit’ so well, because every portion of them from back-story to personality connects and expand their story.

Stiles is the only character that appropriately fits Derek. Love/trust was Derek’s downfall. Love/trust would have been the development he had to grow through (internal growth). It was his wall to climb so to speak. It created his mask, it’s his internal struggle. So why Stiles…(The main ones for now) He’s human, he’s young, and he’s the opposite of Derek’s stoic. What is the recurring theme between these two characters? That’s right…if you said trust, give yo self a gold star! Basically he connects to every element of Derek’s back-story…and internal struggle. Stiles could have been (should’ve been) the walking dynamite. Their relationship would have placed Derek in the position of remaking choices on some previously bad decisions. Falling for Stiles creates the process of having to face the past and therefore having a chance to…oh yes…grow from it. When I say old issues I mean the offset of Kate and Paige – meaning – love/loss, fear, trust, fault, intimacy, fragility, betrayal.

Understand this, Derek had 2 levels of love…he should’ve had 3 to bring it full circle. Love was taken from him via Kate and then he also took it from himself via Paige, it would’ve been earned back via Stiles. Fear was relearned via Kate and consumed him via Paige, it would’ve been overcame via Stiles.  Betrayal was the only truth via Kate and the lesson via Paige,the growth point via Stiles. Fault was set via Kate and began via Paige, and would’ve been reassessed via Stiles. Intimacy was a lie via Kate and naïve via Paige, reborn/real via Stiles. Fragility was himself via Kate and life via Paige, it becomes nonexistent via Stiles.  Trust was betrayed via Kate and never given via Paige, it then would’ve been a meeting ground via Stiles.

The verses of Love:

Paige’s love was young and fresh before he had known that a touch can be a betrayal. That kisses and unspoken connections can hide true intentions. It was his tragic end with this young girl that started his belief of falling short, of finding fault in himself. Fear wasn’t something Paige gave into, she liked him wholeheartedly, knowing his kept secret.  Derek however, gave into the fear of her being a lesser species, of her not being able to accept who and what he was, and it led him to taking choice out of her hands. He assumed her mortality to be a fragility.  To be human is to be weaker, to be lesser in just about every aspect. Easily manipulated, overpowered, and killed. Derek even didn’t have true understanding of humans and therefore also lack understanding and true respect for them as creatures with their own capability.

The things he found so lacking in humans as far as his last relationship goes, Kate taught him otherwise. He learned of the destruction and chaos they’re capable of and his own weakness. Kate loved making him realize how small he was. She defined powerlessness for him. Every corner that had strength for him, she erased. She was proof that humans could be dangerous and overpowering. She was a master at using anything in her arsenal, from weapons to her body and simple emotion, as a way of getting close, as a way of getting what she wanted. It goes without saying that the things Kate did to Derek left a huge impression on him and how he reacts and interacts with others – def humans. When we meet him, he has no interest in such creatures, much less any respect for them. It’s not to say he hated humans, but his experiences hadn’t shed light to those being good bonds to create (those that weren’t already there).

And then there’s Stiles.  He’s human, but this does not stop him from being intelligent, a protector, and necessary on the battlefield. He is usually one of the first volunteering to go when a life is in danger.  He has in fact fought many creatures with more physical strength than he. He does not however feel a need to make these creatures feel powerless. By no means desires to truly over power them. He is not threatened by allowing Derek to have his own natural abilities. Has many times called for those abilities and admired them. Has been the thing that has saved Derek’s own life and protected that of his younger sister. Fragility was the line between human and wolf and Kate failed to toe it during their relationship and so did Derek during his relationship with Paige. His relationship with Stiles could have furthered what he was already doing through Stiles - learning to respect humans and their natural abilities. . We get a Derek that learns to not only accepts Stiles touch in his most vulnerable moments but also drags him in himself (i.e the dream).

           Being a young human helps Stiles complete Derek’s cycle because of the mirror action that places Derek either on the other side of his narrative or places him back at the hinge of old decisions. This is the narratives time to test him and see how he comes out the other side. The story could have explored many plots that connected to Derek’s past. For example Stiles mortality. There have been moments in the show that’s hinted at Stiles desiring power of some kind and that was never explored in a way that really tested him and his desires. The mortality issue being a theme in their relationship would have mirrored his issue with Paige and put him on the edge of that decision making again. Same for the age and the decision it could’ve been brought to the table.

But, these topics (love/loss, fear, trust, and fault) are also things Stiles and Derek share similarities in and could have really stimulated pure understanding of someone else. Stiles mother/Derek’s Parent’s plus sister – Losing those they care about – Nogitsune/Kate – Falling short and finding the consequences to be upon their shoulders. Derek could’ve really helped Stiles through a lot of stuff he went through, except the show just always glazed over everything.

