#some of our members seem to think that AI is the way to go...

[sweet-angel-kokoro]

I don't have anything to say about Teruhashi-senpai right now, but hi! :D

Hello Minori!! I hope you've been doing well, especially since your transfer back to Gessen Girl's Academy! Remember: if you ever have any problems, dont hesitate to ask us for help! Your friendship with Teruhashi, on top of your kindness and ability to keep both the current and ex 8th chairman in line, makes you a VIP to us Kokomins~!!

Anyhow though, I heard you had recently been given some manga before you left- have you read any of them yet??? Maybe showed your friend Murakumo??? If so, let me know!!! I'm sure once you find a genre you like, someone will definitely start sending over more manga like that to you!!! Oh, speaking of actually, let me know if she's ever accepting commissions!!

[eggroll-sama]

Who’s My Roommate?

The Touchstarved cast are at a hotel and can’t decide who will be their roommates. Some are against certain pairings. You don’t really care, but they seem they’ve got a few colorful opinions || Touchstarved LI x reader. All of them have a crush on you, but you’re oblivious. I had this in my drafts for a while but I finally got the motivation to finish it. Just light-hearted shenanigans. Sorry if there are any typos!

__________________________________________

“I don’t want Leander,” said Vere, his arms crossed and glaring at the man across from him.

They didn’t think deciding on rooming buddies would be so hard. There were exactly three rooms, side by side, and anyone who knew basic math understood there would be two people per room. The problem was, who and who?

Vere and Ais were the first pairing that came to mind. But then Mhin complained that they didn’t want to hear them having sex at two in the morning. You and Kuras could sympathize so argued that, no, Vere and Ais cannot be together in the same room. Vere was angry, Ais was indifferent. He preferred Vere’s company over others, but as long as he didn’t get Mhin he was fine. He found the idea of Mhin aiming a knife to his neck fun, but in the end he didn’t want to deal with them pestering him like a fly.

And then there was Leander. If they went off the reason of not wanting to hear someone having sex, then Leander was tough. He had had sex with half of the members in the group: Ais, Mhin, and (maybe) Vere. You still didn’t really know if they did it or not.

“I wouldn’t mind sleeping in the same room as Leander,” you said. Everyone stiffened except for the man in question, who had a cocky smile on his face. Secretly, everyone wanted to room with you, but they didn’t want to admit it.

Kuras stepped in before Leander could make a comment, and steered the conversation to possibly drawing sticks so it would be fair for everyone and well, not everyone was happy with their partners. Vere got Leander, Mhin got Ais, and you got Kuras. You weren’t against Kuras being your roommate; he was a gentleman and minded his own business. He didn’t seem like he was against rooming with you either. The others were not so happy with their results.

“I’m not rooming with a monster,” Mhin spat, venom lacing their words, glaring holes in the back of Ais’ head.

Ais ignored them, while Vere rolled his eyes.

“Oh yeah, well nobody wants to deal with an annoying midget like you. I think you forgot to pack your booster seat.”

Vere snickered as Mhin’s face turned red from anger.

“Hey hey now hold on, MC said that they were fine with rooming with me, so why not just leave the two of us out of it?” Leander said, arms snaking around your shoulder.

“No, you soft penis numbskull. You’re not rooming with MC.” Mhin stepped in. When the others looked at Mhin curiously, they coughed nervously and looked away.

You tried to lighten the mood with a joke, “Ais and Leander are best friends. We should room them together.”

The corner of Leander’s smile frayed at your joke. Ais narrowed his eyes at you. At least Vere was laughing, probably at you for your failed attempt to lighten the mood, but at least he laughed. You drew into yourself. You’ve forgotten the others were getting quite annoyed by the arguing. This was serious business that might mean life or death.

“How about we draw sticks again?” You suggested meekly, trying to move past the awkwardness.

“No, it’s just a waste of time,” intervened Vere, “we all clearly have our preferences, so how about we list anyone we don’t want to room with? I go first. I hate all four of you, fortunately, so I’m going to room with Ais or no one.”

“I don’t have a preference,” said Leander with a blush.

“We know,” Vere rolled his eyes.

“At this point let’s just room the two people that are the doormats of this group, Leander and Vere. It’s the easiest way to deal with them,” said Mhin.

“Or how about we room Leander in one room and Vere in the other one, and then we all share the last one,” you suggest. At this point you were running out of ideas and throwing them out randomly hoping you would hit a jackpot.

“I’m not invited to the foursome? That is unfortunate to hear,” Vere said.

“It’s getting too complicated. Room Vere with MC, Mhin with Leander, and me and Kuras. That should be good,” suggested Ais, getting impatient.

“I’m afraid that would be endangering MC’s safety,” said Kuras coolly, ignoring Vere’s exasperated reaction.

He quickly switched to his flirty demeanor, a coy smile on his lips, “Oh, but I don’t bite. Unless they ask me.” Mhin scoffed in the background. Kuras was expressionless. If he reacted to Vere’s tasteless innuendos, he would give the fox exactly what he wanted. So he stayed quiet and didn’t let his face give anything away.

“I agree with Kuras on this one. A bloody, mangled corpse is the last thing we want to deal with,” said Mhin. Though Mhin said this, you knew that they cared about your safety.

Ais sighed in defeat, pulling out a cigarette and a match, “I’m going out for a smoke.” You couldn’t blame him, they’ve been arguing for the past thirty minutes. Ais walked off to the entrance of the hotel.

Seeing Ais walk off, Vere waved their fingers before sauntering off in the same direction.

“The dog went to take a walk with it’s owner. Good grief,” said Mhin.

“We still need to get this rooming situation settled. I’m sure the others won’t mind if we decided without them,” said Kuras.

He sighed, “From what I’ve observed, the best rooming pairs seems like the fox and Ais, Mhin and MC, and Leander and I. We’ll take the middle room, Mhin and MC take the left, and Vere and Ais the right. That way Mhin wouldn’t be disturbed from any unnecessary sounds at night.”

“I could live with that,” said Mhin.

Leander didn’t seem too pleased with the end-result, but he wasn’t going to complain, “Alright. Guess I get to room with the good doctor tonight. Hey, maybe we can finally get some dinner, you and I.”

“Perhaps,” said Kuras, but from his indifferent expression and hollow tone it sounded more like a no.

“Ah,” was all Leander said. You could see the cogs turning behind his eyes. Then, he pulled out a deck of cards from his pocket, “I brought cards with me. Anyone wanna play Poker in an hour or two, our room?”

You smiled, “I like Poker. Bet I could beat you,” you nudged his shoulder teasingly.

“Sure.” Leander said with a laugh, but the way he said it almost sounded…condescending? You raised your brows, but before you could fully process it, Leander had already started speaking, “Would the doctor like to join as well?”

Must’ve been my imagination.

“I suppose if you are going to play in our room, I could join for a game or two.”

Kuras reply seemed to brighten Leander’s mood from the thinly-veiled rejection for dinner a few seconds ago.

“Great! How about you Mhin!”

“I’m tired.” Mhin grabbed their bags and started heading for the elevator, ignoring Leander’s invitation. You saw Leander’s smile falter.

“I’ll try convincing them,” you whispered to Leander who gave you an appreciative smile.

You had the keys to the room, so after saying goodbye to the other two, quickly followed after your small companion.

“I’m glad I get to room with you, Mhin,” you said while waiting for the elevator with them.

Mhin huffed at your words, turning away, “Right.” In the corner of your eyes you could see their pale skin get pinker just a tad. You smiled to yourself at their reaction. You weren’t really sure what the rest of the day will entail, but at least you were able to get through the hurdle of deciding who will be your roommate.

[starryjkoo]

I think that even aside from shipping people are jealous of jikook biased fans because we're getting a whole second season of a 9h long show where our biases are on screen 90% of the time. For a few years now fans have been pretty starved from content that just let's them see their bias on camera for a extended period of time. Cause stuff like songs, mvs and even concerts don't give a ton in terms of just seeing members talk, have fun and be cute and entertaining in a more casual way. I mean, the appeal of idols is more than just music and performances, there's a big part that's about seeing the idols' personality and how they are off stage and, aside from some stuff here and there, armys haven't gotten much of that since the hiatus. Fans really miss stuff like Bon Voyage and instead of getting that (and with it getting to see their bias) like a lot of them thought they would now that's it's finally 2025 (aka BTS year) they're just getting another season of "The Jikook Show (Your Fave Not Included*)".

Tae fans especially are feeling this. Yes, even the one who aren't shippers because there's this ingrained comparison of the maknaeline members in people's mind that makes it so they think that anytime a maknaeline member gets something that something was 'stolen' from another maknaeline member who could have had it instead. And AYS being about not only one but both the remaining maknaeline members makes it even worse. It makes them think Tae is being excluded because the maknaeline is supposed to be a trio. And they were already mad about Tae being "just a guest" last season which highlighted even more how he's not properly a part of something that they think he, as one of the trio, should've been a part of. Now they're even more mad because he's not even a guest anymore. And that's not to mention the resentment they have of jikook being on another level of successful compared to the other members. To them Jikook being the "ace duo" or the "most successful duo" is just another exclusion of Tae from this trio he should be a part of. Also, Tae seems the least likely out of the three to release an album or have a tour so his fans are pissed at the idea that jikook biased fans could have all this stuff and they might get nothing.

(Also, something could be said about how for a lot of people shipping is about their bias being a part of something. Especially in the context of a very well established (by fans) love triangle like it's the case for vminkook. A lot of fans just hate the idea of their bias being the love interest that wasn't picked in the end, the one excluded from this especial (and very popular and talked about) relationship. They love the idea of their bias being 'chosen', especially if it's over a member they don't like, more than they love the actual ship.)

Note how Tae fans aren't nearly as bothered by Jin having a version of Run BTS just to himself, or outnumbering the size of Tae's discography even though Jin was the last to release an album, or him being the first vocal line member to have a tour. But they're pissed at jikook for having their own version of BV, and at Jimin for having two albums, and at Jungkook for possibly having a tour. It's because of that ingrained maknaeline comparison I talked about.

I think that even aside from shipping people are jealous of jikook biased fans because we're getting a whole second season of a 9h long show where our biases are on screen 90% of the time. For a few years now fans have been pretty starved from content that just let's them see their bias on camera for a extended period of time.

I 100% think that’s what was going on lmao. ARMYs were getting increasingly agitated about the lack of substantial OT7 content or member interactions post-enlistment after waiting all this time. But then you had Jikook as these massive outliers. Not only did we get Jikook moments throughout their enlistment, we had AYS, all of their discharge content, the photobooth pics, JMs IG posts, THEN they went ahead and filmed a whole second season of AYS (and that being the first thing they wanted to do when they got back 😭 and maybe their only solo content for a minute? wow).

Also Jikook at Jin’s concert were really something else. And I know some ARMYs were hoping for other member interactions instead of jkk because half the hit twts on my timeline were talking about JK being pouty that Jin asked Jimin to sing instead of him (an entirely made up scenario?) versus anything about the Jikook moments that actually happened. You could just tell some people were over it lol.

So yeah, ARMYs haven’t just been waiting on new music, they’ve also been waiting to see BTS interact and more substantial variety content in general because that’s definitely a huge part of the appeal (and I missed it too, don’t get me wrong!). But when that wasn’t happening and Jikook were kind of going crazy instead, definitely some saltiness from parts of the fandom. tkkrs try to put AYS down as “company content” but literally who wouldn’t want an entire show of your biases interacting and having fun, a show that they clearly enjoyed and wanted to keep doing? 😭 It’s a huge win for Jikook lovers, I can’t wait (seriously, as a fan if you’d rather it be a “private trip” that’s probably a sign that you need to take a step back and out of shipping because you’re too over invested in it.).

Fans really miss stuff like Bon Voyage and instead of getting that (and with it getting to see their bias) like a lot of them thought they would now that's it's finally 2025 (aka BTS year) they're just getting another season of "The Jikook Show (Your Fave Not Included*)".

