#(in a good way- not that the teaser wasn't solid)

[liyazaki]

the day after tomorrow & the following days, I’ll continue to tell you that I love you.

GAP the series | official trailer

[etherealcheol-mp3]

White Carnations, Red Roses (and other perfumed words I hide behind) [TEASER]

Pairing: Seungcheol x reader (ft other svt members)

Genre/warnings: fluff, humor, sorta enemies to lovers, misunderstandings, flower shop owner!Y/N, landord!Seungcheol, tags will be updated later on when the actual fic is completed

Word count: TBD

Summary: You were just starting to foolishly believe that your move to a new city wasn't as bad as people had told you it would be. You had your best friend as your roommate, your new flower shop was running relatively smoothly after the grand opening, and everyone you had met so far had been nothing but kind to you. And then you met Choi Seungcheol.

A/N: i hate writing summaries oh god i promise this fic won't be as bad at the summary makes it sound...anyway !! hi ! new fic on this blog that i haven't really touched in a l o n g time. hopefully, i don't give up on this fic and get back to writing like before but these are just simply baby steps for me so we'll see how this goes. please let me know what you think and if you'd be interested in reading this fic because i could use the motivation lmao. other than that, thank you for reading this and cheers to new beginnings !!

Perfumed Words (floriography) - "Once a form of clandestine communication, the language of flowers was a silent dialogue — an unspoken way to converse with friends, lovers..."

Flowers are said to represent many different things. On a basic level, they can express love, happiness, gratitude, condolences, congratulations, well wishes, and more. To those who look a little deeper, each flower has its own unique meaning and representation. It’s these more intricate meanings that make owning a flower shop so fun to Y/N. People will come in every day searching for flowers to fit a multitude of occasions and only deem the ‘prettiest’ ones worthy of their money, not at all aware that the bouquet they just purchased for an anniversary is full of flowers that represent rejection, foolishness, and ill-nature. Of course, there are the people that want to hear all about flower meanings and how to best express their desired message, but after moving to a bigger, more urban city in order to expand the once small flower shop owned in your hometown, the amount of patience customers seemed to have to hear about the symbolism of the flowers they picked had greatly lessened.

You grunted softly, dropping the large bag of potting soil on the ground. The new shop had only been open for about two weeks but there was still a desperate need for organization in the back areas, hidden from the view of customers. “That was all of them right?” Chan asks as he pants lightly, leaning his side against the wall of the storage room. Chan was one of your only part-timers and a lifelong best friend. Growing up next door to one another in a neighborhood full of teenagers and newborns almost guaranteed a solid friendship as you were the only two kids around the same age who also went to the same school. Chan had helped you learn to ride a bike and you had cried while playing hide and seek one time since it had been close to an hour and you hadn’t found him. As you got older, you stayed close and Chan was one of the biggest supporters in your life when you decided you wanted to open your own flower shop. 

You laughed breathily at the boy next to you who was now dramatically trying to check his pulse. You push his shoulder gently as you move to walk back out to the front of the store. “I bet you regret saying you would go to university in the city now, huh?” Chan snorts at that, wrapping his arms tightly around you from behind to trap you in a bone-crushing hug, rubbing the side of his face against yours for good measure. You try to escape but he only holds you tighter, earning a loud groan from you, “Why would I regret moving with my bestest friend in the world? School has nothing to do with my undying loyalty to you,” You can’t help but laugh at that, finally freeing yourself from his arms and turning to face him. “Cut the shit, Lee Chan, we both know you’re only here because I have an extra bedroom in my apartment and could give you a job.” His shit-eating grin doesn’t falter as he extends his arms out for another hug, “Exactly what I said! Undying loyalty!”

You roll your eyes but can’t hide the smile on your face. “Yeah, yeah. Why don’t you show me that undying loyalty of yours by watering the plants in the greenhouse for me,” You smile sweetly while pushing a water spritzer into his chest. The way the smile on his face drops at your words makes you laugh lightly. He grumbles a bit but grabs the tools he needed and heads to the back door, raising his middle finger without turning back as you call out a sweet ‘Thank you!’. Chan was younger than you by a few years and the time for him to start university just so happened to overlay the time you decided to move the location of your shop for a much-needed expansion. You were lucky the area you settled on wasn’t too far from where you currently lived and Chan was even luckier that his dream school wasn’t far either. The small commercial strip you found with a space for rent seemed too good to be true at first. The area was popular and well developed with a large variety of stores surrounding yours. So far all the owners you had met were friendly and welcoming too. 

You were almost immediately invited to game night by the owner of the coin karaoke, Soonyoung, who was two shops down from yours, and the manager of his place, Seokmin, looked as if he would cry if you declined the offer. When you agreed and met up with them later that night you met the co-owners of the souvenir shop across the street, Jeonghan, and Joshua, and Chan hit it off with the part-timer of the record shop who everyone called Vernon. The two found out they were both attending the same university in the upcoming semester starting in just a few weeks and you felt relief that Chan wouldn’t be completely on his own. 

Everyone seemed to get along with one another and you were excited to slowly start joining the group for future get-togethers. The one person you couldn’t seem to get a clear read on was the landlord and property owner of the shops. You had met briefly twice: when you expressed interest in the vacant lot and when you signed your lease. Seungcheol was his name, and he always seemed to be in a rush whenever you met him, always leaving as quickly as possible with a tight smile and tired eyes. He was around the same age as you and the other shop owners and you assumed for a guy in charge of so many tenants he was just understandably busy. 

You were mindlessly sweeping behind the check-out counter in the front of your store when the small chime of the bell above the front door drew your attention. You called out over your shoulder without fully turning to face the person, “Hi, I’m sorry but we’re closed for the day,” resting the broom against the wall, you brushed your hands off on your green apron and turned around to give the person your full attention. “I can’t even come in to see how you’re settling in?” The question catches you off guard, as does the presence of Seungcheol lightly stroking the petal of one of the white carnations on display. He looks up at you after a bit, cocking his brow slightly with a warm smile. He looks relaxed today, not as rushed and fidgety as your prior encounters, and the tan short-sleeved shirt he’s wearing hugs his previously hidden biceps wonderfully. 

You blink once, then twice before you let out a soft, “Oh.” Seungcheol moves his hand from the delicate petals and crosses his arms over his chest while turning to face you fully. “I didn’t know you’d uh, didn’t know you would stop by…today,” You don’t know why you feel so nervous under the man's gaze but the light chuckle that leaves him makes you feel weak in the knees. He begins to walk up to the counter you’re still standing behind and you feel your eyes widen slightly. “I like to surprise my tenants every once in a while. Make sure they’re getting their money’s worth from their rent.” You nod slightly at that, looking down at the counter between the two of you to avoid his gaze. “Oh, yeah. That makes sense, I mean you-” he cuts you off with a gentle yet firm tone. “I also make sure they’re following the rules. They’re very strict here.”

Your head snaps up to meet his. His face looks serious and you can’t help but furrow your brows at his words. “Rules?’ You question quietly. He nods and his face holds the same serious expression as before. “This is a strictly business-only zone during operating hours. We can all be friends and whatever else when stores are closed but outside of that it’s rivalry and competition only.” You tilt your head in utter confusion and let out a “What?” that ends up being the loudest and most stable word you’ve spoken to him so far. The corner of his lips twitches just slightly upwards at that before he continues. “Every month rent is due, this isn’t news,” You narrow your eyes as he speaks, unsure if you’re going to like where this goes, “However, the shop with the highest sales for the month gets a benefit.” You raise an eyebrow at his vague explanation and cross your arms over your chest. “What does that have to do with rent, or being friendly with one another during business hours?”

