#side quests: bts

[peachatini]

Sorry this is so long but I had a lot of thoughts.

A think piece about Choi San and Jeon Jungkook from BTS and the fanfic ideal of the alpha. I'm obsessed with all the similarities and differences between BTS & Ateez, guys.

The Alpha Misconception

Let’s talk about something that’s been on my mind: how fanfic tropes - even the ones we love - can sometimes mess with how we see real people. I’m thinking specifically about Jungkook from BTS and San from ATEEZ. I think they’ve got a lot in common in terms of how fans talk about them, but also some key differences that are worth noting.

Before we get into it, I want to make something clear: I’m pro fanfiction. I’m not here to judge anyone’s ships, fic preferences, or how you express love for your faves. This isn’t a “shipping is toxic” post. I’m a shipper and a fanfic writer of 25 years. It’s just a look at how certain archetypes and tropes can go from fun storytelling tools to something a little more limiting and even harmful when they get pushed onto real people too hard.

Also, I’m not pretending to speak for all of fandom. These are just thoughts based on what I’ve seen - if that means it’s a small slice of the internet, so be it. This is just one person’s take.

Backdrop that would be good to know: 

A small section of BTS’ label Hybe’s internal audit was released in late 2024. It was a report widely condemned for the “petty” nature of some of the comments within. It basically confirmed what a lot of fans had long suspected: that companies pay very close attention to fan culture, and sometimes even feed into it on purpose. 

It would be useful to know the people involved: BTS’ Jungkook and his most common ship partners Jimin and Taehyung and ATEEZ’ San, Yeosang and Wooyoung. But mainly focusing on Jungkook and San. The dynamics between them aren’t exact copies, but there are similar vibes and notable differences - especially in how fans ship them and assign roles based on appearance or energy.

Rough Male Pheromones

Rewind about ten months to an article published in W Korea. A review of the Jimin and Jungkook travel show Are You Sure?

The article is now deleted. The response from groups of people with enthusiasm for Jungkook was not great. Aside from factual inaccuracies, falsely attributed quotes and an overtly fanservice-y description of two friends on a trip, the “rough male pheromones” really stood out. 

Simply put: Many people simply didn’t recognise that description of Jungkook. 

And that dismay might stay in the BTS tumblr space if I wasn’t seeing a very slight reflection of this in Choi San.  

Fanfic as Profit

Saying that companies might engineer fanfic dynamics and characters onto their idols felt like a conspiracy theory once upon a time. It’s been quite a familiar refrain for me in the BTS shipping space: Well why would they make it up? Why would they bother doing this? Why would they construct things? What do they gain from it? 

But then Hybe’s report dropped, and it more or less confirmed four ideas:

They know fanfiction is powerful.

They create narratives designed for fans to latch onto.

They know fans love familiar BL-style dynamics - simple, digestible, romantic, TESTED.

They like to nurture the immersion of fans into the world and encourage the parasocial elements.

It really rewrote a lot of the thinking around what we're seeing. We’re not imagining things when we feel like certain “moments” between idols seem tailor-made for fans. A lot of it is intentional. That doesn’t mean the friendships aren’t real, but it does mean they’re being shaped into something marketable by using fanfic ideas. I don't think this was a huge secret uncovered. It was a pretty open secret but had it been laid out so plainly?

This is Hybe's CEO Bang Sihyuk in 2019 talking about a; fanfic and b; narratives to be developed based upon this. 

Here is Bang Sihyuk talking about going beyond fanservice with Jimin and Jungkook in a PowerPoint presentation:

Here is an article about the Hybe report seemingly confirming a song by TXT - also a Hybe group - is based on a fanfic:  

From the Hybe Report: 

Mad Summer: a fanfiction that was released around early days of debut. Not sure if the writer is just being sneaky, but they only release the fanfiction for viewing occasionally so as to self-manage any issues that arise. Perhaps that’s why it became a total hit amongst the 4th generation fandoms. Last week, it began trending on X that they made it public again for the first time in a long while and [redacted]. … Thanks to the fanfiction, in the early days, fantasies about the Yeonjun X Beomgyu OTP grew too big. But the two bicker a lot in real life, and the members also have the vibe of cousins who spend the whole summer vacation together, so it wasn’t a good environment for OTP stans to be active.

Even if the song and music video were not a direct reference to the fanfic, Hybe are aware of and monitor fanfic trends and how those trends play out with the member narratives. 

Here is Hybe monitoring fanfic trends: 

And not just fanfic but how sexuality is represented. Here is Hybe commenting on New from The Boyz wearing a crop top.

Translations vary on this. It’s either: 

So when New posted that photo screaming 'gayness', it triggered the outpour of 'queer-hate'. [...] overall, the 'queer image' that the fans wanted to see was not this 'teasing flirt' but more of the cute and little BL-story character. 

Or

The fandom wants queer members to be cute protagonists of the BL universe, not power players. 

At worst, Hybe believe fans want the simplest version of gay people as BL archetypes and at best, they’re keeping tabs on how they should be presenting their members for widest appeal. 

So we know Hybe are curiously married to fanfic presentations, utilising it to determine the direction of their narratives. 

The easiest way to present this to an audience is to replicate tried and true popular fic dynamics for queer ships. You'd be hard pressed to find a fandom without an ABO dynamic AU or a Mafia Boss AU. They're popular in every fanfic sphere I've ever been in: A tsundere/seme/masc/sexually confident top with a deredere/uke/femme/innocent bottom. The binary ideas of top and bottom, cute and grouchy, masc and femme are not necessarily always reflective of real complicated bedroom dynamics between real queer couples but they are really simple to grab, easy to understand. Think about the reductive questions queer people are asked: Who's the woman? Who's the top? Who puts up shelves and who cooks? It's a very simplistic shorthand for queer.

Certain popular pairings are reflective of these dynamics either by design - via constructed content or narrative - or by fortuitous circumstance to be capitalised on. In the case of San and Yeosang: the infamous WooSanSang live drama created a frisson to be explored.

This post about San and Yeosang really nails how these tropes show up: San as the protective, muscled one; Yeosang as the quiet, softer one.

Those same roles show up all the time in Jungkook/Jimin fic too but also very intensely in the Jimin/Jungkook shipping space.

Sidebar:

There’s a whole conversation to be had about how accurate the “innocent, seductive cutie who needs protecting” image really is when it comes to Jimin and Yeosang. They both have “cute” traits and are seen as sweet - but weak or helpless? Jimin is literally a black belt in, I think, a couple of martial arts. Still, he leans into the flirty-yet-adorable persona that fits neatly into the uke/seme dynamic. He’s quite committed to the role, often describing himself this way. 

