#fitting in snippets of info whenever i can

[aurorangen]

Lunch with Uncle Billy and Josh and sharing the big news with them!

After lunch, Renee talked about cases with Billy. She was in the early weeks of pregnancy and her work routine was pretty much the same! Renee asked if she was allowed access to the Strangerville archives to read about. At times, she thinks about Veronica and Strangerville. There were too many unanswered questions about the dangerous place and she wonders if she will ever see Veronica again. "I'll check with the director, I don't see why not," Billy replied.

[let-them-read-fics]

Dreamcatcher Reaction To Having A Really Affectionate S/O

Pairing: Dreamcatcher x GN!Reader

Requested By Anon: "hii can i request dreamcatcher reacting to having a really affectionate s/o (their love language is physical touch)?"

A/N: Hello hello, my lovely readers! I'm back again with some Dreamcatcher fluff, just for you. I hope you like all of these! Don't forget to like, comment, and reblog; it keeps me motivated :)

Info: Each member has a reaction, a story snippet / oneshot, and their love languages ranked. It's loooong, so enjoy!

Jiu

Adores it. She’s mentioned before that she feels the safest when she’s in your arms, so it’s really a no-brainer that she’s happiest whenever you’re loving on her

Just as much as she loves to take care of you and the girls, she secretly loves to get taken care of, too

Especially by you

You just know all the right ways to hold her and help her relax. Your back rubs are elite, according to her. She lowkey thinks you were a professional masseuse in your past life

You’re her personal heater

And pillow

On particularly rough days, she’ll just fall into your waiting arms and let you work your magic. She vents about her stressors, gradually releasing all of the pent-up tension that she’d been unable to get rid of on her own, until her complaints eventually subside and dissolve into quiet, sulky mumbles as she teeters on the edge of sleep

When you see her so cuddly and relaxed like that, you just…*heart clutch*

Likewise, Jiu regards you with those exact same, astronomically high levels of adoration

You’re literally the most precious and pure thing in the world to her. When you peer up at her with those bright eyes of yours, so starry and full of love for her, she always ends up blushing. She wants to protect you and your cuteness from the world

“My sweet Y/N… what did I ever do to deserve you?”

Without even trying, the two of you naturally gravitate towards one another whenever you’re together. You never have to ask for her attention or affection because she gives it just as readily as you do

When you’re out in public, she never lets you stray too far from her. Both because she’ll inevitably be holding some article of clothing up to you to see if it would fit, or pointing some piece of nature out to you, or discussing what you should grab for lunch….and also because she just wants you nearby. 

Though she doesn’t mind admiring the view she gets when you walk away, too ;)

She loves to play with your hands while you cuddle, and she also loves when you put your head in her lap

She sings to you

Whenever her schedule gets busy or the girls go on tour, she leaves some of her hoodies behind for you and makes sure to spray her perfume on them. She also presets a weekly reminder in your phone to display a sweet message for you, aware that you’ll be missing her a lot. She programs it to sound off around the time you typically wake up in the mornings because she wants it to be the first thing you see. If she can’t be there with you physically, she’ll gladly do that to make up for it

Video calls whenever you’re apart. She doesn’t feel fully at ease unless she knows you’re safe and happy

Seeing you never fails to brighten her day

Overall just a total ball of sunshine who is super super soft for you 

Story Snippet

7:32 PM 

About an hour and a half had passed since your last check-in on her, and you decided it was time to peek in again. 

Quietly, so as to not disturb the rare bout of calmness that had befallen the dorm, you approached her bedroom door and turned the knob, opening it gently. A sliver of light from the hall rushed in, cutting through the relative dark. 

Her bedside lamp was still on – dimmed to the lowest setting, just like you left it before. The bottle of water on her nightstand was a little closer to being empty than you remember, and the headache pills you had set out were gone. 

Your eyes tracked over to her soft form on the bed, finding her tucked in but awake. A sleepy, exhausted smile showed on her face when she realized it was you at the door, just barely visible in the low light. Like always, though, it had a way of shining and brightening up everything around her. 

Even when she was feeling under the weather, she couldn’t help but be radiant.

“Hi, baby,” her gentle voice greeted, sounding a bit strained.

The overexertion that she'd subjected herself to over the past few days was rearing its ugly head. 

“Hi, my love.” You smiled pitifully, stepping inside. You shut the door behind yourself and approached the bed, standing at the foot of it. “How are you feeling now?”

“Drained,” she admitted. “I’m still tired; I haven’t been able to wind down.” 

You nodded. “You’ve worked hard this week, so that makes sense. Can I get you anything to help?”

“Yeah, actually.” She pepped up the slightest bit. 

“Name it and it’s yours.”

A grin pulled at her lips of the irony of that. 

“You,” she answered. “Come here, I want to hold you.”

She opened the fluffy covers and waved you in, patting the space next to her. The smile on your face widened shyly at that, but you didn’t hesitate to do as she asked. You climbed in and settled close to her, letting her arms wind around you in the special way they always do.

Her lips pressed to yours, once… twice… three times, before she regained control of herself and opted to keep things PG. It was a bit difficult, with how soft and warm you were, sliding up against her and oh so tempting, but her better judgment managed to prevail in the end.

“I’ve been worried about you today,” you confessed, the words slightly mumbled as your cheek pressed to her chest, “...and I’ve missed you.” 

You pouted, and she could feel it. Though she couldn’t see it, she knew it looked adorable.

“I’ve missed you, too, baby,” she chuckled quietly, easing your worries a little in the process. “The bed feels so empty without you in it… I think that’s why I haven't been able to rest very well.”

You melted at her words, feeling so loved. How did she always manage to do that so easily?

“You mean it?”

She nodded, running one of her hands down your back as she scooted a little closer to you. “Absolutely, I do. So you’re not allowed to leave, okay? No slipping away.”

“Okay. I promise,” you assured her. 

You smiled when she released a sigh and relaxed into you, letting herself succumb to the exhaustion she felt. She knew you’d keep an eye on her – that she was safe and cared for – and that seemed to be the missing puzzle piece for her.

After just a couple of minutes of being in your presence, she was finally able to fully wind down; you felt it in the way that her breathing evened out and the tension in her muscles dissipated. 

The throbbing of her head mellowed, no longer unbearable. You were comfortable and easy to melt into, serving as the perfect distraction from the pain. With every gentle kiss you pressed to her skin and every pass your fingers made through her hair, she took another step towards the edge of sleep. 

A little later, as you went to ask her if the pills had helped any, you were halted by the sound of her soft snores. They filled the air of the bedroom around you, making it impossible to hide your grin. 

So precious.

Her “Giving” Love Languages Ranked:

1.) Physical Touch

2.) Quality Time

3.) Acts of Service

4.) Words of Affirmation

5.) Gifts

Honestly she's pretty much the human embodiment of all five of them put together. She will quite literally do anything to make you happy. Always, always, always watching out for you. 

◤─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────◥

Sua

LOVES IT, ARE YOU KIDDING??

She never gets tired of your touch, and she really enjoys being with someone as clingy as she is

When you both get excited about something, it gets so loud and wild

High pitched laughing, yelling, jumping around, squealing… the whole nine yards

On the rare occasion that she’s busy doing something and not actively seeking affection or already clinging to you, you’ll initiate things. It goes straight to her head and she doesn’t shut up about it for the rest of the day. Gloats and brags about how cute and cuddly you are for her

But it also tends to make her blushy and flustered, and you're the only person capable of doing that.

She says you’re the only one who really understands her and her ways of showing love

Although she hides it well, sometimes she’s afraid that she does too much and annoys other people with her affection. But you’re always there to reassure her of the opposite (because you’re just like her)

Squishes your cheeks a lot and gushes about how cute you are

She protects you and your cuteness with her life. 

If anyone ever brushes you off or rejects your affection, she'll sweep you up in her arms and hold you close while yelling at them for it

Sometimes she'll literally just lay on you. She's a firm believer that being "too close" is simply impossible

Plays with your hair when you're cuddling 

When you’re walking together she usually slips a hand into your back pocket and keeps it there because she loves your ass so much

She loves it when you show affection in public, whether that’s by holding her close, pressing sweet kisses to her lips, holding hands, etc. Knowing that you’re proud of your love for her and you aren’t afraid to own it or show it makes her happy

She also really enjoys it when you show her off

Play fighting is basically a daily occurrence for you. She chooses violence at least once a day

Despite the fact that she can be super aggressive and loud with her affection, she’s also equally as soft for you

Like when you’re all snuggled up in bed and waiting on her, she’ll just admire you from the doorway and smile to herself

Morning cuddles are a must for her. She never wants to get up when you’re at her side because you’re just so soft and warm and holding you is so comforting

She loves the way the two of you fit together

You’re her assistant chef whenever she cooks for everyone. She trusts you to try all of her creations and help her fix everything

That also definitely includes back hugs and a few kiss breaks because the sight of you in an apron drives her a little crazy

“Can you be on my menu tonight?” *wiggles eyebrows*

You’ve always made her feel safe, and she’s never afraid to be herself around you. You appreciate and accept all of her – every insecurity and perfect imperfection included

Story Snippet

The day’s taping of Show Champion was coming to an end as you snuck your way into the girls’ dressing room, aided by one of the backstage workers that was privy to your plans. She helped you hide within one of the closets and wished you luck before leaving just as inconspicuously as she had arrived.

-

10 Minutes Later

You nearly cracked your head on the back wall when the seven of them burst into the room, loudly conversing and joking with one another. The stems of the flowers in your hand squeaked together quietly, almost as a silent plea for release as you unconsciously tightened your hold on them.

From what sliver of the room you could see through the doors, all of the girls still had wide smiles on their faces. They were exhausted, sure, but happy and content with how the evening was going. 

Well, all but one.

Garbled bits and pieces of their conversations made their way over to you as you watched Sua sit down at one of the mirrored stations, putting some distance between herself and the other girls. She took out her phone and began scrolling soon after, most likely as a means of distraction.

Your heart ached a little at the sight. You knew she was feeling down – the girls had told you as much, through texts – but seeing it happen right in front of you made it all the more real.

For the past week and a half, your busy schedules had combined to form the most awful amalgamation of missed opportunities; anytime one of you happened to be free, even for a short while, the other was booked for some important task that was incapable of being canceled or otherwise wormed out of. 

All of the girls had missed you, but Sua was the one most affected by your absence – and everyone knew it. 

Her spirits had been low, and her normal vibrancy was diminished; it was strange, frankly – a little dystopian – for her to be so unlike herself. The girls depended on her chaotic energy to keep things running smoothly; their dynamic was simply thrown off without it. 

But Sua couldn’t even find it in herself to bother entertaining their banter, let alone join in. She didn’t have it in her to keep up with them today. 

Although the sight of her so dejected was upsetting, it made a small smile show on your lips; you would be able to cheer her up in no time, and the 180 that she would undergo would undoubtedly make all of the waiting she’d done be worth it. 

You counted down silently, wanting to time your entrance perfectly.

3…2…1-

Just as your free hand went to push the door open and kick off your big reveal, your cell phone began to ring in your pocket. 

You faltered, fumbling quickly to retrieve it. Sua’s contact image shined brightly, cutting through the dark around you. 

The outside world went silent – everyone quickly hushing up at the sudden noise.

You shut your eyes in defeat, sliding up on the green button, while simultaneously opening the door with your foot. 

“Surprise.” You said into the phone, locking eyes with her from across the room. 

Silence prevailed… one beat, two…. Until the earlier chaos returned with even more spirit than before. 

Shouts of your name rang out from the girls, staccato and shocked as they attempted to figure out how you had managed to get there. Sua, on the other hand, didn’t bother with that; she ran up to you, her face lighting up like an eager child’s as you emerged from the closet and turned your phone off. You slipped the device into your pocket and extended the flowers to her.

“Hi, baby,” you grinned, “I finally convinced my boss to let me have a day off, and now I’m he—”

She cut you off at once, wrapping her arms around you at the speed of light and pulling you into the tightest hug you’d ever experienced. What remained of your explanation fizzled out in an instant, knocked from your lungs right along with all the air you had left. 

The bouquet fell from your hands when she picked you up and wiggled you around in the air. Your shoes slightly brushed the ground between sways, and you groaned.

“Can’t…breathe…” You struggled out, constricted as she squeezed the life out of you.

Her arms only further tightened around you in response, full of days and days worth of pent up affection with no other place to go.

“Unnie, let go!” Dami scolded, coming up to slap her shoulder. “Y/N/N isn't going anywhere.”

Mere seconds before you went fully limp in her arms, your assailant – AKA the love of your life – put you back down on your feet and took a small step back to look at you. 

Glorious, glorious air returned to your lungs in a rush, and you heaved for a brief moment or two. Once your vision returned and the floating spots that had been clouding it retreated, you blinked a few times and turned your attention to Sua. 

A cute pout rested on her lips. “I’m sorry, jagi,” she muttered, the words partially aegyo-fied, but the glint in her eye told you that she wasn’t all that sorry at all. “I’ve just missed you so much.”

Wordlessly, you pulled her in close and hugged her again. She could feel the happy upturn of your lips against her neck as you buried your face there, just as relieved as she was to be reunited. 

“I’ve missed you, too.” You whispered to her, pressing a kiss to her pulsepoint, and then her jaw, and finally her cheek. 

She blushed wildly, growing increasingly more red by the second; the girls noticed, and their exaggerated coos and whoops soon filled the dressing room. When she turned to glare at them, hoping to scare them into silence, she quickly discovered that her typical method of intimidation wasn’t going to work in bringing their teasing to an end this time.

In the name of retribution, she delivered a retaliatory shove to your shoulder instead.

“Yah! We’re finally back together and you have to go embarrassing me right off the bat?” She scolded, voice shrill. “Pabo–”

You placed your lips against hers swiftly, kissing away her anger before it could accrue anymore firepower. Your arms wrapped around her waist, tugging her flush against the front of your body. 

She still attempted to mumble an annoyed protest against your lips, but when you grinned and pinched her side, she gave in and melted into your embrace, scoffing quietly. 

…

Dami grimaced as she stood in front of the girls, witnessing you kiss again. Sua shamelessly pushed you up against the closet, acting as though they all weren’t a matter of steps away from the both of you.

The bouquet rested in Dami’s hands, courtesy of her earlier retrieval of it from the floor. 

“Should I…”

“Just leave it,” Yoohyeon answered abruptly, sharing a similar expression. 

Dami nodded and placed it down on the couch before they all backed away and made a bee-line out of the dressing room, pretending to gag.

Her “Giving” Love Languages Ranked:

1.) Physical Touch

2.) Acts of Service

3.) Quality Time

4.) Words of Affirmation

5.) Gifts

Obviously, she’s first and foremost the best at demonstrating her love physically. Like the universal master of it. But aside from that, her strong suit is taking care of you. It comes naturally, and she can almost always be found doing something to make life that much easier on you. Cooking your favorite dishes when you’re hungry, nursing you back to health when you’re sick, being your shoulder to cry on, pulling your hair up when your hands are occupied, etc. 

◤─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────◥

Siyeon

Couldn’t be happier. She absolutely loooooves being close to you

She could cuddle you for hours on end

Maybe even forever 

She rubs your back when she's holding you, tracing mindless patterns against your skin. Having you close is so special to her

Sings to you, sometimes coming up with new material on the fly. You’re her muse, after all, so it’s easy with you around

When things get too hectic and hard for her to deal with, you’re always by her side in a heartbeat

You can read her like a book, and she’s so grateful for that

She thanks her lucky stars on the daily for the fact that she found you in this great big world

When you seek comfort from her and retreat into the safety of her arms, she gets so protective of you. You could simply be evading the wind on a chilly day and she’ll lowkey yell at it to leave you alone while she holds you against her. 

She bought you matching rings for your anniversary one year, and when she zones out she always has a habit of toying with yours and playing with your fingers. 

Sometimes you all even zone out together (#CoupleGoals)

She pinches your elbow and the back of your hands a lot

When you go full koala mode and just latch onto her and refuse to let go, she gets so happy. It makes her slow down and just revel in the simplicity of your touch, appreciating every second she gets to spend with you (because your schedules don’t always align, and sometimes it can be difficult to have free time like that)

You’re basically her stress reliever. When you’re holding her, nothing else matters

And once you start cuddling, don’t expect her to let you get away without a fight. If you say you want a snack, she’s not afraid to pick you up and carry you into the kitchen just so she can be with you that much longer

“Baby, I’m not gonna drop you. I promise. Have some faith in your wolfie.”

Like Sua, she enjoys PDA. Not anything extreme, of course, but she likes it when you let people know that she’s yours and you’re hers. It helps prevent her from getting jealous (which happens sometimes, but a kiss from you usually solves that)

She’s seriously down bad for you and whipped in a major way. A single touch is powerful enough to make her weak in the knees

Our wolfie is totally *heart eyes* for you

Story Snippet

Siyeon's legs intertwined with yours as you laid down on top of her, pressing her into the couch. She tugged you in, urging you ever-closer as her warm hands settled against your hips. Her thumbs rubbed circles there, soft through the material of your shirt.

The musky scent of her perfume wafted into the air with her movements; it comforted you, putting you even more at ease. Your brain had long ago associated and equated that smell with home.

She smiled brightly, peering up at you with her dark eyes as she giggled at some random joke you had just made. You always knew just what to say to make her laugh. 

"You're so beautiful, jagi," you praised, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. 

"You think so?" She played, batting her lashes.

"More than you'll ever know. I'm the luckiest person alive," you mused.

