#I'll hopefully start on the dress design today

[feelbokkie]

L♡VE IN F♡CUS | Chapter 30

WARNINGS: swearing, mention of childhood trauma and abandoment

PAIRING: idol!Changbin x fem reader

GENRE: smau, crack, angst, fluff

P♡V: 1st/2nd person (depending on how you view it)

SUMMARY: Amateur concert photographer Y/n has recently been promoted to junior music journalist. Her first assignment? An exposé on the popular Kpop boy group, Stray Kids. Spending an entire tour doing in depth interviews with eight men seems simple enough, but one member isn't exactly open to the idea. Will Y/n be able to break down the walls around his heart, or will her big break turn into a big disaster?

TAGLIST: ♡PENED

W♡RD C♡UNT: 7,260 (i am so sorry)

SCREENSH♡T C♡UNT: 2

A/N: i am so very sorry for the delay. hopefully the wait was worth it

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©feelbokkie (2024) — all rights reserved. reposting/modification of any kind is not tolerated.

"You know it's supposed to be in the 100s today, right?" Changbin sighs as he flops down onto the couch in front of you. "You're actually going to die from overheating if you go out like that."

You set the iced coffee you're drinking back onto the table and resume scanning the test shots you took of him earlier. Chan sits behind the two of you as the hair stylist finishes fixing his hair. Music plays through someone's phone as everyone else around you cleans up their mess.

The room you're in is one of the spare rooms used specifically to hold the group's concert outfits and whatever they're required to wear for individual schedules. In moments like this, the room doubles as a dressing room when someone has a schedule that requires them to be ready before they leave the hotel.

You woke up late, having missed your first two alarms so that you could join Chan and Changbin for breakfast. By the time you finished getting ready, you had to meet them in the room to take test shots and make sure their overall appearance matched the overall theme of the shoot. Not wanting to delay the day any more than you already did, you were planning on grabbing a piece of fruit from the hotel's complimentary breakfast on your way out only to be met with a muffin and iced coffee when you walked into the makeshift dressing room.

"It's cold right now. I'll take my jacket off later when it starts to warm up." You let out a low sigh before setting your camera aside and resuming your breakfast.

According to your weather app, it's supposed to be the hottest day of the week. You're skeptical given how cold and gloomy it is currently. It almost looks like it might rain any second now. Even if it does get hot later, you're hoping it after you've finished working for the day. You may be able to survive the heat but your camera most likely won't.

"Yeah, but you're wearing all black. That's going to attract heat. You're wearing an oven."

The oven in question is a zip-up hoodie two sizes too big draped over a black tee shirt that's closer to your actual size but still a bit looser around your frame. To top off your monochrome outfit, you're wearing baggy cargo pants and the hat Changbin bought for you. It's a stark contrast from his outfit, a slightly oversized tee shirt with a random faded beach designed with the sleeves and sides cut off into a muscle shirt paired with a pair of baggy ripped blue jeans. You almost want to tell him to bring a jacket just in case.

It's overkill, you'll agree with that. But it hides your figure well while you're out in public. It worked well during the airport trip out of Seattle. Not a single photo of you appeared online and there were even whispers of you being fired from the staff when fans couldn't find you. Having the kids call you 'hyung' helped sell the allusion as well.

“You know you don’t have to do all that anymore, right? They moved on,”

Just as suddenly an earthquake can destroy the foundation of someone’s home, your scandal with Hyunjin did its best to wreak yours. The subsequent and frequent aftershocks made it feel like another one was coming to reduce the rubble to dust. And while a “big one” did come the seismic plates shifted elsewhere leaving a more devastating catastrophe. A new scandal, one much more riveting than an alleged relationship between an idol and their staff member, had captured everyone’s attention.

Someone from a junior group who had just barely gotten out of their rookie period had gotten a girl pregnant.

A bigger quake, one with far more casualties, took the interest of the netizens that circled over you like vultures and they flew off to feed on a more appetizing meal. Leaving you lying in the rubble and staring at the sky as you waited for another aftershock.

“Noona,” Changbin calls softly as he waves a hand in front of your face.

You clear your throat and set the muffin back down. “It’s hyung today, remember?”

A smile slowly creeps onto Changbin's face as he glances over you. “You don’t look like a hyung.”

“Oh?” You clap your hands together to get rid of the remaining crumbs before reaching back to hide any pieces of your hair from sticking out. You fully zip up the hoodie and fluff it out. You pull the brim of the bucket hat down to cover most of your face. “How about now?”

Changbin pauses for a moment before reaching his hand out to brush off a bit of muffin your chin. The sudden touch catches you by surprise. Another pause as he thinks for a second, his hand still on your face. Finally, he pulls his hand away and leans back in his seat. “Too pretty,”

“You do realize what industry you work in, right? Men can be and are pretty.” You say almost too quickly. The room suddenly feels hotter than you know it's been the entire morning. You clear your throat and pick up your iced coffee, pausing for a moment as you bring it to your mouth. You take a quick sip and look off to the side at nothing before adding, “Go look in that mirror over there.”

After a moment of silence, you flip up the brim of your hat so you can see again as you continue drinking. You sit there quietly as Changbin stares at you. The tips of his ears are alarmingly red and the blush on his cheeks is a bit darker than you remember seeing earlier. The corners of his mouth twitch as he tries, and fails, to contain the smile that is quickly taking over his face. “W-well, t-t-that’s not…not what I—“

“Do I look okay?” Chan asks as he walks up behind you, oblivious to the conversation the two of you are having.

You shift your attention to Chan and give him a once-over. He fixes a rogue strand of hair, moving it off of his forehead and into the waterfall of curls leading to the end of his small mullet. He's wearing a faded tight-fitting ringer tee with baggy blue jeans hanging off his waist, just the smallest sliver of his midriff poking through the gap between his shirt and pants. But the second he raises his arms, you know his shirt is going to expose more. "Are you comfortable wearing that?"

"Yes," He nods with a sort of derpy smile.

“Then you look good. Let me take some test shots of you before we go. Go by the window, please.”

“Okay,” Chan says eagerly in a small, almost child-like, voice as he walks over to the large window. The room is far enough away from the ground floor to worry about the windows being open and fans peeking through.

You take a few quick pictures, only using the light from the window to mimic the conditions you're about to work in. After a few solo shots of Chan, you call Changbin over to stand next to him so that you can make sure they look good together. After a few more shots, you go to the gallery and check the images, making sure you don't have to send either one of them back to the makeup chair. Both Chan and Changbin walk over to you and try to look too. Chan stands across from you, looking at the pictures of himself upside down. Changbin comes up behind you, looking at the camera from over your shoulder. The room is suddenly hot again.

"We're good," You quickly shut off your camera and head back to the table to pack everything away again. "Let's go,"

***

You should have known better to trust the weather app. You should have listened to Changbin, not that he was correct either. Not entirely anyway.

It's not in the hundreds, but the high nineties might as well be. The breeze that occasionally blows through is more like the air that comes out from the exhaust of a car than the expected cool and refreshing summer breeze.

You sent Chan and Changbin off to go take selfies for inclusions while you sit off in the shade of a tree fanning your camera with your bucket hat at a nearby park. It overheated while you were taking a duo picture of Chan and Changbin at the beach. Annoyingly, it shut off right before you could take a picture of Changbin chasing Chan holding a stick with a bit of seaweed hanging off of it. Or rather, you hit the shutter, and then it shut off. Hopefully, if there was ever a moment for luck or god or whatever to be on your side, the picture got captured before the camera shut off.

"Is it working now, noona?" Changbin plops himself beside you on the grass.

You let out an annoyed sigh at Changbin refusing to help with your cover by calling you 'hyung.' It's one of the main issues of the day with him. At first, when you took pictures of them while you were out in the street or in other parts of the city, it was fine because most people were still in their homes. But as the day drags on, there are more opportunities for them to get spotted, only adding to your stress.

"Did you finish taking those selcas I asked for, Changbin-ssi?" You ignore his question while you try turning your camera on again.

"Yes,"

"Did you send them to me?"

"Yes,"

"Alright," Once the camera turns on, you turn it off again and get up from the grass. "Let's go find Chan and shoot somewhere else."