Part 2 Sneak:

The Dynamic:

Fear, trust, love. I find most people never look further than the surface when it comes to the first two. Often people take the glare and threat scenes and define that as the dynamic, forgetting the other important moments that highlight oppositions. Stiles is often the one to seek Derek or place himself within Derek’s vicinity. No shortage of smart mouthing off, nicknaming, or standing up for himself, or even for Derek. It’s the same with mistrust, I think that was something that went out the window quicker than Stiles would have liked. He wanted to mistrust Derek, more than he actually mistrusts Derek. In fact, a few times we see Stiles requesting Derek’s trust (i.e “Yeah you need to trust us…BOTH of us!” or “Can’t you just trust me?” scenes). This aspect reveals more of their own inner need. Knowing that he’s one of the few characters that knows of Derek’s past and seeks to find out more, it makes sense that he desires this man’s trust on some level. Trust takes value over terms like love for these two people because they’re the types that would find it difficult to speak of such things. Trust has been a squabble for Stiles since early in the show. Not so much about him trusting others but getting other to believe in him (Lydia, his father, his mother through her sickness [give or that that confusing narrative], and then later Scott). Whereas for Derek it’s been people being untrustworthy (his uncle, Kate, himself, Jennifer, Scott). This is why the ‘dream’ moment is so powerful. Because in this moment the audience gets to view how valuable Stiles is in Derek’s mind/perspective.  Derek’s mind seeks out Stiles to buffer the trauma, because he trusts him, there’s no fragility in Stiles what so ever. He is the rock that calms Derek and gets him to accept what needs accepting without subterfuge. It makes sense that his minds goes there because most often when he’s waking from some kind of danger it’s to the face of Stiles. Stiles has been there for him physically, emotionally, and/or mentally since they’ve met, despite all, despite any. That wasn’t the first time Derek had gone to Stiles. It is however, the first time we get so many layers together for them in a scene – fear, trust, fragility(lack of), and intimacy.

Note: I’m telling a lie...the second part will probably be long cause this one got nothing in it lol. But I think it the last for my Teen Wolf Articles so - shrugs.

Teen Wolf Articles

Scott McCall

Stiles Stilinski

Derek Hale

Sterek: Foundation

Sterek: BWRWW: Derek

Upcoming: Sterek BWRWW: Stiles

[oishioshis]

Favourite Songs 2016 ~A Mixed Bag~

This is probably the longest I’ve put something off in my life, for one reason or another whenever I started writing this list I became overwhelmed or really down on myself. What do I know? Who am I? What value is this at all? Well, none of those questions really matter. I’m doing this for myself and hopefully there’s the added benefit of friends looking at this and maybe getting an idea for what I’m into.

It’s no secret my interests have vastly changed between 2015 and 2016 making this an incredibly hard list to curate, but that process made me realise that this whole thing is kinda nonsense. It’s a fun thing I’m throwing together based on what I enjoyed, it’s not me scouring every release throughout a year and giving you my take on it. I’m going to miss things and skip songs and entire albums, this is an unranked list except for my absolute favourite of the year.

However, before I get into my favourite releases I want to give my take on a hobby I had a couple years back. While I think their releases are often really poor and lacking in mostly every regard, it’s worth highlighting the very rare gem they manage to spit out.

AKB48 - Love Trip

This song is kinda fantastic in that it’s everything I personally feel AKB48 should be. It’s energetic, youthful and intense. AKB48 is often bogged down with releases that are mellow and way too easy going for the sheer amount of personality they have. They should be fun, and Love Trip is exactly that, and well executed, too. The mix of acoustic guitars and wailing electric guitars throughout give the song an energy more reminiscent of their older output, the accompanying layered gang vocals, while they leave something to be desired on a technical level, do add to the intensity of the song itself. It’s not abrasive, it feels just right. Love Trip could be described as a beautiful chaos, as it is a mess, but a mess that works to the benefit of the listener, it’s a song about young love, and the song sounds as chaotic as that moment in your life feels. Overall, I’d say this is the best AKB48 song in years, and continues to be.

Nogizaka46 - Harujion ga Sakukoro

I was once writing what was basically a love letter to this song that I never got around to posting. When this song first came out I adored it, the composition and arrangement is so uplifting and beautiful that it’s hard to put into words how exactly you feel about it. The song is a mix of a thumping house beat and string sections with what sounds like a synthesized chorus vocal line, and it works perfectly. The music itself never really resolves itself in its transitions from chorus to verse until the end where the story of the song is resolved, and I thought that was a very smart, well crafted touch.

I don’t hold Nogizaka46 to the same standard as AKB48. I personally feel that Nogizaka46’s output is very solid for most releases even if they falter in some coupling track decisions here and there, but Harujion ga Sakukoro is a very, very special song and I feel it is a highlight when it comes to idol songs.

Now with that out of the way I get to my favourite songs of the year. These songs are in no real order but at the very end I’ll give my absolute favourite song of the year, so if you only came for that then just skip to the end because this’ll be real boring otherwise.