The blush on her cheeks spread, becoming more prominent as it flitted its way across the bridge of her nose. She turned her head slightly to the side, briefly glancing away; she felt small beneath your gaze. You always looked at her like she was the most valuable thing in the universe; it made her shy.

"You're such a smooth talker," she groaned. 

You chuckled and leaned down, kissing her cheek. Your lips trailed over to hers, ghosting softly across her flawless skin as they pressed a few stray kisses here and there along the way. 

Her eyes fluttered shut the moment your lips met, fitting together as if they were created for that sole purpose. The vanilla balm smoothed across hers was partially smudged and wiped off – a result of the earlier kisses you couldn’t refrain from stealing, when the two of you had first lost interest in the movie you were watching. Its flavor remained, though, just as enticing as always. 

Inconspicuously slipped beneath your shirt, her fingers curled slightly along the small of your back – where her hands had now come to settle. She drew you closer, comforted by the way you felt against her. Your subsequent hum of gratitude made her melt.

The pad of your thumb made a pass over her cheek, rubbing it gently as you deepened the kiss. It stole her breath away, but she used what little she had left to gasp lightly into your mouth. 

You smiled, unable to help yourself. 

Stomp, stomp, stomp

Heavy, authoritarian footfalls resounded in the hallway outside of the dorm's door, gaining your attention. You curiously raised your head, and Siyeon lifted her chin to peek back at it.

A mere second later, Sua came blasting in. 

"Yah! Y/N L/N!"

Shit.

"Yoohyeon told me everything," she said, striding into the middle of the room. Yoohyeon trailed after, staying at a distance as she shut the door behind herself. She was wincing, appearing to heavily regret her earlier slip up.

You raised up, pushing yourself off of Siyeon and up onto your knees. She propped herself up on an elbow, clearly intrigued and confused.

"How could you take my hoodie without telling me?" Sua shrieked, approaching you with her hands out. They gripped your collar, shaking with purpose. 

"A-ah," you laughed nervously, dryly, "I was going to ask first, but I was running late this morning and had to just throw something on. My things were in the wash." 

"What if something stained it? You know how much I love it." 

"I would've bought you another," you promised, voice slightly strained as she tightened her grip, thus preventing you from breathing normally.

"You can't just 'buy another'! That line is discontinued now!" 

"Nothing happened, though–" you sputtered. "You're worrying for nothing; I already put it back.”

Disbelief gleamed in Sua’s eyes, and when Siyeon caught a glimpse of it she sat up at once. 

She knew then that your demise was imminent.

“THAT’S NOT THE POINT!” Sua bellowed, yanking you around. As she prepared to shove you backwards onto the couch and pounce, Siyeon selflessly put herself in front of you. She held her arms out, blocking you from all of the unnie’s methods of attack.

“Save yourself, Y/N! I’ll hold her off!”

“No…” you said, voice dropping dramatically as your head vehemently swayed left to right.

Amidst a slew of shoves and jabs from Sua, she nodded sadly, remaining strong. “Just go,” she begged. 

Her soft cheek nuzzled against your palm as you reached forward to briefly cup it, sharing one final embrace. 

“Remember me.”

“Always,” you whispered, holding back a grin at how dramatic the two of you were being. 

Following a subtle signal from her, you stumbled off of the coach as she turned and tackled Sua away from you, landing on the opposite end of it. Your sock clad feet slipped and slid on the wood flooring, providing you no sense of control as you scrambled to escape with your life. 

When you careened into the hallway wall, you shot a look over your shoulder; it was a horrific mistake, however, as it only awarded you the image of Sua slapping her elbow and jumping into the air before landing on Siyeon with it. A loud groan resounded around the living room, followed by Yoohyeon’s fading plea of “Unnie, no!” as you snapped your head forward again and set your sights on Jiu’s door at the end of the hall. 

Your legs gave out from how quickly you attempted to kick off again, sending you to the floor. 

Sua chuckled from somewhere behind you, far enough away to not pose an immediate threat, but still far too close for comfort. You pushed yourself off of the ground and sped off again, using the walls to propel yourself forward even faster. 

The knob of Jiu’s door slid into your hand and twisted smoothly, pulling a sigh of relief from you – thank God it wasn’t locked. Without wasting time on knocking, you blasted in and slammed it behind yourself, void of any and all grace whatsoever. 

You heaved, pressing your back to it and reaching down to lock it just as Sua’s frame collided with its other side. She had nearly gotten you – you’d made it just in the nick of time.

Jiu perked up on her bed, eyebrows raised and eyes open wide. The glow of her phone screen cast across her face and chest.

“Sua.” You explained, without having to elaborate. Her name alone validated your behavior a million times over.

The shock on Jiu’s face dissipated at once, turning to understanding. 

“Sua,” she repeated, nodding.

Her “Receiving” Love Languages Ranked:

1.) Quality Time

2.) Physical Touch 

3.) Words of Affirmation 

4.) Acts of Service

5.) Gifts

Our big bad wolfie might have a good poker face sometimes, but we all know she isn’t all that big or bad. She’s definitely a softie at heart and loves to hear every sweet thing you have to tell her when you’re spending time together.

◤─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────◥

Handong

Very soft about it

She adores the attention you give her, and she always enjoys having you by her side. It makes her feel important and highkey boosts her ego

Also, having you nearby makes it easy for the two of you to be (playfully) judgy together and whisper jokes without other people interfering or overhearing

Aside from that, you genuinely comfort her in a lot of ways, and when you're apart she always finds herself missing you 

“You know, now I get homesick twice as much, Y/N. Half for my country, and half for you.”

Sometimes she teases you, cheekily saying that you just can't keep your hands off of her

But tbh she can’t keep her hands off you either

She’s a fan of more subtle touches, like a simple hand on the thigh beneath the table or an arm around the waist

Honestly though she also loves it when you surprise her with a spontaneous kiss (on the cheek or lips), or hug her and spin her around. It makes her blush like a madwoman, but she enjoys it – despite the playful nagging she does afterwards

You're one of the only people who can make her blush, and when you really get her good she’s out of commission for a couple minutes, unable to piece together any witty comebacks in her love-dazed mind

Once she’s regained her bearings, though, she amps up her charm in retaliation, aware that her flirting is basically your kryptonite 

And it works. Practically 100% of the time. 

Her bold confidence gets you just as flustered as she had been, and you typically end up hiding your face in her neck or shoving her shoulder and running away.

Enjoys PDA in the form of cuddling and kissing. Nothing too wild, but she definitely wants it to happen when you go out together. She wants people to know that you’re hers, and vice versa

Hand holding is the usual go to, or linking your arms together. Kisses, too, depending on the mood and vibe of wherever you are

You jokingly touch her muscles and brag about how strong she is, especially when she gets back from a workout

She's fond of the praise, and though she wouldn’t admit it without a fight, it makes her work a little harder to keep up her physique. Staying fit is already important to her, but the fact that you enjoy her body so much is just added encouragement. She also likes to feel powerful and like she can protect you, so it’s truly a win-win

(Though she knows you’d love her no matter what she looked like, muscles or no muscles)

She puts her head in your lap a lot as a silent way of asking you to play with her hair. It relaxes her, and she usually falls asleep in the process

When she’s feeling clingy herself, you’re the first person she goes to. You’re the only one capable of melting this ice princess

Story Snippet

(I don’t know the actual layout of the mall, so excuse any errors)

Starfield Mall – Seoul, SK

Forever Yours.

Handong peered into a glass display case, rereading the words over and over to herself. Two ruby pendants hung side by side on a rack, magnetically joined together in the middle to spell out the words. 

Only when they were connected did the short message come together. 

A sentimental smile made its way to her face the longer she looked at it. It would be the perfect gift for you, she decided, as she snuck a glance at you from across the store. You were occupied in the ring section, browsing through the different rows of them. The wondrous expression on your face warmed her heart.

"Sir," she called to a nearby worker quietly, so as to avoid drawing your attention. "I'd like to buy these." She motioned down to them.

He nodded and grabbed the key for the case before making his way over. 

-

Childish, bubbly laughter carried over to your ears as you exited the store and entered the mall’s spacious third floor, where numerous kids chased one another around. Beanies rested atop many of their heads, and the fuzzy sweaters they wore engulfed their tiny frames in such an endearing way that you couldn’t help but smile. 

Holiday lights gleamed all around you, strung up and wound around decorative tinsel on the storefronts and windows. They shimmered, some set on timers to flicker every now and then.

A gentle smile played on Handong’s lips when she felt the careful tug you applied to the end of her sleeve, silently asking for her hand. 

She wordlessly shifted her shopping bags into her other one in order to free it up for you to hold. 

Her fingers interlaced with your own immediately, assuming their rightful position for the millionth time today. She gently stroked the back of your hand with her thumb, allowing it to make a few gentle passes over your smooth skin.

Something about the way your hands fit together, so snug and perfectly balanced, made her truly believe they were created just for one another. No one else's – not a single one of the other billions in existence out there – could've ever compared to yours. 

She was sure of it.

“Where should we go now?” You asked, still letting your eyes wander across the expanse of holiday decorations. 

The steps you took together were relaxed, void of any rushing.

Handong pondered for a moment, racking her mind for a place nearby that would award you some much-needed privacy and quiet.

"How about that place downtown we've been wanting to try?" She suggested. "You know, close to the square?" 

“Oh," you gasped lightly, remembering the quaint little restaurant that she was referring to. "That'll be perfect, jagi." 

"I'm glad you agree," she quipped, leaning over to press a kiss to your temple. Your smile deepened, and when she pulled away you watched her fondly. 

What glimmers of love showed on her face were soon eclipsed by something else entirely, though. 

Mischief, you realized, a mere second too late. 

The apples of her cheeks became prominent as her lips tugged up into a pretty smile. The kind that’s soft enough to turn you to putty, yet striking enough to light a fire in your heart. Your kryptonite – a fact she used to her advantage. 

"Race you to the car!" She shrieked, already speeding off. 

You didn’t even have ample time to pick up your stumbling heart, or to catch your breath. 

"Dongie–"

Her bags jostled in her hands, swaying with every thundering step she took. The tread of her shoes against the linoleum echoed out, broken by a squeak when she made a turn up ahead.

You pursued her at once, bobbing and weaving through numerous people – some bewildered, others cheering you on. 

Her hair whipped around as she ran, flowing in the breeze with an elegance you would never understand. 

"Last one there has to pay for dinner!" She teased, glancing over her shoulder at you.

"You're going down!" You fired back, finally gaining on her. 

“In your dreams!”

—-

Harvest House - Bar & Grille

“Stop sulking,” you playfully chided from across the table, not even looking up from your menu. It wasn't necessary, after all.

You could practically feel her pouting.

Handong rolled her eyes and sighed, fighting the smile that tried to work its way onto her face at the fact that you knew her so well. 

She picked up her own menu and began to peruse it, comforted in a strange way by the gentle clanking of silverware and dishes that flowed throughout the restaurant. Much like your own, clusters of conversation hummed – little pockets of stories and adventures, softly recounted so as to not disrupt the others around them. 

Your eyes eventually wandered back to her, simply unable to stay away for too long. They peered at her curiously, watching with adoration as she concentrated on choosing the perfect meal. 

She felt you staring, and yet she stubbornly refused to look at you. It was her way of continuing to pout, and you knew it all too well. 

“Dongie…”

“Hmm?” She hummed, not budging. 

“Jagi…”

“Yes?” Her brow raised, and her head tilted up slightly. Not enough for her gaze to meet your own, though. 

“I love you.”

There it was. That phrase that she could never not react to. 

Your heart warmed as you witnessed an embarrassed tint of blush appear on her face, and the achingly sweet way her features softened as your words sunk in. 

“I love you, too,” she murmured, finally peering over the top of her menu at you. 

You smiled and placed a finger at the top of it, carefully tipping it down towards the table so you could see her better. 

Outside lights fought one another for the chance to shine on her through the large front window that the two of you were seated beside. Every color of the rainbow gleamed, emitted from star-shaped bulbs strung up across the square. 

In your peripheral, you could see the town's recently-placed Christmas tree standing tall on the other side of the street. People were taking pictures in front of it; some were large families, complete with a teen or two angstily brooding as they squeezed into the frame, and others were paired up or alone. 

You turned your head briefly, glancing at them.

Their interactions were so adorably human that it brought you comfort. The patient way they waited in line for their turn in front of the tree was endearing – reminiscent of childhood as they peered up at its lights, growing excited at the sight. Parents readjusted their children's beanies and mittens, ensuring that they were well protected from the cold. 

It was like a movie playing out right in front of you, reminding you of the true magic of the season. That's what it's all about. 

Handong must've noticed the dreamy expression on your face, because her next words took you by surprise, making you blush. 

"You're so beautiful it hurts, Y/N."

Your eyes widened in time with the upturn of your lips, and you shyly dipped your head down, avoiding her gaze. 

She reached out for your hand across the table, taking it into her own with ease. 

"Can I kiss you?" 

A question once asked with trembling lips, during the youth of your relationship, now spoken with a sweet confidence and nonchalance that made you fall for her all over again. 

It was a redundant question at best, when you so clearly would permit her to do anything she pleased. But, even still, it sent butterflies to your stomach. 

You nodded, leaning forward enough to meet her halfway. She did the same without missing a beat, and before you knew it her lips were on yours. 

Both of her hands came up to cup your cheeks, and she felt you grin at the change. 

She didn't understand why, in that moment, but she would soon.

Inconspicuously, you retrieved something from your pocket.

As you kissed her again, making it count in the name of keeping her distracted, she felt something being wrapped and fastened around her left wrist. It was small and thin, lightweight against her skin. 

Her brows furrowed lightly.

You pulled back after a moment with a knowing, anticipatory look on your face. The way it lit your features up made Handong’s heart skip a beat. 

Curious, she peered down to catch a glimpse of what it was. 

Polaris. A sterling silver, beautiful little bracelet with Polaris shimmering in the center. 

"Turn it over," you instructed, still grinning. 

She did as you said and found a personalized message engraved into the material. 

"Everlasting Love", it read, written in Chinese characters. 

Her lips parted in shock. "When did you…"

"A few days ago, when you went out with Gahyeon. She offered to help keep you distracted so you wouldn't find out."

"Y/N…" she sighed blissfully, shaking her head in disbelief. "How do you keep getting even more perfect?" 

You smiled again, rolling your eyes. 

"Shush," you tutted. "I'm just glad you like it." 

"Jagi, I don't like it. I love it. This means the world to me; especially coming from you. Thank you." 

She leaned forward to kiss you again, but this time her lips pressed to your cheek instead. She felt the heat there, exposing your shyness at her praise.

So precious.

Her own gift for you was practically burning a hole in the pocket of her coat by now, and she decided at once that it was time for you to receive it.

As she sat back and reached towards where the material hung across the back of her chair, you simply watched her with sweet curiosity.

You weren't expecting anything in return for the present. 

You were clueless to her plan, and yet, that made it all the more special. 

As she retrieved the box and held it out between you, finally opening it, you gasped quietly. A small treasure, discovered at last.

Her side of it peeked from beneath the cover of her shirt, daring to shimmer. 

She carefully took it out of the box and held it up, watching it catch the lights around you.

"Now we'll always have a piece of each other, no matter where we are," she mused, linking it with her side.

As it clicked into place, her eyes met your own.

Her “Giving” Love Languages Ranked:

1.) Gifts

2.) Physical Touch

3.) Quality Time

4.) Acts of Service

5.) Words of Affirmation

She spoils you every time the opportunity presents itself. CEO of Rich GF™ vibes. According to her, you deserve every single good thing that the world has to offer; so it’s really a no-brainer to her that you should be able to find something new wrapped up and waiting to be opened when you visit her. Anytime you mention needing or wanting something – even just offhandedly – she makes sure that it eventually ends up being yours. 

◤─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────◥

Yoohyeon

She loves it. There’s absolutely no doubt about it

We see how she is during interviews (always holding onto the members in some way and wanting to be near one of them), and that trait is no different when it comes to you

She always wants to be connected in some way, whether that's holding hands, linking pinkies or arms when you're walking together, piggyback rides, back hugs, etc.

Honestly she’s just as affectionate as you

She hates being away from you. She lives for your touches and kisses

And just your presence in general, really. She’s totally whipped for you

Being held by you always comforts her

And anytime you kiss her forehead or cheek? *earth-shattering squeal*

Hides her face in the crook of your neck when she gets shy

Despite her tendency to get embarrassed, she never turns down PDA from you. She enjoys the sentiment behind you letting everyone know that she’s yours (as if they had any doubts, with the way she was practically tethered to you at all times)

She sneaks into your bed when she can’t sleep

If that’s not an option, she’ll call you on the phone to hear your voice (and she ends up falling asleep with you still on the other end like 99% of the time)

“No, baby, I’m still awake." 