You grab your jacket from the grass, quickly shaking it off and checking each part of it. While you're busy making sure your jacket is free from grass stains, Changbin wastes no time grabbing your camera and camera bag. "About that...how about we go somewhere indoors for a while. We can cool down and not worry about your camera. There's an arcade near here that's pretty much empty and it looks nice inside."

"Did you go off wandering by yourself when were supposed to be working?" Now clean, you tie your jacket around your waist as you look up at Changbin. Strands of his hair from his curtain bangs are now sticking to his forehead. Before you do anything, you're going to have to let the makeup artist fix him up again. Luckily for you, they promised they would stay nearby just in case.

"I was working," You go to reach to take your things from Changbin just for him to sling them over his shoulder. "I just happened to find the arcade while I was walking. It's pretty cool in there too."

You try to take your things again but Changbin takes a half step back. Frustrated, you scratch the back of your head with one hand and rest the other one on your hip. "We have to get permission to take pictures in there. Did you even ask?"

A blank expression flashes across Changbin's face as he thinks for a moment.

"That's what I thought," You mutter to yourself.

"There you two are!" Chan calls from behind you. Both you and Changbin turn around to find the leader jogging towards you with a small plastic bag hanging from his arm and three cups in his hands.

"Did both of you go on side quests?" You scoff in disbelief, an amused smile creeping on your face.

"I was walking back and I saw a fruit stand...Sorry, the pineapple got me." Chan gives you a shy smile before handing you a pink drink. "It's strawberry lemonade. Fruit is good for you when it's hot like this."

Defeated, you take the strawberry lemonade and walk over to the picnic tables in the corner of the park. Chan and Changbin follow behind you, animatedly talking about something you can't hear. You shove your hat back on your head as you sit down on the bench. You're more exposed now and there's no way someone isn't going to recognize the loud pair.

"What were you two talking about?" Chan asks when he reaches the table. He places the bag and the last cup in his hand on the table. Changbin has the other one, a pale yellow drink.

"Changbin wants to go shoot inside of an empty arcade." You sigh as you finally manage to get your things back from Changbin as he sets them on the table.

Chan's eyes light up with a slight twinkle. You can almost picture a tail wagging behind him excitedly as he stops going through the plastic bag. "Really?"

"Yeah but noona says we can't go."

"Hyung," both you and Chan correct him.

"And I didn't say no. I said that we have to get permission from the owner. They'll probably say no." You add.

"Should we go ask? It'll be cooler at least. And we won't have to worry about other people." Chan pulls out three fruit cups from the bag and leaves two of them in the middle of the table. He wastes no time opening the last one and immediately goes for a piece of pineapple.

"That's what I said!" Changbin shouts excitedly as he grabs Chan's shoulder and shakes it, nearly making the older man drop the grape he was trying to eat.

You shoot Changbin a quick glare before rolling your eyes and fishing your phone out of your bag to check the time. You let out a quiet sigh when you see that you have about an hour and a half left of the allotted time for the pictures. If you didn't have to deal with your camera overheating, you wouldn't have wasted so much valuable time. "It'll probably be easier to go to the arcade. I was hoping we could head up to the Hollywood sign and take some pictures, the view is supposed to be beautiful."

"I like the view from here," Changbin says suddenly. His voice soft and small, almost as if he didn't mean to voice his thoughts.

"Hmm," You glance over at Changbin. His eyes are focused yet soft as he stares at you, a small hint of admiration in them. You put your elbow on the table and rest your chin in the palm of your hand as you look back at where you were earlier. Just across the sidewalk, you can see the ebb and flow of the ocean hitting the sand. You almost avoided going altogether, but something about the way Chan and Changbin screamed 'beach day.' It would have been a waste otherwise. "Yeah, the view is pretty nice."

"The ocean always looks beautiful," Chan speaks behind his hand through a mouth full of fruit. "You two should eat though, I think the sugar is starting to attract bees."

You hum quietly as you continue to watch the water, almost like you're lost in a trace. Something about the beach is calming, even if you're not physically on it. Just staring is enough to slowly pull your worries away. Your free hand wanders to the middle of the table, reaching for the fruit cup.

You yank your hand back quickly as something brushes against you and there's a sudden stinging sensation at the tip of your fingers. You sit straight up and look at your hand, flipping it around while trying to find a sign of injury. Three fine lines appear on your forehead when you don't even find a scrape on your skin. You look back up at the cup, trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

Ba-dum

Your face softens with your mouth hanging slightly ajar when you find Changbin also examining his hand in confusion. Despite the California heat cooking you alive, a chill runs down your spine eliciting goose bumps to spread across your arms and legs as Changbin's head snaps up. His sparkling eyes locked on yours with an expression that only mirrors your own.

"What just happening?" Chan asks confused as he looks between the two of you.

"Nothing..." You reply as you shake your head, bringing you back to reality. "I have to call your makeup artist so she can do some touch-ups before we go. Eat your snacks, I'll be back."

You can't get up any faster as you nearly trip getting up from the bench. Your heart does inexplicable somersaults in your chest as you walk away from the table.

What the hell was that?

***

"Chan, I guarantee if you stick your tongue out cheekily and wink with the tip of your straw or top of your slushie showing, Stay will absolutely lose their minds." You call from the floor of the arcade.

"Like this?" Chan asks as he perfectly replicates what you tell him to do.

"Exactly!" You cheer as he snaps the picture on his phone before taking a bite of fruit.

After your call with the makeup artist, you managed to find the arcade Changbin was talking about and talked with the owner. Or rather, the owner's son who didn't care what you did. You could have told him that you were robbing the place and he would willingly give you the key to the register and go back to scrolling on his phone.

You took a few pictures of Chan and Changbin playing various games for the next hour. You did your best in the dimly lit arcade and the flash of your camera. You should be able to edit the pictures later, but it's probably going to take hours to do so.

After you finished working, you sent Chan and Changbin to take a few more selfies while you parked yourself in the corner to eat your fruit cup and check the pictures. Your time is up with them but Changbin is engrossed in a claw machine in the back of the arcade. With no rush for the rest of the day, you decided to just sit in the air-conditioned room while you finally ate your snack. At some point, Chan disappeared and reappeared with slushies for the three of you and played some games while he waited for Changbin.

"Ah, my tongue is blue..." Chan notes as he checks the picture on his phone.

"It'll be fine. Just send it to me." You brush off.

Nobody's set foot in the arcade the entire time you've been there, fortunately. You're not sure if it's because of the obviously outdated games like Dance, Dance Revolution and Donkey Kong or the music that makes you feel like you walked into a different decade. Either way, you're thankful for the break.

"We're going to be here forever..." Chan groans as he sits down next to you.

"He really wants one of those toys, I guess." You shrug. Changbin's eyes immediately locked onto the claw machine the second he saw it earlier. Every time you weren't taking a picture, his attention would drift back to it. Eventually, you took a picture of him playing it and he hasn't left yet.

"Yeah, but it might be cheaper to just buy whatever plush he's trying to get at this point." Chan leans his head against the wall and takes another sip from his slushie.

"Yeah, you're probably right. It'll probably end up being the most expensive thing he buys during this leg of the tour."

Chan hums in agreement looking out in front of him. After a moment in silence, Chan pulls his phone out of his back pocket and responds to a message on his phone. From the corner of your eye, you can see a long text thread.

"Noona, do you want to come to dinner with us tonight?" Chan asks as he sets his phone down in his lap.

"Dinner?" You shift your attention to Chan. It's still too early in the day to think about dinner.

"Seungmin hasn't shut up about kimchi jjigae for about a week and Hyunjin found a place in Koreatown that's supposed to be really good. It's a hole-in-the-wall sort of place too."

"I would love to but I have a lot of things to get done tonight. A few comebacks are happening next week and I haven't done my reviews for them yet." You lie. You're ahead of album and come back reviews that you're done for the entire month of June barring any surprise drops.

"Take it from one of the biggest workaholics in the music industry--maybe even in the whole world--but you don't have to work every minute of every day."

You shove another piece of fruit in your mouth. "I'm not working right now."

"Technically you are." Chan chuckles.

