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[kangaracha]

NEVERMORE; AN ANNOTATION chapter 6 (alone, i reach out my hand)

Read Nevermore | Masterlist | Nevermore Masterlist

Summary

Still in the building they found in the previous chapter, Seungmin is woken in the middle of the night by a small disturbance in the building. He comes face to face with a girl in the darkness who is dressed in the same clothes as the other patients from District 9 and seems very scared.

She introduces herself as Hana, and Seungmin offers her food, encouraging her to stay when she offers to leave rather than face all eight of them. While she eats, they talk; she points to Chan and asks if he 'invited all of you here too', and explains that she expected to meet some people in this building who knew the way to Miroh where 'they wouldn't be able to catch us again'.

Seungmin admits freely that they have no idea where they are or where they are going. Hana informs him that this is Injeon, and also gives him more information on the purpose of District 9, the Six, and the Cle.

Han wakes up in time for them to hear the sound of engines running on the hills outside and the echoes of voices shouting. Hana tells them it is a group of people called the Isekai, coming to take them back to District 9. They wake the other boys and start moving, first towards the door they entered the building through and then towards a second exit when they hear the sounds of people entering through that door.

The Isekai chase them out into a rocky valley. Chan wants to keep moving down the valley, hiding behind the rocks - Hana insists they will get caught that way and that they should steal the car parked on the ridge. She asks him why he wants to go down the valley when they have 'been that way before, and been caught'.

Chan doesn't have time to ask what she means; the Isekai chase them as they climb the hill, nearly catching Felix. All nine of them make it to the truck parked there, and they take off down the road towards the city.

Characters

This chapter's main intent, other than moving us towards the city of Injeon, is to introduce the first major original characters of the fic - Hana, the girl that joins Stray Kids for the Injeon arc, and Junseo, one of the leaders of the Isekai.

Junseo is very much a secondary character, introduced simply as a figurehead and a voice to the otherwise faceless Isekai. He is a villain through and through, a loyal servant to the Six and an enemy of SKZ, and not important enough to warrant much other information on.

Hana is the first representation of Stay included in Nevermore, inspired by the Prequel: Highlight Reel trailer, in which leaving District 9 is described as 'we went towards a small light, with you' - the you that they are indicating being Stay. She is named one as an indication that she is always destined to be alone - though this won't become truly noticeable until much further in the future.

In this chapter, Hana is introduced as scared and rather like a wild animal, fresh out of District 9. A little of her backstory is included - she used to live in the city, she claims to have met Chan before - but for the most part, she serves as a conduit through which to deliver information to SKZ in an audience-friendly manner, giving us more knowledge on the world that we've been tipped into, the powers at play, and solidifying the fact that we have stepped out of the 'normal' world into something much different.

Plot

There's little to no content pulled directly from music videos for this chapter, except for a few details inspired by different media:

the truck they steal is supposed to be similar to the one they are seen driving in the Side Effects music video

again, the warehouse is supposed to be the building from the end of District 9, adapted to suit the narrative

the scene within the valley where they hide behind the rocks was heavily inspired by the scene in The Sound Of Music in which the family hide within the shadows of the gravestones

[kangaracha]

Squeeeeeeeeeze!!! You've been given a hug! Send this to all the people who you think deserve a hug. Let the hugging continue! (if you want to) 🫶

tysm <3

[kangaracha]

NEVERMORE; AN ANNOTATION chapter 5 (there's so many voices)

Read Nevermore | Masterlist | Nevermore Masterlist

---

Summary

Outside of District 9, Seungmin stands outside the bus and surveys their surroundings, contemplating what they should do next. He sees a city in the distance and a building just down the hill before Changbin and then Chan calls him back inside. Before he returns, he mentions to Changbin that he is worried about Chan, and Changbin agrees.

They agree as a group to continue down to the building nearby rather than towards the city, as Hyunjin is injured and they are tired and hungry. The youngest members lead the way, finding an abandoned warehouse-like building waiting for them. The centre of it is a large, circular room, where they find food and clothing, and a bank of computers which control the warehouse.

Chan looks after Hyunjin as best he can, and then turns to the desks and computers scattered around the room. He finds he can't read anything there, but picks up a strange key that feels warm to the touch. He wakes the main computer in the room and finds a map on it, with seven doors marked on it numbered one through eight. There is no number four, and all except one are marked as 'closed'.

Han convinces him to leave it alone for now, reasoning that they can't go anywhere except the city anyway. He wants to show Chan something that he has found instead; a music production program on another computer, filled with half-finished tracks. Han also says he has a song he wants to write, and so they sit down together to create it.

Canon Content

A short, transitional chapter, this one occurs entirely in the world of the District 9 music video - specifically, the ending, in which they are seen in a warehouse type of space with a strange portal-like device behind them. The bus, of course is also taken from the District 9 video - the world outside of District 9 is inspired by a short clip within that video and the world of the Scars music video, into which they will be tossed shortly.

Jeongin tossing through clothes from abandoned lockers in the warehouse is also taken from the District 9 video, though in the video they find the clothes on the bus. It felt important to mention that they were changing clothes from the white suits they were dressed in, as it was featured explicitly in the video, however to have it happen on the bus in the fic felt out of place, as they were only in the bus for a brief moment and it didn't make much sense to me for clothes to be found there.