Yeosang, though? He’s never seemed fully comfortable with it. Let’s not forget his EPIC eyeroll at a fan who called him cute: 

But yes, he’s whimsical and super pure and sweet. He’s the guy who doesn’t swear and draws his little aegyo character everywhere. But flirty? Not really. He doesn’t seem to court that kind of attention with any kind of regularity. He’s a soft-spoken, drone-loving, gamer-maths-nerd with a dry wit and, honestly, a suspiciously detailed knowledge of how to commit murder. So while the trope might suit Jimin, I’m not sure it was ever a natural fit for Yeosang.

And interestingly, we are witnessing the physical widening of Yeosang right now via his handy gains photos. That twink is PERISHING in real time:

I would talk more about Yeosang’s image but I think other people could do it better. And hey, look, Thirst did some excellent thinking about Yeosang and Wooyoung's image here.

Ok sidebar over.

The other pairings - Taekook and Woosan - don’t adhere to these ideals so strongly. Incidentally that would be our two could be real pairings. Thanks to @thirstkanaphan for that super handy shorthand phrase.

Taekook have similar characters and broadly similar physical appearance in terms of masculine presentation. Taehyung pre-military was physically slightly narrower but he does not have the femme qualities. They might be categorised as masc4masc vibes so the simple and easily comprehended lines around dominance/submission, alpha/omega, top/bottom are very fuzzy. Neither of them is playing the cutie to the tsundere, they both exhibit both traits. 

And in the case of WooSan, the pieces have been in place but seemingly never overlapped. Early years Wooyoung was the sexy one, the seductive cutie Jimin replica:

With his best friend little twink San: 

But by the time San had physically broadened to the point of being viable alpha material, Wooyoung seemed to have grown out of his designation. He’s now a bit more goth, a bit edgier and too steadfastly Wooyoung to play along with something that doesn’t feel real to him. See this quote from Wooyoung himself: 

My personality is such that, when it comes to my convictions, not only do I not tip toe around my stance, I'm also unable to put on an act for the sake of presenting a certain outward appearance.

(Further interesting similarity in that Taehyung occupies this kind of unapologetically self-determined role within BTS. On the surface there's not a lot Wooyoung and Taehyung have in common but the more I learn, the more I realise there's a lot of similarity.)

Some things with WooSan remain fic-friendly: the brat/brat tamer dynamic is strong with those two, Wooyoung can still play the enticing sweetie and physically, Wooyoung is shorter and leaner than San so they present the visual ideal:  

But crucially, every single time you think you have them pinned down, there’s a twist to them. Suddenly San is pouting and pushing buttons for attention, suddenly Wooyoung is attentive and dominant. There was a little fan story - that I cannot find the tweet for, sorry edit: FOUND IT - about San nearly tripping at Gayo Daejeon and going over to Wooyoung with a pout “I nearly tripped!” to be cooed at and loved on. The same event where Wooyoung gets San to check his hair looks nice. Those valued fic dynamics are so hard to hold onto in those two. The authenticity of them tends to override an overarching narrative. They just do their thing:

So now we’ve discussed the relative approaches to ships, to the actual point. It’s not really about ships at all. It’s all about a certain kind of shipping, whilst perfectly valid, and the box it inadvertently puts it’s main characters into: Our two “alphas” Jungkook and San. 

The Golden Maknae and the Mountain

This is how we first meet Jeon Jungkook, maknae of BTS, at BTS 2013 debut. He is 15 years old and looks it too: 

He grows up literally in front of Armys eyes. He has a vulnerability from his tender age, his huge bright eyes and babyface. He’s polite, he’s deferential, he bows low to his seniors. He adheres closely to age hierarchy, feeling it protects him from destroying relationships and making mistakes. 

And he hates to make mistakes. He’s hard on himself, a perfectionist to a self-detrimental fault. He’s silly and he’s soft and cute. We watch him go through puberty hormones that make him a little all over the place with his feelings but that’s your little brother, right? 

He’s a little duo with his best friend Taehyung. He’s the annoying little sibling to some of his hyungs, he’s the beloved baby to others. 

Then he hits 19 (20 Korean age) in 2017 and performs a dance cover to Coming of Age Ceremony by Park Jiyoon. It’s a popular song for girl groups to perform when they come of age. It’s a little problematically sexual, honestly, with a bunch of lyrics about how a man waited for her to become old enough and now she is, he doesn’t have to wait anymore. It’s weird. 

A new narrative emerges about Jungkook: He’s sporty; he’s a gym bunny; he can drink now; he can have opinions about kissing; he’s a MAN. He is now in a full time shipping narrative. 

Jungkook is a workout aficionado since pre-debut but he had been discouraged from strength training to maintain a young teen appeal. He begins to work out. He gets tattoos too, a full sleeve that he begins in 2019. He rides a motorcycle. 

By 2023 he looks like this: 

And the transformation into the Seme-Alpha-Masc idea is complete. 

Any Atiny reading will probably see the similarities between this and Choi San. San was 19, so a fair bit older than JK at debut in 2018 but he looks younger, just as innocent, like this:

He comes from a little island in the South called Namhae. The first ever idol from Namhae, in fact. There’s only a two year age range in Ateez, he’s the middle of five 99 liners. He has this sweet little voice still in the process of deepening. He’s excitable, youthful, playful, bubbly and he loves singing. He smiles a lot with these deep dimples. He collects plushies, can’t sleep without something to cuddle and he’s a scaredy cat. He’s a mischievous brother with some, a hyung to one, a joined-at-the-hip soulmate to another. 

He’s quite self conscious about his skinny body. I’m unsure of whether he was prevented from working out but around 2021, he begins to bulk up. Just including this comparison picture because it makes me laugh:

In 2024, he looks like this: 

Transformation complete. His name means Mountain and he looks like one. 

I want to be clear: These two men made these choices for their own bodies. I don’t think for a second either of them was forced to become muscular. They clearly find mental wellbeing in exercise and conditioning their bodies. It’s a stress reliever, it’s a fun thing for them. We’re all for the muscles as their personal choice. 

When it becomes a problem is when people treat them as if masculinity of the muscles are now their whole personality when the contrary very much still exists in them. I think it’s convenient for the company to lean into it but I don’t think the seeds they sow with a throwaway caption are easily controlled. It grows like weeds and seems to invade the fandom consciousness until the soft parts of them are always secondary to the mafia boss/northern duke. 

Some of the negative portrayals of Jungkook in shipping spaces, in fandom spaces and in official content include: 

He’s aggressive. 

He’s rude. 

He’s jealous to the point of toxicity. 

He’s abusive. 

He’s violent. 

He’s an alcoholic. 

He’s sulky. 

Too competitive. Too toxic. Too Western for singing about sex. Too big for his boots. So ungrateful. Overgrown manchild. Stubborn. A Hongdae boy, a fuckboy. Pushy and sexually aggressive. Himbo. 

Why is he so angry? Jungkook just punches me all the time. Jungkook scares me. Why is he so scary? If you get into a fight with Jungkook, he’ll definitely win. 

