19:37 Hulk Hyogi Hey, hyung. So, out of
idle curiosity, how’s your butt?
19:38 Wonchic Hey, Sanghyuk. And that
depends. Which butt are you talking about?
19:38 Hulk Hyogi The one with a mind of
its own, of course. If you want to give an update on the other one, too,
though, be my guest.
19:38 Wonchic Butt’s been a perfect
angel, thanks for asking. I don’t know why I
didn’t start bringing him to the studio sooner, it’s really nice having company
while I work. You know, that doesn’t talk back and can’t distract me.
19:38 Hulk Hyogi Oh, I’m sure you get
plenty distracted regardless. I know how you get around cute things.
19:39 Wonchic I’m going to ignore
that last statement. So, what’s been going
on at home base?
19: 39 Hulk Hyogi Well, Leo-hyung made
kimchi jjigae for dinner N-hyung picked up a
stray Hongbin nearly heaved
his chair through the window again playing Overwatch You know, the usual.
19:39 Wonchic I could really go for
some kimchi jjigae right now. Did you save me any, perchance?
19:40 Hulk Hyogi Well, we saved some,
but it’ll probably be gone by the time you get home, sorry to say. I know you
were planning on spending the night at the studio, and you’ll probably die a
horrible, tragic death if you try to come home in this weather anyway.
19:40 Wonchic True. I guess I’ll
just starve, then. Such is my fate. ㅠㅠ
19:41 Hulk Hyogi I’ll compose a
stirring ballad in your memory, hyung. VIXX will do its best to soldier on with
5 members. Or, you know, you could just eat the leftover kimbap Leo-hyung
packed for you, either or.
19:41 Wonchic You’re such a
thoughtful and considerate dongsaeng.
19:41 Hulk Hyogi I try.
19:45 Wonchic … Wait. N-hyung picked up a
stray???
19:45 Hulk Hyogi GEEZ, WONSHIK-HYUNG,
TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH. I was wondering if I’d
have to actually spell it out for you in big sparkly neon letters!
19:46 Wonchic I’m sorry, it’s been a
long day! But for real, he
actually picked up a stray? What is it, dog or
cat? Are we keeping it? Most importantly, is it cute?
19:47 Hulk Hyogi In order: Yeah, came home with
Astro’s leader Jinjin in his arms like they just stepped out of a drama or
something, shit was intense. Neither, though I’d
probably peg him as a dog person if I had to guess Alas, no, N-hyung
won’t let us. Watch this space, though, Jaewhan’s trying to wear him down and I
think he might be succeeding. And here, see for
yourself:
19:47 Wonchic !!!!!!!!
19:48 Hulk Hyogi IKR. N-hyung is
already completely smitten, and Ken-hyung’s not much better.
19:48 Wonchic I don’t
blame them. Kid’s criminally adorable. Why is he all beat up, though? 😦 Did he
get into a fight or something?
19:48 Hulk Hyogi Got mugged. N-hyung
happened to be walking by with groceries as it happened, so he scared away the
attackers and took Jinjin home with him.
19:49 Wonchic OMG you weren’t
kidding when you said it was like something out of a drama. Though is that… one of your
shirts he’s wearing?
19:49 Hulk Hyogi
Well, given that his
original clothes are kinda currently soaked in mud, blood, and rainwater, yes. Yes,
it is.
19:50 Wonchic
Goodness. Well, nice to know I’m not blind yet, at least.
Also I feel like
Chopper is staring into my soul there. 0_0 Let me guess. Ken-hyung’s idea?
19:50 Hulk Hyogi Do you know anyone
else who likes collecting One Piece merch around here?
19:51 Wonchic You need to stop
spending so much time around Hongbin, Hyukkie, he’s a horrible influence on your sarcasm
levels.
19:51 Hulk Hyogi Jealousy does not
become you, Kim Ravi. （￣へ￣）
19:51 Wonchic I’m not even
dignifying that with a response.
19:51 Hulk Hyogi Didn’t you just?
19:52 Wonchic Quiet you. Astro… isn’t that the new
rookie group that just debuted this year, who did that dance cover of Voodoo
Doll last year that N-hyung made us all watch?
19:52 Hulk Hyogi >:P The very same.
19:53 Wonchic Gosh, good thing he
stepped in then. That could have been… bad.
19:53 Hulk Hyogi You’re telling me.
Poor guy seems kinda shaken up over it, though I don’t think it’s quite set in
all the way yet.
19:54 Wonchic Right, that’s it, I’m
coming home right now, rain or no rain.
19:55 Hulk Hyogi Your funeral, hyung. And
I mean that literally, there’ve been a bunch of car accidents this evening, and
the authorities are advising people stay off the roads if they can. Astro’s
picking Jinjin up tomorrow because of it.
19:55 Wonchic … So what you’re saying
is, I have to wait to meet him tomorrow.
19:56 Hulk Hyogi
Yup.
19:56 Wonchic And I’ll have to come
early if I want to meet him before his group retrieves him.
19:56 Hulk Hyogi Yup.
19:56 Wonchic And I’m not getting
any kimchi jjigae.
19:56 Hulk Hyogi Yup.
19:57 Wonchic >:[ Life officially hates
me.
19:57 Hulk Hyogi Yup.
19:57 Wonchic You’re enjoying this,
aren’t you, you punk.
19:57 Hulk Hyogi Little bit.
19:58 Wonchic Brat.
19:58 Hulk Hyogi Awwww, love you too,
hyung. ( ˘ ³˘)~♡
0000000
Jinjin slowly pries
his eyes open, feeling like lead weights are attached to his eyelids. He stares
up at an unfamiliar ceiling, and has a brief moment of panic before the events
of the day all come rushing back. Crap. He fell asleep, didn’t he.
“Hey, Jinwoo-ah.” Jinjin
turns to see N sitting on the floor at the foot of the couch, a laptop in his
lap. “How are you feeling?” The dancer sets aside his laptop and crawls over to
kneel beside the couch, placing a hand on the boy’s forehead.
Jinjin tries to focus
past how nice N’s cool hand feels against his hot skin and mentally takes
stock. “Like someone ran me over with a car.” Oh, he sounds like it, too, not good.
“That bad, huh?” N
winces sympathetically. “Do you need more painkillers?”
“If it wouldn’t be too
much trouble,” Jinjin croaks sheepishly. “How long was I out?”
“A few hours,” N replies, getting smoothly to his feet and rummaging around in
the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. “Are you hungry, by the way? I could get
you something, if you want.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want
to impose-” His stomach cuts him off with a loud, rumbly growl, causing N to chuckle
and Jinjin to blush hotly.
“So that’s a yes,
then,” N says teasingly, bringing the bottle of pills back over to the couch
along with another cup of water. “And you’re not imposing in the slightest.
Besides, since we’ll be keeping you overnight, I don’t want to have to explain
to your members that we let you starve while you were in our care, now do I?”
“I’m staying
overnight?” Jinjin asks confusedly as N shoves the pill bottle and the cup into
his hands and then bustles into the kitchen.
“Yup. We don’t want to
risk something happening while the weather’s this bad. Which reminds me, I
called MJ while you were sleeping. He’ll be informing your manager about what
happened, and they’ll be by first thing in the morning to pick you up.”
“Oh.” Jinwoo blinks.
“How did you get his number?”
“I have my ways,” N
says mysteriously, eliciting a small grin from Jinjin. “Actually, I remembered
your group is quite close with KNK, and Leo is pretty good friends with Youjin,
so from there, it was easy to his number, and then get Myungjun’s.” He grins
and pops back into the kitchen and Jinjin hears him rummaging around in the
refrigerator and placing something into the microwave.
“Oh, Jinjin!” comes
Ken’s bright, strident voice, causing the boy to turn in the direction of the
bedrooms to see the vocalist standing in the doorframe of one, grinning from
ear to ear. “You’re awake! Guys, Jinjin’s awake!”
Heads begin appearing
in the doorways of the other rooms, and soon, the entirety of VIXX, sans Ravi,
is gathered in the living room, though the rapper notices they’ve taken great
pains to not crowd him. N must have said something to them earlier about it.
Jinjin has to fight down a smile at the thought, even as all the sudden
attention makes him squirm a little bit.
“Oh, Jinjin, I don’t
think you’ve had a chance to meet Leo or Hongbin yet,” N observes as he carries
in a bowl of something hot and steaming. “Taekwoonie, Hongbinnie, Park Jinwoo.
Jinwoo-ah, Jung Taekwoon and Lee Hongbin.”