This chapter is titled for the song Voices, which comes off the next album in the series, I Am Who. The lyrics of this song can be connected to the experience of the voice of the machine in their heads, and the decision they've made to break free of that control ('step out of them voices/break free from the voices in my head').

This album and the next, I Am You, don't contain a lot of songs relevant to the Nevermore universe, and so only appear for a few fleeting moments here between I Am Not and Cle 1: Miroh. Songs such as Mirror, Insomnia, and Question are also relevant to Stray Kids' experience at this point in the story, just as they were in real life, though nothing in particular has been drawn from them; rather, they are reinforcements to the particular characters and decisions being drawn in the prose.

Characters

Seungmin is introduced in this chapter, forging the path ahead while Chan worries about the boys left behind. He paints himself a strong character within the group, a potential leader who contemplates striking out on his own path right from the get-go but in the end always turns back to the older boys for guidance.

In this way, Seungmin becomes a very useful character to have at the forefront of the story - though he doesn't play any key role in the turn of the plot yet, he drives the group forwards towards their next discovery, and is quickly set up as someone who can be relied upon to do that over and over in the future. Where some boys are reluctant to move forward, Seungmin is unafraid and logical, a character that can easily be pushed towards the next plot point. He's useful here, and he will continue to be useful in the future, being also too proud to be beaten down easily.

Seungmin's POV also very quickly shows his relationship with Jeongin, who he very outright considers running away with and describes as a younger brother, even if not by blood. This is an important distinction going into the Miroh arc later. He also reinforces the idea that has previously been built about Chan being the leader that they all look up to, the one they are devoted to, and Changbin a protector, reliable and, in the eyes of the other boys, unwavering.

Plot

Again, this is a very quiet chapter; for the most part, Seungmin simply moves them forward, while Chan describes the extent of Hyunjin's injury and discovers the map. There are a few things to note, of course, such as:

Seungmin notes of the city seen on the horizon that 'there is something wrong with that city, he's sure of it - he just can't put his finger on why'. This is referring to the ruins on the outside of the city, which will be seen in greater detail in coming chapters.

While the building they enter is drawn from a music video, the room they find themselves in is entirely imagined from scratch, to give them a space in which to find their feet and reset. The portal seen in the video has been removed, replaced with a screen inspired the one I.N stands in front of in the Miroh video; the portal, instead, is the drawing inspiration for the 'doorways' listed on the map Chan finds - and the overarching idea of doorways/portals being the connection between different worlds.

This warehouse is implied to have been a watching/management place for District 9, up on the hill above; however, just like the city it has been abandoned, and the doorway that used to lead here, still marked on the map, has been closed. This may be revisted in the distant future, when we revisit the world of Injeon during the NoEasy/Oddinary era, but wasn't included here as it is worldbuilding largely irrelevant to the plot except for what it meant for the contents of the room.

This chapter contains the first instance of Chan noticing that someone seems to know him from a past he can't remember - namely, the machine when it discovered who he was.

The seven doorways on the map, deliberately numbered through to eight, represent one doorway to each world of the Cle - all closed except the one to Miroh, as Injeon has been abandoned and closed off as a cursed/unsafe place since the Gwoemul found a way into it. They are numbered to eight to correlate to the eight worlds.

One doorway missing is meant to be the doorway to Injeon, the world they are already in. It is probably an oversight to imply there is a doorway to Asadal, a world only accessible from Yellow Wood, but perhaps we can assume that was once a second door to Miroh, which would have been the most common destination when travelling in and out of Injeon.

[kangaracha]

NEVERMORE; AN ANNOTATION chapter 7 (alone, i stand back up)

Read Nevermore | Annotations Masterlist | Nevermore Masterlist

Summary

Stray Kids drive through the rain to the city. Chan falls asleep for a while - when he wakes, Hana is waiting to speak to him. She asks not to be left behind when they reach the city, apologising for being angry at him in the valley, and Chan assures her that he won't do that. He asks how she knew not to go down the valley, and she is surprised that he 'doesn't remember' the same thing. Chan is sure that they have never met before but Hana insists, saying she has also met Felix and Changbin in other instances. Chan starts to doubt if his memories are real or if there is something he has forgotten.

Hana also tells him that there used to be a girl called Jinae, who was also a glitch like him, someone who couldn't be controlled by the machine. She explains that Jinae was taken away to another place for being a glitch - when she asks if Chan knows how they escaped, he lies.

In the driver's seat, Changbin and Jeongin are the first to see the city, and immediately notice that it is a ruin, the buildings blown out and collapsing like something out of an apocalypse film. As they drive into the city, a futuristic-looking jet appears above them, chasing them; Hana directs them down a highway towards a tunnel. The jet fires at them, narrowly missing them, and they slide into the tunnel, which is pitch black and seems to go on endlessly.

Changbin stops the car at the bottom, in a tunnel that goes on straight towards the heart of the city that is partially flooded. The headlights on the car aren't working - he manages to turnt hem on long enough to see the tunnel and a man standing in the water ahead of them.

The man turns on a flashlight, and then many more turn on around them, illuminating the tunnel. Changbin asks them what they want, and the man replies that they are looking for the door to Miroh, that they 'know you know where it is' and 'I know you know how to get there'. Changbin asks what will happen if they don't know the way, and the man shows them a knife, imitating the slashing of a neck.

