#i feel like Japanese comebacks deserve more love

[yoohyeontual]

I’m curious ! Kpop fans reblog this with your fave Japanese release and what Gen has the best Japanese songs 💙 Mine is Galaxy supernova by SNSD ! Gen 2 has the best Japanese songs in my opinion.

[xoioel]

Momo is overwhelmed because of her upcoming comeback w/ twice, so reader decides to help her relieve some stress by giving her a BJ (g!p momo of course) thank you!

➤ RELAX

parings: Momo x Reader

genre: SMUT

warnings: SMUT, soft dom momo, power bottom reader, blowjobs, crying, choking, spit kink, cowgirl, creampie

note: love this request!! ;) and i added a lil bit of reader riding momo just because momo deserves it 😘😻 ive never wrote soft dom before bc i love getting treated like a slut

Hearing someone slam the door, you makes your way down the stairs to see your girlfriend has come home. Boo and Dolby ran to the door to see their owner has come back home. She looked very exhausted and tired after she just finished promoting set me free and now she gas to promote hare hare and prepare for the world tour, So she was ready to just sleep

But you forgot that you were only wearing shorts and a bra which flipped a switch in Momo, She grabbed you and pinned you on the wall and began to hungrily kiss you, Shes moaning into the kiss. You bit her lip fighting for dominance as you stuck your tongue in her mouth. Now out of breath you pull back to get some air. “Missed you sooo much y/n” Momo says face flushed and out of breath.

You kissed her again but this time you pulled her closer and began to grind on her as you both make out. You felt Momos boner on your leg as you continued to grind up on her, she pulled away and makes her way up the stairs grip tight on your hand treating you very harshly as she drags you about. Reaching the bed in the middle of the bedroom she turns to you, gaze hard eyes filled with dominance and lust.

“On your knees y/n.”

She doesn’t even wait for you to respond, before shes pushing you to the floor. Sitting on your knees you look up just in time to see her pull her cock out. Her hard painfully cock pulsating in her hand as she reached for your braids; grabbing it and harshly pulling on your braids as she thrusts into your open mouth.

A satisfied groan leaves her lips as she throws her head back, fingers tightly grabbing the sheets while her other hand has a firm grip on your hair keeping you in place. Her hips thrusting wild and without rhythm as she abuses your throat in chase of her release.

Your gags only spiring her on as saliva begins to drip down your neck, tears streaming down your face at the brutality of her thrusts. Its only when she feels you swallow around her cock that she reaches the edge, so close to falling into a pit of pleasure.

“f-fuck i-im going to cum” Momo says in broken moans. She thrusts fast, blabbering in Japanese as she chases her high. Her eyes roll to the back of her head with a final snap of her hips and she cums, her cock buried deep inside your throat. You swallow all of her cum before showing her that you swallowed it all. You catch your breath, reveling in her reddened cheeks and heaving chest.

Straddling her petite form, you tease her once more; rubbing yourself against her cock and watching as her gaze turns to one of ice. It’s only now you see a glimpse of the sexy woman she is to everyone else on stage, her expression that of a devil as a growl rips through her throat. Momo’s desperation had never been so evident, rutting into you from below at an attempt of slipping inside, biting her lip so hard it looked as if it might tear.

“I swear to fucking god, if you don’t-“ You finally lower yourself onto her cock and her ramblings are cut off by her own lewd whine, brows knitting together in the centre as the look on her face turns to one of pure ecstasy. Momo’s brain goes blank for a few moments, unabashed whimpers leaving her pretty lips.

Slowly moving yourself up and down on her cock, you bask in the way she’s shivering beneath you; her plump chest rising and falling quickly as her breaths become more uneven. Momo’s mumbling an array of praises and thank you’s.

“Unnie? tell me whats going on in your head, because youve been tense this whole time and i want you to relax” You say as Momo continued to moan very porn like.

“I- I’ve been soo stressed out with- fuckkk~ with relearning choreography and new choreography and- go har-harder please~ i just need a break,” Momo’s eyes lock with yours as she begins to tell you what’s wrong, “Please, don’t…stop.” You increase your speed, bouncing swiftly on her lap and pulling her head back by her hair. Momo’s eyes roll back once again at the mix of pain and pleasure, throwing her over the edge unexpectedly as she cries out, “ngh- shit, oh fuck i’m gonna cum.”

You smirk and tilt your head, pouting a little, “Can you hold on a little longer for me, hm? I know you can do it good girl.” The use of the title makes her tense up and she nods, squeezing her hands together behind her back as she holds off her impeding orgasm with all her might. You curse as you also feel your climax nearing and Momo’s eyes widen, a fire blazing in her chest at the thought of making you cum around her cock.

You’re rutting your hips against Momo’s as she whimpers your name; dangerously on the brink of her orgasm while she begs you to cum for her, “Please, baby, I need to feel it - Need to feel you, mmm, ngh- Cum for me.”

Seeing Momo like this is as close to heaven as you’ll get, the way she moans your name like a mantra and her sinful expression twists with pleasure is truly your nirvana. It sends you over the edge and you see white, blinded by the hot pleasure coursing through your veins. Just before you lose all cognitive thought to the ecstasy, you make sure to order Momo through your moans, “Cum for me, jaji.” You barely finish the command before Momo’s filling you up, crying out and shivering uncontrollably beneath you.

But the night doesnt end here.. Because you have to make sure your girlfriend is relaxed

[nayeonline]

Ari's K-Pop Roundup: April 2024 (NewJeans, IVE, RIIZE, KISS OF LIFE, ARTMS, LOOSSEMBLE, BABYMONSTER + MORE)

check out last months installment here :)

Bubble Gum - NewJeans

With HYBE collapsing in on itself and ADOR being the epicentre of the explosion, a part of me was a little afraid that NewJeans' comeback would take a hit in the quality department. From the first bars of 'Bubblegum' I knew I had been worried for no reason.

'Bubblegum' is an early 2000s synth fueled record with an edge of 80s Japanese citypop. It's groovy, simplistic, and effortless in execution, and while it isn't necessarily an innovation in NewJeans' notoriously trend-setting discography, it's still a welcome addition that capitalizes on the members vocal tones and the group's style beautifully.

The music video is gorgeous, as usual, with it taking notes from the raw, realistic nature of 'Ditto' and the colour-pop confidence of 'Hype Boy'. Danielle looked especially gorgeous in her natural curls, and Hanni's sharp bob is so striking - she looks like an anime heroine, and I love it.

I know we've all heard the phrase 'I think I just made the song of the summer' a little too much these past few years, but I am of the opinion that NewJeans has successfully achieved it with 'Bubblegum' - it's been a whirlwind year so far for me, and something easygoing and chill like this is exactly the energy I will be bringing into the hotter months.

Even though they have made ripples in the kpop industry, it seems nobody can do it quite like NewJeans.

해야 (HEYA) - IVE (IVE SWITCH)

note: i will be covering the rest of the mini album when the m/v for 'accendio' is released next month, so stay tuned :)

Coming off of the mildly contrived 'Baddie' and the shockingly beautiful 'Off The Record' from 2023's 'I'VE MINE' EP, I wasn't sure where I was going to stand with IVE's comeback. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised.

'Heya' is a track with a chorus melody that makes such perfect sense that you are left amazed that nobody has thought of it before - its so easily catchy, and being 100% real, it's been stuck in my head since the m/v teaser. The construction of this song is honestly very impressive (Dem Jointz is the arranger so this is unsurprising), every vocal or instrumental motif pokes it's head in and reappears in an effortlessly perfect way, even the raps aren't jarring, a pitfall many a kpop track have fallen down before.

Functionally, this song is the perfect response to 'Baddie': that playful edge they centred in on in that track is still present here, but IVE have returned back to home base a little more and drawn from that elegant, untouchable concept they built in their iconic debut trilogy. 'Heya' understands the elements that saved 'Baddie' from succumbing to unlistenability, and knows how to use them redirect back to the right track without discarding the lessons learnt entirely.

While I don't think this song has reached 'After LIKE' or 'Love Dive' levels of perfection for me, it's still a super fun song for IVE, and absolutely a step in the right direction.

(final note: does anyone else feel like this song samples 'flashing lights' by kanye west?? does anyone else hear this? like at 45 seconds?? maybe im slowly going insane idk)

Midas Touch - KISS OF LIFE

(check out my breakdown of the historical allusions in the mv here)

Kiss Of Life seems to just know exactly what they are doing, and the music is just getting better and better. The Britney edge and old SNSD flair on this track is right up my street, and all the members just give their all on this song, their talent is so consistently clear.

Their seemingly exponential growth in popularity and success from debut is so well deserved, they are truly setting the standard for the quality of music of the 5th generation; they are proving with every release that kpop does have more to offer, there is more innovation to be made.

My grievances at this release being a single album aside, this was a perfect comeback in my opinion. Congratulations Kiof for graduating nugudom, I can't wait to see what you do next.

Impossible + 9 Days + One Kiss - RIIZE

And just when I thought I would never enjoy a boy group release again, RIIZE dropped 'Impossible'. The audacity to release something as fucking amazing as this like 3 months after 'Love 119' (which i controversially loved)??? Insane.

This track marks SM's latest edition to their arsenal of iconic house bangers, 'Impossible' revitalizes everything that made Shinee's 'View' and f(x)'s '4 Walls' so good for the 2024 music scene. It has that late night BBC Radio 1/love island pop edge to it that I have been yapping about for months, and I am so obsessed. This is how to compete with Somi's 'Fast Forward' for the most british sounding kpop song.

'One Kiss' is a sonic sequel to 'Love 119' - I am just so obsessed with how much they sound like an early 2000s western boy group on tracks like this, they just exude NSYNC energy. '9 Days' is another laidback pop hit, with a little more energy and longevity than 'One Kiss'. The sound of 2024's summer in kpop has clearly been established, and I for one am in favour.

RIIZE being the first boy group to last more than two comebacks on my stan list is really something I didn't see coming, but it's a welcome change.

SHEESH - BABYMONSTER (BABYMONS7ER)

I think babymonster may start to be delegated to the mini review section of these monthly reviews, because I am genuinely struggling to find something likeable within this song. 'Batter Up' at least had a danceability to it, even if it was highly derivative, but 'Sheesh' is just so predictable to me. Even the switch up from the standard YG party final chorus felt formulaic somehow, and the mini album wasn't much better.

Ahyeon is back though, and she proved once and for all that she is absolutely a necessary part of the group - her rap was easily the song's highlight. The performances from this era were genuinely excellent considering what they were working with.

I don't like being a stuck record with groups I just will never enjoy, so I apologize, but discussions around their future releases will be limited going forward, unless they drop something that I actually enjoy.

Pre2: Flower Rhythm + Pre3: Candy Crush- ARTMS (Dall)

There is something about modhaus production that just works for me, and the interpolation of Heejin's 'Algorithm' on 'Flower Rhythm' is a really exciting choice. The verses, post-chorus and bridge are very strong in my opinion, but the chorus itself seems to get a little lost in the sauce. I can see that chorus growing on me however, and the rest of the song is highly enjoyable, very evocative of the yyxy sub-unit.

Haseul's 'Plastic Candy' is one of my favourites from the ARTMS girls' releases, and with it's interpolation in 'Candy Crush' means I am predisposed to be obsessed with this song. It's a little jazzy, a little citypop, and it's the perfect late night summer vibe. This is easily my favourite of the pre releases so far, but the sheer array of styles the girls have demonstrated makes me very excited to see where they go for the title track.

Girls' Night - Loossemble (One Of A Kind)

LOOSEMBLE AND ARTMS RELEASES IN ONE MONTH??? WE WON

Loossemble's 'Sensitive' was pure pop perfection, and the album was just as impressive, so going into 'One Of A Kind' and its title 'Girls' Night' I just knew they were going to deliver.

'Girls' Night' is a classic LOONA type track, a total kaleidoscope of sonic innovation, and it stuns throughout its 3:24 runtime (we love long songs). My girl Yeojin got PINK HAIR, Vivi got a lore update, and Gowon unlocked her irish ancestry - overall a 10/10 in the visuals department. The rest of the album is an actual masterpiece; 'Moonlight' is a banger that caught me off guard by how good it is, 'Boomerang' has an addictive almost hyperpop edge - it's very evocative of Yeppi Yeppi by aespa, or even Paradisin' by Rina Sawayama. 'He Said I Said' plays it a little too safe in the production department in my opinion, and it comes off a slightly childish for them - it's a perfectly enjoyable song, but probably the weakest on the album. 'Truman Show' brings in a more acoustic sound, which builds with the synth to create a truly cinematic feel - it has a ballad vibe, but keeps it on the upbeat side, so if kpop ballads aren't your thing, you still might enjoy this one. 'Starlight' is a perfect album closer, and although it will never be my favourite LOONA song with 'Star' in the title, it's a really beautiful song. This was a really successful album for them, and I can't wait to see what else they bring to the industry.

MINI REVIEWS:

SPOT! - ZICO feat. JENNIE: I was fully prepared to lie and act like this was a masterpiece before I listened because it has my queen jennie in it, but when I actually heard it I was pleasantly surprised with an absolute certified banger. This has that TripleH - 365 Fresh energy that I love, and Jennie's amazing vocals have made me so excited for what shes going to do with her solo work at odd atelier :)

Could It Be + Freak - YUQI ((G)-IDLE): I've never been a huge (G)-IDLE fan, so 'Freak' really wasn't my vibe, but 'Could It Be' had a Sunmi-esque edge that draws me in somehow. Having heard a snippet on TikTok, I also listened to the b-side 'Red Rover', and it's a real standout, make sure to give this one a listen if you only heard 'Freak'.

Blush - woo!ah!: i am in denial thay the official group name is now WOOAH, why are we erasing herstory?? Anyway, 'Blush' really blew me away - this song is so fun, every second is packed with memorable melodies and beautiful production, and that post chorus??? a killer!! SO underrated, if you haven't checked out this song yet this month, be sure to, it's an underrated song that I can see making it high in my yearly ranking.

고민중독 - QWER: Sapphic themes?? in a kpop music video??? with a girl BAND??? yoasobi vibes??? of course i was going to love it! I had never really heard of QWER before this month, but this song is such a banger and the pop rock sound is immaculate - ( @a-moth-to-the-light this feels very much up your street) I will 100% be checking out their discography, and I can easily see these girls making a home on my stan list, this track is truly amazing.

Final Love Song - I-LAND2 Contestants with ROSÉ: This is the kind of kpop song that makes me understand why this genre is so bullied. What are we doing. Rosé sounded good I guess. Moving on.

IMMM - ILY:1: Such an unexpected groovy sound - big Momoland energy. Pretty much everyone is eating up these April releases, even the nugu girlies are bringing it more than usual. I'm slightly worried about the lack of music video or promotions, but this song is really fun, so please go stream and show ILY:1 some love :)

[sanstropfremir]

4th gen bg haven't gained popularity outside of their own fanbases which is also why it's rare to see like any of them on variety shows but I've been getting the feeling that ggs are still doing pretty well? Like gg always have been more popular but IVE's been doing like insanely well and even itzy and aespa have done leagues better than the 4th gen bgs from the big three. Anyways I'm sure someone already asked but what 4th gen groups do you think people should keep an eye on on or check out?

that's because girl groups have double the intended audience than boy groups lmao. girl groups are marketed to male AND female audiences, but boy groups are only marketed to female audiences, for many obvious heteronormative reasons.

alrighty (cracks knuckles) you want recs? lemme give you some recs:

purple kiss: debuted 2021. had the most perfect first comeback and have a no skip discography. great performers and have really good intro choreographies. bside recs: pretty psycho, cast pearls before swine

billlie: debuted 2021. they got a big boost in popularity thanks to gingamingayo but i'm gonna rec them anyways bc they deserve it. their debut track inexplicably samples christmas music. they did an excellent kick it cover. bside recs: flipp!ng a coin, overlap

pixy: debuted 2021. flop bc their company is tiny but they do a mean horror concept and have some of the best bsides in the game. they're having a comeback right now pls support. bside recs: greedy, the moon, moonlight.

xg: debuted 2022. they're a korean japanese collab group so they don't promote the same way as other groups do. absolute banger of a first single produced by simon from dalmation, and they're going to be releasing another at the end of the month

cignature: debuted 2020. also flops but they make bangers. boyfriend is what caught my attention but i'm a big fan of assa as well. bside recs: villain, hinghing

tan: debuted 2022. formed from a literal survival show and has the MOST second gen energy you will see outside of someone from second gen. which is fitting because one of the members is actually second gen. incredible rnb debut track and the english version is even better. and here's an acapella version for good measure. surely this traffic light cover will cure my mental illness. they're about to have a comeback that's gonna blow my brains out. bside recs: literally just listen to their whole ep it's three and a half songs.

tempest: debuted 2022. the new boy group from yuehua (woodz's agency). super fun debut track and they're very promising performers. i would commit a crime for hanbin (pink hair). bside recs: bad at love, just a little bit

blitzers: debuted 2021. major first year theatre kid energy and i find it so endearing. the debut choreo involved spinning their maknae 360 degrees for no reason. their first comeback was my favourite choreo of 2021. bside recs: hop in, love bottle.

nine.i: debuted 2022. the most insane (figurative) debut choreo i have ever seen. here's me losing my shit about it in the tags, and here's a reaction video they did where they explain all of the move choices. so basically content made for me and me only. also one of their members produced their entire ep. bside recs: beauty inside, wasted youth

tnx: debuted 2022. these boys are FRESH (like debuted a month ago fresh) but i've been keeping an eye on them thanks to this frankly better than it should have been win cover. all those boys made it into the group btw. bside recs: 180sec, burst up.

omega x: debuted 2021. formed entirely from members of disbanded 3rd gen flop groups as a 'second chance' type group. if you want crunch, here's some crunchy. if you want bright, here's some bright. bside recs: younger, action, bounce with me

dkz (formerly dongkiz): debuted 2019. these boys are mega flops that have already gone through a name change AND a lineup change. absolutely banging music and they do mostly bright and fun concepts. see: cupid, crazy night, lupin, blockbuster, fever

a.c.e: debuted 2017. they debuted in hot pants with only a fetish gear company sponsorship and a dream. they. are. singers. who. SING. they're officially on hiatus rn bc 4/5 of them are in the military but you should still support them. see also: take me higher, down, changer, goblin, undercover

onf: debuted 2017. they're also on hiatus because they all enlisted at the same time (minus their japanese member u) but you should still support them because they produce summer bangers. see: sukhumvit swimming, complete, popping, beautiful beautiful, we must love, goosebumps. also one of the greatest bsides of all time

onlyoneof: debuted 2019. blew up a little bit last year for doing a homoerotic pseudo kink choreo with a dick grab. if you like stuff adjacent to western indie/alt music these are the boys for you. see: savannah, dora maar, sage, angel, designer, gaslighting

golden child: debuted 2017. picking up the story mv slack. one of their members can play paganini and if you don't know what that means, it's not an insignificant skill. see: pump it up, wannabe, burn it (also a story mv)

oneus: debuted 2019. it's likely that most people know about oneus already but in case you didnt, you're welcome. extremely strong dance group and with impeccable concepts. also they have the actual best fourth gen dancer yeo hwanwoong. see: luna, bring it on, no diggity, valkyrie. their sibling group is the kband onewe and you should check them out too.

ok that's enough for now, i think.