{...} 

*snoring*

You're her partner in crime. The girls lowkey tease you for it and say you're joined at the hip

Whenever Sua ends up chasing her around she always runs to you, seeking safety in your arms. You take your duties as a human shield very serious

Sometimes you team up with her enemy, though, and the three of you end up fighting and wrestling like a bunch of five year olds. She acts betrayed, but once a truce is called she’s in your arms again in less than a second

Tours are honestly difficult for both of you, for a multitude of reasons. But in particular, Yoohyeon gets grumpy when she goes an extended amount of time without proper cuddling from you. The members offer themselves up to fill in and keep WWIII from breaking out, but she swears up and down that they simply can’t compare

So, anytime you’re reunited after time apart, expect to be tackled to the ground or go careening into the nearest piece of furniture as she clumsily flings herself at you

She loves lazy days with you. Laying around and just relaxing together is one of her favorite pastimes

She usually acts childish and whines whenever you pull away, even if it’s just to go to the restroom or something

Anytime she decides to start gaming, you wait on standby…

…and when she eventually loses a match, you're there to hug her and make it all better

She swears up and down that you're her good luck charm. So most of the time you end up sitting at her side and watching as she plays

You’re her number one fan

And she’s yours, always and forever

Story Snippet

DC Dorm – 11:49 PM

A brochure suddenly smacked against your face, opened to a glossy middle page as Yoohyeon's body collapsed onto yours in a heap. 

She had run from her bed to the living room, unable to keep her recent discovery to herself. 

"Can I help you?" You asked sarcastically, cradling your sore nose. 

She pushed herself up into a sitting position and apologized for her clumsiness at once. 

After you forgave her, she flipped back to the announcement she'd seen in the booklet. 

It read:

"Thundering Heights Amusement Park – Grand Opening: July 7th"

An address was listed at the bottom of the page, and you realized it was just outside of the city. Maybe a twenty minute drive or so at most.

"Will you go with me?" She asked, hope shining in her dark eyes. They almost twinkled, like a kid's on Christmas. "It looks like so much fun."

You pretended to debate for a moment, enjoying the tease. She tugged at your shirt, pouting as you made her wait. 

"Sure, jagi. I'd love to–”

She tackled you down onto the loveseat and peppered hundreds of kisses across your face, her hands cupping your cheeks to keep you in place for her onslaught.

"Thank…" kiss, "you," kiss kiss, "baby." Kiss kiss kiss.

You giggled and squirmed a little beneath her, taking the affection as it came. 

—----

Opening Day

As usual, she was right. 

The day was off to a great start by all accounts, and you were convinced you had never smiled as much in your entire life as you had that morning. 

The sun was out, providing plenty of pretty views for you to admire together as you walked your way through the park. It livened up everything that it touched – made the trees’ green leaves a little more vibrant, the flowers a little brighter. The warmth of it wrapped around you like a hug, settling into the fibers of your clothes and staying put.

An occasional breeze blew in, mild yet so necessary as it balanced out that heat. It lifted the ends of Yoohyeon's hair, caressing them gently as she took in all of the sights around her. You walked beside her in tandem, simply admiring her. Admittedly, nothing else managed to capture your attention in the way that she did.

She caught you staring on more than one occasion and shyly scolded you each and every time, but you simply couldn’t help yourself. If there was one thing you’re sure of in life, it’s that she was created to be adored. Plain and simple. 

-

Later

“Let’s go again!” She bellowed, jumping around on her sneaker-clad feet. Adrenaline coursed through her, making her jittery from residual excitement.

Much the opposite, you were bent over the nearest railing, just outside of the exit for the ride. Your stomach churned, deciding on whether or not it wanted to upturn itself. 

“I can’t,” you groaned, holding your head. “I need something to drink first. And an hour long break.”

She tsked at you disappointedly, but appeared at your side a few seconds later nonetheless. Her hand rubbed the small of your back in soothing circles, easing you through your queasy-ness. 

Once it subsided, you uprighted yourself and looked at her. Something behind you caught her eye, and when she met your gaze again a small smile tugged at her lips. 

“I know just the thing to make you feel better.” She booped your nose lovingly, reaching down to grab your hand and tug you along for the millionth time today. 

-

15 Minutes Later

A sunhat rested atop your head, its brim droopy to block out the now-harsh rays that the Sun had to offer. The strap beneath your chin was pulled tight to ensure it didn’t fall off or blow away. You felt like you looked ridiculous, but she had insisted that you wear it. 

…so you did. 

You held a mini handheld fan up in front of your face, listening to the quiet brrr of its motor as it worked hard to cool you down. 

Yoohyeon stood in front of a slushy stand in the middle of the park’s food court, where she had just ordered and paid for your drinks. Two workers were inside, doing their best to keep things running smoothly. 

After another minute or so, one of them handed the refreshments over to her, smiling kindly and thanking her once more. She reciprocated and left, quickly returning to your side.

“Here you go,” she chirped, handing over your favorite flavor. “They’re nice and cold.”

“Phew,” you sighed, relieved. “I was worried they might’ve gotten hot on the way over. You know, since they’re made of ice.”

She smacked your shoulder in retaliation to your sarcasm. 

“Yah! Don’t act like I won’t eat yours, too.” She pointed a finger at you, jabbing you in the chest a couple times to solidify her point. 

“Ouch, tough crowd,” you feigned hurt, putting a hand atop the impact zones and rubbing the ache away. 

Though she fought hard, she couldn’t entirely conceal the grin on her face. So instead she busied her lips with her straw, drawing it between them to take a long sip.

You mirrored her actions, appreciating the fact that she knew and remembered your favorite order. It made you fall for her a little more, though you didn’t see how that was humanly possible.

Content and now more energized, the two of you fell in step again. Yoohyeon began to discuss the next section of rides for you to conquer, and what the quickest route to get there was. She babbled rapidly – far too fast for you to keep up – so you opted to just smile and nod, still sipping on your drink. 

You both knew you’d follow her wherever she went and do whatever she asked of you regardlessly, and you were aware that her ranting kept her happy. 

So you threw in the occasional “Oh, really?” and “No way!” to keep her going. It worked; eagerly, she continued.

The happy moment was soon cut short, however, as life suddenly took on a cinematic, almost slow-motion haze right before your very eyes. 

Yoohyeon turned to look over at you, meaning to tell you that the trolley was your best bet at making it across the park in a timely manner, when you both rounded an ill-fated corner. 

A welcome sign was propped in front of a shop's side door, directly in her path. 

Before you had ample time to react and stop her, she ran into it, tripping and being sent through the air before subsequently landing on top of the now-toppled sign with a harsh clack. The puppy-ear headband she had on jolted, its two brightly colored springs bouncing in opposite directions after colliding with one another. Her cup fell from her hand, too, getting crushed in the process.

You winced, tensing up instinctively. Oh no. She'd surely die of embarrassment. You could see the beginning stages of it unfolding as she hid her face, already blushing profusely. 

So, thinking on your feet, you knew you had to act fast to prevent her demise. If you could stand in the way of her arrival at an early grave, you planned to do it. One rule that you live by played in your head: you're in it together. Where she goes, you go. 

Including the ground, apparently.

Without hesitation, you rocketed yourself forward, tripping yourself over your own foot and sending yourself crashing to the pavement that waited below. 

The slushie in your hand exploded upon impact, erupting into a fruity blitz that shot off in a hundred different directions. Some got on you as well, immediately trying its hand at staining the fabric of your shirt. Your fan dinked off the ground, too, getting scuffed up as its motor came to a sputtering stop.

Your hat jostled, no longer sitting in its proper place.

"Oww!" You shouted, both a little over-dramatic and real. Though the cause itself may have been intentional, the fall definitely didn't get the memo. The front of your body ached, having absorbed the shock first and taken the brunt of the damage. 

"Who puts a sign in a place like that?!" You lamented.

You rolled over, squinting as the blazing sun shined down on you. You squirmed a little, still suffering from having the wind knocked out of you.

Yoohyeon groaned and pushed herself up into a sitting position at your side. She peered over at you, concerned, but your antics told her that you would be okay. After all, if you had hurt yourself too badly you wouldn't have been able to yell like that.

But making such a spectacle of yourself had clearly worked, because the people passing by all looked at you, rather than her. Their attention was successfully drawn away, and you smiled. At least the pain wasn't for nothing. 

"Are you alright, jagi?" You asked her, turning your head to gaze up at her. 

She scooted forward and put a hand up, shielding your eyes from the Sun in lieu of your hat. The shadow she created held the light at bay, allowing you to stop squinting. 

"My ego's dead, but other than that, yes." 

“Good.” You said, relieved. “Wait– not good about the ego thing! I- You know what I mean.”

She chuckled at that, though the sound eventually morphed into a soft grunt of pain. Happy pain, though. The kind that you feel later on down the road and recall the memories of. 

“And you?” She asked. “Is my knight in shining armor going to live?”

You nodded, winking at her. “I think I’ll pull through.”

“Good,” she reused your word. “Because if we’re gonna make it through the rest of the park today, we need to get a move on.” She glanced down at her watch quickly. “We should have enough time to get a replacement slushie…” she eyed both of your previous ones, where they laid nearby. With haste, she leaned over to grab their trashed containers, “...and then catch the trolley. But we’ve got to hurry.”

You sighed defeatedly as she sprang up and dusted herself off, like nothing had happened. It was a good quality to have, though, for someone as clumsy as her. She balanced herself out. Uncoordinated yet resilient. It was almost poetic. 

What wasn’t poetic, though, was the unceremonious way she hauled you up to your feet, all in one motion. 

You barely had a second to catch your breath, or wheeze, or curse into the afternoon air before she was pulling you along at the speed of light again, all of her embarrassment forgotten and instead replaced with excitement once more. 

Her “Receiving” Love Languages Ranked:

1.) Physical Touch

2.) Words of Affirmation

3.) Quality Time

4.) Acts of Service

5.) Gifts

Yoohyeon is prone to embarrass herself, and her insecurities sometimes tend to show themselves as a result. She also has an unfortunate habit of overthinking; but a simple and easy way to remedy that at any given moment is through physical touch and sweet words of reassurance. They never fail to comfort her and restore that confidence that you love so much.

◤─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────◥

Dami

Dami isn't always the biggest fan of physical touch, but she makes an exception for you

She's grown quite fond of your ways of showing love 

Especially because you respect her boundaries and don't overload her with it all of the time 

The girls jokingly complain about the fact that your affection never gets rejected by her like theirs does sometimes 

You're usually the one to initiate things, but she also surprises you sometimes by beating you to it

You l o v e when she does that because it just shows that she's willing to step outside of her comfort zone to convey her feelings for you

She usually gives you back hugs and puts her head on your shoulder

Slips in little touches throughout the day

Also loves to hold your hand

If it's chilly out and she notices your hands are cold, she'll slip one of her heating packs into them without you even having to ask

Piggy back rides

Lets you poke her cheeks and toy with them

She bought a pair of touch lamps for the both of you, so when she’s away and missing you she can touch hers and yours will light up. It’s a subtle reminder that she loves you and that you’re on her mind

Gives you her jacket when it’s cold out and holds the door for you

You've made her more comfortable with physicality, honestly, and she finds herself missing it when your schedules keep you away from each other

If you get overcome with emotion and give her a spontaneous kiss or cuddle, she ends up blushing every time, without fail

Sometimes she becomes the clingy one and wraps you up in her arms, not letting you go until she’s satisfied

“Let’s stay just like this, jagi.”

Soft hours

But any other time, when it’s you who’s being clingy, it’s really endearing to her to see you visibly waiting to touch her and attack her with a flurry of affection. You hold back long enough to get permission, but the second that she gives you the green light you’re basically pouncing on her

Whenever she reads, she invites you to snuggle up with her. She typically ends up absentmindedly toying with your hair, or stroking your arm, or pressing a few kisses to the top of your head, too

Just like her, her love is subtle and quiet most of the time. But it’s endless, and it’s always there

She loves you to the moon and back and is willing to do just about anything to see you smile

Story Snippet

DC Dorm – Dami's Room 

Snowflakes fell outside in droves, heavy and thick as they added to the masses that had already accumulated on the ground over the past few hours. Biting winds blasted by occasionally, reminding everyone of just how frigid it was. They caused a branch to knock into the window of Dami’s room, scraping it lightly.

Ever since your arrival in the afternoon, it had been like this; as you spent time gathered with the girls and enjoying yourself by the fireplace, nature had been gearing up for a full-blown blizzard. 

Aware of this, they all insisted that you spend the night at the dorm and just return home once the conditions were safer. 

It didn't take much to convince you, truth be told. Their company was far too enjoyable to turn down, and you didn’t have any desire to head back to your empty apartment anytime soon, anyway.

So now, in the wake of a movie-marathon, multiple games of drunken charades, and escaping the tight clutch of a sleeping Sua, you stood in front of Dami's dresser, bent at the waist as you sifted through the drawer that she had directed you to. 

Through the speakers of her phone, a soft piano melody ambled out, basking the room in a comfortable, easy-going ambience.

"Pick whichever one you want, baby," she called, glancing up briefly from her book as she flipped the page she had just finished. The texture of it – a little rough, unsmoothed – made a scratching sound as it rubbed against the one behind it.

"Really? Even the–"

"Yes, Y/N/N, even that one." She interrupted, amused. "I washed it yesterday because I figured you'd want to wear it." You could hear the grin in her words. 

Eagerly, you continued searching through the hoodies until you finally found the one you were after. It held a title unlike any other. None of the rest even held a candle to it. 

Why was it so special?

Because you bought it for her during a birthday trip last year, and it was the coziest thing in existence. 

Oh, and it was also panda themed. Dami in hoodie form.

With a triumphant smile, you unfolded it and thrust it up into the air, showing it off. Dami watched from the bed, smiling softly to herself at the cute sight. 

You slipped it over your head and pulled it down across your body, allowing the cozy material to engulf you. Two rounded ears sat atop the hood, and they bounced lightly when you tugged it up onto your head. The grin on your face deepened when you reached up to feel their fluffiness. 

“You’re so cute,” she mused, far too interested in you to pay attention to her book anymore. Her finger rested between its pages, keeping her place marked as she openly admired you.  

“Yah,” you scolded softly, lacking malice. You could feel your cheeks and ears warming up as a result of her compliment, and it made you shy. 

“Thank you,” you added quietly, glancing away. 

She bit her lip and shook her head, completely enamored. How could a person be so adorable?

“Come here,” she commanded, when she noticed you playing with the ends of the sleeves mindlessly. The inconspicuous (yet totally obvious) way you peeked back at her let her know that you wanted to be closer. 

Hope shined in your eyes as you padded over like a puppy, and when she tossed her book to the end of the bed and filled her hands with you instead, you nearly swooned. She tugged you in by the waist, sending you sideways onto the bed. 

A second later, she was hovering over top of you; her soft hair cascaded down around the two of you, blocking out the rest of the world like a privacy curtain. You met her dark eyes briefly, highlighted by the bits of lamplight that peeked through, shining on the two of you. But her gaze soon dropped lower, landing on your mouth – which she’d been dying to feel against her own all day.

“I’m so happy you’re here,” she admitted, before leaning in to press a gentle kiss to your lips. It was sweet and warm, just like her. “You made today so fun.”

“Yeah?” You grinned lazily, basking in the warmth that her body radiated. “I’d have to say that you made the day fun,” you opposed. “I mean, come on; when you saved us from losing that third round of charades with your last-second guess? That was gold.”

She nodded, pursing her lips as she recalled that victorious moment. “You do have a point there…”

“Or when you saved Jiu from getting whacked by a blindfolded Yoohyeon during our ‘What’s In The Box’ game? That deserved some kind of award.”

Her features pulled into a grimace at the memory. “I don’t know if she would’ve recovered, honestly. What do you think? Concussion? Short coma?”

Your hands trailed up to the back of her neck and gently settled there –  fingers interlocking as you took a second to consider her question. She shivered slightly at the sensation, nearly tickled when you absentmindedly toyed with the baby hairs at her nape.

“Mmm, definitely a concussion,” you frowned, feigning seriousness until the sudden sound of Dami’s laughter cut through the quiet, bringing out your own. 

She rested her forehead against yours as your combined giggles filled the air, completely and utterly happy. They were genuine and natural  – a little sleepy, a little unpolished – and that warmed your heart. 

Seeing her like that made you fall that much more in love. She shined brighter than moonlight, starlight, sunlight – all of it. You wanted to stay wrapped within the bounds of this perfect moment forever. 

“I mean it, though,” she affirmed softly, like some kind of shy confession finally given voice to, once your laughter died down into quiet chuckles. "Things wouldn't have been the same without you here."

Yet another one of her ways of saying ‘I love you’ without actually uttering the words. 

“I know,” you nodded, brushing the tip of your nose against hers a few times. You could feel her melt into you at the contact.

“I love you, too.”

Her “Giving” Love Languages Ranked:

1.) Acts of Service

2.) Quality Time

3.) Words of Affirmation

4.) Gifts

5.) Physical Touch

What she struggles to show physically, she makes up for in other ways. She’ll do favors, dote on you without you even having to ask, make you food if you’re hungry, leave encouraging post-it notes on your things if you’re in need of reassurance and support… the list is endless. It’s how she shows all of the love she has for you; she’s a fantastic listener and always pays close attention to you, and she thinks it’s easier and more convenient to demonstrate her love this way. The little things mean everything to her. 

◤─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────◥

Gahyeon

Enjoys it a lot. Your presence alone is comforting to her, so she’s really happy to have you nearby 

When you link your arm through hers and cuddle into her side, she falls a little more in love with you. She does it to you often, too

Whenever you kiss her in front of the girls, she tends to get shy. (Mainly because of their relentless teasing). But she never turns you down 

She loves having your attention on her. 