Seungcheol sighs with a shake of his head, pushing his hands into the pockets of his jeans before meeting your eyes with a look of amusement. “Let’s just say the benefit is good enough that some good old-fashioned business rivalry and...sabotage, I guess you could say, is perfectly normal. If you don’t want to see your little flowers cut up or your water supply blocked then I would suggest you stick to the rules.” You let out a scoff of disbelief as he finishes. “I find it really hard to believe any of the people I’ve met so far would do anything like that, and I also find it insane that you would even allow it if it ever did.” 

Seungcheol smiles at your words, enjoying the anger he can see beginning to grow. He leans over the counter slightly to get even closer to you before he speaks lowly, “You don’t know me or anyone else here like you might think you do. I really hope you’ll be able to last long enough to do that, but from what I see, you and your little flowers won’t make it to Christmas. It’s not like your sales would help you anyway.” You glare at him and clench your jaw at his words. You’re stuck in a trance of anger and disbelief and don’t even realize he’s walked away and out the front door until you hear the light chime from the bell once again. You’re unable to move as you replay the scene again and again in your head, only being brought back by Chan dramatically exclaiming his relief at once again being in a building with air conditioning. He sees your rigid stance and feels his eyes widen at the expression on your face. 

“Y/N…are you good?” He asks hesitantly, unsure of what he missed while he was out. “I’m good,” you let out a deep breath as you meet his eyes, “I just need to go pick up a few things.” Chan looks confused as you walk past him to the back office space and grab your things, ready to leave. “What things?” He asks, following behind you and quickly ridding himself of his matching green apron as you quickly walk to the front door, flipping the open sign to display ‘Closed’. “Just some things to help me prove an asshole wrong,” You speak casually with a smile that Chan recognizes all too well. “Shaving cream or duct tape?” He asks in slight fear of the answer, letting out a sigh of disdain at the answer. “Lemons.” 

“Oh fuck.”

[kaepop-trash]

would u indulge us with a lil teaser from an update ur working on? 👀🤲

So I wasn't sure if I should post this because idk if I'll finish it, it's mostly just a worldbuilding experiment. I was writing this to work on this world so it's just a bunch of scenes with no continuity. That being said, this is the thing I have written the most in the past few months so this will have to do.

_

Summary: "This better be good." (Y/N) sighed into her coffee cup, less from sleep and more because of how awful the station's coffee machine was. "You've called me in exactly 8 hours into the one day I took off in two months."

"Two officers on night duty picked up a suspect near the meatpacking factory. I thought you would like to interview the potential suspect. Since this is your case." Kun shrugged, his holster rattling at the movement.

Warnings: Excessive exposition, no payoff

Word Count: 1666

_

When her fingers wrapped around the doorknob, there was a small shake in them. Her knuckles tightened in an effort to hide it, flexing just to be sure.

She spoke the moment the interrogation room door pushed open, “Your lawyer wanted me to ask you if you still don’t want him in here.” Talking to the floor, she turned to shut the thing behind her. A good enough start, she told herself.

“I apologise for his persistence. I asked him to leave but he is wary of his job.”

“It would be unfortunate to lose a client like you, I assume.” Kun spoke with his signature interrogation voice, impassive but with an edge of sympathy. The man laughed as she turned to face the room. Despite preparing herself this entire detour to meet his gaze head on, she lost her nerve and looked to Kun for some reassurance. He caught on, turning and giving her a pursed smile.

“Mr. Suh was just telling me about why he was in the area this late in the night.” Kun pointed at his pad, letting her know that he’d been taking his statement.

“I am looking to buy two of the five abandoned factories in the district. I was just scouting the area to assess my options.” He spoke slowly, his gaze dragging away from Kun in a leisurely stride before landing on her.

“At two in the morning?” She asked, the solid question giving her the confidence to finally meet his gaze.

“I’m a busy man.” He answered with laidback ease. Like he was having a dinner table conversation instead of being suspected for murder.

“And what do busy men like you do that require you loitering on private property at questionable hours?” She asked the question in her mind.

In response, his lips lifted in an amused smirk.

“She’s new here.” Kun spoke with an awkward weight on his tongue. The man seemed amused by the information, giving her a questioning look as Kun turned, “Johnny Suh is the sole owner of the Miti Conglomerates, the largest transportation service this far out on the edge of the known universe.”

“Well, on Xohorat I am mostly the owner of the only hotel on the planet. I am sure you had to stay there since you are new here.” He asked her, visible humour illuminating his eyes.

She did have to stay in that hotel, almost a year ago— when she was actually new to the planet. The most luxurious stay at the end of the universe. That is what the fliers over town and her transfer officer had informed her. In reality the room she could afford was the equivalent of an airport hotel way out on the opposite side of the universe. Her home. Not bad but more practical than luxury. It also hosted an interesting bar. All of this, of course, Johnny Suh already knew.

"Where were you on the twenty-fifth evening?" She asked him, fixing a discerning eye squarely on him.

"In my office. Working. I can provide the surveillance footage by tomorrow if that will help your investigation."

Overeager. She deduced, still keeping her eyes on his every movement. Despite the words, his body language was completely disarmed. There was no nervous shifting, no restless tapping, not even a frown.

"Did you ever have an association with a Mr. Pilem?" She pretended to look for the name in the file.

"I've never heard that name in my life." He answered after a pause to consider it. Perfectly orchestrated or the truth, she deduced. Those were the only two options she had.

"He was fairly well off. I'm sure on a planet as small as Xohorat, your circles might have overlapped?"

"Your partner told me he is a legislative clown,” He dragged his gaze from him to her, fixing her in place, “I don't mix with reformists."

"We are all reformists in this universe, Mr Suh." Kun chimed in, sounding rather serious.

"So you're a factionist?" She moved on, "Any animosity towards the government? Is that why you live this far out?"

"You live here too. What are your allegiances?" He pointed a finger at her. Despite the jest in his tone, he seemed to want an answer, "I am a man of business. Xohorat is a cheap hub for storing ships. The people of this colony are born engineers. My ships are the best in the galaxy at the fraction of the cost of the ones stored on moons closer to the reformer capital.” He sat back.

"The centre of the universe." Kun corrected him. That is what the capital was, after all. (Y/N) really had to curb the urge to tell Kun to drop it.

The words made the man look at Kun, his scoff that of pity, "The universe is the largest thing to exist. It's ceaseless pride that makes us think that we've discovered the centre of it."

Kun, she noted, looked momentarily taken aback. In his entire life, no one had said those words out loud to him. So obvious when spoken but never questioned. The outer planets were quite religious, she'd been surprised to learn. This far away from the influence of the capital, the laws were bleak. Her being here alone was a laughable matter, as she had learned pretty early into the job. Cops here only patrolled in cars and caught petty thieves. Detectives were simply government sanctioned employees chosen by the federal state. It was an illusion of order to keep up the illusion of empire this far.

Yet the reformist religion was stronger here than it was amongst the capital elite. Growing up, it had looked to her like people merely followed the tenets of the religion as a social obligation. For reformers, Wednesday evenings were for breaking fast with the community, a religious practice that made the community come together in the middle of the week to remember the gift of prophecy. The one that led the first explorers to the very centre of the universe. In the capital, the centre of the prophecies, Wednesday was a weekly dinner party to negotiate the happenings of government.

But here in the fringes of the capital's grasp, the religion was followed in the strictest ways. Here they still worshipped the original sun. The source of all energy that allowed the universe to be what it is today— inhabited by human beings. It was as if the world here had not moved past the exploration age, stuck in the beliefs that stopped the space farers from going insane on their long, tireless journeys to reach here.