“Pleased to meet you,
sunbaes,” Jinjin says, doing his best to come across as calm, cool, and in
control of the situation, even though he’s anything but. At least his voice
sounds less ragged now that he’s had something to drink.
“Pleased to meet you,
too,” Hongbin replies, flashing a friendly, dimpled grin.
“Leo made the stew,” Hyuk
supplies helpfully as N helps him get propped up on the pillows so that he can
eat comfortably.
“It looks delicious,”
Jinjin tells the slender, quiet man leaning against the doorframe to the
kitchen sincerely. Leo doesn’t answer, but Jinwoo doesn’t miss the slight
dusting of pink that appears on his cheeks or his small, shy smile as he
glances away bashfully.
“Now, before we go any
further, it’s okay if you’d rather eat by yourself,” N assures him, giving his
pillow one last little pat. “I can send these punks straight back to their
rooms if you don’t want an audience.”
“No, it’s alright, hyung,” Jinjin speaks up quickly.
His members would kill him if he let this chance to get to know a senior idol
group better pass him by, and honestly, he wouldn’t blame them. “I don’t mind
at all, really.”
“Well then, don’t be
shy. Eat up, there’s plenty,” N encourages, and Jinjin does, unable to resist
the wonderful aroma of the stew wafting up from the bowl in his lap any longer.
He’s hungrier than he thought and devours the whole bowl in record time, too
hungry to pay much attention to how much swallowing hurts his poor, bruised,
scratchy throat. The impromptu soaking he got in the rain didn’t do any favors for
his cold, though the medicine N had given him earlier thankfully seems to have
curtailed the worst of it.
As he eats, Ken begins
telling a silly story about when the group decided to go to an amusement park
by themselves during Halloween season, and N and Ravi got super spooked when
they got pulled into the local haunted house attraction by the others. Hyuk supplements
the narrative with his own observations, with Leo and Hongbin chiming in
occasionally as N does his level best to defend his and the absent rapper’s
honor by trying to adequately communicate just how scary it really was,
honestly anyone with the proper sense
would have been terrified, it’s not their fault whatsoever, and Jinjin nearly
chokes on a piece of cabbage, he’s laughing so hard.
After he’s done with his stew, it doesn’t take more than ten
seconds for N to quickly whisk his dirty dishes away into the kitchen while the
conversation turns to the latest, hottest drama currently airing on TV. Hyuk
and Hongbin get into a good-natured if heated argument about which male lead
the main heroine should end up with. Jinjin ends up siding with Hyuk and Ken
sides with Hongbin, and the living room briefly turns into an imitation of a
courtroom drama. The two ‘90 liners wisely choose to abstain from voting, and share
a bag of tteokbokki crackers between them as they look back and forth between
the debating parties like they’re watching a tennis match.
Even though Jinjin does his absolute level best to keep
up with the action, eating must have made him drowsy again, because his eyes
keep trying to close despite his best efforts to keep them open. N and Leo eventually
notice even though he tries to hide it, and after he tries to discretely smother
his third yawn behind his arm, N claps his hands and sits up straight, drawing
everyone’s attention.
“Alright, everyone!” he says brightly. “Sorry to break
this lively discussion up, but I know for a fact that Hongbin and Jaehwan have
early morning schedules tomorrow, so how about we all turn in and get some rest?”
“Awww, N-hyung!” Ken
and Hyuk pipe up in dismay at the same time.
“No ifs, ands, or
buts, kids, off you go,” N flaps his hands at the rest of them in a shooing
motion as Leo starts prodding everyone into movement and herding them to their
rooms.
“Alright, fine, we’ll
call it a draw,” Hongbin concedes reluctantly as he disappears into his room.
“We’ll see who’s right when the next episode comes out.”
“And then you’ll owe
me a box of choco pies, just like we discussed,” Hyuk returns without missing a
beat.
“Only in your sad,
small dreams, Han Sanghyuk. Night, hyungs, Jinjin.” Hongbin’s door shuts with a
brisk click.
“He always has to have
the last word,” Hyuk sniffs, before turning to Jinjin and grinning. “Well, that
was fun! We should do that again sometime. You’re a good debate partner, you
know.”
“I’d like that,
hyung,” Jinjin smiles, feeling something warm and contented spread throughout his
chest at the praise as Hyuk makes a hasty retreat into his room after receiving
a very pointed look from N.
“Night, Jinwoo-ah!”
Ken calls cheerfully, waving vigorously from where he’s being gently shoved
into his room by Leo.
“Night, Ken-hyung,”
Jinjin waves back as N perches on the edge of the couch next to him and begins
to check over his bandages.
“Maknaes, am I right?” N asks teasingly as they’re
finally left alone, seeming satisfied with how Jinwoo’s dressings are holding
up. The rapper could recognize that tone anywhere, full of exasperation and
affection, and he realizes N is speaking with him leader to leader, not as a
hyung to a dongsaeng.
“Tell me about it,” Jinwoo replies with a half grin half grimace as the cut under his hairline gives a small throb when N’s fingers
brush against the bandage covering it. “How have you managed to wrangle them
for over four years? And here I thought my members were a handful.”
“It’s a constant uphill battle,” N chuckles. “It has its
own rewards, though.”
Jinjin smiles, fully this time. “I know what you mean.” He
chews the inside of his cheek for a moment before venturing timidly, “What… what’s
it like?”
At N’s questioning look, he adds, “Being leader to a
group for so long, I mean? How do you… stand it?” How do you stand the constant
scrutiny, the endless hours in meetings with the managers and higher-ups, having
to bear the burdens of five other people on top of your own, the jabs and
slings from antis and the cutthroat media, the sasaengs who believe they are
entitled to more than you’re willing to give, the endless hours of practice and
stress and travel, comeback after comeback after comeback, year after year
after year?
N sits and processes the sudden question thoughtfully.
Finally, “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But then, I knew it would
be hard, from the first moment I knew I wanted to become an idol. But my
members, our Starlights… they make it all worth it. I wouldn’t trade my time
with them for anything.”
“Yeah, I feel the same way about my members and Arohas. I
feel so grateful for everything they’ve given me, and I want to go with them as
far as I can.” Jinjin looks down at his lap, at a sudden, frustrating loss for
words, wondering if he should even be admitting this kind of weakness in front
of someone he just met and whose respect he desperately wishes to earn. “I… it’s…
it’s just…”
“I know.” Jinjin feels a gentle hand rest on his head and
lightly ruffle his hair once before withdrawing. “It’s heavy. The burden of
being a leader. You feel like they can’t see you at your very worst, that you
have to take care of all the big things on your own, or else you’ll be failing
them, failing your fans, failing everyone who ever believed in you. Believe me,
I know.”
Jinjin blinks, looking up in surprise and more than a
little relief. N gets it. He’s never put
it into those exact terms before, but… “Yeah… pretty much. I mean… they voted
me to be the leader, so I know they all want me to be in that position, it’s
just… hard sometimes. All that responsibility. And it’s not their job to worry
about it, it’s mine, because they have enough to worry about, you know? I can’t
burden them with more. Well, except for MJ-hyung. I can’t really hide much from
him. I do, sometimes, and at the end of the day, it’s my responsibility to make
sure everything that needs to be done gets done, but he always seems to know
when it’s getting too much for me. I don’t know what I’d do without him,
honestly.”
N nods with a small, rueful smile. “Having someone older
than you to help ease the burden of leadership is a great help, I’m sure.” Jinjin
is painfully reminded that N’s never really had that. Sure, he has Leo, who he’s sure does
a lot to assist N whenever possible… but having a same-aged friend isn’t
exactly the same as having a hyung, someone who can take the responsibility off
your shoulders for a short while, someone who is older, wiser, more
experienced, and hopefully has more answers than you. His respect for the older
man rises a couple more notches.
“It is, but it’s still hard. Even MJ-hyung doesn’t have
all the answers, sometimes.” He glances over at N. “But you’ve been in the business
for four years. You’re the oldest. You had to figure it all out on your own. How
did you do it?”
N sighs. “Like I said, it was… difficult at first.
Especially those first couple years after debut. It was amazing, too, don’t get
me wrong, but there also were times I felt… very alone. Like the weight of
being the one in charge was slowly crushing me.”
“But you don’t feel that way anymore, right? What
changed?”