After the airing of Are You Sure, a travelogue featuring Jungkook and Jimin (and Taehyung), a tumblr user genuinely began to accuse Jungkook of physically abusing Jimin because Jungkook had made this prototypical younger sibling gesture at him: 

Around the time of NewJeans relationship with Hybe imploding, Jungkook posted to his instagram a fairly generic message of support to NewJeans, calling for companies to not use their young artists as pawns: 

Because this message partially called out Hybe, a lot of Army were convinced he had been hacked. It simply wasn’t comprehensible to them that he would have the wherewithal to take a mature and noble stance about something and put his own reputation at risk in support of young female artists. 

Hybe eventually confirmed that yes, Jungkook did make the post and what’s more made ANOTHER post along those lines and then the response flipped. Now he was ungrateful, biting the hand that fed him, foolish, immature, egotistical. There’s only two options for Jungkook here: He’s either oblivious and dumb or he’s ungrateful and childish. 

Some of the ways Jungkook is written in the top 40 fanfics:

Mafia boss, Bad at feelings, asshole, manipulative, alcoholic, drug user, abusive, cheater, top, tsundere, playboy, rich, sad, protective, alpha.

Once again keen to point out that it is ok for these things to exist in fic and absolutely no judgement on the content thereof but it is concerning how often these fic ideas become shorthand.

It's not helped by the mainstream presentation of Jungkook pitched by Hybe content and some other members:

Jungkook's house in the BTS mobile game. All gym equipment.

Alongside comments like: Why is he so angry? Jungkook just punches me all the time. Jungkook scares me. Why is he so scary? If you get into a fight with Jungkook, he’ll definitely win. Jungkook's muscles scare me.

Shipping edits of him as a sulky aggressive toxically jealous boyfriend, usually made up of slowed down clips of innocuous facial expressions, and even Taekook afficianados at war with Jikookers contribute with excessive edits of Jungkook fighting with Jimin to prove they don't even like each other when to ANYONE who has had a sibling this is perfectly normal playfighting. In the great ship war, Jungkook is consistently painted as the aggressive fuckboy.

While all facets of him are on display in this content, his silliness, his cuteness, those easy to grasp alpha archetypes tend to override. That's why the Spice Girls became so popular. Easy to cling to Posh Spice, Scary Spice, Baby Spice. It's good PR, it's fantastic marketing.

But it disregards so much of what Jungkook himself chooses to present. 

He collects make up. He dances when he eats. He has a little bratz lipbalm. His purse is fluffy. He is just about the babygirlest it’s possible to be. He loves Hello Kitty dolls, gg choreo and skipping about the place: 

He went full androgynous for Calvin Klein:

And more importantly, he’s uncommonly kind and polite as noted by anyone who meets him; he's a talented painter and artist and keen videographer and photographer; he works unbelievably hard, putting in the hours into his craft; he’s into gender free clothing and LGBT+ clothing brands; he is vocally sex positive; he’s not bound by macho expectation about never having feelings; he’s very silly and pure of heart. All of those things he was when he was younger and leaner are still there, softened by maturity and experience. That’s why Jungkook-aligned fans don’t recognise these negative portrayals of him… because overwhelmingly, the masculine muscle boy is the smallest part of him. 

Is it a problem to think of him as a gym obsessed muscle bunny if that's your point of reference...? No.. maybe not. But in dehumanising him with this Hulk idea, it makes him an easy target for blame and criticism. There’s no benefit of the doubt, no will to defend him against unkind commentary. His shoulders are so broad, he can carry the weight, right? That becomes cruelty and robbing him of his identity.  

And so perhaps I was more aware of what I was looking out for when it came to San. Maybe experience has made me cynical. I have noticed that generally Atiny are kinder to San than Army are to Jungkook - I think that comes from the fandom being a lot more aligned on ships and general approach and a lot of this perception comes from non-atiny seeing tiktok edits - but there’s little things I keep seeing creep in. 

San is scary. 

San is possessive. 

San is too sexual. 

San is too big with his movements. 

San is forceful. 

San is so moody and cold. 

San is rude to fans. 

But what do we really know about him? 

He is a human cat. He took needle felting kit on tour with him. He studies English diligently. He loves strawberry cake and cats. He still sleeps with his plushy shiba inu. He makes plushies kiss, he makes legos kiss. He loves this kitty card.

And on a deeper level, the real principles that he lives by? He studied tattoo types and placements for his Warriors video to ensure he wasn’t going to inadvertently offend someone’s culture. He is a vocally feminist, trans inclusive, LGBT ally. He’s a gentleman and an empath. He is educated on disability and neurodivergence. 

He, like Jungkook, is everything he has always been since debut, soft and sweet, but matured. And I think we should celebrate these things about them as much as we celebrate their masculine presentation. 

The alpha thing only works at a surface level with these two. When you take the physical size and assign a bunch of characteristics to it, it feels a little like using San or Jungkook as avatars for a character that doesn’t ring true. Fancasting them as OCs… and then attributing that personality to a person it doesn’t belong to. And maybe that’s not so bad, they’re strangers to us after all… but when it starts to encroach on their liberty and their ability to be judged for who they actually are, it feels heavier.

Another sidebar: Any smart Atiny reading might be recognising that Mingi is arguably falling victim to this in a much more toxic way than San is. It's a much more pernicious issue of the treatment of perceived potential neurodiversity within this space. Traits shared by both Jungkook and Mingi has led to demonization of them in certain spaces and I'm sure it's as much a contributor to Jungkook's treatment as his physical form is. There's another essay to be had there, I'm sure. But for now, I am just working on the ideas I have more firm in my brain.

San is definitely getting off lighter than Jungkook did. I think this is because ultimately KQ aren’t as determined to trade reality for the fiction ideal, valuing the unique appeal of authenticity. Hybe are much more committed to story and narrative and construct. To me, there’s a sense that KQ throw things at the wall and if it sticks, it sticks. If it drops, it drops. Leave it and move on. 

Hybe will go in with gorilla glue and duct tape and make it stick.  Unfortunately there’s human collateral in that thinking. 

So when the youtube channel says: 

Remember Seonghwa saying: 

[linoyes]

LEE KNOW + CHILL MAKING FILM

[channelslam]

CHAT IS THIS REAL?

[missmouse43]

Jiara isn’t in this scene so you know what that means.. they’re on a side mission by themselves 🤭 https://x.com/obxupdates_/status/1779194065222852921?s=46&t=3pVP4qJcqGhmh_sHRUkcSA

My thoughts exactly anon. Funny how we’ve gotten to a point where we actually get excited when JJ and Kie aren’t even in the bts with the other pogues because we know they’re probably together somewhere else 😆

I can’t wait for more jiara solo missions. Here’s hoping they get up to all sorts of shenanigans!