If Kun had anything to say, he must have swallowed it. Instead, getting out of his chair.

"Would you like a cup of coffee, Mr. Suh?" He asked him, getting a nod in response. When Kun looked at her, she shook her head.

"Some water." She told him.

She followed Kun's retreating frame, so aware of the other pair of eyes on her that, for a moment, she felt like the one under scrutiny. The halogen bulb above them buzzed obnoxiously, filling the room with a sound that resembled the one in her head.

"An odd place for a factionist." She said out loud, aware by now that Kun had taken his place behind the glass in the small room right down this one. Watching as she did her thing.

"Where are you from, Detective (Y/L/N)?" He questioned, splaying his hand across the table and landing close to hers.

"Way out in the western reaches." She thought of the place she was born, balmy all year round.

The man, Johnny Suh, hummed, "Nice place?" He inquired.

"It can be. Why are you trying to buy abandoned factories on the bad side of town?"

"It is no more a bad side than this is the good. These are just some people looking for jobs."

She stared at the man, perhaps trying to reconstruct him from memory.

"And what about this murder that took place in the area?" She asked point blank.

"It didn't happen on any of my properties. Present or future. I simply assume it comes with the territory. It can be rough to live in that much poverty."

All his answers were deliberately diverted. Her brain itched in unreachable corners. Everything seemed okay but something seemed not. Something did not feel right.

"These murders were all people who did not belong to that side of town. People who would not usually be there." She explained.

"Rich people?" He sounded amused.

"Reformists. The important kind." She frowned, "In the past few months, enough have turned out dead in those parts that it would be concerning to anybody. Even those with a knack for philanthropy."

Johnny's lips twitched, and she had to sit up straight. Despite having seen the man naked, she remembered with a current of warmth sliding down her spine, she only now realised that she'd never seen him smile.

"I'm afraid I was just minding my own business. You can send someone to take a look at the tapes, I can't hand them to you as it's against company policy. Beyond that I can let you know if I hear something. I hope that's all?"

She stared at him, the strings at the back of her mind tugging but being unable to find any visible suspicion to act on.

"It must feel nice, though." She caved and asked the question raking her mind, "As a factionist, watching them all found dead. The chief planet advisor, the official notary's son, the Sol Pastor. All essential members of reformist society. All important contributors to the southern edge system."

"My condolences to them and their family." He didn't sound apologetic, “But I am not a facionist, merely someone who thinks.” She wanted to scoff at the jab, knowing Kun heard him loud and clear. Out of everything he said today though, this one she was sure was a lie.

[thevioletcaptain]

great news i finally finished writing my stupid outline of my stupid star trek snw episode

is it any good? who the fuck knows!!! honestly i doubt it's as good as my episode of evil because i got to spend a solid two and a half months writing and revising that one with feedback at every stage because of the way the class was structured (write the teaser/get feedback/rewrite the teaser and write act one/get feedback/etc)

whereas with this one i came up with the vague concept and rough shape months ago, then didn't look at it at all until july 1st when i suddenly realized class was about to start back and i needed to bring my completed outline to start.

and i still wasn't sure if i'd be able to write it because star trek = my dad and a lot of the concept of the episode stems from stuff we used to talk about when we'd watch sci fi together. so working on it was tough and i’ve probably been more harsh on myself than usual because I basically invented this pressure to make it something he would have liked.

so i spent several days waffling about whether i should hold off on my trek episode a while and try to write an episode for a different show instead, but i couldn't decide which other show i should write for (there’s not a lot of one hour shows i love right now that haven’t been cancelled) and finally because i spent so long waffling i didn't have time to come up with something else anyway

so i only got back to working on it about a week ago.

and now here i am with my 18 page document that i somehow managed to submit to the online portal thing 20 minutes before the deadline.

i'll get some feedback this week so hopefully it's coherent and entertaining or at least doesn't completely suck, but if it does i'll have like two weeks to fix it before my first draft pages are due.

anyway. sleep now.

[notsp1derman]

a review full of childlike wonder of the wizard of earthsea, by ursula k leguin

[may contain spoilers]

“A rock is a good thing, too, you know. If the Isles of Earthsea were all made of diamond, we'd lead a hard life here. Enjoy the illusions, lad, and let the rocks be rocks.”

Ever since I've started reading A Wizard of Earthsea, two thoughts have been circling my mind:

How the fuck is Harry Potter more acclaimed than this?

Wow, the Ghibli movie really doesn't do it much justice.

Earthsea is a simple story in its core, yet so groundbreaking in so many details (and in such a subtle way too) that I just understood how special it is after I finished reading. Within a third of the size of staples in the genre like The Name of the Wind (which has a similar plot and worldbuilding as well), it manages to tell an adventure that would captivate any child and entertain any adult, even those very serious about realism in fiction like me. Although we fly by many important events in this 180 page book, each one of them feels carefully thought out, a perfect balance between the sentiments of our protagonist and the hard laws of the world.

The archipelago of Earthsea feels alive and solid under the words of this book, and there wasn't a single moment where I was fished out of the immersion because of a poorly explained piece of lore or a boring infodump about the details of commerce that I don't really care about. LeGuin weaves together hard worldbuilding and the childlike wonder of unexplained mysteries in a beautiful way, encapsulating a joy in discovering a new world that I haven't felt in years.

Of course, nothing is perfect, and sometimes I wish there was a bit more of detail about landmarks, people and even Sparrowhawk. Still, it somehow works because it brings out the imagination I had as a child to fill all of the blanks myself. In this process I the archipelago of Earthsea became mine too. I love descriptive books that paint a vivid picture of a place that exists only in the dreams of the author, but a change of pace sometimes can feel like a breath of fresh air, and this is how Earthsea felt for me.

But the most special feature of this book is the way the author uses narrative. Her way of telling the story of Sparrowhawk as an omniscient narrator, giving away teasers of later events but keeping the thrill of the journey in its twists and turns almost feels like a legend told by fireside, of a hero long gone. We know of Sparrowhawk's potential as a hero and we know he will be a great wizard, but he still feels human even with this semi-detached style of narrative so common in legends. Because although his power is vast, his hubris is entirely human.

And between dragons and magic and islands, Earthsea discreetly brings a message of balance and self-discovery, that is intrinsically connected to Sparrowhawk's development as both wizard and person. The wisdom passed through the pages doesn't feel like the author giving some unwanted lecture, but more like a sage advice that I truly am compelled to take seriously.

I can't help but love books like this, able to charm me with a wonderful world and fantastical characters, but also able to bring me reflection about human nature. By naming the shadow with his own true name, a gesture so significant in Earthsea, Sparrowhawk made peace with the dark parts of himself, that his own arrogance brought to life. And by understanding all parts of himself, he became a better wizard and finally found a bit of peace. It is a journey we all must take, albeit a less fun and more plain one.

★★★★★

[reversemoon255]

Brave Gokin GaoGaiGar

I had been looking for the GaoGaiGar stuff from the Brave Gokin line for some time, but I always wanted to get most of them in a single order. Luckily, they apparently released a limited edition box set that comes with GaoGaiGar, the Goldymard and Star accessories, Dimension Pliers, GaoFightGar, GaiGo, and a gold figurine of Guy. It was also surprisingly cheap for being unopened 18-20 year old toys, with the entire set coming out to less than $50 a toy. I mean, shipping something that big wasn't cheap, but at least I saved on the products. I was super happy with the deal I got on these guys.

Too bad they suck.

The Good: It does all the things. Lion Mode, Robot Mode, Combined Mode, weird alternate combinations. It also has a bunch of accessories, like the Hell and Heaven hands, effect parts to recreate Broken Magnum and Protect Shade, the Dividing Driver, a Zondar Core, and a few other small things. On the surface, it looks like everything you'd want out of a GaoGaiGar.