[maxwell-grant]

Sooo, thoughts on Mortal Kombat 1 ?

@jcogginsa asked: You've said Peacemaker is the DC character who fits most in Mortal Kombat, but of the three leaked guest fighters for MK1, who do you think fits it best?

Okay, new Mortal Kombat thoughts then

Well with this and Tekken 8 I guess it didn't take long for Street Fighter to spearhead another fighting game comeback. But while Tekken 8's more on the "basically the same as it always was except there's a graphical update", Mortal Kombat is kicking things off with a, Story Mode-centric showcase with a tiny gore montage and no gameplay. Fairly unusual territory for the series, but it seems to be paying off for them in viewcount.

I'm really not a fan of how anyone looks here, though. What you see in the trailer is the fairly logical endpoint of the MK series increasingly striving for more realism and fixing little design issues like, uuh, a majority asian cast of characters who never even slightly looked asian until some 20+ fucking years into the series, y'know. And for sure the faces look great, but I do feel like we're getting those great faces and expressions at the expense of everything else in their designs becoming increasingly colorless. Like Scorpion and Sub-Zero or Kitana and Mileena, who somehow look more like palette swaps than theyve done in decades.

It's not the only issue I have with this trend but, look the clothes and the lighting and the visuals look very pretty, but this is maybe the most swagless most of these characters have ever looked and that's a capital sin. So far, they look like half-a-step removed from A.I prompt recreations of themselves, which is the harshest thing I could say about it. It's too generic.

And man I'm, reeeally not liking the Fatalities here, I feel like that's the biggest issue with the franchise moving so firmly into 3D realism, the Fatalities just plain aren't that fun anymore most of the time. Sorry to MK fans following me but I will have to be the christian parent finger-wagging at the screen and say that they actually should tone it waay the fuck down because they lost the plot that this is Mortal Kombat, not fucking Liveleak, and plenty of modern games can pull off absurd cool pop-off gore without putting us through characters writhing and screaming and gurgling in pain during rancid torture.

And no, we can't chalk this up to personal taste anymore ever since that story about MK11 devs developing PTSD because they had to look up nonstop hanging/murder/animal torture videos and photos to get the gore right, which is frankly as good an argument as any for throwing Mortal Kombat in the trash and not letting it come out until they cut that shit out for good and overhaul their entire approach to game design and tone, which they clearly have not done and will not do. It's fucked and NRS deserves way more shit for it than their playerbase is willing to give them.

Moving on, so this is like, what, the second or third reboot? I guess it's more so them following on the clean slate Aftermath was setting up but, damn these guys really do love DC Comics and the increasingly short periods between rebooting the whole thing to dodge narrative problems and only coming back to those same problems again and again.

On the more individual character basis: Raiden looks Japanese finally, and I guess the scaling down makes sense since he's not a god anymore. Kung Lao, eh. Kitana, looks way worse than she did in MK11 (maybe I'm biased because that was like, the one time I liked how Kitana looks) and if this is a timeline reset, are they gonna undo her as Khan of Outworld? Fucking boo if they do, that was the best thing they did with her, they are cowards for walking that back if they do.

Kitana looking boring unfortunately also means Mileena isn't looking great either, although I do like the viciousness in her eyes, I like that her alignment's pretty unclear from the trailer, and I like that they're keeping the teeth from 11.

Scorpion and Sub-Zero look way too basic, and although I'm not against their increasing focus on Scorpion looking more human, I just don't like that this is making him look less Scorpion than before, he looks like a disposable Shirai Ryu grunt that reports to Scorpion before getting killed in a pre-fight cutscene.

Shang Tsung as the villain again is a fairly allright idea (if slightly redundant given Aftermath) and of course necessary if they're taking this back to the beginning, I don't mind his design (the claw gauntlets are pretty good) but I do mind that he looks less like Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa than before. I hope to be wrong here in this assumption but If they're not bringing Tagawa to voice him, if they're not basing him off Tagawa's characterization like they did for 11, why bother with Shang Tsung at all? Tagawa's performance is like 80% of Shang Tsung's entire appeal.

I do really like Liu Kang's look though, it's a very nice, very pleasing blend of his classic ensemble with enough Raiden elements to show his new role. Is this the first time they've ever featured Liu Kang front-and-center in the ads and posters for a new MK game? Sure feels like it. Apparently one of the head writers remarked "People, Realms, Rivalries: Liu Kang has tinkered with all to achieve his vision", which is nearly always code for Bad Guy Talk. Too early to call it but, I guess it was inevitable, and if we're really doing Evil Liu Kang for the third time this is already a better baseline than the prior two takes. I don't like his face though, I really liked his MK11 face and this feels like a total downgrade (where's the eyebrows? his eyes are totally different, he looks like the doctor from that wretched surgeon meme and it makes me hate him on sight)

So far, I do really like that the trailer sticks entirely to fantasyland kung fu film vibe. The last two games were stuffed to the gills with Earthrealm military horseshit where as this feels like it's making a point of avoiding that, no gun-toting Americans in sight thankfully. Johnny Cage has been confirmed but, he can stay, he's cool. Speaking of that, Van Damne Johnny Cage, cool I guess? I don't care about Van Damne but, if they're getting action movie celebrities to be in these, getting Van Damne specifically feels like bringing things full-circle a little.

Kameo Fighters? Oh so we're doing Smash Bros Character Reveals now? That's gonna be a fun powderkeg to just throw out there, lmao, I hope they reveal these slowly to really make the fandom spaces unusable. I guess they put Mileena upfront to avoid the worst as is. I do like Assist Characters in the VS series, I guess this is gonna be like that so, cool with me even if they wind up shelfing characters I actually want like D'Vorah and Kano.

(SPOILERS FOR THE LEAKED CHARACTERS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THOSE): Quan Chi, eh okay they were bound to bring him back sooner rather than later, so long as he's not making Shang Tsung chump out I'm okay with it. Takeda, fine. Mavado, don't give a shit. Ferra, without Torr, okay let's see how that goes.

And of course the ones everybody's talking about, Homelander and Omni-Man, who seem extremely redundant to feature together given they have basically the exact same powerset, but I can't fault NRS for jumping on the popularity of that match-up and they have Injustice Superman assets to share between the two. Homelander, couldn't care less but sure, put the meme guy in there, he fits. Omni-Man, I've been dancing around watching Invincible for months now but yeah, cool, he's pretty damn great, seems like the only fighting game you could possibly put him in, and most importantly it means J.K Simmons is joining the voice cast, which I'm of course super excited for.

Personal stand-outs for me are Tremor, who's pretty cool. Khameleon, whose design I actually like quite a bit and who I never thought would show up again, totally on board for her. Ermac, who is one of my favorite designs and who I really enjoy playing as, but the designs so far have been really underwhelming so, not sure what they're gonna do with him.

Oh yeah, PEACEMAKER's joining the roster? Never actually thought I'd happen but I'm gonna do a victory lap anyway because I fucking called it a year ago that he was the most perfect choice in the world for Mortal Kombat. Okay scratch what I said prior, in this house we allow for ONE gun-toting American in the game. And sure maybe I'm biased, but I definitely think he fits the most within Mortal Kombat, if nothing else, because Peacemaker is the one you can actually imagine pulling off a Friendship or uppercutting the same guy's head off three times, he's the only one who feels conductive to the MK series sense of humor. Omni-Man's I imagine is a very close second, being famous for pulling off Mortal Kombat fatalities in a series where that is, at least initially when it operates by seemingly standard superhero rules, uncharacteristically frightening and sadistic violence for anyone to do.

Overall: Glad that they're making an effort to push Mortal Kombat to new places, there's plenty of cool choices or ideas set up here, but there's a lot that I dislike or am ambivalent to, a lot that I wish they were doing differently, and of course the concern of "how much are the devs having to put up with this time around given these Fatalities look somehow way worse than the ones from 11" that is frankly kind of a dealbreaker for me in terms of me getting or supporting this game. I guess it's "it is what it is", but that's a shit excuse and it could, y'know, not be what it is.

[vs-redemption]

Oooh another soft Sunday

Iwaizumi Hajime (Gemini man) with Gemini woman

Man isn’t above using his physical attributes in his efforts to playfully tease you…but he quickly discovers you can play that card just as skillfully as he can. He ain’t above thirst trapping you cause he CAN.😏

He finds it entertaining that you can verbally keep up with Oikawa. Even when Oikawa starts to pout from your own barrage of witty comebacks-(only cause you kinda find Oikawa slightly annoying some of the time, but in an endearing way.it’s all love)

Hajime loves the fact that you bring out his more playful side(only with you), enjoys the fact that you are quite the free spirited in your personality. It’s one your eternal charms that solidified his deep love and devotion to you.

You join him one night to watch a Japanese horror/monster/ghost movie. Of course he does WARN you and offers to watch something else. Yet you insist cause it can’t be that bad, right. Right? One particular movie scared you so bad you started to cry…which he turns the movie off immediately cuddles you. Telling you about when he was a kid he would pretend to hunt monsters. Assuring you that he always be your monster hunter.🥺🥺sweetest man. Also biceps he holds you in his biceps.

He usually the one to ask for “5 more minutes” so he can snuggle you a bit more before getting up to start his day. The only man that can make you forget about something that irritated you while at work.

His kisses: depends on his mood, they can be playful-to call him daddy intense. I don’t make the rules for that. 🤷🏽‍♀️😂

And that concludes my Iwaizumi Hajime soft Sunday. I blame my dream for this..

**I personally feel like between him and Mattsun they into that horror/monster thing. Complaints cause big strong biceps cuddles***

Oh! Iwa Soft Sunday! I love it. Although this makes me wish I was a Gemini. Hopefully a Libra can still be compatible with him though hehe.

Soft Sunday Headcanons: Iwaizumi x Gemini Reader

I find it really unfair that Iwa thinks he can just flaunt that incredible body of his around. He definitely deserves a taste of his own medicine once in a while. And luckily it doesn't matter what body type you have because you will stop him dead in his tracks just by teasingly showing him a bit of skin.

After watching everyone follow Oikawa around with heart eyes all throughout their school years, and even after, Iwa is ecstatic to find someone that doesn't immediately fall for his setter friend's 'charms.' He loves that he doesn't always have to step in when Oikawa is being an idiot because chances are you'll beat him to the punch anyway (sometimes literally!) hehe

Iwa doesn't really mind being the 'responsible' friend, but it is nice that he can step out of that role when he's with you and indulge his inner child sometimes. He loves nerding out with you over silly things and bonus points if you watch Godzilla movies with him.

After convincing you to watch the scary movie in the first place, the least he can do is let you cling to him and feel up his biceps. But really, he would feel so so guilty if a movie picked out REALLY scared you that bad.

You might worry that, due to his athletic and healthy lifestyle, he will try to get you up and out of bed to take morning runs with him and have protein shakes for breakfast but that is just not true. As much as he knows he should stick to his workout routines, staying in bed with you is just so much more satisfying.

Hopefully there are signs to look for to know which type of kiss you're going to be getting at any given moment because you want to be at least a little prepared if you're about to be swept off your feet with a mind blowing kiss. Still though, get you a man that can do both.

[redpiperfox]

Cheshire Album listen-thru~~

I would have liked to do this earlier. I have been thoroughly listening through the album, but it came out during finals week, and I had to put this off because of that, and then it just reminded me finals to think about doing this for a while so--

I have been enjoying the album on my own. But I’ve only just worked up the energy to be able to do this (see my other essay on Cheshire thanks to Mera), and now you all must suffer the energy of me being absolutely Insane about this album, because thanks to Sunny, I am Off-The-Walls-Crazy about this album.

Cheshire: What a track! What a title track! This is hypnotizing, sitting with Maleficent at the chessboard, playing politics with the queen over tea, and dancing in a ballroom poised on the edge of battle with all the cards in your hands. This track has the girls on the outside of the status quo, peeking in and out of a serious plot with airy power they can flaunt if they want, but instead they hide under sly smiles. This track is everything. 

From the moment “La-la-la~” came out, I knew we had a hit. This wasn’t the ungrounded base beat of Sneakers with the floating “Ye! Ye!” flying with no support, this wasn’t the teasing fresh beats from the debut trilogy, or the teasing opening lines of the previous costume-changing Itzy. This Itzy came out of the gate with layered vocals, fresh sounds with their classic powerhouse beat. And their voices, oh sweet heaven, their voices! Not a single line felt anything short of tailored for the member it was given to. The staircase-falling sound motif in the chorus provided just enough mystery, and the pitched up choir in the back providing the depth to an Itzy track that tells us this group is maturing and moving up. Harmonies! Members singing with each other! And in their range!

The core of this is subtlety. From the building of the track, to the music video, to the dance itself. There are less huge movement, more little movements of incredible complexity. Everything is in the details, and the details are bedazzling! The video itself grew in how stunning it was the more I watched it, and I can attribute a lot of my awe to Jordan Orme and his analysis of it.

Lyrically, I see we are comfortably in the identity era, and we’ve returned back to our debut era of being in-your-face, and still not as complex. But I’ll take my victories-- perhaps lyrical complexity is the place they aim to grow... or perhaps not. Perhaps being blaringly obvious about identity and what they want to do and sticking it to people who tell them otherwise will be the think Itzy carry with them as their group identity. Who knows! It’ll be interesting to watch...

Personally, this track feels like the product of ten months (next to the japanese titles, those are gold). Had the company not been planning the english release for when they had, and maybe tried to preempt it with Sneakers... or maybe if they hadn’t decided on using Mama as their comeback stage... (what a power move, by the way! SkzItzy were unashamed of owning those stages, and we love them for that.) I can muse about Sneakers being the b-side track of the century, and not stealing time and money from Cheshire, and I can muse about how much well-deserved traction Cheshire could have gotten on it’s own two feet after their little break... I could, but I won’t. This is the title track of queens, and you can feel every bit of their growth in this track, and their confidence in who they are. I hope the company doesn’t get cold feet like they did with Twice after I Can’t Stop Me and Cry For Me (I loved Talk That Talk don’t come after me) and see this evolution to it’s end!

Snowy: Here’s a halloween witch, waving the hypnotizing watch in front of your face, and transforming into a cat that leaps into the snow and laughs back at you with the little “Nyan-nah-nan-nah-nah-nah’s.” A fantasy power character dancing along the edge, with the power to mold the plot to her favor, but instead throwing in cryptic words of wisdom for the character to grapple the whole journey and realize they could’ve finished much earlier. This song, is the real Cheshire.

Also, let’s talk about classical music sampling done right. The sister the chorus trickled down, I was in love. My sister had it on loop. I didn’t know why until my sister figured it out-- Fur Elise melody sampling. Brilliant. And highly effective. Hats off to the lyricism for stepping towards immersive, descriptive languages that shows and doesn’t just tell me what it’s trying to convey. The members are in a comfortable range, and they own their lines-- it’s every bit a beautiful b-side to be promoted and showcase their abilties. Top notch, love it!

Freaky: What a chill bop. It’s the mood of walking the streets while Christmas shopping, two weeks before, when there’s no pressure or rush, just hanging out with your friends in the soft glow and twinkling of Christmas decor. It’s got a a cozy, by the fireplace playing games feel, steeped in all the character and sass of Itzy in Ryujin and Yuna, with the easy confidence of Yeji, Lia, and Chaeryeong’s voices. Throw in some casual vocal runs, teetering on the edge of jazzy bounces, unseriously tinkering around. 

I have to say though, I am surprised as how contrasting the actual content of the lyrics are. How very Han Jisung of this song. I know they didn’t write it, but it’s got a maturity in lyric writing, in description and emotion, that I really love. It feels a little like 3racha lyricism, and no, that’s not me willing a collab into the universe.

Boys Like You: This is a sophomore year of high school romance. Singing from the window into a hairdryer, laughing with your friends over the love-blind days. It’s very cute. 

I get it. Sure, it sounds like Taylor Swift in the chorus, but other than that? I like the stamp of independence, confidence, and girl crushness in pop. My first thought was “Why are they trying Twice with Itzy?” but this isn’t a Twice track. It’s an expansion of Itzy. I support experimenting. It experimented better than Sneakers anyway. Also, Chaeryeong high note!!! What a win! And Lia fits this song like a glove, like she fits covering Taylor Swift songs. (Speaking of which, more please? Can I get them to cover I Know Places? Please? No? Okay sorry--)

The music video is so so cute, I love the style, and how it’s not as bold, but leans into the small sideplot, storybook, scrap-booked horror in a journal. Their outfits were cute, the acting was cute, it was all very cute.

....but I hope they don’t bring it to their Korean and Japanese titles, with all due respect. Sorry girlies!

All in all? Very solid mini album, not one throwaway song to be found. It’s a crying shame they couldn’t have started their tour with this under their belt, but ah well, c’est la vie, we can’t everything I suppose.

However, I think it would be a shame to pass up this opportunity to speculate what a gorgeous and cohesive album Checkmate and Cheshire would have been together. @the-sunshine-dragon​ and I went through both mini albums and put together, with much careful thought and consideration, what we believe would have been a solid full album, Checkshire. 

But regardless, what we do have, is the growth of an iconic group, that absolutely has my attention. Anywho, would love to talk and discuss with people~

[a-moth-to-the-light]

Summer of K-pop Tag, 17-24

[introduction/full list of questions]

I've been on vacation in Virginia for the past week, and I got back last night! I had a great time, but I also had absolutely no energy left to Tumblr at the end of each day--so let's speedrun the questions I missed!

Also, I'm not sure how to feel about the OMG comeback--the title track reminds me so much of "Dun Dun Dance" that it's hard to say if I'll be bored of it in a week, or if it'll be stuck in my head permanently, just like "Dun Dun Dance" is! Also, poor Mimi--this isn't the first time I've been confused by the way her rapping is incorporated into OMG songs, to the point where it doesn't even feel like the songs were written to have her in them?? She deserves better than whatever was happening in the second verse, that's for sure...

The Vacation Soundtrack:

Sweet Summer Day -- Twice

Far -- SZA (reminds me of "good days" !!)

Rush -- Troye Sivan (this just gets better with every listen oh my GOD)

Sunshine Baby & Morning Pages -- The Japanese House, MUNA (the sound of soft morning sunshine)

Worlds Apart -- Bruce Springsteen (the soundtrack to my museum visits)

Into the Mystic -- Van Morrison (a song for sitting at the edge of the river)

Against The Wind -- Bob Seger (a song for the botanical gardens)

Moonlight Mile -- The Rolling Stones (a song for the washington dc metro)

Pinball Wizard -- Elton John (a song for the plane ride home)

Question(s) of the Day: what do you think of sunmi's “gashina”? do you still listen to it?

I don't mind it! I don't listen to it a lot--I'm sure it's hiding out in a few of my playlists, though, and I definitely wouldn't skip it if it came on shuffle!

sunmi: "pporappippam", "1/6", or "heart burn"?