"Eating fruit is my job?" You joke.

"That's a dream job. I wish I knew that was a possibility."

"Maybe in your second life."

"I'm being serious though. Not about the fruit thing. About the working thing. You're going to burn yourself out."

You set your now empty cup down in the space between you. "Didn't I overhear you and Changbin talking about meeting up with Jisung later tonight to work on some music?"

"That's different. We actually take breaks. We just are going to have a quick meeting, we're not going to record or anything like that tonight."

"I take breaks."

"That is the biggest lie I've ever heard come out of anyone's mouth. You're worse than Seungmin." Chan scoffs, his head lazily turning towards you.

You keep your eyes forward, staring at the title screen for Galaga. Even if the restaurant is not popular--even if the attention is no longer on you, you can't go out with the group. If anyone spots you out with them, it'll cause more trouble than it's worth. If you sit even in the same vicinity as Hyunjin and someone spots you, the chaos will start again. Even if you sit as far away from Hyunjin as possible, people will say that you're just doing it for appearances to throw off the media. You can't win either way. Unless you refuse to play altogether.

"Look, it's fine. It's better if we keep a clear...boundary between me you the eight of you. That way there aren't any more misunderstandings and you guys don't have to deal with the added stress."

"Yeah but..." The thought dies in Chan's throat. He knows you're right. The scandal with Hyunjin wasn't just inconvenient for the two of you, it affected the entire group. Fans had been attacking the other members online either getting mad at them for not mentioning the "relationship" earlier or begging them to be single. A huge mess all around.

"Okay, we can leave now." Changbin walks up suddenly. His hands shoved into his front pockets.

"Out of money?" Chan teases when he doesn't see a small stuffed animal anywhere on Changbin's person.

You laugh to yourself while you get up and pick up your bag and trash from the floor. You toss the cup in a nearby trash can and adjust your bag on your strap.

Changbin shakes his head as he pulls his hand out of his pocket. He stretches a fist out in front of him before opening his hand. Palm facing down, something small falls from his hand. It only falls for a second before it's suspended in the air, being held by a small loop still connected to Changbin's hand. The object moves around a bit, swinging back and forth before you notice it's a small stuffed cat drinking a coffee keychain.

"You spent all your time over there and that's what you got?" Chan laughs as he pulls himself off the ground. "You could have gotten that at a dollar store for less than what you paid."

Changbin shrugs nonchalantly as pulls the cat charm back into his fist. He moves his fist more towards you and, with his palm facing up this time, opens his hand again to reveal the cat.

"All that for a keychain?" You ask in disbelief. You've been waiting for him for at least 20 minutes.

"Yeah, but it's not really my style. You can have it." He sticks his hand out more towards you as he tries to offer it to you.

You stare at it for a moment. It's rather cute the way the black cat is holding a cup of iced coffee. "Shouldn't you give it to the resident cat enthusiast?"

"No," Changbin takes your free hand and places the plush in the palm of your hand before making you close your fingers around it. "But it reminded me of you so I think you should have it."

Ba-dum

You press save on your laptop before letting out a large yawn and stretching your arms over your head. After a few seconds, you lower your arms, pulling your shirt back down with one hand and rubbing the back of your neck with the other. You tap your phone screen after fixing your shirt to check the time.

3:09 AM

“Shit…” You mutter under your breath.

You didn’t plan on staying up this late. When you got back to the hotel you immediately got to work importing the pictures you took today. Because of the damage to your laptop, everything takes longer than it should. So, while you waited, you took a small nap, which ended up being longer than you intended. You woke up close to dinner time so you went and grabbed food from a nearby restaurant and ate while you worked.

Editing the pictures also took a little longer than you thought it would. The gentle breeze caused stray hairs to fly around. And you had to do a lot of color correction for the arcade pictures. You also had to reformat the images that Chan and Changbin sent you to save you time later. You were so locked in, you weren't aware how long you were actually working. Luckily, you don't have to be at the venue until the afternoon. So can sleep in a little if your body will allow it.

While your laptop, held together by duct tape and prayers, saves your work you go and take a shower to get ready for bed. You’re busy wrapping your hair in a towel when you walk over to check if it’s done. The huffing and puff of your computer overheating from doing a basic function makes the room hot. You turn the air conditioning on and walk back into the bathroom to do your face routine. Just as you finish, so does your computer.

3:25 AM

You shut your laptop off and double-check that your camera batteries are charging. Once you’re satisfied, you grab a Ziplock bag from the pack on the TV stand and your room key before leaving.

The stillness of the hotel hallway is eerie. It's almost like you stepped into a space where time doesn't exist. It's different from the hallway of an apartment building where you can hear signs of life no matter the time of the day. Hotels, on the other hand, feel almost haunted by everyone who ever stepped foot in them.

You walk to the end of the hall towards the ice machine. As you get closer, the humming of the machine fills the void of quietness. Nearby is the elevator. You don't have to worry about anyone coming up. The entire floor is blocked out for the tour and for added security, the only people who can access the floor are those with the code. Amid the scandal and learning about how there's at least one person working for The Seoul Star: Supernova who is tasked with following the members to catch them in a scandal, your one sense of relief is knowing that they can't come up to the floor.

You fill up your Ziplock bag of ice and make your way back to your room. You hum quietly to yourself as you try to figure out what time you should wake up tomorrow and whether or not you should head over to So-Fi Stadium early to get some footage of fan interactions. You went and got some pictures of the fans camping out back in Seattle but you heard how insane the lines were for the merch presale yesterday. It's expected to be just as insane tomorrow...well, later today.

"Ah,"

You're attention is brought back to the present when you bump into something--no someone--causing you to stumble a bit. You don't fall, your collision wasn't that hard, but their hand rests on your upper arm to prevent you from falling further.

"Sorry, noona. I didn't think anyone was out here." Changbin says quietly. He releases his grip around your arm once he senses that you're stable.

"It's fine, I should have been paying attention." You brush off awkwardly. If you thought you were going to run into anyone, you would have gone out without the towel on top of your head. If it wasn't for the fact that the hallway is cold and your hair is still wet, you'd pull it off right now to save yourself from further embarrassment.

You look back up at Changbin only to be met someone almost unrecognizable. His face is pale and a little clammy. His hair is sticking up in all different directions and looks like it might stay that way. His eyes are darting around looking for...something. His body is so tense that he's shaking. Genuine concern feels your body. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Me? Yeah, no I'm good." He breathes, his voice shaky.

"So good that you're just wandering the hallway at three-thirty in the morning?"

Changbin presses his lips into a fine line as he tries to come up with a half-decent answer. He looks everywhere else but you. "What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?"

You hold up the bag of ice in front of his eyes so he can see it clearly. "I was working too long so I need to ice my wrist before bed."

"You wouldn't need to ice your wrist if you came with me to the gym more often to strengthen your wrist."

"I know you didn't come out here to lecture me about rehabilitating my wrist." You lower the bag again and tap Changbin's arm, forcing him to look at you. "What's really going on?"

More silence sits between the two of you. The only thing filling in the quiet is Changbin's slow, shaky breathing. A dull pain in your chest appears as you continue to watch him.

“I know I don't exactly give off a comforting vibe," You pause for a second, choosing your words carefully. "but you can talk to me if you want. Completely off the record.”

Changbin laughs to himself quietly. "Last week you were going on about how you don't need to be taken care of or people to care about you and yet, here you are."

You ignore his remark, hardly reacting to it at all. He's right, you don't need to be taken care of or burden other people with your issues. But taking care of others is your nature.

Changbin shifts from foot to foot while he studies your face, almost like he's trying to read your brain and find some sort of ulterior motive behind your words. After looking for a moment and unable to find anything, his eyes soften.

"I...I couldn't sleep," He says simply, his voice tight and crackling.

"Oh?" You reply simply, urging him to keep going.

"It-It's nothing," Changbin says quickly. He leans back against the wall next to him and slides down into a crouch. He lowers his head between his knees and runs his hands through his hair. "I'm just being stupid."

Your body is faster than your brain as you move to sit next to him. By the time your brain catches up to your body, you're unsure of what to do next. Too many seconds are passing between the two of you.