The Bad: Except age has not treated this thing well. Heck, I'm not sure it was good to begin with? One of my Galeon's knees was broken out of the box, and the other broke as I was finishing up taking photos. (It was a small mushroom peg? This thing has a bunch of diecast; why didn't they make it bigger?) Its joint tolerances are also bad, often being super tight or way too loose, and very little in between. And it doesn't hold together very well. The chest additions as GaoGaiGar don't even peg in. It's the most disappointed I've been with a toy since I accidentally got a Korean Kyoryujin instead of Brave Dino King. It's such a bummer.

But we're not done yet. I said this was a box set, and I plan on getting all these disappointments out of the way, all at once. Strap in, folks.

Goldymarg and Stealth Gao II Upgrade Set + Dimension Pliers

Still hoping they eventually do these parts for the RG kit they did. I know it's been a while, so it's unlikely, but I can dream.

The Good: It looks nice.

On the note of Dimension Pliers, I was surprised to find it was a model kit, but because of that, it's the most solid of this set of releases, mostly because the tolerances are technically new. It's not perfect, but all the individual robots look good, the combined mode is both solid and huge, and it also has a wrench configuration that I show off in a later photo.

The Bad: Tolerances on Goldymarg are bad, and the hand has no tension, so it can't hold the hammer. The new parts for Stealth Gao are also weak connections and fall apart easily.

Brave Gokin GaoFighGar

I'll say this, I wasn't aware of how different the new Gao Machines were until handling them. There's actually a lot of differences between them.

The Good: All the armor parts are swappable between all the bodies, so if you want to use Stealth Gao II, Drill Gao II, Broken Gao, Protect Gao, and Galeon, you can, which is a really cool bonus to collecting the line. I mean, don't, but if you did. The drills also do this cool expand-contract thing.

The Bad: FighGar has very weak tolerances. It also has a number of parts that just pop off, and the armatures for the chest/shoulders are too tough, so I'm worried they'll bend. The vehicle mode is also kind of crap; doesn't hold together and isn't easy to transform.

The Gao Machines also feel much more rickety than FighGar, since a lot of FighGar is diecast, and none of the Gao Machines are.

Brave Gokin GaiGo/GaoGaiGo

So the reason I specifically wanted the Brave Gokin versions of the GaoGaiGar crew was specifically because of this release. To my knowledge, this is the only DX-style release of GaiGo, and I really wanted a GaiGo. I think GaiGo is really neat. And, luckily enough, it's the best release of this set, which is crazy because this came out way before the manga did, and GaiGo became prevalent. This was designed based off the few second teaser it got post Final.

The Good: The GaiGo transformation is simple, but pretty cool. My favorite part is that the cover for the heads are based on gravity, so just turning it upsidown reveals the new head. The tolerances are also better here than the other two bodies.

It's also almost entirely diecast, which is cool.

The Bad: The shoulders don't attach as well as with the others; they lay closer to straight than the v-shape the others have. The waist comes apart pretty easy. And the neck guard that I like as GaiGo gets in the way of the helmet. It just doesn't wear the armors as well as GaiGar and FighGar.

Overall, don't buy these. They have aged very poorly, and they will more than likely be a frustration for you than anything else. There are plenty of better releases for most of these machines in other lines, though I believe GaiGo only has a Super Minipla as an alternative.

[uchiwife]

Here's a teaser about the upcoming chapters of my "wrecked" fic. I hope this glimpse of the (possible) future events of this story will make you want to start it! 🥺🥺

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𝗦𝗡𝗘𝗔𝗞 𝗣𝗘𝗘𝗞:

“What are you doing!? Where are you taking me!? Let me go!” Sakura struggled fiercely, fear gripping her heart. She'd been kidnapped in the middle of the street, a black cloth bag placed over her head, and thrown into the back of a van. Her hands were tied, and now she was being dragged against her will into a tunnel that seemed to have no way out.

“HEY, I'M TALKING TO YOU! WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME?!”

“Shut up, bitch! You'll find out soon enough.”

“Yeah, the Boss can't wait to see you,” his partner said mockingly.

Sakura would have stumbled to her feet if her captors hadn't held her firmly. Now she was really worried... She wasn't a bad person, she hadn't scammed anyone, she didn't owe any money, so who was crazy enough to... No... no, it wasn’t possible. Panic rose within her, apprehension too. She was screwed. No one would ever find her body.

Just as she was on the verge of hyperventilating, she was roughly pushed into another room. The cloth bag was yanked off her head, and it took her a few seconds to readjust to the light. A quick glance around informed her that she was in what looked like an office. A large, spacious room.

The charcoal-gray walls were adorned with paintings all stemming from the same artistic movement, but some, Sakura noticed, were a much more contemporary version of traditional Ukiyo-e from the Heian, Edo and Meiji eras. She knew this because she could recognize Haruyo Morita's work when she saw it. She reluctantly admits that there is a touch of elegance in this office. In the center, a solid wood desk, adorned with ancient symbols, dominated the room. Sakura apprehensively examined the intricate details of the decor, feeling fear increase as she realized the gravity of her situation.

“Good evening, Miss Haruno.”

Her body froze. No. It couldn't be. It couldn't be him. She knew that voice, hated that voice full of arrogance and disdain. She hated his condescending, self-assured tone. She hated the way he dominated a room with his mere presence. That intimidating aura he had. Sakura was fucked. He had her.

“I'm sure you have some idea why you're here. I think it's time we had a little chat.”

Uchiha Madara had her.

[sillysapphillean]

This whole minecraft movie thing just reminds me of when i was twelve with a crush on herobrine so i made up a fantasy that could be called a fanfiction but i never actually wrote any of it down so idk.

I'm embarassed of how much of it i still remember tbh, but this was like my primary daydreaming fantasy for like a solid year. The gist of it was a bunch of "celebrity gaming streamers" (including my self insert of course) getting invited to some suspicious super private beta testing of an "AR game" (but AR stood for alternate reality instead of augmented reality) and essentially just being brough through a portal into the minecraft world (minecraft wasn't a game so none of them recognized anything). The guy like orchastrating the whole thing was literally just Steve (but *gasp* he was secretly evil and plotting something). And the world was like blocky but realistically textured and all the people just looked normal, but they also interacted with the blocks in the same game-like way that is in the movie teaser tbh. Evil Steve used that to sell the whole "this is a simulated world, it's all just a game, don't worry" thing. Also Evil Steve was not Herobrine, no, Herobrine was his twin brother and the secret good guy who had been locked in the nether by evil steve to keep him out of his way. No clue what evil steve's evil plan actually was but ofc 12 year old me's self insert was kidnapped by herobrine, fell in love with him and then they beat steve together and bound him to the end, using potions to turn him into the ender dragon or something like that.

Also, thinking about it now, my self insert looked a lot like alex before alex even existed lmao. I hadn't quite figured out my sexuality yet so me being rly interested in redheads turned into me making all my self insert characters redheads cuz i thought i wanted to be like them. And her name was pretty gender ambiguous too (it was Sam)

[potterandpromises]

An Apartment of Our Own

My contribution to the genre of fics exploring the in-universe OMITB fandom, Theobel style. Any similarities to any actual Tumblr blogs or fanfics is purely coincidental, and of course, this is all in good fun. (In order to recreate Mabel's style of speaking and signing at the same time, as in the show, the signed parts of her dialogue are underlined. Because Tumblr doesn't allow for underlining, this fic will continue on AO3 here or below in the place I found it silliest and most fun.)

They never hid their friendship.