"pporappippam", of course (which should be taken as very high praise, since I'm probably the world's biggest "1/6" fan!!). I don't even know how to explain how good "pporappippam" is? It just is. It's the perfect aesthetic pop song, dreamy and yet so memorable. (God, just hearing that opening again makes me feel so many feelings.)

what’s your favorite song from dreamcatcher’s summer holiday?

"Alldaylong". "Whistle" was my first favorite from this album, and I still love every track from it, but "Alldaylong" is such a perfect showcase for their vocals, a soft, slow song that impresses me by keeping my interest with really subtle touches, things I wouldn't even notice on an average listen.

what song sounds like a vacation?

"Double Trouble Couple" by Mamamoo. Historically, my approach to family vacations has been to huddle up with a book in whatever spots are available to me (hotel lobbies preferred, poolside also quite nice!) and see how much reading I can get done--so I decided to pick a song that sounds like reading on a sunny afternoon, fresh air and faint floral scents and fangirl rants to the wall.

what do you think of loona’s “flip that”? do you still listen to it?

I just kind of pretend this one doesn't exist--the concept was really cute, but the production managed to both underwhelm & irritate me, so I go to "Why Not?" for my fun summer Loona instead!

what about loona’s “pose”?

Oh I LOVED this song last summer. I haven't listened to it in months, though! I really should listen to it more--that beat drop still hits like a brick, and the feeling is awesome.

what’s your gfriend summer song?

"Fever". I realized, while thinking about this question, that I actually prefer GFRIEND songs in the winter--they're warm and cozy and often haunting, qualities which I always crave during the coldest, rainiest season! I'll forever associate "Fever" with the summer of 2020, though--it sounds like all these emotions that I think only a three-years-ago version of myself could fully understand, particularly the feeling that the whole world is wide open, just waiting for you, but it's also heavy with shadows, and as much as you crave to explore, you're not sure you actually want to know what lies ahead. I feel the echoes of them when I listen to it, so "Fever" doesn't really sound like this summer--and honestly, I'm glad to have that distance from the feelings "Fever" reminds me of--but it still sounds like summer to me.

what’s your favorite song from summer vibe by viviz?

"#Flashback". I enjoy "Love Love Love" as much as the next guy, but Viviz doing the city-pop-ish sound (like in "#Flashback" & "Overdrive") has become my favorite thing ever--their voices suit the style so well!!

what’s your iz*one summer song?

"Dreamlike". This song is fairy lights strung across a cabana, all the sweetest feelings on a breezy summer night. I don't usually like IZ*ONE's production very much (for how good the melodies of their songs are, they deserved better!!), but I think the soundscape is pretty magical in this one, minimalism at its finest :)

what do you think of yena’s “smartphone”? do you still listen to it?

I love it!! I like how it takes the ideas that make "Smiley" great and then turns the attitude up a few notches--yes, "Smiley" was iconic, but I think "Smartphone" is actually my favorite of the two. I don't listen to it all that much, though--the b-side "Lemon-Aid" stole my heart (house songs tend to do that to me, so it wasn't unexpected!), and I usually end up choosing it over "Smartphone".

what’s your favorite concept to see during the summer?

Anything with a beach! The water is soothing, the sunshine is bright, and those sunhats with the huge brims are awesome--plus beach-themed songs are usually super danceable, which is just my style!

chung ha: “love u”, “play”, or “demente”?

I'm a huge fan of all three of these, but "Love U" is my favorite right now! I hope we're past the tropical house is boring stuff by now, because Chung Ha has the perfect voice to pair with light, fluffy beats like these--she sounds so good all throughout "Love U"!

Tomorrow: SNSD!

[baekhvuns]

BAEK WHAT'S WITH THE "MATURE" CONTENT AGAIN, WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THAT'S APPARENTLY SO MATURE 😭🧐😂

Anyways, I need to split the message into 2 separate ones cause it won't send 🙄 guess I had a lot to say

London who? I don't know her! I've lived in Prague for a while, so I'm okay with it, was thinking of going back to Berlin actually, but I'll see how it goes!

About SM, I was really hoping for Taeyeon's come back, but now... and Fifty Fifty are truly speed running the kpop experience, escaped nugudom quickly, got a massive hit, now they're suing. I can't believe SM is thinking of debuting a new gg NOW?! I'm so sick and tired of them. Now they announced more rookies, probably for NCT Tokyo if it's still happening :V why remove Sungtaro just to add one Korean and one Japanese rookie???

Okay so Hear Me Out! I like it more that I imagined? It's chill, but catchy, finally a song I can easily listen to, but it's not too boring and coming from me it's a big compliment hahdhaggagshahasgga I like that it's lowkey, even though EXO deserves better, but at least they didn't give them a song with 10 switches, chanting and cringy lyrics. I'm curious about the title track! And BAEK, TEN, TAEYONG X TAEMIN CHALLENGE??? Man is collecting SuperM, to think we could've gotten Kai too... :(

Mr Byun Bakehyun's teaser photos? 👀 Again, simple teasers, yet impactful and nice looking. KQ can't relate 🤡🤡🤡 I was browsing through Pinterest and came across some cybercore photos, literally taken with smartphones and they looked more aesthetically pleasing and interesting than whatever Ateez has going on 😭

Also I still haven't made up my mind about the album, like it has its moments, but I don't feel like listening to it apart from Bouncy, even some of my non-Atiny friends love it so it did something to my brain 😭

AND MINHO X SANHWA AAAAAAA WHEN I TELL YOU I FUCKING DIED! Finally manifested something good 😭😭😭❤❤❤

Love your thoughts on Hard and agree, this is my AOTY, sorry to everyone else! I get that people may dislike Hard, but certain Shawols are so annoying, Shinee isn't just View and Replay, this is the group who released RDD for fuck's sake, haven't they heard Alive...? They're no strangers to weird music, and Hard isn't even that experimental... these fans know what's up https://twitter.com/SaraOT5/status/1674250382044721152?t=3j6cx8BgfEE7d1WuMd6onw&s=19

But this comeback is bitter sweet, because of Onew, Kibum has a cold, Taemin fell off the stage?! Why are they cursed :/// but I'm still happy to see them back, I watched Idol Human Theater and they were as weird as ever

Omg, is this another unpopular and controversial NCT take, but... I can't enjoy Haechan's vocals, he can sing, but his tone is too nasal for my liking, I know he contrasts well with other 127 vocalists, but 😭 and sometimes they mess with his voice and add autotune so it makes it worse. I don't really listen to Dreamies, but I definitely think he fits them more, I know both him and Mark love their groups, but be fr, they shouldn't be that overworked.

When I heard Jamal rap in 2 Baddies my heart dropped, glad he got Perfume at least. And now he's playing a murderer?! See, but 127 could totally do some rock/metal shit, something like Guerrilla and let Yuta scream! SM let Yuta yell challenge, he needs it! Or even something like Taeyong's Ghost, especially after the switch up when the song went a bit crazy insane. I got the vision 👀 SM hire me so I can bring some justice and infiltrate the HQ

Btw, finally the whole cover, perhaps he read our messages 👀 (ok, but I mentioned the cover to him, so what if he listened to me ahgdhagshshsgshs - delulu) https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuEx-7fIBm2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Btw how's that Yunho fic been treating you? 😅 I need to re-read Bodyguard soon for the anniversary - DV 💖

i actually hate it here bc i answered this entire ask and it did not save ☺️☺️

BAEK WHAT'S WITH THE "MATURE" CONTENT AGAIN, WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THAT'S APPARENTLY SO MATURE 😭🧐😂 /// Anyways, I need to split the message into 2 separate ones cause it won't send 🙄 guess I had a lot to say /// London who? I don't know her! I've lived in Prague for a while, so I'm okay with it, was thinking of going back to Berlin actually, but I'll see how it goes!

NO BC IM ACTUALLY SO MAD AT THEM THEY DO THIS EVERY ASK AND I HAVE TO SEND IN THE REVIEW FOR IT LIKE COMEON and now i had answered this entire ask. but tumblr glitched. and. i don’t have anything. TO PRAGUE??? ANON WHERE HAVE U NOT LIVED ATP??? LIKE I GOTTA START A YOUTUBE TRAVEL VLOG CHANNEL I WILL BE UR PATERON SUBSCRIBER, EXTRA MONEY OM THE SIDE SOUNDS PRETTY GOOD TO ME ANON 🤚🏻🤚🏻let’s see if this gets labeled 😭😭

About SM, I was really hoping for Taeyeon's come back, but now... and Fifty Fifty are truly speed running the kpop experience, escaped nugudom quickly, got a massive hit, now they're suing. I can't believe SM is thinking of debuting a new gg NOW?! I'm so sick and tired of them. Now they announced more rookies, probably for NCT Tokyo if it's still happening :V why remove Sungtaro just to add one Korean and one Japanese rookie???

ur right i wish they treat her better esp w the concerts and the mismanagement she’s experiencing, like sm?? this is so true bc this is how it feels like

NOOO LITERALLY I JUST KNOW RHEY WILL DEBUT A 9 NUMBER GG THAT RESEMBLES SNSD AND FHEN PUT THEM IN KWANGYA, MY EXACT QUESTION??? WHY TAKE SUNGTARO OUT IF UR GONNA PUT THEM IN DIFF FONTS BACK IN NCT??? glad to have the resonance album bc at least they were in it even for 1 second 😭😭😭

Okay so Hear Me Out! I like it more that I imagined? It's chill, but catchy, finally a song I can easily listen to, but it's not too boring and coming from me it's a big compliment hahdhaggagshahasgga I like that it's lowkey, even though EXO deserves better, but at least they didn't give them a song with 10 switches, chanting and cringy lyrics. I'm curious about the title track! And BAEK, TEN, TAEYONG X TAEMIN CHALLENGE??? Man is collecting SuperM, to think we could've gotten Kai too... :(

it’s chill it’s catchy it’s warm it’s exo! and it’s so lowkey, makes me smile whenever i hear it ive been playing it any chance i get bc the “head me out hear me out” is STUCK IN MY HEAD like the song be making ur hips move and im into this! proper bside material 🤚🏻 YEAH IM GLAD THEY DIDNT GIVE THEM THE KWANGYA LYRICS and the way they were supposed to collab w h.e.r. sm ent im about to end u. sometimes i just wish that pink one looks too good the photos seem pretty litty 😭😭

the title track is called cream soda….and is a apparently very sexy with sensual vocals?? and a mix of kokobop and love shot?? yeah it’s over for me. I SAW THAT BAEK X TAEMIN AND SUPERM CRUMBS 😭😭😭 THEY BOTH LOOKED SO CUTE DBWNHDKW and for that, fUCK RAVI. KAI IS DEVOURING THE VAMPIRE CONCEPT SO LIKE CHEST, BED ROOM EYES AND FRAT BOY LOOK FHWKFHWK FUCK RAVI FUCK SM !!!!! looked at the track list for the album and this album is about fucking and???

Mr Byun Bakehyun's teaser photos? 👀 Again, simple teasers, yet impactful and nice looking. KQ can't relate 🤡🤡🤡  I was browsing through Pinterest and came across some cybercore photos, literally taken with smartphones and they looked more aesthetically pleasing and interesting than whatever Ateez has going on 😭

now. do not even get me started on that. i saw them when i was in bed, just barely had woken up eyes but and w the new twt update i was panicking and then the photos dropped and when i tell u. i fell. i FELL.

CUNTRESS IS IN THE HOUSE THE EYESHADOW BAEKHYUN US BACK!!! 200K LIKES AND 30K QUOTES??? STOP LOOKING AT HIM???? yes!! simple but effective, they let their features and makeup and filters do the work, the rest is up to the photographer pls kq look at them 😭😭 those atz edits w cyber core is so much better like kq pls hire some atinys atp we volunteer to be the pictorial management

Also I still haven't made up my mind about the album, like it has its moments, but I don't feel like listening to it apart from Bouncy, even some of my non-Atiny friends love it so it did something to my brain 😭 /// AND MINHO X SANHWA AAAAAAA WHEN I TELL YOU I FUCKING DIED! Finally manifested something good 😭😭😭❤❤❤

i agree, i only listen to the bouncy chorus part and haven’t gone back to it,, LMFAOOO TELL THEM TO STAY AWAY FROM SEONGHWA HE BITES !!! NO FBWJDJW WE WON WE LITERALLY WON?? AND SANS DAD KNOWING MINHOS FAMILY LIKE HE GOT MORE CONNECTIONS THAN SAN 😭😭😭😭

Love your thoughts on Hard and agree, this is my AOTY, sorry to everyone else! I get that people may dislike Hard, but certain Shawols are so annoying, Shinee isn't just View and Replay, this is the group who released RDD for fuck's sake, haven't they heard Alive...? They're no strangers to weird music, and Hard isn't even that experimental... these fans know what's up https://twitter.com/SaraOT5/status/1674250382044721152?t=3j6cx8BgfEE7d1WuMd6onw&s=19 /// But this comeback is bitter sweet, because of Onew, Kibum has a cold, Taemin fell off the stage?! Why are they cursed :/// but I'm still happy to see them back, I watched Idol Human Theater and they were as weird as ever

NO CAUSE HARD IS MY SOTY!!!!! i randomly do the hard like a criminal and the step any chance i get like im doing it as i type this,, it’s my new rover after bouncy 😭😭😭NO THEY ARE RIGHT!! ppl say they want a diverse discography and when they get it it’s still a problem??? like damned if u do damned if u don’t??? like yeah they aren’t gonna do replay forever??? replay came out a decade ago like let it go?? ppl need to enjoy music and it’s diversity,, at least it’s not the same!! “they were as weird as ever” ah what a relief 😮‍💨

Omg, is this another unpopular and controversial NCT take, but... I can't enjoy Haechan's vocals, he can sing, but his tone is too nasal for my liking, I know he contrasts well with other 127 vocalists, but 😭 and sometimes they mess with his voice and add autotune so it makes it worse. I don't really listen to Dreamies, but I definitely think he fits them more, I know both him and Mark love their groups, but be fr, they shouldn't be that overworked.

okay i can def see points made here esp about the auto tune part where it messes w his voice his voice absolutely fits dreams, they’ve got some good songs! very classic boyband but nct core,, maybe that’s why his tone fits their songs better, slightly fitted to towards slowed songs esp ballads! NO BC SOMEONE GOTS TO CHECK MARKS CONTRACT AND IF HES BEING PAID

When I heard Jamal rap in 2 Baddies my heart dropped, glad he got Perfume at least. And now he's playing a murderer?! See, but 127 could totally do some rock/metal shit, something like Guerrilla and let Yuta scream! SM let Yuta yell challenge, he needs it! Or even something like Taeyong's Ghost, especially after the switch up when the song went a bit crazy insane. I got the vision 👀 SM hire me so I can bring some justice and infiltrate the HQ

JAMAL 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 LMFAOOO BFQKHDWK JUMPSCARE NAURR 😭😭😭 his voice in perfume sounds so pretty!! ANS A MURDERER??? i hope it doesn’t like jinx him bc all nct projects like this fuck them over and never see the day of light i just hope it works out bc i wanna see him play a psycho role <33 UR RIGHT NCT COULD DO GUERRILLA SO WELL AND YES LET YUTA SCREAM 😭😭😭 no bc sm gotta hire us, at least we can fix their mess and mass clean their hq

Btw, finally the whole cover, perhaps he read our messages 👀 (ok, but I mentioned the cover to him, so what if he listened to me ahgdhagshshsgshs - delulu) https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuEx-7fIBm2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

IM NOT RVWNBFBWKFHWKD HE DID THIS FOR U !!!! IT WAS FOR U HE HEARD U !!!! IDC WE ARE DELULU TONIGHT HE DID THIS FOR U!!!

Btw how's that Yunho fic been treating you? 😅 I need to re-read Bodyguard soon for the anniversary - DV 💖 /// Part 2 lol (hope it sends, the fuck is going on with this website. It's still better than Twitter, but still 💀)

see the thing is i have it ready, i have the teaser ready all set up and tagged, but i get extremely nervous to post bc it’s been so long and i have been trying to post since friday and i just talk myself out if bc i become scared 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Omggg, Don't get me started on yet another New Jeans controversy. Dumb fucks trying to justify MHJ's behaviour every single time??? Why are they dickriding her so hard?! I don't get why NJ's have such deranged fans. See, ETA is an unfortunate title, but it could be a coincidence and I could totally believe it was supposed to mean Estimated Time of Arrival if it wasn't for the names?! This bitch feeds off attention (fitting) whether it's positive or negative and people eat it up every single time. Ofc the song and MV won't be centred around terr*rism (at least I hope so), but the inspo is there anyway... I had to block someone I know for being annoying about it

NOO, LITERALLY EVEYRTING U SAID HERE FACTUAL!!!! i actually do not one bit believe that she did not know anything about this, trying to stir up stuff so ppl talk about the comeback, abspielte pathetic,, sure the title eta os random (honestly ive never heard of this name before) but the names???? THE NAMES???? i can’t fathom the fact that she knew what she was doing yet is still gonna use it as an aesthetic??? idk if this a hybe thing bec do u rmr the polls?? 😭😭

Speaking of comic/manga theme, don't know if you've seen the covers of Pentagon's Love or Take https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2UI4HR2dYn0 I own all the versions and they're so pretty!