[unsolicited-opinions]

The Revolution Will Not Be Aestheticized

Being Gen X is weird. Mine will be the last generation to remember a world without the internet and was also the first to wholly embrace it.

Gen X knows what life was like before social media...but has still mastered the art of passive-aggressively liking posts as a form of communication.

We're a small generation, but I'd argue we have a unique perspective and I want to point out something which I think is more obvious, more visible to Gen X, than it is to Millennials and Gen Z.:

Enjoying pop culture used to be something you did. Now, it helps define who you are.

I was obsessed, as a kid, with Marvel comics, Dr. Who, and Babylon 5. Friends had weekly get-togethers to watch the X-Files or The Simpsons. Liking pop culture wasn't unusual. You could like it passionately, obsessively even.

But it wasn’t your identity.

If you outgrew an interest, it didn’t seem like a personal transformation to you or to your friends. It was just...what you're really interested in right now. The stakes were low.

Today, it seems like your fandom is often your flag. It’s in your bio next to your gender identity, orientation and neurotype. (A couple of those are in mine, too).

I'm trying to say that there is a very real difference between being really into the music of Taylor Swift and being a Swiftie.

There's still plenty of discussionabout what we love, but now it helps defines who we are.

I might be a Little Monster and in the BTS Army, right? And a Whovian Cumberbitch. These are signifiers not of interest, but of identity.

That shift from consumption to identity may seem subtle, but it has profound consequences.

It turns preferences into moral positions.

If your fandom defines who you are, any critique of it feels like a critique of you. And if your fandom’s antagonist gets a redemption arc which displeases you? That’s not character growth, that’s betrayal. (You've seen people behave this way in fandoms. It's a parasocial relationship with fictional characters.)

Now take that operating system - tribal, emotional, morally binary - and plug it into political activism. What do you get?

You get the US "Pro-Palestinian" movement circa 2024-25.

To be clear: Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe. Palestinians deserve dignity, safety, and justice.

Critiquing how Americans engage with this issue is not a dismissal of its urgency. It’s just asking whether our engagement is real...or if it is performative roleplay and treated like a fandom.

(Below: This fanart would be just as absurd if Snape was holding an Israeli flag.)

Because much of what’s happening on social media and college campuses doesn’t look like activism. It looks like fandom.

And not in a metaphorical sense. I mean literally.

Moral binarism:

Palestinians are coded as pure underdog heroes. Israelis are assigned the role of irredeemable villains. There's no space for Israeli trauma, Palestinian complexity, or the millions caught in-between. Just like fandom, nuance gets in the way of the story.

Costumes and catchphrases:

Keffiyehs are worn like people used to wear Hogwarts House scarves.

Slogans like "from the river to the sea" function not as political demands as much as they are ritual, social affirmations.

You chant them because they’re what you say to stay in good standing.

Canon enforcement:

Say the wrong thing (acknowledge Hamas's atrocities, quote an Israeli peace activist...) and you’re cast as a villain. Activist spaces now police ideological purity the same way fandoms used to (still do?) flame you for liking the wrong ship.

Emotional scripting:

TikToks from Gaza with moody filters and sad piano music mimic fan edits and commenters post, "I’m crying, I’m shaking," because that’s the expected affect. It's parasocial politics. And it's all about showing their feelings.

Lore and side quests:

Protestors debate which historical analogies are "correct" based on what's most satisfying. The create infographics that function like lore wikis, and design protest aesthetics with merch-tier detail. Some organizers even "brand" their encampments like pop-up installations.

Want a kiffiyeh with which to display your ideological alignment? Guy Christensen sells them through a link in his bio.

This is fandom logic in political form: it's identity-driven, emotionally performative, virality-optimized, branded and monetized.

The problem is that Fandom has no endgame. Fandom is forever. There’s no "solving" Game of Thrones - you just keep angrily resenting that awful final season.

Politics needs resolution. If you apply the fandom model to real-world conflict, peace becomes anticlimactic. Moral ambiguity feels like betrayal. Ceasefires don’t trend on social media.

Look at how the "pro-Palestinian" movement won't condemn Hamas regardless of the people of Gaza marching en masse to demand Hamas leave Gaza.

When the identity matters more than the cause, the cause becomes a backdrop.

Such "activists" center their feelings of righteousness rather than centering the lives at stake.

Performative grief displaces material action.

Sharing content becomes the work.

Listening becomes optional.

Look at how Irish protestors embraced the term “Paddystinian" - blending diasporic solidarity with performative identity. Or consider how Peter Tatchell was arrested at a pro-Palestinian march for opposing both Israel and Hamas - and was immediately denounced online not for being wrong, but for deviating from the script.

This isn’t activism. It’s cosplay with real-world stakes.

Real political work is boring, frustrating, and morally dissonant. It demands strategic thinking, coalition-building, and compromise. It doesn’t fit neatly into a feed, and it rarely makes you feel emotionally whole, but it’s the only thing that changes anything.

If you’ve grown up in fandom, you’re not broken or unserious. You’re just swimming in the water you were raised in.

What they need to ask themselves, though, is: Are we trying to help, or are we trying to feel right?

Because the people on the ground don’t need you to wear your Guy Christensen kiffiyeh and recite the ideologically approved positions you don't understand. They don't need your fan art. They don't need you to harass Jews online.

They need peace, they need dialogue, and they need all of us to stop treating war like content.

[thirstkanaphan]

Tinytown Digest - April 2025 Week 4

Hello! Welcome to a new weekly Ateez recap series. I'll aim to get these out at the end of every week and new entries will be pinned to my blog and reposted to the Ateez Community.

What Did I Miss?

San was #9 on the list of Top 10 Celebrities by Media Impact Value (MIV) at the Four Major Fashion Weeks. San generated $5 million in MIV from his appearance at Dolce & Gabbana!

Yeosang's feature for ESQUIRE Korea gave us so much good content!! We have stunning photos from the feature along with beautiful b-cuts and bts footage. His interview is HERE.

Seonghwa got a digital cover with Cosmopolitan Korea as the face of John Varvatos' Artisan Black scent! Check out his instagram posts HERE and HERE, and read Seonghwa's interview HERE.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by COSMOPOLITAN KOREA 코스모폴리탄 코리아 (@cosmopolitankorea)

Mingi went on another side quest and performed AUTOBAHN Remix at EDC Korea with DJ Raiden!

Mingi also covered his song for DINGO!

San became the new face of Korean skincare brand RETURNITY. You will be able to get a San PC inside every box of acupressure stickers.

Jongho and Wooyoung went on a baseball date!

San confirmed that we won't be getting new episodes of Wanteez for a while, as they've been too busy filming other content 👀

Ateez was nominated for an American Music Award! This is Ateez's first nomination!! The award is decided through a fan vote, which is happening now. See the next category for details on how to participate.