Characters

The standout of the boys from this chapter I think is Changbin, who takes the lead in the second half whilst Chan has something of an identity crisis in the back. We've seen Changbin as a secondary leader in the group from other POVs but seeing it from his own in this chapter is interesting as well - the way he considers Chan's current position, and, when faced with the threat of the men in the tunnel, the momentary resentment that he has towards Chan for leaving him in this position before he corrects himself and takes charge and resolves to be fearless.

We learn more about Hana this chapter too, second-hand through Jeongin. She used to be a singer and she won't talk about what happened to the city, though she seems to think it is obvious why someone from this city would have ended up in District 9. She also slowly regains some confidence in this chapter, and is far more genuine when talking to Chan than she has been previously.

Jinae is also mentioned in this chapter, a character we haven't met yet but is immediately set up as a leader and a rebel through the way that Hana talks about her.

Plot

Hana tells Chan that this place used to just be a wasteland, but the Six came here and built the city and District 9. This seems normal for now, but later, when introduced to the living city of Miroh, stands out as an aberration to the order of the Cle

Hana describes several escape attempts from District 9, headed by both Jinae and Chan and a boy named Shin. This shows the prevalence of glitches - and also the power that Chan holds, as the other two were never able to break District 9 completely, only escape with a handful of people. There are explanations for how they were able to escape and what particular people were able to be woken by them, but they weren't relevant to the plot and so aren't included in the dialogue.

Chan wonders if Hana's memories of escaping with him are real or not - they are, they just aren't memories of him. Hana remembers the second version of Chan, who we haven't met yet.

This is the second instance of someone claiming to know Chan when he has no memory of them.

Injeon is the city seen in the Scars music video, and this chapter is the introduction into that music video. This video is out of order, as chronologically it sits somewhere around the Noeasy era; it will be revisited then as well, this part of the story being more of a 'prequel' to the actual events of that video.

The men in the tunnel are looking for the door to Miroh, further reinforcing the idea of doors between worlds as a rule of this world, and pushing the driving point of this arc being finding this doorway and moving on to Miroh.

[kangaracha]

NEVERMORE; AN ANNOTATION chapter 4 (interlude: mayday, mayday)

Read Nevermore | Masterlist | Nevermore Masterlist

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Summary

This chapter opens with a similar set of messages back and forth between two unknown parties as the District 9 chapters did - this time reporting Chan as a 'glitch' and informing someone on the other end of the line that they do not know where he is.

We cut to a new location of 'deserted white halls flooded in blue light', where a phone is ringing. A man named Shanyu answers, receiving the message that District 9 has been 'unlocked' and its patients have fled into the city beyond. The boy on the other end of the line insists that his forces are not enough to catch them all and that he needs the assistance of something called the Isekai. He also informs us that a door to Miroh is open and reachable in the city.

Shanyu assures him that he will deal with it, and hangs up the phone. He hesitates before he makes a second call, and then decides against it for now, opting to wait.

Notes

This small insert is the first chapter to really go off the rails from what we see in the music videos - none of this is based on any media, but instead serves to set up future characters and worldbuilding for videos such as Miroh.

This chapter is titled for the song Heyday; not a song particularly associated with the SKZ cinematic universe, but a song I thought fitted the character of Shanyu, who is a member of the Six, the current ruling power of the Cle. Like the lyrics of the song, the Six are at a peak in their power at this point of the story, comfortable to the point that Shanyu casually describes himself as a god.

This isn't an entirely correct description though; he goes on almost immediately to bare a kinder heart beneath what he tells us in his own words is a mask of indifference, saying, 'his voice iron to disguise the weakness of his heart at the picture of the boy’s plight'. The hesitation to immediately make the call that will send people after Stray Kids, too, paints a different picture to what the opening of this scene tells us - very quickly, we realise that Shanyu is a multifaceted character and one that we're very likely to see in the future, even though we don't know he is one of the Six yet.

I felt the interludes were important to include as a break from the straight prose of the story from the POV of different SKZ members, adding a different dynamic and shaking up the flow of the story just as the world of the Cle bends and twists around our characters. I included the messages between Shanyu and District 9 at the start of the chapters for the same reason - to keep changing it up and throwing readers off the pace, just as the experiences in this world do the characters.

Originally they were also utilised as breaks between different arcs, though as the fic got longer I have inserted clearly marked partitions instead for clarity's sake, leaving these interludes as random inserts that you'll come across without warning.

They also serve a purpose of giving occasional insight into the world through the eyes of characters that are familiar with it, rather than SKZ who are always several steps behind. It's important, with a story like this that attempts to explain a whole new set of rules to a reader, to break down the learning process into digestible chunks, rather than throwing them in too blindly; this one, for example, introduces Shanyu far earlier than he is needed, reinforces the concept and importance of a 'glitch', and also quickly summarises what happened in the last chapter - District 9 is broken, the people have escaped, they are headed towards a city in which there is a door to Miroh (a word that readers will immediately recognise and be able to use as a guide moving forward).

[kangaracha]

Reblog so everyone can hear what they need.