"The Jikook Show (Your Fave Not Included*)" made me cackle lmao, probably how a lot of people viewed it and definitely the reason for the lack of enthusiasm from some. Also to your point I was in the quotes of the translation about Jin saying he would do an episode of RunJin for Jimin because I thought it was super cute, but it was full of ARMYs actually pushing for Run BTS instead, so yeah. A lot of people want OT7 content, not OT2 content (or only OT2 if it includes their bias).

That OT7 live healed the fandom a lot though. ARMYs now have the reassurance that BTS are back and fully committed to the group, that they might actually be all in on focusing on the group album for the foreseeable future. There were also a lot of cute moments between all the members, typical BTS touchiness, general OT7 good vibes like JH throwing himself across furniture because Jimin said something vaguely funny. So I think people will get a little more normal about Jikook now that the balance is starting to be restored and they know they have OT7 content and other member interactions (plus music!!!) to look forward to. Because idk about anyone else but things were definitely getting weird from my perspective. In a way though it also just makes it easier for people to ignore Jikook and downplay their closeness, which was getting harder to do prior to this live, so I’m sure some are happy about that as well, but you know-

there's this ingrained comparison of the maknaeline members in people's mind that makes it so they think that anytime a maknaeline member gets something that something was 'stolen' from another maknaeline member who could have had it instead.

Interesting perspective and write-up about the ML and I agree with you! They’ve definitely always been compared and pitted against each other the most. Even outside of shipping, they're the three most popular members with the most amount of solo stans who are always trying to prove who is the best, most popular, biggest impact etc. Looking back on some of the discourse from CH2, it’s clear that a lot of ARMYs have internalized that competition and comparison too, thus the frustration about TH’s numbers or the whole guest thing. I still remember all the weird comments after FACE about “just wait until tkk debut!” that always felt shady to JM and felt weird coming from ARMYs.

When TH didn’t meet these invisible standards that the fandom set for him (standards literally based off of jkks success) people acted like he was done dirty even though he did the 3rd best in the group and his numbers were objectively good. It was clear that the injustice to them was that he didn’t do as well as Jikook specifically, and that’s such an odd line of thought, because why exactly was TH expected to do as well as them, and why is it unfair if he doesn’t? So yeah, I get what you mean about lumping ML together and having those expectations.

And to your point about “stealing opportunities” it reminds me of that ARMY who made a post about how we’re more likely to get a jkk subunit than tkk at this rate after JM’s KIG challenge. It was such an odd thing to say for multiple reasons, but it’s super weird that someone would act like jkk doing something together has anything to do with tkk, or act like it’s actually stealing opportunities away from other duos? Like what is the thought process here, why does jkk doing something together make you think of other members & subunits you want instead, and why specifically tkk?

Also the whole “guest” discourse was crazy because it should have been such a non-issue and yet like you said it extended to even non-shippers being upset about it. They were upset about his whole portrayal in Jeju actually, not just the guest thing, but how he wasn’t as involved in the show as Jikook were, and how Jikook were kind of synced on a different level (it’s why tkkrs trying to claim that Jeju was a “win” for tkk baffle me when I’ve seen even non-shipper TH biased claim that it was evil company edited to make it seem like TH was a “third wheel”).

From the moment TH was revealed as part of the Jeju trip a lot of ARMYs were treating people calling him a guest like it was the most horrible insult ever. So yeah it’s interesting when you mention that with ML because a lot of ARMYs clearly thought that AYS should be the vminkook show and when that wasn’t the case there was a lot of unhappiness about it and people treating the whole thing like TH was somehow done dirty. All of that discourse despite the fact that there were actually tons of cute moments between vminkook, and Jikook expressed how happy they were he came. But it wasn’t enough for some people because Jikook also made it clear that TH was a guest (in a teasing, playful way) and AYS was their show. Some people really took that personally.

Also, something could be said about how for a lot of people shipping is about their bias being a part of something.

And yeah, definitely this is a big part of it. Honestly it’s pretty common for people to self-insert onto their bias. It’s not just solos and not just serious shippers who are doing that. It’s pretty common for people to be very excited when their bias is getting special attention or appreciation and everyone loves the narrative that their bias in particular is loved and fawned over by the rest of the group, that everyone is a little in love with their bias, multi-shippers who basically ship their bias x every other member (some jkkrs & tkkrs will do that with whichever one they bias). Definitely another form of Y/N-ing. And there's nothing wrong with all that! But I definitely agree that partially because of that, when some people feel like their bias is being left out of something, they take it personally and start acting weird about it.

And the whole ML thing is extra charged even if you’re not a shipper just because of shipping. If it seems like one of them is being left out the narrative is always extra nasty because of ship fights. That’s probably why some people are so defensive and sensitive about any ML trio interactions and them being "equally close" even if they’re not a shipper. It’s like for instance I don’t think I saw even one yoonkook interaction at Jin’s concert. We all know that doesn’t mean literally anything negative about yoonkook at all because we have actual brains, but if that had been vminkook? Ugh, could you imagine the drama and the types of narratives that would have been thrown around? tkkrs still say that JM was third-wheeling on a live where it was revealed that JK was going to JMs room three times a day and where they literally arrived after eating together? 😭

I know all of this is not that serious and just kind of chronically online discourse lol, but I still can’t help yapping about it sometimes because it’s a weird and frustrating experience as a Jikooker or Jikook biased sometimes. I’ve always enjoyed fandom but trying to find a comfortable spot in the BTS fandom has been tough to say the least. I definitely have zero expectations for the fandom to acknowledge Jikook at this point though. The closer they are the more some types of people pull back from hyping them out of weird jealousy. On the other hand, the non-weird chronically online ARMYs have been hyping Jikook more, like you’ll see it occasionally maybe on somewhere like reddit sometimes. It’s just that the types of people who are invested enough to run stan accounts are sometimes also the types of people who are heavily biased and internalize everything and also tend to be shippers.

[jeonscatalyst]

I noticed that jkkrs on tumblr seem to be more than tkkrs on tumblr. Our posts usually get hundreds of likes too while tkkrs’s only manage a few dozens. Why do you think that is even though tkkrs dominate other platforms like twitter, instagram, TikTok and YouTube?

That’s a great question anon and just like you, I did notice that too.

My answer may seem a little biased since I am a joker but it is what I really believe based on everything I’ve seen after being in this fandom for so many years.

Jikookers love to discuss and have long deep conversations about Jikook and ships in general which helps them understand things better. Taekookers love screenshots, especially those they can take out of context to either create moments for their ship or drag Jikook (the ship and Jimin). Twitter, YouTube, TikTok and instagram aren’t social media platforms that allow long, deep creative discourse with enough context to help people understand things better so they thrive by posting edits and screenshots taken out of context and they get thousands of likes more than jikookers while many tkkrs don’t seem to be very interested in actually going deep into conversation about ships because they already believe what they believe and don’t want anything to change that.

You see anon, Jikook spaces used to be more healthy and peaceful than they have become in the last couple of years and I feel like Jikookers actually had a good basis to start shipping Jikook unlike other shippers who mostly start shipping because of aesthetics or just cute edited moments of the ships. I think out of all BTS ships, Jikookers were one of the very first ones who brought discussions about ships to tumblr and many Jikookers loved having those conversations here while other shippers preferred Twitter, YouTube and the rest for more fast paced and less detailed discussions.

If you notice, it is quite hard for a jokers to beat the cult in an argument on Twitter and when I say beat them I don’t mean by being right or wrong but instead in the term of likes and interactions. A tkkr could post a very obviously fake or twisted edit or screenshot and they would get over a dozen thousand likes. A tkkrs could post an out of context screenshot to drag Jikook and they get thousands of likes and replies but it’s rarely the same for a joker on X but on tumblr when we have our little conversations with enough context, we get tons of interactions than the cult because many more jkkrs actually love to discuss about Jikook and not just rely on edits or out of context screenshots.

The tkk blogs I’ve seen on tumblr are in my opinion some of the nicest tkkrs I’ve ever come across and this is saying a lot because I don’t even think they are that nice. I just think they are nicer than what I am used to seeing on other apps and they could be a little less delusional even though they are still very very delusional and just like their brothers and sisters on X and the other platforms, are so good at taking things out of context. A good example of how they take things out of context or twist things to fit their narratives is that article from Bang PD from The New Yorker. I was so shocked that not a single one of them actually got the context right. All of them interpreted what Bang PD said about the group members taking trips to be about Jikook just because we just watched AYS recently even though he was actually specifically referring to Katseye, plus BTS as a group and other groups under Hybe/ Bighit have been on multiple group trips throughout their years as idols yet they decided to make it about Jikook since that was a way they could feel better about AYS since apparently they didn’t like what they saw in the show. Just like the blind leading the blind with not a single person to direct them to the right path.

To put everything in short, tumblr is favored by fans who enjoy deep, creative engagement, while Twitter and the others attracts those who thrive on fast-paced, real-time interactions. This alone should pretty much explain how most jkkrs are and how most tkkrs are.

Hope this answered your question anon💜.

[gunsandspaceships]

Proof that Tony Stark is not an extravert

Well, I’d bet it’s better results than one could get on YouTube, Twitter, or Reddit, but come on.

I’m going to show you why MCU Tony is certainly not an extravert.

I've already posted some stuff, such as:

Absent-minded Tony

Socially awkward Tony

As you can see, Tony has some issues that hint to us that he’s not always present or outgoing. And now it’s time to gather all these and other things and summarize our findings.

Extraversion: Large social network & Thrive in teams, crowds vs Introversion: Value 1:1 friendships & Favor independence

Tony no doubt knows a lot of people. Because he ran a huge technological company, right. Business partners, military officers, politicians, SHIELD agents, journalists, his staff, etc. Although this doesn’t mean that he communicates with many people regularly, or has many friends. And we know he doesn’t. He never had many friends. Throughout the Infinity Saga, he made a few, like Pepper and Happy. But before IM2 his only friends were Rhodey, J.A.R.V.I.S., and his bots.

Jon Favreau commentary

He mostly interacted with AIs and robots, especially in his solo movies. This tells us something, doesn’t it? I’ll write a separate post about his childhood, but it is obvious that he was always an outcast: in school, college, before the Avengers, within the Avengers… We don’t really see him as a “gear” in this mechanism. He is most often steps ahead of others or steps aside. None of the Avengers were really his friends, and I’ll write about that too in the future.

Did he try to make more friends? He seemed to think some of the Avengers were. He thought Steve was. Remember this?

Or Bruce. But Bruce didn't even want to listen to him when Tony needed help.

And he left him at the end of AoU. But Tony thought he was a friend. Moreover, he considered them all his family.

That’s what he was doing – everyone around him, from assistants to teammates, were considered friends and family members and were treated accordingly. He needed that, not a large social network of "pals" and "buddies" he barely knows.

Let’s illustrate how he felt about people around him:

Deleted scene "Dubai Party" from IM (2008)

Tony doesn’t really talk to those people. He doesn't feel comfortable shaking their hands or taking anything from them. That's not why he's here, it's an alibi for the mission in Afghanistan. And we see that all this causes him disgust and discomfort.

The Charity Ball - IM (2008)

And boom - he doesn't know that Christina is talking about Jericho, which Stane sold to the Ten Rings. He thinks she is referring to this event. And he (surprisingly) reveals that he actually has social anxiety. That doesn't sound like an extrovert to me.

Alternate Opening from IM2 shows us Tony, who is trying to avoid going on some kind of dangerous mission. And then we find out that that mission is actually the Expo Opening. He doesn’t look excited that he has to go to the crowd, doesn’t he?

After that, he makes his way through the crowd of fans, actually communicating with virtually no one.

At the Senate hearing, he seems bored. He doesn’t pay much attention to the politicians, asking Pepper about chili, hacking networks, and making fun of Senator Stern (and not for his own fun, but so that Stern and other politicians/officers would fuck off).

After he’s done with Hammer and Stern he shows his public mask to others. We know he is not comfortable with this situation, but he has to deal with it.