And she'll pout in order to get it

Like Sua, she tends to get a little loud and aggressive with her love

Will literally whine and cover her eyes when you walk into the room because she says you look too good for her to handle

She loves to sit on your lap (and have you sit on hers as well)

Puts her head on your shoulder a lot

Holds onto the end of your sleeve and tugs it when she wants your attention

She lets you play with her hair and style it however you want

One time you managed to make it defy gravity, and she still hasn't lived that down at the dorm. The girls said she looked like an alien

Whenever you’re just lounging around together and scrolling on your phones, you both still like to be connected in some way. So she’ll usually pull your legs across her lap, or even lay between them. (It makes it even easier for her to show you something interesting or funny that she stumbles across)

She knows she can get her way with you really easily because you’re a total pushover for her. All she has to do is pout or give you a kiss and you’re like putty in her hands

That’s one of her favorite traits about you. Both because she thinks it’s adorable, and also because she can exploit it (big brain Gahyeon)

“Pretty please? I promise to buy you more candy in the morning if you just let me have this last one now.”  

{......} 

"...or we can share it, if you'd rather." 

You make her feel powerful and important, and that’s priceless to her

She loves when you get protective over her. There’s something about that side of you in particular that really does something to her

Whenever she’s busy or away on tour, expect lots of pictures and videos from her at odd hours. The time difference doesn’t stop her from messaging you when she can

Also, sleepy voice messages when she’s laying awake and having trouble sleeping 

Whenever you reunite, she’s yelling and running into your waiting arms

Story Snippet

“Yah, how much longer are we going to be out here?” Gahyeon whined, her breath turning white in the chilly atmosphere that surrounded the eight of you. It floated away gently, catching her attention for a brief second as she lagged behind everyone else.

Exploring the city and shopping had gotten boring for her about two hours ago, and quite frankly she was over it at this point. 

Heading the group with Jiu, you stopped and turned around to look at her. The brochure in your hands lowered, no longer your top priority. 

“What’s wrong, Gah?”

She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she scuffed the bottom of her shoe against the ground, twisting it into a rut that existed in the weathered cobblestone. Her hands flexed into fists at her sides, toying with the handles of the shopping bags that were nestled against her palms. 

“I’m cold,” she finally said, voice small as a pout played on her lips. She looked away when everyone’s attention fell to her. Admittedly, she felt a little childish for making everyone stop. The weather was simply starting to get to her, and she was tired. 

But being the maknae meant she had every right to be babied, after all, so she didn’t feel too guilty. 

You rolled your eyes and smiled softly, shaking your head. “Jiu, will you take over? Let’s go to that restaurant I showed you earlier.”

“The historic one?” She asked, clarifying.

You nodded. “It used to be a royal building, so it’s pretty massive. And there’s a fireplace there fit to match, so…” you trailed off, glancing again at Gahyeon. Her pout deepened a little at you, exaggerating.

“Sounds great,” Jiu smiled warmly. “Let’s get going.”

The girls all resumed their walking after that, conversing with one another and taking in the surrounding sights of the city as Jiu flipped open to the brochure’s walking map and led the way. You let them pass you, waiting for Gahyeon to catch up.

Her nose was red, and the fuzzy muffs on her ears had fallen from their proper place. Her shoulders sagged dramatically, making her look truly spent. 

You had to bite back a laugh. 

“Here, baby,” you offered, reaching out to take the bags from her. She gave them without any further prompting, and you quickly slid them onto your arms, allowing them to rest in the crook of your elbow. You resituated her earmuffs next, and pressed a small kiss to the tip of her chilly nose. 

“Better?”

Her head shook in protest, stumping you. 

“Not yet.” 

She stepped forward, just a breath away, and slipped her hands into the pockets of your hoodie. They balled in the material and tugged you closer, nearly making you stumble into her at the unexpected action. 

“Let’s stay like this, just for a second. Let me warm up a bit,” she smiled mischievously, leaning in enough to brush her nose with yours. Her fingers wrapped around the warmers that were tucked away in your pockets, reveling in the soothing heat that they provided. 

You reached in, too, covering her delicate hands so that the cold didn’t have a chance to touch them. She hummed happily, tilting her head to the side to press a thankful kiss to your lips. She giggled quietly against them, pleased to have gotten her way. 

The night sky was bright above you, illuminated by the moon as it showered down its speckled starlight in a way that seemed intimate, like it was meant just for the two of you. Your own personal glimpse of the cosmos. It provided comfort, reminding you of home. Of all of those late nights in Korea, when you would sneak outside with Gahyeon for some fresh air, talking about any and everything your sleepy minds could come up with until the delirium set in and you had to amble your way back up to bed. 

Even here and now, in a foreign country that seemed lightyears away from that place, shimmers of those moments could be found. They gleamed in Gahyeon’s sweet eyes – hundreds of potential experiences and conversations just waiting to happen. It was meaningful, to say the least, and you were beyond happy that fate had allowed you to be here with all of them. 

You kissed her cheek before pulling away enough to look at her. 

“I love you–”

“I love you–”

Both of you laughed together at the coincidence, your shoulders lifting and falling lightly. The smile on her face was precious, reminiscent of a fox’s. You studied her for a moment, just taking her in and committing everything to memory.

“We should probably get going,” she said, still grinning, though she made no move to actually leave. Her gaze dropped to your lips, lingering there for a beat before raising to your own again. You felt the subtle way her fingers tightened against the warmers, attempting to be inconspicuous. 

It was almost comical how bad she was at hiding her feelings for you. 

“Yeah,” you agreed, settling closer, teasing her. 

She looked around, peeking over your shoulder before craning her body left and right to make sure the coast was clear. Once she was satisfied, she pulled your hood over your head and leaned in, sealing her lips against yours. 

Beneath the cover that your thick hood provided, she did as she pleased. Taking her time, savoring the rare chance she got to be alone with you like this. She was a mix of sensations – from her blushing, warm cheeks, to her chilly lips that slid against your own, never wanting to part. The entirety of the embrace was perfect; you couldn’t have asked for anything better.

“We really should get going, though,” you chuckled, resting your forehead against hers once you’d parted for air. “They’ve probably already made it there by now.”

“Fine,” she sighed, feigning annoyance again. “You’re right. But I’m taking this,” she declared, stealing one of your warmers. 

She pulled away, turning to stand at your side so you could walk next to one another. “We can share this one,” she resolved, keeping her other hand in your other pocket, where it was still cradled in your own. 

You sighed as well, mimicking her. “Fine.”

To smooth things over in the wake of her crime, she cuddled up against your side and laid her head on your shoulder as she pulled you along. The soft crunch of your shoes against the cobblestone street resounded, announcing your journey forward. 

“Thank you, babe.” She said quietly, serious now. “For everything.”

“Anything for you,” you quipped with a small smile, watching as your sweet assurance turned white in the air and surrendered itself to the universe.

Her “Giving” Love Languages Ranked:

1.) Gifts 

2.) Physical Touch

3.) Quality Time

4.) Words of Affirmation

5.) Acts of Service

She feels responsible and accomplished when she can spoil you and buy you the things that you want. There’s nothing quite like watching the smile grow on your face as you open up presents from her. She’s not afraid to go all out, either. 

[mosraev]

Lyrics through the decade 9/11

I've decided to collect all the songs I've made through the last decade and share my favourite snippets with you guys. The pictures for the backgrounds will (as much as possible) be pictures I've taken the same year as the lyrics were written. The full lyrics may or may not be made official someday.

Part 9; 2021

Now we've arrived at what I can call the personal era which started with me coming out to myself as nonbinary within the first three months of the year. After that a lot of the songs I started to make became a therapeutic tool getting to reflect over my thoughts and feelings about different topics.

More info under the line

Stay creative, my fellow foxes 🦊💚

Song 1 (pic1); Marco

This is not as much a song as it is 2-3 pages of me in lyrical form thinking through my newly out feelings as a nonbinary person. The 'song' is named after my middlename that on this time I believed would be my new name. Also, to fit with the very personal meaning of this song this is indeed a picture of me having gender euphoria looking in the mirror (although 9 months after the song was written)

Featured lyric:

Starring at the mirror softly repeating the name.

Trying to repeat the rush of joy hearing it for the first time.

Song2 (pic2); Aromantica

A song where I tried to reflect over my feelings as being an aromantic person since I also around this time has been coming to terms with being aro more and more (although I had come out to myself as aro one or two years prior).

Featured lyric:

((Extendend)) I held you and I kissed you

Because I thought that was what I had to.

And it’s funny how pathetic I was playing the part.

I’m not lovedrunk, I’m sober.

I realise that, now it’s over.

This is not who I am.

Song3 (pic 3+4); Altid Nat

This song is the exception to the rule I guess since it is less about my own personal identity explorations but again it is still about me and my feelings getting to be close to people with the loser covid-19 restrictions. You can hear the song here btw.

Featured lyric:

Original (pic3); Jordens trolde, de danser foxtrot over Danmarks bøgetage

((Extended)) så er det nu, vi sprinder guld af alt det som der kan ske i drømmeland.

For det er altid nat et sted på verdensplan.

Translated to English (pic4):

the trolls of the earth dance foxtrot in Denmark's treetops.

((Extended)) It is now we weave gold of all

that can happen in dreamland

cause it's always night somewhere in the world.

Song4 (pic5+6); Forstadsfabeldyr

This is an interesting one since I had less than a week to write and produce it on summer camp where I wasn't out yet so I wanted to make it somewhat mystical about what in the world I was referring to (thereby not outing myself before time) but also I really felt like getting out my hurt feelings about becoming the represent queer whenever people learned about my identity. (hint the swearing is back)

Featured lyric:

Original (pic6); Verden er så satans monokrom

for alle farverne er vasket ud med hvidt.

Translated to English (pic5); The world is fucking monochrome.

All the colours has been washed out.

Song5 (pic6+7); Glas v.2

Quite an interesting one that shows how my way of making songs has shifted since I originally made myself the challenge to make a song inspired by a poem on a playing card about rocks wanting to be glass and then the first version was meant to be about eating disorders (not told from my own pov) but that didn't connect with me so instead I told about nonbinary gender dysphoria (that is way more my own pov and so a therapeutic song instead)

Featured lyric:

Original (pic7): Når svaret for dem er hverken "han" eller "hende"

kommer de nemt til kort.

De ville så gerne kunne passe ind,

men kabalen går ikke op.

Translated to English (pic8): When their answer is not "he" or "she",

they'll easily come up short.

they'd love to fit in, but

the patience doesn't come up.

[thewriteblrlibrary]

The bona-fide way to getting rid of writers' block forever and ever (half joking, I shall need to expand the sample set before I make any conclusions.)

(This is what happens when you make the librarian go outside where they botch a bunch of social interactions and their energy crashes. I apologize for how incoherent this is. )

This method also includes free therapy, coping mechanisms, that may or may not be healthy... I'm honestly not sure... it's working for me right now... I think??? I need comparisons... but ignorance is bliss so...

ANYWHO!

I made one story about regret, wanting to fix yourself so you can have your childhood happiness back, with a touch of societal pressures.

Okie dokie, all well and good. Whenever I then have *the feelings* then I can write that.

But it's.... not the best idea to pour all feelings into one story (speaking from experience) it's best (for me) to take whatever feelings I have an apply them into the story that fits with it.

Ex: when I had that ~weird feeling~ about my so called 'intelligence' not providing me with the practical skills needed to be an adult, mixed in with the jealousy of those who were both smart and prepared for adulthood, whereas I knew nothing and felt lost...

insert the biology fanfiction about a denatured enzyme~

(Since the overall themes of this one are about seeking fulfillment and not knowing who you are whilst being told that 'being yourself is your best self', it works out well. More info on my writing process here)

And whenever I have an idea for a one shot? A random poetic musing that doesn't really fit in with anything?

... *makes mc a storyteller that tells short stories*

Also also! If you prefer to work on one WIP at a time...

Subplots are your friend.

For my main WIP, whenever I have those ~regret + philosophical musings~ I work on my MC's main plotline.

Whenever I have any sort of stress or anxiety about *the future* and making plans and appeasing the adults, I work on the subplot.

And I try not to work on a story when I don't feel like working on it (working in side snippets that aren't necessarily connected with the longer scenes are helpful for me. I've started to transition from longer scenes - which bore me and aren't as poignant - to short snippets that fit within arcs. (I was inspired by Cass's apocalypse series, episodic shows and poetry for doing little rando snippets)).

This way I write based on inspirations and musings (also I have this NEED to write otherwise I implode - because my thoughts build up and get tangled without writing to sort it out.) and can do whatever story is most comfortable for me.

Errrr... if this made sense, then happy writing my fellow storytellers!

[sweetest-honeybee]

Just read the Zed/Ex snippet of your PM AU and I loved it :D I do have a question though, how do Impy & Tango fit into this? Are they just friends of Zed and the only ones that know he's WM? Or do they have secret identities of their own?~

Tango and impulse know he’s good ol worm man lol, they’ve been helping him out :D

I’m just gonna give you some info about the three of them and what their deal is:

Tango and Zed are the two closest to each other of the three because they live together and have had similar experiences growing up and in the work field. Tango doesn’t really directly help Zed in his endeavors mostly because he either doesn’t have the money or it seems too dangerous. Now, that’s a little ooc for him, I understand, but the man had lost his job at least 8 or 9 times within a year because of villains going around causing destruction. To be fair, it was when he worked in the main part of town so he doesn’t experience it much anymore on the outskirts but people trying to stay safe in the outskirts of town live in ratty old apartments that nobody cares to really maintain bc the govt is more focused on keeping the prettier places intact lol

So, Tango works in a little diner that’s more or less in the middle of nowhere with crappy pay but it pays the rent and he hasn’t lost a job since working there for about a year. The living conditions aren’t exactly amazing, but he’s safe. Zeds safe, all is good. Nobody is dying.

That is until Zed decided he wanted to be a hero. Now, he’s wanted to do it his entire life. He looked up to heroes since he was a child. So, he told tango his idea and at first Tango was not on board in the slightest. It would ruin their safety and if by any chance Zed were to actually become a more popular hero, people would be on his case about his identity which Tango doesn’t want.

Zed had barely any jobs to look to anyways. Heroes can make really good money if you talk to the mayor about joining a little underground league of heroes. He took to doing that instead of actually finding a job. Tango ain’t really happy about it mostly bc Zed will come home every weekend covered in bite marks and bruises. It’s not like he hasn’t tried to talk some sense into him but after Tango said he at least needed some help, Zed took that as needing a sidekick and was on that weird little idea for over a year with no luck.

Until he met EX of course but that’s later.

Impulse on the other hand lives closer to the main part of town but not directly in it (kinda like the suburbs I guess). Like a lot of people, he works with making suits or machinery to fight off villains with or use as general protection. He’s honestly quite brilliant, just a little ignorant.

Now, he’d help Zed and Tango at the drop of a hat if he’s able to. Really, he’s actually on some shaky terms with Tango bc of a big ol disagreement they had regarding whether or not Tango and Zed could live with him instead, but they’re still pretty close friends mostly for Zeds sake. He lives in a pretty good house in a nice little neighborhood that doesn’t get attacked too often. He hasn’t lost his job for years bc the facility he works at is underground and no villain has found it yet and Tango and Zed don’t even know where it is either bc Impulse refuses to tell them lol. Although that’s the case, he has tried to get Tango to work there with him.

That also being said, Impulse made Zeds little hero suit based on the rules and regulations they have to follow at work. So despite Zed not wearing the helmet he was supposed to wear every time, the suit is actually quite safe otherwise.

So, TL;DR-

Tango is Zeds roommate who works the most trying to pay rent and half-enjoys Zed trying to be a hero. Impulse is in better living conditions bc of his job but some disagreements with Tango led to him living on his own and Zed and Tango in the outskirts of town. Impulse also made Zeds suit and repairs it whenever Zed needs it done.

Hope any of that makes sense 😅

[goldenmist]

Hello!! Would you mind doing a match up for me please? I’m a tall girl with a super curvy figure and long black hair. I’m pretty shy when you first meet me and I often come across as cold and intimidating to people who don’t know me but once you get to know me I’m super warm and fiercely loyal. I have a great sense of humor and I’m really good at matching/balancing with people’s energies, which could mean the chillest hang out ever or chaos unleashed lol. I like music and I’m a good singer. I would prefer to be matched with a guy. I hope that’s enough info thank you so much!!

Ooh, my first match-up! How wonderful, I hope you like the result. I assign you to...

Fuyuhiko Kuzuruyuu

Fuyuhiko got attracted by your loyal nature, as It is difficult to trust anyone, being so high up in the Japanese social hierarchy. It took quite some time for him to open up, but eventually he treasured you because of that trait. Sharing quite a lot of thoughts that were tucked in the corner of his mind, not being able to tell anybody.

The difference in your heights gets Fuyuhiko a bit conscious of himself, however it also somehow a two sided medal. Most of the Kuzuruyuu's time is taken up by work, offers and deals. He rarely gets to see you, unless you are a part of his group, which I highly doubt. Considering that, the male loves to be held by you after an exhaustingly long day. He fits into your embrace perfectly, like a little doll. He may seem harsh but in reality, Kuzuruyuu only wishes to be pampered. However I advise you to not share that information with anyone.

Referring to the previous point, the reason you won't be a Yakuza is due to the male's protective nature. After some incidents happening in his life span, Fuyuhiko refuses to even think about putting your life in any sort of danger. Therefore you most likely will have to deal with a bodyguard, whenever you exit the house.

You would be the all time favorite mental support to the Yakuza, due to your trait of going on with the general mood. When he needs reassurance you are there to lighten up the mood. On the other hand when Fuyuhiko is up for some fun recreation, you two have the time of your lives.