[kangaracha]

HAHAHAHAHA i am an internet warrior 💪 i will defend myself with my life

this is even better in proper text format and also i've been thinking about what couls happen in chapter 5 all morning so like thanks for that. fic's so good it's got brainworms in it. god dammit.

Let Go of the Reins || Chapter 4

~*~

pairing seungmin x fem!reader

genre strangers to lovers, romance, fluff, slight angst later, happy ending, social media, not meant to be, someday

summary  Australia is considered home for two of the eight members. When two tour dates are scheduled for the land down under, the boys can’t help but want to spend a bit more time there to visit family and do a little sightseeing. So how do they convince the company that they need to stay a couple weeks? Filming some SKZ Code episodes.

A local riding school just outside the city with amazing reviews for their skilled instructors and beautiful horses is hosting a very popular kpop group to film their experiences. Y/N knows the group well and she just so happens to be their star working student. 

status ongoing

taglist OPEN

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~*~

~*~

taglist 

@kangaracha @rainfallingfromthesky @puppysmileseungmin @defnotfertilizedtoesw @teenyfinds @bbokari711 @lakoya @chlodavids @rylea08 @keepswingin

[kangaracha]

I.N ★ SKZ CODE EP. 48 SUSPICIOUS LAB #2 → REQUESTED BY ANON

[kangaracha]

[SKZ CODE] Ep.48 🔎 Felix 🤍

[kangaracha]

head above water | chapter 2

also written by @keepswingin

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pairing chan x reader, jeongin x reader

genre love triangle, coming of age, angst, sickfic, friends with benefits, college au

summary Homework, a small business, overbearing parents, a boyfriend that isn't a boyfriend. And then there's whatever is going on with her best friend, who seems to want something...more than a friendship, if he ever gets around to asking her about it- life is complicated, and far too busy for Y/N to be bothered with being stressed, or sick, or whatever it is that's making it hard to eat and sleep and focus on her work-

status ongoing

taglist OPEN

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Seungmin throws a granola bar at you as you slide into the seat next to Jeongin, the wrapped snack hitting your shoulder with enough force that you shoot him a glare that could kill as soon as you're settled. Felix smothers a soft laugh in his next bite of sandwich, while Jeongin's arm brushes your shoulder as he reaches over and picks up the offending granola bar, inspecting it for a long moment, before launching it at Seungmin's head.

Hyunjin ducks from beside Seungmin, even though it's not needed with Jeongin's aim as the bar hits Seungmin directly in middle of his forehead. When he returns to his full height, he rolls his eyes and glances at you like you're the problem.

"What?" you ask, knowing your voice is a pitch too high to be innocent. You can't keep the smile off your lips, and Jeongin isn't really bothering to hide his either as he reaches nonchalantly for another fry. "He threw a snack bar at my head."

"Does that really make it okay to throw it back at his head, even if he does deserve it?" Hyunjin deflects, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Jeongin interjects, shooting Seungmin a look. "Maybe we shouldn't throw things at all. If only someone got the memo."

"Shut up," Seungmin says, rolling his eyes. He tosses the bar back over to you, this time with a much lower aim as it lands pitifully in front of you, wrapper crinkled and letters bunched together forming something far from the name brand. "Eat," he tells you, like you should already know. "You skipped breakfast."

"Stalker," Jeongin mumbles.

"So you do care about me," you goad, looking up at Seungmin as you tear the corner of the wrapper. "I never thought I'd live to see the day."

"Funny," Hyunjin says, already finished with his own meal and sliding the remainder of his food towards Felix. "Maybe his heart is only big enough for one of us."

"I hate all of you," Seungmin corrects, only for his eyes to find yours once more, something knowing sitting far too close to the surface for your comfort. "Do you feel any better?"

There's a part of you that doesn't want to answer; if you do, you risk worrying them even more, and you know that homework has been rough lately, and the last thing you want to do is cause anyone to think about you more often. You don't want to burden anyone like that, even if you know they don't mind. But it's something deep inside of you that hesitates, that refuses to dig in roots and be okay with doing so. It's your parents getting to you, you're sure, unable to forget all the things your mother has said when she thinks you aren't listening. Something like that, that makes all of this so difficult to unravel properly.

"Not really," you admit finally, taking a small bite out of the bar. Even now, your stomach wants to reject the food, churning in discomfort. "I guess I caught a cold, or something. I've been feeling off for a while now."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Felix asks softly, leaning forward on the table. "We could've helped you out with homework."

"She doesn't need help, she needs to see a doctor," Hyunjin says, a journal open in front of him as he doodles another last minute assignment for the craft he's going to school for. For someone who loves art, you've always wondered why he decides to wait to do everything as close to the deadline as possible.

"I made an appointment yesterday," you say, taking another bite. It's about all you can manage, and you leave the bar on the table, curling your hands in your lap. Jeongin notices, and Seungmin does too, which annoys you more than not feeling well does. If they paid attention to you this much, how would you ever be able to hide anything from them?

"Do you want one of us to take you?" Felix offers. "If you don't feel up to driving, that is."

"I'll be fine," you reply, shooting him a soft smile. "Thanks though."

Felix smiles at you in return, before he happens to glance at the time. "Shoot," he mutters, gathering his trash onto his tray and picking up Hyunjin's as well. "We have to go."