Favourite Songs

Perfume - Flash

People like to rag on Perfume these days for whatever reason, can’t say I really get it. I understand the music has changed but that doesn’t mean it’s objectively better or worse. I find Flash to be a highlight in Perfume’s discography, and the Cosmic Explorer album, while I understand it’s a bit more western influenced and trendy, it’s a lot of fun. Flash kinda just goes in, heavy on the synth leads, snares for days, it’s dumb fun. It knows it’s dumb. I’d also like to give a shout out to the album mix of Flash, it’s rearranged and the dynamic and structure of the song sounds completely different but it’s also really good, just in a different way.

Kariya Seira - Colorful World

A very fun, electro-funk song. I love the electric piano throughout, the bendy bassline, swimmy, sparkly and stabby synths. I also love Seira’s singing, she’s become a really beautiful singer over the years and this song highlights it unlike no other. If you’re ever feeling down I’d really recommend this song among Seira’s other songs.

BiSH - Orchestra

Probably BiSH’s most ambitious song to date. It gives off the melancholic yet optimistic vibes of a smoother Nogizaka46 song, but with a really intense double-kick build into a flurry of orchestral strings. It’s not really a mix you think of to often, but the mix of metal and a string section with this really off-kilter idol punk singing works beautifully. Idol music can sometimes feel a bit fake, but BiSH always manages to feel authentic and I feel Orchestra is a good example of that.

Fujiwara Sakura - “Kawaii”

My favourite side of Fujiwara Sakura is her really emotive singing, and that especially shows in the chorus of “Kawaii”, it’s a very pretty, sentimental jazz song. It’s very jazz, so if you don’t like jazz maybe this won’t be your thing, but it’s jaunty, it’s a lot of fun. Please try it, she’s really good. I’m on my knees begging. I love her so much.

Maison Book Girl - lost AGE

I’ve never been able to describe Maison Book Girl, they’re a unique genre unto themselves, very heavy on strings and acoustic guitars but chopped and mixed incredibly weirdly. I honestly wouldn’t recommend a single song by them, but their entire discography. It’s so unique, it’s indescribable. It’s all one cohesive style so if you don’t like one song you won’t like any of their songs, really, but you need to check them out.

Ladies’ Code - Galaxy

More jazz! But now lower key and subdued. Galaxy is very pretty musically and visually, so definitely check out the music video. I really like the places the song goes, in the bridge it kinda builds this jazzy momentum in contrast to the very mellow beginning and they carry it towards the end. It’s a very neat, chill song, I thoroughly recommend it. Also I adore the bassline.

Ladies’ Code - The Rain

More upbeat and less subtle than Galaxy, but the bouncy synth on top of the continued jazzy feel from Galaxy makes The Rain my favourite of Ladies’ Code releases from 2016. There’s also something about the lead in with the heavy violin into the hard hitting chorus that makes The Rain feel a bit more intensely emotional than Galaxy. Can’t quite put my finger on it, but I like it a lot.

Lee Hi - My Star

Lee Hi continues her motown streak with My Star, and it’s kinda motown-lite but there’s something about it that I really like. The hook is really catchy to me, it’s reminiscent of contemporary motown where it sounds a bit more pop than full motown and that’s alright for me. I also reward any song for expensing actual session played instrumental work, like this song has actual brass sections. However the main snare they’re using sounds EDM as heck. Song’s produced by Teddy so it’s to be expected to some degree isn’t it.

TWICE - TT

What hasn’t been said about TT at this point? It kinda became a cultural phenomenon in East Asia. It’s a really great song. Excellent use of space in the mix, makes the song sound huge and ethereal, the deep house-esque bass synths are wonderful and the hook is super catchy. It’s a perfect pop song if you ask me.

WJSN - Secret

I adore secret, some would call this maybe the biggest surprise of 2016, but it’s an e.one track, of course it’s fantastic. e.one can do no wrong. The music box lead into the melodic synth with an accompanying string section is probably the thing that immediately hooked everybody into this song. It’s a great, fun way to start off your song. That and, of course, the bimiliya aaaaaAa, it’s incredibly catchy. It never gets boring for me.

REOL - Give me a break stop now

REOL’s vocal inflections and general vocal direction is the hook for me, I love her style, but the song is also the type of EDM trap I’m way into. Abrasive trap horns, heavy ass synth, weird ass BONK replacing the snare, the entire thing just kicks you in the teeth and it’s great. REOL and GigaP did a fantastic job at producing this.

BLACKPINK - Whistle / Boombahyah / Playing With Fire

I’m putting most of BLACKPINK’s discography into one because I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed every release they put out in 2016. Whistle’s low-key, simple melodies are something I’m not typically into, but I was immediately hooked by the song, it’s so catchy.  The heavy sub-bass, cowbell rhythm, snare rolling into the bouncy, acoustic build unusually works very, very well and the hook itself is simple and fun, I recommend it.

Boombahyah is basically a pop-ified, big room house banger with all the arabic scale and reverb heavy snares you can handle. It’s almost comical how ridiculous the song is, but it’s a lot of fun, and that’s all I really want.