Without a doubt the rare snippets of free time Fuyuhiko gets, would be devoted to you and resting. He would spend a fortune on unnecessary gifts and trips to fancy restaurants, to compensate for the time you miss out as a normal couple. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about the situation. No matter how much of a significant other you are to Kuzuruyuu – he physically cannot devote more time to you.

The male will definitely take your singing skills into mind. It won't be as obvious but the blond will place hints here and there, that he wishes to hear you sing. It's a wonderful source of relaxation to him, yet he is too shy and "tough" to face you with the request. That leads to you just having to guess and look for the signs, otherwise he will hold a little grudge against you.

That's it, I hope you liked it! I am not all too familiar with this character, therefore the information provided above is more of an assumption.

[anogete]

In Between

Hi, folks.  I’m sorry I have nothing to offer as far as fic goes.  Things have been... ::sigh::  You know, I don’t know what things have been.  Not good, not bad.  Just... things.  I wanted to talk--get things out of my head--this morning, but I realized I don’t have a person/outlet who can accept these things right now.  So, I will put them here for anyone who cares to read them.

1) My car blew up.  Well, the engine did.  I was on my way back home with groceries last Saturday, and I lost all ability to accelerate and brake.  So, I puttered out on the side of the road and waited to be saved.  The issue may be covered under the warranty so I had it taken to the dealership.  They’ve had it for a week and still don’t have answers for me besides an offer to lend me a car for free until they can figure out what to do with my car.

2) This deserves it’s own point, though I almost included it on the first point.  I’ve never bought a car without my grandmother.  She was under five feet tall and had a tendency to wear sweat pants and Christmas sweaters year-round.  She smoked Winston Lights and carried a purse covered in rhinestones.  The car salesmen didn’t know what hit them because she wasn’t at all the sweet old lady who would roll over and accept their first offer.  She was hard to read and she wouldn’t give an inch.  She also wouldn’t tell them what she was willing to pay.  No counter offers from her; she’d just tell you to “do better.”  Anyway, she worked her magic when I bought all three of my cars.  When I realized the problem with the engine was serious and might require me getting a new car, I went into a mental tailspin.  Yeah, yeah, I was worried about fitting it into my budget and all that, but mostly I couldn’t seem to cope with buying a car on my own without my grandma there to hold my hand.  I’m almost 39 years old and the thought of doing this without her had me sobbing in the floor.  Except, I didn’t realize my tailspin was due to my grandmother at first.  At first, I just thought I was incapable of handling stress.  Maybe that’s still accurate.

3) While we’re talking about expensive-ass shit, I knew the air conditioner and furnace on this house needed to be replaced sooner rather than later when I bought it last February.  It looks like the time has come.  I managed to find a nice man with very odd hair (think a longer version of the Prince Valiant hair-do, but bright white) through my boyfriend’s dad.  He does this for a living and said he’d give me a discount and do for $5,000 what other places were telling me would cost $9,000.  So, that’s happening next week.  I have the money, but the idea of writing a $5,000 check makes me want to puke.  Ugh.

4) The days are running together.  I’m working from home.  I can’t complain, though.  I’ve got it better than most.  I’m alone all day.  I have a library with a desk.  I can go downstairs and make tea or lunch in my own kitchen.  I’m getting paid my full salary with bonuses.  I can pretty much make my own hours.  The company I work for is taking the pandemic seriously and has told us that we can all work from home until we feel comfortable returning to the office.  Their timeline for “normal” is months.  I don’t think I’ll be back in the office until late summer, if that.  Those who want to return are permitted to, but they can’t use the public areas (kitchen, conference rooms) and have to abide by some strict safety requirements.  And they can choose when and how often they go into the office, working the remainder of the time at home.  So, better than most.

5) I’ve been doing this social distancing thing since March 19th.  It’s not difficult for me.  On good days I’ll exercise (I have a Peloton) before logging into work around 9am.  On not-good days (which seem to be more often than not), I’ll skip the exercise and just log into work early.  Work keeps me busy and I spend a decent amount of my day on the phone with clients.  I go to the grocery store once a week, but I order for pickup.  Someone else does the shopping for me and loads it into my trunk.  This is nothing new.  I’ve been shopping that way for years.  Now it’s just harder to get my usual pickup slot because everyone else has joined the party.  I do miss taking a break from work and leaving my office to grab a coffee and sit outside on a bench downtown.  I guess I could do that outside my own house, but it just doesn’t feel the same.

6) A few months ago, a husband and wife who are clients came in to meet with me at my office.  They’re in their 80s and both were having trouble walking.  They parked in the garage next door and couldn’t find the elevator to exit.  I walked over and escorted them to our office building.  They were both struggling with walking and the wife (Rose) had been fighting lung cancer for a couple years, so I suggested they wait outside and I’d valet their car once we were done.  The thought of making the trek to their car alone was painful to me because it was a monumental struggle for them to walk down a hallway.  Their daughter-in-law called me two days ago.  Rose passed away two weeks ago.  The husband, a former literature professor for a university, was in the hospital with four broken ribs because he’d fallen shortly after Rose’s passing.  He was a Jewish child in Nazi Germany during the war.  He’d told me stories about hiding from the Nazis, surviving off of tree bark and whatever he could find in the forests.  He also jokingly told me that he’d live until he was 120.  Now, it looks like he won’t survive the year.  He and Rose would tease each other all the time, but you could see all that love between them. Whenever I’d call him, he’d ask me in that wonderful accent to wait while he got “the boss” on the phone as well.  Rose thought it was silly that she was “the boss,” but she humored him.  You know, they’re shorties, too.  Five foot, nothing.  Just like my grandma.  Hearing that Rose was gone and Dr. (he’s a PhD) was likely soon to follow just broke my already fragile heart.

7) Fragile heart, huh?  Yeah.  After the car situation and the realization that one day I’m going to have to do big life things without having my grandma to help me, I was feeling pretty raw.  But I’ve been trying to be responsible and do things I’ve been putting off lately.  So, I gathered up all those medical bills from Ferguson’s illness last September.  (Ferguson was my soulmate little chihuahua mix that I had for over 13 years.)  I had pet insurance on him and hadn’t bothered to make the claim because I couldn’t handle it.  But it’s been almost a year so I pulled out the invoices, which were over $2,000, and logged into the website and starting inputting the info to file the claims.  The little box asks for a description of why I took him to the vet.  And answering that question just brought back all that shit like a wave.  I remember reading this nice description of grief and how it is like waves.  At first they’re big and they knock you around and you can’t breathe.  But over time they get smaller and you learn how to navigate them.  Still there, but manageable.  Filling in that box resulted in a bit of a tidal wave that knocked me on my ass.  My boyfriend came home to find me sobbing at my desk like a lunatic..  He’s... not so good with emotional shit.  And I usually keep it bottled up so that no one knows what’s going on inside me.  But some days...  Some days it just overflows.  So, after confirming that nothing terrible had occurred and that I was reliving September 2019, he slowly backed out of the room to leave me with my grief-wave.

8) I want to be one of those succulent people.  You know, the ones who have succulents lining their windowsills.  The dining room and kitchen windows are full of this oddball little plants.  The boyfriend hates it, but I told him he’d have to deal.  I’ll die on this hill.  I’m a succulent lady.

9) I’ve been reading memoirs or, rather, memoirs through collections of essays.  I don’t know if it’s the mental state I’m in or if social distancing has got me subconsciously reaching out for life beyond my head, but I can’t seem to read much else.  I loved Liz Phair’s Horror Stories.  I’m reading The Book of Help by Megan Griswold right now.  I’m determined to procure a signed copy of What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker by Damon Young.  He did a virtual event for a local bookseller recently and they have signed copies available for purchase.  I just need to muster up the will to call them and ask them to hold one for me.  The little snippets of their life and experiences via these memoirs through essays bring me some measure of comfort.

10) I tried to watch Euphoria on HBO.  I managed to make it through the first episode, but I don’t think I can watch more.  I can’t relate, but that normally isn’t a necessity for an enjoyable story.  Maybe it’s just too depressing for me right now.

11) I binged Dollface on Hulu and wish I had more to watch.  Parts of it hit me hard.  I’ve always had trouble maintaining friendships, period.  But maintaining friendships while in a relationship has been damn near impossible for me.  Just like Jules.  Except, I’m not nearly as cool or gorgeous as Kat Dennings.  And I have no friends in this city to go back to.  Just friends at work. 

12) I haven’t worn makeup for 2 solid months.  I’m starting to miss it.  I found old selfies I’d taken in which I don’t recognize myself.  Did I ever look like that?  I must have since here is photographic evidence.  I look like shit now.  I’m forever in yoga pants and a hoodie with half-wet hair from the shower.  Maybe putting on a pair of jeans and a cute shirt and some makeup will make me feel like a human being again.  Maybe I’m not doing as well as I thought in quarantine.  Huh.

13) I hope you all are well.  If you’ve sent me a message, I’m so sorry for not responding.  My mental state has been delicate lately and the silence from me has nothing to do with your kind words.  I promise I read and treasure and appreciate anything that is sent to me.  I’m also sorry for having no offering of fic or a promise of something to come.  I haven’t written since last summer.  It’s been almost a year.  I guess I’m in a dry spell.

14) Since I’ve been struggling with loss/grief lately, I’ll leave you with a quote from Philip Pullman, taken from his novel The Amber Spyglass.  It’s about death, I suppose.  Or maybe just a transition to something else entirely.  It’s nice to think of my grandma and Rose and my sweet, sweet love of a dog falling in the raindrops and riding on the wind through tall grass.  If it wasn’t raining, I’d take my computer outside right now.

“Even if it means oblivion, friends, I'll welcome it, because it won't be nothing. We'll be alive again in a thousand blades of grass, and a million leaves; we'll be falling in the raindrops and blowing in the fresh breeze; we'll be glittering in the dew under the stars and the moon out there in the physical world, which is our true home and always was.” 

[3ebeb1]

Nar_C Interpretation

Tbh I realize I’m late to this by x days but as someone who’s been wanting to find a way to make a visual shorthand for this interpretation, it just isn’t gonna happen (at least, not for everything I can pull from the mv & lyrics). Because there’s so much to unpack with Holland’s Nar_C & I both love & hate it for that.

Warning: it’s long. I’m wordy & over-analytical.

Firstly, Holland isn’t some lil uwu bean to protect in this storyline. Sensitivity aside, a lot of people seem to be forgetting the teaser that confirms everything I view this song to mean (to say nothing of that title dang):

From time to time, Holland would see himself in Jaeseok. You know, the impulsive one in the relationship, one might even say hot-head based on red being a key color he wears. This right here would mean Holland’s character is not the reliable point of narration the viewer should follow. And by this I don’t mean to say it’s wrong to see yourself in other people--everyone gets impacted by the people they hold relationships with to some degree & you take on speech patterns, little behaviors, etc.--but it gets very twisted in the mv like so:

This could be that line played out straight & to its fullest, or a depiction of Holland’s self-loathing taking the convenient form of a boyfriend he’s going through a falling out with. Or possibly even him losing grips with reality as the song lyrics go “the two in the mirror, it's overlapping.” (translation credit)

As a sidebar (because I don’t know where else to drop this info lol): the Narcissus flower has been used as a hallucinogen by the Ancient Greeks. Couple that with Holland’s references to Wonderland “sweet tea & cookie makes me high ... take me to another world, never going back to Wonderland” there’s something at play here with the idea of fantasy and avoiding reality. Which begs the question: what is Holland running from? Himself? Jaeseok? A role created for the ease of a relationship?

A lot of people are familiar with the Greek myth of Narcissus & how it named the same flower, the beautiful youth so transfixed on his own beauty he ignores the world around him. But this isn’t the narcissism I’d say is present in Nar_C. If anything it’s fullscale Psychological Narcissism. 

Psychologically, Narcissists are those who build up an idealized mask of themselves to show the world. A Narcissist will present themselves as someone saint-like, unable to do wrong, wholly perfect, overstate their accomplishments & worth, etc. Only a select few will know what emptiness lurks underneath the mask (because whatever is underneath the mask is empty). These select few are not trusted individuals but someone the Narc views as beneath them, someone to get a Narc supply from by purposefully pushing buttons, antagonizing, etc. In some cases, this person is scapegoated as the cause of the Narc’s problems and made into a foil--a means to showcase everything the Narc is not. It is in this way that the Narcissist’s fantasy is able to still flourish in spite of someone knowing of their mask because the Narc works to discredit the scapegoat at every turn by belittling their emotions, opinions, twisting reality and memories, and so forth. Ultimately, this means the Narc scapegoats someone they hold power over, be it their child, younger sibling, or significant other. (I’m greatly simplifying this but this is the general gist of what a relationship with a Narc is like, at least, whenever you’re on the bad end of it.) 

Granted, we only see snippets of Holland’s & Jaeseok’s relationship in the mv, but what we do see of it swings to extremes: either overwhelmingly sweet or angry. It’s a volatile relationship. And it’s telling that the very first scene we get of Holland--outside of the title--is him storming away from Jaeseok & leaving him outside. This is the story opener. This informs the viewer of who acts in what way & how to feel about them, bias for Holland as an idol aside.

For someone who knows his colors (we do stan an intellectual), it’s also telling that Holland is first seen in a black shirt when any other time he’s in black during the mv, something bad is clearly afoot (see: color coded for your convenience). 

I initially made my first gifset focusing on the color yellow both because I remembered Holland’s twitter comments & because the mv reminded me of Wong Kar Wai’s Happy Together. Neither depict a happy or healthy relationship, no matter the cute domestic scenes scattered in. Both show relationships that are fraying at the ends or include manipulation in order to stay together. And while maybe not as overt as what the couple of Happy Together do to stay together (including forcing your ex who’s been avoiding you to care for you after you got beat up & stealing their passport to keep them from leaving you), there’s enough snippets of something unsettling in Holland’s gazes & an odd, cold posture that suggest a hint of manipulation, at least to me.

I’d argue that here, Holland is actually looking at Jaeseok with love in his eyes. It’s pretty harmless. Versus the scene below:

That’s not what I’d call a look of love. If anything, Holland looks disgusted & even distrustful, which is what makes it feel so unsettling and out of place when taken alongside those scenes of a loving gaze or sweet domesticity.

There’s also a series of points where Holland just comes across as distant & aloof. Did Jaeseok say something to upset Holland, hence the small hug? Am I just over-analyzing facial expressions & body language? Maybe. (This is what happens when you watch your video player collect each frame of the music video to make gifs from lol)

It’s scenes like this that makes me question the relationship between them. The looks Holland gives strikes me as someone asking “Do you love me? What do you think of me?” which is normal to a degree. But if you spend your entire relationship worried about how your significant other perceives you, is it much of a relationship? Or is it you micromanaging your image to ensure you fit a role, either given by your lover or by yourself?

In the end, I’d have to argue that what makes the mv so powerful is not the scene of Jaeseok’s vase coming after he leaves and the missed connections it symbolizes. It’s that Holland’s character is forced to deal with the ramifications of narcissism. It’s not just simply a selfish “I love myself.” It’s the careful crafting of a mask and accompanying fantasy world, so to see Holland leave with the dying Narcissus after Jaeseok doesn’t come back with more flowers? Maybe this means Holland has finally left his mask and fantasy world behind and is ready to try one last time with Jaeseok, assuming Jaeseok is willing to give their relationship one final try.

[fck-dis-shit-im-out]

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[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts: 2x04-- Day 429 (1)

If TGF can do two episodes in one, I can do two recaps for one episode. This recap covers Liz’s part of the ep.

The episode begins on a promising note, informing the audience that there will be two chapters: Liz’s Case and Lucca’s Case. One second in, and it’s already apparent that this episode will be (a) innovative and (b) focused on Liz and Lucca.

I have a feeling I’ve heard the Kings talk before (like, season 5/season 6) about wanting to do an episode like this. Does anyone else recall this? At any rate, I’m glad the writers have TGF to experiment a little more with structure. And I think this particular structure works better on Fight (an ensemble show) than it would have on Wife (a show with one lead).

After we’re informed we’re going to be watching “Liz’s Case” first, we see a sheet of paper with ABC written on it. Jay is running active shooter training with some of the members of the firm, including all of the name partners, Lucca, and Maia (who doesn’t get a seat at the table). This is both timely and a good way of furthering the KILL ALL LAWYERS fears without hitting you over the head with it. (This episode, in general, is light on the KILL ALL LAWYERS stuff, as well as on Trump commentary. There’s just enough to remind the viewer that it’s still weighing on everyone, especially Diane.) A delivery man barges in, making a loud noise and spooking everyone. Yep: they’re definitely still on edge. (A little goes a long way: these are the kind of details I love.)

Also, I appreciate that Jay is running the training. Last week I was impressed/surprised he knew how to deal with the ricin scare, and now I’m assuming that office safety is part of his job (or something he’s volunteer to help with).

Marissa walks in and whispers something to Lucca; we don’t hear what it is.

Someone asks a question over the phone. It’s Liz, but it’s impossible to tell since the connection is terrible. This is relatable. I don’t even want to know how much time I’ve lost at work waiting for clients to figure out how to improve their phone connections.

Liz’s connection is terrible because she’s in the car. And why is she in the car? Because she’s taking her son (!!!) to a doctor’s appointment. I’m so glad the writers didn’t forget about Liz’s son. There aren’t enough parents in The Good Verse.

Liz drops her son off at school, where she learns that his favorite teacher has been fired. They let him go in the middle of the year? Sorry. Not the point.