At the party "Natalie wears the gauntlet" deleted scene from IM2

This is what Tony really thinks about these people. He doesn’t like them, doesn’t like this lifestyle. He didn’t want this party in the first place.

Sounds very introvert-like to me.

He wears sunglasses in public. Because he is uncomfortable when people see his eyes - they cannot hide from them what he wants to hide. And that brings us to the next trait…

Extraversion: Enjoy being a center of attention vs Introversion: Avoid being a center of attention

He hides behind sunglasses. Most of the time, he only shows his mask to people he considers strangers. When he's the center of attention, it's his mask, not the real Tony.

The real Tony refused to be the commander of the Avengers, despite being their benefactor and providing them with everything. The real Tony didn't go to important public events on behalf of the team, Natasha (WS and CW) did. The real Tony left the Avengers at his Compound and went to live with his family in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. And, again, we can recall what he said about his birthday and parties in general.

Here are the posts about parties: Big post, And he just said it himself

Extraversion: Think out loud vs Introversion: Think before speaking

Tony is not the guy who shares his thoughts with others. He thinks a lot. And he hides most of it from others.

Does he always think before speaking? No, not at all. But that’s his goofy personality, not extraversion.

Extraversion: Energize around people & seek greater stimulation vs Introversion: Recharge, reflect in quiet & Seek less stimulation

As we can see, Tony is not that much of a people person. He avoids gatherings when he can, and doesn’t enjoy them when he can’t. Most of the time he spends in his workshop/lab with his AIs, bots, and sometimes with Bruce, with occasional visits from Pepper and Rhodey. And he is comfortable in this environment.

With the Avengers he doesn’t act like an energy battery. Instead, he is quiet, calm, and just minds his own business. Look at the scenes from AoU:

At the party he doesn't talk to many people, we see him in a small group of Thor and Maria Hill, and he is, again, pretty quiet.

In Endgame he lives with just his wife, daughter, chickens, and Gerald the alpaca in a cabin, far from other people and their noise. He has nature around, a big fireplace, and paper books to read by it. This is his happiness. An introvert's dream.

Conclusion: all the "extraversion" we see in Tony came from his business training that started when he was a kid. He had to develop a set of skills: communicating with many people, participating in gatherings, selling stuff, running a company, dealing with journalists and politicians. He became the owner of a huge business when he was only 21 years old. Of course, he has skills formed by decades of experience. But we see he doesn’t enjoy doing all this stuff. This is not his comfort zone. His comfort zone is his lab and a few close friends. It's hard to tell from the masks he wears and his skills whether he's an introvert or an ambivert who tends to be introverted, but he's definitely not an extravert.

P.S. This is not a 100% comprehensive review of everything I've seen in the movies. There are many more examples of his introversion in the MCU. But this post is already huge, so if you would like to see more about it – let me know in the comments and I’ll make more detailed posts about each trait.

616 Tony here

[qqueenofhades]

https://www.tumblr.com/qqueenofhades/751102464296665088

*Puts on old man costume*

"Back in my day, we used to cheat and procrastinate like real people! With copious amounts of bullshitting and pulling things out of our asses at the last minute! Secretly sneaking in little things written on our hands or in our phones fer tests and shit! Heck, maybe we didn't even NEED to cheat because it turns out we actually knew stuff, we just didn't know we knew stuff until our last minute papers got a good grade anyways because our shit actually had some analytical relevance borne from deep in our psyche, but we just didn't realize it because we had massive cases of imposter syndrome where we thought everyone else was smarter than us, while overlooking our own abilities!

Now these newfangled ChatGPTs are just taking the easy way out of the easy way out! What's up with that!? These new procrastinators and cheaters make us look even worse than we already do, cuz they ain't even doing the work of not doing the work! And y'all can't even say that you can learn from it in the art of bullshittin', cuz that's not even YOUR bullshitting, it's someone else's bullshitting mangled up with hundreds of other peoples' bullshittin'!

Feh, kids these days!"

*Takes off old man costume*

Addendum: old man anon griping about cheating with ChatGPT does not endorse cheating or procrastinating. I'm just being silly.

I mean... at least with regular old-fashioned cheating, also an academic tradition since time immemorial, at least you're engaging with the material somehow. You are putting your own two god-given eyeballs on that and using your own ickle brainikins to do SOMETHING with it, even if that something is morally questionable. We've all seen the elaborate cheat devices where someone managed to engrave all the exam answers onto a pen or a pair of socks or whatever -- at least that person went in and used their initiative to remember information SOMEHOW, and to do it under their own power. Now, yes, it will get you into trouble, and yes, there are plenty of conversations to be had about accessibility and the fact that not everyone learns by sitting in a room and being lectured at and then having to regurgitate it all from memory with no notes in a final exam, which is why there is a whole thriving field of educational pedagogy and best practices and how to accommodate students with different learning styles and etc. etc. I sometimes see AI framed as "uwu accessibility issue :(" and like... cmon. There are educational professionals who spend their whole lives and careers working out how to shake up the traditional learning format and present material in an engaging way and teach students how to think and write and otherwise be academic and rigorous. And like, if you're voluntarily in this space, then we presume you WANT that instruction! Not to just sit around and whine about how we aren't catering enough to you personally and this means you should get to use the Bullshit Plagiarism Nonsense Machine to never ever think at all!

Now, I will say that the naivete around AI is not only limited to students. I was in a department meeting yesterday where the literal associate dean of the college seemed startled to discover that AI might not be a) totally reliable b) able to totally replace lesson planning and evaluation/grading by an actual human professor (after several faculty members pushed back, shall we say, briskly on the idea that it could). Plenty of people still think it can just magically solve Academia (or /insert field here), and those are not just limited to clueless undergraduates. And yes, undergraduates are clueless in different ways and for different reasons in every era of the world; it is likewise an academic rite of passage. But I still cannot for the life of me understand why you, in ye olde benighted 21st century, would pay tens of thousands of dollars and/or accrue it in debt to go to college, to learn nothing, to whine and blame your professors for "not designing assignments well" (when again, every remotely decent educational professional agonizes for eons about how to do a good job of this for all kinds of students), to insist it is your entitled right to use the Bullshit Plagiarism Nonsense Machine, and then presumably be /shocked pikachu face/ when you don't learn anything and spend your time posting idiot takes on the internet. I mean. The state of critical thinking is /waves hand/ Already So Bad, and the AI craze plays directly into that by fulfilling the insidious fantasy that the hard things in life aren't actually hard and don't have to be learned by patient and careful practice. And that is just. Yeah. C'mon.

(I realize this was a funny/lighthearted ask, but yeah, we can consider this one old man turning to another old man on the park bench and making a joke, and the other old man bellowing YOUTH THESE DAYS!!! and scaring all the pigeons and/or passersby. Ahem.)

[captainsophiestark]

Guest Appearance

Dick Grayson x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for my personal fic writing challenge for 2024, Sophie's Year of Fic! Featuring a new fic being posted every Friday, all year long :)

Fandom: DC

Summary: As a PA on a nightly talk show with all kinds of celebrity guests, the job always comes with some level of unexpected chaos. But when Dick Grayson's interview is interrupted by a New York supervillain, the events of the night might reach a whole new level of wild adventure

Word Count: 2,967

Category: Fluff, Humor, maybe a little bit of Angst

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"Can you believe he's really here?"

"No. How is it possible that he's somehow hotter in person?"

I stifled a laugh behind my hand and turned to look at my coworker, Tara, who had an absolutely shameless grin on her face. I shook my head, but I couldn't stop a similar smile from spreading across my own face, too.

We'd become work besties since we got hired and added to the crew of the same talk show together at the same time. We'd worked with a laundry list of truly incredible guests (and some truly terrible ones), but today was officially the record best for the both of us.

Richard Grayson, the famous, charming philanthropist and eldest son of Bruce Wayne was our guest for today's show. My job was making sure talent knew where to go and that they got there on time, so even better, I'd actually been able to interact with him a bit.

"Was he nice?" asked Tara, keeping her voice low as we watched our host go through the interview as planned. "Please tell me he was nice. I don't think I could handle it if he was an asshole."

"Oh, Tara, he was so sweet. You should've seen the smile he gave me when we were introduced. And he remembered my name, he said thank you specifically to me when I got him to the stage earlier!"

Tara sighed. "I'm in love."

"Honestly? Same."

The two of us fell into comfortable silence as we returned our attention to the shoot before us. The host was asking about some charity work Dick Grayson and his dad had gotten behind recently, and every time the host tried to give him accolades, Dick deflected and turned all the attention back to the volunteers and the people they were trying to help.

I was quite literally melting. Next to me, Tara seemed to be having the same reaction.

"I wish he could come on every week," she muttered, shaking her head. "They're about to wrap this part though, I need to get in position to set up for the game they're gonna play. Continue this after the show?"

"You're on."

She shot me a wink, then headed over to where all the props were resting for the game our host was going to play with Grayson. I turned my attention back to the interview, then frowned. Something weird was going on with the backdrop of the set. The color was changing to an icier white, as if frost was spreading across it. I squinted, trying to get a closer look, when everything around me exploded.

Cold wind swept through the studio as the lights went out. Members of the audience screamed, and I whirled around a moment later to see exactly why. Killer Frost, one of the supervillains who sometimes operated here in New York, was at the top of the audience seats, sending ice and freezing wind through the entire studio.

I shook my head, taking a few steps backwards before I thought better of it. I turned to the main stage where our host, guest, and a few others had been, searching for anybody I could help out of here, only to find it empty. A moment later Tara rushed up to me, a panicked look in her eye.

"Tara! You have to get out of here!" I said, trying to be heard over the increasing commotion as Killer Frost slowly but surely made her way down the stairs and towards the main stage, moving as if she had all the time in the world. "Get anybody you can to follow you, go down the stairs and get the hell out of here as fast as you can! And call somebody for help on your way out!"

Tara nodded, her grip on my forearm still like iron.

"Are you coming with me?"

I glanced over her shoulder at Killer Frost with a grimace, then turned back to Tara and shook my head.

"I want to see if I can help anybody else get out of here, especially Grayson. Talent's supposed to be my responsibility, and it seems like she's probably after him for a ransom or something. Since he's not familiar with the studio, I don't want him getting lost or stuck somewhere if there's something I can do to help."

Tara shook her head, but I started pushing her towards the exit and moving in the opposite direction before she could stop me.

"Go! I'll meet you outside!"

With that, I turned on my heel and ran.

Thankfully, I'd gotten to know this place well enough in the time since I'd started working here that I was able to navigate quickly through the back hallways. Everything back here was deserted now, which hopefully meant that everyone else had already gotten out. I threw open every door I passed anyway, looking for stragglers trying to hide that I might be able to send out the back stairs instead, getting them further out of harm's way.

The temperature in the hallway dropped with every extra second I spent here, and I knew I was running out of time, but I was determined to finish checking this space. Every room so far had been empty, but the last door at the end of the hall was our guest dressing room. Once I cleared it, I could get the hell out of here myself. With one quick glance over my shoulder to make sure Killer Frost hadn't reached this place yet, I threw open the last door on my list.

I froze in the doorway, but not because of a supervillain. Basically the opposite, actually. Before me, in the middle of the room, was Dick Grayson. He was shirtless, but more notably, he was halfway into the very recognizable superhero costume of Nightwing.

We locked eyes, just staring at each other for a few long moments while my brain tried to compute what I was seeing. I blinked, thinking this had to be a prank or an illusion or something, but then the temperature dropped another few degrees and Dick Grayson—Nightwing—started moving.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked as he quickly pulled on the top half of his suit. I just shook my head, trying to get my brain engaged again.

"I... I was checking if anybody was still here, I wanted to make sure you got out the back stairs since Killer Frost is probably here for you... are you seriously Nightwing?"

Dick grimaced as he slipped on a domino mask, giving me all the confirmation I needed.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anybody. But right now, you need to get out of here."