Hyunjin stands with a sigh, looking back to you. A few other students are doing the same when you glance behind him. You can't remember exactly, you find after a few more moments of thinking, but you're pretty sure that they both signed up for the same extracurricular for study hall with the bad luck of it being located halfway across campus, which meant they had to leave their allotted lunch period a bit earlier than the rest of the group.

Maybe you did catch the cold of the century, if it was already affecting your memory like this.

"Let me know if you need anything," Hyunjin tells you, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Okay now you guys are worrying too much," you say, rolling your eyes. "I'm fine, seriously, and I even made a doctor appointment so I wouldn't have to hear anything else about it. Do I dote on any of you like this when you catch a cold?"

"Yes," Felix chimes as he grabs Hyunjin by the arm, tugging him away. "Talk to you later, stay safe!"

"So overbearing," you sigh as you turn back to Seungmin and Jeongin, pushing the bar in front of you further way. Maybe if you move it an inch every few minutes, neither will notice that you didn't actually finish it. "I'm fine."

"Finish eating then," Seungmin tosses back, pushing the bar back towards you.

So much for that plan.

"Shut up Seungmin," Jeongin intervenes. "She's not hungry."

"You always defend her," he grouses, shooting the younger a knowing look.

"You're just jealous."

"I'm really not," Seungmin deadpans, and you're afraid that if he rolls his eyes anymore, they'll just get stuck right in the back of his head. You reach over and steal a single fry off Jeongin's plate and pop it in your mouth just to make a point. It would've worked better if it didn't sit in your stomach like a rock in a pond, out of place and abundantly heavy, but there's nothing you can really do about it now.

The three of you fall into a comfortable silence as the other two finish their meals, and you busy yourself by scrolling through your phone. Somehow, you end up on your mother's Facebook page, and you can't help but stare at the most recent post that taunts you; it's a mess of gushing words about how beautiful the Bahamas are this time of year, followed with a picture of her and your father lounging on the beach. Your dad didn't bother to get a new bathing suit. Your mother's almost hilariously sunburnt.

Your thumb hovers over the like button, but you find you can't bring yourself to do it.

It was always so easy for them to run away from their problems, and a luxury for them to even have the ability to do so. You envied it sometimes. You envy it now, stressed about too much and ready to just take off in the nearest direction and not turn back. This...cold, or whatever it was, really wasn't helping either.

The bell chooses then to ring, shattering the constant murmur of the room as other students begin to disperse. Seungmin is among the shuffle, climbing to his feet, pointedly leaving the granola bar behind as he goes. "Thank God," he mutters, sparing another look at Jeongin, a certain gleam in his eye that usually means he's up to no good. "Get me out of here. I'm really not in the mood to play matchmaker."

Jeongin freezes from beside you. You lift your eyes, a question of confusion brimming on the tip of your tongue, but Seungmin is gone before you can say anything at all.

"What was that about?" you ask Jeongin instead, turning in your seat to gauge his reaction. He avoids looking at you for a long moment, fingers drumming on the cusp of the table. His cheeks are dusted pink, and there's a flip in your stomach the longer the silence stretches. Seungmin couldn't mean...

"He's just trying to start stuff," he dismisses, giving you a short smile. It doesn't brighten his face like it usually would, and there's something else off about it, but you can't put your finger on what exactly that could be. "We should get going. I'll walk you."

You hum, but the rush to change the subject doesn't go unnoticed. You can't help but think about it as you walk to class, Jeongin's arm beside your own the entire way as he talks about anything and everything to keep the silence at bay.

A different kind of emotion swirls through you. You're afraid to know what it is as Jeongin carefully hands you the granola bar you thought you had left at the table with a soft smile, fingers brushing against your own.

taglist

@kokinu09 @rainfallingfromthesky @rylea08 @jenniferlr @enzos-shit

@sxnset-angel @amyyscorner @puppysmileseungmin @thatonedemigodfromseoul @briar-rose23

[kangaracha]

Tumblr PSA:

Idk how long this is going to be an issue. Maybe forever. But when you're tagging people in Tumblr posts, you need to start tagging them in groups of five. After each group, press enter and tag the next group in a new block. If you do not do that, all of the tags after the first five will not work.

I learned this the hard way.

Your tags need to be organized like this.

@/tag1 @/tag2 @/tag3 @/tag4 @/tag5

@/tag6 @/tag7 @/tag8 @/tag9 @/tag10

@/tag11 @/tag12 @/tag13 @/tag14 @/tag15

And so on.

Hopefully this doesn't last forever, but it's definitely the way you have to do it for now.

[kangaracha]

there's so many people in this world that i would theoretically like to put on a racehorse and let them go at it just to see what happens. just to see. theoretically.

just ride one lap around the track. how hard could it be bestie? it doesn't require any balance or skill after all.

I always thought it was like an exaggeration when horse people would talk about how silly it was for anyone to think that riding a horse does not require any particular level of skill or balance or anything, or even that they "drive themselves" (???) but just the tags on the reblogs of that "can you ride a bike and/or horse" post from me alone are demonstrating how overconfident some people are in their (often entirely theoretical!) ability to stay on an alive and moving animal with a will of its own.

[kangaracha]

At some point in your life, you were taught that being slightly annoying is an unforgivable sin. Maybe it was by your parents or a teacher or a friend or a bully or an older sibling. But someone taught you that being slightly annoying is a crime punishable by death.