Playing With Fire is probably my favourite BLACKPINK song of 2016, the electro swing feel throughout, especially in the synth hook is really enjoyable. It’s a very charismatic song, Lisa especially hooks me as I love how she delivers her lines, she’s such a goof but in this song has a lot of attitude.

Red Velvet - Russian Roulette

Russian Roulette is, despite the name, a fun synthpop song with a disco influence. The song is presented in a very monotonous fashion, it leads in with a flat, stuttering “la, la-la, la” and throughout the song the vocals are delivered in a similarly robotic way, very atypical for the blues-y, soulful vocals you’re used to from Red Velvet. I think that’s what makes this song really interesting. It’s a 180 from the absolute belter that was Dumb Dumb, but they still make it work, they, and pop music in general, do not need to be hinged on technical ability to be a fun, entertaining song. While not everybody can make it work, Red Velvet impressed me with their versatility. The music itself is very nice and simple, lots of synth drags, stuttery vocal leads and it even has the rare musical interlude which Korean pop tends not to do too often. Definitely one of my favourite songs of the year.

Oh My Girl - Windy Day

Probably one of the weirder Korean idol releases in recent years. Windy Day is an acoustic heavy, ethereal, bubblegummy type song with very beautifully arranged vocals and an arabic scale (at least I think it’s the arabic scale) influenced musical interlude that completely contrasts the feel of the previous verses. The song is fucking nuts, and it’s great. It’s hard to describe. I really recommend you check it out regardless of the type of music you’re into because it’s a weird one.

Lovelyz - Destiny

Synth, string heavy and intense. It’s not a mellow track by any means, but there’s something about Destiny that is eerie and even haunting. I’d go into Destiny further but I want to write a post in itself about Lovelyz discography at one point where I delve deeper into the sounds and style, but I need to include this because the song is fantastic and you should listen to it.

Absolute Favourite Song of the Year

Gfriend - Rough / Navillera

Both of these songs, to me, are perfect. I find no faults in either of them. They both easily go onto my favourite songs of all time. From the string, guitar heavy Rough to the synthy, discopop Navillera, it’s hard to find a fault, they’re both essentially perfect songs for me. The vocal delivery is beautiful, the way the strings and synths are arranged are both beautiful and powerful, the cute guitar solos feel nostalgic yet unique for the current pop landscape. It all just works perfectly for me. They’re both perfect songs.

And that’s about it. You probably noticed “hey these are all title tracks” well, yes, they are. I wanted to make it easier for myself but I do recommend if you enjoy any of these songs that you check out the respective single, mini-album or album they come from. Also, respect to everybody who produced and was involved with the production of these songs and music videos.

Iggy Youngbae are my dads

[devilofmidtownwest]

Just sending in my thoughts on the show, not trying to start any arguments. So I actually found iron fist really enjoyable. I know it wasn't perfect and maybe I just found it better because I needed my superhero fix, but I am surprised to see how much hate it gets. I still think it was the worst out of all of the other Netflix marvel shows but I didn't think it was that bad. What are your main reasons for hating it?

I’m glad some people are coming forward and saying they liked it! I generally wish the Marvel Netflix universe well. I really wanted to like Iron Fist. I had some faith that, based on how well they did the other shows, they would handle some pretty dated and racist material and give it a real update to reflect modern sensibilities, but alas, no.

(1) Iron Fist follows the “white savior” trope to the fullest extent. Danny Rand goes Asia, then a magical kingdom in a magical Asian dimension, and not only becomes a fighter, but becomes THE BEST fighter, better than all of the natives. And then he literally STEALS a superpower from their tradition (the show implies pretty heavily that he was not supposed to be the Iron Fist) and uses it to beat them up. That’s hardcore “white people are better than Asians, even at Asian stuff” right there.

(2) Danny Rand claimed to be a Buddhist monk but he knew literally nothing about Buddhism. I don’t think anything he said was actually Buddhist. In fact, many things he said were contrary to Buddhist teachings. (And he pronounced “Om Mani Padme Hung” really wrong) The writers did absolutely no research on Buddhism - oranges don’t represent forgiveness, and Buddhist monks can’t even wear green. They also can’t fight people in anger, but you know, you’re going to have some of that with a kung fu show.

(3) Speaking of kung fu, the fight choreography was really, really bad. I would have been less annoyed by it if the Marvel Netflix hadn’t specifically made a name for themselves with their outstanding fight choreography. The actor playing Danny Rand was clearly not up to the task and/or given enough prep time, and they couldn’t rely on a stunt double because his face was uncovered, so it was pretty easy to tell that just about everyone he was fighting - many of whom were chosen for their roles for their martial arts skills - was better than him. And this is specifically Iron Fist’s thing, being a kung fu master. It’s what he was sold as in the comics; it’s part of his charm. It’s kinda like not making Luke Cage strong or bulletproof?