I HAVENT NOT AND IM OBSESSED BC WHAT THE FUCK???? i need this bad this is such a refreshing concept like omg??? kq pls 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

https://twitter.com/nobodylikehwa/status/1674135298790379522?t=bBkkShDrAMx-DXs9YhXB2g&s=19 <- BESTIE WE NEED TO MANIFEST HARDER LIKE, HE'S SURROUNDING HIMSELF WITH YSL AND BEGGING AT THIS POINT 😭 I just don't understaaaaaaaand. He's a popular member, looks like a model, why aren't they calling him?!?!?! All the gifts from Lego and Animal Crossing are cute, but come one fashion world DON'T PISS ME OFF

HES ASKING FOR IT COMEON YSL LISTEN TO HIM 😭😭😭😭 need him to go there and pretend to be THE guy 😭😭😭 kq gotta hurry bc ive heard the manager’s set them up with brands idols want and get connections 😭😭😭😭

Btw, not to be that Shitstar, but this https://twitter.com/helytes/status/1672898558285021188?t=uzX2UfZQWUqzoAFyG3UE0g&s=19 annoyed me, like wtf bitch?! Sure I clowned him for not being a gangster, but if you watched all the Bouncy challenges or his fan cams (gotta rant about this too, because his fan cams this cb are really baaaad, he's always hidden, either by cameramen or... Hongjoong's crotch 😭) you'd see that he SELLS the concept well. Not sure why KQ decided to underutilise him, they gave him the rap part which was a big event for some people, but other than that he's invisible (sorry he got them awful grillz too...) idk something about it is just... iffy. Just had to vent 🤧

no wait ive also noticed the fancams being blocked or filmed horribly 😭😭😭 UR RIGHT HE SELLS THE CONCEPT, his swagger and the facial expressions (keep that tongue inside mr park) + the way he carries himself around the concept is just immaculate,, the grills and the constant way he shows it off irks me for like no apparent reason 😭😭😭

Did this for us, our sweet Shawol and such a successful fan! https://twitter.com/pshsource/status/1674030496521547778?t=NfhIMOBKvKmp2eKbaDCg7A&s=19

never been this jealous of hwa and san of meeting shinee like that 😀

Also bestie what's with Neymar, I saw that he cheated, but only read his apology yesterday and 🤡🤡🤡🤡 embarrassing. When people apologise for cheating and act dramatic like that I can't help but laugh, even though it's such a shitty situation obviously. You wanted to get wet with someone else and now you're acting like a lovesick Jane Austen male lead??? And the girl is pregnant 💀💀💀💀 footballers stay faithful challenge

LMFAOOOO NO BC I SAW THAT AND LAUGHED SO HARD LIKE HE MADE A WHOLE POST ABT IT HES SO EMBARRASSING AND DURING BRUNA BEING PREGNANT??? SCREAMED BC BRUNAS SISTER WAS THE FIRST ONE TO TREAT HIM LIKE AN ADULT THIS STORY HAD ME CRYING TBWKFJAJJDQLBDWK he’s a player on and off the field like messi truly the only good guy i guess 😭😭

and the way he’s having a daughter, yeah that’s his karma for cheating she’ll show him 🤚🏻

Started King the Land and it's so cliche, but the right type of cliche for me and Yoona x Junho are so good together. Not them getting dating rumours already nsgsjahshaggsgsgaha??? Hilarious, but also the amount of people shipping them, lol, their chemistry is truly great

I DBWKDHAK I KEEP GASPING AT JUNHO LIKE HE FITS THE ROLE SO WELL??? he’s styled so well and i just, i just i get the butterflies when i see him <3 he’s sick and the mole on his nose bridge god 😭😭 in my absolute peak, PEAK delulu era,, UR RIGHT ITS THE RIGHT AMT OF CLICHE I ACTUALLY LOVE IT,, when yoona says “wait im going to war??” and he just loses it hAD ME CRYING 😭😭😭 NO BC I WAS SO EXCITED TO SEE THE NEWS I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THEY ARE NOT DATING I HAVE A GUT FEELING IT MIGHT BE MORE THAN JUST DATING anyway this is me AND IM A DELULU BC OF THIS THEY LOOK SO WELL TOGETHER TOO

but do u know what we need. a woo do hwan ceo au. idc someone has to do it, after the drama w lee minho seeing him in that suit had me drooling

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuAsHUaABJw/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== LIKE DO U SEE HIM

Nah this is crazy, because if Ten was a London boy and art student chances are we would meet and... imagine that 😮 https://twitter.com/TENsfeed/status/1675848474494119936?t=Ii-TKhJWZ9sCHAqmxh6lvA&s=19 - DV 💖

STOP??????? HE WOULDVE BEEN BRI’ISH?? IMAGINE THAT??? and if u were friends w him 🤨 will start my delulu bc if mark wasn’t in nct right now he would’ve been in town 😭😭😭

also this is so fucking funny he’s so nosy 😭😭😭😭 i love it

my two worlds uniting like 😭😭

[nctsjiho]

Too Far

warnings: strong language, mentions of food (diet, eating habits, body image, throwing up/making yourself throw up), bit angsty o_O

era: mid 2019

❀ Yuta’s protectiveness over JiHo gets a bit out of hand when he takes his anger out on the wrong person

“Sweetheart of course you’re gaining weight if you keep up eating like that. Your metabolism isn’t always going to stay this fast.” JiHo looked up from her plate of delicious looking pasta to meet the gaze of the older lady in front of her. She worked for SM and JiHo had seen her around a lot, but she had no clue what her job position was. All she knew was that this lady always had her nose stuck in other people’s business and wasn’t afraid to share her opinion and “advice”.

JiHo picked at her food with her fork a few times before saying something back. “But I like this food. It’s good.” The lady scoffed at the young girl’s words. “If that’s what you want.” She leaned back against the table behind her, a sickening smile appearing on her face. “If you like it that much that’s no problem. Eat all you want and all you have to do to maintain that figure of yours is stick your two fingers down your throat after every meal. That will work just as well-” “Excuse you?”

Both JiHo and the older lady turned to look at the doorway where Yuta stood with an angry expression washed over his face. “Tell your friend that eating like this will only make her fat. Girl idols should look after their looks not-” Yuta rushed over to the girls - well girl and women - and slammed his hand against the table.

“And why do you care?” The Japanese boy’s voice was low and laced with venom. “Because as a former model, I know how hard it is to maintain weight. With her eating habits-” The scoff that left Yuta’s lips caught the lady of guard and caused her to stop mid sentence.

All the while the lady kept commenting on JiHo’s weight and eating and Yuta was defending her and kindly telling her to “fuck off” at some point, JiHo continued to eat her meal while scrolling down social media on her phone.

She didn’t know how long the other two in the room were arguing but at some point, when her food was nearly finished, JiHo felt herself getting pulled up by her wrist. “What-” “Let’s go.” Yuta growled through gritted teeth and pulled the girl outside of the room.

Ignoring all of JiHo’s protests and questions if he could slow down, Yuta kept walking until the reached an empty hallway near the back of the building - somewhere not a lot of people passed.

“Why didn’t you speak up for yourself?” JiHo tilted her head as if confused and shrugged her shoulders. “Why would I?” The question seemed to tip the boy off a little more. “Why wouldn’t you? She had no business talking to you about your weight and what you look like. You should’ve said something.”

A sad smile formed on JiHo’s lips. She felt bad that Yuta cared so much to the point that he got angry. In all honesty the lady really didn’t get to JiHo at all, she didn’t care what some random person had to say.

“Oppa,” she began, “you know I don’t care about these things. I’m happy with the way I look and some random person isn’t going to change that.” She explained, but it didn’t look like it eased Yuta’s lingering anger. “Still! You should’ve said something. Are you really going to let people talk to you like that?”

Now it was JiHo’s turn to scoff. Did he even listen when she explained that she didn’t care about what other people thought and said about her? “I-” “All you did was scroll through that damn phone of yours while you let her talk down on you!” He interrupted her words, clearly too angry to listen to what she had to say.

His eyes locked with JiHo’s phone and before either of them knew it JiHo’s phone was in pieces on the tiled floor. JiHo’s eyes widened as she took in what happened. It all happened so fast that she had to do a double take.

“Did you just...?” She whispered and Yuta stayed quiet for a while, his eyes still fixed on the broken phone. “You’re on that stupid device too much anyway!” He suddenly yelled again. “So you throw my phone on the ground? Who are you? My dad?” The girl sneered at him and turned her head away from him.

Again a few moments of silence surrounded the pair until Yuta noticed JiHo’s hand stretched out in front of her. Her palm was turned upwards, presenting her opened hand to Yuta. “What?” “Your phone.” Her voice had gotten dangerously low. JiHo was trying so hard not to show her anger and disbelief in her voice.

Yuta couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at the words. “You don’t believe I’m going to hand you my phone right now, right?” Suddenly the pair were stuck making eye contact with each other again. “Wouldn’t that just be fair now?” “I’m older than you JiHo-” An exaggerated laugh left JiHo’s lips as she threw her head back.

“Don’t pull that age hierarchy bullshit on me right now. If you want me to treat you respectfully then be respectful towards me as well. Now hand me your phone.” Yuta’s eyes widened, but he tried his hardest not to show how taken aback he was by the girl’s words. She had a way to be intimidating towards even the most fearless and strongest members. Her smaller frame helping to make the contrast between her youthful looks and fearless confidence even more surprising.

JiHo’s eyes stayed staring straight into his own and her hand stayed were it was since about a minute ago. Her confidence never faltering. “If you don’t give it to me...” Yuta’s hand unconsciously reached for his right pocket, where he usually put his phone. His fingers fumbling around a bit with the intention of keeping his phone save from the young girl who was threatening to do what Yuta did to hers.

Suddenly JiHo took a step forward and Yuta braced, ready to defend his phone. To his surprised the girl reached for his left pocket, which was when he realised his phone wasn’t in his right pocket to begin with. A victorious cheer left the girl’s lips as she held the now stolen phone in her hand.

“You won’t need this during practise later so let’s have it join my little friend on the ground. Sounds like a great plan right?” Before Yuta could protest, JiHo had already raised her arm and brought it down again with a huge swing. The phone was now skidding across the floor, leaving tiny pieces of glass in its wake. Both members looked at the way the phone came to a stop a few meters away from them.

Yuta now realised that he probably had reacted in a overdramatic way, because he should know fully well that JiHo could take care of herself. He just never saw someone being so disrespectful towards JiHo first hand. But he understood that he, himself, wasn’t being very respectful either with the way he talked to her and decided to throw her phone on the ground. He just wanted to protect her in the first place, yet he let his anger get the best of himself.

JiHo on the other hand felt a wave of guilt wash over herself as well. Up until the moment she asked for his phone, she felt like her feelings and words were justified, but grabbing Yuta’s phone and smashing it on the ground was a step too far. She understood that very well, but she still felt angry. He wasn’t being very fair at all. So although she felt like Yuta deserved everything she said and did, she still felt the guilt bubble up in her stomach.

“Wow~ What happened here?” The two turned around to see Mark and Jisung staring between them and then shattered phones with wide eyes. JiHo rolled her eyes, not in the mood to have any of her other members getting involved. She walked the other way, grabbing her phone - or at least what was left of it - with her.

“Noona-” Mark put a hand on Jisung shoulder signing to him that it was better to let the girl just walk away. Both young boys then turned to Yuta, their eyes making him fully aware that they wanted to hear what happened. “Hyung?” Mark pushed as he didn’t answer for a while. Yuta mimicked Jiho’s previous actions, but instead of walking the same way JiHo went, Yuta walked past the two boys. “Keep yourselves out of our business okay?” Mark and Jisung just wordlessly nodded, afraid to push any further.

“Mark hyung. Shouldn’t we do something?” Mark pushed his lips into a thin line and gave the younger boy a pat on the shoulder in an attempt to get him to stop worrying. “I don’t know Jisung-ah. Let’s just let them be. They love each other too much to stay mad at each other for long. I’m sure they’ll talk it through later.”

---

Side note: Since I’m posting less now this might be the last post of the week. I was planning to post it tomorrow, but I was too excited about this one ^^ Something I’m also excited about is Dream’s comeback. Only 5 more days!! LETS GOOO~~

Have a nice day/evening/night 🤍💚🤍

[yeojaa]

( SOMETHING COMFORTING. )

Jeon Jungkook loves Overwatch, drinking games, and Halloween.  What he loves more than that?  You.

pairing.  gamer!jjk x named f!reader.

genre + rating.   idol!au set in room filled with bunnies and a cotton candy machine that’s exploded.  it’s just that fluffy.  (but also explicit cause why not.)

tags / warnings.  established relationship, gaming (overwatch), dorky weeb references, mentions of drinking, yugyeom makes an appearance (!!), fingering, soft soft soft love making in the shower. 

wc.  9.7k

beta reader(s).  the lovely @kerikaaria​​​ read through this to make sure i didn’t get too nerdy.  tysm!  💛  i may like further changes once my beloved @hobi-gif​ gets her hands on it but i’m a potato who wanted to post this quickly.  oops... 

author note.  this fulfills the “jeon jungkook” square of @btsholidaybingo​‘s bts holiday bingo 2020 and this is the couple from angels & airwaves.  while this story isn’t super plot-driven, it’s meant to be a little peek into the lives of a couple that live in my mind rent-free and continue to make me soft and gooey inside.  i hope you enjoy it!   

You don’t know how he talked you into it or how it really happened.  You remember, faintly, the mention of a party.  Something about it being a small thing - just a few close friends, the members, etc.  He’d said it so offhand, like commenting on the sky or asking for another package of Choco Boys, so you hadn't given it a second thought.  If it was important, he’d bring it up again and if not, well, you hardly remembered it anyway.  Win-win or whatever.  

So you’d given up some intelligence points, traded them for space to fit more gaming knowledge.  Somewhere along the line went your memory too - the conversation wiped from your brain like Will Smith had lasered it clean. 

“Zarya’s one!  Zarya’s one—“  You’re not sure how many times you can repeat yourself, shrieking through comms to a team that doesn’t seem to want to listen.  You’re blasted into oblivion, Mercy’s prone body launched across the map as you watch your Rein fall too.  There’s an irritation bubbling in your stomach, fizzing uncomfortably like the Japanese honeydew soda you’d had at lunch.  “Zarya’s actually one!” 

No one cares.  She’s healed by the time you respawn and make it back across the map. 

“Jesus—“  Your push-to-talk remains off for that flippant comment, distaste colouring your words a bitter shade of blue.  You almost want to let your Ashe get headshot by the enemy Widow, only switching the stream from damage boosting to healing when your teammate starts spamming their hotkey.  

I need healing!  I need healing! 

What you need is a team that listens to your calls or at the very least communicates in some way.  Doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen though.  There’s near radio silence in the voice chat, the only other person remotely helpful being your bouncing booping Lucio that’s trying to keep a flanking Tracer off point.  Stupid.  You almost feel bad for him, Guardian Angeling to him when no one else seems to want to offer any support. 

Ah, the life of a support player in masters ranked.  So infuriating and yet— nope.  Just infuriating. 

You lose the first round with 1:56 to spare, to no one’s surprise.  Okay, maybe to your Reinhardt’s surprise.  He’s being surprisingly chipper in text chat, sending WP and a dorky smiley face.  You think he must volunteer at the local animal shelter and buy coffee for the people behind him in the drive-thru.  He’s far too well-adjusted, not shooting off a single accusation to anyone on the team.  A silver lining, you suppose.  

Your second round starts well enough.  Your comp is solid - as much as it can be in the current off-tank dominated meta.  Hog, Zarya, a private profiled GM Widowmaker, Tracer, Lucio, and you as Ana.  You’d prefer to play Mercy - find the most comfort in her skill set - but on an attack map, you’re not risking a headshot right out of spawn.  Broken maximum damage good stuff means healers are squishy and you don’t have your usual DPS to boost.  (He’s off doing god knows what - maybe filming an ad for Samsung or breaking the internet with his permed man bun.)

You make it through the choke without much ado.  The enemy Rein is wildly out of position, eager to make some big brained play that goes terribly wrong.  Your Lucio chuckles through voice and you join him, tossing a nade when your Zarya looks like she’s about to die to a poorly executed 360 shatter. 

“You winning?” 

It’s your boyfriend peeking over your shoulder, so close you nearly scream, mouse launched across your desk with the intensity of your reaction.  You hadn’t heard him come in, the stupid sneaky bastard as quiet as a mouse.  

(It’s not your own fault.  He knows you can’t hear anything when you’ve got your headphones on, the noise cancelling in your state of the art Sennheisers not something to scoff at.)

“Jeez, Kook!”  You want to be more mad.  Really, you do.  You’re scrambling across your desk to retrieve your mouse, squeaking a quick apology into team voice when your hero stays in one place for too long.  Luckily, Hog - previously sweet kind Rein - throws his big fat piggy self directly in front of you, effectively saving you from an otherwise miserable death at the hands of Torbjorn. 

“What?”  Jeon Jungkook has the audacity to look scandalised, shiny eyes so wide and innocent they feel more as if they belong in an early 2000s anime. 

You’re not even looking at him when you huff - too invested in your Overwatch game to give him the hell he deserves.  All you manage is a swift don’t scare me like that! as you pump your tanks back to full health.  

You notice Jungkook hasn’t moved away, still peering curiously over your shoulder.  You know he hasn’t had much time to play lately, too involved with appearances for their comeback, his schedule too packed even for you some days.  You don’t blame him when he pulls his chair up behind you, rolling into place so he’s just within your periphery. 

It’s a little distracting;  he smells good, like his - and by extension your - favourite laundry detergent and a fruity, nectarine-heavy shampoo you’d picked up for him when he’d run out of his usual.  You notice then that his hair is wet, just the wrong-side of too damp with droplets beading over his neck.  Moisture soaks into the top of his shirt and you think it might be more soaked than you can see;  it’s hard to tell when it’s a jet black shirt, one of the many he keeps in your closet for the nights he stays over.  You realise then that he must’ve been home far longer than you’d thought, if his freshly washed pink cheeks are any indication.  (Because he takes seriously long showers, nearly doubling your water bill in the year you’ve been together.) 

You want to ask what he’s doing here - you’d sworn he was busy for the next few days - but can’t find the adequate brain power to do so.  You’re playing an incredibly high skill character (your words) and if you don’t get this goddamn shot on your Lucio to keep him up, your team is going to die (your ego’s words). 

‘Ask Kook about his day’ gets scribbled on a paper on the desk in your head and filed away under To Do Later in your overflowing brainiac filing cabinet. 

“Can we pleaaaaase focus their Zarya?  She has grav.”  Though you offer the tidbit of information, you don’t assume it’s going to be relied upon.  Your team is well on their way to taking first point - surprisingly - and there’s still nearly three minutes left on the clock.  If the six of you idiots can keep it together and kill that goddamn Zarya, there’s no doubt in your mind you’ll win the game. 

Alas, fate is but a cruel mistress and said Zarya gets said grav off, sucking your own Russian tank and Tracer-turned-Soldier into her hell void.  Not even your well-timed nade can save them from the Genji that dragon blades directly into their faces.  Your poor Lucio dies to the same ult and you imagine you or your Widow are next.  Your Hog’s just respawning, his lumbering silhouette not even on screen.

“Rip,”  says your boyfriend - like the sound, not the letters - from beside you, a droplet of water splashing across your wrist when he shakes his head.  He looks disappointed - as if he’s the one that’s lost the match.  It makes you laugh, the sound tripping off your tongue despite the overwhelming rage you’re currently battling.  

“Rip is right,”  you mumble back, tossing yourself off the map.  If you’re gonna die, it'll be on your own terms.  Jungkook chuckles at that.  

By the time you respawn, both you and Widow are joining a fight that looks like it’s going surprisingly well.  There’s no one on point and you’re capping uncontested.  Widow even headshots a wayward Moira.

“You should go top left.”  

You don’t turn your head.  Jungkook’s always been a bit of a backseat gamer, whether he’s watching your stream while he’s out of town or sitting right beside you.  Sometimes, you love it;  other times, you hate it.  Most times, though, he’s right.  He has surprisingly good game sense, despite being lower ranked than you (something you remind him of constantly, without shame). 

“Can we go top left?”  You parrot into your speaker.

For once, your team listens, most of them running up the sidewall with Widow right down main.  Not for the first time you wish you were playing Mercy, if only to be able to damage boost your sniper while she distracts the enemy team.  Still, you make due, taking your boyfriend’s next piece of advice when it comes, unsolicited.  “You should be back right by the stairs.  You can see up the hall and still heal Widow on top.”

You’d kiss him if you weren’t so intently focused, unable to tear your gaze from the screen when the enemy team seems to pluck their strategy directly from Jungkook’s skull and hold conservatively on point.  Amazing.

“Your Zarya has grav.  She’ll probably throw it on point so you should nade as soon as you get in and Widow can pick them off without full charge.”