“Me,” N answers with another small, lopsided smile. “Or
rather, my view of my members. I’d always been hesitant about going to them
with any of my problems, especially the ones related to my responsibilities as
leader. I always thought… that if I couldn’t handle them on my own, then I was
failing them. Failing myself. That their trust in me would be misplaced and
that I wasn’t worthy of the title of leader. I was young and inexperienced and
I had very little practice being the oldest, let alone the oldest of a group of
five other people that all depended on me to make the important decisions that
could drastically affect their careers.”
Jinjin nods in sympathy. He knows that feeling very well.
N continues. “But as I got older and got to know my
members better, I realized that instead of feeling like I failed them if I came
to them with my problems, they were actually just worried about me and wanted
me to feel like I could trust them with my problems. For me to give some of my
burden away so they could help me carry it. Instead of driving them away, it
turned out that sharing my problems and my feelings with them actually made us
all closer. Knowing that they have my back just as much as I have theirs, that
we’re all in this together equally… it gives me the strength to keep going.
He glances at Jinwoo, still smiling slightly. “Bottom
line, if you have goodhearted members – and I’m pretty confident that you do – they’ll
want to help you when you can’t handle everything yourself or just need to
talk. Being there for your members is important, but so is letting them be
there for you, too. I just hope you don’t take as long as I did to figure that
out.”
Jinjin nods again slowly, touched and rather humbled that
the older idol is confiding in him so readily like this. They only just met,
yet Jinjin feels as comfortable around him as if he’s known him for months. “I’ll
do my best, hyung.”
“Glad to hear it,” N grins, patting the boy on the
shoulder and standing up from the couch. “So now that I’m done sounding like an
ajusshi for the day, I’ll leave the painkillers with you just in case you need
more during the night, and I’ll be in my room if you need anything. Do you want
to give your members a call before bed?”
Jinjin perks up immediately at the offer, and an
affirmative is on the tip of his tongue before he stops, considering. He
desperately wants to see his members’ faces again, to hear their voices, for
life to return to some semblance of normalcy, but… he’d caught a glimpse of
himself in the bathroom mirror earlier, and, as Hyuk so eloquently put it, he
does indeed look like he got mobbed by a horde of rabid baseball bats. He
doesn’t want his members to see him like this just yet, or to worry more than
they already are.
So, reluctantly, he shakes his head. “No, not tonight.
Thanks for offering, though.”
N seems to have
followed his train of thought and gives him a knowing look before gathering up
his laptop and turning out the lights. “Alright then. Have a good rest.”
“You too, hyung.”
Once N disappears into
his room, leaving his door cracked open an inch, Jinjin slowly, painfully
lies back down, his battered muscles silently groaning with every movement. He
snuggles into the cool material of his pillowcase with a soft sigh and pulls
the blanket up to his nose, squeezing his borrowed plushie close to his chest.
He’d never admit it, but having something soft and squishy to cuddle with is
actually quite comforting. He can see why Ken recommended it.
He’s much too tired to
muse on the events of the day for much longer, though, and within minutes, the
boy is fast asleep once again.
0000000
A/N: I based N and Jinjin’s
conversation in this chapter a number of observations I’ve made based on
comments and interviews done earlier in VIXX’s career, particularly these two
quotes from Ravi concerning N, the first of which is from 2014, the second from three
years later:
“I wish he would
loosen a bit and be a little more comfortable. Because he has to do a lot of
work, he can’t really grasp his confidence in front of us either. So, I wish he
could be a little more relaxed.” (2014)
“N-hyung used to bear everything alone and
settle things on his own in the past, but now he has opened his heart more, and
rather than shutting himself in, he now shares a lot with us and shares his
feelings with us, so I’m less worried about him.” (2017)
This fic is set mid-2016, but I like to think that N
started opening up more to the other members considerably prior to Ravi giving that
quote, even though it’s mere speculation on my part.
Yes I have more details to add onto my theory, but I also have questions so if you can join the discussion and solve these mysteries together that would be handy splendid (^_^)
At the very end of the novel, after Grenouille had been eaten by the town people, there was this quote: “But to eat a human being? They would never, so they thought, have been capable of anything that horrible. And they were amazed that it had been so very easy for them and that, embarrassed as they were, they did not feel the tiniest bite of conscience […] They were uncommonly proud. For the first time they had done something out of love”
AND GUESS WHAT WAS WRITTEN ON THEIR SHOES?!?!
BLIND
FOR
LOVE
AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Grenouille killed the girls out of his love for their scents as well. So basically almost everyone in the novel was blind for love
“The more Grenouille had become accustomed to purer air, the more sensitive he was to human odor […] Thus his nose led him to ever more remote regions of the country, ever farther from human beings, driving him on ever more insistently toward the magnetic pole of the greatest possible solitude”
This is where VIXX took their BW teasers/filmed the MV:
duN DUN DUN DUN~
____________________________________
Here come the questions:
1. Each BW teaser has a color, except for Ravi and Hongbin. There were times when Grenouille associated scents with colors, so if Hongbin’s teaser doesn’t have any color that’s totally understandable, since Grenouille had no scent. But why Ravi? 🤔🤔🤔
2. Is Hyuk the first victim – The Plum Girl, or the last one – Laure? He was holding flowers in both the colored teaser and the BW teaser, and Grenouille had once referred to Laure as “the incomparably beautiful flower”. Andddddd Laure was the youngest among Grenouille’s victims so pretty sure she’s a virgin, too 🙂
Feel free to chime in~
Mmkay. *cracks knuckles* So, some further observations to add to this.
1. Ravi and Hongbin are the only ones not holding anything in the black and white teaser photos. Leo, N, and Hyuk are all holding colored flowers, and Ken is holding a colored perfume bottle, but those two aren’t holding anything, and their pictures are entirely devoid of color. Also, if you take a look at the group photo where you can see their shoes, you’ll notice something very interesting.
Ken, who was holding the odd item out, a perfume bottle, has his right shoe turned toward the viewer, which says “Blind.”
Leo, N, and Hyuk, who were all holding colored flowers, all have their left shoe turned toward the viewer, which say “for love.”
However, Hongbin and Ravi, who were holding nothing, their pictures devoid of color, have their bodies turned completely towards the viewer, obscuring the words on their shoes entirely.
In addition to this, Ravi’s first set of teaser photos have him as the only member whose eyes are closed in both pictures.
Everyone else’s photos have their eyes open in both (N, Hongbin), or closed in only one of them (Leo, Ken, Hyuk). Also, that group pic in OP’s post? That is the first time Ravi has actually looked at the viewer in any of the teaser photos he’s been in. Every other picture he’s had his eyes closed or is very pointedly not looking at the viewer, as seen here in the first group pic:
or here in his solo black and white photograph (in which, might I add, he was the only member out of all six to not be looking directly at the viewer):
All this leads me to believe Ravi might have a larger part to play in the MV’s storyline than anticipated. Could he be a ghost of some sort? Hongbin’s accomplice who willingly turns a blind eye to Hongbin’s misdeeds because of his devotion to him and ends up stabbed in the back for his trouble? I guess only time will tell.
2. This is a really good question, and I’m torn, honestly. It could go either way. For now, though, my money is still on Hyuk being The Plum Girl because of his white shirt and the plum blossom he’s holding in the first set of teaser images. I think Hakyeon is the more likely candidate for
Laure, because his eyes are never closed in any of the teaser images, and he’s always, always looking at the viewer, much like Hongbin does. Compare:
Perhaps this points to N being the “final girl” of sorts?
Laure
doesn’t survive in the original story, but perhaps N will in their version of it? His role with Hyuk could end up being switched, though, like I said, it could go either way. I do find it interesting that out of all the teasers, N and Hyuk are the only ones that are both turned to the right. Everyone else is either facing the camera or turned to the left. That could point to some kind of connection between them.
It did briefly occur to me when I was writing my first response to this post that Ravi and Hongbin could be sharing the role of Grenouille, but not to the extent of them being the same person just at different points in the timeline. :O Or perhaps they’re going to continue their Jekyll and Hyde theme somehow with this MV, with Ravi being the more regretful, innocent side of
Grenouille
while Hongbin is the more arrogant, detached, and ruthless side? Ravi does have a pale pinkish-orange hair color for this comeback while Hongbin’s is silvery-blue; those are pretty complementary colors, so maybe that lends some credence to that theory. That would also explain why the words on their shoes aren’t visible, since while a BIT of white can be seen on Ravi’s right shoe, it’s certainly not enough to make out an actual word; if they’re the same person simply looking in different directions, then that would explain why there’s no color in their B&W photos and why the camera can’t make out the writing on their shoes.