Liz jumps into action as she heads into work, getting on the phone with the principal and explaining that this teacher was one of the few who was able to get through to her son. Liz walks past Lucca and we see a brief snippet of what’s going on with Lucca before going back to Liz. (Can’t remember if it was at this point or slightly later I realized we were going to get info on what was happening with Lucca, but whenever I had that realization I had to pause the TV because I was so excited about the idea. One could say I liked this episode.)

Liz points out to the (white) principal that the fired teacher was one of few people of color at the school. “Our push for diversity is renowned,” responds the principal. Hm.

Speaking of diversity, before I forget to mention it, after last week I was worried about TGF centering itself on its white leads and becoming too enamored with Marissa. This episode focuses on Liz and Lucca, and while this focus is a little overdue, it does make me hopeful that TGF understands that its black characters are also leads, and that an episode can focus on two black women. That’s especially important for the show to do after it pretty much traded Barbara for Liz.

(I’m still so conflicted on the lack of Barbara. On the one hand, the writers seem to have a great grasp on Liz and they did not understand how to write Barbara at all. But I don’t like calling it a good move to get rid of Barbara, because if they’d just written her character well and given her consistent development, if her fourth episode also showed her POV (ok, fine, her fourth episode was actually the most Barbara-centric one but it wasn’t like this) and expanded what we knew about her life, then maybe I wouldn’t be writing something right now about how the writers had to write her out. I’m a broken record about this, I know, but it doesn’t seem fair to praise the writing for Liz when I know the only reason we have Liz is because the writers failed Barbara/Erica.)

“Yes, I’ve heard about your push quite a bit at the school assemblies,” Liz tells the principal (like she already thought the school wasn’t doing enough…). She also says she thinks they’ll be in touch, since at this point she knows she’s going to try to help the teacher keep his job.

Lucca asks Jay to help her with something; he agrees. As she walks off, Liz approaches him. Now that Jay’s helping Lucca, he doesn’t have time to help Liz, so Marissa jumps in. Liz is reluctant but she goes along with it.

In an informal meeting of the name partners in Diane’s office, Adrian explains that they’ve had lots of cancellations for their party. “The lawyer killings. Our chemical scare,” Diane understands. (Um, why would these people have RSVP’d yes in the first place? The party wasn’t thought up before the chemical scare. It’s what Adrian talks to Diane about at the end of Day 422.)

“I say ‘fuck it,’” Diane responds. “You’ve been saying that a lot lately,” Liz comments. Indeed she has. “Making up for lost time,” Diane winks at the camera. She doesn’t, but, like, come on. This line is extremely meta.

Diane then swivels in her chair and stares Liz down. It’s kind of comical-- not because it’s silly, but because Diane really doesn’t give a fuck and she doesn’t care who knows it.

Adrian picks up on the tension and asks Diane what’s going on after Liz exits. Diane laughs and answers a call on her laptop instead of responding.

It’s Kurt! He’s away on a trial somewhere, sitting in a hotel room. To be completely honest with you, I didn’t remember where Diane and Kurt’s relationship stood. I assumed from the fact that Diane was alone and microdosing they were separated. I also believed this was a pretty safe guess based on the seven years of Alicia/Peter relationship limbo we had to endure in TGW. These writers have never met a separation they didn’t want to prolong until the absolute last minute possible.

And indeed, even though Diane and Kurt were on good terms in 1x10, they’re still “giving it time.” Then the connection breaks up (‘cause miscommunication and technology being unreliable are THEMES this week) and Kurt thinks Diane said the separation is over. Diane closes the laptop instead of attempting to call back. I dunno, I feel like if I was in the middle of a convo like that I’d call back on a cell phone, send a text, something…?

Now the teacher is in Liz’s office and she’s offering to represent him in arbitration. “You are the only teacher to break through Malcolm’s shell,” she explains. She continues by saying that she’s always advised to put him in private school, “but if everybody abandons the public school system, it’ll implode.” Yes, thank you, Liz! (Also, I see why you didn’t get along with Alicia. I’m sure Alicia would also say she supports public schools but, um, she wouldn’t send her own children there unless she absolutely had to. And Liz would find that hypocritical.) 

Liz then calls in Maia. That’s right. Maia is working! THANK GOODNESS. Maia has almost nothing to do this ep, and the little that she has to do is work. Yay!!!

Malcolm’s public school is a charter school, which is… not exactly what springs to mind when I think of “believing in the public school system.” I was a bit surprised the writers didn’t delve into this, especially since other than a few mentions about the threat of unionization, it doesn’t really matter that it’s a charter. And charter schools are their own can of worms.

Elsbeth barges in (HELLO!!!) and only Maia recognizes her. She’s in the wrong place-- she’s looking for Lucca-- so she compliments Liz’s jacket and leaves.

Marissa goes to the school and pretends to be the mother of a second grader. She rambles a bit too much about her TOTALLY REAL husband, but it works. Marissa makes a vaguely racist comment to try to get a teacher to make an explicitly racist comment. She doesn’t get that, but she does get an explanation for why Mr. Coulson (Malcolm’s fave teacher) was let go: he’s gay.

Arbitration begins, and Nancy Crozier is representing the school. Seems she���s on the PTA. So… she has a kid?! I guess that doesn’t surprise me, but now I’m curious about the personal lives of all the recurring characters.

When it comes out that the principal had fired a teacher from her previous school (a Catholic school) because he was gay, we immediately get a reaction shot where Maia’s visible. It’s not Sad Puppy Owen from 4x09, but it’s just a little thing that clues us in to how Maia’s feeling.

The school used an algorithm to decide which teachers to fire so there would be no bias. Maia jumps in with the counterargument before I can scream it at my screen: “All algorithms are pointless unless they are based on good data.” Absolutely. An algorithm is not inherently objective.

I know I am now nitpicking stock footage (would you expect anything else from me?) but in this stock footage of Chicago it is Christmastime (see the red and green lights on the buildings) but in the show it is March.

Also, not at all the point, but one of the buildings in the stock footage now has a huge TRUMP sign on it so I am going to headcanon that Diane (and the others) have to walk past it every day, multiple times, ‘cause I think that’s fitting.

Now we’re at the poorly-attended RBL office party. There’s a lot of champagne and very few people. There are 18 non-RBL people there; Colin Morello makes 19.  

I still don’t get why Colin has to be a series regular, but I do like that the writers are making full use of the fact that he and Liz used to be coworkers. They chat about work for a few seconds until Colin sees Lucca through the glass walls (so! helpful!) with a man. He instantly gets jealous.

Guests 20 and 21 arrive. They’re the algorithm boys from last season. One of them hates a lot of things, including swearing. And, apparently, elevators. What he does like, though, is Marissa. Adrian refers to Marissa by name and as an investigator, which I’m sure would make Marissa happy if she knew about the interaction.

Diane and Liz chat at the bar. Liz asks for advice on dealing with Nancy Crozier, but Diane sees right through it: “This is a thing you do, isn’t it? You ask for advice in order to ingratiate yourself.” Probably true.

“You know, your ‘fuck it’ mode is starting to feel more like ‘fuck you’ mode,” Liz responds. What powers of observation you have, Liz! It’s almost like Diane walked into your office last week, said “fuck you” and left! Oh, wait…

(Also, Liz is wrong. It was Liz’s response to Diane’s ‘fuck it’ mode that made Diane angry enough to say ‘fuck you.” What’s Liz’s endgame?)

“Just appreciating your style,” Diane responds. “I’m just doing my job,” Liz says. Uh-huh. It’s her job to drink with Diane, pretend to ask for advice (ooh, it is a pattern), and then report back to Adrian? “And using what I confide in you to undercut me?” Diane counters. Liz sighs. “Look, I thought Adrian already knew you were thinking of leaving. That’s all,” she explains. Um. Does that track? I thought Liz approached Adrian about bringing on a new partner and told him about Diane, but she could be telling the truth. I am going through Day 415 to see exactly what Liz said, and omg, now I have to watch the Rindell nonsense again and it’s just highlighting how great Day 429 is. The All Access player really needs a 10 second skip feature.

Ok, Liz DOES tell Adrian “She never said anything to you?” so it’s possible that she was trying to be proactive about a situation, not trying to undercut Diane. The whole thing where she suggested Diane take time off and then told Adrian that Diane requested that time… not sure how to spin that one. But best case scenario here is that Liz is just blunt and didn’t mean anything against Diane. A girl can dream, right?

Diane says “it’s more fun to go at each other” in response to Liz, and nope, NOPE. 100% disagree. It is far more fun to watch them be friends. This plot is not fun and I spend every second it’s on screen trying to figure out a way to interpret seemingly malicious actions as benevolent. So… yeah. Sorry, Diane. It’s more fun for you to be friends. And you seem like you could use a friend right now. (Did Diane lose all her friends?)

Diane does offer Liz advice on dealing with Nancy: “She plays at being the nice girl while being tough. She’s good. But her rhythm is thrown off by objections.” The first part, definitely (I’m shocked that still works for her). The second part, is that a thing we’ve seen before?

Elsbeth arrives at the party and Diane’s excited to see her. Who wouldn’t be excited to see Elsbeth? Elsbeth is the best.

Elsbeth doesn’t seem to understand why the offices don’t have furniture (answer: they do; it’s been put in storage for the party). But she doesn’t spend too long wondering, because Diane asks her to sit down and compliments her dress. That’s right: Diane compliments Elsbeth’s wardrobe.

“Ooh! What do you think they’re talking about?” Elsbeth remarks when she sees Lucca spit out her drink. And then things get meta.

“It’s weird,” Elsbeth says. “We’re just the background characters to their story.”

“And they’re just the background characters to our story,” Diane points out.

“And we’re all just background characters to his story,” Elsbeth says, speaking of the bartender. “He could be the hero, and we could be the villains of the story.”

“Or we’re the heroes, and he’s the villain,” Diane spins. “That’s what keeps us humble. Not knowing,” Elsbeth says. “Or paranoid,” Diane counters.

I love this exchange. Is it incredibly on the nose? Is it an all caps Thesis Statement for the episode? Is it one of the least subtle things I’ve ever seen? Is it as obvious about the point it’s making as I am being right now, saying the same thing four times? Hell yes, it is. Is it still great? Yep.

The show is poking fun at itself, Elsbeth is exactly the kind of character that would start talking like this, and I totally believe that Diane would be game for this kind of conversation given her state of mind. It fits to have Diane thinking about these things-- even if only while making small talk with Elsbeth-- when she’s already questioning so much.

(I also like how every time Elsbeth suggests something that would have negative implications for Diane’s view of herself-- that she’s a background character, that she’s a villain-- Diane recenters the narrative. I am not sure that Diane’s doing it on purpose, but, uh, she is used to seeing herself as the hero.) (I don’t mean that as a negative thing! Just an observation!)

Diane turns the conversation even darker, because Elsbeth is a surprisingly good confidant: “You know, last week, I was walking down the street, and there was this homeless man digging for bottles in the trash and yelling at the top of his voice about the president and the country and how we’re all going insane. And I realized: that’s what my inner monologue sounds like. And that when I decided. I’ve got to change.” “To what?” “To someone who’s not going crazy.”

Well. There’s a lot going on there. As seems to be the theme for Diane this season, she’s feeling what everyone else is, but taking it one step farther.

Elsbeth doesn’t know how to react, so she compliments Diane. Then she compliments Diane’s necklace, and Diane gives it to her, along with her belt.. I… don’t know that I like this. It’s cute, but it seems so off-kilter it also worries me.

“I never thought you liked me, Diane,” Elsbeth says. “Hey, you know what? That’s my fault,” Diane admits. That’s sweet!

I don’t know what to make of this scene as a whole. Part of me thinks it’s a nice little Diane/Elsbeth moment where Diane’s No Fucks Given policy allows her to connect with a peer. A bigger part is worried that this scene might look like a warning sign (for what, I don’t know) once we get a little farther into the season.

I don’t get why this Colin/Lucca scene is here, in Liz’s story, right after a scene Liz also isn’t in. I understand that we have to see it before we know what’s going on for the story to work, but something (in editing, writing, or directing) could’ve been done here so this didn’t stand out. Also, Lucca invited Colin to the party, knowing she was pregnant and he was the father, but she has no plans of telling him he’s the father? Alrighty then.

And now for a third Liz-free scene in Liz’s section of the show (this one is, at least, related to her case). Marissa and Maia head down to the 22nd, where everyone’s talking and dancing and there’s music blasting. It is a much more exciting scene than the 23rd. But Marissa and Maia don’t join the party: instead, they discuss algorithms.

Nancy, who has now practiced law in Chicago for 8 full years, literally says “I’m just a small-town girl from Michigan.” I’m going to take that as a shout-out to the fans.

Liz’s son is throwing a ball against the wall, repeatedly, and driving Lucca crazy. She tells him it’s annoying. And because Lucca as a Parent is a THEME, we get to see Lucca interacting with a child (and, of course, Lucca’s reactions to her interactions with a child).

“And would you consider state-mandated testing to be a subjective data point?” the mediator asks. I don’t know if I would call it subjective but I would call it a terrible metric! (But I’m ahead of the episode. The minute I heard state-mandated testing I was ready to rant about testing practices and the costs of teaching to a test. I’m a little shocked that Liz didn’t go there immediately.)

Lucca dared Malcolm to make something out of paperclips, and now he’s totally caught up in crafting a paperclip zombie. Awww. My favorite detail about this scene is that Liz picks up a paperclip to help her son with his project, even as she’s still thinking about her case.

Liz realizes something: Malcolm’s score on the state-mandated test went down when he had a better teacher. He got a 92 last year, and a 73 this year. I assume those are percentages, not percentiles? I don’t recall much about these exams, but aren’t these sorts of things usually scored by percentile and not accuracy? Oh, my God, why do I care?

Tbh, this is just making me really grateful for my own education. I didn’t get a single letter grade or percentage based grade until I was 10 or 11 (maybe on a math test before that?), and grades didn’t “count” until 6th grade. We also weren’t ever assigned homework until 3rd grade. I have some complaints about my (private) elementary school, but I think that system worked well. We could learn without the fear of failing an exam. And while I’m sure I would’ve done just fine if I’d had grades when I was a kid (I love structure and I always have), I bet it really helped the kids who don’t test well.

What I’m saying is, and I’m probably preaching to the choir, teaching to a test, particularly a state-mandated standardized test that will determine staffing and funding, is a terrible idea. It doesn’t help the kids learn, it requires teachers to spend time on lessons that may not be as beneficial to their students in the long-run as something that builds critical thinking skills, and it encourages teachers to lie and cheat to keep their jobs.

Liz, Marissa, and Maia get to work going through the exams from the last few years. Maia spots the eraser marks. Of course there are eraser marks.

I wonder how many of the characters on this show (and on TGW) went to public school. My guess is that the list is pretty short.

The cheating teacher denies that she cheated. She claims the students just realized their mistake at the last minute. All of them. Repeatedly. It’s ridiculous, and Maia’s pretty persuasive. (Yay, Maia!) They still need to find proof, but it’s obvious they’re on the right track.

Kurt is in Diane’s office with some roses. Marissa texts Diane “Where r u? Kurt’s here!!” AGAIN WITH THE “WHERE R U”! Marissa would not write like that on an iPhone!!

Marissa asks Kurt, the ballistics expert, if he knows any eraser forensic experts. Not a dumb question, because such people exist! Even if Liz/Maia/Marissa end up with the wrong expert witness initially (they grab Lucca’s witness instead), eraser forensic experts exist!  

I don’t understand Maia’s wardrobe. I cannot find the words to describe her style.

When it becomes clear beyond a doubt that the tests were tampered with, all Nancy wants to know is if she can see her daughter’s test.

Liz tells Mr. Coulson the good news, but… it’s too late. He’s accepted a position at a private school that will pay more. “I still believe in public schools,” he says as he leaves. Ah, a TGW (TGF) victory.

As Liz contemplates her next move, she sees Malcolm and Lucca sharing a sweet moment. Aww.

[tren-fraszka]

Parallels 2018 letter

Dear creator,

Thank you for taking your time to check my requests. I know my requests can sound a bit tricky, but please don’t be discouraged. I wish you will have good time writing first and foremost!

I like humor and tropes, which is probably the only thing you really need to know about my general likes.

I’m very picky about sex tropes, so generally I would be grateful for no graphic sex (unless specified otherwise). Also, if you go for a shippy fic, I don’t want any stuff happening without consent. I like consent a lot. Other dislikes include ABO, mpreg, soulmates, and situations where stuff is happening because destiny said so and nobody questions it.

Also, I included what ships I’m okay with in each fandom. Please do not include any ships that aren’t canon or I have not mentioned in those sections.

REQUESTS

FATE/APOCRYPHA

While I will be first person to admit that this series really could have had a better plot I loved the characters and would enjoy seeing more of them.

Mordred | Saber of Red (Fate/Apocrypha)

I love angry girls with gender issues, so I knew I would love Mordred and boy do I. There’s just something refreshing in seeing characters like her having a healthy amount of anger at the bullshit the world throws at her.

I really enjoyed her interactions with Shishigou, but I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing her interact with other cast members. Her specific circumstances make her a good foil for a lot of characters.

Additional info

I would be very okay with AUs, both Plot Divergences and complete setting changes, since as I mentioned I’m not overly attached to Apocrypha’s plot. So feel free to play with the idea of Mordred being Shishigo’s actual adopted daughter in a modern AU or some interesting what if scenario. Maybe Mordred getting her wish upon the grail, only to discover how terrible the life of a king is.