"I don't think you're being stupid. Sleep isn't always easy. I can't even imagine the amount of anxiety coursing through your body the night before you perform in one of the largest venues in the world." You bump shoulders with Changbin, trying to cheer him up.

"It's not that," He lifts his head and leans it against the wall. "I...I have these really intense...dreams? Nightmares? I don't get them often but when I do...it’s just not a good feeling."

“What do you do when you get those dreams?”

“I just go to one of the members. But I'm pretty sure everyone is asleep right now. Even Chan hyung."

"And you talk about your dreams with them?"

"No," His eyes are focused in front of him as his hand absentmindedly plays with the plush carpet between the two of you. His hand accidentally brushes against yours for a moment, causing him to freeze for a moment before he continues. "But we would just talk about whatever. Or watch TV...listen to music...play video games."

You bring your knees to your chest and rest your wrist in a way that allows you to place the ice pack on it comfortably while you hum to yourself in response. "When my niece and nephews had trouble sleeping or had a nightmare I would tell them stories until they fell asleep again. Sometimes I would just hum too if I was too tired."

"You're an aunt?" Changbin's head snaps in your direction. You pick a spot on the floor and focus while the gears turn in Changbin's head.

"That's what you heard in that entire sentence?" You scoff in disbelief.

"I heard about the story part but you're so quiet about your personal life, it's shocking to hear you give up information like that willingly. I didn't even know you had an older sister until her live streams came out. You never talk about your home."

"Seoul is my home." You correct almost defensively. You pause for a moment, collecting your composure as an uneasy feeling brews in the pit of your stomach. “I know what you’re trying to say but that…place never felt like home.”

“I’m sorry for bringing it up. You don’t have to explain everything if it’s that uncomfortable. I was just curious about the noona lore.”

“Noona lore?” You laugh, a genuine one that fills your chest with warmth.

“Like I said, you don’t talk a lot outside of work things. It almost seems unfair that you know so much about us and we know hardly anything about you. But I understand if it’s hard to talk about. Your sister is a bit…”

“She’s a bitch. You can say it, I won’t be offended.” You finally look over at Changbin, who stares at you with an amused look on his face. His lips are slightly parted with one corner curved into a smirk and eyes wide as saucers. “She’s 42 and somehow I’m more mature than her.”

“42?”

“Hm,” You hum in response. You ponder for a moment if you should even be telling him this. Weighing your options, you let out a sigh before starting again. “My mom had me late. My sister was turning 13 when she had me. I had an older brother too. He had just turned 18.”

Changbin’s face drops immediately in the middle of your explanation. “Had?”

“He’s not dead or anything!” You say quickly. “It’s slightly more complicated than that.”

You’re not exactly sure why—maybe it’s the ambiance of the hallway or your lack of sleep catching up with you—but you consider telling Changbin everything. How your siblings are actually your half-siblings. How their father was long gone off somewhere far away from the shit storm that is your mother. Eventually, she met your father and fell head over heels in love with him. At some point, he stopped loving her and her solution to get him to stay was to trap him with a baby. A baby he definitely did not want. He did try though, according to your sister. He stayed with her for your sake and all was well. But soon after you were born he was certain that parenthood, and a relationship with your mother, was not the path he didn't want to go down. From then on, your mother shifted the blame onto you. Your brother, freshly 18 decided to not go to university like he was originally planning and stayed to take care of you and your sister as your mother grew more neglectful and out of control. When you were old enough to start going to school and your mother was stable enough to actually care for her children, your brother decided to go back to school and earn a degree so he could get a proper job and help out more. Maybe even adopt you once he was a bit more financially stable. Like a switch had flipped, your mother went insane going on about how he was abandoning like both of your fathers. She kicked him out and threatened to call the police if he came back or if he talked to you or your sister. He tried after that. He’d still take you to and from school. Gave your sister lunch money and made sure you had something to take with you for lunch. And when your mother found out, she kept her word and called the police claiming that there was an abduction attempt. He didn’t get arrested but he knew that she would keep calling until he actually was behind bars. So for his sake, and yours, he stayed away.

But you spare him the sob story. Nothing good comes from reminiscing this late at night. And you’ve already gotten emotional in front of Changbin more times than you’re comfortable with in the last couple of months. Besides, it’ll give him another reason to pity you and that’s the last thing you want. So instead, you face forward and tell him a half-truth.

“We just lost contact over the years.”

Changbin nods, understanding that you're not willing to go further. More silence fills the hallway. A soft thud comes from one of the rooms. You're almost certain one of the other members, probably Jeongin, rolled off their bed.

Sensing the uneasiness radiating off of Changbin, you hold your good arm out, palm facing up, for him to take. He hesitates only for a moment before taking your hand. You're not sure why, if it's the heat of his hand or general exhaustion quickly taking over, but you feel hot. Like someone on the hotel staff just turned up the heater for the whole building. A new sound, a loud rhythmic thumping, rings in your ears as the two of you sit there, holding hands and saying nothing.

"What stories would you tell your niece and nephews?" Changbin asks suddenly.

"I would mostly just repeat the fairytales I would hear in school. My eldest nephew was born when I was 5. The other two were born when I was 9 and 10." You think for a moment trying to recall those fond memories with your niece and nephews. You quietly chuckle to yourself when you remember a botched version of Jack and the Beanstalk that you once told them. "I might have taken some creative liberties though."

"Tell me one?" He asks softly. His voice is small and laced with sleep.

"You want me to tell you a children's bedtime story?" You smirk lazily as you turn your attention back to the younger man.

"You can tell me any story you want to. Or you can just talk about whatever. You can even recap the day if you want." His voice hushed, a whisper of tenderness in the almost intimate moment. "I honestly don't care what you talk about. Your voice is so calming, I can just listen to it all day. It's...it's almost like listening to my favorite song."

Ba-dum

You think for a moment, your brain suddenly devoid of every story you've ever heard. So you make one up. It's more nonsensical jumbled-up words than anything. You're almost certain you blending in some actual children's stories and creating a convoluted story loosely based on Wonseok and Frankie about two members of a trio that hated each other and ended up falling in love. At some point, around the time the two main characters start to fall in love, Changbin's head lands on your shoulder. He was slowly slumping over as you were talking earlier so you weren't as surprised at the sudden contact. You would have thought he fell asleep if it wasn't for the familiar drumming of his fingers along the back of your hand.

As you finish the story, silence hangs over the hallway like a comforting blanket. The thumping noise, now louder, is still present. But so is Changbin's calm, even breaths. Part of you worries about how uncomfortable this position must be for him. Another part of you worries about how you're going to wake him up. If anyone walks out of their room and sees the two of you in the hallway sleeping hand in hand, there'll be rumors spreading through staff and the members like wildfire.

You're slowly nodding off yourself in the tranquil silence. Your eyes are shut and your head is resting on top of Changbin's.

"Noona?" Changbin asks suddenly.

"Hm?" Is all you're able to manage in your sleep-ridden state.

The drumming on your hand stops mid tap and for a second you're convinced he's just talking in his sleep. His breathing is still even and quiet, not showing any sign of stirring.

You push the ice pack off of your bad wrist and decide to let yourself rest for a few more minutes before waking up Changbin and sending him off to his room.

“I think I’m falling in love with you.”

Ba-dum

Your eyes shoot open and the pounding in your ears gets louder and faster. Your mouth is impossibly dry as you try to swallow the lump in your throat. You can't remember how to breathe.

“…What?” You ask after a minute. You look down at Changbin, who hasn't moved an inch from his position, in disbelief as you replay what you just heard in your head.

I think I'm falling in love with you.

Maybe you fell asleep without realizing it? Maybe you're dreaming? Maybe you're losing your mind?

Still, you can't bring yourself to look away from the sleeping man on your shoulder. The man who spent the first few months of you two knowing each other hating you. Who completely shut you out and made working with him difficult. The man who frustrates you to no end for reasons you can't begin to understand. Who has been slower to warm up to you than an oven during dinner prep.

Changbin slowly lifts his head off your shoulder and looks up at you, his eyes conveying a vulnerability that you've never seen in him before. He brushes a stray lock of damp hair from your face and tucks it into the towel on your head, his touch lingering as he drags his finger back down your face. Your breath hitches in your throat the longer he stares at you.