This Week

Voting continues for 'Favorite K-Pop Artist' at 2025 AMAs. Anyone from anywhere in the world can vote, and it's easy! Vote HERE.

The first turbo voting (double votes) takes place tomorrow (29th April) at 4PM KST.

Music and Performances

Ateez recently performed at SBS INKIGAYO UNICON in TOKYO DOME and the videos are out!

Coming Soon!

ATEEZ World Tour [Towards the Light : Will to Power] in Cinemas Screening Schedule. Sign up for updates HERE.

ATEEZ is on the Day 1 lineup for 2025 Busan One Asia Festival to be held on Jun 11 (Wed)

Extras:

Youtuber Aeli has uploaded ATEEZ THE WORLD: TO THE END | THE FELLOWSHIP: BREAK THE WALL Europe + North America tour behind with English Subtitles

From the Archives

Because @atiny-for-life just posted it, here's an iconic video that has become the source of so many memes for the Ateez community.

Song of the Week

I am increasingly certain that this is their best album..

That's it for this week!

Let me know if I'm missing anything, or if there are any categories you'd like to see for the next round.

Feel free to reply below if you'd like to be tagged for future posts.

[smalltownrobin]

I think I've reached the truest state of delusion

So Maya posted this video on her instagram with no audio but it looks an awful lot like she's rehearsing lines and seems to be acting kinda Robin-like

But what I've just noticed is important is that she's using a dental floss

Which happens to be what appears to be the exact same dental floss that was included in one of the last bts photo dumps

The photo of the pack of floss was included in the photo dump that came after THIS content of Maya and Joe on set possibly outside the radio station

(it was literally in the same post as the Steve photo)

Now we know that we've seen Robin taking care of her dental hygiene before (oh I sound so crazy please stick with me), which was before the pep rally when she was fretting over her appearance for Vickie

So theoretically IF that video is in fact her rehearsing for a s5 scene, there's a strong chance it could have been filmed around the time of those stobin bts dumps, and Robin is having another ramble to Steve about seeing Vickie while she's making herself desirable presentable

It would also make sense because THIS FIT with the leather jacket and the belt and the fucking blue hair bow (which she pointedly seems to change into before Steve changes out of his first outfit) really looks like she's dressing to impress

BUT WAIT I'M NOT DONE YET

So let's say Robin really is dressing up and scrubbing up because she's going to meet up with Vickie. WHY then does she end up running round town going to barns with Erica Sinclair and shady labs with Mike Wheeler?? Or whatever tf she's doing with Will?? No Vickie in sight as far as we know??

Well let me remind you of this leak we got back in february (coincidentally the same day we got the pics of rovickie filming at the hospital but that's not really relevant)

So obviously this may not be true, but it's plausible from what we know about Robin's anxiety

Now this could also be incorrect, but at the beginning of the video, it looks like she could be saying "like the dream I'm having [floss] you never know"

Something we know about Vecna is that he can give people vivid nightmares, as he gave them to Max and his other victims in s4, so it's entirely possible he could continue to taunt everyone via nightmares

So Robin possibly having recurring dreams while also being paranoid about Vickie's safety, to her knowing she's meeting up with Vickie and getting ready to see her while rambling to Steve about said dreams, only for her to seemingly NOT end up meeting Vickie and going on side quests instead?

Yeah I'm fucking terrified rn

[peachatini]

ARMYTINYS HOW WE DOING?

I'll start: I'm doing absolutely fine, I'm pretty unaffected. 🫢

[peachatini]

Sanny in the latest Bangtan Bomb.

He is so shy! He wasn't kidding when he said he could barely talk. Bless him 😍😍😍

Ateez fighting indeed, Hobi.

Edit: "I want to be hugged by you." Ok stand up, San. 😂

[hufflepuffwriter1995]

Title: Falling for My Tutor  

Fandom: BTS 

Pairing: Tutor!Namjoon x Popular!Reader 

Warnings: None, just fluff and Namjoon missing the signs 

Inspired by: @rpwprpwprpwprw https://www.tumblr.com/rpwprpwprpwprw/773164751784165376?source=share

Authors Note: This is roughly edited with the free version of Grammarly. Also, I am slowly getting back into my writing so if its horrible please just bare with me. I swear, I will get to my usual quality soon enough. Please let me know you if you enjoy this or want a personal quest. I also have my own Patreon that I will soon be getting up and going as well.

  “Um, Hobi Hyung isn’t here.” Kim Namjoon stuttered as he opened the door, his eyes widening at seeing you standing on the other side. From the moment he began rooming with Hoseok, your best friend, he found himself catching feelings. You were kind, funny and smart. The fact that you were honestly the most popular girl on campus, a fact that didn’t seem to even occur to you, made him fall harder. Your popularity didn’t seem to even be something you registered. From the moment he pieced together that he was gaining feelings for you, he tried to avoid you, not wanting to make himself an awkward mess around you. 

  “I know, I just left him messing around with Oppa Jin in the courtyard. I actually came to see you.” You sent him a smile so sweet that he was left a flustered mess. He knew he was deep crimson as he stared at you, earning a sweet girl from you. 

  “Me?”

  “Yes. I was hoping you could help me. I am failing chemistry and Hobi mentioned you were at the top of the class. I was hoping you would be so kind as to tutor me. I will pay you of course.” Namjoon couldn’t help but watch you, waiting for the show to drop before slowly nodding. 

  “Yeah, I can… and um you don’t need to pay me. I’d be uh honoured to help you.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke, watching you send him a thankful smile. “If you want we can uh you know start now?” 

   “Really? Oh, thank you Namjoon!” Before he could react your arms were around him, your body pressed against his as you hugged him. Slowly he wrapped his arms around you, holding you as gently as possible.  

   “Oh of course.” He mutters, pulling away after a moment to usher you into the room, sitting down at the table and pulling out his book. “Where um are you starting to struggle?” 

   “Organic.” You say as you settle beside him, close enough that he can feel you pressed against his side. “It always manages to confuse me.” 

  “Then uh let's start from the very beginning.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

   “Jooni!” You scream as you come running towards him, instantly getting hushed by the librarian. Sending her a soft smile and a whispered thank you, you continue towards the boy you had started to fall for. It had been a little over two months since Namjoon began tutoring you and in that time you had not only grown much better in organic chemistry, becoming a solid 80% student, but you also fell in love with him.  Of course, you had always found him handsome and had even told Hobi as much, earning a solid year of playful teasing from the man who had become a brother to you. Getting to know him though, you had fully fallen for the boy. 

   You had begun to flirt with him, leaving soft little touchers against his arm, calling him honey, or darling. You had even gone as far as calling him handsome, which resulted in him having a coughing fit and turning into a deep shade of crimson. He hadn’t been able to look in your direction for the first week after that. Still, he didn’t seem to make him understand, couldn’t get him to realize you had a thing for him. Which is why you had decided you were fully going to step up your game. 

