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Fic: Monopoly
Title: Monopoly
Fandom: Exo
Focus: Xiumin-centric
Genre: General, Meta
Rating: G
Length: Drabble, 745 words
Summary: It ain't over til it's over. Usually.
Original Post: Here.
Author's Note: A meta piece written for Round 2 of EIWAU, commentating on the participation level and progress of the game thus far. It was actually written rather quickly and inspired by a conversation on EM a little earlier about how boring the event had gotten because Team CKS (Chen-Kai-Sehun) were dominating by such a large margin, Team Chanyeol being the only one of Team DCX to really participate, and how Teams Xiumin and D.O had been absent for Round 1 and most of Round 2 up to that point. I feel like someone mentioned something that made me think of monopoly around that time, but I can't find the reference for the life of me lol. But yeah, I was just so. Frustrated. I hadn't done anything for Team Xiumin in Round 1 because I was trying to help Team Suho for once, and I hadn't been able to post much yet for Team Xiumin in Round 2 because I had work and it takes me a while to write things. So this was kind of a "Don't give up just yet!" sort of thing. Which you can kinda tell by the ending. Around the time I posted, mod actually made the decision to hold some sort of... participation gauge I guess, where if Team DCX didn't seem like they were gonna put in an effort, then they were just going to hold some weird mini-round between the eliminated parties of Round 1 and 2 and whoever came on top could enter the finals with Team CKS. It actually went through despite my best efforts to contribute points, which I'm still don't agree with because it effectively ended the round early and before I could post other stuff. How frustrating.
Anyway, about the actual drabble itself lol. The sack of money, the boot, and the top hat tokens represented Suho, Baekhyun, and Lay who had been eliminated in Round 1, D.O got the wheelbarrow because he was the "Load", Xiumin got the thimble because his team showing was pitiful as fuck, Chanyeol was the battleship because he was the only one on the team with a fighting chance, and Sehun got the racecar because he was doing the best at that point. Did I stare at my old monopoly set forever to figure out who to assign what? Yes. Yes I did. The smug Sehun part was a reference to how he has actually done historically horribly in every other event EM has put on, Chen suggesting Xiumin giving up and giving his assets to him was a reference to how when teams in events are going down, the rival teams will often attempt to recruit them (ha...), and Kai whining was a reference to how anons always complain and whine during the events at every rule and suggestion and judgement lol.
Honestly, I think I was really happy with this. I hated the situation it was describing, the hopelessness I felt during the event and how things turned out, but at the very least I was happy with writing a meta piece. Others had done it during HGAU but it felt like a while since we had an event that allowed for it? Also, someone told me I characterized Chen pretty well, his sweet side and his cheeky side, so that was nice.
Fandom: Exo
Focus: Xiumin-centric
Genre: General, Meta
Rating: G
Length: Drabble, 745 words
Summary: It ain't over til it's over. Usually.
There were only six tokens left on the board. The sack of money, the boot, and the top hat had all been discarded with little surprise, and none of remaining players had really taken notice when their owners had wandered off on their own after they'd gone bankrupt, most of the funds ending up in Sehun's greedy hands. Minseok honestly didn't mind their lack of effort honestly, considering he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to continue playing either. The game had already run far too long for his liking -- he would have to call Changmin hyung later and apologize for standing him up at the gym.
"Kyungsoo hyung, it's your turn," Jongin whined as they all waited for Kyungsoo to finish texting Jo Insung or Lee Kwangsoo or whichever A-list actor had happened to exchange numbers with him after crossing his path. Minseok was honestly surprised he'd even managed to stay in the game as long as he had, given how distracted he was every time he rolled the dice. It'd gotten to the sad point where first Sehun, and then Chanyeol had started moving his wheelbarrow for him.
"Oh. Right," Kyungsoo said, reaching out blindly towards the middle of the board for the red dice without even looking up from his phone. Eventually, Chanyeol had to nudge them in his direction for him before he finally got a hold of them. "Thanks."