(4) The total conflation of Asian cultures. Colleen Wing, a Chinese woman, placed by a Chinese actress, wielding a Japanese sword and raised by the Hand, who adhere to a very vague Japanese honor code, but the Hand (at least the people that Danny visited on that campus) doesn’t seem to contain many Japanese people. Even the other scripted Asian, Davos, wasn’t played by an Asian guy. The showrunners just took whatever they wanted from wherever they wanted to make their script go, without paying any attention to the cultural sensitivities of that part of the world, which is why I can’t even get my Asian-American fans to watch it. Like they have seen every other Marvel show and movie and they are just skipping right over this one.

(5) Oh, and having an old Chinese woman as a tea-drinking opium dealer is pretty racist, too. But I like Madame Gao so much I’m willing to forgive. Except for that scene in Daredevil where she was ALSO running a laundromat, painting cherry blossoms, because someone was just ticking off racist boxes?

(6) The non-mystical part of the plot was super duper boring. It’s not hard to make problems of the 1% (as Iron Fist was pitched in certain promotions) interesting; people do it all the time. Americans love to see rich people get taken down a peg and we love office dramas. But G-ddamn did I not care who was running Rand Industries. Danny was super obsessed with it because either the plot demanded it or he wanted to be super rich, which is not exactly a lovable character trait. He associated his dad with a company that makes dangerous chemicals? Doesn’t sound like he and his dad had much of a relationship. Seeing him act like a totally unqualified CEO who doesn’t know anything about his own business was kind of fun, but most of it was about stakeholding and shares and company protocol and didn’t make a whole lot of sense. I found it hard to care about a guy who is offered 25 million dollars to go away and thinks it’s nobler to stick around to try and get more money. I’ve never been offered 25 million dollars to sit around and do nothing. I would very much like to be offered ANY amount of money to sit around and do nothing. It made Danny act like a whiny, greedy asshole, which I could understand if he had just come out of a monastery and got really seduced by the material pleasures of life (which happens to a LOT of ex-monks), but he was just right out of the gate, “This company is mine and I want it.”

(7) Danny was a creepy stalker who should have left Colleen alone. Walking in with dinner? Buying her building? Do you know how freaked out I would be if this guy I couldn’t get rid of was now my landlord? Because I would be VERY freaked out. I would probably get a restraining order. But then we learn that, contrary to the way she’s been acting, she’s cozying up to him because of the Hand? Maybe? I’m super confused but that doesn’t make him any less creepy.

(8) There are very specific laws about 72-hour holds and how psychiatrists operate. Considering not one but two characters’ fortunes hinged on it, you would have thought somebody would have looked this stuff up.

(9) Holy shit, the Hand has a cure to opium addiction? Dude Ward you make pharmaceuticals!?! How is this never mentioned again?

(10) The acting was not spectacular. Most of the main characters were having a trouble holding down their British/Kiwi accents, which kind of made them sound like they were from nowhere. Certainly not New York. It wasn’t so much of a problem until real actors showed up, like Rosario Dawson or Carrie Fisher Anne Moss, and you were like, “Oh, that’s how you sell a ridiculous line.” I actually didn’t enjoy Claire too much because she really outshone her co-stars, and her “why the fuck are we doing this stupid plan” question didn’t get answered.

(11) This whole show seemed very much like a rush job. A lot of care and devotion went into the previous shows. You could tell that the showrunners were deeply versed not only in the mythology of the shows but also some parts of them were visual masterpieces with their use of color and framing to resemble comic panels. They had plotlines that developed and ended. Characters grew. They had a reason for being there. You could tell what they were about and where they were going. Iron Fist was a visually uninteresting show that spent 13 hours setting up the Hand plotline in the Defenders, a plotline that already ruined the second half of Daredevil season 2. It wasn’t a show about the Iron Fist. We didn’t learn what the Iron Fist was, or what he was supposed to do, or why he wasn’t doing it. He didn’t seem to know himself, but the fact that he became the Iron Fist without knowing what the hell the Iron Fist is supposed to do wasn’t a plot that was explored, even though it could have been a really interesting one. He just told everyone what he was over and over again, as if somebody in the room forgot, and never supplied any explanation because he didn’t seem to have any information. This is not mythology building. This is just killing time until the plot comes along.

(12) Oh yeah, and Danny struck a black kid and called him a monkey. Let’s not forget that shit.

[kusunogatari-a]

[ Reunion ] [ @despairinghxpe ] [ Uchiha Itachi, Suigin Ryū ] [ Death mention, blood mention ] [ Verse: Ryū no Ryokan ] [ From here ]

“Yurusei, Sasuke...kore de saigo da...”

For a long moment, he feels...nothing. Odd enough, all things considered, and yet...beneath the first thoughts of confusion...elation overwhelms him.

...there's no pain in his joints. No burning in his chest. Staring up into fathomless white...he takes a deep breath for the first time in uncounted years...and feels no urge to cough.

He feels...nothing.

A hand rises, laying atop the fabric of his shirt. He can feel the textiles beneath his fingertips. But...everything else – the aches, the pains, the burns and the blood – it's gone.