   “Hello Y/N/N, how did your last test go?” He asked, fixing his glasses on his nose as he closed his book. His gaze flickered to your eyes before looking away again. He never had been all that good at keeping your gaze. 

  “My latest test, I got a perfect score.” He instantly throws a wide grin at you, a look of complete pride in his eyes. 

   “That’s amazing, I am so proud of you.” He said, his words causing you to blush, a small giggle escaping you as you leaned forward and brushed your lips against his cheek. Pulling away, you started giggling again, noticing the almost panicked look on his face. 

  “Thank you, that means so much to me Jooni.” You say, squeezing his hand in yours. 

  “I… just… um… I thank you.” He stuttered, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. The sigh had you swooning and before you could stop yourself, you brushed a hand through his hair, pleased to find that it was just as soft as you always dreamed it to be. At your touch he choked on air, blinking at you. 

  “You are so handsome, you know that right Jooni?” Before he could answer, arms were thrown around your shoulders, alerting you to the presence of none other than Jungkook. The younger boy hugged you tightly, tattooed arm wrapped tightly against your waist. 

  “Noona did you forget about me!” He pouted. “You promised to help me get Jessica to date me.” 

  “Right. Jooni I have to help with this one, I will see you tomorrow. I’ll bring you coffee.” Breaking free of Jungkook’s hold, you leaned over and pressed a kiss to Namjoon’s cheek, causing him to flush. 

  “You better be careful noona, or you may break Namjoon Hyung.” 

  “Don’t tease him, Kook, that’s rude.” You scold, shaking your head before hugging Namjoon again. “Don’t listen to him Jooni, I know you could handle me.” This left Namjoon in a stuttering mess, which only caused Jungkook to laugh. Shaking your head, you tug the younger boy out of the library, leaving Namjoon behind. 

  As he watched you leaving, Jungkook beside you, he couldn’t get your actions out of his head. Did they mean something? Did you like him and what did you mean by you knew he could handle you? 

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

   “Has he figured it out yet?” Jimin asked over dinner, his arm wrapped around his girlfriend. 

  “No, at least I don’t think so.” You sigh a small pout on your lips. It had been another week since you kissed Namjoon’s cheek, assuring him he could handle you, and nothing had changed. He was still his usual self, seemingly unaware of your advances. “Maybe he doesn’t like me?”

   “Oh, he does.” Hobi insists as he sits down next to you, his girlfriend Crystal sending you a smile. “He just doesn’t know how to address it. He asked me a few nights ago if you gave me kisses on the cheek. You don’t by the way and you totally should, as your longest friend I feel betrayed.” 

   “Oh settle down Hobi.” Jin snorted. “Maybe it’s time you just come out and say it.” 

  “You have a fair point. Maybe it’s time to stop beating around the bush. Just come out and say Kim Namjoon, I am in love with you.” You declare, earning a cheer from the group. 

  “Go forth young one and get a boyfriend.” Taehyung laughed, shaking his head at how quickly you stood up, blowing them all a kiss goodbye before hurrying out of the room. 

   “You do know, telling him will break him?” Yoongi said as he watched the door swing shut behind you. 

  “Yeah, but it will be good for him.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

  Namjoon had just settled down for lunch when a knock rang through the air. Standing up, he opens the door, blushing at the sight of him. You were dressed in a simple sundress, your hair pulled back into a braid as you smiled at him. Before he could say anything, you stood up on your tip toes and pressed a kiss against his lips. 

  “In case it’s not obvious Jooni. I like you.” Namjoon blinks, unsure if he is dreaming or not. That is until you giggle quietly, a hand on his cheek. “Oh Joon, you are so easy to love you know that? I started falling for you during our first session when you couldn’t even look at me. Of course, I had noticed you long before then, you are much more handsome than you let yourself believe. I can also assure you, I am not the only one who likes you.”

  “You.. you mean you like me? All this time. The touching?” 

  “Was me flirting yes.” You started to say more when he cut you off, cupping your face in his big hands and kissing you deeply. 

  “I loved you from the moment I heard you laugh with Hoseok that first day. I just… I couldn’t say it aloud.” 

  “Then I guess you are just going to have to accept I am your girlfriend.”

[peachatini]

It's giving

Iykyk

matching balaclavas, pjs, hotel rooms, beds and bathrooms. okay what else

[mistercrowbar]

Hey I saw you talk about Death Stranding and I was just wondering what do you think the gang would be like in a DS au?

oooooo very interesting my brain had fun with this. I will put the full thing under the cut but the tl;dr:

Aldiirn - Head of Distro with Bridges

Astarion - Prepper

Gale - Prepper

Karlach - soulless porter

Lae'zel - MULE

Shadowheart - terrorist

Wyll - freelancer

Aldiirn was part of the Bridges I expedition, a dedicated porter who did a lot of the legwork to get preppers to join the UCA and work side by side with Fragile Express. Things soured after the bombings, and with so many preppers turning away from unifying, Aldiirn left field work. His morale was low for a year or so but maintaining connections (and sorting boxes) helped him get his head back in gear. He took to management, becoming Head of Distribution for the Distribution Centre South of Lake Knot City. Aldiirn is delighted when Bridges II rolls through and brings familiar faces, plus new ones, back to the network, and South Distro is as bustling as the Knot Cities.

Astarion is trapped in a prepper bunker with Cazador who keeps the whole "family" safe underground. DOOMS sensitivity gives Cazador an advantage over the others who can't risk leaving without running into BTs, and of course Cazador keeps them fighting each other anyway. Every porter who made a delivery was a porter who ignored the situation and let Cazador keep prolonging the abuse. It isn't until Bridges II that Cazador's repeated refusal to join the network and a note in an outgoing delivery spark suspicions. A quest cumulates in a brawl and a trip to the incinerator. Most of the siblings leave for the Knot Cities, but Astarion ("The Decadent") and a couple others stay as the new owners of the bunker.

Gale is a prepper, "The Librarian," who focuses on preserving pre-stranding texts, scouring for ancient records about the Beach that could shed light on easing the stranding. He talks A LOT whenever porters drop off deliveries. I don't even have to give him anything special orb-related here because in Death Stranding, -everyone- is Gale and will explode the entire map if left dead for 48 hours.

Karlach was a porter working for Higgs and Fragile Express and was utterly betrayed by him when he bombed the cities and tured terrorist. She was enraged enough to try and fight him head on, but he tore her ka from her ha and left her broken and soulless. On meeting Bridges II, they try to find her ka, there's no way to reunite it with her ha. With the time her body has left Karlach offers all the aid she can to Bridges II to help kick Higgs' ass.