That was an interesting tidbit you pointed out about the colored items in the B&W photos, though. I’m not sure if the pink flowers that Hyuk and N are holding are the same (I looked at them pretty closely and they seemed to be different shapes), but they ARE basically the same color, which confused me, since Leo’s flower is yellow and the liquid in Ken’s bottle is brown, so why would two of the members have the same color item all of a sudden? But it would make total sense if they were meant to mirror each other in that way all along, right down to their postures in the photos (like them being the only ones with their hands not in their pockets in the group B&W shot, or them leaning their heads against someone else’s in the color color shot).
I LOVE what you came up with for Ken and Leo, though; them being Baldini and Antoine respectively makes so much sense! I was puzzling over why in the colored teasers Leo was the only one with his eyes open but never looking at the camera, and that explanation makes perfect sense, as does why Ken is the only one not holding a flower for the B&W teaser, and why his is the only shoe we can clearly read “Blind” on.
I can’t wait to see what further developments happen in future teasers to see if they support these theories or not. 8>
Yes I have more details to add onto my theory, but I also have questions so if you can join the discussion and solve these mysteries together that would be handy splendid (^_^)
At the very end of the novel, after Grenouille had been eaten by the town people, there was this quote: “But to eat a human being? They would never, so they thought, have been capable of anything that horrible. And they were amazed that it had been so very easy for them and that, embarrassed as they were, they did not feel the tiniest bite of conscience […] They were uncommonly proud. For the first time they had done something out of love”
AND GUESS WHAT WAS WRITTEN ON THEIR SHOES?!?!
BLIND
FOR
LOVE
AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Grenouille killed the girls out of his love for their scents as well. So basically almost everyone in the novel was blind for love
“The more Grenouille had become accustomed to purer air, the more sensitive he was to human odor […] Thus his nose led him to ever more remote regions of the country, ever farther from human beings, driving him on ever more insistently toward the magnetic pole of the greatest possible solitude”
This is where VIXX took their BW teasers/filmed the MV:
duN DUN DUN DUN~
____________________________________
Here come the questions:
1. Each BW teaser has a color, except for Ravi and Hongbin. There were times when Grenouille associated scents with colors, so if Hongbin’s teaser doesn’t have any color that’s totally understandable, since Grenouille had no scent. But why Ravi? 🤔🤔🤔
2. Is Hyuk the first victim – The Plum Girl, or the last one – Laure? He was holding flowers in both the colored teaser and the BW teaser, and Grenouille had once referred to Laure as “the incomparably beautiful flower”. Andddddd Laure was the youngest among Grenouille’s victims so pretty sure she’s a virgin, too 🙂
Feel free to chime in~
Mmkay. *cracks knuckles* So, some further observations to add to this.
1. Ravi and Hongbin are the only ones not holding anything in the black and white teaser photos. Leo, N, and Hyuk are all holding colored flowers, and Ken is holding a colored perfume bottle, but those two aren’t holding anything, and their pictures are entirely devoid of color. Also, if you take a look at the group photo where you can see their shoes, you’ll notice something very interesting.
Ken, who was holding the odd item out, a perfume bottle, has his right shoe turned toward the viewer, which says “Blind.”
Leo, N, and Hyuk, who were all holding colored flowers, all have their left shoe turned toward the viewer, which say “for love.”
However, Hongbin and Ravi, who were holding nothing, their pictures devoid of color, have their bodies turned completely towards the viewer, obscuring the words on their shoes entirely.
In addition to this, Ravi’s first set of teaser photos have him as the only member whose eyes are closed in both pictures.
Everyone else’s photos have their eyes open in both (N, Hongbin), or closed in only one of them (Leo, Ken, Hyuk). Also, that group pic in OP’s post? That is the first time Ravi has actually looked at the viewer in any of the teaser photos he’s been in. Every other picture he’s had his eyes closed or is very pointedly not looking at the viewer, as seen here in the first group pic:
or here in his solo black and white photograph (in which, might I add, he was the only member out of all six to not be looking directly at the viewer):
All this leads me to believe Ravi might have a larger part to play in the MV’s storyline than anticipated. Could he be a ghost of some sort? Hongbin’s accomplice who willingly turns a blind eye to Hongbin’s misdeeds because of his devotion to him and ends up stabbed in the back for his trouble? I guess only time will tell.
2. This is a really good question, and I’m torn, honestly. It could go either way. For now, though, my money is still on Hyuk being The Plum Girl because of his white shirt and the plum blossom he’s holding in the first set of teaser images. I think Hakyeon is the more likely candidate for
Laure, because his eyes are never closed in any of the teaser images, and he’s always, always looking at the viewer, much like Hongbin does. Compare:
Perhaps this points to N being the “final girl” of sorts?
Laure
doesn’t survive in the original story, but perhaps N will in their version of it? His role with Hyuk could end up being switched, though, like I said, it could go either way. I do find it interesting that out of all the teasers, N and Hyuk are the only ones that are both turned to the right. Everyone else is either facing the camera or turned to the left. That could point to some kind of connection between them.
“I feel like a drowned
rat,” MJ grumbles as he and Eunwoo squelch up the stairs, groceries in hand.
“Oh, stop moaning,
hyung,” the younger boy returns mildly, tucking a cheap, dripping umbrella
under his arm. “I told you not to go jump in the pothole, but…”
“It looked like a puddle! What’s the point of rain if you can’t jump in
puddles? I was deceived!”
“You were acting like a five year old, and as
a result you ended up in two feet of water and nearly drowned the bok choy and
carrots along with yourself. You’re lucky it wasn’t an open manhole cover.”
MJ is saved from
having to reply by them finally reaching their apartment. He punches in the
code for the door and opens it.
“Finally!” comes
Sanha’s strident crow as the two dripping young men enter the apartment.
“Bin-hyung! Minhyuk-hyung! The hyungs are finally back!” He turns back to the
two of them and grins like the proverbial cat that got the canary.
“I hope you like doing
laundry, hyung,” he singsongs teasingly, rocking back and forth on the balls of
his feet.
“What are you talking
about?” MJ asks, just slightly peevishly as he and Dongmin begin shucking off
their soaked coats. “We’re clearly the winners here.”
“Oh yeah, I can definitely
see that, hyung. Out of curiosity, did you actively
go stand in a storm drain, or…?”
“Why don’t you c’mere
and find out, brat.”
“Meep! Binnie, save
me!” Sanha dances out of the way as MJ tries to wrestle him into a soggy
headlock, and takes shelter behind Moonbin, who’s emerged from his room along
with Minhyuk.
“Don’t kill the
maknae, MJ-hyung, we still need him,” Bin says amusedly. “What’s this I hear
about you being the winners, though? Clearly we got here before you.”
“But Jinjin-hyung beat
you home, so technically, we won,” Eunwoo says, before stopping and raising one
eyebrow. “Jinjin… is home, right?” The maknae line glances at each other in
confusion.
“No…? Bin finally says
slowly. “Why would he be? Wait…” He narrows his eyes suspiciously. “Wait, don’t
tell me you sent him home early so you’d get home first!” MJ and Eunwoo
carefully look everywhere but at their dongsaengs.
“Hyungs!” Sanha gasps.
“That’s cheating!”
“Well, technically-” Rocky and MJ begin at the
exact same time.
“We can argue
semantics later,” Eunwoo interjects. “Bin, you’re sure Jinwoo hasn’t been
here?”
“Pretty sure we would
have noticed him by now, hyung,” Moonbin replies drily.
“Where’s Jinjin-hyung,
then, if he’s not here?” Sanha asks, a note of worry starting to creep into his
tone. “Is he okay?”
“I’m sure he’s fine,
kid,” MJ hastens to soothe his youngest dongsaeng. “You know Jinjin. He
probably just got stuck in traffic or stopped for a snack.” Despite his
assurances, MJ can’t help the tendril of worry that begins to worm its way into
the back of his own mind. Where is
the rapper, anyway? Even though he’d gamely kept up with the group earlier, MJ
could tell the younger boy had been in obvious need of a nap and maybe a couple
more cold pills, which was part of the reason why he’d offered to let him go
home early in the first place. He should have come right home. It’s odd that he
still isn’t back.
“In fact, here, let me
call him real quick to see what’s taking him so long.” He digs his phone out of
his pocket and dials the leader’s number, tapping his foot impatiently against
the floor. Of all the times to live up to his nickname of “the slow rapper,”
seriously…
MJ’s backpack starts
buzzing. Dongmin digs through one of the pockets and pulls out… Jinwoo’s phone,
the caller ID clearly reading “MJ-Hyung.” The two glance at each other in
dismay, and then Myungjun facepalms dramatically amid the maknaes’ snickering.