If he were anyone else, you’d probably be giving him hell for mansplaining your favourite game to you.  As it stands, you follow his instructions to the letter and the Team Kill marker flashes across your screen. 

“Told you,”  he quips, ever the snooty dork you adore. 

“I was going to say thank you.”  Just not right now.  You can’t multitask quite like he can. 

If you could look over, you think you’d see him grinning from ear to ear, buck teeth and dimples on full display.  “I know.”

As it stands, the other team has trouble getting on point fast enough and you’re left with a whopping 3:56 left on the clock.  Thank freaking god.  You can win this, you think.  Easy.  No problem. 

“Go Ana on defense.”  At some point, Jungkook had gotten up to find a snack and he returns now, bag of shrimp chips in his hand and packet of matcha Pocky held between his teeth.  You open your mouth for a stinky tasty treat and he shoves four crisps in, unceremoniously and with his signature dummy grin. 

You manage to crunch crunch crunch through it all but shoot him a glare the entire time.  He only smiles wider, all perfectly white enamel and enough cuteness to make your heart skip a beat. 

“Do you just want to play?”  You don’t mean it seriously.  You don’t mind him watching and you know he enjoys pretending like he’s better than you.  It’s a strange give and take but one that’s uniquely yours, built over nearly a year of online friendship and another year of a real-life relationship. 

“Nah, I’m snacking.”  He punctuates his response as a child would, shoving a handful of chips into his mouth.  You wonder, briefly, why you love him so much when he’s a certifiable goon. 

The third match begins and you’re not too proud to say you spend most of it following Jungkook’s directions.  He tells you to sleep the enemy Genji trying to scale the right wall - you do.  He tells you to nade once their Rein gets in because your own Rein is going to shatter - you do.  He tells you to do the macarena and— okay, that, you don’t. 

You sweep the match, leaving the other team without a single tick.  

When it comes to the final round, he seems to have lost interest in the game, instead rolling himself back to his computer with a parting, wayward ruffle of your hair.  You don’t blame him but you thank him nonetheless, blowing a kiss before he settles his headphones over his ears. 

You, of course and unsurprisingly, win the game.  There’s nothing like using a Sym portal onto point when they’ve got a Bastion set up off point and no shield to protect him from the back. 

Satisfied, you don’t bother requeueing and instead force yourself into your boyfriend’s personal space, draping your arms across the idol’s neck as he scrolls through YouTube like a zombie.  “We won,”  you sing-song into his ear, proud and a little smug. 

“Of course you did.”  He sounds equally smug and you suppose the win does belong to the both of you.  He’d been a great coach. 

“What’re you doing here?”  It’s pure curiosity offered in the form of a kiss to his cheek, fingers locked across the broad expanse of his chest.  He’s delightfully warm beneath you, familiar and unyielding as you sink over the back of his computer chair.  (You can feel the chair creaking as it reclines.  You don’t care.) 

“Whaddya mean?”

The look he levels you with makes you think you’ve grown a second head.  

“Your schedule said you had a thing tonight.”  You remember, because you’d been disappointed.  Halloween was one of your favourite holidays and all you’d wanted was to watch some campy horror movies and use him as a personal eye shield and security blanket combo.

“We have a thing,”  he states, like he’s talking to a moron.  You know it isn’t meant meanly, too emphatic and amused to hurt your feelings.  

When you echo his words (“We?”) you swear you see him roll his eyes in the reflection of his computer screen.  Luckily, he laughs, sweet and cracky, somewhere high in his throat - a barking hyena.  It’s so cute - your favourite thing in the world - that you don’t have it in you to shame him for it. 

“Yeah, we,”  Jungkook repeats around something close to a snicker.  “Halloween party, baby.  Seriously— you forgot?”

It’s then and there you have two crises:  (a) you don’t have a costume and (b) Halloween party?  You didn’t think idols had those.  Weren’t they all too hip and cool to get together to dress up and act stupid?

(You know the answer is no.  Exhibit A being the costume-wearing dance practices BTS put out.)

“I don’t have anything to wear.”  It’s truly the one thing holding you back, creasing the soft skin between your brows to resemble a peach.  It’s also nearing seven in the evening and you’re absolutely certain you’re not going to find something so late in the day. 

To your surprise. Jungkook looks flabbergasted, that same you-have-two-heads stare wrought across his face.  It’d be endearing if it were directed at anyone else but with it trained on you, it’s rubbing you and your confusion the wrong way.  Why’s he looking at you like that?  Why’s your memory so bad?  Why hasn’t he said anything to answer all of life’s questions? 

“You said you’d go as witch Mercy.”

All at once, you’re pulled back to the offhand conversation, the pleading in his eyes, your half-asleep acceptance.  It’s the memory you’d lost somewhere along the way in upgrading your in-brain video game storage.  A conversation had in bed, his cheeks so big and full of joy they’d waned his eyes into crescents, and your uncoordinated answer because you’d just wanted to go to sleep and not think about anything after indulging in a few too many mochi cream buns. 

“I— don’t remember that.”  You’re lying through your damn teeth.  Your parents would be devastated, all their hard earned money wasted on the braces-straightened enamel that was now letting lies pass. 

“But you did!”  He’s like a kid being denied candy, rounded bottom lip dropping into a pout that should, frankly, be illegal.  It’s far too powerful on him, paired with those Bambi eyes that scream don’t eat (hate/deny/etc.) me!  You can only scowl at him, because you know your own puppy dog eyes only work 100% of the time half of the time whereas his track record was immaculate. 

“Okay, but I forgot to get the—“

“I have it!”

Jeon Jungkook has an answer for everything, it seems.

“I picked it up on the way here.  It’s in your room along with my costume.”

The knowledge of his own intrigues you, squarely centring your curiosity on that and not the fact that you apparently need to get tested for early onset dementia.  “Who’re you going as?”

“You’ll see.”

Your costume is spectacular.  You can’t even find it in yourself to put up much of a fight when your boyfriend reveals it like you’ve won the lottery, throwing his arms wide in a flourish. 

It’s incredibly well made, intricately tailored in a way that makes you worry how much it costs.  (When you bring it up to him, Jungkook simply shrugs.  You think it’s as much a gift for you as it is for him.)  It’s witchy and eye-catching, the belt hung across your hips clipped with an actual book - hollowed out, thank god but also poor thing.  The hat that sits on your head is neatly crumpled, sitting at such an angle you worry whether you’ll need to avoid too-low door frames.  Your wings - well, you’re almost too afraid to touch them;  Jungkook has to help you pull them over your arms, falling into near hysterics when you twitch your elbow the wrong way and smack him right between the eyes.  

“I don’t think I can pull this off,”  you state, somberly, despite the fact that you’re not terribly self-conscious.  (You were, once.  Being in a relationship with someone that worships your body has helped with that.) 

The top of your outfit is fitted, boned and ribbed and snapped together in all the right places.  Leather stands in stark contrast to your skin - summer-soft and gently golden - and hugs curves that don’t quite exist, falling short in a way that has you glaring down at your own chest.  You’ve never wanted a Playboy body but in this sort of costume, it practically demands it.  (You try not to dwell on the fact that you’ve been conditioned to want to look like an impractically designed video game hero.)

From the foot of your bed comes a snort, a derisive sound that draws your attention.  Jungkook’s unabashed in how he admires you, stare roving over every inch like he’s about to devour you.  You’re not sure how you can feel so soft for him when he looks completely the opposite, jaw set and expression sharp.  A Greek god carved from hardened honey, dressed in Balenciaga blue.  “You look great, angel.”

Your heart skips a beat - plays a funny little game of tag with itself - and you can’t help the smile that comes, brought to life by his reassurance.  It isn’t necessary to rebuff him then - eyes rolling, laugh spilling - but you do it anyway.  “You have to say that.  You’re my boyfriend.” 

“I don’t have to say anything,”  he retorts, levelling you with a look that has your insides molten.  It’s the look that reads don’t test me but also I love you and you’re my idiot.  It’s your favourite look in the world, lending wings to your flimsy heart.  “You look great because you always look great, no matter what.”

“What about when you found me in the shower ?”

Jungkook hesitates then.  He’s no liar and he had almost had a heart attack the first time it’d happened.  He’d been minding his business, half-asleep and battling the need to piss, when he’d noticed you curled up in the bathroom.  How he hadn’t realised you were missing from bed, he’s not sure.  All he knew was that you’d terrified him, mentioning something about invading refrigerators when he was pulling his dick out of his boxers.

His scream was what had woken you up;  yours was what had him bashing his head into the wall, foot slipping on the soft pink bathroom rug.  You could laugh about it now but at the time, you’d thought he’d cracked his skull right open, shouting his name so loudly the neighbours had complained.  

(Lucky for you two, they were a nice elderly couple who sometimes had you babysit their grandson.  They’d laughed it off when you’d apologised with a loaf of fresh bread and a bandage wrapped around your boyfriend’s head.)

“Okay—  that was scary.  I thought you’d crawled out of the drain or something.”  A shudder rolls through Jungkook’s body, shaking him from his shoulders all the way down to his knees.  It’s a strangely adorable reaction from someone who looks like he could bench press you.

“You’re calling me the Grudge?”  You’re deeply offended, gloved hands clasping over your chest as if to pull out the treacherous dagger he’s just lodged there.  He only rolls his eyes, leaning forward to catch you in his arms;  he’s relentless as he drags you to him, side of his face pressed to the bare skin of your thigh.  His cheek’s searing but you’re not surprised;  Jungkook ran hot, keeping you warm in winter and sweltering in summer.  (Ah, the price you paid for love.)

“Yeah, you haunt me in my dreams.”

“That’s not the Grudge, Kook.”  Your scoff earns you a pinch, right where the top of your stockings end.  It blooms red beneath his fingers, a little reminder of his competitive I’m-never-wrong nature.  You swat his hand away, not too bothered when it only finds a home elsewhere, hooked behind your knee.  Jungkook had a habit of needing to be in constant contact.  A little quirk of his you adored.

“I’m serious.  You look—”  You should clock the look on his face, the wiggle of mischief up his nose.  A dead giveaway shining bright - a beacon.  “—bewitching.”

If the book weren’t attached to your hip, you’d be clobbering him with it.  Instead, you’re left to whack him with the equally intricate Caduceus staff, booping it over his shoulders.  You feel like a certain shamanic mandrill, Jungkook the idiotic lion that’s asking for an earful.

“Shut up!”  You’re laughing despite yourself and he is too, holding you so recklessly close it’s hard to hit him without hurting yourself.  All part of his plan, you suppose.  “You’re so freaking corny.”

“It’s because I’m a-maize-ing, ang—”

Another wap! to the head, shielded only by a tattooed hand that curls over his ear.  

“Okay!  Sorry!”  Except he doesn’t look very sorry.  More pleased that you’ve stopped the assault, dark hair pushed back from his forehead as he stares up at you.  You hate how he’s so handsome - how you forget yourself when he smiles that smile, nearly yeeting your whole heart directly into the sun.

“Are you going to put on yours yet?”  

It’s quarter past nine already and all you’ve done is rope him into eating some chapaguri - you’ve been obsessed with it since a few weeks ago - and play real life Witch Barbie.  You have a feeling if you don’t get him into his own costume soon, you’re never going to leave the apartment.  (Not that you really mind.)  

Your boyfriend - bless his heart - pretends not to hear you, suddenly intently focused on an indiscernible spot past your hip.  It’d be more believable if he was glued to his phone or doing anything remotely interesting.  Instead, you stare down at him and count the seconds until he realises just how silly he looks.  It usually comes around six, paired with a forced chuckle and that lisp you love. 

Today, it comes after the fourth count. 

“You’re gonna think it’s lame.”  Well, of course you will.  As his girlfriend - and one of his best friends, you’d like to think - it’s your relationship-given right to shame him for his more often than not absurd ideas.  It’s what you deserve for suffering through all his bad jokes and 3 AM Instagram spams. 

With a hand on his cheek, you squeeze the apple like you’ve seen a certain member do a million times.  “So?”

He’s not really sure how to respond to that, mouth drawn into a pout that reminds you of children’s television show about penguins.  It’s unfairly adorable.  Still, you push.  Jungkook’s bad at saying no to you - always has been, even before he really knew you.  From “one more game!” to “bring me bingsu”, you always got what you wanted. 

(Which wasn’t to say you asked for a lot.  You were happy - more than that, ecstatic and over the moon - with the bare minimum.  A selfie while on the plane, some shoddy cinematography during dance practice, a voicemail to wake up to.  You didn’t love Jungkook for all the things he gave you;  rather, you loved him for who he was, who he’d always been even before you knew who he really was.)

“Don’t laugh.”  By the look on his face, you’re worried it’s something awful.  The cheesiest thing in the world come to life to haunt you on your beloved spooky holiday. 

It turns out to be the opposite:  one of your favourite characters realised in the form of your achingly handsome boyfriend.  He looks so good you’re not certain whether it’s your attraction to him or him in that particular guise that’s stronger.  You figure it doesn’t matter one way or another.  For tonight, they’re one and the same. 

“Joker?  Seriously?”  You can’t hide the delight.  It colours every syllable, sets them glowing like a neon sign.

Your boyfriend only rolls his eyes, as if he’d predicted this reaction.  Dressed as he is, the movement is impossible to miss, brought into focus by the white domino mask.  “Don’t sound so excited.”  It’s an actual concern of his.  He’s seen you sink upwards of ninety hours on the video game, playing it in the early hours when he’s fast asleep and you’re battling another night of insomnia.  

Once, he’d asked whether you loved him or Joker more.  He hadn’t liked the answer (joking as it was) and had spent the better part of the evening pouting. 

This time, you’re sweet as pie, eyes so dark and twinkly he wonders whether he’s staring at the night sky.  You wonder the same yourself almost every night, lost in the constellations of his irises.  It’s the most intimate form of stargazing you can afford, a luxury you indulge in frequently.  You’ve mapped the different formations, named them in honour of all the special moments you’ve shared;  you think to label one for this night too.

“You look so good.”  You don’t hesitate to brush his hair from his eyes.  It’s still relaxing from the perm he’d gotten days ago, curling like classic calligraphy over his eyes.  It’s surprisingly soft between your fingers, silk despite the constant heat styling.  Bastard.  “I can’t believe you’re going as Joker.  You don’t even like Persona 5!”

By how Jungkook looks at you then - the same way he did the first time you met standing on the street corner in Dotonbori and a hundred more times since then - you realise it doesn’t matter.  He’s dressed this way because you like the character.  

“Oh,”  you say, because there’s not much more to say.  Nothing that needs to be said as he grins down at you, so heartbreakingly handsome you’ll never get used to it. 

“Yeah,”  he parrots back, a little smug.  

Bangtan’s golden maknae is having the time of his life.  He’s four cups deep into a game of beer pong that’s played like the Wimbledon classic, back hunched, jaw set.  You’d think he was battling it out for the title of God of Beer Pong if you didn’t know better.  (You suppose he is.)  

“Angel, come here!”  He’s giddy - slightly glazed in the eyes - as he waves you over, a red-gloved hand beckoning you to his side.  Despite how good he looks in the costume - every weakness of yours encapsulated by the intricate dress shirt that hugs him like a second skin - the gesture is decidedly adorable, an eager puppy seeking unconditional love.  There’s simply too much affection in his voice, so much sugar-spun love that you can’t deny him (even as you consider jumping his bones at a party full of people).   

He’s shining as bright as the sun and you want nothing more than to live within his warmth.  

With your fingers twined, he pulls you to him, drawing you tight against his side like he doesn’t need that same hand to throw another ball.  You don’t mind.  You know he’ll sink it even with his left hand.  

“I’m winning,”  he states, as if it weren’t wildly obvious by the fact all cups remain untouched on his side.  

Across the table, Yugyeom’s eyes roll so far back you want to laugh.  Jungkook’s competitive side is endearing at best and infuriating at worst.  Luckily, his competition is enjoying himself too much to give him shit.  

(He’s also probably too drunk to, given how badly he’s doing.)

“I see that.”  You’re not a big drinker yourself but you like seeing Jungkook in his element.  He thrives in this sort of setting, showing off all the talents he has and then some.  It’s just another stage to him, somewhere he can prove himself (even if it’s over something as small as how good his bounce-shot is).  “How many games have you won?”  Because he’s been at this table for the last hour, dropping his competition like flies.

“All of them.”  God, his ego.  You know you shouldn’t stroke it but you can’t help it, brushing a hand through his tousled hair in the way he likes best.  Fingers over his scalp, thumb rubbing soothing circles across the nape of his neck.  He nearly melts then, tilting his head into the gentle caress.

“Good job, Kook.”

You’re so lost in your own little world that poor Yugyeom has to pull you both from it, launching a poorly-aimed white ping pong ball at the two of you.  To no one’s surprise, it careens past your heads, hitting the wall behind you and disappearing off to god knows where.  

“Can we play?”  Again, that eye roll, visible just past the bandages that loosely wrap his cheeks.  You know he’s only teasing, that he’s actually quite a fan of your and Jungkook’s dumb coupling (he’s told you), but you return his mockery with a raised hand, thumb and forefinger waving in salute.  

“Losers don’t get to complain.”

The idol throws a hand to his chest, the gesture bordering on sloppy from the liquor that threads his limbs.  Still, it’s cute, earning a sweet laugh from you and a witch’s cackle from your boyfriend.  (How fitting.)  “I’m hurt, Yoojin-ssi.”

It’s Jungkook’s turn to tease, brattiness flipped on like a haywire lightswitch.  “No, you’re just bad at games!”  He’s a sniggering schoolgirl, lines wrapping the delicate skin of his nose, streaking joy into the wrinkles beneath his eyes.  Slightly-too-big front teeth are on full display, his expression the embodiment of an “uwu” emote.

That riles Yugyeom up, powder puff of hair bounding over to you before you have time to blink.  In the next moment, your boyfriend’s half-wrestling with him, their arms locked around each other like some sort of weird four-limbed octopus.  (Video game protagonist vs. hot mummy— who will win?)  You jump back just in time, avoiding a wayward fist and laughing merrily.  Idiots, the both of them.

“You guys have fun.”  And then you’re gone, off to busy yourself with people who won’t accidentally give you a black eye or knock over the nearest thing not bolted to the ground.  

You can still hear them tussling when you latch yourself to the back of a certain blond.  He’s dressed like one of your greatest nightmares - an actual clown, drawing inspiration from a certain 2017 blockbuster - and yet somehow still manages to look good. You don’t understand it and frankly, you’re a little envious, but such was life. 

“Jimin-ssiiiii.”  

“Ahhhhhh, stop!”  It’s the same reaction he always has, paired with wiggling shoulders and sweet laughter that bounces around the room and stirs to life your own.  Indisputable and lovely, the sound is brighter than the sun or the lights that currently swing through the chandelier lights above your heads.  “You two are ridiculous.”

“He’s ridiculous, not me!”  You know it isn’t true.  Separately, you and Jungkook were idiotic enough, finding humour in the silliest things (funny threads on r/Relationship_Advice and four year old Vines).  But together?  It was a two-person circus, graduate professors at clown college.  

You absolutely loved it. 