Lae'zel is from a MULE camp led by Vlaakith, who raid and plunder bunkers and even the distros. Her dreams of ascending and driving a big rig packed with cargo are torn asunder when she learns of Orpheus, the true progenitor of the camp who taught that the meaning of life is not in the cargo, but the act of delivery and connections.

Shadowheart is part of a terrorist camp deep in BT territory that refuses all connection to the living. She has a high level of DOOMS that frequently causes her anguish. She can make a choice to stay with her camp and attain a level of DOOMS that gives her powers rivaling Higgs, or connect with the outside and the prepper family she was stolen from.

Wyll was part of Bridges I and settled in Lake Knot City to work deliveries in the surrounding area. Unfortunately, he was caught up in the bombing plot and forced out of Bridges. He works as a freelance porter and keeps at it even when the Chiral Network allows enough data to be put together to prove his innocence.

[staytinyville]

Stay Alive (22)

BTS poly!ot7 x Reader

Magical Creatures AU

Series Masterlist

Warnings: None (THERE WILL BE NO MASTERLIST NEXT CHAPTER)

A/N UPDATES HAVE BEEN CHANGED (Please read not at the bottom). I will be updated Monday and Thursday now because I got ADHD when it comes to writing and I want to be caught up in the stories. I'm almost finished with this one so once I get all the chapters together, I will be updating this story everyday.

You mixed the food around on the plate before picking up a good amount with the chopsticks in your hand. You raised it up to the boy in front of you, waiting for him to take it.

“Tokki, it's fine.” Jungkook laughed. “I can feed myself.”

He still took the food into his mouth, but made to take the chopsticks from you. You sighed, realizing you were hovering over the poor boy. He probably wanted some space after being suffocated by the other boys all day. 

“Sorry, Kook.” You told him. “I'm just glad you're finally awake.”

“You saw me yesterday.” He grinned, teasing you.

“Yes but I was too busy dealing with knowing magical creatures are real to really have it set in your awake.” You laughed.

You frowned, as you began to think about the last time you had spoken to him. Watching him wither in pain. You found out why he was so aggressive to the guards and why he had growled so loud but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. 

“Your pain.” You asked him. “Do you go through those every full moon?”

“Only when I can't shift.” Jungkook hummed, talking after he swallowed his food. “They don't let me do that here.”

“How long do you have to stay in wolf form?” You questioned, thinking about how the moon worked. 

“Just for the day.” He told you. The grin that overcame his face as he began to think about his shift made you smile. 

“It's an amazing feeling. I hope to show you it one day.” He spoke, looking at you.

“I'd be more than happy to see.” You replied back. 

Someone had made their way into the room after knocking, smiles on all parties as you caught each other’s eyes. 

“Ah (Y/N).” Hoseok gleamed. “How are you?”

“I'm good Hobi.” You told him with a grin. 

“Good. Good.” Hoseok nodded to himself. “I came to check on Kookie for a little bit if you don't mind.”

“Not at all.” You said standing up and moving to give the boy room. 

You crossed your arms as Hobi began to wave his fingers in front of Jungkook. His back covered by the magic; the little wisps you caught going off to the side made you giddy. It reminded you of a fog. A fog that was colored a beautiful shade of dark purple. It suited Hoseok for some reason. 

When he turned around after finishing, he tilted his head catching your look.

“Are you okay?” He asked, seeing you staring with wide eyes. 

“Of course.” You spoke up. “Your magic just looks so beautiful. It's so amazing what you can do.” You told him. 

“Thank you.” Hobi blushed. 

“Can I see more?” You asked.

He looked at you worried for a moment, remembering how you had gotten a headache last time. But you hadn’t said anything this time.

“Sure.” Hobi shook his head. He raised his fingers up, moving them around as the purple mist started to form. Shapes began to come out from the fog, images of running horses moving past you.

As your eyes went wide from wonder, you suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of your neck. You winced, sucking in a deep breath. Your hand tried to soothe the pain but it was futile seeing as the pain had been between your shoulder blades. 

“Hey, what happened?” Hoseok asked, dropping his hands and stopping the magic. Jungkook looked at you with worry, moving closer. 

“I don't know.” You spoke up, moving your shoulders around. “I just felt a pain in my back.”

Hoseok sighed, looking up at Jungkook. The boy only gave him a curious look. Hobi pursed his lips, remembering Jungkook wasn’t there when they spoke about the mark. He scratched at his chin, trying to come up with what to say. 

“(Y/N), do you know about the mark on your back?” He asked you.

Your eyebrows raised at his question. The only way to see that was to look under your shirt which you do not remember ever letting him do. As far as you knew, the only one who could have seen it was Jin but he assured you he didn’t look anywhere. It was your back, not your chest. 

“The weird birthmark?” You frowned at him. “When have you seen it?”

“When you fell into the pool.” Hoseok told you. 

Jungkook’s head snapped to his older friend, looking at him with an incredulous look. Hobi waved him off, signaling that he’d explain later. 

“Jin and Jimin found it when they were pulling you out.” He told you. “It's not a birthmark though. It's a spell mark.”

This only made the younger boy look back at you. He had missed so much in the time he was in a coma.  It was only a week. Someone really needs to catch him up.

“A what?” You squinted at him. 

“A spell mark.” Hobi repeated. “It's what happens when a witch or faerie places a spell on someone. You end up with a symbol that signifies the coven.”

You frowned, trying to think about what he had told you. You don’t have any sort of recollection of meeting anyone with that kind of ability. Up until yesterday, magical creatures were stories told at bedtime. You had no memory of meeting anything remotely magical outside of party magicians. 

“But I don't remember any kind of magical creatures?” You told him. “I'm positive I would know.”

“I think someone erased your memory about magic.” Hobi finally concluded. “Maybe, that's why it hurts when you see mine.” He sighed, looking down at his hand in thought. “I think it would be best to avoid looking at it for now.”

“Why would someone do that?” Jungkook asked, moving behind you to check on the symbol. 

You didn’t stop him as he pulled the neck of your scrubs back, trying to find the symbol in the dark. He pouted when he couldn’t see anything. 

“The symbol you have is for a coven that trains other people.” Hoseok told you both. “It belongs to a witch named Bang Si-hyuk–the leader of that coven.”

Jungkook seemed to perk up at the man’s name, tilting his head at Hobi. “Bang PD-Nim?” Jungkook exclaimed. 

If he had a tail you would imagine it wagging. 

“You guys know him?” You asked.

“He trained all of us before–everything.” Hoseok sighed. 

Your frown deepened as you tried to come up with a plausible answer. Everything was coming up empty and it was causing you to have an internal struggle. You wanted to cry from how frustrating things seemed to be. 

“Why would he do that to me though?” You looked at Hobi.

“Whatever it was, it had to do with your memories.” He watched as your eyebrows pulled together, noticing his mistake. “I—I went through them a while ago.” He told you quietly. 

“You went through my memories?” You frowned, looking at him upset. “Hobi.” You said disappointed. 