Part of him wants to simply...collapse in relief. Physically, no – he's already prone against some unknown surface...though he can't tell up from down in an endless void of white. He wants to let go of the facade – drown in tears from his own eyes. But for some reason, nothing comes.

“...chi...”

Itachi stills. ...no...

“...Itachi...?”

He stares, unblinking, into the void. For a moment his chest is frozen...and then a clenching pain. Not like that which he felt mere moments before his death. No...this pain is not physical.

That voice...

The urge to rise is halted. He doesn't want to look. Doesn't want to be reminded. And yet...he knows he can't linger here forever. Not with proof he's not alone, trapped in the singular purgatory he expected.

But the guilt quickly replaces his relief.

Slowly, without pain, he sits up, lingering for a moment before pulling himself to his feet. For a time, he stares at his palms, seeing them marless. His clothes are whole, neither torn nor bloodstained. And he can see the lines of his hands without a hint of blur.

And still he delays, not wanting to turn around. Yet, at the same time...unable to resist.

Unable to get his last memory of her from his mind.

He turns.

There's no blood. No wounds. No evidence of his misdeeds carved into her brow. Just an expression full of so many emotions, he wonders – as he always does – how she can feel so much. Silvers widen with shock, disbelief, and rapture...before softening into relief and tears.

“...Ryū...?”

As though beckoned, she runs to close the gap between them, lurching against him and nearly knocking them both to the floor. Fingertips claw into his back, brow hidden in the crook of his neck as hot tears soak into his shoulder. Without restraint, she sobs against his collarbone, and a glance shows a tearful smile along his skin.

Itachi stares in a strange blend of confusion, affection...and horror.

“Ryū...Ryū, stop.”

“I've been w-waiting for you, I...!”

Prying her from his person, Itachi stares at her in disbelief. “But...”

“I knew I'd meet you here eventually, but...I had no way to know when. I...!”

Grip tightening along her arms, Itachi's gaze hardens. “...you shouldn't have waited.”

“...but -?”

“You shouldn't...be here...!”

She stares with those damnable doe eyes, looking for a moment in shock. But understanding soon softens her face. “...Itachi...”

“The only reason you are is...is because of me...!” His hold begins to shake. “...you have so much more to do. To...live for...! And my selfishness took all of that away...!”

Ignoring his grip, Ryū lifts her own hands, easing along his jaw before cradling his cheeks. Thumbs peel away tears of frustration and guilt. “...I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew the risks.”

“But -!”

She silences him with a look. “...you knew so little of who I was before we met. We both knew pasts were a sensitive subject. I had a kind of happiness. I was enthralled to do my work.” A pause. “...but...there were avenues of life I'd never had the chance to take. I think you knew it well enough – you just didn't know the reasons why. But once the days would end? Once the work was done...? I was alone. As I'd always been.”

Her head tilts, softly smiling as she looks over his face. “...we were so odd a pair, in some ways...and yet in others we made perfect sense. You...were the first person I let beyond my borders. And as...foolish as that seemed, in hindsight – knowing so little about you, or your past, beyond the horror stories – it brought me something I'd never had. I knew how temporary it was fated to be. The danger it threatened to bring. But...”

Smile shaking, she gives a tearful laugh. “...I would not trade one moment of that happiness you brought me for a lifetime. I know you feel guilty...and I know why. I'm not stupid. But it's just as much my fault, if not more. You forget...this was all a two-way street.”

With a gentle urge, she brushes their brows with a closing of their lids. “...I made my choices. We both did. But I don't harbor any hatred for you, or what happened. I took a gamble...and I lost. At least...in part. Yes, my life was cut short, and yet...” She allows a humored twist of her lips. “...I have to wonder what the rest would have been worth without you in it...”

Itachi scoffs. “It's still a waste...!”

“And it's nothing that can be undone. Were I still living, I would be grieving you just as ardently. True, my existence did not – does not – hinge upon you. But...you became far too large a piece to ever have been lived happily without.”

She spares a hand to lay to his chest. “...there's no changing this reality now. No use in harboring guilt. Let it go, Itachi. It's over...all of it.”

He gives her no reply.

“Every burden you carried has been shed from your shoulders. Even mine. Your fight is done. Rest.”

Slowly, finally, he lifts his arms around her shoulders, bringing her to his chest. For a long moment, there's no movement – just silence that betrays their acceptance.

After a time, she urges enough space to look to him with a smile. “...come on. We have to find the others.”

“Others...?”

“They've been waiting for you, too. Just...more patiently than I.”

Itachi stiffens.

“...they told me about you. When you were younger. About what happened.” Ryū softens. “...I know you couldn't tell me...but at least now I know.” A gentle smile. “...I always thought there was more to you than met the eye. I just...never could have imagined how much.”

“It's nothing I'm proud of. I did as I had to. Nothing more.”

“...as I said, we made our choices.” Slipping from his grip, she trails a hand along his arm before taking his own. “...shall we go?”