“Sure, sure,”  the dancer hums, delightfully disbelieving as he takes another shot.  One of three lined up across the counter, clear in little orange cups made to look like pumpkins.  A whiff tells you they’re strawberry soju - your least favourite flavour.  You decline with a wrinkled nose and waving hand when he offers you one.  Jimin shrugs and downs the next, delicately wiping the corner of his mouth when he misjudges the pour.  “Aren’t you drinking?”

You wiggle the half-empty Cass bottle in your hand in response and receive a scoff, different bottle - green, unopened - thrust into your other.  

“Drink this!��  

“You want me to drink an entire bottle?”  You’re incredulous.  Jimin’s seen you on the edge of intoxication and more than a little sloppy, giggling like a schoolgirl.  It’s not unbecoming - you know better than to get blackout - but laughable nonetheless.  Something to record and post on Snapchat with a voice-altering filter.

“It’s Halloween!”  The pumpkin shot glass makes you go cross-eyed before he’s knocking it back too.  “Live a little!”

Who are you to say no to the recent birthday boy?  It would simply be bad manners and you were nothing if polite (though, you’re sure some might beg to differ - Yoongi, maybe?). 

The remnants of your beer are swallowed down in the next moment, so quickly you almost choke on it.  Your life flashes before your eyes, Jimin’s hand on your shoulder as he beats breath into your body.  “Don’t die!”  He cries, despite the fact that it’s his fist that’s making it worse, doubling you over with hacking coughs.

“K-Kook’s g-going to kill you—”  

“No, you’re fine.”  He’s reassuring you just as much as himself, laughing too loudly as you straighten up.  You wonder how red your face is when he takes your place, slapping his own knee as he shakes with amusement.  “Your face, oh—  Your face.”

It’s not meant to be offensive but your buzzed brain demands payment for each giggle.

The base of the green bottle collides with the back of his knee - gentle, gentle - just hard enough to have him properly toppling over, collapsing onto the carpet like a frail old grandpa without his cane.  You can’t help the snicker that careens off your liquor-laden tongue.

That is, until he’s pulling you down with him and the two of you are a giggling, giddy mess, tucked beneath the edge of the bar as you laugh together.  It’s a chorus of sound, unrelenting and building the longer you both sit on the floor.  Jimin’s practically hunched over, head caught between his propped up arms.  You imagine it’s a funny sight - two people in their twenties acting like college freshmen.

“Baby?”  It’s your boyfriend, amused and confused as he stares down at your and Jimin’s prone bodies.  He’s got that dent between his brows, the colour of his eyes all but swallowed up by the way his cheeks press wide with his smile.  “What’re you doing down there?”  

“Just hanging out,”  you answer, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.  At your side, Jimin’s still trying to collect himself, parroting your words around his lungfuls of quieting laughter.

“Are you drunk?”

You’re not, but that doesn’t stop you from gasping, overdramatic and with your unopened bottle of soju held aloft.  A modern day olive branch.  “No?”

Jungkook snorts and then all at once, he’s close.  Too close - smelling of beer and your favourite cologne of his, citrusy and woodsy and every other nice thing you like.  It fills your senses just as his smile does, blindingly bright and bunny-like.  Even behind the mask, his good looks take your breath away.  You must be staring up at him idiotically, all one hundred and sixteen pounds of ooey gooey tenderness.  “You sound drunk, angel,”  he teases, warm red-covered palm coming to cradle your cheek.  It sears heat everywhere it touches, guiding the same hue over your skin.  It creeps up your chest and over your ears, standing in contrast to the material of his gloves.  “Pretty.”

(He really is, you think.)

“Get a room,”  comes Jimin from beside you.  There’s no malice in his voice - just soft affection for a couple of lovesick idiots.  

“That’s the plan,”  Jungkook replies, as if he’d been waiting for the moment.  It skips off his tongue and settles into your ears, tipping your head curiously as you stare at him.  He’s never been very shy about wanting you - at least, not since you’d made things official, so many months ago - but you’re surprised by the insinuation.  When he speaks again, you realise your brain has been rolling around in the gutter, fallen out of your ears like candy from a worn pillow case.  “Want to head home?”

You do.  You really, really do.   

When you stumble into your apartment - the same one with the polka-dot welcome rug and crisp white paint - you realise you were perhaps wrong about how drunk you are.  Everything’s coming at you quite quickly, the ground beneath your feet somehow suddenly rushing at you like Mach Five.

“Whoa—”  There’s an impossibly solid warmth against your back, fingers locked around your wrists that feel more like flimsy chicken feet.  “Careful.”

Your boyfriend’s keeping you upright while stepping out of his boots - impossibly expensive supple dark leather - and you’re giggling all the while, practically sinking against him as he does his best to shuffle his shoes away and get you further into the hallway.  “Sorry,”  you offer in a terrible stage whisper, smiling wide when you catch sight of his, small and endlessly amused.  It slips across his face even as he tries to bite it back, warring with the patience he holds in spades.

“Let’s just get these off.”  He means the boots - the intricate, vaguely absurd things that creep up almost the entirety of your leg, neatly wrapped and knotted midway up your thigh.  Dexterous as he is, it’s a task to unravel the strings and thread buttons when you’re weighing on him like a bag of bricks.

You’re fumbling for the tops, haphazardly smacking his hands away.  “Here, let me.”  

Somehow, you manage to get them off in what feels like record time.  (In reality, it takes a good five minutes of futility before they’re left on the ground and Jungkook’s swept you into his arms, seemingly over waiting for you to do much else.)

“Oh, my prince charming,”  you tease, clinging to him like a koala.  You’re locked around him, practically suffocating him, but he doesn’t seem to mind.  He’s used to it when you’re this way, just a little too much liquid courage turning your level of affection to eleven.  “Or are you the court jester?  That’s what Joker is, right?”  It’s a joke and a bad one at that.  Still, your boyfriend indulges you, depositing a forced laugh against your shoulder as he navigates to your bedroom.  

“You’re drunk.”  He says it more kindly than you expect.  Perhaps even more kindly than you deserve.  You know he’s not exactly sober himself, his gaze verging on heavy-lidded.  There’s sleepiness blending seamlessly with intoxication, softening the edge of his jaw, the narrow of his stare.  It’s terribly tender, skipping your heart when you look at him dead on.

It comes without thought.  You have to tell him.  Your drunk brain and your puppy dog heart demand it.  “I love you.”

Jungkook returns the confession with humour, eyes sparkling despite the haze of alcohol that dims them down.  As always, he indulges you, giving you support in the form of his heart and his hands.  (Literally, he’s still holding you even though you’ve reached your destination.)  “Love you too.”

“Is it time for bed?”  You’re surprisingly tired, despite the fact that you’d slept until late in the afternoon.  You certainly wouldn’t mind falling face first into your mattress.

“You need a shower first.”  It’s a simple statement of fact, you know that.  You’ve got at least ten pounds of makeup on and your hair’s the furthest thing from soft and silky, carefully coiffed to mimic Mercy’s signature style.  You still pretend like you’re just a bit offended, scowling into the face of your boyfriend even as he rolls his eyes, already somehow able to read the words written into your expression.  “I meant we and no, I’m not calling you stinky.”

He’s stolen your thunder, as he so often does.  You pout, as you so often do. 

“Okay,”  you relent, finally, moving to rest your head against his shoulder.  You could get down - walk on your own two tired feet - but you’re enjoying the closeness, how warm and real he feels in comparison to the swimming surroundings.  “Will you wash my hair?”  You don’t really need to ask but do anyway, because you like the sound of his voice when it’s so close.

“You know I will.”  Because he always does when you shower together (and it falls on a designated hair washing day - that was important).  

You offer your thanks with a kiss, laid right over the jumping pulse in his neck.  When Jungkook hums in acknowledgment, you feel the way the muscles constrict, his Adam’s apple jumping beneath your lips.  You zero in on it with laser precision, mouthing over his throat.  Somewhere above you - against the shell of your ear - he exhales a laugh, breath hot.

“We’re showering, baby.”  As if that’s meant to stop you.  He, more than anyone, should know how adamant you get, singularly focused on whatever’s got your attention.  He’s been on the receiving end of it more than enough times, strung into playing another one, two, ten matches of Overwatch or hunting down the limited edition Funko Pops that now sit proudly on your white shelf (and behind your plants and on the ledge by the front door).

“We can shower and have fun,”  you mumble into the expanse of his chest.  He’s so pleasantly warm, unyielding and firm and so, so comfortable.  You think you could live in the feeling of his arms.  (You’re lucky you get to.)  You don’t even mind the sudden cold of the counter or the space that forms between you when he sets you down, because he’s still caging you in where it matters most.  “Right, JK?”

It’s a nickname you rarely use now - one that only comes out in times of desperation.  You’ve never quite understood why it affects your boyfriend the way it does, stuttering the rhythmic beating of his heart, but you love it nonetheless.  It makes you grin, high on power and giddy with nothing but sweetness.  

He’d explained it to you once.  Jay was how you’d met him, the version of himself you’d loved first.  Jungkook was the side of himself he’d wanted to give you but couldn’t.  JK was the in-between - the chaos and the calm.  Hearing you say it brought back all the memories of year one and he liked that.  You could only laugh at his sentimentality and tuck the piece of knowledge somewhere deep, to be pulled out in instances like this.

“Right, angel.”  You don’t miss the colour on his cheeks - so pretty you reach your hands out to cup them, squishing them between your palms like an old grandmother testing a watermelon.  You continue to hold him until he pulls your hands from his face, guiding them to the edge of the counter with gentle pressure.  “Gotta get undressed to shower,”  he chides, that twinkle in his eye that makes it hard to look away.

Really, how can he expect you to do anything when he’s got an entire unexplored galaxy hidden in his irises?  It’s an absurd ask.

“Or I’ll help you.”  

Your clothes fall away while you’re still staring up at him.  

First, the gloves, peeled from your fingers with utmost care.  Kisses fill the spaces between each finger, passed from knuckles to wrist, all the way up to your elbow.  You squirm when his teeth graze the sensitive underside of your bicep.  He stifles a snicker into the skin.

Next goes your cape and wings, hung on the door handle.  His mouth warms the suddenly bare skin, pressing affection into the line of your shoulder, up over your neck.  You don’t squirm this time, instead humming a noise of delight.  You hardly notice when the corset goes next, undone by surprisingly nimble inked digits.  There’s hardly a moment to savour the freedom - you can finally breathe - when his hands replace the cups, palms eager over your chest.  He doesn’t hesitate to hold you, pinching your perked nipples with a sly grin.

“I thought we were going to shower.”  The words are barely out before turning breathless, stolen by the way he easily palms your breast, dropping his face into the crook of your neck. 

“We are, angel,”  Jungkook teases, rolling your bud between his thumb and forefinger, other hand moved to splay across the now-bare small of your back.  It’s almost embarrassing how easily you fall into him, drawn against him like a moth to a flame.  “Just need to get you warmed up first.”    

“The shower’ll be warm,”  you say - or think you say, anyway.  It isn’t quite articulated, half your brain left somewhere at the party (or maybe caught dead centre in the coil that’s tightening in your stomach).  

“Do you want me to stop?”  It’s so quiet you almost miss it, too distracted by how he slips the rest of your costume off.  Shorts, thong, stockings, silly witch’s hat.  “Tell me if you want me to stop, baby.”  Ever the gentleman, he’s patient, meeting your glazed stare with something close to concern.  You almost laugh in his face then - stopping short only when you note just how serious he is, the tell-tale set of his jaw shining like a familiar beacon.  

You return your hands to his face, palms cradling his chin like he might break otherwise.  “I never want you to stop.”  

That’s all Jungkook needs before he’s slotting himself between your legs, mirroring your motion with hands creeping up the side of your neck, fingers ascending into the roots of your hair.  He holds you close and kisses you like it’s all he’s ever wanted.  “I love you,”  he breathes, speaks against the corner of your mouth.  

You parrot the words back at him and he grins, stepping away in the next moment.  He laughs when you pout, offering a kiss in apology as he undoes the buttons of his dress shirt, slipping the soft cotton off.  You stop then, entranced by the revealed skin, how it shifts with each adjustment of muscle, sinew tight over his arms and shoulders.  You wonder, not for the first time, how you’d managed to luck out so spectacularly.  

“Start the shower.”  

You hop down with the direction, slipping past him to do exactly that.  You don’t miss the way he rotates, brings himself closer as you move away.  The magnetism is undeniable - always has been.

“I love you,”  he states, again, bare against your back as you hover by the edge of the glass door, one hand stuck past to test the slow-warming stream.  He’s solid, familiar and comfortable, as he slinks his arms back around you, heat burning the shape of his hands over your ribs, the shape of your hip.  You think he might mark himself there, just as neatly as the floral ink does.  You wouldn’t mind.

The water is welcome, bathing the both of you in steam when you step inside.  It’s an incredibly relaxing feeling, being caught between the spray and the hard body behind you.  You hum a noise of pure delight, turning your face toward the one that nuzzles itself into your neck, and bring your hands to rest over his, fingers slotting between ink.  

“Hair?”  You’re not in a terrible rush but you like redirecting his attention (pretending to, at least) - the teasing that formed the base of your relationship presenting itself in the quiet reminder.  It earns the laugh you expect, muffled into your hair, featherlight over the delicate shell of your jewelled ear.  

“Patience, baby.”  It’s something Jungkook tends to say a lot, whether waiting in queue in Overwatch or in bed, with you a complete mess.  He repeats it easily, like he’s the poster boy for the virtue.  (He isn’t.)

“What am I waiting—”  The question dies, swallowed whole by the gasp he draws from you with a wandering hand.  Fingers slip across your stomach, digits deftly seeking out warmth as if you weren’t already enveloped in it.  It’s a touch that’s tantalisingly slow, unfairly light, but it still makes you keen when it drags over your lips.  A single digit pushes past muscle - so shallow you’re not sure you’re not just imagining it - before retreating, dragging your slick back up to your clit.  The moment the pad of his finger makes contact with the sensitive bundle of nerves, you almost jump.  Would, if he weren’t caging you with his other arm.  

You feel the cold of his teeth bared against your neck then, the throaty laugh that pulls out of his chest and deposits itself into your hair.  “Patience,”  he repeats, swirling his fingers over your clit, his mouth moving in tandem with the twist of his wrist.  He peppers love and affection in the form of kisses, presses devotion with the edge of his teeth, soothes all your nerves with a sweep of his tongue. 

“Kook,”  you sigh, already well on your way to being a boneless mess.  There’s tingling in your toes, fizzing in your stomach, butterflies in your chest.  A whirlwind of emotion and sensation that he stirs to life effortlessly.  

“Relax for me.”  You do so because it’s easy, because he’s so devastatingly good to you.  

The figure eights skating over your clit cease, fingers dropping further down to nestle against your cunt. He pauses there, almost experimentally flexing against the muscle that aches and clenches around nothing, eager for more.  You think he’s smirking by the way his lips form with his kisses, a little lopsided and devilish.  (You wish you could see him.) 

A single digit enters you then, to the third knuckle as if your body was made for this, for him.  (It was.)  He coos against your neck when a garbled mess skips off your tongue and nearly laughs when another slips in alongside it, turning the mess into nonsense.  Despite how badly you want it - need it, really - it’s a sensation that’s too much and not enough all at once, toeing the line between pleasure and pain.  

It was how Jungkook loved you - recklessly, shamelessly, in no half measures.  With more love than you could ever hope for, giving you things you didn’t even know how to ask for.

“Relax, angel,”  comes as he begins scissoring both fingers inside you, stretching you out with an otherworldly amount of care.  Even your neglected clit is given some sort of relief - anything to ease the sting of two long fingers - his thumb gliding over it with each stretch of your walls.  He knows exactly where to touch you, how much pressure to apply, and you’re melting, lost in the feeling.  

When he’s had enough and he curls his fingers within you, seeking out that particular spot, you’re trembling, caught off guard.  Heat builds quickly with the precision of which he taps against that spot;  it starts low in your back, climbing each vertebrae of your spine until you’re quivering in his arms.  

“K-Kook.”  It’s both a plea and a demand, nonsensical as he guides you through your orgasm, keeping you upright against him when your knees feel like they might give out.  

“I’ve got you.”  And he does - hook, line, and sinker.  He holds you steady as the pleasure crashes over your head, keeps you anchored to the here and now and the pleasure that rolls through you like a relentless wave.  It sinks beneath your skin, settles heavy into every atom, and he never lets you go.  He’s got you.

When sensation returns - slowly, so slowly it feels like you’re stuck in the Twilight Zone - you only want to turn.  See him, hold him, whisper sweet nothings as you kiss him silly and thank him for his service.  Instead, you’re held in place, two hands firm upon your hips even as you crane your neck to look over your shoulder at him.  You should recognise the look on his face.  “Kook?”

“My turn.”  It’s a statement more than anything, a kind heads-up as he nudges you forward.  There’s that same twinkle in his eye, the only source of light around the pupil that’s blown out, otherwise engulfing the constellations he so normally offers you.  It’s a black hole and one you’d gladly get lost in.  “Hands on the wall, baby.”

You’d never been one for shower sex - it’s too small a space, too much happening at once, a guaranteed freak accident waiting to happen - but you can’t deny him when he asks so nicely.  (It really hadn’t been that nice but you were a certified sucker for one Jeon Jungkook.)

Hands find themselves on the wall, palms flat, fingers splayed.  In the same instance you wiggle your hips, there’s a ghosting touch over your spine.  It trails up and down, soothes the residual heat that lingers, and then slips higher, palm gentle over your throat.  His thumb rubs reassuring circles over the nape of your neck, pressing gently into the sensitive spot behind your ear.  It’s distracting and you realise much needed when he sinks into you with one fluid press of his hips, filling you so full you can’t help the gasp that bounds past your lips and bounces around the glass enclosure.  “Oh fuck,”  he sighs, his grip on your hip tightening incrementally.

He sounds like sin and feels like heaven.  

“Always so good for me.”  Another thing he says, often and without prompting.  It still feels just as good the umpteenth time, sparking pride deep in your chest as he pulls out and drives himself back in, staring in rapt fascination at where your bodies meet.  “Always so perfect for me.”  

“Because I love you,”  you quip, more than a little out of breath and jostled by the way he thrusts into you, measured and with enough force to shake your legs.  

“Love you too, angel.”  He doesn’t need to say it back - you know, can feel it by how he holds you, drives you to brink of insanity with his cock - but he does it anyway.  He always says it back, no matter what, even if he’s half-asleep or distracted.  He’ll never stop saying it.

The hand on your hip falls, slinks across your hip and between your legs, and you’re pushed further forward, his feet gently kicking yours further apart.  Jungkook assaults your clit then, timing each pass with each thrust.  An attempted glance back has fireworks going off before your eyes, specks of pleasure lighting up your vision;  it’s a technicolour lightshow, framing the way his face scrunches, brow set and jaw hard.  He’s determined, focused on bringing you to another orgasm before he hits his own high.  You assist him as best you can, swiveling your hips and grinding back against him even as the coil pulls impossibly tight in your stomach, barely held together by threadbare strings. 