I’m okay with pretty much any pairing except Sieg/Jeanne (but if you went for an AU where Jeanne and Leticia are not sharing the body I would be pretty okay with Sieg/Leticia). Also, no shipping Shishigou and Mordred, because I much prefer them as a found family. 

Out of things I actually do ship I have a very soft spot for Shirou/Semiramis.

TALES OF BERSERIA

I played Zestiria, so you are free to throw some references to it if you want.

You don’t have to include all the characters I requested, please feel free to concentrate on just one of them.

Eleanor Hume

I really like how much Eleanor changes during the course of the game. And how sincerely she approaches everything. It’s refreshing to see a character who is willing to judge things on her own. Sure, she’s slightly stubborn at first, but Eleanor had really grown on me over the course of the game.

I would probably be happiest with a fic that tracks just how much her attitude changed. It can be about her general attitude or about her relation with someone else in the party. I’m not picky. I just want to see Eleanor discovering that the world is bigger and much less black and white than she thought. But at the same time, even if there are cruelties she was not aware of, there is also kindness she had not seen before.

For some other random ideas: Eleanor helps Laphicet make a present for Velvet (or they outright collaborate on it), or Eleanor has a moment when she realizes just how much the whole party grew on her and how much she enjoys being with them..

Rokurou Rangetsu

I would love any look at Rokuro’s life. I love how it is slowly revealed that he was a very terrible human being, that it is no wonder that he turned into a deamon as a result. The pre-canon look at his life in Rangetsu family and how he turned into a daemon would be great (bonus points for including his mom if you decide on this). As would be his perspective on canon events with some more interactions with any party members. Or post-canon and Rokuro’s journey in search of stronger and stronger foes, during which he meets lots of colorful foes.

Velvet Crowe

Velvet Crowe is one of the most enjoyable Tales protagonist I have witnessed yet. She’s a complicated mess of emotions and trauma, barely held together by her drive for vengeance. Seeing her struggle with all the tragedy, while desperately pushing forward, and waiting to see whether she cracks under the pressure of it all or not was much more interesting than standard Tales hero journey.

I would enjoy an introspective piece for her, since she hides so much of her emotions. That being said, Velvet interacting with other party members is fun too! Whether it be her being demonic bros with Rokuro, butting heads with Eleanor or not having patience for Magilou’s antics, Velvet has an interesting relationship with all of them and I would be happy to see any of those connections explored.

Additional info

I would be pretty okay with the AUs, both Canon Divergence and setting changes. In case of canon divergence, please, just don’t save Velvet with deus ex machina. I’m not opposed to her being saved, but please build that plotline properly. The game sets her demise very strongly throughout the whole game and I need to be properly convinced that there is a chance for her to live through this without becoming a miserable malevolence factory. This is not a problem in different setting AUs.

As for the ships. I do ship Elanor and Velvet, so if that’s you jam I would be happy to see them getting together or just enjoying being together. They have very interesting dynamics throughout the game and I would love to see some more romance in it. I would also be okay with more risque content for this ship.

TALES OF XILLIA

Who loves Tales series more with each new game they play, this gal over here. Also, I’m currently playing Xillia 2 and while I’ve gone through most of the game, I may not be able to finish it before this exchange ends due to the real world responsibilities. So while referencing Xillia 2 would be okay with me, please avoid endgame spoilers for it.

As previously you don’t have to include all of the requested characters.

Jude Mathis

Jude is one of my favourite protagonist for being just plain relatable. I love how he develops through the story and how much his issues rule over his decision before he gets his act together.

I would really love a look at Jude’s life before the game. I find his relationship with his parents very interesting and would love to see it explored more deeply. How did he go about applying to Talim and how his parents reacted? What about Leia? How did Jude manage in Talim?

I’m also very okay with a more indepth look at his journey. What were his feelings at the beginning? How did he feel revisiting his hometown and having to face his parents to be able to help Milla? Any and all snippets from this time are fine by me.

Elize Lutus

The best child character in video games I’ve seen in a long time. I would love to see more of her adventures and how she learns to open up to other people.

I probably would love a post-canon story the most with Elize trying to fit into a normal school. I would love to get a glimps at her attempts to make new friends and not appear to be too weird. I would especially love if Elize and her friends ended up getting into some sort of trouble. Maybe they decided to investigate some rumours and run into a monster or bandits and Elize saves the day with things she learned while travelling with the team. Bonus points if the knowledge from her travels is very questionable.

Just like with Jude, I would also be very open to some insights into her feelings during the plot of the game. Especially, how she slowly starts opening up to others after joining the party.

Additional info

I’m okay with AUs, both canon divergence and setting changes. Given that Xillia 2 enables any and all divergences you really, really shouldn’t hold back in that regard. On that note I would be very partial to any member of Chimeriad surviving, because they all deserved better. For setting changes I don’t have any specific.

I’m okay with ships: Jude/Alvin, Jude/Milla, an OT3 involving all of them, Leia/Agria and Gaius/Wingul.

FATE/EXTELLA

I will be honest. I have a lot of complaints about the characterization of some of the characters and the plot of this game, it gave me one thing I really love and damn do I want it.

Jeanne d'arc | Ruler (Fate/Extella) & Gilgamesh (Fate/Extella)

The interactions between Jeanne and Gilgamesh gave me life, watered my crops and made me laugh a lot. Those two get along in that they reinterpret each other’s words completely whenever they interact. It’s incredible.

I love the grudging respect they have for each other, because while they both heavily don’t approve of each other’s worldview and lifestyles, they can’t dismiss the will and dedication the other has.

Additional info

I’m okay with AUs and canon divergences. The subscenarios for both of them were painfully short in the game, so I would definitely be up if you expanded on them or just had some wacky adventures involving both of them. Just please don’t include Titan!Altera, Charlot!Tamamo or Elizabeth acting like she did in that game. I still have trauma from their characterization. Servant!Altera, and Elizabeth&Tamamo with characterization from Extra or Grand Order will be very okay. If you really need one of those characters with the characterization from this game, then I understand, but please, don’t linger on the scene where that happens. Just get it done quickly.

As I said, I’m not a big fan of Extella’s plot, so if you want to throw it all away and just have fun with the characters I will definitely approve. Gilgamesh and Jeanne meeting during a Grail War could be interesting. As well as, some Grand Order shenanigans if you played that game.

If you want to just have fun with their characters without the whole Servant stuff then, I’m also very open to it. The idea of Jeanne and Gilgamesh as childhood friends who are now forced to share a flat as students is an idea that I absolutely love, because they would find those arrangements very challenging and definitely have a lot of complaints about each others’ lifestyles.

I will limit myself to the ships involving the people I requested, which means absolutely no ships for Jeanne. For Gilgamesh I’m okay with shipping him with both Enkidu and Kirei, but well, we all know how he is, so feel free to have him sleeping around if it fits your fic.

MAHOU SHOUJO ORE

Yamo Konami

I found Konami’s misadventures very amusing. I love how completely mismatched his position and goals are. I would love to see more of his shenanigans, whether it be him making terrible management decision during the canon or him “repenting” after the canon. Maybe he attempts to become a mascot, because what better way is there to express his passion for magical girls? I also wouldn’t mind a pre-canon look on how he came to love magical girls as much as does.

All ships are crazy in this series so I’m okay with whatever direction you want to spin them, as long as you acknowledge the canon crushes the characters have. By which I mean, if the character has a canon crush make sure to do some build up so that it doesn’t feel strange if they find a new object of affection.

[tuesdayrising]

Lair Review for Marmite #84463

@marmite-fr

Your lair is making me miss my days in Shadow, oh man. Maybe I’ll have to visit again someday.

Luno was the very first dragon that caught my eye. I love love love the red/black/gold combo, and I can never say no to a wolf cape. Even better, I love his bio, especially the info section. It makes him seem like a foe to be reckoned with, but also just a tired dad who needs a stiff drink at the end of the day.

Also, if you finish the WIP lore in his bio, please do let me know!  “He played with Gods and lost” is such a killer line omg.

What did I say about wolf capes? Ugh, Ajit is just so wonderful it’s not even fair. I love the way you’ve layered his coats and how well it works with his accent. He feels like some kind of high-flying adventurer, the kind that gets into trouble he shouldn’t be able to get out of, and yet he’s still alive, still kicking. And maybe there’s some ancient artifacts involved. It just fits, I think.

LENKA IS SO CUTE. Ginger is such a great color, and you’ve dressed her just perfectly for her role! She looks like she’s the kind of innkeeper who’s cute and inherited the place from her parents, and like she runs the place with SO MUCH ENTHUSIASM and many layers of pretty skirts. 

I realize now that she and the other two all have offspring named with Roman numerals, which is really interesting. Is there any lore reason for that?

YOU CAN’T END HIS LORE THERE. Holy smokes, this fella had me interested by his name alone, and that snippet of lore just sold me for sure. Who was he before he was Prototype V? What about the four prototypes before? Prototypes of what exactly? Who is his charge? Did she survive anyway? There’s just so much more I want to know about him!

Also, he’s dressed super well. Keep up that gold aesthetic, please.

I’m getting predictable, aren’t I? I keep choosing these skink dragons in shades of brown and gold, but I just can’t stop... But hey, it’s worth it. Nevena is so pretty, and her lore is super unsettling in a fantastic way. You might as well ping me whenever you update your lore bc I’m just so absorbed in it after reviewing only five dragons. It all feels so intricately and suspiciously connected, and I’d love to see more!

[seven-oomen]

Hi Ben!  Hope you’re doing okay in these utterly batshit times.  I’m pretty sure I had thought of some other stuff related to my last submit, but can not for the life of me remember any of it in the wake of getting up this morning to find out that Destiel is actually a thing now.  And while I admittedly have not watched the clip floating around, just seen the assorted reactions and context breakdowns, etc, I feel like people might want to stop and consider how much info was dumped on Dean (known for being insanely emotionally repressed most of the time anyway) in a very short time, and that maybe he didn’t react (like they wanted) because he was attempting to process it all and was sort of running on autopilot while he did?  Like damn, people, give him a minute (hence that final scene where it’s actually had a chance to hit him.)  Anyway, I’m apparently feeling salty about the complainers.

Saw the new preview and am very curious how that scene’s gonna play out.  Took an unexpected dive through angst as I was thinking about the two most recent snippets.  It’s like, Peter, he’s watched you and Chris fall for each other, helped come up with a plan to get Chris away so you can have your HEA, probably heard you refer to Chris as “the love of your life” on possibly more than one occasion, and you wonder why he assumes you aren’t serious when you flirt with him?  Really, Peter?  And now Chris has returned to your lives and he gets to watch it all happen again as you get a second chance at everything with Chris now being a wolf, too, and you have kids together even, and he’s still just there being stable and reliable and supportive out on the fringes looking in and FUCK I gave myself feels again, where the hell did I put the leftover chocolate?

Sorry, no unexpected NSFW thought yet today, yesterday was my first day back at work from vacation.  Although that post about lemons, etc, gave me SO MANY FLASHBACKS.  It did occur to me that it would be super funny if lemon became like some kind of code for “in search of sexytimes” between the boys.  Like someone bakes lemon bars, or brings home lemon sorbet, or makes some lemonade, and they start giving each other looks  throughout lunch/dinner while the kids pretend they don’t notice.

And yeah, like I said, that blue eyes explanation was the one I’d seen that made the most sense, but I do like that idea of it being trauma based, because that’s even more neutral as far as hunter reactions would go (the only two I would really question fitting it are Cora and Theo).  Because I don’t recall ANY of the hunters (not even Gerard) ever commenting on it despite there being several wolves in Beacon Hills with blue eyes, so I feel like it really can’t be the whole innocent life thing.  (And I mean hell, maybe that was something Talia stuck in Peter’s head one of the times she used her claws on him.  Because apparently she thought it was totally cool to fuck around with her little brothers memories whenever she felt like it.  [I might still be a little salty about learning that, too.])

I swear there was probably more, but my brain is a glitching wasteland right now.  I can’t even look at election stuff without wanting to hyperventilate.  Tried to work on my WIP, came up with three other AU ideas instead, at least two spawned by random tumblr posts.  If I remember any of the other stuff I was going to mention, I’ll try to write after I get home from work.  Hope writing goes well today!  (At least as can be expected…)  Hope you and Mo are continuing to do well!  Take care!  *Hugs!* 

I mean I couldn’t sleep last night and woke up multiple times throughout the night. But that turned into the most batshit crazy thing ever and now I can’t stop going through Tumblr because holy shit what the fuck is even happening anymore.

I’m laughing so hard all of my balls dropped.

I used to be a huge Destiel shipper, wrote countless fanfic but I just found it very funny to take the piss out of the SPN writers by sharing all those memes. 

I honestly don’t think Dean doesn’t care about Cas and that he has to process a lot. It’s just the way it was shot and edited makes it seem like a one sided confession and that’s hilarious to me. 

I think most people are honestly just taking the piss out of this. But I can definitely see your point here.

Saw the new preview and am very curious how that scene’s gonna play out.  Took an unexpected dive through angst as I was thinking about the two most recent snippets.  It’s like, Peter, he’s watched you and Chris fall for each other, helped come up with a plan to get Chris away so you can have your HEA, probably heard you refer to Chris as “the love of your life” on possibly more than one occasion, and you wonder why he assumes you aren’t serious when you flirt with him?  Really, Peter?  And now Chris has returned to your lives and he gets to watch it all happen again as you get a second chance at everything with Chris now being a wolf, too, and you have kids together even, and he’s still just there being stable and reliable and supportive out on the fringes looking in and FUCK I gave myself feels again, where the hell did I put the leftover chocolate?

This is honestly why I love your reactions so much because with every single one I’m like; WRITE THAT DOWN! THAT”S GOOD SHIT!

But yeah, Peter flirting with Noah definitely wasn’t his best thought out plan and it’s very understandable that Noah doesn’t give him anything in return. I kinda plan for Chris to start werewolf courting Noah and Peter then joining in, confirming it to Chris that this is normal werewolf behaviour. But yeah, there’ll be angst and there’ll be plenty of it!

I’m also thinking of a scene where it’s basically just the puppies (the kids) getting together to come up with a plan to bring their parents together. Not sure how I’ll pull that off, but thoughts are forming.

And I mean hell, maybe that was something Talia stuck in Peter’s head one of the times she used her claws on him.  Because apparently she thought it was totally cool to fuck around with her little brothers memories whenever she felt like it.  [I might still be a little salty about learning that, too.

Yeah, honeslty I never really understood why they did this to a character that already had that much trauma to process. It’s so fucked up and really breaks the narrative that Talia was this wise and benevalent Alpha because holy shit...

Mo’s sleeping and napping a lot today and I’m taking it easy so we’re gonna be okay. Hope you’re okay too and I’ll see if I can post another preview for distraction today <3 

I hope to get this chapter out by tomorrow so you’ll have more distractions too.

Big hug from both us!

[led2020me-blog]

Everything You Need to Know About Using Video on Your Exhibition Stand

We enjoy getting fun and are now conditioned to want something on request. When we watch Television we watch Netflix and commercials don't bother us. (Of course, that is only so that we can scroll via Instagram at the same time haha) It is well known that attention spans are decreasing quickly, which can make our work a bit more complicated as trade show marketers. When it comes to the construction of an exhibition show, merely constructing the greatest possible showcase and placing the company logo on it is no longer enough (and shame on the exhibition design firm who ever believed it was!).

What we have to do is go back to basics and make sure we deliver knowledge in its simplest form, so that the passing customer can quickly absorb it.

This is where video will become the best weapon for drawing people to your unique exhibition stand at your trade show. There are a few prerequisites for ensuring that it does not fall under the category of brain-dead adverts.

Make a fantastic video exhibition 

1. Don't use sound-needed footage!

Then what!? I hear you say, a soundless video? Yeah, talk about how distracting shows can be and how many people in stores are still trying to hold discussions. When you focus on sound to get your message out, you will soon discover that, if anything, it will have very little effect.

Depend more on excellent graphics and simple typography to get the point across. Do not have a commodity that is conveniently physically represented, and then try using motion graphics or an animated series to get the point across.

2. Look out for the storyline There has to be a consistent storyline (beginning, middle and end) on regular video output. For an exhibition film, though, you have no influence at what point someone could come in contact with your film.

A tourist has to be able to get some interest from the video wherever they choose to watch. This has to be short video material, or a series of short, impactful images. The distribution is packed in clips so that if you enter part way through and share the best videos advantages or points of discrepancies so that they serve as the extra salesperson on the stand, you are not entirely lost.

3. Can reflect a main campaign message Nobody sees advertisements at home on their Television.  Believe me, they are just not going to watch them at a trade fair.

Whenever I see someone put up material I sigh that really doesn't resonate with anybody. It may be top notch content produced by any head office abroad, but an insty-bitsy-bit (technical term) doesn't matter if it's not presenting a key word.

I appreciate so more people prefer not to depend entirely on static images, but if it is not really adding meaning, you can save your money as well.  

4. Having an opportunity You might only loop the video at the end, but something that fits pretty well requires an reward or an appeal. For eg, "come and speak to one of the staff on the XYZ table" or even–"submit your information for a free month trial / get 20 percent off your first order / submit a reward draw / etc"–that will get you to contact info, which will then give you a funnel for assault.

5. Let things work better For your social media programme, use it in your pre-show ads or snippets. Even if you do not have sound on at the show adding a voiceover or subtitles that add to your video's longevity. To build a hype, put up on your website or social media, it can be submitted to pre-show clients.