You must unlearn this.

You must accept that all people will be annoying at some point or another in their lives, maybe all of their lives, and that this is okay. It is okay for strangers on the bus, it is okay for children in the grocery store, it is okay for people on social media, and it is okay for you.

If you ever want to truly love your fellow humans, if you ever want to truly love yourself, you must have forgiveness for being annoying.

[kangaracha]

QUEENMAKER | CHAPTER 17

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pairing chan x reader

genre ninth member au, angst, fluff, coming of age, social media, cancel culture, anxiety, depression, forbidden love,

summary To JYPE, the solution is simple; take the sole trainee that will not debut with your brand new girl group, and use her to replace the missing vocalist in your male group that insisted on starting as nine.

Unfortunately, to the fans and the members themselves, it isn't that simple.

status ongoing

taglist OPEN

a/n today's self promo is catskin which is a felix x reader fantasy/fairy tale oneshot that i am pleased enough with that i might write a part two. anyway, here's more of the drama you're really here for.

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At 6:05 on the dot, there's a knock on your door.

He must have been up all night waiting for your text, you think as you answer it, the way that he'd made it down the stairs within five minutes of your alarm going off. You're still in your pyjamas, a hoodie thrown over the top when you'd dragged yourself out of bed to combat the early-morning cold of your apartment. 

The boys waiting outside your door are dressed similarly, at least, padding around in clothes they've chosen at random from a laundry hamper somewhere and shoes that they kick off as soon as they pass through your doorway. You're not surprised to see Chan, hair sticking up at every end like he's gotten straight out of bed for this and not bothered to even try to stick it back down again, but you are surprised to see Changbin. You don't think you've ever seen or heard a peep from Changbin at this time of the morning.

"Good morning," Chan says as you close the door, lingering within arm's reach as Changbin wanders his way further into your apartment like he's looking for something.

"Good morning," you echo, your attention divided between the two of them. "What are you doing here?"

"Well," Chan hedges, hesitating like he's not decided yet what he's going to say next. "Changbin is here to steal your cereal."

"Hyunjin ate all of mine," Changbin says, his feet carrying him one step closer to the kitchen in question.

You wave him towards it, despite warnings you've been given against ever giving him free reign over your pantry. "There's eggs in the fridge too if you want them," you offer, and your heart lifts at the way his face lights up. It's funny how such a little thing could cause such simple joy.

"Gamsamnida, noona," he says, and disappears into your kitchen. 

Chan steps into your line of vision.

"What are you doing here?" you ask when he doesn't immediately say anything, though the pit in your stomach and the sleepless night unravelling behind you say that you already know the answer.

He draws in a breath and holds it, anticipation paling his face just enough for you to notice. "I'm being honest," he says, his eyes flicking up to the kitchen door. Changbin doesn't appear - he's busy making a lot of noise with your pans in there, the slam of a cupboard door a little too obvious to be anything but deliberate. "I promised I'd be honest with you, so...I'm here."

"About the things they're saying online, or what's going to happen next?" you question; and you don't miss the way that his face falls, his brow tightening imperceptibly.

"You've seen it," he sighs, as if he'd been hoping for something different.

A grim smile twists itself around your mouth. "It's trending," you point out. "It's kind of hard to miss."

"True." He looks away, eyes casting behind him to where Changbin is being deliberately noisy in the kitchen as he hunts through your cabinets for something. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" you question. "You didn't do anything."

"They're my fans," he says and then blinks, correcting himself. "Our fans - if something I've done makes them think-"

You've seen the messages he's talking about, the back-and-forth between fans debating whether this was his idea or something that had been forced upon him by the company. Always Chan - Chan's group, Chan's members, Chan's decision. If the trending tags were anything to be believed, the general consensus was that the Chan they knew and loved would never do this to them, nor would he endorse it. It was obvious that you had forced your way into the group, and at first opportunity he would drop you right back out again; if only they screamed loudly enough in opposition, JYP would give him that choice quicker.

You didn't find that daunting at all. There wasn't a black pit opening inside your gut every time you thought about it, the urge to get back to the practice rooms and gruelling hours of work scratching at your skin. 

"You're acting like you told them to do this," you tell him wryly, and the corner of his mouth quirks upwards. Nearly a smile, despite how sardonic it feels. 

"I definitely did not," he answers, a hand pressed to his chest in honesty. "I meant what I said the other day. You're one of my people now."

Inexplicably, warmth blooms in your chest around the icy cold that has had a stranglehold around your stomach since you'd first seen...well, everything that's happening. The reminder of the conversation you'd had before all of this began is timely - it was easy to forget sometimes, around the screaming of a thousand voices that it couldn't be true, that he had chosen you, in a backwards way. That all of this was only happening now because he'd fought with the company for you. Because he'd won the fight, a feat you've never seen accomplished before, in a long career of letdowns.

Your teeth grit together at the thought of those voices online, hiding behind screens as if they know anything about what’s happened in the last three months or even the past six years. You had forgotten for a while last night, all the things that Chan had said; you’d felt like throwing something across the room, God’s Menu playing over and over through a tinny speaker until your body moved without thinking. You’ve contained most of that rage since, under the assurance that none of them know what they’re talking about, and truly, you don’t think that you’ll really care at all as the days wear on; but still-

"Someone should have told them that," you say without thinking, and then watch as Chan's brow furrows. "Sorry. I didn't mean you. It's not your fault."