Minseok didn't even bother watching as Kyungsoo flicked his wrist and released the dice. He'd hadn't been rolling too well, and it honestly wasn't a huge surprise when he landed on yet another one of Sehun's many properties -- this one acquired from Junmyeon, who hadn't even fought for it -- and then made no move to either shift his token or hand over the rent money.
They all waited at least thirty seconds for Kyungsoo to look up from his phone, and when that didn't happen, Jongdae heaved a long-suffering sigh from across the board.
"Chanyeol, could you..?"
"Yeah. I'll take care of it. Minseok hyung, could you get his money?"
Casting a glance over at Kyungsoo who still seemed oblivious to the world outside of his chatroom, Minseok leaned over and started counting out the exact number of bills need for Kyungsoo to settle his rent while Chanyeol went ahead and moved his wheelbarrow right onto the property where Yixing had finally gone bankrupt before he left the game and where Sehun had just parked his racecar during the last round.
"Don't forget, it's has a hotel," Sehun said, far too smugly considering how horrible he usually was anytime they all sat down to play a game together.
Still, rent was rent. Minseok reached for the hundred dollar bills and watched as Kyungsoo didn't even bat an eye. At least his blatant disregard for the game eased Minseok's guilt as he watched Kyungsoo's supply of money dwindle down to a few twenties and a couple of railroads that he'd probably end up selling during his next turn if no one managed to land on them before then.
Sehun smiled as Minseok handed over the cash. "Thanks, hyung. It's your turn, by the way."
Honestly, either way Minseok was pretty sure he was doomed. At least if one of Kyungsoo's railroads were in the way, he wouldn't have felt so hopeless, but instead, the line of properties in the path of his thimble all belonged to either Jongdae, Jongin, or Sehun. Even Chanyeol's battleship had ended up on Jongin's property during his last trip through this part of the board, but at least there had been only four blue houses there instead of a shiny red hotel.
"Well, Minseok hyung, what are you waiting for?" Chanyeol asked, probably just wanting to get the whole game over and done with. He was at least doing better than Minseok and Kyungsoo, but that wasn't saying much.
Jongdae frowned, leaning over. "You're not going to give up, are you, hyung?" He almost sounded as sincere and concerned as he usually would, but then his lips curled up into a sly smile and Minseok remembered why he was considered one of Baekhyun and Chanyeol's own. "Though if you are, you could will all of your stuff to me, you know."
Before Jongin could start whining about the unfairness of that particular move, Minseok shook his head as he reached out for the dice. "No, just gimme a second. the game's not quite over yet."
"Kyungsoo hyung, it's your turn," Jongin whined as they all waited for Kyungsoo to finish texting Jo Insung or Lee Kwangsoo or whichever A-list actor had happened to exchange numbers with him after crossing his path. Minseok was honestly surprised he'd even managed to stay in the game as long as he had, given how distracted he was every time he rolled the dice. It'd gotten to the sad point where first Sehun, and then Chanyeol had started moving his wheelbarrow for him.
"Oh. Right," Kyungsoo said, reaching out blindly towards the middle of the board for the red dice without even looking up from his phone. Eventually, Chanyeol had to nudge them in his direction for him before he finally got a hold of them. "Thanks."
Minseok didn't even bother watching as Kyungsoo flicked his wrist and released the dice. He'd hadn't been rolling too well, and it honestly wasn't a huge surprise when he landed on yet another one of Sehun's many properties -- this one acquired from Junmyeon, who hadn't even fought for it -- and then made no move to either shift his token or hand over the rent money.
They all waited at least thirty seconds for Kyungsoo to look up from his phone, and when that didn't happen, Jongdae heaved a long-suffering sigh from across the board.
"Chanyeol, could you..?"
"Yeah. I'll take care of it. Minseok hyung, could you get his money?"
Casting a glance over at Kyungsoo who still seemed oblivious to the world outside of his chatroom, Minseok leaned over and started counting out the exact number of bills need for Kyungsoo to settle his rent while Chanyeol went ahead and moved his wheelbarrow right onto the property where Yixing had finally gone bankrupt before he left the game and where Sehun had just parked his racecar during the last round.