Sure, Mabel gave it a good six weeks before she casually let it slip to the guys that her and Theo hang out. Just so she could come up with a few solid rebuttals if they gave her pushback. (‘Charles, you dated a serial killer.’ ‘Theo’s actually pretty fun to be around.’ 'According to greater society, we shouldn't be friends either.' 'I don't let old men tell me what to do.')

(Okay, they were about as solid as Oliver’s dips.)

(When the conversation came, Oliver was weirdly supportive about it. Charles looked exactly how he did when she first mentioned dating Alice.)

And yeah, she gave it an additional few months before she mentioned it to her mom. The distance gave her time and she wanted extra confidence the good feeling she and Theo had around each other wasn't a haze that would soon lift. She wanted the shitty phone call to be worth it. And it was. He was worth it.

But they never hid it. Not really. Not in public. If, last autumn, a fan of the pod posted a blurry five second video of two people who might possibly, maybe, be them using ASL in the winding path of the basement of an antique shop in midtown, well, she didn’t let it concern her.

Superfans aside, as the months dragged on without her involvement in another stabbing incident and/or murder, not many people cared about Bloody Mabel. Equally, she cared less and less about strangers' opinions.

Then Ben Glenroy died twice.

It wasn't like with Bunny; Mabel wasn't so unbearably close to the story. Still, the internet talks, and Theo got a writing credit for that season 3 teaser trailer he wrote. Questions were raised they still hasn't answered.

“Have you seen this?” Theo holds up his phone, shakes it slightly. His lips twitch, amused... or nervous?

Mabel sets her knitting aside, leans forward on the couch, and recognizes the website.

And the blog.

She furrows her brow, and takes his phone.

The Tumblr is onlyarconicsinthebulldogging, and they've reblogged from frogfuckergirl555. She has no idea who frogfuckergirl555 is, or if they're a frequent poster. For the briefest second, she feels almost proud of herself for that.

The post is a simple sentence, followed by a link.

Idk what this is but they’re kinda cute together??? especially if the rumors are true???

There's an emoji sequence in the tags that only grows Mabel's wariness: 😭😭😭👌🏻👌🏻🔥🔥🔥

She gives Theo another long, long look.

He doesn’t blush, exactly. He squirms in his chair like he regrets bringing knowledge of this— what she swiftly imagines with a level of visual accuracy only possible through prolonged proximity— onto himself.

“Open— read it!” he signs quick and jerky, like Mabel wouldn’t understand at all without context. "Please," he adds, and crosses his legs.

The suspense might be killing him. She, however, could live very happily not knowing the details of what people imagine they get up to, what precisely those aforementioned rumors are. If she doesn’t do her research though, if she chooses to live in blissful ignorance, the universe will surely send Marv her way to clear it all up for her.

She clicks the link, opens up Archive of Our Own.

[popculturebuffet]

Next up for Cartoon Network era of shows, who is your favorite character from each of late 2000s-early 2010 era shows (I included the final 3 that began before the big logo change in May 29, 2010 and rebrand to make the next one less heavy since a lot premiered in 2010-11) you've seen like: Chowder, Transformers Animated, Ben 10 Alien Force, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, The Secret Saturdays, Adventure Time, Ben 10 Ultimate Alien, and Generator Rex?

I"m also going to throw a brucey bonus one in here that wasn't produced by Cartoon Network, and i'm making an exception for. (Transformers Animated was it turns out so it wasn't needed but I incldued it in the teaser just inc ase) I als oonce again thank you for doing this

Chowder: A hard choice but the boy himself is such a fleshed out and hilarous character and i'ts a shame his actor retired, though I respect it. CH Greenblat's first show stilll holds up: intensely silly, whimsically creative and deeply hilaroius. Outside of the nightmare that was panini, this show is still a great time and well worth yours.. and one I go back to frquently

Transformers Animated: It's been a while so i'm not firmly sure so i'll go with Wreck Gar, he dares to be stupid. Also having Weird Al voice him was too brilliant and the concpet work. But the show itself is amazing, a creative reboot that found new ways to do the autobots war against the evil force sof the deceiptcons by making optimus a rookie, having the tick be his asshole superior, and our heroes a ragtag bunch against a far stronger deciptcon army and delightful supervillians. I love this so much.

Ben 10 Alien Force: Julie: Sh'es a well done love intrest with a pet blob dog thing. Easy pick. Alien wise it's jetfire. As for alien force itself.. it's my faviorite of the four ben 10 shows i've seen (i.e. everything but the reboot). Or at least seasons 1 and 2 are, season 3 is a bit of a mess. It's clear they had a solid intresting if retcon heavy plan for seasons 1 and 2, giving us an intresting and horrifying meanace in the high breed, the glory that is parodox and a great main trio. Though as I said season 3 is a hot mess. But compared to the not terrible but still messy things to follow it's at least more consitent.

Flapjack: Peppermint Larry whose the right mix of hilarious and creepy. As for the show itself.. i'm not a fan. I respect it's impact on animation, top notch vocal cast, and gorgeous animation.. but it's too much of a gross out show and deeply disturbing for my taste. It's a me thing, but yeah the show lost me after a while, but i'ts not bad just not my forte.

The Secret Saturdays: Doyle. You combine will fredle's Terry McGuinnis voice with a badass bounty hunter , bad influence and fun uncle and you got a stew going. The series itself I badly need to revisit and is a fun adventure show with a well built cast, world and twist. Criminally underated and canceled before it's time, though still at least managing a satisfying finale.

Total Drama Island: The Brucey Bonus that's been on my mind since the reboot is currently airing in the us and i've watched half of it. (Need to go back and finish it that's on me etc). But while it wasn't made by cn so I wasn't going to obligate you to include it, I had to as before our next entry it was the big breakout for CN for a while. Flapjack was good and got praise over time and Chowder was well loved, but Total Drama was the big star for a bit. Faviorite is hard to pick, but for this season i'll go with gwen. Time would not be kind to her but teenage me couldn't get enough. And adult me can't get enough of the show, as it's well done, with only a few rough edges and season 1 is so good few other seasons have competed. It's got a great cast, great challenges and a lot of good jokes. And farts but that's Total Drama for you, you get numb to it.

Total Drama Action: Harold because he' smy boy, but really no one was on top game this season. This season is bad.. not as bad as some later seasons, but it's clear they had no real direction for it, gave up on their first antagonist halfway through, and derailed trent. While I was never big on trent and gwen, that whole fiasco leaves a bad taste in the mouth for the rest of the season and courtney's derailment, while not a stretch is a waste of a good villian turn by making her invincible. The film themeing is okay, but it's clear they were not ready for the sequel.

Adventure Time:Jake. I know same name and all that, but the guy just has chill dumbass energy for days, one of the best scenes in teh show (Jake , your president now), and is easily John DiMaggio's best performance. The show itself is excellent: it did stumble a bit after rebecca sugar left for something i'm sure we'll get to next time, but while I left the show after a while, it recovered and has since gone on to have two excellent spinoffs with more coming and a movie. The show wasn't perfect, but damn if it wasn't important to animation as a whole, saved cartoon network and generally just... slaps.

Ben 10: Ultimate Alien: This one's.. a bit more mixed. Character wise, Julie looses it, but Sir George picks it up as one of the franchises best villian, a knight who simply hasn't adapted to a far less simple world. Ultimate Alien itself.. is a mixed bag. The villian for the first half of season 1 is generic as fuck, though Kevin's return to evil was brilliant and while it had some weird bits (gee ben your really gonna kill your best friend huh?), it worked far better than it had any right too. The second arc likewise followed the pattern: started messy as hell, picked up well after with the forever knights ressurgence. It's not as messy as omniverse to a point, but it's just kinda okay overall. The ultimate transformation was a neat idea, Sir George is great but it has a lot of bad one offs, questionable decisions and a general lack of direction at times.