"Right. Right, yeah, you're right."

Dick nodded, crossing the room to gently take my arm and lead me out of it. I turned to the door at the end of the hallway that would lead to the stairs and out of the building, but before I could take so much as a step towards it, a blast of ice exploded against the wall, sealing the door completely shut.

I heard Dick swear under his breath as he yanked me back against his chest, moving me out of harm's way just in time.

"Get in the dressing room and keep your head down," he muttered to me before gently pushing me in that direction. I paused in the doorway to watch as he slowly turned to face Killer Frost, who'd finally caught up to us.

Nightwing shot me a wink and a confident smile before stepping forward, past where I could see his face. I knew I needed to take cover; I couldn't do much against Killer Frost, and neither could Nightwing if he was worried about protecting me. But before I shut the door, I figured there was one last thing I could do to try to help him.

"Dick, take cover back there," I said, faking pushing someone just beyond sight of the doorway from the hallway. "Nightwing's here, he's going to take care of it. It's going to be okay."

I wasn't sure if that would convince Killer Frost, or if Nightwing's secret identity was even something I should be concerned about right now, but I figured it at least couldn't hurt to try to help him out. I chanced one last glance behind me, but couldn't see more than a blinding flash of light as the two supers collided and I shut the door.

I took a deep breath, trying to gather myself. It still didn't seem completely real—it felt like a mistake. Richard Grayson, the famous son of Bruce Wayne, was one of the last people I'd expect to be a vigilante. Yet the proof was pretty irrefutable.

I crossed the room, shakily easing down into the nearest chair. Hopefully Dick, or Nightwing, or whoever the hell he was would be able to beat Killer Frost. If he wasn't, this room would surely be her next stop, and she'd probably be pretty disappointed to just find me, without the billionaire's son she'd been looking for.

The clashing and shouting sounds of fighting continued outside, setting my nerves on edge with every second that passed. Finally, they came to a stop, and that was honestly worse. I perched on the edge of my seat, ready to jump up at a moment's notice, and watched the door like a hawk. I shot halfway to the ceiling when it came flying open, then collapsed back onto the couch when I saw it was just Nightwing.

"You scared the hell out of me," I breathed, putting a hand to my chest. He shot me a grin as he slammed the door shut behind him.

"Sorry about that. I don't have a lot of time to spare, here."

"You... won, right? You beat Killer Frost?"

He nodded before ducking behind a rack of clothes to one side of the room. I could still see his face as he slipped off the domino mask, revealing the kind but non-super guest of the show that I'd met earlier today.

"She's unconscious, and I made sure she was subdued for whichever authorities get here first. But I couldn't stay out there to wait for them, since it might make my identity a little obvious. Especially when they checked this room and found you alone in here."

I huffed a laugh. "Yeah, people might have a few questions about that, my boss included."

He shot me a smile that made me melt, then stepped out from behind the rack of clothes a moment later, his nice suit for the talk show looking as good as when he'd first come in this morning. I frowned.

"What?" he asked. I shook my head, gesturing to his overall appearance.

"You look too put together. You were almost kidnapped by Killer Frost, you got shoved into this room by a vigilante and me... I don't know, I think you're supposed to look a little more rumpled."

He laughed. "You know, that's a good point. Hold on."

He ran his hands through his hair a few times to mess it up, then ripped at his nice white button up shirt until it looked sufficiently messy. Once he'd finished, he turned back to me with a smile, arms out to his sides.

"How's this?"

I smiled. "So good you might need to start worrying about the threat our hair and wardrobe people might pose to your safety when they see you instead of Killer Frost."

"I'll take it," he said, still beaming. A moment later though, the smile melted off his face and he took a step towards me. "Look... I appreciate your help covering my identity with Killer Frost... can I trust you to keep doing that? Nobody knows this secret."

I stared at Dick, one of the nicest guests we'd ever had on this show and apparently secretly the superhero Nightwing, as he came to a stop just a few inches from me. His wide, sparkling blue eyes and messy black hair made my heart melt and race all at the same time. I still didn't really know him, although I now knew something pretty major about him, but nevertheless, I couldn't help feeling that my sense about him—that he was a good, kind person—was right on.

I took a deep breath to give him an answer when the door to the room came flying open. On instinct, I shoved Dick backwards and behind the couch, and stepped forward. My producer, the show's host, and someone I assumed was a detective here for Killer Frost stared back at me.

"What happened?" I demanded, trying to look scared and wary as I shifted slightly backwards towards Dick. "Where is... is she gone?"

Everyone in the room relaxed a little at my question, the detective nodding as Dick stepped up to stand next to me.

"Killer Frost has been neutralized," she said. "What happened to the two of you?"

I glanced at Dick, still making a show of being rattled, and he did the same. I took a deep breath and turned back to the trio before us.

"I ran down here to try to make sure everyone got out, but Killer Frost showed up before Dick and I could make a run for it. She would've..." I paused, letting my gaze go a little unfocused as I swallowed hard, doing my best to sell the fear of the experience, which really wasn't all that hard. "I think we would've been in some serious trouble, but Nightwing showed up in the nick of time. He told us to wait in here while he took care of Killer Frost. Is he... is he okay?"

The three people before us shared a look, before the detective's eyes slid over me and Dick standing beside me. I very intentionally didn't look at him, instead focusing on keeping my eyes wide and worried. After a moment, the detective sighed and shrugged.

"He's not here and Killer Frost is subdued on the floor, so I'd say it's safe to assume he's fine," she said. I sighed, letting my shoulders relax and leaning slightly into Dick. He slumped a little too, putting a hand on my shoulder, like the both of us were incredibly relieved. We sat down on the couch together while the detective made sure we were both alright, and then my producer and the show's host checked in as well. They'd obviously decided not to finish filming today, and Dick was kind enough and thankfully in town long enough that we were able to schedule an alternate filming day.

Once we'd finished going through plans and questions and being checked on, we were told to head outside and go home. Dick and I didn't say much to each other throughout the process, until we stepped outside the building together, the sun shining down on the both of us. I took a deep breath then turned to Dick, only to find him already watching me with a smile.

"Thanks for that," he said. I returned his smile.

"Thanks for saving the day," I replied. "And I know it wasn't really your choice to share... you know... with me, but I promise your secret's safe."

Dick met my eyes, the smile off his face and replaced by a much more serious expression. He took a breath, then slolwy nodded.

"I believe you. Thank you."

The corner of my mouth quirked up, and we just stayed there for a moment together, letting the new reality wash over us. Even though we'd only met today, and neither of us knew the other well, things felt different, and closer, than they had before, now that we'd shared such a wild experience today.

"So... I know tonight, you probably just want to go home and get some breathing room from everything," Dick started, his eyes drifting to the city around us as he spoke. I watched him carefully, one eyebrow raised. "But I was thinking... after I come back for our replacement shoot, maybe I could take you out to dinner once we're done? I at least owe you a drink for everything we just went through together."

I laughed. "You owe me a drink? I'm pretty sure Nightwing is the only reason I'm not a frozen popsicle in that studio right now."

Dick smiled, and I couldn't help mirroring his expression as my heart pounded in my chest.

"But... I'd love to take you up on dinner," I continued, ignoring the rush of blood and nerves in my ears. "As long as you know the first round of drinks is on me."

Dick absolutely beamed back at me.

"Deal. Here, let me get your number and we can coordinate the best place for dinner and drinks."

"Perfect," I said, somehow keeping my hand from shaking as I held out my phone to him and took his in return. We exchanged numbers, then shared another smile as we handed back each other's phones. "Well... I guess I'll see you soon, then?"

"Can't wait." He flashed a grin that made me melt, then took a step closer to me and lowered his voice. "And thanks again for all your help today. I really, really appreciate it."

I nodded. "Likewise. Happy I could help."

He shot me a wink and another smile, then backed away, heading down the street and away from the building that housed our studio. He waved over his head at me as he went.

"See you soon!" he called. I grinned and waved after him.

"See you soon!"

I watched him go until he turned a corner, then finally started making my own way home. I didn't expect to end the day with a date scheduled with Dick (no matter how many times Tara and I had joked about it), but I was certainly happy with the unexpected outcome, despite what it took to get here.

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989 @space-helen

[akehoshimystar]

Ai SR

Civilization Unfolds Below

Part 1

Ito: Kosaka-san, I've sent you a question about the next request via chat. When you have time, I'd appreciate it if you could reply. Ai: Okay, I'll check it later. Yuzuru has compiled the previous requests from the same client. Ask for the details when he returns Ito: Yes, understood.

Then, speaking of the devil…

Yuzuru: I'm back Ito: Welcome back, Kise-san. Ai: That was earlier than expected. Yuzuru: The business finished pretty early. Ito: ? Oh, what a nice smell. Is this… coffee? Yuzuru: Yes. I saw it on my way back, so I thought it would be a good afternoon companion. Ito: Somehow, talking about that really makes me hungry… Um, sorry, I know I still have work to do, but can I take a break…? Ai: That's fine. I think it’s an appropriate time for a break too. Yuzuru: That would be perfect. I also bought some snacks. Would you like to eat them together? Ito: Really? Thank you. Yuzuru: Of course.

Yuzuru: Ai-san too, please have some. I think it goes well with black tea, so I'll make it for you later. Ai: Sure, I appreciate it.

Kise-san put his coffee down, and took out snacks. As I stared blankly at his actions, my eyes fell on the coffee he has placed down.

Ito: Kise-san, there's something written on the back of the paper cup. Yuzuru: Huh? Ito: Is this… a LIME ID? Yuzuru: Why would something like that… Ah, maybe it's the lady at the register? Ai: She seems to have taken a liking of you. It's written pretty prominently. Yuzuru: I didn't even notice it. I guess that was my bad… Ai: Yuzuru doesn't need to apologize. Sending messages with ulterior motives while on duty is out of the question. Ito: Kise-san has a gentle demeanor, so I don’t think it’s surprising that many women would be attracted to him. Yuzuru: You’re giving me too much credits.

I glance at Kosaka-san as the conversation went on.

Ito: (This isn't just limited to Kise-san, I think the same thing could happen to many Aporia members.) Ai: Not to me. Ito: Eh? Ai: You made a face that basically screamed “something similar might have happened to him.” Ito: Sorry, it’s just as you said. Ai: Even if there was one, I would just refuse it before accepting. Yuzuru: In the first place, with Ai-san’s personality, it might be too overwhelming to even talk to him. Ito: Numbers and IDs aside. I like it when the staff writes a message on the cup. Yuzuru: Yeah, same here. When you're tired, it cheers you up if someone writes you an encouraging message. Ito: Yes. Because it's handwritten, you can feel the emotion behind it.

Ai: Is that so? Ito: Yes. Sometimes they also draw some cute pictures on the cup. Yuzuru: It's hard to even draw on a flat piece of paper. Amazing, isn't it? Ai: ……….

Part 2

Later.

Yuzuru: Oh. I was so focused on my work that I didn’t realize it’s this late already… We still have a long work after this, so let's take a break. Ito: Okay. I'll go make some coffee then.

Ai: It's already prepared.

As soon as I stood up, Kosaka-san came in with two paper cups in his hands.

Ito: Did Kosaka-san buy these for us? Ai: Yeah. Yuzuru: Thank you so much, I'll gratefully accept it.

Thanking Kosaka-san, I accepted the slightly hot cup of coffee.

Ito: Then, I’ll enjoy having this. …..Hmm?

I guess it's a case of déjà vu. The moment I brought my lips to the cup….

Yuzuru: There's something written on the side of the cup. Ito: Oh. Is this another message from the clerk?

I turned the cup to see what it said and read it out loud. As for mine….

Ito: "Don't hesitate to take a break if you need one." "But once you've decided to do something, you must see it through to the end"…? Yuzuru: "I always appreciate your careful consideration and accurate information gathering."

As we read the messages, I and Kise-san fixed our stares at Kosaka-san.