"Don't forget, it's has a hotel," Sehun said, far too smugly considering how horrible he usually was anytime they all sat down to play a game together.
Still, rent was rent. Minseok reached for the hundred dollar bills and watched as Kyungsoo didn't even bat an eye. At least his blatant disregard for the game eased Minseok's guilt as he watched Kyungsoo's supply of money dwindle down to a few twenties and a couple of railroads that he'd probably end up selling during his next turn if no one managed to land on them before then.
Sehun smiled as Minseok handed over the cash. "Thanks, hyung. It's your turn, by the way."
Honestly, either way Minseok was pretty sure he was doomed. At least if one of Kyungsoo's railroads were in the way, he wouldn't have felt so hopeless, but instead, the line of properties in the path of his thimble all belonged to either Jongdae, Jongin, or Sehun. Even Chanyeol's battleship had ended up on Jongin's property during his last trip through this part of the board, but at least there had been only four blue houses there instead of a shiny red hotel.
"Well, Minseok hyung, what are you waiting for?" Chanyeol asked, probably just wanting to get the whole game over and done with. He was at least doing better than Minseok and Kyungsoo, but that wasn't saying much.
Jongdae frowned, leaning over. "You're not going to give up, are you, hyung?" He almost sounded as sincere and concerned as he usually would, but then his lips curled up into a sly smile and Minseok remembered why he was considered one of Baekhyun and Chanyeol's own. "Though if you are, you could will all of your stuff to me, you know."
Before Jongin could start whining about the unfairness of that particular move, Minseok shook his head as he reached out for the dice. "No, just gimme a second. the game's not quite over yet."
Original Post: Here.
Author's Note: A meta piece written for Round 2 of EIWAU, commentating on the participation level and progress of the game thus far. It was actually written rather quickly and inspired by a conversation on EM a little earlier about how boring the event had gotten because Team CKS (Chen-Kai-Sehun) were dominating by such a large margin, Team Chanyeol being the only one of Team DCX to really participate, and how Teams Xiumin and D.O had been absent for Round 1 and most of Round 2 up to that point. I feel like someone mentioned something that made me think of monopoly around that time, but I can't find the reference for the life of me lol. But yeah, I was just so. Frustrated. I hadn't done anything for Team Xiumin in Round 1 because I was trying to help Team Suho for once, and I hadn't been able to post much yet for Team Xiumin in Round 2 because I had work and it takes me a while to write things. So this was kind of a "Don't give up just yet!" sort of thing. Which you can kinda tell by the ending. Around the time I posted, mod actually made the decision to hold some sort of... participation gauge I guess, where if Team DCX didn't seem like they were gonna put in an effort, then they were just going to hold some weird mini-round between the eliminated parties of Round 1 and 2 and whoever came on top could enter the finals with Team CKS. It actually went through despite my best efforts to contribute points, which I'm still don't agree with because it effectively ended the round early and before I could post other stuff. How frustrating.
Anyway, about the actual drabble itself lol. The sack of money, the boot, and the top hat tokens represented Suho, Baekhyun, and Lay who had been eliminated in Round 1, D.O got the wheelbarrow because he was the "Load", Xiumin got the thimble because his team showing was pitiful as fuck, Chanyeol was the battleship because he was the only one on the team with a fighting chance, and Sehun got the racecar because he was doing the best at that point. Did I stare at my old monopoly set forever to figure out who to assign what? Yes. Yes I did. The smug Sehun part was a reference to how he has actually done historically horribly in every other event EM has put on, Chen suggesting Xiumin giving up and giving his assets to him was a reference to how when teams in events are going down, the rival teams will often attempt to recruit them (ha...), and Kai whining was a reference to how anons always complain and whine during the events at every rule and suggestion and judgement lol.
Honestly, I think I was really happy with this. I hated the situation it was describing, the hopelessness I felt during the event and how things turned out, but at the very least I was happy with writing a meta piece. Others had done it during HGAU but it felt like a while since we had an event that allowed for it? Also, someone told me I characterized Chen pretty well, his sweet side and his cheeky side, so that was nice.