Generator Rex: Now bringing me the oppsite of the above, Generator Rex. Breach is my faviorite , from her creepy design , to her creepily perfect voice acting and redepemption arc (and weird chemistry with rex). The show itself though is underated: while it has minor tonal issues here and there (Having wacky shenanigans episode ina fairly horrifying setting and the rock soundtrack sometimes clashes), it compensates with a brilliant horrifying concept, a dumptruck of memorable characters too big to list here, and really going hard, exploring the implications of this fucked up world with whole cities turned evo, rex's parental substitue and secret agent buddy given orders to kill, and Rex struggling to find SOME normalcy. It's an underated classic that badly deserves a reboot at some point.

[wishheroes]

IVE SWITCH MINI REVIEW 🪷

hello everyone! today i will be reviewing ive's latest ep "ive switch" ! this will be a relatively short review and i won't go into details for every song, but i will share my opinions on them. hope you enjoy!

HEYA

the moment i heard the teaser on my twitter timeline i knew this was going to be a great song. i absolutely loved the concept and the samples really stood out to me in a good way. and sure enough, when the actual song dropped i absolutely loved it. the samples work so well in the song and this is one of my favourite ive title tracks and releases of all time. i think everything here just works together very nicely, and the song is fun to listen to.

Accendio

if you saw my weekly round-up you would know i loved this song. the decision to have double title tracks for this ep was fantastic, because these 2 songs are both perfect fits for an ive title track. i feel like ive kind of have two sides, the dreamy sounding songs, as well as the kind of louder songs (ex. love dive, eleven) and in this case i feel like they really switched between these 2 sides in these 2 title tracks. heya being the slightly louder song, and accendio being on the dreamy side. accendio is really great, the sound of the song is very relaxing in a way, and the concept of the song and the music video is really cool and unique. overall i absolutely loved this song just as i loved heya, and i can definitely say this is also one of my favourite ive releases of all time.

Blue Heart

i do enjoy the simple fast beat on this song. but i'm not sure if i enjoyed the song. i liked it until the chorus, i enjoyed the vocals and thought it sounded kind of dreamy and cute. but i'm not a fan of autotune-y sounding choruses, no matter who does it and how it's done. so this completely threw me off unfortunately. i do understand that this was intentional to add to the vibe of the song, but i personally didn't enjoy it. although the bridge of the song was really beautiful.

Ice Queen

now this!! is a GOOD song. the instrumental is so well done and the vocals match the song perfectly. i wasn't a fan of the chorus at first but at second listen i came to like it. you know when a song is so good you're kind of left speechless and can't even describe what you like about it? this is one of those songs. the woo-hoo woo-hoo parts reminded me of hands up by nct wish, which is kind of funny because of how different the songs are. anyway, this is an outstanding song. i didn't expect to enjoy it so much.

WOW

this is one of those songs that i do enjoy, i think its cute, but wouldn't really add to my playlist. it's not interesting enough for me to actually listen it on a daily basis. but it's a solid song, and i don't really have anything negative to say about it. it's cute, but that's kind of it.

RESET

hmm. this song is interesting. i definitely understand what they were going for, but i'm not sure what to think of it. i definitely enjoy it more than wow, but the song itself is extremely empty. but i kind of like that. although when i heard the intro i hoped it would go more into a kind of stronger summer uk-garage or summer-y deep house type of sound and i was ready to add it into my summer playlist but unfortunately it does just continue the empty sound throughout the whole song. i do understand that's just the genre of the song, but i wish it was a bit stronger in the chorus. but either way, i enjoyed the song! need to relisten some more to decide if it's going in the playlist or not.

that would conclude today's album review! special thanks to @dive-ingboard for the request, i strongly enjoyed reviewing this mini!

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week ?

Superman #1 - The one a whole bunch of you have been asking for. I loved it, this is probably the best single issue Williamson has ever put out at DC. Plotting is tight and keeps things moving, characterizations are on point (I love Clark listening to music to tune out the world, that's been a headcanon of mine for years), the art is gorgeous, and the teasers at the end are exciting. Williamson's use of Lex in his brief Batman run was underwhelming, but here I let loose several cackles at Lex's arrogance. Motherfucker actually built a goddamn hologram of himself for Superman to go see for advice, and programmed it to call Superman "son"? Hahaha oh my God that is going in the Lex Luthor Top 10 Biggest Asshole moves ever. Wasn't very enthused about this book being billed as a Superman/Lex teamup, but now I'm onboard. Williamson clarified in a CBR article that the pages involving Brainiac aren't teasing plotlines that he is doing in Superman, but teases for stuff coming in the DCU overall. However the final page with Bizarro is teasing upcoming storylines, and based on the screens we can expect stories featuring Silver Banshee, Lobo, Maxima, Toyman, Livewire, Atomic Skull, and a box with goop coming out of it that I don't recognize. Man to have both of the Superman books kicking ass has my head spinning, last time that happened for me must have been Busiek/Johns which I only read after it was already over.

Nightwing #101 - Like most of the issues without Redondo, it remains fine, but nowhere near as good as when he's drawing it. Dick really needs to start wearing a helmet with all the head injuries he gets.

World's Finest #12 - Fun breather issue, and I was amused at this being the origin for when Dick decided to work on his charm.

One Bad Day: Clayface - Between this and Voidsong I really hope DC gives Kelly and Lanzig a Dawn of DC ongoing. Great work here, up there with Penguin and Bane for best of the initiative.

Lazarus Planet: Omega - Eh. It's alright I guess, I liked the Federeci art even if magic was once again reduced to glowing beams of war.

Immoral X-Men #1 - Disappointed to say that I thought this was just ok. After that amazing leadup Immortal issue, the actual event has landed with a dud for me. None of the three books are hooking me the way they want to and I'm already ready for SoS to be over.

Sabretooth & The Exiles #4 - Speaking of strong beginnings that have fallen off, this book is still a solid read but it is nowhere near as strong as it started. Part of that may be down to me not being a major X-Men guy, I didn't even know Sabretooth had a son.

[koqabear]

no right?? her voice is so addicting it's like they're putting crack in the vocalists at sm

i think she has a voice that's hard to get tired of and aside from having the strength and range, i absolutely love her vocal color because like you said, it's sultry but it can also be sweet and i personally love when idols have that variety because i find it really refreshing?

my favorite song is probably bad boy, sad girl or anywhere but home! i have this Problem where i can never choose one favorite and i'm always stuck between two, so trying to get me to choose one is seriously... a herculean task.

the mv isn't anything crazy or lore-packed like a txt one or the album trailer, which is what confuses me? i know sm isn't a label that heavily focuses on actual story-telling lore and there's nothing wrong with that, but the mv just has nothing to do with the trailer? i'm pretty sure they've done this before with their earlier artists like exo and changmin from tvxq, where they'll set the bar insanely high for themselves and then completely miss said bar; it's kind of like the equivalent of music and award shows putting all the highly-anticipated groups last to keep viewership lol. i know it wasn't the mv teaser so i can't be entirely upset about that, but i expected there to at least be some references to it, if any at all, because it really just plays like the choreography version of a music video with a few aesthetic shots thrown in here and there. then again, that could be attributed to the fact that seulgi's a dancer so it would make sense to focus on her dancing, but there's a very significant imbalance. i'm definitely not complaining though (edit: yes i am) because i really liked the styling and editing, i just wanted to see how they'd expand on the trailer. i remember seeing tweets about the concept and how a lot of the scenes revolved around asian folklore and superstitions, specifically about the ghost festival and how you can't do certain things because it'll attract spirits and some essentially invite them to possess you which led a lot of people to believe 28 reasons was going to be related to monster and that irene was the one who possessed seulgi. then there was this craze about how she looked like nanno from girl from nowhere or how the trailer was kind of like a horror movie and then we just see none of that... it definitely feels like a waste of potential but regardless, 28 reasons was stupidly good.