Yuzuru: Ai-san…. Ito: Perhaps…. Ai: Don’t give me that look. This is just a trial run to increase motivation and improve work efficiency. No personal feelings were involved. Ito: I see. (It's true that what's written here is a harsh message from the point of view of a superior… Still….)

Combined that message with the warm coffee, it's really comforting.

Ito: ….Yes. Ai: Say whatever you want.

The coffee I sipped was really delicious. I definitely felt energized by the encouraging message I received from Kosaka-san.

[chevelleneech]

"have most of their life filmed" - No they don't. We have gotten so much content over the years that I think it has led to fans believing they are actually seeing everything. We actually see an incredibly small amount of their life. Like incredibly small amount. Our view is also very biased because we don't see what they don't show us. Take namjoon, he traveled to switzerland for work, but we know he also enjoyed private time there because he shared it with us. I'm not saying they did or didn't, but jikook could literally have taken days off in each location to just have non-filming days and we wouldn't know. Even on days where there is filming, not everything is filmed. In japan, the drive to the airport on their last day would have been a couple hours, but we only saw a small snippet and jimin himself I'm pretty sure mentioned turning the cameras on or off in the car.

Seeing their staff as strangers who are just under an NDA is flawed. We saw them drinking and laughing with their AYS staff in the japan episodes. namjoon recently just traveled with bts' stylist on his europe trip in his "private" time. Obviously every single staff is going to be different, but these are people they work with and see all the time. Just because they are strangers to you, doesn't mean they are to the members. Even if you watch run bts or their jungkook's camping travel diary, its obvious how comfortable they are with a lot of their staff, especially the ones they seem to frequently film/make content with. This doesn't mean they're going to be making out in front of the staff, but it certainly isn't the oppressive reality some are making it out to be.

Sorry for chiming in, I just feel like AYS is be dissected in such weird ways. I don't remember BV ever being made out to be less meaningful to the members because it was being filming. Like no this isn't a honeymoon trip, but also no this isn't some boardroom business meeting trip where they are filmed during every breath and not allowed to determine when they want to film.

Also as a sidenote, I don't know the nature of their relationship and I don't even try to label it, but if you were a queer couple traveling, it might be wise to bring cameras that are friendly as a reminder of the ones who might be filming that aren't, at least while they're out in public. None of the members, but especially a possibly closeted queer couple, will ever truly be free when out in public and its not because of the company's cameras, so the narrative that making a show someone how impedes their privacy is laughable to me, as if they were given any to begin with from the public or fans.

I agree with this.

I don’t know if you’re quoting me on the first part (I say a lot and can’t always remember specifics), but if so, I certainly meant they’ve been filmed for such a long time, and not that we see majority of their lives. Just to clarify, if it did come from me.

Also, again, to clarify if part two is also in reference to me using NDA’s as an example, I don’t think their staff are strangers bound by contracts. I think they’re people they’ve gotten to know, but also people who likely have reputable histories working with celebrities. It’s not easy to build a system like the one Big Hit has for BTS, and hiring people who would rather make nice, be trusted, and abide by their contracts is extremely important. We also know the guys are friends with their staff, so I don’t know why that anon insists on implying JM and JK would be stuck in an uncomfortable situation. We see enough to know they are friends or at least friendly, but are also legally protected.

Those two things together make up the bigger picture, but for some reason people don’t like thinking about the reality of celebrity life when it comes to them. They have to buy the lifestyle they want in many ways, and kind of just have to hope they don’t end up dealing with legal issues after the fact. That doesn’t mean though, they are always unhappy or stuck in situations they don’t like. It takes work and money to maintain, but it’s still a life they’re choosing to live. All seven of them.

[thescarletnargacuga]

So could you write a poly fic between Caine Jax and Pomni?

Maybe one where Jax and Pomni keep making Caine flustered (in their own ways) during adventures, so Caine decides he is going to be the one to fluster them for once during a private adventure between the three of them.

They all are in a consenting and loving poly relationship (just felt the need to say that with all the other crazy anons going around 😂)

A/N: always good to clarify! And thank you for letting me know that it's a throuple poly ship, because polys can work in a lot of different ways