"Someone will," he replies. "Once I've been to this meeting with management. Which I am probably going to be late for."

His phone appears in his hand, the screen lighting up to show him the time. "If you have to go-" you begin to say, already moving out of the way of the door.

"He's eating breakfast first," Changbin says from the kitchen door before Chan can argue with you himself. 

"Am I?" Chan asks; but his voice is mild and his feet are already turning towards Changbin, all the fight draining from his body before he has even begun.

"You think I'm going to eat all of the eggs myself?" Changbin fires right back. "I'm not a pig."

"But I thought you were a pig, Changbin," Chan says and watches in amusement as the sound of Changbin shouting indignantly fills the air of your apartment.

TAGLIST

@kokinu09 @rainfallingfromthesky @lixie-phoria @mysweethannie @chlodavids @hanniemylovelyquokka @tfshouldidohere @lauraliisa @puppysmileseungmin @kalopsian-thoughts @puppy-minnie @readerofallthingss @dvbkie099 @kthstrawberryshortcake-main @acker-night @d-chagi @lynlyndoll @borahae-reads @ihrtlix @yienmarkk @minhwa @i2innie @jinnie-ret @conwunder @amesification @starssongs98 @weirdhumanbeinglol @morinuu @the-weird-mold-in-the-sink @bokkiesplace @amyyscorner @jiisungllvr @skzstaykatsy @blackhairandbangs @jungkookies1002 @hyuuukais @imsiriuslyreal @thatonedemigodfromseoul @gini143 @mercurywritesstuff @splat00z @filmbypsh @palindrome969 @crabrangoongirl25 @enzos-shit @jabmastersupriseee @kayleefriedchicken @slutfortits @duhgurl @cheshireshiya @keepswingin

[kangaracha]

lee know + sorry, I love you

He'd always loved dance more than anything else, and this is no exception.

Fluid and sharp, shifting with every change in the tempo, drumbeats like puppet strings tugging at limbs. Her body creates lines that imprint themselves on his vision like too-bright lights, silhouettes of her dancing behind his eyelids even when he closes them. Her music permeates their practise room even after she leaves; at the end of every chorus, he expects her to laugh, or to say something snappy, like she'd recorded herself over the track when they'd danced, the music and their movement equalising each other.

"You've been practising without me," Han complains over the absence of her voice, and Minho blinks back into reality.

Boys, sweating under the hum of the airconditioner, and the same movements he's been drilling into his limbs for weeks and weeks. He's supposed to be watching the others, but on the ninth runthrough of the day, he'd wandered off for a moment. It happens.

"No I haven't," he lies between breaths, squinting at himself in the mirror. Had he messed up that last move? He can't remember - he'd just been moving with the music, doing whatever they'd been doing last night. "I'm just better than you."

"And I bet that jacket on the couch is yours too," Han scoffs. In the mirror, Minho finds the end of the couch - and yes, there is her jacket, soft pink and edged in black. He'd told her the middle of summer was too hot for a jacket, even in the middle of the night, and he'd been so correct that she hadn't picked it up when she left, too busy laughing at him imitating her stumbling over the chorus of the song that's repeating in the background now.

He considers lying again - not because he has anything to hide, but just to see how far he could string Han along - but the novelty has passed on, along with his breath and the little energy he'd dredged up sleeping the first five hours of the morning. "I'd rather go deaf than listen to her evaluation track again, and the dance break needed work anyway."

"Did it?" Han questions, his arm falling heavy around Minho's shoulder. His heart is beating like a jackrabbit's, oppressive heat rolling off of his skin. Minho's pretty sure he's going to get a rash if they stay pressed together like this for too long. "Or did you just want to give her shit about it?"

Minho shrugs, his face a poster of indifference. He's sure it's amusing. "Is it my fault if she can't hit the beats right?"

"Probably," Han tells him. Minho snorts and steers him towards the long couch at the back of the room, aiming for the coveted spot beneath the air conditioner.

"Did you tell her how you feel yet?" Han asks as he deposits both of them on the seat, his arm still tight around his shoulders.

Minho pauses, his stomach twisting around itself from more than the heat. Complicated; that's how that question makes him feel. Exhausted, because there's no right way to turn and no clear answer to give.

"I told you I'm not going to do that," he answers, in a voice that's lowered so that the other boys won't hear. Not keeping secrets, per say, but just...keeping it quiet. He didn't need Seungmin riling him up about it at every opportunity, nor did he want to sit the boy down and tell him that this was really serious to him; life wouldn't be right without Seungmin buzzing around the edge of his consciousness like a gnat. Didn't need Chan worrying himself to death about how to handle it either, when Minho could handle it just fine on his own.

"And I told you that that's really dumb," Han answers, not for the first time.

"I like just being friends," Minho insists.

"Liar," Han insists more.

And he's right; with every day that passes, and every night they spend holed up in this studio, he hates being friends a little bit more. But there are words, as an idol, that are dangerous to say, actions that, once taken, he cannot take back - and even if he didn't wear a name and a face known to millions of people, saying hey, i love you to his strictly a friend could destroy everything he has.