Pain overshadows his face. “...I don't know if I can face them.”

“They've forgiven you, you know. They want to see their son again. Would you deny them that, after so long...?”

Silence as he hesitates.

She is patient. “...I'll be with you.”

“...very well.”

Taking up his other hand, Ryū gives Itachi a warm smile. “...besides...don't you think you should introduce me...? Properly...this time...?”

A pause, and then a tilt of his lips.

“...I suppose you're right.”

THIS ISN’T THE DRABBLE I WAS TALKING ABOUT EARLIER THAT ONE’S GONNA BE WAY LONGER. Also it’s for Mads. But this one was shorter so I thought I’d tackle it first =‘D

SO. Uh...I kinda sorta upset Ryū yesterday rewatching a certain sibling fight. And in the midst of her angsting over my shoulder. she insisted on this particular scenario, continued from that ask I sent you =‘D Of course she didn’t do so until AFTER I’d gone to bed, so...I had to write it today.

It’s sappy as all heck bUT I am such a sucker for this kind of overblown fluffy stuff, okay. Allow me my vices xD I just thought writing it out is the least I owe her for upsetting her so badly yesterday...and also because this is super sad and yet also kinda super sweet. It’s sort of a bad end, but...at least they’re together?

And yay for after-death meeting the parents, pfffft.

ANYWAY. I have to run for a bit, but sometime today I’ma try to tackle that long Mads drabble. It’s super AU and yet? I have high hopes for it, if I can pull it off without making it weird =‘D WE’LL SEE

Until then, enjoy this little angst-fest =‘D #sorrynotsorry

[jakelace]

2017 IN FILM - PART 5 (40-31)

40. Happy Death Day

“So I’m supposed to keep dying until I figure out who my killer is?”

Happy Death Day’s most unforgivable sin is that it doesn’t use 50 Cent’s ‘In Da Club’ even though it was prominently featured in the trailer. That’s a joke, really…mostly. But it does speak to my enjoyment of the film that that is one of the few complaints I have with it, with my others being that it is fairly predictable and doesn’t have a satisfying ending. Outside of that though, this slasher romp is an entertaining twist on the Groundhog’s Day formula. Much like with 2014′s Live. Die. Repeat. the addition of this plot thread mixed with another genre left me with a refreshed feeling. While its central idea isn’t very original, its send-up of genre tropes and cliches while also making a vaguely compelling story of its own is pretty admirable. The icing on the proverbial birthday cake though is Jessica Rothe’s performance as our lead. Rothe believably sells the amount of trauma dying brutally every single day would have on a person. I just wish all slasher films had the sense of fun this one does…get it? Wish? Like a candle on a birthday cake? Never mind.

39. Atomic Blonde

“You know those movies where the picture just starts to slow down and melt…then catch fire? Well, that’s Berlin.”

Atomic Blonde’s story is pretty dumb. I don’t know why I’m starting today’s mini-reviews with all the things I didn’t like about a film, but here we are. Yes, Atomic Blonde’s story is not only the aforementioned dumb, but it also is told in such a disorienting and nonsensical way that if this were any other film, I probably would have tuned out pretty quickly. But this isn’t any other film, this is Atomic Blonde we’re talking about here. The story itself is nothing more than a vessel used to carry us between action sequences where Charlize Theron beats dudes senseless and is also just an all-around badass. If that’s what you’re looking for, then I’m certain you won’t be disappointed. It also helps to have David Leitch in the director’s chair though. Leitch has such a sublime eye for action set pieces and every moment is carefully shot with as few cuts as possible, which is so needed in the modern action film landscape. I left this viewing with a newfound confidence in Deadpool 2′s quality and a need to see more from Theron in this role.

38. It Comes at Night

“You can’t trust anyone but family.”

I wrote at length about my feelings on this film in a review that you can read here, and my thoughts haven’t really changed, so I’ll keep my this mini-review extra mini. While at times it can seem like a retread of other recent horror films, It Comes at Night offers a well crafted look at anxiety and paranoia. I still can’t think about that long hallway shot without getting chills. Yikes.

37. Better Watch Out

“What delusional infant thinks a break-in is going to get you to second base?”

I don’t want to talk about Better Watch Out. Not because I didn’t enjoy it, I did quite a bit. I don’t want to talk about it because its very existence and my enjoyment hinges on knowing as little as possible going into it. Now, that being said, I’ll do my best to describe what I liked about it without giving anything away. What originally intrigued me about Better Watch Out is that it was a twist on the tried and true home invasion sub-genre of film. In this regard, the film knocks it out of the park. Chris Peckover’s holiday themed horror-comedy blends its genres so well while also paying homage to home invasion films that came before it that its honestly pretty impressive, and its take-down of toxic masculinity didn’t go unnoticed by me either. Unfortunately the only thing keeping this from being an instant recommend are the opening twenty minutes which are painfully bland.  