MY TURN

A FUNNYBUNNYSHOW ONESHOT

WARNING: suggestive, power dynamic

~~~

"That was another great adventure, Ringmaster." Pomni flirtatiously emphasized Caine's title after everyone had received an award for participating in today's adventure.

Caine smiled, a light blush displayed around the sides of his face. "Aw, shucks, Pomni. Thank-woah!"

"We had a lot of fun sneaking off to be alone." Jax pulled Caine down by his foot until he was taller than the floating AI. "Too bad you weren't there to join us." He arched a brow suggestively.

Caine flustered, gripping his cane with both hands and holding it in front of him like he was trying to hide behind it. "Oh! Um, you know I can't. Eheh, The- the adventures are....are just for..." He couldn't focus on what he was saying. Jax and Pomni were closing in on him. He felt cornered, despite that he could teleport away at any time.

"What's the matter, Caine? Humans too hot for you to handle?" Jax chuckled, looming over Caine.

"I think we blue screened him." Pomni smirked.

"More like red-screened. Look how hard he's blushing." Jax slowly moved his hand up Caine's leg.

"Adorable." Pomni traced a finger down Caine's lower jaw.

"Uh!! I'm not-! Oh dear goodness-" Caine shuddered. "You two are being extraordinarily friendly today. I'm glad the adventure was to your.....liking." He was very much enjoying the touches.

"Like Jax said, we had time to ourselves. It's done wonders for our mood, and we wanted to thank you." Pomni kissed Caine's lower jaw while Jax kissed the side of Caine's upper jaw.

Caine's hat flipped off his head and a mushroom cloud of confetti exploded out of it, raining all over the three of them. He hovered low to the ground, eyes blue with white text scrolling across. His hat slowly wandered away from him.

Pomni laughed. "You were right, he did error out."

"Told ya." Jax and Pomni bumped fists. "We should totally leave him like this."

"That's so mean...let's do it." She and Jax bolted while Caine was still rebooting.

Caine came back upside down, confetti everywhere and his hat flying away from him. His code still felt all kinds of tingly to the point of making him lightheaded. "Gadzooks.....wait-" He looked around and quickly uprighted himself. "Where'd they go?" It slowly dawned on him what they just did. "Those two!! They-! Oooohohoho, so that's how it's going to be."

Caine's hat snapped back into place and he adjusted his suit. "It seems some of my cast members need a reminder of their place at the circus, and why I am the Ringmaster." He teleported away.

~

The next adventure, everyone except Jax and Pomni were sent off. The two trouble makers kept glancing at each other, wondering what revenge plot Caine had in store for their teasing the other day. They knew they were in for something.

"What's today's adventure?" Pomni asked innocently.

"You're about to find out." Caine snapped and a second portal promptly appeared. "After you." He gestures for them to go through.

Jax boldly stepped forward first. He went through the portal, only to find himself in a small restaurant. No NPCs, it was very quiet and quaint. Pomni came through a few seconds later and he gestures to the room. "Well, this doesn't look like much."

Caine came through and the portal vanished. "I would just like a little sit down with you two. When was the last time we were on a simple date?" He snapped his fingers and food appeared on the plates, no servers came.

"Okay, what's the catch?" Jax crossed his arms. Pomni wanted to know too, so she looked at Caine questioningly.

Caine smiled warmly, his hands behind his back. "Why would there need to be a catch? I would just like to enjoy a meal with my favorite humans." His voice was smooth as silk, giving nothing away.

Jax and Pomni looked at each other nervously. Caine's oddly calm demeanor put them on edge, but they sat at the table. Caine sat in the air between them. Jax inspected his foods suspiciously. Pomni didn't touch hers at all. Caine sat quietly, lounging back.

"Seriously. What have you done?" Jax pressed.

"Why so suspicious? Have you done something that deserves retaliation?" Caine asked with a smirk in his voice.

"Cut the crap.I know you're up to something." Jax narrowed his eyes at Caine.

Caine shrugged. "If you say so."

"Caine," Pomni spoke up. "We were just teasing yesterday. You're not mad, are you?"

"No, my dear. I'm not upset." Caine answered genuinely. "Yesterday was fun, if a bit ultimately frustrating, but that's the way the game is played."

Reassured, Jax and Pomni ate what was served. It was a very well prepared three course meal. Surprisingly delicious for digital food. They eased into fun conversation, putting aside their worries.

After dessert was devoured and after dinner drinks were served, Caine smiled at each of his partners. "Tell me....do you remember what Ringmaster means?"

"uh... That you're in charge of the Circus?" Pomni answered with a confused lilt.

"Indeed." Caine sat forward, resting his elbows on the table, his chin on his hands. "But do you think that's...it?"

Jax started to feel fuzzy. He slammed his drink down. "I KNEW IT! WHAT WAS IN THAT FOOD!?"

"Nothing. Calm yourself." Caine didn't even look at Jax and the rabbit immediately felt woozy. "I create everything in this world, down to the last pixel. Therefore, it is mine to command. And when you consume what is mine...I have influence over the code that makes up your very being. If only for a time."

Pomni felt it too. A warmth in her core spreading out and making her hot under the collar. "What are you...doing?" Her breathing became heavy.

"Showing you two exactly who you're messing with." Caine smiled to himself, focusing on the codes inside Pomni and Jax.

Jax tried to get up. "You...little..."

"Sit." Caine said firmly.

Jax immediately fell back into his chair and couldn't find the strength to get up again. He felt tingles up his thighs and chest, making him squirm in his seat. "[%$!#]" He moaned.

Pomni covered her mouth and gripped the table cloth. Her legs quivered as she squeezed them together. Muffled gasps and moans escaped her throat. The pleasure she was feeling was indescribable.

There was a subtle glow to Caine's eyes. "Good...very good..."

Jax gripped the table's edge, throwing his head back. "Nnngh! Caine-... you-" He gasped.

"Use your words, Jax." Caine said, relaxed as ever.

"More..." Jax whined.

"Pomni?" Caine looked at her.

She nodded, nearly crossed eyed.

Caine snapped and both his partners fell apart. They cried out in pleasure and fell out of their seats. Caine willed away the table and watched his partners catch their breath on the floor. "What have we learned?"

"To never say no to dinner." Jax laughed, still panting.

Caine snapped again. Jax and Pomni rose to their knees by Caine's telekinesis. He held them both gently by the chin. "I love both of you very, very much....but do that do me again, and I'll have to remind you of who I am, won't I?"

Jax and Pomni nodded, looking up at Caine with hazey eyes.

[sunset-synthetica]

Can you explain how the immortal science of marxism-leninism relates to Turbo Overkill

I don't believe TO is trying to have a huge deep political message, but some of it was intentional and the rest stems from its inspirations, ie Blade Runner, whose political messaging WAS intentionally a critique of capitalism and/or the more specific effects it has on our lives.

The backdrop is a late capitalist- using Mandel's definition- system where the largest and most powerful company's (Teratek's) capital is generated mostly, if not entirely, by selling increasingly more dangerous and experimental products to a consumer base spanning entire solar systems at the very least.

By looking at Johnny as a member of the exploited working class - albeit a class traitor, as he's a former cop* - a disabled person, unable to earn enough to save his life in any other way than by essentially selling himself to Teratek and gradually losing parts of his own body and surrenderong agency as this job becomes more and more demanding. We see a clear anti-capitalist sentiment built directly into the foundation of the game.

We can go further though.

SYN, in short summarized as a sentient, virus-esque AI, functions as an abstracted, personified representation of Teratek itself and its ultimate goals. SYN was supposed to enhance the process of human body augmentation, and, as Johnny's mother states, having been directly involved in the making of SYN, it should have been a way to help people, had Teratek not been the intended owner.

SYN goes rogue, and, instead of disobeying Teratek's policy, takes it further, either converting augmented people into a mind controlled force, or creating entirely new beings in the pursuit of human evolution. She seeks to force the human race to evolve, or be exterminated, which relates moreso to eugenics but is a vital part of her position in the story.

So, establishing SYN as both a manifestation of Teratek/the wider market as well as its relationship to the workers, and something of a next step in the evolutionary line of their thinking, her relationship with Johnny gets easier to pick apart.

Johnny is offered a choice that, while more obvious in its immediate effect, partially reflects the experience of the worker- debase himself, be stripped of choice, free will, identity, be exploited for the rest of his life to build a future he will not see or enjoy, sell his labor for the cost of staying alive - or die. It's not a choice, not really, it's an illusion.

He chooses to stay alive, of course, and though SYN is defeated at the end, it doesn't break him out of the loop. SYN is not the root of the problem, she is not the cause for Johnny's suffering and exploitation, she's the more extreme, almost caricature-like version of his struggle.

Johnny ends the story the same as he'd began, only the illusion of a choice in the matter is shattered.

The Street Cleaners

The Street Cleaners are a mercenary-like faction, essentially fulfilling the role of the police, though on a much less regulated, official level. We don't have a lot of information about them, but from what I've been able to gather, they are generally disliked by the Regulators- police force- and work outside the law to an unknown extent, without pretending otherwise, all while fulfilling the interests of corporations.

Within the Street Cleaners, everything goes if the money is good enough, which was the incentive for Johnny to join in the first place- do the dirty work, get paid, survive.

I wanna look at Maw specifically. He's all around an interesting character, but it really shines from this angle.

All of the Street Cleaners seem to enjoy their work, including Johnny, but Maw's relationship to it is particular, in that he doesn't see his colleague or fellow people as either competition or allies on the same level, but as inherently beneath him, not worthy of his consideration.

Maw criticizes the corporations, claims them to be untrustworthy and incapable of wielding power without abusing it, and yet his solution is not the collective seizing of the means of production- SYN's platform and all its available resources, including the augmentation process in this context- but rather the accumulation of all for himself.

He plans to change the system from within by establishing himself as in control, as its driving force, instead of seeing the system as inherently flawed and needing to be dismantled. No amount of gradual change could have changed SYN, or the system for the better, and so, Maw only speeds up a process that, under SYN, might have taken longer, but would have been inevitable regardless.

Maw loses control, loses his sense of reality and objectivity, of himself, and crumbles under the weight of this process, this power.

Were SYN the one in control during the time of Maw's rampage, the process may have been more gradual, less chaotic, but the ending would have been the same - a mass extinction event, countless deaths and destruction, regardless of whether the motive was a false hope for the evolution of the human race, or profit for the bourgeoisie/market, as represented mostly by Teratek's Executive.

In short, Maw allows himself to become absorbed by the system, accelerates its negative outcome, and upon being killed, just like SYN's own death, nothing changes. Both deaths slow the progress down somewhat, hide the obvious, but result in no meaningful change.

All of this, while a reach in some parts, is not contradicted by anything in the story of Turbo Overkill, rendering it an insane, but viable analysis.

My conclusion is that Marxism-Leninism couldn't have saved Johnny Turbo, but it could have eased his suffering and made him see his struggle as founded in a material reality outside his own control, and inherent to the very system he exists within.

-----------

*the situation of the Regulator force isn't exactly clear, but Paradise- Johnny's home, and the respective Regulator force of which he was a part of- is stated to have heavy criminal activity, which necessitated the Regulator presence, and may have inspired Johnny to join in the first place.

SYN, ironically enough, directly states that Johnny's presence in the Regulator force meant he "enforced [her] goals," until he was led astray by his injury. Said goals are specifically the elimination of the weak to make place for the strong, a genocide, but it's unclear if by "her", SYN describes herself as the sentient person possessing agency, or the purpose for which Teratek utilized her prior. If we assume the latter is true, it would mean the Regulators are simply a cleaner, more widely accepted version of the Street Cleaners, as I've already stated is my belief.

[7surreality7]

Surviving the VMin drought (again)

Why am I suddenly missing VMin so much?

Honestly the first half of 2024 sans Vmin (and tannies) wasn't as horrible as I had expected. The boys had worked hard and left us many things to cherish and admire and not feel their absence so intensely. I think I was gloomy the first two or so weeks after their enlistment but things started to get better afterwards. Excitement started building up when MUSE was announced and while patiently waiting for it, we got the surprise of our lives!

On Jin's discharge day, not only did we see all the members together which was true sight for sore eyes but guess what...we witnessed the daddy of all hugs, THE VMin hug which went viral immediately. No one, and I mean no one can ever come close in expressing love and longing, the way these two express their emotions towards each other. It spreads so much joy just looking at the two wrapped up in each other while the world around them became a mere blur for those several seconds. I mean I don't know about others but that hug added a few years to my life, haha.

Then, AYS ran up until September, and keeping aside the insane amount of hate generated online towards VMin because of whatever idiotic delusions of the Xkook ships/ haters/ antis. it was a bonus for Vminnies. To our great joy Tae was there too in Jeju and those three episodes kept us afloat in the middle of the year. Honestly watching Vmin in the first Jeju episode made me actually cackle at how easily and often they just drift away and get locked in their own bubble even with JK around who they both adore, treat like a baby and prioritize often. They kind of even snubbed him lightly inside the play area (whatever it was called) and made it all about each other the whole time. Watching them like this in front of JK (who seemed all too used to this kind of behavior from VMin) convinced me that these two are capable of making even God feel like the third wheel, was he to come in front of them, Lol!

I do know that something changed in episode 2 and 3 and Tae seemed a little aloof. To me it seemed like at least a 180 shift in behavior, from both Tae and JM towards each other. I have a theory off course it's just something that I think might have happened .(Nothing serious but sort of JM and Tae both realizing OR being reminded what the main concept of the show was and who/ what should be the focus and hence altering their behavior on the show to being less clingy and more aware) But, all in all AYS was great for Viminnies.

I don't know...something about October ending without a VMin sighting (or hearing/ reading anything from them as a duo) has got me. I was just hung up on last year's October so much that this year's October felt like a VMin anniversary. Of some kind. And when the anniversary passed with pin drop silence from the main cast I experienced withdrawal symptoms, Lmao!

I also seem to have come to a 100% realization there won't be any VMin sightings shortly either. Until their reunion in June, anyway. So I have no hope of any messages from Jimin on Tae's birthday.

Off course all this also sounds pretty selfish you know? And entitled, too? Like why would VMin feel obligated to write to each other on Soc for the fans (shippers?) They can very well talk to each other, write messages and see each other's face everyday and might be even doing it all, we just have no way to know. So, off course they'll wish each other privately this year but there won't be any SM posts. Unless...unless..we are surprised yet again just like it happened in June (seriously I am actually going to cry for real if that happens) but yeah gotta keep expectations super duper low. I have a nagging feeling the remaining months are going to be the drought we dreaded and need to find ways and means to survive this. 7 months of labor pain.

God bless V for his Christmas collab gift to us that's coming out soon. This is a kind of song which seems to be tailor made for his voice. I am so looking forward!

[freefromthecocoon]

Gaslighting in the fandom

I have some very hot takes here that may piss off a lot of you, but I can't not say anything anymore.