“Um, MJ-hyung?”
Minhyuk speaks up. “Not to interrupt the moment, but you’re kind of creating
your own lake in the middle of the floor.” Myungjun looks down to see that a
growing puddle of dirty water is indeed growing underneath his soaked lower
half.
“Go change, hyung,”
Dongmin grins. “I’ll compare hauls with the maknaes and let you know how it
goes.”
0000000
“Face it, hyung, you
lost. Fair and square.”
“Oh, come on! We got
the bag of special edition shrimp chips, that counts for three whole extra
items!”
“Yeah, but look, we
got the red bean jellies, which also counts for three whole extra items. We
tied. And since we got home first…”
“Hehe, you’ll be doing
my laundry for the next three days, MJ-hyung! I’ll be sure to leave extra, just
for you~”
“Dongmin-ah, tell me
honestly. How unlikely do you think it is that Fantagio would be down for
forming a new, three-man idol group anytime soon?”
“Extremely. Besides,
it won’t really look good for our image if word gets out that Astro broke up
because of a scavenger hunt.”
“Mmm, thought so. Next
best thing?”
“Next best thing.”
“Um… hyungs? What are
you…?”
“ATTACK!”
0000000
About thirty minutes
after the pillows and cushions are all returned to their proper places on beds
and couches and the screams and war cries have died down, Dongmin sticks his
head into the larger of the apartment’s two bedrooms, where MJ is lying on his
bed, watching a drama his phone. “Do you… do you think we should call
manager-hyung?” he says quietly so that the maknaes – who are currently playing
a synchronized game on their phones in the living room – can’t hear. “Just in
case?”
MJ thinks for a
moment, worry starting to gnaw at him in earnest. Jinjin still hasn’t come
home, then. “We’ll give him fifteen more minutes,” he finally answers, just as
quietly. “If he’s not back, or at least called us by then, then yeah, I think
we should let the manager know.”
Dongmin nods and ducks
out of the room, while Myungjun turns his attention back to his phone. Or tries
to, anyway. He’s having a hard time focusing. It’s not like him to worry
overmuch (he prefers to leave the title of Astro’s resident fussbudgets to
Jinjin and Eunwoo, thanks), but he can’t seem to shake the feeling of impending
doom that hit him ever since Eunwoo pulled their leader’s phone out of the
backpack. He knows it’s probably nothing; like he told Sanha earlier, Jinjin is
stuck in traffic or something, and they’ll all have a good laugh about this
later after he and Eunwoo chew him out for making them lose the game before
bundling him into bed to take a nice, long nap, so why does he still feel so…
tense? It’s weird. It’s weird and he doesn’t like it.
He’s just about to
clamber off his bunk to go find one of the younger kids to play with to take
his mind off things when his phone starts to buzz. He nearly drops it in his
haste to see who’s calling, and his heart sinks when he sees an unknown number
instead of Jinjin’s. Stupid, his mind
reminds him, Jinjin’s phone is on his bed,
you dummy, of course he wouldn’t be the one calling you. He answers it
anyway. Jinjin could have borrowed someone else’s phone to call him, after all.
“Hello?”
“Is this MJ? Kim
Myungjun?” a delicate, mellow voice asks. It’s maddeningly familiar, but MJ
can’t quite place it. And they’d used his stage name to refer to him. Someone
in the idol industry, perhaps?
“Yes?” he
answers confusedly. “May I ask who’s calling?”
“Cha
Hakyeon.” MJ swears his heart skips two whole beats once his mind places a face
with the words. “Or VIXX’s leader N, if you prefer.”
“Oh! Sunbae-nim!” MJ sits
bolt upright in his bed and just misses cracking his skull on the ceiling by about
half a centimeter. He folds into a quick bow on instinct before remembering
that the older man can’t see him. “To what do I owe the, er, pleasure?” Oh, if
only he wasn’t currently distracted with worrying about Jinwoo, he can’t even
freak out properly about a sunbae idol calling him up out of the blue…
“Just ‘hyung,’ is
fine, MJ. And I apologize for calling so suddenly, but it’s about Jinjin.”
MJ snaps to attention
immediately. “Jinjin? Wait, you know what happened to him, sunb- hyung? Is he
okay? Is he alright? Where is he? Is -”
“Breathe, MJ, calm
down,” comes N’s faintly amused voice from the other line as the rest of the
boys cluster around next to his bunk, drawn by the sound of their leader’s
name. “Before I say anything else, let me stress that Jinjin is perfectly safe.
He’s sleeping on my living room couch at this exact moment, as a matter of
fact. But,” N’s voice turns serious, “earlier today, I found him getting mugged
a few blocks from our apartment building.”
“Mugged?” Myungjun
says faintly into the receiver as the bottom drops out of his stomach. A
visible wave of panic ripples through the rest of the members. Sanha gasps and clutches
Dongmin’s arm tightly, eyes reflexively welling up with tears, while Bin
instinctively grabs Minhyuk’s hand and squeezes as if his life depended on it. “How…
how bad…?”
“From what I can tell,
he’ll be perfectly fine in a week or two, Myungjun-ah, don’t worry,” N hastens
to assure him. “It’s just some cuts and scrapes and bruises, nothing some rest
won’t fix, but all the same, he should probably take it easy for a few days
just in case.”
“Duly noted,” MJ replies, feeling slightly giddy from sheer relief. “I’ll call
our manager and we’ll be over as soon as we can to pick him up-”
“Ah, about that,” N
interjects. “We – that is, the other members and I – were discussing the
matter, and we think it would be safer for all parties involved if you waited
until morning to pick him up because of the weather. There have already been a
number of car accidents reported today since the rain started, and I don’t want
to risk you all getting into a car accident as well. It would probably be best
for Jinjin if he was able to rest for a while without having to travel, too.”
Myungjun’s first
instinct is to argue, to insist they get Jinwoo back as fast as humanly
possible, but as much as he wants (needs) to see Jinjin again, the practical
part of him knows the elder idol is right. They have nothing to lose by letting
Jinwoo stay overnight with VIXX (goodness, isn’t that a thought), but
everything to lose by potentially getting into an accident because of the
weather. “Well… if you’re sure it won’t be a bother, hyung…”
“Absolutely no trouble
at all,” N replies firmly, and Myungjun can hear the smile in his voice, laced
with a special kind of sympathetic warmth that tells the younger man that the
older idol knows very well what it’s like to feel the same worry and panic
about his dongaengs that’s churning in Myungjun’s gut right now. “I’ll text you
our address, and you can come over in the morning to get your leader. If
there’s anything else you need, I’m just a phone call away, alright?”
“Thank you, hyung.” MJ
suddenly feels like crying, and he has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep
the tears at bay. Not in front of the members, and certainly not in front of N. Everyone needs him to be strong right
now. “Just… really, thank you. For looking out for our Jinjinnie like this.”
“Any half decent
person would have done the same thing,” N replies, the warm smile still evident
in his tone. “I’m just happy we could help. Jinjin’s a special kid.”
MJ has to smile at
that, a curl of warmth thawing a little of icy chill that’s taken up residence
in his insides. “That he is.”
They exchange
perfunctory farewells, and the second MJ removes the phone from his ear, he’s
immediately accosted by four very worried boys.
“Jinjin-hyung was
mugged?” Sanha blurts out, beating the other three to the punch. He’s still clutching
a longsuffering Dongmin’s arm in a white-knuckled death grip. “Is he alright is
he okay who was that on the phone do we need to go get him what- MMF!”
“I think,” Dongmin
says firmly, as he keeps his hand pressed over Sanha’s mouth, “we should all
keep our mouths shut for the next thirty seconds and let MJ-hyung explain
what’s going on.”
“Good plan,” Bin
mutters while Minhyuk nods mutely, the two younger boys still holding each
others’ hands tightly.
Myungjun climbs down
from his bunk, herds them all into the living room, and explains the situation
as clearly as he can while trying his best to ignore the ever-growing sense of
guilt that’s replacing the panic he’d felt earlier now that he knows Jinjin
will be alright. He was the one who suggested Jinwoo go home early. He’d still
be with them safe and sound if Myungjun just hadn’t opened his big mouth- okay, now is not the time for
self-recrimination, Kim Myungjun, focus. Focus for the kids, you can kick
yourself all you want later.
The younger boys still
seem quite worried by the end of his brief summary, but they do seem to be
breathing a little easier now that they’ve heard the whole story, or what
little MJ knows of it.