tldr; ml complains about the lack of correlation between the 28 reasons trailer and music video for *checks notes* 329 words

phewwww okay, so I just watched the music video, and let me tell you… you are absolutely right!

tldr x2; sol agrees with ml, but still thirsts over Seulgi nonetheless

i watched the mv teaser and the album teaser beforehand, and it looked really cool! It looked like something out of a horror movie, and I was actually kinda expecting some lore to come out of this mv; but alas, nothing.

i feel like it would have been better if we got a performance video and an mv (like what bts did with on) so that we could’ve had something that related back to the teasers, and something that still catered to Seulgi as a dancer/performer— cause that choreography is amazing. But anyways, it really is kinda disappointing :( it’s a gorgeous mv (and Seulgi is just so damn fine) but the way that they fed us those cool ass thriller/horror-esque shots and then said oh!!! Nevermind!! Just UGH it even looked like a whole movie…

I would have LOVED if they had done something like txt’s eternity mv— literally one of my favorites, it was so gorgeous and gave us a lot of lore too. But like you said, sm isn’t really a company that focuses on giving their groups a solid story (cause what the fuck is going with kwangya). Which is really sad, because they have a loooot of potential to properly explore these concepts (Seulgi and Irene’s solo, taemin…. Taemin again because the theories I’ve read on him, oh my god.) but then again, I’ve never been too accurately up to date with a group’s lore, so maybe they do have a solid story that I don’t know about.

Seulgi’s voice is just so perfect and she has an amazing range, but I must make a confession; the bridge where she talks is just a tad bit corny to me, (just a tiny bit!!) but she gets a pass bc it’s her and she’s hot, but I’m not really a big fan of that R&B sultry talk out of no where… (trauma flashbacks to Johnny in beautiful) some songs really pull it off, like if you do by got7. 28 reasons is just so good and I’m trying my hardest to not overplay it tbh

[imthepunchlord]

Super excited to see how you handle Nino x Lila in Dodged a Beetle, not just on Lila’s end but on Nino’s as well. He and Alya really did bring out the worst in each other as time went on in canon, which was such a shame and waste of everyone’s time, and I’ve never heard of or seen anything for Ninila/Lilino before at all, now that I think about it. Even further, there aren’t a lot of bad girl/good boy mainstream pairings that I can think of off the top of my head in the same way I could for bad boy/good girl mainstream pairings…? That’s really weird now that I’m consciously thinking about it, actually… 🤔

Yeah... personally DJWifi just didn't do it for me pairing wise. It felt more like checking off a check box of the trope of best friends of the main pair getting together. And even then it wasn't done well.

Animan alone, which is possibly the ep that has them together, really threw it all off. It wasn't well built up, they threw it off by Alya's stance on dating Nino declaring that Nino's like a brother to her which she quickly got over, and Nino had very quickly got over his crush on Marinette and moved onto Alya. By set up, it's a little confusing how this works. They did have a nice moment in Zombizou, but later eps, the pairings really dicey.

I could acknowledge that there is potential there, they have the ground works for a solid pair with Nino being more laid back to counter Alya's energy and she can spice up his life when he's too rooted; but the writers didn't care enough, specifically with Nino, and they just shoved it out there to get it out of the way.

So, it's hard to really get into the ship, at least for me. And I actually only got interested in ships of Alya with other girls. The first ship I ever considered for Alya was Chloya, which got sparked off pre s2 with this teaser image of LB, Rena, and QB. I had a lot of fun thinking of the Square they could've had, civilian sides who opposed but heroes who got along. It promised a lot of drama and fun, not that it happened...

Either way, Lila/Nino I'm definitely intrigued with as a rare pair to explore.

And yeah, the bad girl/good boy is an uncommon sight, I definitely can't think of too many, but it's not a ship dynamic I seek out too much. Only one I can think of is Pacifica and Dipper, which we didn't get a lot of but I did enjoy them.

[innytoes]

Reggie/Everyone + Road Trip AU?

Being on a roadtrip with all Reggie's favourite people was pretty awesome. Even if it wasn't exactly the cool tour bus they'd dreamed of, but actually Ray's minivan, and they weren't (yet! Luke insisted) touring the country with the band, but mostly just driving Flynn to her grandparents' house in Chicago with some fun stops on the way.

There were sing-alongs, and junkfood, and stops at the Grand Canyon and any stupid roadside attraction they could find along the way. Which, with Flynn and Alex' combined researching skills were a lot. Luke and Julie had both made epic playlists for along the way, and Reggie had gone through boxes and boxes of old magazines, joke books, brain teasers and riddles to curate the perfect 'I'm bored this entire state is nothing but flat nothingness' remedies.

Willie seemed to know the local cryptids and scary ghost stories for every state they drove through, and he always let Reggie huddle between him and Alex if he got scared. Alex told him him that he was pretty sure Willie was doing it on purpose. Not that Alex minded, he confessed, because it just meant more cuddle time with his two favourite people.

So yeah. Road trips with his best friends were the best. And he got to kiss them all. He was the luckiest dude on the freaking planet.

On the way there, the sleeping arrangements were easy. If they were at a campsite, it was usually just a free for all in the giant tent, a big cuddle pile with a mishmash of sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows. He usually shared a room with Flynn, unless Flynn declared it a girl's night, in which case he slept with Luke. And when Flynn and Willie declared it a they's night, he slept with Alex. And sometimes Luke needed to be separated from all of his bandmates or he wouldn't sleep, trying to write another song, in which case Flynn forced him to a room on the opposite side of the motel and he slept with Julie.

After they dropped Flynn off at her grandparents, though, things were different. On the first night, Reggie had been sent in to get the best Gas Station Snacks, and when he’d come back the conversation had abruptly cut off. The night after had been fine, when they stopped at a campsite. Reggie didn’t get too much sleep, though, after Willie’s rather chilling tale about the Palmyra Wolves. He’d spent most of the night straining his ears for sounds outside their tent, clutching Alex’ arm and hiding his face in Willie’s chest. So if he took a nap in the back seat, well, who could blame him?

He awoke to the sounds of bickering. And not the good-natured ‘Julie why did you put this on the playlist you’re going to have Alex chair-dance for a solid four minutes’ kind.

“It’s not fair, Willie’s the reason he didn’t get a good night’s sleep in the first place, you guys should-”

“We all agreed to take turns, Luke,” Alex snapped back.

“Guys, stop,” Julie said, frustrated. She hated driving while being distracted. “We still have weeks left, we need to figure this out. I’m not cutting this trip short because you guys can’t stop arguing over where Reggie’s sleeping tonight. We need to figure this out before we get to the motel.”

Oh. They were arguing about him. About whose room Reggie would sleep in tonight, since he was now the odd man out. Hashtag Willex and Jukebox, as their fan-pages said. (Reggie wasn’t insecure. He wasn’t. And he kind of liked the small but devoted group that had decided Reggie was only dating Flynn and supported Hashtag Flyggie.)

“It’s okay,” he heard himself say. “I can just sleep in the minivan.”

Three heads turned towards him, Julie’s eyes flitting up into the rear view mirror and then back to the road.

“W-whaaat? What are you talking about?” Luke said in the most unconvincing voice ever. He was almost as bad of a liar as Julie.