“I know, I'm sorry.” He quickly told you. “It goes against everything witches stand for and because of that I will live with the guilt.”

You sighed when he explained to you his reasoning. You guessed, the way he thought was enough of a punishment. 

“It's okay.” You told him. “I went through your book without telling you. We're even now.” You smiled.

It did leave you a bit unsettled that Hobi could easily go through your memories. Maybe it was different from your thoughts. You knew he would be weirded out with what you thought constantly. Quickly looking at him, you thought of something else. 

“You didn't like—see anything you weren't supposed to though did you?” You asked him. 

“No.” Hobi shook his head. Though he suddenly laughed as he realized what you meant. “Nothing naughty.”

“Hobi!” You exclaimed. 

The boy giggled, wiggling his fingers as he motioned to tickle you. However you were quick to place Jungkook between the two of you. When he calmed down, he looked at you softly.

“In your memories, you know about Yuri lake. It's the portal to our world.” Hobi further explained. 

“Yuri lake? I've never heard of it.” You told him. 

“It's in a cave in the mountains.” He said. “I saw you there but when you touched the water that's where everything stopped.”

A cave in the mountains? You lived in the countryside for a long while. You parents were hardly ever there so you were left with your grandparents most of the time. They had mountains in their backyard and you can remember going to explore there often. 

The bottom of the mountains had so many openings and caves that it gave you a lot of stuff to do while waiting for lunch or dinner. There wasn’t a time where you weren’t seen outside in that town. 

“I think I know the lake you're talking about.” You spoke up. “It's a moon pool behind my grandparents house in the mountains. It's my childhood home.”

Hobi hummed. He began to think about what he saw in your memories. He was able to see into the cave and where you had touched the pool but nothing past that. It also still left the figure with you a mystery. 

“There was also someone there with you. But they aren't really in your memories. Just a ghost figure.” He added. 

You tilted your head trying to think of something. You had so much trouble trying to think of  a friend you might have made in the small town. Once again, nothing came up and it frustrated you. You were upset that Hobi knew more about your own memories than you did. 

“No, I can't think of anyone.” You frowned. 

“They were probably erased from her memories too.” Jungkook said. 

“Possibly.” Hobi sighed deeply. 

The thought of having someone erase your memories, left you terrified. Even more when they were able to erase an entire person from your mind. Magical creatures were always seen as something all powerful compared to humans. Having someone be able to do that with your head left you frightened. 

However when you look over at Jungkook who was annoying Hoseok, you smile softly. Hobi was a witch just as much as this Bang Nim person was. He was even taught by him. Hobi trusted him, so you figured he must have erased your memories for a reason. You were going to trust what the boys had to say. So you knew to follow their plans. 

Series Masterlist

Due to the nature of the next chapter I will not be adding a taglist. The story will be posted on Monday, October 30 at 6:00 PM. Also please make sure I am able to tag you! I have a lot I am not able to tag.

@h3arteyes4mingi , @fangirling-all-the-way-tbh , @rinkud, @rln-byg , @singukieee ,  @hoshi-is-ult-bbg , @ldysmfrst , @k-p0p-4ever , @shadowyjellyfishfest , @forestsquirrel , @juju-227592 , @alienchickenpoopp , @dreamerwasfound , @afangirl91 , @psiphidragon , @puppyminnnie , @girl-nahh-two , @shyloh-the-cornsnake , @oemmi2005 , @ollyoxenfrees , @whynotlarene , @beeltsumuu , @cryingpages , @milopenne , @belikejk , @bts-4-life-ot7 , @woozixo, @serveruslovebot , @vintageoldfashion ,

[eggdrawsthings]

I love aroace Din so much!! As an aroace person myself, I identified so much with Din's general lack of attraction and wanting to just do his silly little side quests. He also doesn't have any canon love interests. The show and the BTS never explicitly show or imply that he's had any relations or interest (assuming that he was into Omera, Xi'an or Bo-Katan is all good for shipping but that's never been confirmed by canon or its intent). It's so interesting that we have a main character from Star Wars that's never been given a love interest. The only other character I know who wasn't given any is Luke Skywalker (someone I HC as aroace too).

So yeah. Even though season 3 wasn't well liked by many fans, I was very happy with the last scene of the finale because it ended with Din owning his own cabin (away from any prying neighbors) with his formally adopted son and apprentice Grogu 💕

totally agree with all of your points haha. to me he only has enough head space for his gremlin son, his ship, and his code (and maybe running away from cops asjdhla). everything else doesn't matter much.

🚨rant alert🚨

also i'm a true hater of the din & bo katan ship. idm omera and xi'an much cuz yeah there are hints of sth there in canon. but he clearly just wanna go about his day and be left alone in peace. bro pledges allegiance to 2 ppl and everyone just assumes he has feelings for them like???? no hate to the shippers tho, do what u like this is just me being me. I just hate it when they push their ship onto me when i already said that i don't care and don't want to draw any of that lol

anw sr for the rant. I'm so glad to find another aroace Din truther here! my blog is a safe place to no romo Mando so enjoy your stay ^^

[hayacinthandlilies]

I sometimes forget that Ben from descendants aka Mitchel Hope (WHO IS APPARENTLY AUSSIE) and Jin from bts were friends like that’s such a random crossover and side quest

[maygrcnt]

okay now that i know this venn diagram has hella crossover, 911 characters and what dropout show i think they should go on:

evan buckley: dirty laundry. he’s got SO much lore in his life that could be used for this. heavy emphasis on all the embarrassing shit he’s done in his life because that’s what they would probably pull from. him telling the bt first date story in front of grant o’brien would be so fucking funny

chimney han: i went back and forth between smarty pants and make some noise but i landed on make some noise because i simply think at the end of the day chimney is first and foremost a goofy guy and also i think he does improv classes on his days off

ravi panikkar: biased because of my hc that ravi runs a d&d game but i think he’s going on d20 easily. i think he would thrive in a side quest dmed by aabria but would also be fun in a brennan led season. throwing him into the acoc setting would just be wonderful i think he would play an asparagus

hen wilson: hen would go on thousandaires and spend her $1000 on the most insane and elaborately decorated cake of all time. it would be her magnum opus of thematic desert food and she would love every second.

bobby nash: now THIS is who should go on smarty pants. i say we give him a blank canva presentation and let him go crazy! personally i think he gives us a presentation about either his junior figure skating journey or minnesota summer camp culture. perhaps a presentation on fire safety is plausible too but that’s less fun.

eddie diaz: this man would never in his life be on any dropout show. HOWEVER. i think ryan guzman would enjoy the chance to go on very important people. something about his general aura.

Michael Grant: the michael, bobby, and david trio would KILL on game changer. they’d unionize against sam and break the entire game and it’d be so great to watch. i’d pay good money to see them in a high concept episode like escape the green room