After a couple moments
have passed while everyone tries to process what was just related to them,
Moonbin speaks up. “…You do realize that this means Jinwoo-hyung’s basically
having a sleepover with VIXX right now, right?” The rest of them have to smile
a little at the thought.
“Figures that it’d
take an incident like this to get us properly introduced to them,” Dongmin
replies with a small but genuine grin. “We’ll have to grill him for details
once he gets back.”
“I still wish he was
with us instead, though,” Sanha says quietly.
“We all do, San, but
there’s no point in sitting around speculating,” Rocky, ever the sensible one,
says, ruffling the younger boy’s hair comfortingly. “Dinner still needs to be
made. You want to come help me with the noodles?” He holds out his hand to Sanha
and smiles.
“Okay.” Sanha gamely
tries to return the smile, though it ends up being more of a wobbly grimace, and
takes Rocky’s hand, allowing himself to be pulled in the direction of the
kitchen.
Moonbin eyes flick
back and forth between his two hyungs for a couple seconds before he follows the
two youngest members. “I’ll help you with the table, Minhyuk. Sanha no, those
aren’t noodles those are potato chips don’t
–!”
Amid the sudden commotion
in the kitchen (a common occurrence in the Astro dorm when Sanha is allowed anywhere
near the food preparation process; Rocky’s handling it with practiced ease),
Myungjun decides he shouldn’t put off calling their manager any longer, and
decides to step out into the hall to get a little peace and quiet while he does
so. Before he can take more than a step, However, Dongmin’s grabbed his arm and
bodily pulled him into his and Moonbin’s room, closing the door behind them.
“Dongminnie, what-”
“I know what you’re
thinking, and it’s not your fault, hyung,”
Eunwoo says, quietly but earnestly. “So derail that train of thought right now
before it goes any further. Jinwoo-hyung isn’t here to say it, so I’ll say it
for him. And don’t lie to yourself, you know that’s what he’d say to you right
now if he could.”
“It doesn’t matter what he’d say, Dongmin,” Myungjun
retorts fiercely, all traces of his usual happy virus persona buried under the
weight of the current situation. “The fact of the matter is, it was my idea to
send him home early, I didn’t make sure he had his phone so he could keep in
touch, and then something like this
happens. I’m the oldest, and since, as you pointed out, Jinwoo isn’t here right
now, even if this isn’t my fault, it’s still my responsibility.”
The younger boy’s eyes
widen, clearly taken aback by the vehemence in the vocalist’s tone, and
Myungjun immediately softens. “I know you’re just trying to make me feel
better, Dongmin. And I appreciate it, I do. I just… I’m the one who’s supposed
to look out for him, you know?”
Because Jinwoo may be the leader of Astro, but Myungjun is the oldest; when
things become too much for Jinwoo to handle, Myungjun is the one he confides
in, the only one he allows to see his breakdowns when the burden of being the
leader is just too much for him to bear alone. And it’s killing Myungjun inside
that he’s unable to do anything for his best friend right now other than sit here
in this small apartment and worry.
By the look in
Dongmin’s eyes, he seems to understand. “I know, hyung. I know. Accidents just
happen, sometimes. Just…” Dongmin places a hand on his shoulder and squeezes,
“make sure you’re not blaming yourself, alright?”
Kind of too late for
that, honestly. “Yeah, sure.”
“Because if you are, then you should be blaming me,
too,” Dongmin continues, which stops Myungjun cold. “I took your side, you
know. I could have protested and Jinjin and I would have outruled you, and he
would have stayed. But I thought you had a good idea, and Jinwoo needed to go
home and get some rest anyway. I’m as much to blame as you, if you want to play
that game.”
Myungjun’s heart
wrenches painfully as the taller boy hangs his head, unshed tears welling up in
his eyes. “Dongmin… you’re not… I don’t…”
“Exactly,” Dongmin
says, smiling tightly. “If you’re not going to blame me, then don’t blame
yourself. Deal?”
MJ huffs a small laugh
and closes the small gap between them, wrapping his arms around the younger
boy’s torso. It’s hard to remember sometimes that Dongmin is actually three
years his junior. “How did you get so smart, kid?”
“It’s a talent.” MJ
can hear the smile in the other’s voice as he returns the hug, sniffling a
little. “Also self-preservation. Someone
has to be the mature voice of reason around here, might as well be me.”
“Brat,” Myungjun says
with infinite fondness, leaning back and cuffing him gently upside the head.
“You’re lucky I’m such a laidback and easygoing hyung.”
“I know,” Dongmin
replies, equally as fond. “We’re all lucky to have you as the oldest,
MJ-hyung.”
“You’ve turned
sentimental in your old age, Dongminnie,” Myungjun huffs teasingly, to cover
the warm happiness bubbling up inside him at the affectionate words of
affirmation.
“If I’m old, what does
that make you? Prehistoric?”
“Yah, get outta here
before I kick your ass, insolent punk!”
“But this is my room-”
“Out!” Myungjun waves
the hand holding his phone imperiously at the door, his loud giggles probably
completely undermining the stern image he’s going for.
“Alright, alright, I’m
going, I’m going,” Dongmin laughs, making a tactical retreat. “I’d better go
out and help make sure Sanha doesn’t burn the kitchen down anyway.”
“You do that,” MJ
sniffs theatrically, making a show of turning his attention back to his phone.
He can’t help the grin that spreads across his face once the door closes behind
the other vocalist. He then notices that N recently sent him a text with the
directions to VIXX’s apartment, and his grin fades. He scrolls through his list
of contacts, and selects one, pressing the phone to his ear with a silent sigh.
“Manager-hyung? It’s
me, MJ. Doing okay, thanks. Listen, we have… a bit of a situation, here…”
!!!!!!! I!!!! LOVE!!!! AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER!!!! That show was my actual childhood and I have entertained the idea of writing an Avatar AU for BTS for some time. The only thing that worries me about trying to do so would be 1) the story, and 2) the feeling. The Avatar universe is just so diverse and nuanced that just thinking about tackling something as big as that (not to mention as close to my heart) already has me in a sweat! But I would absolutely be down to the challenge, and I’d l o v e to make it multifandom too, heheheh. > V > ❤
sdkjlsdsdfslsfl I love that you love this AU idea!! I understand your reluctance to actually write something, though, coming up with actual stories to set in the Avatarverse is kind of daunting.
I love the idea of Namjoon as a non-bender, because he certainly doesn’t need superpowers to be the Badass Idea Man, but also… with his legendary clumsiness, I kind of fear for his immediate surroundings and everyone in them if he had bending, tbh. X’D I imagine him being besties with earthbender Yoongi, maybe they became friends when going to the same music school in the Earth Kingdom or something. :>
I also love the idea of Jungkook being from the Fire Nation, but being a non-bender as well; he’s a smart, resourceful kid, I could totally imagine him becoming a weapons master like Mei. =D Maybe he’s always been a tad jealous of his older friend Jimin because of his ability to firebend, but the two still get along very well, and Jungkook is always super proud of himself whenever he’s able to beat Jimin in a fight even without bending. X3
I can’t see Jin being anything but a waterbender, either, so I’m glad we’re on the same page about that. XD I do really like the idea of him being a noble from the Northern Water Tribe, while his cousin Taehyung lives in the Southern Water Tribe, from a disowned or exiled branch of the family that Jin isn’t supposed to affiliate with anymore. Jin and Tae ain’t having that, though, and before Taehyung had to leave, Jin smuggled him one of his pet arctic sugar gliders, and the two use the hardy little animals as a sort of air mail system so they can still keep in touch despite the vast distances between them, exchanging bending techniques and gossip and everything in between. ❤ And whoop, wouldn’t you know it, Tae turns out to be the Avatar when he turns 16, who’da thunk. 😉 (Maybe Yeontan could be Tae’s animal companion in this AU, perhaps a wolf or dog or polar bear dog or some kind of large doggish seal that can travel through water at great speeds and a beast of burden at the same time)
I just adore the mental images of airbender Hoseok, too, ngl. I’m sure he’d be great at it, but the flying part, perhaps not so much. Maybe everyone keeps teasing him that he should have been born as an earthbender so he can live in the mud and the rocks since he’s so scared flying unlike a proper airbender, and privately, Hobi kind of wonders if they’re right sometimes. If he was an airbender, though, I love how he and Yoongi would complement each other, too. ❤ Plus, this way, he could be Taehyung’s airbending teacher, just like Yoongi could be his earthbending teacher, and Jimin could be his firebending teacher.