“I’m falling in love with you."

Ba-dum

—

Buy me a coffee?

—

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[cyborgpuppyofficial]

🐇Paprika And Thyme!🐇

So for some reason I forgot to post to Tumblr for like a week. Uhhh oops hi guys! XD Anyways, I know I didn't share the video here, and I'm sorry about that. But if you check out my YouTube, you'll see that I remade two of my Anti Counterparts recently! They were for Vanilla and Cream! Today's post is going to be about the Anti Cream, and next time I'll post about the Anti Vanilla! So stay tuned for that! >w< Anyways, I promise I won't forget to post for another week again. If you wanna learn more about Paprika, read below! Anyways, I'll be seeing you all later! -^W^-

Paprika is the Anti Version of Cream The Rabbit, but she isn't exactly evil. I originally created her around 2017-2018, and she was originally made to basically be Miles' Girlfriend, and not much else. But around 2020, I started developing her character and giving her some backstory! I was inspired by her old design, to revamp into her newer design. Her Chao Thyme didn't exist back then! He was a new addition I made just for fun!

Paprika originally lived with her father when she was little. Her mother was a bad person, and was very dangerous to her father. So, her father put her up for adoption when he was drafted. She went to a fancy, and good orphanage, but it wasn't perfect. Paprika was often bullied for her long ears, they're longer and heavier than most lop eared rabbits. But that didn't get her down, and she still has a kind heart like her Prime Counterpart. I thought making her mean wouldn't be true to the original version of her character. Plus she's just a little kid lol.

Paprika cannot fly, instead, she uses her big ears to swing around in combat! But she's a pacifist at heart, and likes to avoid conflict as much as she can. She only has one wish, and it's to reunite with her father again.

Thyme is a Dark Chao that she helped during her journey in Moegypt! Despite the big bow, he's a boy! He's been mistreated, but Paprika rescued him! Now he's only attached to her, and even lets her dress him up! Despite Paprika's pacifism, Thyme is more rowdy and snappy! Unlike Cheese, he will bite or scratch when he feels like he or Paprika feel threatened.

Hopefully you guys like her! Let me know what you think! I hope you'll be excited to see her father, and whatever else I make next! I'll see you guys around. ^w^

[secretsandwriting]

Come On Darling

Part one has gotten a lot of attention and all the comments were really motivating so have a part two. Idk how good it is, i wrote this in the same general time it took me to write part one so hopefully it's decent.

Part One

"Hello, welcome to Roselight! How may I help you today?" The girl working there didn't even stutter when she saw Noah. She must be used to it in such an expensive shop like this one.

"I need a new tailored suit, she needs a full closet." You could almost see the dollar signs adding up behind her eyes.

"Of course! I'll have the tailors get prepared. As for her what are you thinking about for full closet? Different styles? All dressy? Casual? Sexy?" She didn't even look at you, just paying attention. While she and Noah were talking, you looked around the store. Eyes stopping on one of the other employees smiled at you. She was dressed down a little more than all the others, still in all designer. She seemed more normal then high class like everyone else working.

"Well, then are you ready to start shopping?" She was looking at you expectantly.

"No." Noah's arm you were told to hold onto tightened. His hand resting on yours. Not a threat a warning. "I was hoping I could work with her." You motioned to the employee you had seen earlier. Noah's arm relaxed.

"Unfortunately, she's not a shopper. She just helps stock and bag items."

"She'll be a shopper today then." Noah ordered. She finally started getting nervous.

"A manager has to sign off on i-"

"Then get a manager." Noah interrupted. "She wants to work with her, and we don't want to stand her arguing." A hurried, "I'll get one" was thrown over her shoulder as she retreated to the back. Remerging a minute later, a sharply dressed man following her.

"Hello, I'm Marcus, one of the managers. What can I do for you today?"

"She needs a new wardrobe and would like her to help." Noah motioned to the girl. Marcus glanced over at the girl, who looked like she was starting to get a little nervous with the attention she was getting for a reason she wasn't aware of. Marcus glanced at you next, understanding flashed through his eyes.

"Ah, of course. I'll go inform her of your request and as long as she agrees to it, I'll sign off on it."

"No i-"

"That would be great!" You interrupted Noah. You didn't want to pressure her into having to deal with Noah. Marcus came back a few minutes later, the girl following behind him.

"This is Jackie, she's agreed to help you and I've signed off her helping." His gaze was directed at directly at you. "All commissions will go to her for this sale." Noah's posture changed, considering Jackie's shift, it wasn't good.

"Thank you, that was my next question." Once again Noah relaxed. He had to be overly stressed because that could not be normal.

"I'll leave Jackie with you, let me know if there's anything I can help with." Marcus excused himself. Noah gave the same instructions he gave Caroline and Jackie wrote a few things down in a small notebook.

"Ok, whole new closet?" Jackie looked at you. "You've told me. I'm asking Y/n now." Jackie interrupted Noah when he tried to tell her again. She turned back to you. You nodded. "All styles?" Another nod. "No budget?"

"Budget." Noah immediately started protesting. Jackie waited until they stopped.

"Alright, we can easily get everything you need and any extra you want with 1 Million. So we'll set that as a tentative budget. Budget for you, tentative for the no budget peanut gallery." You were soon whisked away to a small room to get measured. With that out of the way, you were lead to a room full of overpriced clothes and accessories.

Anything you looked at twice or seemed interested in was added to a growing pile of try ons. Once you had ten full outfits, try ons started. Jackie was exactly what you wanted. If it looked good, she made sure you knew it. If it didn't look good, she figured out why. Certain styles were completely removed from the cart, some colors were pulled out too. She didn't try to get you to like the most expensive styles, or the big trends, her focus was solely on what you liked and what looked good on you. Something you were very grateful for.

Four hours of shopping later, and you were lead out to the main room where you had come in. Noah joined you and paid for the large amount of clothing you had liked enough to leave with.

Next you were taken to a shoe store. This time you had a name Jackie had given you. Another sign off and bags left with Noah, you got to work looking for shoes.

An hour and a half and 6 pair of shoes later, you were taken to a makeup store. Another name and sign off, more bags left with Noah and the process started all over again.

Three hours later, Noah paid and you left the outlet and went back to the hotel. Food was dropped off at the room and Noah inhaled his before changing and running out the door for a meeting away from the hotel. A quick "Here's my card, Don't leave the hotel or there will be problems." was thrown over his shoulder before the door was closed.

You started putting your things away, quickly realizing there wasn't enough room for all your new things and Noah's in the small closet in the room. So you made a call to the front desk and a half hour later a clothing rack with a few shelves at the bottom was delivered to your room. Setting it up was easy.

The hard part was deciding if you wanted to risk being petty and moving his things or just putting yours there.

Petty won.

If he was going to force you to get an entire new closet of clothes, you were going to put them in a closet. While moving his suits you snorted to yourself. If circumstances had been different, this shopping spree would have been a dream come true, but now, it just felt like something you would have to worry about repaying later.

Once all of his clothes hanging up were moved, you put his shoes on the bottom shelf. Once you were finished moving his things and adding yours, you moved onto the dresser. Moving his things into two of the six drawers and filled the other four with yours. Next step was rearranging the bathroom to add in the large amount of random makeup things you had gotten.

With nothing else to do, you looked through the list of things the hotel offered and decided to go get a massage. The shopping spree and large total numbers had apparently tired you enough that you didn't really care if Noah was upset.

-----

Noah came back from the meeting to a dark and empty hotel room. Nicolas thankfully kept his head and told Noah to call the front desk to see if they had seen her. That phone call lead him to the spa where he was let into a small room where you were laying face down on a table while a woman worked on the knots in your back.

"He needs to go next. He seems way to tense to be healthy." Noah just stared at you in exasperation, questioning why the hell he was putting himself through all of this for Alec

[daandism]

I’m kinda wondering (if you want) if you could write Dannmarcoh in that actor AU you have? Cause I saw the post and it looks really cool and interesting. Maybe they’re hiding from the paparazzi and share a kiss in hiding lol

HERE ANON!! thanks for the request!!

later i'll post it on ao3, just need a cool title for it!

for other ppl wondering about the au, check it here

“Please! Just one picture Mr. Santoro!”