You should send them as a link in a follow-up email during the series. During the show all contact points can help relate the event's experience to the product or service after they have returned to work or their everyday lives. It helps keep the conversation running.

6. Be careful when selecting hardware LED's that are fine, but can be exxy. We have some bling aspect about them, but you have to remember that you are selecting your equipment based on what you want to achieve. EG, if the LED's are too spaced out, it makes it hard for text to read close up. learn more about how to hire indoor led screens here!

Think how much you'd use the cameras, and weigh the risk of recruiting over purchasing. Hiring is costly, but if you're doing anything a bit more complex it always comes with tech help so worth considering.

Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goTuKJ6VCJQ

[dizitalsparrow]

⇩ How to grow E-commerce brand sales 10x ⇩

So, do you have products however you are not getting them sold? Are you trying to bring the audience to your store and sell the products online?

Do you want to grow e-commerce brand sales 10x higher? If so, this is the right place you should be focused on ⇩ 

Highlights:-

Showcase your products first

Target your existing customers 

Need to know your audience

Make use of Video’s 

Use of Social Media 

Make your website mobile-friendly 

Re-targeting 

Throw offers & discounts 

Showcase your Top-selling items 

Shoot an unfailing weapon on special events & holidays 

Create a Sense of Urgency (FOMO) 

Acceptability of different payment options

Showcase your products first-

To grow e-commerce brand sales 10x higher and make successful your e-commerce business ensures that the product page you make interesting as it can be. I know, it takes a lot of work but its payoff is huge. Make sure, you use fancy and implicative descriptions because this has been proving that long content does not rank higher for blog posts, but it also ranks and works well for the product page. If you are not good enough in copywriting then you can hire content writers from dizitalsparrow.com, freelancer.com and much more. So, anytime if a customer is searching for the product, the search engines show the superb images & sneak previews, and the snippet of pictures and text are based on the website. This will help to drive the traffic towards thrown offers on the website.

Target your existing customers-

To grow e-commerce brand sales 10x higher and get the consistent growth in e-commerce online sales, ensure that you are putting more effort to make the interaction through offers, discounts with your existing customers. Because you are well known with the challenges and faced while attempting to convert your existing customers into buyers. Those buyers might have their positive feedback on your site and may not leave which is the case of few buyers. It is like, you need to focus more on your existing customers. You should be throwing the plans offers, discounts, products at low price is there more to offer to your existing customers, Make sure, you turn them to repeat customers, neither they will get the chance to move towards your competitors. At the same time, it is great to add new customers to your business.

I am not saying that you should not target new customers. The impact loyal customers have an e-commerce website could be enormous such as:

They can add more items to their shopping carts

You can have a higher conversion rate

More revenue can generate whenever they visit on your website

Know your audience- 

Make sure you must be knowing your audience, don't assume that everybody is your audience. You should have a source of recognizing which specific group of people are interested in my products. To do this in the right & successful way and increase your traffic, you should focus on the target audience. Suppose that, you have products that relate to the stationary. So, at this point, you need to target the audience who use the stationery essentials on regular basis, like school, Institutional area, offices and college audience will be more likely to target the seller of stationery goods. Hence, these are the people you should target your ads, not to everyone. This info can help you to decide the product offers. You can have an offer like stationery goods at a low price with no delivery charge.

Once, you know that who is your target audience then you can test the demand either on google and facebook ads. You can have facebook pixel and google analytics on your site which has different techniques to track the customer activity on your test ad’s site. These two services will help you to give feedback to target demographics, keywords and surely it’s going to grow e-commerce brand sales 10x higher.

Make use of Video’s-

Consumers love to see videos, websites that make the use of video its product will be able to convert the most potential customers to actual customers. Across the world, and more than half of marketing experts say that video has the most return of investment when it compares to other marketing tactics. It is also known that the E-commerce website is having with video that the average consumer spends 90% more time on your site. Consumers are likely to see the video they will remember, what they watched as opposed to reading about it. To increase sales, you can show your products through video ads and even you can tell consumers how to use these products in daily lives.

Make your website mobile-friendly-

Just because, you have a website that doesn't mean that all you will assume that your customers are shopping from the desktop only. You should be aware that More people than ever are using their smartphones, Ipads, tablets for shopping on E-commerce websites. You need to ensure that people who are likely to visit your E-commerce website are not having the problem of optimization. It is a well-known & common reality that people are more reliable to use smartphones. Even 63% of people make the use of a smartphone to shop online, bookings, etc. If you have ever noticed that some times we get declined in sales, that might be an issue of optimization and the website is not mobile-friendly, if consumers would face such issues with the sites then it will turn your potential customers away. So if you want to grow E-commerce brand sales 10x higher then you have to take care of your website. 

Use of Social Media-

Most important techniques to drive your more consumers to your E-commerce website which is arguably an exceptional social media presence. Your most of the consumers are on facebook, youtube, twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. On these social media sites, you can have your blogs, video, pictures that tell about your product. For now, I am specific with Facebook. I am expecting that you will be also a Facebook user. Since you deal in online selling products so I can assume that you have large numbers of people in your friend list, even you can target their friends of friends. Nowadays, several platforms are there on social media that give your ability to link your online store, sell the products to the consumers without the social setting of forceful advertisement.

Retargeting-

Retargeting is to track the visitors of your website by tailoring the ads to fit them. Basically, retargeting is to create the ads around the people who watched the video and pictures, viewed your product, spent quiet time on your website even a person who added your product in their cart but never purchased. Google & Facebook allow the tracking of the audience who visited on your website, so before you create the ad campaign on social media meant specially for those visitors. Moreover, the benefit of retargeting the audience reduces your marketing & ad cost. Doing targeting means you are more likely about a return of your advertisement cost and most effective step in order to grow e-commerce brand sales 10x higher.

Offers & Discounts-

If you want to sell your products & services more then you need to get into the habit of offering more discounts weekly or twice in a week to your potential customers & existing customers. Don’t worry about your profit margins, just use a common marketing strategy which is old but still works.  By jacking up the base price of your product and put it for sale, it is as simple as that.

ShowCase your Top Selling Items-

You should showcase your top-selling products by displaying it more probable than your other products. By doing this, you are giving some direction to your customers that people are buying most with their testimonials. Most of the people like it when the website includes the “Best Seller” on your home page as not everyone who is visiting on your website will know what exactly they are looking for, it will be like informed decision for visitors. You should take this opportunity to showcase your top-selling items with higher margins,  no worries if they might not actually be top sellers, no one knows about that, Just put them on your homepage. It’s one of the major thing which helps to grow E-commerce brand sales 10x higher.

Click here dizitalsparrow.com to grow your business digitally.

Target Special events & holidays-

That is the time, you should keep yourself prepared because on the days of special events & holidays most people are likely to do shopping and want to spend more money than other normal days. Keep in mind that this is a small window of opportunity where you can have massive sales during these events. So, at that time you need to break out your best offers during times of a year.

As you know that during these days shopping malls get packed so it makes more convenient for comfort for people to shop from home, use this to your advantage. Along with, don’t miss to target your existing customers with unique festive offers and send the emails to your subscribers to entice them to buy the products during the holiday season. You need to be pro-active as you know that on any festive and events, people are used to buy gifts for their friends, family as well as themselves too. I would say, you should be promoting your product regularly and market the item as the best gifts for someone you care for.

Create a Sense of Urgency (FOMO)-

If you want to grow E-commerce brand sales 10x higher then you need to create a sense of urgency. That is called Fear of Missing out. (FOMO). This will get the people to act fast than waiting to purchase complete later that is what they may never do. You need to let them customers that you have limited availability of these products and use phrases like “ Once it is gone, It is gone:” That kind of action will create fear in buyers that if, this time they will not purchase the items then may the items would get disappeared and later, when it becomes available, they may have to pay more money. Moreover, you can display the flash sale on a 70% reduction which is going to end till midnight. There are several ideas but it depends that how you drive your techniques.

Accept different Payment Options- 

You must be able to give the maximum option to pay the customer who purchases the product on your website. If you are specific with the payment options like you are only accepting Visa n Master card, that will be like you are turning away the customers. Mostly E-commerce beginners have started to use the PayPal that accepts almost all the major payment options & Stripe as well. My advice is to that if you will have to accept all the methods of payments. Currently, if you don't have your own payment processor then keep it on priority to make the availability of it. All these tactics would help you to grow E-commerce brand sales 10x higher.

Note: For any Online advertising & Digital marketing queries, you can visit at dizitalsparrow.com

[stereksummerexchange]

Mind’s a Mess

@inatshej

by @septima-sum

“This is our new student,” Finstock tells the class. “Derek Hale! Go easy on him, you rabid monsters.”

Stiles gets a burst of anxiety from the new kid. For a moment, he hears Derek’s thoughts loud and clear. I hate First Days. I never get used to the staring. Play it cool, damn it. Play it cool.

Stiles winces in sympathy. Yeah, First Days suck.

To Derek’s credit, he looks as bored and disaffected as he possibly can while introducing himself to twenty new people who will mercilessly judge every single one of his moves. His tells them that his family moved here from New York, which sounds cool until he mentions the upstate part. He has three siblings. Two of them also go this school, while is older sister is off to college. He likes gaming, movies, and food, by which he means eating rather than preparing. He’s also a werewolf. “And that’s it, mostly,” he concludes.

Okay, the last part is probably not something that comes up in most introductions, but that sort of info is par for the course in Beacon Hills. Everybody is something in this town. When Derek is finished with the introduction, he scans the rows of chairs and – hurray! – ends up claiming the free place next to Stiles. He’s slumping into it as if he wishes he could disappear. Makes himself smaller than he is. Observes everything.

Stiles very much wants to read his thoughts, really read his thoughts, deliberately, but doesn’t. He had many a talk with Ms. Morell why privacy is sacrosanct. Being born a telepath, it was a tough thing to learn. He’s always caught snippets of thoughts here and there, even if he didn’t want to. As soon as he could talk, that got him in trouble big time. Like when he’d mentioned the divorce to Scott, who hadn’t known about it. (And neither had his dad, actually).

Great powers beget great fuck-ups.

Speaking of which, Finstock’s cell phone goes off and prompts him to argue with the poor person calling him. “Are you kidding me? That’s why it’s called an insurance – no – that’s the literal definition of the word!” He scowls at the class as if they are to blame for his predicament. “You do group work until I get back! No shenanigans! I’m looking at you, Greenberg.”

“Stop picking on Greenberg,” a girl in the last row yells.

“I’m not playing favorites! I hate all of you!” Finstock shouts and slams the door shut.

“Wow.” Derek seems bewildered, to put it mildly. “Is he always like that?”

Stiles grins. “My sweet summer child… that’s nothing. Wait until he recruits you into the Lacrosse team and gives one of his motivational pre-game speeches. Now that’s a spectacle.”

Derek processes that. “Can’t wait,” he says dubiously.

“What’s up with the whole Clark Kent thing?” Stiles asks him, motioning to Derek’s bulky black glasses and his whole… vibe.  Like the plaid button-down shirt that strains to fit around his athletic form, or the very neat hairstyle that makes him appear like an engineering student form the 1950s.  He seems like the world’s least convincing nerd. As an actual nerd, Stiles feels compelled to defend the honor of his brethren.

Derek corrects the position of his glasses. “Clark Kent?”

“You know, Superman?” Stiles asks in a tone of profound derision. Jesus. They don’t make ‘em any brighter these days, do they.

“I know Superman,” Derek says. He sounds insulted, which, fair point, he has every right to be. “Kal-El from Krypton, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1938. I’m just wondering if you’re talking about the Pre-Crisis or Post-Crisis versions? The Golden Age? Silver Age? Bronze? Or maybe you’re talking about Bizarro Superman.”

“Um,” Stiles utters eloquently. This is not going the way he imagined it would go.

“If you mean the 1930s version, you’re practically describing me as an aggressive vigilante, so thanks for that. Or maybe you think I’m the archetype of the brave-hearted hero with a strong sense of justice, morality and righteousness? Like the version from the 1940s onward? Maybe. But you could also mean that I resemble the recent DCEU version, where Superman is deeply distrustful, doesn’t give a crap about human lives and the entire heroic arc is all about his ego. That comparison I would find offensive, frankly.”

“Uhhh… well.” It’s possible that Stiles’ knees turn a little weak. “I just meant because of the glasses and your whole suppressed jock vibe,” he says. “Dude, I don’t know you well enough to even guess which moral belief system you ascribe to!”

Derek considers this. “If you have to make a comparison at all, compare me to the classic Post-Crisis version,” he says earnestly. “And I’m not a jock, suppressed or otherwise.”

“Ok,” Stiles says, bewildered. “Yeah, I’ll… I’ll keep that in mind. Fine. But really, what’s up with the glasses? Wolves have perfect vision.”

Derek seems to deflate. “I know, and so do hunters. My family insist I tried to blend in as much as possible. I’ve worn glasses for years.”

That Stiles didn’t expect at all. “Really? Wow.” He’s been so used to living in the little bubble that is Beacon Hills that he forgot what it’s like out there. “This town is warded. We haven’t had hunter activity in, like, decades. You couldn’t find a safer place anywhere on this planet.”

Derek looks unconvinced but doesn’t voice his doubts.

-

Truth to be told, Stiles is envious.

Of Scott, who lives for the full moons, for the nights spent running through the Preserve, where he can unleash his powers and feel at peace with himself. Of Kira, whose mother instructed her in the ways of kitsunes since she was a little girl. Even a little bit of Jackson, lizard freak that he is, because even he can display his kanima self in this town whenever he wishes to.

In contrast, telepathic abilities are intrusive by their very nature. Not something to be cherished and celebrated – they’re a problem to be managed.

Which is why Stiles loved loved loved the family trip to Chicago last year. Just being in the city and opening himself up, listening to the hundreds of voices streaming past him. He figured he wouldn’t do any harm that way, not if he couldn’t tell whose thoughts he was emerging himself in… but really, in all likelihood that was probably a convenient lie he told himself.

-

Derek sits with them at lunch. He learns that Scott, Erica, Boyd, and Isaac are werewolves. He learns that Lydia is a banshee and Kira a kitsune.

It’s with the familiar nervousness that Stiles tells him he’s a telepath.

Oh shit, Derek’s mind yells. A telepath? Is he reading my thoughts now? Does he know I think he’s CUTE?

Stiles, under the greatest effort known to humankind up to this point, manages not to do a tap dance in the middle of the cafeteria. He closes his mind, but it’s too late to forget what he just learned. Cute. Derek thinks he’s cute!  

“You can read thoughts?” Derek asks out loud, an anxious edge to his oh-so casual question.

“Yeah,” Stiles confirms and fiddles with his napkin.

“Are you reading everyone’s thoughts here?”

“Absolutely not,” Stiles says and acts extra annoyed because of his latent guilt. “There are rules and guidelines. I have ethics to consider, man. Not that I’m interested in the dull inner workings of you unwashed furballs anyway.” The last part he says to all of the werewolves at the table.

“Like we’re interested in your inner workings either,” Erica says sweetly.

Yelping, Stiles ducks as Isaac throws a crumbled paper at him, but it still hits him right in the center of his face. Curse that scarf-wearing annoyance with his impeccable aim.

“You should really try out the Lacrosse team,” Scott tells Derek. “You look like you’d be a good fit!”

“He means that you’re built like a brick house,” Boys says. “And just for the record, I agree. Come to one of our open training sessions, check it out. There’s no harm in that.” 

Derek hesitates. He’s worried, that much Stiles can tell even without working his telepathic mojo.

“I haven’t really played sports yet,” Derek says. “At school, I mean. My mother was always worried I would be too good at it and would give my werewolf identity away.”

That earns him a few looks a pity, but Scott also slings his arm around his shoulders and tells him it’s all going to be fine.

And maybe for the first time that day, Derek believes them.

-

 Growing up, Stiles watched his parent interact with ease, often communicating mentally instead of verbally. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to him.

Sometimes Stiles will visit Claudia’s grave and the wind will ruffle his hair… almost with purpose, almost lovingly – and he’ll imagine it’s her. He’ll imagine that something of her is left behind; a fragment, a piece or her mind. In those moments, he allows himself to believe she watches over him still.

-

Stiles learns that Derek likes to run first thing in the morning, when the dawn is just breaking and the air is still chilly and damp.

He also collects graphic novels and studies for tests with a single-minded intensity that is nothing short of impressive.

Most of the time he’s so quiet that his deadpan humor all hits them a second too late, surprising them into fits of laughter.

And yes, Derek is great at Lacrosse – which irks Jackson to no end and delights everyone else.

-

They’re supposed to study together, but Stiles can’t focus on electrostatic charge right now.

Because: cute.

It’s unhealthy how often Stiles obsesses about that one word and ponders its many connotations. Why didn’t Derek ask him out yet? Why? It can’t be for the lack of puns about bisexuality, because Stiles didn’t spare him those. And yeah, it’s not like Derek is obligated to make a move, he hardly needs to ask out every person he found attractive for one split second, but… but.

“Stiles,” Derek sighs and closes the book he was reading with a thud. He looks at his friend with fond annoyance. “I feel like this would be so much simpler if you just read my damn mind.”

“You mean that?” Stiles asks, nearly breathlessly.

“I do.”

And that’s how it all begins.

For the lovely inatshej and their prompt: I love friends to lovers, preferebly high school, human, light angst with a fluffy ending, maybe nerd Derek.