With this set up, the vocal line and the rap line are also split up into their respective opposite elements + 1 Nonbender, not counting the Avatar. Rap line = Earthbender Yoongi, Airbender Hoseok, nonbender Namjoon. Vocal line = Firebender Jimin, Waterbender Jin, nonbender Jungkook. I just like that symmetry a lot. 🙂
Dang, at this rate we’re just gonna have to throw in the towel and outright do a collab. [eyes emoji]
But yES. YES. YESSSSSSSS, I LVOE YOUR IDEAS SO MUCH!! ( > V < )/ Part of the reason why I really wanted more than one member of BTS to be non-bending is because honestly, some of the best characters in A:TLA don’t bend at all! Sokka is of course the first example, but Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors, Tai Li, Mei… It’s easy for the awesome bending to take precedence, for obvious reasons, but I love love love the idea of a non-bender kicking the butts of even these people able to manipulate the world around them. Like…how much more awesome can you be?! XD Ohh, I love the idea of Namjoon and Yoongi being Earth Kingdom buddies, though. ;o; Though I have to admit – the first thing that came to my mind about them being in music school was this scene. Heheheh~
OOH, you’re right, I didn’t remember to think about where Jungkook would be from if he didn’t bend! I love the idea that he’d also come from the Fire Nation with his firebending best friend Jimin. ;v; I see Jungkook as a very creative fighter as well; he can literally grab anything and figure out a way to turn it into an effective weapon, and then when he gets his lil’ mitts on real weapons? Everybody better start running, heheheh. A spar between him and Jimin, though, ooooooh take my money, I need that animated ASAP!!! O A O/
Hnnnnng, that is so adorable, omgg!! Jin would absolutely be the kind to flip the metaphorical bird at the alienation of a branch of his own family. The idea of arctic sugar gliders is?? so precious??? What if they look like regular sugar gliders during non-winter months but then change to snowy white like arctic foxes, all fluffy and soft, ahhHHH ;O; I checked out the fauna of the A:TLA universe and apparently polar dogs are a thing! One appeared literally once in the whole series, the very first episode, but it’d definitely fit Yeontan’s role. Since the Water Tribe is based heavily on Inuit culture, Taehyung can also have a little one-man sled that Yeontan pulls him around everywhere. ❤
YUSSSSS you’ve pretty much sold me on the Airbender Hoseok idea by pointing that out, LOL. Imagine the boys hear something weird and they look around and it turns out it’s just Hoseok gliding through the sky screaming at the top of his lungs. Like, he’s fine, he’s just also terrified and the younger boys don’t help when they laugh at him. “Don’t slip, hyung!” “I AM TRYING!”
I am the biggest sucker for polar opposites who are basically soulmates, Airbender Hoseok and Earthbender Yoongi, and also Firebender Jimin and Waterbender Taehyung too (because c’mon, you know I’m gonna make them soulmates in every AU :’0). And oooh I didn’t even notice the symmetry!! That’s seriously so awesome!
Well, collabs are indeed the best, and I mean, bro, if
you’re offering… 👀
Oh yeah, I love it when people make Avatar AUs where some
characters are non-benders, because I mean, statistically speaking, it just
makes sense; only about 1/3 of the populace are benders , so the non-benders
are still in the majority, plus, yeah, when you regularly go up against people
with superpowers and still come out on top because you’re just That Badass, it’s
really impressive. XD HA, I love that scene. Aang would be Namjoon in a band,
lbrh, bless his heart. Meanwhile Yoongi is sitting over in a corner with his piano (harp?) facepalming into infinity and
going “I don’t know him, ain’t never seen him before in my life, nope, we’re complete
strangers.” XD
Totally! Maybe Kookie joined a fighting ring like Toph,
just because it’s fun to go up against benders and regularly kick their asses with
improbable weapons like a ladle or a feather duster, and the crowd loves him
because he’s so creative and fun to watch. What kinds of weapons would he
specialize in, though…? Like, Sokka had his boomerang and Space Sword, Ty Lee
had her chi blocking and gymnast skills, Mai had her darts and throwing knives,
Suki had hand to hand combat and her fan, Asami had her taser glove, Jet had his
hookswords… Maybe JK has a bow and arrow, since he likes to play McCree in Overwatch
and guns don’t exist in the Avatarverse? Or maybe bombs or explosives? OOOOO,
or maybe tonfa? A lot of police officers use those, and Jungkook WAS dressed as
a policeman in the Dope MV, so maybe he’s training to be a policeman in this
AU, too? 👀 Check out this guy work those
things, they can be pretty devastating in the right hands.
Awww, the gliders turning colors to match the
seasons such an adorable idea, I love it! I was thinking maybe they’d be a bit
bigger in this AU, too, maybe Momo’s size or thereabouts, so they can carry
things easier, like a cross between a sugar glider and an arctic fox. I was
also thinking perhaps they a kind of “hive mind” between members of the same
pack/flock/cohort/whatevertheheck, where they instinctively “know” things other
members of the group know, which would serve them well in the dark wintertimes
with knowing instinctively where the safe dens are, where the food is, and
where the predators are, but it also makes them great messengers, because if
you have one arctic glider, the others all know where it is and will go
to it. They’re also super smart and eager to please, especially if they imprint
upon a human and accept them into their cohort, so to speak, so Jin having two
of them and giving one to Tae to bond with ensures that both the gliders
like both boys and will be able to seek them out no matter where they are. I’m
thinking their names are Fish and Cake, a throwback to how Jin named both his
gliders Fishcake in RL. >v> I’m down for Yeontan being a polar dog! Maybe
the sled can turn into a cart on other terrains so that Yeontan can still help
even when Taehyung moves away to go do Avatar Stuff.
LMAOOOO, the mental images, omg. XD And of course, Hobi’s
dog Mickey (aka Mihkee) has to be a sky bison! It’s just common sense. He can
carry everyone everywhere just like Appa used to, it’ll be great.
Blurg, I know, plot is always the sticking point when it
comes to these sorts of AUs. However, I was thinking super hard over the past
week, and I think I might have something here. However, if you already have
something in mind, by all means go with that, this is just me spitballing.
(Putting it under a readmore because HOO BOY it got long. X_X
So since you mentioned wanting to do something based off
of Korra (though hopefully not the whole plot, it’s a hot mess and no mistake)…
well, the Water Tribe civil war subplot from season 2 had a LOT of potential before
the writers squandered it all to focus on Spirit World Bullshittery, so maybe
that could be the main conflict for this crossover. Like, perhaps there are
these old scrolls someone unearthed in the Northern Water Tribe from the time
the two Water Tribes were one country, telling of a place where the barrier
between the human and spirit worlds is very thin in the Southern Water Tribe
where a powerful spirit is trapped. If this spirit is freed, then it would be
indebted to its rescuers and help them do whatever they wanted (insider secret: it
would not, it would just basically lay waste to whatever it could get its hands
on, it was sealed away for a reason). The higher ups in the Northern Water
Tribe are super into this idea, (perhaps because they want to make the world “more
spiritual” like Unalaq wanted to do in LoK before the
writers reduced him to being a one note pawn of Vaatu, dangit Bryke why must you ruin everything) but because the spirit portal is
in the Southern Water Tribe, and the two Tribes aren’t really on the best of
terms, they can’t exactly waltz in and go looking for it. Obviously, the next
best thing is to stage an attack on some visiting Northern diplomats to the
Southern Tribe, so they have an excuse to invade and put down the “rebellion”
and then go looking for the portal. Problem is, the map and instructions on how
to find it are written in an old, archaic dialect of the Water Tribe tongue
that only a few people still know how to read and speak, and SURPRISE, those
few people are basically just Jin and his father by the time the events of the
story roll around. I’m imagining Jin’s family are scholars, which is how they
got their noble status, and one thing that’s passed down through the family
lines are how to read and speak archaic Water Tribe (Jin’s older brother didn’t
learn because he wanted to be a soldier instead, so it fell to Jin to keep the
tradition going). So, keeping that in mind, let’s bounce over to Taehyung’s
storyline for a bit.