“Kook,”  you whine when the tension becomes too much, hands scrabbling across the wall of the shower.  The same overwhelming tingle sparks beneath your skin, entire body trembling like a leaf when the head of his cock brushes that spot inside you at just the right angle.

He doesn’t relent, rhythm turning almost punishing as he drives you over the edge, launching you headlong into your second orgasm.  You’re not sure how you stay upright, near sobbing when you crash into euphoric bliss, neither his fingers nor his thrusts ceasing.  It’s almost too much and yet you know how close he is, so you push back, whimper words you know he wants to hear.  

“P-please, Kook.  Please.”  You’re reaching a hand back, desperate to interlace your fingers with his.  He gives in easily, catches your hand in his own and plants it on the swell of your hip as he chases his own release with desperation.  “Come for me, Kook.  Fill me up.”

Jungkook does just that, balls tight as he spills himself inside you, hand at your throat so tight you’re seeing stars.  Somehow - with the feeling of him grinding into you, overcome with so much sensitivity - you come for the third time, crying very real tears as the sensation washes over you.  It’s weaker than your first two but unravels you all the same, seeping the energy from your limbs.  You’re grateful for how well he knows you and the fact he catches you before your arms collapse, pulling you to him with gentle movements.  

“I love you,”  he whispers against your temple, out of breath and sweat-slick despite the water that rains down upon you.  

“I love you,”  you answer, pressing a kiss to the hand that still twines with yours.  “But I still need you to wash my hair.”  It’s cheeky and you know it so you don’t even mind when he bites into the meat of your shoulder, leaving a pretty red mark that’ll bloom for the next few days.  “Ow!”

“You’re a brat.”  Said even as he’s reaching for your shampoo bar, teasing it through your roots with practiced movements.  He’s careful despite his scathing tone, gentle despite how he glares at you from the corner of your periphery.  Each tangle is neatly undone and not a single bubble gets in your eye, much to your joy.  

“I thought I was an angel.”  You’re taking a page out of his book, speaking in fluent pout.

He catches your lips with his own, pushing your lathered up head beneath the steady stream when he withdraws and speaks.  Suds run across your cheeks, eyes shielded only by the hand he keeps steady along your hairline.  Even so mean, your boyfriend is still terribly nice.  “You’re my angel - but you’re still a brat.”  

You can’t argue with that. 

tag list.  @neverthefirstchoice​ @youwannabelostandnotbefound​ @snackhobi​

[clue-can-writes]

Hating What You Can’t Understand

Blackpink 5th Member AU

As If It’s Your Last Era

Misaki gets hate comments and doesn’t know how to deal with them

“As If There’s No Tomorrow, Love.”

Misaki sang the last line of Blackpink’s latest comeback song. She held her ending pose, holding a heart to the crowd. After they finished their ending fairy's, all 5 girls were ushered backstage. 

“All right, so you can wait here and we’ll come get you when it’s time to go back on stage,” A staff member told them, as he lead them to a waiting area. Grateful for the break, Jisoo quickly rushed over and took up half the couch.

“YA!” Lisa yelled, moving her legs to sit. “Don’t forget that you have other members that also need to sit down.”

“Then you should probably let Misa sit down, seeing as her heels are 8 cm tall!” Jennie said moving Jisoo’s other half to give room to Misa and Rose. 

“Thanks, Jennie.” Misa said, sitting on the end. “My feet may as well fall off now, seeing as I know have no use for them.”

Jennie giggled, sliding down to the floor next to Misaki. “At least you look sexy.”

“Yes, clearly that's the only important part of my costume.”

“Don’t feel bad.” Lisa said, with a hint of sympathy. “At least now you get more people’s attention.”

“And why would I want that?”

“You can make more friends. Get out there more. It’s weird that you’re only friends are the 4 of us.”

“I am friends with Twice!”

Jennie nodded, “Yes, you are. But is that because you introduced yourself and became friends with them or because I dragged you to meet Nayeon and they adopted you?”

Misaki paused. “The second one.”

Jisoo nodded, “Thought so, Now I see food. Do you want any?”

Misaki shook her head. “Ok, we’ll be back in a bit. Try not to talk to too many people while we’re gone.”

Jisoo, Rose, and Lisa headed off to the snack table, while Jennie went to go find Irene. Misaki, not wanting to seem lonely, took out her phone and began scrolling through twitter. She stopped on a comment she saw of the performance Blackpink had just finished. She clicked on it excitedly, wanting to know what the fans thought of it.

She read through the comments, and some were great!

Blackpink looks so hot here! They are vocal queens! No backtrack needed! Misaki improved so much here! This proves to haters that she deserves her lead vocal position!

Misaki kept reading, getting to some “more honest” comments.

These costumes are horrible With a big company like YG, you’d think they would match Why is Misaki (Who is the tallest member) literally wearing heels that make her taller than all of Blackpink combined?

“Yea, that’s fair.” Misaki laughed, not exactly loving the costumes for their performance either. And they had a point about the heels, so Misaki didn’t think they were bad. Until she scrolled down more and saw what the fans really thought about her outfit.

Ok, Why does Misaki, the un-sexiest member of Blackpink, look like she just got hired at a dress yourself hooters? YG should have learned from 2NE1, no amount of clothes can make someone look good on stage. Maybe if Misaki actually tried to look good on stage, they wouldn’t have to dress her like a Japanese anime girl to get attention. Does anyone else think that Misakis “costume” make her look like a wh-

Misaki quickly shut out of twitter, trying to think through what she just read. So, the fans didn’t like her outfit. So what? It was just a few comments. And from people she doesn’t know and will probably never meet. So, why does she feel this bad?

She saw the Lisa coming back with some food, so she quickly laid back on the couch, trying to look relaxed. Too bad it didn’t work....

“Why are you so tense?” Lisa asked, noticing Misaki’s posture.

“I, uh,” Misaki paused, as she drank the water that Lisa got for her. “I think I hurt my shoulder when we were onstage.”

“Wow!” Lisa said, seeming genuinely impressed.

“What?”

“You have gotten so much better at lying. I might have actually believed you, except for the fact that when you’re in pain, you never tell us what happened, because you don’t want us to worry.” Lisa said, with a hint of condescension in her voice. “Now what really happened?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. So, if Jisoo came over you would still say it’s nothing?”

Misaki paused, realizing where this was going. “Yes?”

Lisa sighed, “Come on Misa, You can tell me anything. Do you want to talk in another language so no one understands us?”

“Kind of.”

“Ok,” Lisa said, switching to Thai. “Now will you tell me what’s wrong?”

Misaki paused to try and think about what to say. “Um, does my costume make me look, uh, bad?”

“What do you mean? Like a badass, because kinda, but you’re face ruins it.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Misaki sighs, frustrated as she doesn’t know how to talk about this. “Does it make me look, uh,  like a hooker?”

Lisa looked at Misaki like she was crazy, and only half because she badly mispronounced the word in Thai. “Can you say that last word in English?”

“Uh, a hooker.” Misaki whispered, not wanting to say it too loud.

“Well, first of all, you definitely pronounced that word wrong in Thai, and second, who told you that?”

“No one, lets just forget this,” Misaki muttered, getting up to leave, when Lisa pulled her back down.

“We are not forgetting about this, we are talking about it! Now, who told you that you looked like a hooker?”

Misaki sighed, looking away from Lisa in embarrassment. “I was reading some comments online and they said I looked bad and one comment said I looked like a wh-”

“WOAH!” Jennie said coming back to the couch, “Why are you saying that? And why are you guys talking in English?”

“Misa was reading hate comments online!” Lisa blurted out, turning a few heads in the room.

“Lisa, shut up!” Misaki whisper-yelled at Lisa. “I don’t want people to know.”

Jennie gave the idols watching them a “look” and turned to sit next to Misaki.

“Why were you reading those comments? People can be really mean and the internet is the best place for the to be mean without consequences.”

“I don’t know!” Misaki said, falling back on the couch and covering her face. “I was just looking through comments and they kept popping up. Why do people do that? Do they really think we will never read that stuff?”

“They put it on the internet, so we can read it. Some people just want to hurt someone,” Jennie said, leaning back on the couch to comfort Misaki, wrapping her arm around Misa’s shoulder.

“Besides, you’re costume does not look like a hooker.” Lisa said, “Although maybe the heels were a bit too much.”

Jennie hits Lisa on the arm, as she continues to hold Misaki.

“Do you want Lisa to beat up the people who made those comments?”

“Yea, I’ll find out where they live and make them apologize to you directly!”

Jennie stares at Lisa, with disappointment prominent in her eyes. “Never mind.”

Misaki laughs as she cuddles closer to Jennie, loving their shared time. Lisa leans her head on Misaki’s shoulder and the three of them stay like that for a few seconds.

“I’ll still beat them up if you want me too.”

[life-rewritten]

THE GIANTS OF THAI BL 2020 AKA SHOWS STEALING MY HEART IN NOVEMBER

UPDATE AND UPCOMING ANALYSIS NOVEMBER 2020

It's the moment I've been waiting for since the excruciating silence of Thai BLS during the lockdown. It's November, the month of thanksgivings, the month of pre-Christmas jitters, nanowrimo and the month that has finally made me realise we are so close to ending this godforsaken year. Still, most of all, November means that we are getting buttloads of shows that are about to take my breath away. This year has been such an exciting year for BLS because of the increasingly amount of companies and directors willing to produce and release different types of BLS. In this list, we have awaited sequels, delicious plotlines and shocking comebacks. But most of all we have lots and lots of romance and men. Which of these have you been waiting for? Let me know. Let's squeal about it. November is going to be so great!

Ratings: From 1 to 5 (1 being least excited to watch, 5 being most,) how excited am I to delve into these shows?

Shows already airing

1.I TOLD SUNSET ABOUT YOU/ INTERPRET, MY LOVE, WITH YOUR HEART

Genre/Themes: Romance, Melodrama, Coming of Age, Angst, Drama, Childhood friendship

Country: Thailand

Verdict: So finally I rise from the memories of poorly produced bls, and pains of bad acting, and toxic writings, and traumas of stiff actors and homophobic agendas to finally say that without a doubt. Nadao has produced another masterpiece after my other favourite (Non) BL; Greater Man academy. Nadao stuns me, and for a very long time, I couldn't understand that this was how everyone was feeling, one because I wasn't fully educated or in the know about the company, I only saw tv shows in Thailand that were produced by GMMTV and to be honest I didn't think there was anything else above that standard in shows apart from Lakorns and Movies. (I know Sacrebleu) Getting to know and watch Nadao shows has been an experience, and for BL, I am hooked and ready for what else they have to offer. The only qualms that prevent me from gushing about the show are how international fans are treated. It took me a very long time to forgive ITSAY for its subbing platform (and price range), and that's why I refused to watch it with positive feelings. After episode 2 though, I'd be a fool to hold on to resentment when there is no doubt that this BL (despite not knowing if it's a sad ending. I'd hate if it is but it wouldn't change anything) is the best BL of this year. With ridiculous, incredible production, outstanding breathtaking cinematography, beautiful and talented actors and writing so good it blows me away. Episode 2 left my heart in pieces, but in a good way, I haven't recovered from the angst.

Ratings: 4.5/5 Would have been a 5/5 if the pricing made sense but also I'm terrified about a sad ending which I won't be too happy about.

2. FRIEND FOREVER/ OUR LOVE IS SICK

Genre/Themes: Romance, Music, Coming of Age, Angst, Drama, Childhood friendship, Rich vs poor,  Bullying 

Country: Thailand

Verdict: It's a pity this show is not available for international fans. Because I think people would actually love this show the way I do. It's so precious, reminds me so much of my first ever BL Lovesick (made by the same production team so makes sense) but better. What can I say about this show, really adorable cast, actually so good on the screen, great chemistry, and good storylines that keep me hooked. I am so in love with surprisingly one of my favourite couples this year Tin and Sea. I have such a great time watching this show, and I enjoy also analysing and just piecing together some of the mysteries in the show. It's been so good so far, and I can't wait for more. The first episodes are a little slow-paced, but it gets better as you keep watching it. I'd advise you to watch the director's cut because that has all of the storylines in the episode instead of the tv version which is more censored and has a lot of deleted scenes that mess with the flow of the storyline. Still, one of my favourite Thai shows right now. 

Ratings: 4/5  I think 4/5 is a fair score just because of some confusion when trying to watch it internationally and getting the right version and I do think the story feels like a whiplash between the different styles of writing of the main two couples. Go watch this though if you haven't, dm me and I'll show you how. 

NON-THAI

3. GAYA SA PELIKULA

Genre/Themes: Romance, Drama, Comedy, Angst, LGBTQ+ Education, Contract relationship, Haters to lovers

Country: Philippines 

Verdict: Normally with verdicts, I have so much to say about a show, also when I analyse I can write essays and essays of information. When it comes to this show, I'm speechless. I'm in awe; I'm crying just even trying to explain how great this show is. How great Fridays are because of this show. How upsetting and damaged I am when the end of the episode occurs, I literally mourn waiting for the next episode the next week because it's too long. This show pulls you in, and it never lets you go. I'm mindblown by the writing of this show, mindblown by the acting, by the production, music, but most of all I have become a mess because of this meta in this show. I have cried so much because of how much I care about this show, the characters are all fleshed out, are so powerfully written, and emotionally tugs at your heartstrings whilst still educating and representing LGBTQ community fantastically. I don't know what we did to deserve a show like this. Maybe its because after years of waiting for something to finally show up and just be unproblematic and be so great with no questions, no confusions, no struggle, this show is just that. And I will be forever thankful to the whole team that brought this to us

Ratings: 5/5 I would give this more than 5 if I could. That's how much this show means to me. 

4. CHERRY MAGIC 

Genre/Themes: Romance, Comedy, Supernatural, Office drama, Slice of Life

Country: Japan

Verdict: Kurosawa and Adachi. That's it. That's the reason for the 5/5 stars when it comes to watching this show. First of all, I like Japanese romantic comedy shows, and anime, and manga. So seeing cherry magic come to life as this amazing form of that makes me so happy. Typically with Japanese BL, everything feels so serious sometimes, and then sometimes it feels too crazy and over the top. But Cherry Magic just feels like a warm hug when you watch it; you can't help your self but to smile and giggle at Adachi's adventures realising that he can read minds because he's a virgin at 30 years old. To add to that, he is given Kurosowa this incredible, amazing, wonderful non-toxic man who absolutely adores him and unconditionally is there for him. I just like what? Where do I get my own Kurosawa? Like it just feels so unfair haha. But really cherry magic is full of great acting, fantastic plot and unique as well. Every character is also written well, and all have interesting dynamics. We also have another side couple who is so funny and ridiculous but also just cute and heartwarming. I have a great time watching this show and the fact that it's ending on Christmas day? Already tells you what this show is, a gift and its a great one. 

Ratings: 5/5 I want my own Kurosawa. That's it. That's all I want Universe.

Shows Upcoming

5. THARNTYPE 7 YEARS OF LOVE

Genre/Themes: Romance, Drama, Comedy,  Mature, LGBTQ+ Representation, Internalised homophobia, Sequel

Country: Thailand

Verdict: This is a complicated show to gush about. First of all TharnType, the series in 2019 was one of my favourite shows that brought me back to this BL thing. I absolutely adore all the actors, and I also loved the storyline like I said before there's something about Mame's writing that I appreciate, I think most of her strengths is found in TharnType. Because of this, this sequel is one of my most anticipated show this year. However, I feel conflicted because I hate sequels. I hate couples having to go through the weird-ass, shallow, conflicts that just end up ruining the meaning of their previous show and leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth about the couple I once loved (Looking at you Together with me the next chapter still traumatised honestly). Enough of the negatives, Tharn and Type from the trailer looks like it's going to be a wild ride, I can even see the great chemistry that made me fall for MewGulf, and I'm so excited to see the new couples and characters. I also am so excited to see TECHNO again and laugh with him every Friday. We also know that the awaited wedding between our couple is also going to be in this show. And that's going to make me bawl like a baby. Let's hope we don't have too many toxic or troublesome storylines, let's hope we don't have too many breakups and fights (because that hurts so much seeing Mew cry) and let's hope we finally have a sequel that is better than its predecessor. 

Ratings: 4.5/5  This is how I feel about it, I don't think I can rate it as 5/5 because of all the worry and anxiety at what the storyline entails—still a great show to look forward to. 

6. MANNER OF DEATH

Genre/Themes: Romance, Crime, Mature, Angst, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Haters to Lovers

Country: Thailand

Verdict: Think about it. Why wouldn't this be number one on everyone's list of upcoming BLS? We have the return of one of the best actors in this genre MaxTul the actual godfathers of Thai BL; we have an incredible team here with a director that has won multiple awards, with a storyline that is unique to Thai BL, we're getting crime, detective, mystery BL with mature characters who are not in university? As if that's not enough, we also have a really incredible plotline about this forensic doctor who falls in love with someone who we are not sure if we should trust because he could be a murderer! Like oooh yes please, the drama, the angst, the thrill?? I'm ready for this; I am so prepared to give my whole heart and attention on this show. I want it to be so good, to defeat the shows of 2019 that came and took our hearts away, to be the best BL ever. It's so difficult not to raise my expectations when it comes to this show when I know we have a great cast, great chemistry, non-stiff acting, and just a really non-toxic author as well. I look forward to this so much. Only issue/question? Where is the trailer? Hello WETV, where is our teaser? Why don't we know the date for when this is coming out? I want it out now. But I'll try and be patient okay? 

Ratings: 5/5 I can't think of how this show won't be good. And that's really worrying. But for now, I'll keep my expectations high and wait.

7. TONHON CHONTALEE 

Genre/Themes: Romance, Coming of Age, Angst, Comedy, Childhood friendship, GMMTV

Country: Thailand

Verdict: Podd and KHAOTHUNG, (my sun, my heart, my favourite person ever) Sorry just gushing over my two faves. GMMTV has shocked me this year with the announcement of this show. First of all, Khao gets to have a show where he's the main lead. I've been waiting for this, and I'm so proud and excited for him. Not only that obviously, but TonTonChontalee looks really good with a vibe of a  comedic spin to one of my favourite shows Theory of love. I am ready to see Podd act so stupid as Ton and at the same time sob when he finally realises that Chon is the one. I'm so ready to see Khao act his socks off, and the show looks so funny, so fun and just like the chemistry between two is definitely a winner. I cannot wait for this next Friday. And it also has Mike and Toptap! What's not to love? Seriously though I'm praying this is successful, and it helps both Podd and Khao to dominate GMMTV. Let's find out next Friday.

Ratings: 5/5 For Podd and Khaothung. Just worth the rating.

8. GEN Y THE SERIES

Genre/Themes: Romance, Drama, Comedy, Angst, 2moons Fanfiction, Haters to Lovers

Country: Thailand

Verdict: First of all 2 MOONS Reunion! What?? Very shocked to see this show tbh one because it's like a direct copy of 2moons the series; the same cast, the weird alternations to the same name, the same kind of plot as well. Channel 3 has finally decided to invest in BLs,  one of the biggest companies in Thailand, so the budget is high, the actors are known and famous, the production is good. This is so exciting to see. Also, 2moons was one of my favourite past BLs the whole time it was airing, and I had a massive affinity for Kimmon and Copter, so it's great to see them play their characters again but with a better budget and now glow up and grown. Their acting seems to have improved, Kit and Ming's storyline being the main focus is also really lovely to see. I also love seeing Bas and the other actors from other Bl series (The Moment actors) and I'm excited to know more about the new cast as well. So yeh this show has a great potential to win my heart as well, and the competition is not easy at all. But with a great company behind them and an exciting premise, this can also be a winner. 