I have been quiet for a long time about a certain member of the Caryl fandom. This person blocked me a long time ago when I dared to disagree with her and the collective because I felt like we did not know the whole story of what went down when TWD ended and the spinoff changed. But I have kept tabs on her misguided rantings though. I have long had a theory about this particular member of fandom. I believe this person had good intentions to begin with, but now it almost appears as an ego trip to prove that her theories were correct when almost all her theories have blown up in her face. (AI Melissa anyone?). I also question whether someone who spends as much time on Tumblr writing bad theories and answering an incredible amount of asks has true ties to the entertainment industry. I know there are others who feel the same way and if you choose to block me or ignore me I understand. I will rejoice when Caryl goes canon by myself if need be.

"You are absolutely right that, so far, what AMC is showing us instead is that they allow insecure men to punish talented women and gaslight fans who threaten their vision. "

A direct quote from her most recent post. I do agree that AMC marketing has gaslit fans at times and yes there have been instances when women have not gotten a fair shake. But I heartily disagree that they "punish" talented women. If you think that then you really have not been paying attention to the marketing for The Ones Who Live. Danai has been front and center in interviews and seems to have had full creative control over directions of the story for Rick and Michonne. Same with Lauren C when Dead City promo was going on. I truly hope we hear from Melissa soon, but I also know that Melissa has never been a fan of having to do press, most likely because she doesn't like all the attention. I hope that with the upcoming months we see more of her interacting in the public, but I would not be surprised if we did not.

Another quote: "That's not a show I can support. I admire Carol and Melissa because they rise above everyone who puts them down. I love Caryl because they represent the light at the end of the tunnel. Gimple, Nicotero, and Zabel are 100% NOT on our side and never will be, but I need AMC and Norman to show me that they are."

Honestly...I can't disagree about Gimple. I have been totally glad he has been far away from Daryl Dixon being distracted by his being showrunner on TOWL. But Nicotero and Melissa McBride are incredibly close and always have been. The rumors were rampant about tension on the set the last day of filming TWD and then a few months later, we got these pics from BTS.

Along with Norman laying his head in Melissa's lap. All seemed very much at ease.

I know Zabel has not always chosen his words carefully but it also seems that he is very excited to be working with Melissa as well as Norman. As far as being shipbaity with other female characters....well he talks in typical showrunner speak about that. Let us not forget the whole 10C debacle with Leah being introduced in a 20 minute flashback scene. And that was EVERY BIT on Kang, so spare me the righteous indignation that a female showrunner knows best, because obviously Kang did not. Norman and Melissa both hated that storyline...it was not fun as Kang always likes to say it was. I am glad she is gone from the spinoff.

Well, I think I have said enough now to get the rest of the fandom pissed off at me, so I guess I will sign off for now. Believe what you want, but don't fall victim to someone who is trying to reclaim a self-perceived power position by claiming an authority she clearly does not have. Enjoy the show or don't. But I will be around to spread positivity as we get new promo and interviews with hopefully both Melissa AND Norman.

[skzoologist]

Hi!

Congratulations on your bolg and your success!

You deserve the whole world! Thanks for running this blog, your writing really gives me a lot. Your style and the feelings you convey are all so beautiful.

The event you created is like a big, wholesome hug from you to us. Thank you!

Okay. so back to business. My request from you: "May we meet again." This sentence means a lot to me because of "the 100" series (ILOVEDIT). In the series, this phrase was said when they said goodbye to each other, so I'd like to see what you think of this phrase among the members. I don't want to define the genre, in my eyes it's up to you. You are doing a great job in everything as I went through your blog. Maybe a ghost AU? It seems interesting to me. And pls interact with these characters: Bae, Hyunjin, Minho, Jisung, Seungmin, Changbin. I'd love to see everyone, but you said it's harder when you have a lot of characters to work/think with, so I tried to pick a few, pls don't hate me for my choice.

So yeah thanks if you write it.

Kind regards

word count: ~2.8k

warnings: it's angst, so be prepared

genre: heavy angst

a/n: You have no clue how much this means to me. Are you sure you meant to send this to me, and not someone else? I am undeserving of these nice words, because these are all I ever wanted to hear. 'You deserve the whole world' is something I use for people I love or look up to, so it means so, so much to me. And the fact that you feel like this event is a warm hug from me? It makes everything all a little better. While I haven't watched that series yet (might after your words about it), your request spawned something far more than a small drabble in my mind. It could outgrow itself even more, if there is need for it in the future. There is also some Bae lore hidden in it, and I hope you'll enjoy it. And don't worry about your choices about the members, I love all of them and would never judge you. I wrote that 'gets hard to write the more members there are' so someone wouldn't request like, every member of two whole bands. An OT8 request? I can do that with pleasure. This note turned long and I apologise, I just want to thank you for taking part in the event and for liking what I do, and may we meet again 💜

Please let me know if I left a warning or anything out, I will add it in! Reblogs, likes and feedback are greatly appreciated!

!I don't condone anyone stealing my work and posting it anywhere without my permission, or feeding it to AI!

!This is just fiction, my interpretation of Stray Kids. By no means is this how they are and how they behave in real life!

‘Your departure was so sudden.

It took every one of us by surprise, and in the worst way possible. I still remember to this day your gentle smiles, the ones that barely curved your lips, or the ones that stretched so far your eyes turned into twinkling little crescents. I loved the way you cutely pouted whenever something you were looking forward to got cancelled, or when we teased you a bit too much. Your skin would flush a warm shade, the colour of strawberries, something you never failed to share with us, despite how much you liked them.

Now all of those are gone, only living in our memories, fated to be faded and erased.

Poof, just like that.

The day we found you was supposed to be one of celebration. Everything was going perfectly, the final day of the tour ending with a bang and the loud cheering of our fans. We were all so happy, and you looked so happy too. Your eyes shined with that pride you loved to look at the members with, and just the memory itself causes my chest to play a bittersweet melody.

After the lights dimmed and we were off the stage, the excitement carried us to the rooms at the back, to have a feast filled with laughter.

You were only supposed to grab some drinks.

Instead we found your unmoving body on the floor in a dark room, as if you hid yourself away in your final moments so we wouldn’t have to witness them.

The days bled together after that. None of us was the same. Some of us lived in denial, while some struggled to accept reality, desperately wishing this was all a bad dream.

It sure felt like it. As if we lived in a hellish timeline, where we failed to notice the signs early and give you proper medical help. We should have seen it coming, with how frequent your migraines were getting.

But we failed.

Our leader just holed himself in, burying himself under mountains of work, uselessly hoping it would distract him. The music he’d created was proof that he failed. Our second oldest turned cold, impossibly so, the playfulness killed out of him. I think it died along with you, something I cannot fault him for to this day. Hyunjin stopped laughing, spending most of his time in his room. One day I stole a glance inside, and it was filled with portraits of you. I haven’t looked into his room ever since.

The young ones took it harder than us, and it was so easy to tell. Jisung was rewatching your favourite shows constantly, either by himself or one of us, as if our presence somehow mimicked yours. Felix… Felix tried the hardest to stay cheerful. He tried to smile and joke around, but eventually, he broke down and fell apart. I miss his brownies. Seungmin became more stoic, if that was even possible. His voice is harsh and critical, not only towards us, but himself as well. Our maknae seems lost all the time, now that you aren’t here to guide him. Sometimes I catch him turning to the side after he’s struggling with something, only to realise you aren’t there to give advice and help.

Me?

I’m the fragile thread that’s trying to keep us together, but hyung…it’s really hard.

I miss you so much.’

The sound of paper turning broke the silence, a new set of pages filled with ink ready to be read.

‘We are doing better now, at least I think.

Chan hyung occasionally leaves his studio, looking like death itself, but… at least we see him now. He also fell back into his leader duties, keeping us in check and making sure we get enough rest, despite not resting enough himself. I’m grateful for it, as I could take a little breather myself this way, but I still have to take care of him, as no one else is capable of it right now. Minho hyung is still distant, but he is slowly returning to his old, playful self. Although he still doesn’t get handsy with us, like he used to. Hyunjin hasn’t made a lot of progress, the light still missing from his eyes. But at least he can be coaxed out of his room for a movie night, a big progress in itself.

Jisung turned overly clingy, as if he was afraid we would suddenly disappear as well. And while Minho was keeping his distance, Jisung was the only one he let latch onto him, hushing the boy amidst another breakdown. Felix seemed to be fine now, his smile back in its place and laughter regularly leaving his lips. But we could see how they weren’t truly genuine, how he never went into the kitchen anymore to bake, how he seemed to zone out when he thought no one was watching. I can only hope we can help him. Seungmin stayed the same, regrettably, the walls around his heart now so thick not even we could break through. Although he would sometimes join us for a movie night as well, whenever I asked. It brought the smallest of hopes into my heart. And Jeongin, little Jeongin, now sported dark circles under his eyes, the skin raw and red regularly. His aversion to skinship lessened, accepting our hugs without protest.

We can recover from this, I just know it. Even if it takes years or a lifetime, but we can.

Or at least I thought we could.

It was a friday night, when we would usually gather around and spend some time together and delude ourselves that everything was fine. We would watch movies, a lot of your favourites in there despite how many times Jisung had seen them already, and just chat or sit in silence, drinking the others’ presence in.

Somehow the topic of conversation turned from our next album’s concepts to pickup lines, and I’d stupidly made the comment how you’d have loved these.

The shift in the atmosphere was instant.

Felix and Jeongin immediately started crying, Jisung soon to follow, as everyone else just sat there with glossy eyes. Nobody was able to console them, mainly because they were too busy trying not to break apart themselves. I failed at it myself, the mistake I’d made heavy on my shoulders.

That was when you’d first made contact with us, making us question our sanity.

All I remember was that the couch next to Jeongin dipped and his tears were wiped away by seemingly nothing, only goosebumps remaining in their place. It continued with Felix, then Jisung, shock clogging their throat as they stared up with wide eyes, as if they were seeing something. If it hadn’t happened to me as well, I wouldn’t have believed it, but…

They were all looking up at you and your ghostly appearance.

Your smile remained the same, if not a bit sad now as you looked at us, your eyes crinkling up in that slight arch and looking alive again. Your outfit remained the same, that dreaded stage outfit we’d last seen you in. Despite that, I was incredibly happy to see you and those cursed clothes again.

With a final swipe of your thumb against my wet cheeks you floated away, consoling the remaining members the best you could. I could tell how frustrated you were, how it pained you that all you could do was manifest power into drying up our tears, unable to touch us properly and bring us into a hug.

Not everyone understood that you were a ghost right away. Their hands phased through you, their eyes turning glossy once again the more they tried.

It was painful to watch.

And yet, you tried your best to meet their touch, your faint appearance slowly becoming stronger, as if you were alive again. Skin met skin and tears were let loose, but this time out of joy, instead of sorrow.

You told us how proud of us you were, that we were still here and continuing forward, as you were buried under our bodies and hugs. We teared up again, the tears never really stopping ever since you’d showed up. We protested and told you all our fears and anguish, how we missed you and how impossible it all felt to continue without you. Yet, you merely chuckled and strengthened your hold on us, as if you knew something we didn’t.

Hours later we all remained in the same position, afraid that you would disappear if we were to let go. When we voiced this, purely because you’d questioned why hadn’t we gotten up to eat and sleep yet, you sighed, the sound familiar and missed.

It didn’t take you long to phase through us, earning panicked sounds from us in response. You merely looked down at us with your hands on your hips and shook your head, telling us to wait there as you floated away into the kitchen. Of course we couldn’t let you out of our sight, in fear of you not appearing again, so we followed you like little ducklings and watched as you whipped up some omelettes for us, the fridge mostly empty besides a few basic ingredients.

We all stared at our plates, mostly still not believing what was happening and questioning if we actually went insane or not. But one bite shattered those worries, the food warm and divine. It brought tears into my eyes, silently weeping as I savoured each bite, the others in similar situations.

You hummed in delight when we all finished eating in your usual way of saying how much of a good job we did in taking care of ourselves. We watched you take the dirty dishes away, stacking them into the sink to wash later.

All of us were afraid to leave and get ready to sleep.

I remember the fear that gripped my heart just from the mere thought that this was all just for one day, and you would be gone the next. It took you coaxing us and your slightly see through form to accompany us as we got ready for bed, none of us willing to part ways with you.

And when it came to sleep, we adamantly stared at you instead, unable to hold you anymore as you said you were too tired to manifest yourself. It only added fuel to our fears.

We all sat on the floor of our living room, blankets and pillows on the ground, eyes drooping, yet never staying closed for long.

I fell asleep, afraid you wouldn’t be there when I woke up.’

The shifting of clothes and the crinkling of paper filled the silent space.

‘You were there the next day. And on the day after that, and the day after that as well. You were with us for long weeks, months even, as if that horrible day had never happened.

Everyone felt better, as if you appeared just to heal us. I wouldn’t doubt that, as kind and caring you were. It feels as if life took you away from us as some kind of punishment, so we could experience how harsh the world truly is without you by our side.

The group was back to their usual selves, something even the fans commented on. Chan was back at the dorms, spending only the minimum required time at the studio. Minho was back to his playful and weird self, grabbing at us and making weird noises randomly. I never thought I would ever miss those sounds. Hyunjin started laughing again, the sound like a healing balm to my soul. He cleaned out his room too, gifting some of your portraits to us, storing the others away as memories.

Jisung started joking around more, having stopped binge watching shows in a bundle of blankets. He was still clingy, but to a normalish extent. Felix started genuinely laughing and smiling again, your presence glueing his broken pieces together. On the second week of your reappearance he even baked, saddened that you couldn’t taste his cookies anymore. Seungmin was back to teasing us again, his puppy self coming out. Those walls around him crumbled at your gentle touch, and I never thought I would be so glad to have him constantly bother me once again. And lastly, our little maknae seemed happy, no more sleepless nights spent with practice and worry. He still seemed lost sometimes, but you were there to help him in the blink of an eye.

Everything felt good now, as if you weren’t even gone in the first place.

Something we never should have forgotten.

I still remember how we all blatantly ignored the signs once again, as how we’d done it in the past before your passing. You slowly started to spend less and less time cuddling with us, your form turning more and more translucent. You even seemed sadder, something you masked quite well in our presence.

One night, you gathered us together in the living room. Happy to spend time with you, we didn’t even question why, something that turned out to be a big mistake.

Your form seemed so frail, as if it was a wind away from disappearing forever. Yet, you still sported a smile, only for our sake, as if you didn’t do so, we would break into tiny pieces once again.

Words left your mouth, but I couldn’t quite comprehend them. So you repeated yourself softly, holding a hand to my cheek, the presence there so faint I could barely feel it.

You were disappearing from this world, forever this time.