Tae learns he’s the Avatar when he’s sixteen, like most
Avatars do (how the Water Tribe Knows when someone is the Avatar, I have no
idea, but I’m sure they have some way of telling), and is sent off to Find His
Destiny and start learning to bend the rest of the elements, so he travels off
to the Earth Kingdom with Yeontan to find an Earthbending teacher. While
wandering around trying to find someone he likes, he stumbles across Namjoon
and Yoongi, and through a series of events, ends up discovering Yoongi is a
very good Earthbender, and asking him to teach him. Well, it’s not like Yoongi
could exactly say no (well, he could, but that would kind of be stupid when the Avatar himself is asking him to teach him, now wouldn’t it), so Tae spends the next one to two years learning
everything Yoongs can teach him about Earthbending. The town/city Namjoon and
Yoongi live in is very near an Air Nomad Temple, and there’s a certain young
monk that flies down every so often with his air bison Mihkee to visit his two
Earth Kingdom friends (Rap Line 5ever <3), and in the process makes friends
with Taehyung, too, and just like that, Tae has an Airbending teacher to come
back to when he needs to learn his last element. But for now, it’s time for
Firebending.
Hobi offers to give him a lift to the Fire Nation so he
can find a teacher, and while scouting a port town, Tae runs into Jimin and
Jungkook, and one thing leads to another, ending with Tae becoming Jimin’s
Firebending pupil. Firebending is very hard for Taehyung, but he keeps at it
and makes good progress, until one day he gets a letter from his cousin Seokjin
that tells some very troubling news.
Because Jin knows the archaic Water Tribe tongue, he’s been privy to everything
the Northern government has been having his father research, and he can see the
warning signs all pointing to the imminent invasion of the South. He also knows
that there are key figures and organizations and companies in the Earth Kingdom
and Fire Nation that the Northern Water Tribe has made deals with to assist
with their plans, and they will be rewarded once the powerful spirit is freed (maybe
these are the big Kpop companies like SM, JYP, and YG). And because his elderly
father is very frail and not up to traveling, the government will force Jin to
come along with the invasion force to locate the spirit portal with the maps
and clues that were written down in the old language, and he’s having exactly
none of it. So he’s stolen/destroyed all the maps, materials, and notes pertaining to the spirit portal, packed his bags, commandeered a small ship, and is sailing
to meet up with Tae in the Fire Nation, because what place in the whole world is
safer than the place where the Avatar is, amirite?
Taehyung is super upset at this news (because the South
is his home after all), but also super happy to have the opportunity to see his beloved cousin again
after so many years only being able to interact with him through letters (I imagine that since Jin had an older brother, and Taehyung had a younger brother and sister, they were able to experience being an older and younger sibling with each other, respectively, and were always super close because of that, and subsequently were the ones most heartbroken when Tae’s family was exiled all those years ago). The
two have a joyful reunion once Jin gets to the Fire Nation before getting down
to the business of figuring out how to stop the invasion, and decide to try to
appeal to the governing bodies of each nation for assistance should the North
try anything. Jimin and Jungkook insist on accompanying them, having gotten super close to Taehyung during the months he’s spent with them (Maknae Line 5ever <3), and they all set
out for the Fire Lord’s palace.
The Fire Lord is an amicable sort of fellow (maybe the leader of another Kpop
group, perhaps) and is sympathetic to the boys’ plight, but because of
diplomatic relations, he won’t be able to do much even if the North does try
anything. However, he promises that his personal team of trained fighters will
be dispatched to assist the Avatar should the need arise (again, maybe another
Kpop group like B.A.P.). However, while the Vocal Line is at the palace, a spy
for the Northern Water Tribe (maybe from one of the previously mentioned organizations
allied with them) sees them there and sends word that the Avatar and the Translator
are In Cahoots and are heading to the Earth Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Jin, having learned that Taehyung’s future
airbending teacher lives at the same temple as Jin’s best friend Ken (well, one of his best friends, Sandeul is holding down the fort for Jin back in the Northern
Water Tribe), sends a message to his friend to have Hoseok come pick them up
and bring them to the Earth Kingdom. Once they reach it, Yoongi and Namjoon
insist on joining the party as well, and Hoseok tags along, too, because why
not, right?
So the party ventures towards
Ba Sing Sae to see the Earth Monarch to see if they will pledge to help the
Southern Water Tribe if the need arises, but on their way, they stop at a port city
for supplies, and while the boys are all split up looking for different items,
Jin and Jungkook are ambushed by a contingent of undercover Northern Water
Tribe soldiers and agents from the powerful unions and organizations assisting
them, intent on kidnapping Jin so that the invasion of the Southern Water Tribe can commence
as planned.
Jin and JK give a valiant
account of themselves, but they were caught off-guard and are hopelessly
outnumbered. Jin tries to send both of his gliders away so they can find Taehyung
and get help, but Fish refuses to leave his side and ends up horribly injured when he tries to protect his master from an Earthbender attack that would have probably wound up killing him. Jungkook
is distracted by his efforts to catch the unconscious glider before he goes splat on the ground, and is subsequently overpowered and disarmed. The leader
of the attacking force, then gives Jin an ultimatum; surrender himself, or the boy dies.
Jin, of course, surrenders to
save Jungkook, and is immediately restrained and handcuffed
before the leader (who probably previously knew him back in the NWT) starts viciously beating
the ever-loving crap out of him for “betraying
his nation” and causing them so much trouble. Jungkook is helpless to do
anything as his friend is violently assaulted and then abducted, trailing thick smears of blood
on the flagstones behind him as he’s hauled away. The leader then
turns their attention to Jungkook and gives him a message for the Avatar, telling him to stay out of their business if he ever wants to see Jin and the rest of his family alive at the end of all this, and then coldly knocks the boy out, leaving him an unconscious
heap on the street with the nearly lifeless, broken body of the little arctic glider still cradled in the crook of one arm.
Which is where Taehyung, Jimin,
and Hobi find them some time later, having been alerted to the trouble by a
frantic Cake. Upon learning what happened to Jin from Jungkook and seeing the
state his friend and cousin’s poor pet are in along with Jin’s blood splattering the street, Taehyung is so upset and angry and heartbroken that he ends up triggering the Avatar
state for the first time ever. He proceeds to go on a terrifying rampage where he destroys
what’s left of the small fleet of vessels the baddies left behind just in case the Avatar got any ideas about trying to follow the ship carrying Jin before Jimin manages to grab him and pull him into a cooldown hug and out of
the Avatar state. The firebender then simply holds him close as the younger boy collapses in his arms and breaks down in tears.
So now it’s a race against time
to stop the invasion and find Jin before the Northern Water Tribe forces him to
find the spirit portal. Will they stop the war before too many lives are lost
and a fissure is ripped between realities, unleashing an ancient evil upon the
world? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. 😉
Summary: Namjoon Kim is a veteran of the Spring Day Rebellion,
who now, as the captain of the Butterfly-class starship Cipher, spends
his days eking out a living wherever he can find it, even if it’s on the
wrong side of the law at times. After a smuggling mission gone south,
he and his ragtag crew take on a few passengers to earn some extra cash,
unaware that one of them is hiding a dangerous secret… Crossover with Joss Whedon’s “Firefly.” Based on these moodboards.
Excerpt:
“You know, if I were you, I’d be thinking about asking Namjoon to
kick you out somewhere else,” J-Hope continues, absently adjusting one
of his figurines. “Summerhall isn’t exactly civilization in the
strictest sense of the word. Ships don’t really come around all that
often, and a city slicker like you? You’d be easy pickings for folks
around here. No offense.”
“None taken. But you don’t need to worry about us,” Jin sighs.
“Cookie and the captain are out on a deal, I’m already worried,” J-Hope returns. “So it’s not like it’s out of my way-”
The
comm suddenly crackles to life, and Yoongi’s voice, tight and strained
and barely more than a whisper, filters through the speakers. “He took
him… he took the kid…”
Seokjin is hightailing from the
room at a dead sprint before J-Hope can even blink, the notebook and
pencil he previously held clattering to the ground a second later. The
pilot is halfway out of his own chair, primed to follow on his heels,
when a beeping noise coming from the proximity alarm stops him dead in
his tracks. He glances at the screen… and his blood turns to ice in his
veins.
Summary: The doll was only ever meant to be a simple toy. An
object, a thing, with no real agency or life of his own, sewn and
stitched together with magic and flesh by a sadistic witch who preferred
playthings that bled and screamed and still remained devoted to her no
matter what she did to them. He was never supposed to be more than that.
And yet, magic is a curious thing. So is love. And when the two
combine, unexpected things can happen.
(Or: The tale of a doll who
somehow became more than the sum of his parts, and in the process
unwittingly created a family in the unlikeliest of places.)
✖◆✖◆✖◆✖◆✖◆✖◆✖ “Real
isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that
happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just
to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.” “Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit. “Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.” ― Margery Williams, “The Velveteen Rabbit”
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