Ratings: 4/5 I'm intrigued by this show, and I look forward to seeing what it brings.

November is such an exciting month for someone like me who just loves watching tv and analysing and just seeing romance bloom. These couples, stories and actors have a great potential to be the best things of 2020 so far, each of these shows holds evidence that they're worth paying attention to and honestly I've missed seeing Thai BLs that make me so excited so much. I've missed these actors, I've loved each and every one of them, and I can't wait to see them this month on my screen. What about you, guys? What do you look forward to? Who are your favourites? What are you worried about when it comes to these comebacks. Let's discuss.

[babysubinnie]

my goddamn world // kim doyoung (nct)

🥦 pairing:: kim doyoung x reader 🥦 genre:: angst, hella emotional, idol!doyoung 🥦 summary:: dating an idol isn’t easy. that you knew so why did you even bother? because you loved him. that’s why. that’s exactly why you had to make the hardest decision in your entire life.  ——————————————————————————

"it's all over the news." the first thing that johnny said to me as he slammed the door open, was this. he ran over to me suddenly bombarding me with questions. i looked up at him from the boys that were practicing for their next comeback. they started panting looking at johnny who was now freaking out. 

"what is?" i looked up at him as he sat down beside me. he handed me the phone, but before i could take it, wayv snatched it out of his hand and took it for their selves to read first. they all dropped their mouths open and xiaojun handed the phone back to me. i rolled my eyes laughing but my smile automatically dropped. 

-NCT DOYOUNG HAS A GIRL? WHO IS THIS MYSTERY GIRL?-

there were photos of him holding a girls hand. photos of him at a café with a girl. that girl was me. every single fucking photo was me. i mean yeah i put a mask on so they didn’t know it was me but still, i knew was done for. i fucked up. big time. 

"oh my g-" i got cut off by the door slamming open. nct’s manager hyung. he walked so fast over to me i thought he was the flash. shit sorry i shouldn’t be making jokes at times like this right? where the hell was doyoung when i need him?

"what the fuck are these y/n? i thought i told you to be careful. i thought i told you the only dates that happen are at the café after hours, and only in the company. what did you two do? go out and had a fucking date." he glared while screaming as i looked up at him in shock. i didn’t know what the hell to do. i knew what was coming and i guess i was prepared for it. 

"i'm sorry. i just-"

"you just what? what you’re going to do is leave and never see doyoung again. no scratch that. you’re gonna stay away from nct forever. that's what." he scoffed grabbing my wrist before pulling me out of the room and dragging me down the hallway. as he tried to pull me out of the practice room, i looked back at johnny and smiled while whispering, “keep him company okay?”

"WAIT!" johnny and all the wayv members chased the two of us down because we were going hella fast. no actually we were going at lightning speed. johnny pulled my wrist, pulling their manager back. 

"please let her stay hyung." lucas looked at him with a pout on his face, but i knew it wasn’t going to work. i was positive this wasn’t going to do anyone any good. i guess i was alone. 

"why? i told her to be careful and she wasn't careful. now not only is doyoung in trouble, i’m in trouble because i didn’t tell soo man." he took a deep breath staring at the ground then started dragging me again. i smiled weakly at the boys who were standing there in shock. 

"where the hell is doyoung?" kun mumbled under his breath but loud enough for all of us to hear him. i was turning the corner while the boys were still chasing us. doyoung was running in with the rest of nct and when i made eye contact with him, it made me feel like i was sinking into the world. i couldn’t do anything to fix this. 

"where are you taking her?" doyoung gave me a comforting smile before grabbing my wrist out of his manager’s grip pulling me behind him. i looked down at the floor the entire time. i know doyoung was going to rain shit onto his manager so i needed to step up.

"i'm kicking her out. i warned her. she fucked up, it’s not my fault. i can't have her here ruining your career." he rolled his eyes and walked over to me while glaring at doyoung. i took a deep breath looking to the side at taeyong. he put his hand on my lower back whispering that everything will be okay. 

"i'm not letting you take her." all 15 boys pulled me to the back of the crowd to stand in front of me. taeyong followed me to the back reaching down to grab my hand. mark soon followed taeyong, grabbing my hand and kissed the top of my head. 

"it's your career or her. you have to choose now." he looked at doyoung and i let go of taeyong and mark’s hand before running up to doyoung grabbing his wrist looking at their manager before looking behind me at doyoung.

"what the fuck hyu-”

"no doyoung. i'll leave. i'm not going to let you take his career away from him just because of me. doyoung, live your dream like you've always wanted. all i want is for you to be happy. if you're not happy then i won't be." i smiled weakly and tears filled my eyes as i put my hand on his cheek pressing my lips against his nose. he shook his head continuously trying to change my mind.

"i'm not going to leave you behind y/n." he pulled me into a tight hug before sniffling into my neck. this is not exactly the goodbye i wanted but it’s the only thing i can do right? his career is more important than anything else in the world. i mean they just became a 23 member group, nct 127 had their japanese comeback, wayv is just about to have a comeback, this group was striving and i was not about to bring them down just because i have feelings for him. if i love him, and all these boys, this should be hard but i needed to do it. 

"you have to. it's not good for me to be here. you’re doing what you love and you deserve the goddamn world. i will support you always regardless if i’m beside you or not. you know me doyoung. i’m always going to support you, i’m always going to be here, even if i’m not with you. don't worry about me okay?" i smiled and pulled away from him. if i didn’t stop this goodbye, i would probably stay. i wouldn’t be able to leave him. i pressed my lips to his, kissing him one last time. i hugged him for the last time, and pulled away resting my forehead against his.

"i love you so fucking much." i turned away starting to walk away not turning around once. i knew that if i turned, i know i would never be able to even think about leaving him again.

[woozi]

Here’s another ask game for caratblr! Assign your moots as seventeen comeback aesthetics (can include solos, OSTs, collabs, Japanese comebacks, etc) and say why you associate them with that aesthetic! Some can overlap too!

aww cute!! <3 i really had no criteria for choosing the following songs, but most of them are title tracks (although i deliberately left some out bc i couldn’t associate anyone w them jdkdfkj)! i’d say all of these are prominent svt songs though.

shining diamond — fun and fresh. a ride from start to finish. the beginning of it all. cringe sometimes but u love them. :/ literally rhys (@heartgyus).

adore u  —  ok but chey (@soonhoonsol) is as precious to me as this debut song is to svt. also the tempo of this song... very chey! can be fun, also goes mellow at times. <3

mansae  —   national anthem. resident representative. very emily (@iiasha) if i might say so. <3 also the energy of this song has the same energy as emily’s tags lol. songs to go mildly crazy to <3

pretty u — everything soft and beautiful. my emotional support k-pop song. it literally has mirelle (@leechaerok) vibes and no one can tell me otherwise.

very nice — honorary chaos partner: kale (@choibeomgyus) my beloved. <3 this is where svt says they peaked. similar to kale, she literally has peaked as well and i feel like this also suits her sm as she literally emits the same energy as this song. my bestie!!

boom boom  — (first of all, this house doesn’t tolerate boom boom slander. i’m gonna block all of u no matter how long we’ve been moots :/ JSDKJDSKJDS im kidding. maybe <3) that specific line where members go “u got me like boom boom, boom boom, yeah, boom boom, boom boom” in a deadpan voice especially reminds me of belle (@gotseventeens) for some reason 😭 and then the song goes insane. literally how belle and i went as mutuals <3 178/10 in my opinion. also belle likes this song but that’s not why i assigned her here 😌

change up  — calming, addictive riffs, comforting!! this is also what belle (@xuseokgyu) also feels like to me. also reliable vibes (it’s the svt leaders what can u expect!!)

clap  —  i feel like the guitar riff of this song is exactly how you’d feel when you see isa’s (@kwanies) blog. the vibes are off the charts. so much energy!! also the bridge part where they put up hearts??? literally isa with boo every time i see her.

thanks  — i don’t have the exact word to describe the feeling this song gives me, but i sense anna (@haniehae) vibes here. <3 deep & meaningful. makes ur heart go 🥺 very sophisticated as well.

call call call  — cool as fuck and will fuck you up if needed. nothing more to be said. it’s carrie (@art-hao). <3

oh my!  — just vibing. makes me happy. makes me want to dance every time i encounter it. just like e (@junhaoshua)!!

home — very oona (@vernons)!! like the song says, oona literally feels like someone you can call home. a place/person you can come to. <3

hit  — ok but hit is literally one of my favorite songs. and sofi (@mngys) is one of my favorite ccs <3 i just think she’s so cool.

fear  — i feel like u deserve this bc every time i get asks from u i feel both fear and excitement <3. @kaleidoscope-of-lillies (idk why i can’t tag u still :/)

snap shoot  — literal serotonin boost in the form of a song. personified, i think this would be lyns (@kyeomshine)!! and like snap shoot, i also miss her very much :(

fallin’ flower — literally the first person i thought of for this game. it’s izzie (@coupsnim!). this is an honorary title. <3 i can’t really explain it much but i feel like if izzie were to be in a movie, this would be her OST. she just has fallin’ flower vibes.

left & right — fun, cool, playful!! (i always see lnr slander but it’s one of my favorite eras. i’m looking at all of u rn :/) doesn’t take itself too seriously, but is addictive and makes u just want to jump and have a party. very cora (@ohoshi) . <3

24h — i don’t know why but dreamy (@scoupsy) immediately comes to mind. maybe it’s the reds sdkjkjdskjds. iconique. a gift from the gods themselves. truly popped off. also v refined but makes u want to go insane <3

home;run  — idk why i associate madison (@julyprince) with home;run, but i think it’s because it’s one of her first sets i came across? sjdfjkfd anyway home;run is for those who have taste <3 also classy

not alone — seeing nele (@seohoshi) on my notifs literally feels like what you’d feel hearing this song. i can’t describe it, but it’s wholesome and just <3. makes you feel :D.

spider  — my absolute favorite. the energy of this song.. unmatched. both of these descriptions also pertain to kaya (@vixenjun). <3

just do it — agent of chaos and good vibes. literally lee (@uriboogyu)! just do it is a really fun song that gives u strength, and that’s also how i see lee!

17  — like the song, i just think that aya (@wrongnanab) is very comforting. <3 i also always see rain edits of this song and the rain makes me want to get hot coffee/hot choco which reminds me of aya!!

[strawberry1212]

“IU - Celebrity” Analysis

THE QUEEN HAS RETURNED!!!

I know it’s unhealthy to simp for celebrities...but IU is an exception. I have been rewatching her new comeback an unhealthy amount of times so I thought I’d share some things/details/background info :))

1) Background

So IU wrote about the lyric writing process this time and OMG I have to copy and paste her whole statement bc it’s so beautiful:

"I have a friend who has often been treated as an eccentric person due to her eye-catching outfit, her unique taste, dynamic talents, defensive mechanisms stemming from shyness, and a personality that clearly knows her preferences. I loved her even more because of these unique characteristics of hers, but for the same reasons, she has been living under more scrutiny and hateful eyes. These are the words I wanted to tell my 'unusual friend' that turned into the lyrics to this song but as I worked on the song, I realized that this is also my story as well. After completing the song, I thought that anyone can be the main character to this song. I'm sure everyone has felt left out at least once in their lives because they dont' meet the standards others have made. I want to tell everyone, including my friend, who were born rough around the edges but special. You are not a person from the star (common saying in Korea to mean someone weird/different) but are like a star."

OK THIS IS SO CUTE!! Because like first of all it’s so poetic...the play on words with you are not from the star, but a star yourself. And the fact that we are getting yet another song from IU that is not another romantic song. One of my long standing frustrations with the music industry (American, Korean, and Japanese), is songs tend to always center around romance, and IU tends to break those stereotypes (Bbibbi, Palette, 23, I-Land, 8, just to name her title tracks), and not only that but the fact that this is about her friend is just so beautiful T_T. Also did anyone else think of Sulli when they read this? Sulli was known for her eccentricity, different style, and being misunderstood, but the translation writes “I have a friend” in the present tense...so idk. 

And just her wanting her fans/listeners to feel like the main character (ಥ﹏ಥ) (I’m not crying you are). This is especially such an important message for Korean and Asian fans in general. I only have my experience in Japan to speak to, but Asian collectivist cultures really punish those who stray from the norm, which not only ends up discouraging those from being unique and themselves, but also impedes social progress (feminism, environmentalism, social justice, animal rights, etc.). 

And I also think it’s key where she wrote “as I worked on the song, I realized that this is also my story as well,”--more on that theme later when I break down the music video.

2) Music Video Analysis

The star motif

So she sort of does a play on words by putting a lot of star stuff in, star being another word for celebrity. And as the lyrics “You're a star painted with a left hand,” she’s talking about how this person isn’t the perfect/usual star, but perhaps a crooked/left-handed one...like the one shown to dot the “i” in the first image of the music video:

The star motif also features later around 1:09 in her dance, she draws a star with her finger.

The music video story

So basically it seems IU is playing two people--one is herself, a celebrity type figure dressed in glam clothes, and the other is the unique, “star” character (a stand in for her friend that she wrote the lyrics about). IU sings about the “star,” “A troubled outsider The walk, the style Through the earphones The music is all minor You have no idea Above your lowered head What the bright lights are Shining towards.”

The music video shows IU in glamorous clothes:

While this “star” character is in her unique/non-glam clothing, walking through the crowd.

We can also sense IU’s isolation, she’s dressed like a princess in this glamorous pastel pink room, but she is alone, and the lights flash almost ominously outside, like the constant threat of paparazzi/people always surrounding her wanting to look in on her life:

Or how the clothing racks gradually disappear, revealing her standing alone worriedly:

The next we see IU standing off to to the side (I believe it’s IU bc she’s in an undercover outfit, but it’s clearly very glamorous), as she hides from fans chasing her:

When the crowd passes, she looks around and catches sight of “star” IU, and is seemingly very taken by her unique beauty:

IU chases the “star,” but loses sight of her, and is once again alone:

The irony here is that a) despite being adored and chased by many, the celebrity IU feels alone, and that b) despite being this glamorous celebrity, celebrity IU adores this unique “star,” that is just living her life, and not universally adored like celebrity IU. Celebrity IU almost seems envious of her freedom and unique style. But as the lyrics say, she also is upset at the way society treats the unique “star:”

“Your weary face looks like/ Someone powered you off/ The heartbeat went too quiet/ The glow you have/ The imagination, identity/ Are on a diet” “

These lyrics I had the most trouble with...I think it means the “star”’s imagination and unique identity are being starved/mistreated by society, like they are being forced to put on a diet. 

Next we have:

“You have no idea/ Still not fully bloomed/ Written for you/ A bygone love poem” as celebrity IU works, it seems, on a love poem for the “star.”

Here the star motif features pretty literally, as she is surrounded by her poem writing as the stars fall across the sky. The “written for you, a bygone love poem” could also be a reference to IU’s other song, Love Poem? Also going back to how this could reference Sulli, I could help but be reminded of how IU wrote the song “Peach” about Sulli’s beauty and how much she adored her friend. 

Next we see IU in front of this huge tapestry of celebrity IU, but this time she is wearing a dress studded with stars, and looking further up. She passes through the tapestry, and this could be like a sign of her growth? Like moving past her huge blown up celebrity image of herself to find her true self in a star studded dress?

She then enters into a dark vacuum where she is surrounded by people dancing with lights (another continuation of the star motif):

I think this is the turning point to the music video. Because now it is celebrity IU surrounded by stars. The next scene shows the people (all the people that once chased her) simply walking past her on the steps, perhaps alluding to how fame is ephemeral. She looks unsure and insecure here.

The next scene is most steeped in symbolism; she is in the same room that she was in alone before looking out at the city, but now the curtains are drawn (symbolizing privacy?) and IU reaches out towards an identical version of herself. Now the line between celebrity IU and “star” IU becomes blurred:

It seems that the left is “star” IU, and the right is celebrity IU, who continues to pine and look up to an almost indifferent “star” IU. “Star” IU gets up to leave, and morphs back into her “star” outfit from the beginning of the video, re-affirming that this is in fact “star” IU.

When celebrity IU notices she’s gone, she rushes up to find her (again paralleling her chase at the beginning of the music video), but when she goes to where “star” IU disappears, she is simply confronted with a mirror: she was the unique star all along!

In a sense, the message here could be that our own unique beauty may seem obvious to everyone else (the viewer knew that “star” IU was the same person (IU) as celebrity IU all along, but it took celebrity IU the whole music video to figure it out.

Almost as if this whole sequence has been inside celebrity IU’s head, she seems to come to this realization on a red carpet surrounded by flashing cameras:

Here she breaks the fourth wall, looking directly at the camera, as if to now realize: “I have been my own unique “star” all along.” She looks at the camera as the music sings, “you are my celebrity,” perhaps to mean that the viewer is her celebrity, or that she herself is her own celebrity, and runs off, away from the cameras (as if running away from her fame for a moment), in her beautiful red dress, free and confident at last. In the past she has always been running to chase “star” IU, but now she seems to be running simply for herself:

Messages/themes:

I think there are a couple of final messages here, and it is truly to IU’s credit that she was able to pack so many themes/messages into one music video. I think the dynamic I’m most interested in is how it runs the age old theme of the harms of celebrity fame, but it puts a very unique twist on it. While it shows the isolating aspects of fame, it also has a positive spin, that the love and affection bestowed upon celebrities isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but rather that we should redistribute that love and affection towards those closest to us, and see each other the way IU saw her friend. It also shows that fame and adoration don’t matter when you are insecure in yourself, given the irony of celebrity IU chasing after “star” IU.

This message that what matters most is cherishing and being cherished by those closest to you is interesting, because it can apply to both celebrities and non-celebrities. Celebrities may be adored, but it can be superficial, so they need the genuine love of close friends. Conversely, non-celebrities may feel super connected to their celebrities, but ultimately they need real life close friends. I think the message serves to both humanize celebrities in this way, while also saying that non-celebrities, and even weird/eccentric people, are deserving of the love and adoration we usually only reserve for picture-perfect celebrities.

I think perhaps the most poignant part, is the message of self-love: how at the end she realized that perhaps despite being pigeon-holed in certain ways as a public figure, she can reclaim her unique, beautiful parts. How we can be envious of others who seem set on their unique path and unafraid, but that we are unique and different too.

Also can we talk about how she served LOOKS!!! All of those outfits were GOLD. Anyways, I hope her music and its message reverberate with people who feel undeserving as “outsiders” and being eccentric. Being different is amazing. And as IU suggests, even though we may not be pop stars, we are all “celebrities” to someone. As the saying goes, “to the world you may just be one person, but to one person you may be the world.”