I didn’t want to believe it, the air stuck in my lungs. I faintly heard Felix and Jisung break apart and start sobbing, your gentle hushes and words not able to fully comfort them. Next was Jeongin to crack, your thumbs that were now completely see through barely wiping his tears away. Hyunjin who was next to him grabbed onto you, unable to believe what you’d said. It took you longer to console him, his grip unrelenting. Chan soon joined the others, unable to keep up the tough leader act after being hurt so much. But you’d never commented on it, not even then, you merely hushed him as he hugged your slowly disappearing form. Minho silently wept, head turned down and eyes hidden underneath his hair. Even still, you could tell, kneeling down before him and comforting him. It broke him completely, sobs now loud and pleading.

The last one you turned to was Seungmin, silent tears already forming rivers down his face, lips pressed together tightly. You went over to him, even if it seemed to cost you a great amount of strength to do so, and cupped his face. Some tears collided with your faint hands, some passed through and fell onto the floor. He placed both of his hands onto yours, not wanting to see you go. But you smiled at him, a bittersweet smile, before uttering your last words and completely disappearing, leaving open wounds and trauma in your place.

“May we meet again, in another life, in another time.”

I wanted to live with you and create memories together in this life, yet you left us. Not once, but twice.

How cruel of you, hyung.’

The sound of the door opening stole my attention, my hand automatically closing the book shut, sealing those memories away temporarily.

“Hey Bin. What’s up?” - it was Jisung, having just come back from an interview.

I merely shrugged as I stood up to ruffle his hair, earning a whine from him and a smile from me. He swatted me away as I tried to do it again, his eyes drifting down towards the table and its content.

“Oh.” - that was all that left his lips, the expression on his face now turning soft and wistful.

I watched him slowly walk towards the book, taking it in his hands and carefully caressing its decorated cover, courtesy of every one of us. Memories seemed to pass by in front of his eyes, the surface now slightly glossy and dimmed.

“Hyung, I hope you’re doing well. Love you.” - he muttered before gingerly placing the book back onto its original place, a shelf that sat proudly on the middle of the wall, dedicated to one person only.

I couldn’t help but smile, the memories now sitting fresh in my mind, the wound now years later healed and scarred over.

Jisung was by the door already, looking expectantly back at me. I quickly grabbed my keys and jacket after putting on my shoes, looking back at that shelf one last time.

“May we meet again, hyung.”

[thelaurenshippen]

okay, so, I tried to attend the virtual SAG meeting on saturday to ask some of my questions but it was literally full - I did not know that could happen virtually. but it's amazing, I love that the membership is SO galvanized.

that said, I have watched the in-person meetings for both LA and NY (both of which are, uh, 4 hours long thank god for 2x speed on youtube). the wonderful actors in attendance (including some real life pals!) asked all my questions and more. I took some notes on the SAG presentation (only the LA one - I didn't watch the NY presentation, just the Q&A) but I'm assuming it was larger the same) and the answers from the Q&A that I thought were particularly interesting.

I'm making a new post because my original post got so long, but I'm going to link this with a small summary in a reblog as well, because I think it's important to see how my thinking has shifted as I've gotten more information. (also, on that original post, I've seen some folks be like 'I'm not an actor or a sag member, but I think you should vote yes'...lovingly, please stop. share the post! share your thoughts! but please don't try to pressure a vote on a contract you have no material investment in).

anyway, let's get into it:

the presentation

nothing really revelatory here, but there were a few points that Duncan Crabtree-Ireland (the chief negotiator and a lawyer) brought up that I thought were really interesting:

if you wanted to make your own digital replica or have one made with a third party contract, you could then license that under the same consent rules as if the company did the scan. my brain immediately latched onto this because I think there is a lot of very interesting ramifications for someone making their own replica and then making an argument that the company needs to license that replica instead of scanning them. I don't think this is something that's really going to happen in a major way in this contract period but an actor having and controlling their own replica and making companies pay for it is genuinely very cool if I'm understanding it correctly.

he did mention that the dubbing issue with alteration was more about companies being able to hire an actor to dub in a foreign language and then alter the actor's mouth to match the dialogue, so presumably would not be a threat to dubbers. I don't know that the companies are required to hire a voice actor for this, but that was at least good to hear.

the whole thing about synthetic performers...Duncan really made some interesting points around this. in the Q&A, he basically echoed the point that I made in my original point that this doesn't actually have to do with actors at all, but he saw the inclusion of it as a good thing. synthetics have nothing to do with actor employment, but duncan argued that by putting it in here, we're forcing the studios to acknowledge that synthetics are horning in on our territory and it seems that the union will work to de-incentivize the use of synthetics by making it more expensive than hiring an actor (really hoping the MOA provides more clarity on this)

studios will meet with SAG twice a year to talk about AI stuff

he confirmed that studios have to hire background actors and if they use their digital replicas (which the background actors have to consent to) those actors have to be paid for their replicas work.

he made the argument that there are a lot of things, like consent to replicas, that are conditions of employment: salary, relocation, nudity, etc. and that's true, certainly, but this is still something we're going to have to keep close eyes on IMO.

there's a provision that actors have to be given notice for scenes that may be triggering to film! cool!

the Q&A

this is just a sampling of the many wonderful questions that were asked - if you're a member, I highly recommend you watch both of the livestreams and future meetings.

I didn't know this but there's a legal framework for minors to disavow contracts when they're 18, so this would allow minors to rescind their consent of their digital replicas. good!

someone pointed out that SAG could notify the membership about a company using synethics (which they have to notify SAG) about and use the membership/public to pressure the studios or boycott the use of synthetics. SAG confirmed that there's nothing to prevent SAG from telling us and letting us galvanize the public.

duncan reminded everyone that companies rely on copyright to make money and currently AI cannot legally by copyrighted, which will de-incentivize studios from leaning on it.

companies can only use digital replica in projects they've contracted, they cannot sell them to third party, which includes non-identifiable data. this was a great question and it's awesome to hear that the companies cannot do anything with any of the replica data, anonymized or not, without your consent.

there is so much likeness legislature out there already (you own your likeness, etc.), so these things just bolster those

a company choosing to hire someone else because you won't consent to scanning is not retaliation but being replaced during the course of your employment because of not consenting is and you could take action against that studio. and remember, they have to ask for your consent on specific things, so you would be giving your consent throughout presumably.

someone asked about loopholes with generative AI, and SAG emphasized that any resemblance to a real actor kicks it from synthetic into digital replicas and the actor would have to consent/be paid

background actors seem divided - in some ways they've gotten major gains and in others, they're very worried about being replaced because they don't want to be scanned.

they did fight for union consent to use of generative AI, and the studios are seemingly never going to give that

there was a question about studios scanning non-union actors and creating digital replicas and just using those instead; if I understood correctly (which I'm not sure I did), the studios would not be able to do that under this contract - all the digital replica terms would apply to any replica done, union or not.

my thoughts

I have all the same concerns as I expressed in my original post, but I do think that these meetings reassured me that SAG has the best intentions. I have been very vocal about my criticism of SAG (specifically how they approached podcasting, my main art form) so I don't have rose-colored glasses here. I have also seen them really improve on those areas of criticism in the past several years and I think we always have to keep in mind that we'll be back at the negotiations in two and a half years. I do think SAG is doing the best they can.

I also think it's important to always assume that the studios have the worst intentions. they're going to violate this contract if it's ratified and accept their fine/slap on the wrist/do not work orders and then violate the contract again. they're going to find loopholes to save money and behave badly. no contract in the world could prevent those things from happening. SAG is not great at enforcing these violations but no contract is going to fix that.

it has always been important for actors to rely on their agents, lawyers, and union for support and reporting violations and that's going to be more important than ever under this contract. it's also going to be so important for the famous and wealthy actors to sue the studios when there's particularly bad behavior on the AI stuff.

it's also going to be really important for you guys - the audience, the subscribers - to fully reject any and all use of synthetic performers. public pressure will be the way we keep acting alive as a profession and art form.

but here's where I'm at: I'm leaning toward yes. "but lauren, you had so many concerns! you think that this contract is an existential threat to acting!" yeah, I know. I'm still there, but I'm also leaning yes. I believe SAG when they say we're not going to get a better deal. I think even if we did go back on strike, we're losing public support and support from other unions - actors barely have leverage to begin with (which is why SAG contracts have historically not been great) and I don't foresee us gaining more over the next 6 months.

so I don't think we're going to get a better deal and I also agree that it's better to have some protections in place instead of nothing. ultimately, it comes down to the fact that my issues with the contract have a lot to do with that existential threat and the icky feeling that I get thinking about signing a contract that suggests at times that actors are meat puppets.

if this was a contract I was looking at as an individual, I would not sign it, plain and simple. but collective bargaining is a different thing. this contract unarguably gives actors more protection against AI than they currently have. we will get to renegotiate again in less than three years and this is a much better place to start from, especially considering how much AI will grow and change in the next few years. if we have to go on strike again, we will, and we'll be armed with a better contract and more knowledge, especially since we'll be able to see how studios behave within this contract.

I completely understand why people want to vote no. I would never presume to tell someone how I think they should vote - follow your conscience. I personally will not be voting until I've had time to review the MOA (memorandum of agreement) and I would encourage everyone to read the full contract before deciding how to vote.

tldr: I am leaning toward voting yes because my pragmatic brain is winning out - as someone who has experience negotiating with major studios as an individual, I know that SAG is telling the truth when they say this is likely as good as its able to get. this is the first battle in a war of AI and we can either live to fight another day or not. I think this contract will help us live, even if it isn't an out-and-out victory.

[dearweirdme]

Hey Rain, so there is something I kinda noticed while watching the 3rd episode of AYS and I would like to talk about it if you don’t mind.

Did it ever occur to you that maybe all those times when Tae looked abit hurt or bothered by Jikook’s interactions it might have been because he sometimes felt left out? We know that Vminkook have all been pretty close since they were rookies and depending on who you ask, some people might pick taekook as the closest of the three while others pick jikook and others pick Vmin. The members seemed to think that Vmin were the closest of the pair for some reason. But after hearing Tae say that after he saw the schedule, he asked why he was being left out and said he wanted to go too, it made me realize that maybe that is how he felt back then. I would have believed that he was bothered by Jikook’s behaviour because he was in a relationship with Jk but if that was what really bothered him, why would he be ok with those times Jk went to hangout with Jimin alone at nights? He would obviously trust Jk if Jk was his boyfriend and wouldn’t be bothered by Jk wanting to hang out in another bandmate’s room ofcourse but doesn’t that also mean he wouldn’t be bothered by Jimin and Jk doing a little fanservice? Plus he didn’t always look bothered by their interactions and I feel like sometimes people could mistake Tae’s resting face for him being mad.

I’m thinking of that Live from 2019 where he said that Jk was with Jimin and wasn’t letting Jimin go to him and he gave a very weird look to the camera. Also thinking of that other Live from 2015 when he said he was supposed to do a Live with Jikook but they were hanging out together and even that one time where he dragged Jungkook to another car because he wanted to ride with Jimin. I dunno but it does seem like there were times when he felt a little left out by them and that made him kinda sad. There are so many different theories surrounding that NJ Live from 2019 too but if we were to take things at face value, it seems like Tae wanted to hangout with Jk for abit but Jk kept asking him to leave and even that Vlive from 2017 when Tae went to Jk’s room while Jk was doing a Live with Jimin and Jk seemed kinda upset that Tae had come in and asked “why is everyone coming?”. There’s quite a few moments that give me the impression that maybe Tae just felt left out and that is why he sometimes looked a little sad. What do you think?

Hi anon!

So.. imo opinion, Tae was never bothered by Jk and Jm's friendship. He knows them better than anyone else. He would know exactly what the nature of Jm and Jk's relationship is, and he would definitely know that Jk wasn't secretly pining for Jm or that Jm would want to steal Jk from him. I think, what bothered Tae most of all is seeing the way fandom react to Jkk. He has more than enough experience seeing fandom talk about both his relationship with Jk and Jkk's relationship that he is probably able to know which behaviors will get a fandom reaction. I do think he struggled with that and I even think he might've gotten mad at Jk/Jm at times becouse of those things. It's the way our feelings work, it's not always rational. Tae would rationally know that Jm and Jk are friends and do certain thigns because they are friends, and other things as fanservice. That doesn't mean he would have always felt okay though. I mean, that's the harshness of it all isn't it.. not being able to be completely real.

I don't think Tae felt actually left out, I think he has his own strong bond with Jm and Jk and I think when it's the three of them actually Jm has at times been thirdwheeling. In my opinion you can't really take a few axamples where you feel something seemingly seems off and generalize these to something that always occurs. Things are so very often situational. I think that's the thing Jkkrs so often get wrong. They enlarge certain things to the extreme. Jm talks about Jk going to his room a few times.. and to them that means Jk always hangs out at Jm's room. That's not the case though. Certain situations allow for certain behavior. Someone having a bad mood, or feeling sick, or having just read something nasty online can already alter the way someone would normally behave.

Tae also does fanservice with other members. BTS membrs have most likely been actually trained in doing fanservice, so he would know how to see these things and our ideas about how something looks are probably far off from theirs. Same goes for Jk visiting Jm in his room. Tae knows Jk's sleeping habits and his friendship with Jm better than we do. From the way they talk about it, its actually very clear that nothing but hanging out together went on. For Tae, Jk and Jm are brotherly, so why would that bother him? Why would he limit them in hanging out? Do we expect JK to put limits to Tae hanging out with Wooga as well? People in good relationships don't have a problem with their partner hanging out with their best friend, it's truly as simple as that imo.

I think for Tae it's very important to be able to show how important Jk is to him. He is proud, he loves him, he loves their relationship. So to not be able to do that.. and to see other people make up insane theories and having imaginations about your partner and your best friend being intimate must be excrutingly hard at times. I mean.. imagine being Tae and having to read all the wild stuff Jkkrs are writing now. Holy shit... imagine being Jm and JK and reading all of the insane stuff they are saying right now!

So, no... don't agree.