“Is it true that you two are dating? The rumours are everywhere!”

“I only commissioned him for a custom suit, that's all.” the italian stressed, furrowed brows and not making eye contact.

The paparazzi and journalists were annoyingly insistent and the first thing Marcoh did when one of them made an awfully inappropriate question was shove one of them away and grab Daan’s arm to pull them away from that suffocating crowd. They ran after them for a couple of minutes but fortunately the actor managed to confuse the paparazzi and general stalkers and they found “refuge” in a poorly illuminated alleyway. The fancy dress shirt the designer is wearing was partially wet because of the rain that suddenly started when they were running and he forgot the umbrella inside Marcoh’s car. Fortunately the rain quickly stopped.

“Hopefully they will stop chasing us.” The designer rested his back on the wall and after some seconds for his breath to normalize, he picked one cigarette from the box inside his pocket. “These weird stalkers…”

“Well, we’re relatively safe now.” Marcoh came closer to his partner and, with the lighter he picked up from his pocket, he lit the other man’s cigarette. The dutch took a drag and kept making eye contact with him. “But I don't have any idea of how we’re gonna get out of here.”

Daniël gently put his free hand on the actor’s chest and started to play with his tie. “So, let's enjoy our brief moments of peace, shall we?”

“You're going to tell your daughter we kissed in a dark and dirty alleyway later?” he lifted an eyebrow before leaning in to give a quick peck on the designer’s lips.

“You know, Marina loves to gossip about her father's life.” Daan giggled and gave him another peck in response to the first one.

Both of them laughed before tasting each other's lips. The dutch switched his hand from Marcoh's chest to his neck and savored that moment between them. Secretly kissing his “acquaintance” in an alleyway wasn't in Daan’s today's schedule, but he didn't mind it.

At least he would have a nice story to tell his daughter later.

[fl00mie]

Hiii! Glad to know you're feeling a bit better! :DD (I'm doing good, thnks for worryingg! Been taking my own advice as much as possible lolz) Also, I'm happy that the reminders help! I'll keep sending them until you tell me to stop so >:3! Hopefully you'll get your schedule sorted out before the semester starts thoughh!! (Also, also, love the "Ink makes AU-related outfits" idea so muchh!! Now, I can't help but imagine him dressing up in them whenever he visits and him just having a blast with all the colour palettes and stuff! So cuteeee!)

-☀️

DIDN'T GET NOTIF OF THIS ONE WHAT just saw the last one last night but wanted to answer after classes today</3 HIIII ALWAYS APPRECIATING YOUR MESSAGES DON'T FORGET!!🤍💥 you won't believe me man i fixed my schedule one day before classes started🙏 AND HERE I AM since 7am (it's 2pm)😁😁 not bad tho, sorta fun

YWAHHH thought about that as wELLLL like he takes his time to design his outfit if he wants to visit some au (he obv won't take that long if there's an emergency or so😭)

[lemontartc]

Somehow I went from working on Entrapta to nearly completed on Perfuma in like two weeks.

Okay, I know how. I prepped their bodies at the same time and had Perfuma jump the queue for body repaints because I wasn't sure how to handle Entrapta's hair and wanted to experiment with rerooting on Perfuma since her hairstyle is more low stakes, and after I had rerooted her it felt like I was so far in I might as well finish... Plus I really wanted to be sure it was fine to reuse/mix the paint and that was a good call because I was repainting scuffed patches even today. I refuse to seal with varnish because all the ones I have come out way too shiny for skin, and I don't want to try to buy more, so I just spray with my adhesion improver to seal, plus all the layers of MSC I need throughout the faceup. It's not ideal, but I'm not planning to do more repaints after this series and they're just for display with clothing covering most of their joints.

For some reason, the pencil I used on her brows would always look good when I was working on them, and then when I came back the next day would almost have faded away, so I ended up painting them in after these photos but you'll have to wait for the final photos (hopefully tomorrow!) to see them. Putting the eyebrows on this custom also made me realize why I often don't click with Frankie dolls in person even if I love their concept: it's the forehead. The forehead is just too big and square. And it makes sense for a frankenstein, don't get my wrong! I just personally don't click with it, and it's not great for a human custom. If I had realized before I was doing the faceup, I probably would have tried to bring the hairline down a little, but you also can't start plugging in the middle of the forehead slope... I don't know. At least I understand what throws me off about the doll now.

The dress was super quick to throw together, I actually tried to make it look "nicer" by having it be two separate pieces like Mermista's and not just fabric marker like Glimmer's, but the fabric I used wasn't stretchy and the gapping from it actually looked worse than the marker. And again: not buying more supplies right now (although this time it's because the fabric store is over an hour away), so marker it is! At least making the dress was super fast compared to my hours spent patterning everything else I've tried to make.

Starting with Mermista and especially switching over to this doll, I changed my philosophy with what I was trying to accomplish. Researching Mermista I realized the official dolls for these characters (mostly Mermista and Catra) are actually very inaccurate to what they look like in the show, but the spirit was right so it never really occurred to me. As a result, I'm trying to do the best I can on doll scale with limited supplies, but I'm not worrying about things like adding the little keyhole to her neckline or cutouts in her straps. Her shoes are also going to be very, very different, but they're in the spirit of the original design, so I think they work well. I'm modifying Lagonna's shoes from the snack shack playset (it was on a very good sale!) by just adding the flower on the cross-strap from the original design and then filling up the heel with flowers. The original design is in flats, but since I'm modifying existing shoes for all these dolls, all of them are getting a boost up and I think she needs to keep that height to not look out of place. Also I don't want to try to cut the bottom of the shoe in half. Spirit of the original, remember!

The only thing I have left to do is sew together her shawl (I kind of forgot it existed until yesterday) and to finish styling her hair (it's drying right now and then I need to add the flowers), and then I'll be done for now! At some point I would like to make her a tiara like the rest, but I have no idea how to make a physical item that looks anything like what she wears in the show considering none of the pieces are connected to anything, much less on that scale, so it's shelved for now. She had multiple looks not wearing it and I can't decide if it would help or make the forehead situation worse, so it's shelved for now but on my running list of "would be nice one day"s.

Hopefully I'll have time to sew that robe and finish her hair tomorrow, and then I know I'm going to instantly want to take photos, so if that's not tomorrow then it's certainly coming some time this week!

[kanisema-blog]

Love Bet

Chapter 12

I woke up to the soft glow of morning sunlight filtering through my bedroom curtains. Stretching, I felt the remnants of sleep clinging to me. It was the weekend, and I had no work today. With a sigh of relief, I got out of bed, took a long, hot shower, and dressed in comfortable clothes. I decided to make myself a simple breakfast: scrambled eggs, toast, and a cup of coffee.

Sitting at my kitchen table, I ate slowly, savoring the quiet of the morning. Weekends were my sanctuary, a time to unwind and escape the pressures of work. Today, I didn't want to do anything. I planned to spend the day lost in the world of movies and dramas.

By midday, I was curled up on my couch, engrossed in a romantic drama. The hours slipped by as I watched episode after episode, my mind far away from the stress of my job and the looming meeting with Felix.

Monday arrived too soon. I felt a knot of anxiety in my stomach as I prepared for the meeting. I dressed carefully, choosing an outfit that was both professional and confident. As I drove to the restaurant, my thoughts were a whirl of anticipation and apprehension.

I arrived at the restaurant a little early and saw Zezel already seated at a table. She waved at me, and I walked over, feeling a small measure of comfort in her presence.

"Hey, Jeya," Zezel greeted with a smile. "How was your weekend?"

"Relaxing," I replied, taking a seat. "I spent most of it watching dramas."

"Sounds nice," Zezel said. "I could use a weekend like that. I've been dealing with this architect on another project, and I can't stand him. He's so difficult to work with."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said, genuinely sympathetic. "Hopefully, this project will be less stressful."

"Fingers crossed," Zezel said, just as Felix walked in.

Felix greeted us both with a polite smile. "Good morning, Ms. Ab Adam, Ms. Absom."