He doesn't want to imagine the world when she runs away. He doesn't dare to imagine it if she stays. In the light of it all, this eternal limbo seems like the better option, even if it eats away at him a little bit inside.

[kangaracha]

RING, THE VICTORY SONG full prompt collection AO3

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Gen Fic/Multichaps

NEVERMORE music videos verse/skzcu; on the eve of being torn apart, eight boys tumble into a world where their music seems to hang in the very air they breathe; 150K AO3

OVERWINTER missing/bonus scenes from nevermore AO3

LYRE LYRE on his last night with the group, IN must make a choice: to stay, or to go; 8k AO3

LEAVE After an accident splits apart the group, Felix is left alone in the world, wishing for better days to return (little does he know, that dreams come to those who truly want them). TUMBLR | AO3

WHAT THE WATER BROUGHT The ocean expands, the days grow longer, the earth loses its patience with every inch it cedes to the shore. For the hundreth time, Minho washes up on the shore of a small island and wonders when this - long months at sea, endless battles to keep their ship, the golden age of whatever the hell they want - will come to its end. AO3

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SMAUs

QUEENMAKER bang chanxreader; as one opportunity to debut disappears, another arrives - joining two year old group Stray Kids as a replacement to their missing ninth member. smau. TUMBLR | AO3

HEAD ABOVE WATER bang chanxreader, yang jeonginxreader; homework, a small business, overbearing parents, a boyfriend that isn't a boyfriend. And then there's whatever is going on with her best friend, who seems to want something...more than a friendship, if he ever gets around to asking her about it- life is complicated, and far too busy for Y/N to be bothered with being stressed, or sick, or whatever it is that's making it hard to eat and sleep and focus on her work. TUMBLR

DAYBREAK lee knowxreader, dystopia au; independant entertainment doesn't make money, everyone knows that - not dancing, not boxing. not without a company's name attached to it and the soul ripped out of it so that it can only sit on the stage bleeding. you knew you never should have agreed to buy the studio with him, that the bills would pile up and the income would run dry and the goverment would come knocking telling you to shut up and sit down...but it makes him so happy, when you see him dance. it gives him a reason to keep coming back. you don't know what you'd do without that.

THE FLOWERS YOU GATHERED IN MAY lee knowxreader; following an escape from near-death and an accident that leaves you unable to do most of the things you once loved, an old friend invites you to join a dance studio for loners and strays - people just like you.

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Prompt Fills

AS IT ENDS bang chanxreader; 'chan + 'a god bows before a mortal'; fantasy au

THE HYMN OF BABYLON lee knowxreader; 'minho + 'meddlesome angels, and the people they save'; dystopia au, fantasy au. religious dystopia.

CATSKIN lee felixxreader; 'felix + twisted fairytale'; royalty/fantasy au, based on the fairytale 'catskin'

lee know x sorry, i love you lee know x losing 3racha changbin x charmer changbin x eclipse han x forgotten felix x focus

[kangaracha]

Felix + focus

(this is actually written by @keepswingin, who gained access to my blog for five minutes and decided she wanted my prompts list)

---

It's bad luck, and you know it's bad luck, but you can't stop yourself from sneaking across the hall as soon as nobody is looking. You close the door as quietly as possible behind you and turn around, fully prepared to tease your husband to be, only to find him standing before the mirror, shakily adjusting his tie.

Felix is muttering to himself as he struggles with keeping his hands steady, smoothing them down the sides of his pants, once, twice, three times, and then he catches your eye in the mirror, and he freezes, and something about it reminds you of a deer caught between bright headlights.

"Sorry," you giggle, approaching him with your heart thumping wildly in your chest because this is actually happening, and he's going to be what you wake up next to every morning, and those hands will help you cook dinner and those eyes will look at you and call you beautiful and - and you're getting carried away. "I couldn't wait." 

You reach out for his hand as soon as you're close enough, twining your fingers together. You can still feel him shake despite it, and the small smile he gives you is wobbly at the corners, and his eyes are crinkled in that anxious way that he claims he doesn't do, and you tug him closer, reaching your other hand up to curl around his cheek. 

"Hey," you whisper, his eyes catching yours. "You're okay. Everything's okay. Focus. Focus on me." You press your forehead against his and hear his chest stutter with a long exhale. "I'm right here." 

"I'm sorry," he says as soon as he's able to, blinking fast. Leave it to him to apologize over things that don't require one. "I was just - my mom left to go find something, and I was standing here alone and I just got to thinking and then I - " Another breath, this one calmer than the last. "I just don't want to mess anything up. On our day." 

"You could never ruin our day," you tell him, and then your smile grows because you can't help yourself and he knows how you are. "Even if you did, I'd still treasure it all the same." 

It does work in dragging a laugh out of him, genuine and carefree. "You're going to make me worry all over again," he throws back gently, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear. "You're beautiful, by the way." 

"Can you still act surprised when you see me walk out? My mom already threatened me," you ask, and then his lips pull into a smile you'll never forget as he moves closer, lips brushing lightly against your own. 

"My mom threated me too," he admits quietly, and then he's kissing you, and you can't help but wonder how any of this could ever be bad luck when it's the luckiest you've ever felt.