36. Mr. Roosevelt

“Eric is taking a break from music right now. He’s getting his real estate license.”

“I love houses.”

There is something about films like Grosse Pointe Blank where the main character returns home after years of being away that really gets me. Mr. Roosevelt, Noël Wells’ directing and writing debut, is no different. The story follows Emily (also played by Wells) who returns to her ex-boyfriend’s home when she gets news that the cat that they had bought together has become sick. Wells’ performance here is what instantly endeared me to her character and the film overall. I know that when I say this I’m definitely going to sound like a #millennial (I hate myself for typing this), but Emily’s struggle to find where her life is going while also balancing the influence of where she came from spoke to me and impacted me more than it probably should have. Also, let me just say that the idea to shoot this on 16mm made this look way more gorgeous than it has any right to be.

35. Spider-Man: Homecoming

“Don’t mess with me. Because I will kill you, and everybody you love.”

Spider-Man. Spider-Man. He’s in the MCU and that’s pretty grand. He can joke. Also kinda flies. Too bad the action hurts my eyes. Look out! Here comes Tom Holland as the best Spider-Maaaaan.

If you didn’t read that in the tune of the 1960′s Spider-Man Theme, then you should get on that. And if you want to read my original review on Spider-Man: Homecoming you can do so here. 

34. The LEGO Batman Movie

“My name’s Richard Grayson, but all the kids at the orphanage call me Dick.”

“Well, children can be cruel.”

Nanananananananananananana Batmaaaan…alright, sorry, I’ll stop. Who would have guessed that the best iteration of the Caped Crusader in years would come in an adorable LEGO form? The LEGO Batman movie is everything Ninjago wishes it could be. It perfectly embraces the history of the character while also providing a brand new story all its own. Will Arnett reprises his role as Batman from the original LEGO movie and does so with just as much comedic timing and laugh-out-loud moments, but the voice talent who steals the show here is Michael Cera as Robin. Cera’s interpretation of Robin as a doe-eyed orphan who finds inexplicable joy in everything stands to be my favorite adaptation of the classic character yet. However, the true hero here is director Chris McKay who uses all of his prior knowledge from Robot Chicken to side-splitting effect. The zany and fast-paced comedy that McKay is so obviously well-versed in fits perfectly with a child friendly tone without losing its punch. Here’s hoping that the rest of the inevitable LEGO movies can have as much hilarity and heart as this one.

33. Free Fire

“Hey, I like your cardboard armor.”

“It’s protection from infection.”

If you told me a year ago that a movie all about a bunch of idiotic criminals having a shoot-out in an abandoned warehouse would be as funny as this is…I probably would have believed you, that just sounds amazing. And while the end product is less than amazing, Free Fire still manages to be some of the most fun I had at a theater in 2017. It takes a while for it to get there, but once it really ramps up, every line spoken, every scream released, and every stray bullet fired got a big laugh out of me. If that isn’t enough to sell you, then maybe the fantastic cast including Brie Larson and Cillian Murphy will. And hey, if you watch this at home you won’t even have to deal with an elderly couple talking really loudly in front of you before they were ejected for stealing a collectable popcorn bucket from the front of the theater. That happened.

32. My Life as a Zucchini

“Your mum is no longer here, Icare.”

My Life as a Zucchini, also known as Heartbreak: The Movie, does what so few children’s films have the guts to do. It teaches real world issues like death and abuse in a way that is easy for kids to understand and yet not over overly graphic. There is a specific scene where Zucchini is told each child in the orphanage’s backstory and if you aren’t welling up with tears by the end of that, then I’m pretty certain you have no soul. In its entire 70 minute runtime I never felt as though the filmmakers were talking down to the audience and because of that I was able to become fully engrossed in the world and characters that were being presented to me in adorable, claymation form. The voice actors are great, the story is heart-breaking and funny, and let’s all be honest with ourselves, this should have won Best Animated Feature over Zootopia at the Oscars last year.

31. Logan Lucky

“Is it twenty or is it thirty? We are dealing with science here!”

After my initial viewing of Logan Lucky’s trailer, I was pretty certain this film was going to be trash. Thankfully enough, Steven Soderbergh’s first heist movie since Ocean’s 13 turned out pretty well. While there are certainly problems, particularly with Seth McFarlane’s bafflingly horrible performance and a strangely paced third act that shoehorns Hilary Swank into the picture, Logan Lucky is still great fun in spite of them. The film works, in part, due to some really great comedic turns from stellar actors like Adam Driver and Daniel Craig who can make just about any line funny. But it wouldn’t be a heist movie without…well…a heist, and writer Rebecca Blunt delivers on that front with heist that is equal parts intelligent (well, as intelligent as some of these characters can get) and thrilling. And while this isn’t my favorite movie heist of 2017, there is something to be said for how unbelievably satisfying it is watching it all get pulled off, and that’s really all you can ask for.

That’s all for today, but join me tomorrow as I discuss four superhero films, three period pieces, two supernatural Criterion films, and one touching love story.