"Good morning, Mr. Acherley," I replied, keeping my tone professional.

"Morning," Zezel echoed.

We settled into our seats and I pulled out the draft of the blueprint. "Let's get started," I said, spreading the papers out on the table.

Felix leaned in to examine the draft. "This looks excellent, Jeya," he said, nodding appreciatively. "I trust your vision completely."

"Thank you," I said, maintaining my composure. "Let's discuss the details."

We went over the blueprint, discussing various aspects of the design while we ate our lunch. Felix seemed genuinely pleased with the plans, which made me feel a mix of satisfaction and anxiety. The conversation flowed smoothly, and for a moment, it almost felt like any other professional meeting.

As we were wrapping up, Felix said, "To be honest, anything you design will be perfect. I trust your judgment."

"Thank you," I said again, trying to keep my emotions in check.

Zezel glanced at her watch and stood up. "I have to run to another meeting. I'll see you both later."

"Bye, Zezel," I said, feeling a surge of panic as she left me alone with Felix.

Felix turned to me with a contemplative look. "Do you remember the first time we met, Jeya?"

I stiffened slightly but nodded. "Yes, I do. It was in high school. We bumped into each other on the first day in the hallway and realized we were classmates."

A nostalgic smile crossed Felix's face. "I approached you because you looked lost. That's how we started talking and eventually became friends."

"Yeah, I remember," I said, my voice tinged with a hint of sadness.

Felix continued, seemingly lost in the memory. "Those were simpler times, weren't they?"

"They were," I agreed, feeling a pang in my chest. "But things change."

Felix seemed to sense my discomfort and changed the subject. "Well, I should get back to the office. Thank you for your hard work, Jeya. I'm looking forward to seeing the final result."

"You're welcome," I said, standing up. "I'll keep you updated."

As I drove home, I couldn't shake the feelings that our conversation had stirred up. The memories of our high school days were bittersweet, a reminder of what once was and what could never be again.

Back at home, I went through my evening routine mechanically. I made myself dinner, washed the dishes, and took a long bath in the bathtub, hoping to wash away the lingering emotions. After brushing my teeth and doing my skincare, I climbed into bed, feeling a swirl of anger and sadness.

I punched my pillow in frustration, trying to release the pent-up emotions. How could Felix bring up the past so casually? Did he not realize how much it still affected me?

Eventually, exhaustion overtook me, and I fell into a restless sleep, my mind haunted by memories and unresolved feelings. The future felt uncertain, but I knew I had to keep moving forward, one step at a time.

[cimeriansparrow]

Treating myself this October to the Neverland Ball in NYC for a few reasons.

1. Several of my favorite content creators will be there

2. I want to make a ballgown!

3. I didn't get my own prom because of the pandemic, and this will be infinitely more fun

I'm literally vibrating with excitement

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

Managed to obtain wifey's computer chair but finally got outbid on the luggage kit (should have known $10 was too good to be true lol, I'll wait til we're more liquid and try again with a larger budget on a different lot). Hopefully going to be able to pick up the kitty bench tomorrow if it's still available (here's to hoping it doesn't get snagged today) but if it isn't I'll just keep my eye out for new opportunities there too, probably on Saturdays instead of Fridays so I can schedule pick up immediately the next day.

I need to get ahold of some fabric with decent stretch to it, so maybe some old shirts or dresses with decent prints but some wear and tear that can be upcycled. A button jar would be nice too if I can find one, but I'm not too fussed, I can order buttons if I that's the only thing I need new.

The biggest thing that still needs buying is new clothes for wifey, and some of that I can take care of myself with fabric and my sewing kit, and some can be managed with thrifting and time, but at least a couple of items will need to be purchased newly tailored, so we'll have to save up a little for that one (next paycheck I think should have room for it). I may go through some of my clothes and see which ones can be turned into fabric or upcycled for wifey into something new. I know I have an undershirt that I can use, and I think a pair of leggings which would work well for something.there's a dress that doesn't fit me anymore with a black and white gingham pattern that could be good for upcycling into a blouse for wifey I think if I go about it right. I'll definitely have to ask her to let me use her as a model while I drape the pattern though and she'll HATE that lmao, my love does not enjoy standing still long enough for me to drape a blouse. I can picture it though, with a nice deep neck, a little pop of crepe and color at the cleavage, maybe a racerback or thick shoulder but sleeveless straps to make it a nice summer blouse and so it wears well under short jackets or fall sweaters, a scooped hem at the waist so it tucks well or wears gently at the tummy rather than being constricting.

So that's probably 4 items or so I can make with what we have at home. Not quite a wardrobe, but a start! And we'll see what else I find in our closets that can be put to use. I have a skirt that needs badly to be upcycled but no idea what to do with it. The underpinnings could probably be repurposed for...well more underpinnings, and the skirt itself is a breezy cotton, so maybe another blouse? It has a lot of pink, which really isn't wifey's color, but maybe I could pull it off. Maybe for the color pop on that shirt with a matching bonnet for her to wear with her twists once we put them in? We'll see what I manage. There's a lot of skirt to work with, I could probably pull something fun off. Oooh. A matching pullover. That would be cute as hell, and real summery. Maybe I can pull off all three if there's enough fabric and give her a whole set.

Okay, so that's 6 items to go for, largely shirts and underpinnings, which is good and important. But we still need to figure out some pants and a few more shirts before I'll be ready to set this project down, so we'll see what else comes of it. I think I'll take the weekend to break out all these pieces I'm going to alter and break them down to the fabric I'll need so I can just sew when the time comes. Maybe Monday since wifey and I both have the day off we'll do some draping if she's up for it and she and I can listen to podcasts while I get started on the shirt at least. I might be able to make two of the shirt in different iterations if I'm lucky and sizing works out the way I think it will. We'll see. If not, I'll see if any of wifey's old shirts are in a state enough to be upcycled.

I may look into the idea of a patchwork shirt? Scraps from various smaller or damaged garments that wouldn't be able to make a whole garment alone but can be fitted together into a neat design? And some sheet slacks. Those would be nice to do for wifey. Easy to buy sheets for cheap from the theift store and turn them into tailored slacks if I have enough buttons.

Okay. I have my plan. I have enough fabric to work with between now and the end of the month, and then at my end of month payday, we'll go thrufting and I'll get more along with a good button jar so I can start expanding into more complex garments.

[etes-secrecy-post]

Hi, before I explain my post, I want to say something important.

• What you see my blog has become a major overhaul. And despite the changes, I decided that my 2nd account will be now my artwork blog with a secret twist.

⚠️NEW RULE! (W/ BIGGER TEXT!)⚠️

⚠️ SO PLEASE DO NOT SHARE MY 2nd ACCOUNT TO EVERYONE! THIS SECRECY BLOG OF MINE IS FOR CLOSES FRIENDS ONLY!⚠️

• AND FOR MY CLOSES FRIENDS, DON’T REBLOG IT. INSTEAD, JUST COPY MY LINK AND PASTE IT ON YOUR TUMBLR POST! JUST BE SURE THE IMAGE WILL BE REMOVED AND THE ONLY LEFT WAS THE TEXT.