“If you guys don’t want me in your rooms, I can just sleep in the car. You don’t have to fight over who has to take me.” He hadn’t realised he’d been getting on their nerves so much. Maybe the jokes he’d copied down were a little childish. And he thought it would be funny to bring along some of the quizzes from the stack of ancient Cosmos Tía Victoria had found in her garage. Apparently not everyone was as fascinated to know if they were enough of a Bad Girl or which Sex and the City girl they were.

Julie took a breath, checked all her mirrors, and then carefully pulled over on the empty stretch of high way. Oh no. If Julie was stopping the car, this was serious. “Reggie...” she started.

“I’m sorry, it’s cool, I‘ll stop with the quizzes and give you guys some privacy when we stop somewhere, okay?” He could go to the gift shop and find something funny to send Flynn. Flynn loved weirdo tourist trap junk.

“Reggie,” Willie cut him off before he could say anymore. “We weren’t fighting about who had to take you for the night.”

“Yeah, we were fighting about who got to take you,” Alex filled in. What? “Luke was being a butt about it.”

“Willie’s the reason he didn’t sleep last night!” Luke said again. “And he spent the entire night between you two. How is it fair he gets to sleep in your motel room tonight?”

“Because we agreed to switch whose motel room he slept in, and you got him last motel,” Alex argued back.

Willie nudged his shoulder against Reggie’s. “I say, we leave those two in a motel room to fight it out, and you, me, and Julie get the other one.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Julie said, turning around and high-fiving Willie, laughing when Luke and Alex both started spluttering. “Nope, sorry boys, the decision has been made. You two can kiss and make-up, or wrestle-mania it out, or whatever, but we’re having a nice quiet night in doing Cosmo quizzes. Right Reggie?”

And Reggie couldn’t help but smile, swallowing away the thick, teary feeling in the back of his throat. “Yeah,” he said, laughing when the spluttering rose an octave or two. “Sorry, boys.”

(And if they actually just booked a double room and pushed the two double beds together, well, that worked too.)

[lavienjin]

the assistant (teaser) | kth (ii.)

RELEASING: JULY 14TH

Summary: After you dismissed him out of your apartment, you start to feel guilty, especially seeing the way Taehyung's been acting at work. You've been trying to communicate with him to no avail... perhaps another massage session is in order.

pairing: assistant!kim taehyung x boss, fem!reader

word count: 981 (teaser)

genre/au/rating: 18+ | office au, s2l, e2l (ish) | angst, smut

warnings (for JUST the teaser): blood, suggestive themes, implied sex

author's note: my braincells have finally returned from war and i know the perfect way to end this two-shot. the full warnings for the fic will be listed in the fic itself, i'm having a hard time listing all of them since it's not technically done. huge endless thank yous for everyone for being incredibly patient and those that have been waiting for this second part! the full fic is quite long but thanks to @jimilter it will definitely end happily. i just will make him suffer a little longer. anyway, enjoy this teaser. I've never posted one before so tell me what i can do better for the future!

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previous | general m.list | ao3

If someone were to ask when Taehyung started falling for you, he won't be able to come up with an answer immediately. It wasn't at first sight -- no, you were far too intimidating for him to have loved you then and he was too eager to impress you that he spared no thoughts other than work. However, the attraction has planted itself in his heart; and with every swish of hair and twinkling laughter tumbling from your lips, his fondness only grew, eventually bearing the fruit of love.

How could he not love you? You were graceful; ethereal with every simple action, regardless of how mundane. From the way you walk to the way you talk to your clients, everything exudes power and elegance. It helps that you were also damn good at your job. From your glass office, Taehyung would admire you from afar; at the way your eyebrows scrunch in annoyance when you spot a mistake, to the way you'd pace around the carpet as you speak on the phone, and all the way down to the quiet moments of vulnerability when you think no one's watching: forehead pressed on your intertwined fingers, breathing deeply for a few moments before you right yourself back up, the mask of a leader slipping comfortably on your face once more. Those little moments when you're about to break were the ones Taehyung looked forward to most, as cruel as that sounded, because he'd eventually be called into your office to set up a separate appointment in the night, one where he's able to touch you under the guise of a massage.

---

'Taehyung.'

He snapped to attention, eyes scanning the room quickly to locate the source of your voice. Bewildered at the sudden blurriness of the scene, he suddenly finds himself in your apartment, in a corner just past the living room where you lie on the massage table, mouth open in pleasure. 'Taehyung, please,' you mewled again, teasing him to move ever so closer.

He was startled to find another pair of solid hands moving between your thighs that he jumped back, only to realise that he was watching himself in third person. Plastered against the wall, Taehyung watched as a version of him rub soothing circles on your hips, but when he tried to get closer, tried to tell himself to run and not get involved, his voice was muffled, like he's trapped in a box, unable to move as he watched in horror at what's about to come next.

Your content smile morphs into a hard gaze as you realise what you've done. Your hands button your blouse rapidly before regarding him coldly, causing a sudden shift in the mood. His dream self balks at the change of emotion on your face, head tilting innocently as his arms hover by your sides. He knew what was coming next; recalled the blood freezing in his veins as you uttered the words that left him shattered and angry just before he stormed off into the night, embarrassment trailing behind him closely like a shadow.

'That will be all, Assistant Kim,' your voice echoed in his head and in an instant the dream evaporated, leaving Taehyung gasping and scrambling upwards from his tangled sheets, awake and dripping in cold sweat. Your words continued its punishment, a barbed whip lashing at his bleeding heart. His mind mocks him, replaying it over and over until he grunts, shutting his eyes to drown out your emotionless voice, rocking back and forth as he cradles his head between his knees. When the voice eventually quiets down, he gets up to splash water on his face, exhaustion in his limbs though the day had barely started. The clock on his nightstand reads 2:14, much too early to be awake, but sleep seems to have left his vicinity.

Taehyung groaned, head falling back on his pillow. Staring up at the ceiling, his body lethargic as it twists uncomfortably on the sheets, he thinks about you and the day that lays ahead of him. Should he take time off work? He had plenty of sick days he could use to get him out of there. And yet… your disappointed face popped in his mind and he knew he couldn't just leave you alone at the office with a substitute. No, not even the ends of the earth could separate him from you.

He punched his bedroom wall, causing the tapestries and various paintings to shake. He placed his warm forehead on the cool wallpaper in defeat. He was fed up, so exhausted, from feeling the ache in his heart. Fresh tears fell down his cheeks, his mind conjuring your arms wrapped around his torso.

'Taehyung…' your soft voice spoke into his ear. It wasn't real, but he wished it was.

Taehyung laughed wildly, feeling the insanity creeping into his bloodstream. How was he going to face you at work? Feeling frustrated, he punched the wall again. This time, a few photographs fell. The broken glass shattered everywhere and though he walked to the direction of the noise, he grabbed the fractured pieces of glass and held them tight, relishing in the way it opened up gashes in his hand.

In his sorrow-addled mind, his hallucination of you knelt beside him, tears in your eyes as you urged him to let go of the glass.

"You're not real," Taehyung breathed shakily, waving you away. After watching the red droplets forming a small puddle on the floor, he got up to fetch a mop. The morning sun peeked through his sheer blinds as he cleaned. He hoped the cuts would scar, a reminder to never fall in love.

And yet, as he bandaged his hand sloppily, he couldn't help but long for you, wishing that it was you soothing his wounds; the one on his hand and one in his heart.

i know what it looks like but istg it will end happily. see you on july 18th! in the meantime, feel free to send your predictions my way!

here's the link to the taglist again, but you can dm/comment on this post to be added!