⚠️ SHARING LINKS, LIKE POSTS, REBLOG POSTS, STEALING MY SNAPSHOT PHOTOS/RECORDED VIDEOS/ARTWORKS (a.k.a. ART THIEVES) OR PLAGIARIZING FROM UNKNOWN TUMBLR STRANGERS WILL IMMEDIATELY BE BLOCKED, RIGHT AWAY!⚠️

😡 WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EVER LIKED & REBLOG MY SECRET POST! THIS IS FOR MY SECRET FRIENDS ONLY, NOT YOU! 😡

Okay? Capiche? Make sense? Good, now back to the post…↓

My Wangan Maxi Tune Career Returns 2023 Edition [Timezone Arcade Trinoma] - Part 5 [third/final half] (Recorded: May 21st, 2023)

Hey, hey! It’s me! 😁 And welcome back for another installment of "My Wangan Maxi Tune Career"! I've returned in 2022, and now I'm gonna continue it, this 2023! Man, I've got ton of progress, on May 21st (Sunday) of that year! So, here's my "third/final half" of Part 5! 🚗🔧🏁

Before we continue, if you haven't seen my "first" & "second", then I'll provide these links down below. ↓😉

• My Wangan Maxi Tune Career Returns 2023 Edition [Timezone Arcade Trinoma] - Part 5 [first half] (Recorded: May 21st, 2023)

• My Wangan Maxi Tune Career Returns 2023 Edition [Timezone Arcade Trinoma] - Part 5 [second half] (Recorded: May 21st, 2023)

So, without further ado, let's get started:

4th to 13th phone screenshot(s):

• Now, my twins asked me, where that title came from? You know, Spot's new title "My mother is a designer"? Well, the answer is my today's "Navi Scratch-off" via the Wangan Navigator app! 🙂📱 And here are the items I've gotten before proceeding to the Wangan Terminal to claim. I've got my recorded video, so we'll get to that later. Also, these sweet stamps will be fitted on my blue 350Z tuned car! And if you want a closer look, then here. ↓ 😁💙🚘

Spot 🐶🏎️: Ah right, that explains it! And damn, dude! I wish, I want to get these cool stamps, too on our tuned Imprezas! 😁👍

Riya 🐰🏎️: Heck yeah! Our creator deserves these stamps, and hopefully we'll get ours, someday! 😃

Spot 🐶🏎️: We just have to drive hard & overtake these random opponents to level up our dress-up parts! 😃

Riya 🐰🏎️: And participate in the "Bingo Challenge" to unlock MORE limited edition items! 😊

Me 🇵🇭: Absolutely, Ri! 😊

14th & 15th phone screenshot(s):

• Here's a little tutorial on, how to change your MAXI car name by using the "Name Change Ticket" via Wangan Navigator app? But first, Ri. Do you remember, when you decided to relinquish your GBR Impreza car to me because you want changed to the GDB-F Impreza car? → [CLICK ME!]

Riya 🐰🏎️: Well, yeah! I remembered, back in 2017, right? 🙂

Me 🇵🇭: Correct! Because it's time to change the name of that GBR Impreza car, and I officially owned that cool hatchback blue car!

Riya 🐰🏎️: Aww sweet! But, how do you do that? 🤔

Me 🇵🇭: I'm glad you asked! Here's how you change your MAXI car name using the "Name Change Ticket" via Wangan Navigator app? 🙂📝🚘

• First, open the "Wangan Navigator" app & then tap on the "Ticket Box". Then tap the "use" button & select the car you want to rename it. (I know, what car am I gonna change the name! *look at the upper*)

SIDE NOTE #1: be sure that you've owned a "Name Change Ticket" after checking in your miles, daily.

16th & 17th phone screenshot(s):

• Once selected, you're now typing in the new name of your car, like mine. I decided to change the name "RIYA★" to "★ETE★". 📝🚘

SIDE NOTE #2: Only "5 letters" to type in. Six or more letters won't count. Special letters are acceptable albeit limited, like → ★ or ◇.

18th & 19th phone screenshot(s):

• Once it's done, you have to read the confirmation message before you decided to change the name of your car. Well for me, I tapped "OK" (twice) to proceed.

SIDE NOTE #3: As the message says, you can't changed the name again for 30 days.

20th & 21st phone screenshot(s):

• And once it's done, you noticed that my GBR Impreza car is barred with the red bar. Meaning, the name of that car has changed! And look at that, I've used one "Name Change Ticket" on my "Ticket Box"! And yeah, it's official! I've finally owned the GBR Impreza car! You get the notes, Ri? 🙂✍️🗒️

Riya 🐰🏎️: Yup! And man, that was easy! 😃 Plus, you don't need to send that ticket the Terminal for changing the name! But, will it effect after that? 🤔

Me 🇵🇭: Well see in my recorded video. 😉

My recorded video [edited by Filmora 9]:

• Here it is, let's go to the Wangan Terminal to set things up, and I started with my new car, the Toyota GR Supra in gray metallic. 🇯🇵🚘😃 Mmm... I was expecting to be "Dark Blue" (or any kind of blue body color) 🚘🔵, but that's alright. At least, I've got the modern Supra car from their recent campaign (from May 11th to Jun 11th, 2023). 😊

• Now onto items from the "Navi Scrach-off" (from the Wangan Navi app). I'm selecting two new stamps & two titles, which are "I'm not sick" & "Old tires are a resource". Mmm... Is this title ("I'm not sick") related to the COVID pandemic? 🤔😷 Nevertheless, the rest of the titles will be decided for the Speesdter Twins' on their Imprezas. So, here are ff. titles:

SPOT★'s 🐶🏎️ titles:

• "My mother is a designer" (current) • "Getting carried away"

RIYA★'s 🐰🏎️ titles:

• "Dreaded Love Letter" • "Tandem Breathing"

Riya 🐰🏎️: Yeah, these titles are nice, but I'm stick with the current title. 👋😉

Spot 🐶🏎️: Good for you! Did you know, that I used to have a cool title called "Double-Edged Sword" in WMMT3DX+? 😁⚔️

Riya 🐰🏎️: Really? That would be awesome if only you have it. 😉

Spot 🐶🏎️: Yeah, if only... 😌

• Finally, let's check out the effects of changing the name & it is! The entire stats of my GRB Impreza remain intact. Also, I unlocked two WMMT OSTs: the Maxi Tune 1 & 2, and three WMMT3 installments (3, 3DX, and 3DX+). So, why not set the Maxi Tune 1 & 2 as my BGM race? Because they've got some of their great music if not many (in my opinion). And the rest, well, I decided to check my two cars, including the recent GR Supra.

Riya 🐰🏎️: Yeah, you're welcome for unlocking two OST installments! I enjoyed listening Wangan Maxi 1 & 2 soundtracks! 😉🎧🎶

Spot 🐶🏎️: Yeah, yeah! Mine too, mine too! 😊🎧🎶

Final Overall:

• Overall, I'm having a blast with my recent update! Not only I've finished the fully tuned 350Z (a.k.a. Fairlady Z Ver. S), but also getting a new body color, which is my favorite color 🥰🔵🚘, and the GR Supra on my Wangan garage list 😁🆕🚘, as part of their current campaign. Which, by the way, it starts on May 11th & will end on Jun 11th, 2023. So, for Wangan Maxi players, here's your second chance to claim it by playing Maxi Tune 6RR arcade 20 times. I suggest that you should finish the "Story Mode" to obtain it 📖🚗, like me. Speaking of which, I only have 20 episodes left before I get the random WMMT OST background. Then another 100 episodes of "Story Mode" to get another random OST, so you get the idea. As for today's "Ghost Battle" nothing new on the table, but we appreciate 9 new items from the Wangan Navi app. Although, I've forgotten to equip my new stamps, but, that's gonna be another day. So, twins, anything else to say before I end this post?

Spot 🐶🏎️: Hope I could attempt the same thing as you do! You know, finishing the "Story Mode" to achieve the 840HP?! 📖🚘🔧😁

Riya 🐰🏎️: Yeah, me too! I want our Imprezas maxed out to 840HP! I mean, we would like to earn more parts from attending "Ghost Battle", so, it'll be better if we finish the "Story Mode". 📖🚘🔧😁

Me 🇵🇭: Mmmm... Yeah, good call! 😊👍

Spot 🐶🏎️ & Riya 🐰🏎️: Alright, let's go! 😁🚘🚘

Riya 🐰🏎️: Also, if you get another GR Supra, can you pretty please reserve ME? 😊🙏

Me 🇵🇭: Someday, Ri. Someday.😊

Riya 🐰🏎️: Hehe! Absolutely! 😁

Well, that’s all for now. More Wangan Maxi experience, coming up soon.

If you haven’t seen my 2019 Wangan Maxi Tune 6 & Wangan Navigator app (on the alternate blog), then I’ll provide some links down below. ↓😉

My Wangan Maxi Tune 6 Experience:

My WMMT6 Progress (2019): Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5, Part 6 , Part 7, Part 7½, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14 [Final]

My Wangan Navigator app (2019): Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14 [Final]

My WMMT6RR Progress (2022 - present): Part 1 [Nov 19th, 2022], Part 2 [Nov 19th, 2022], Part 3 [Nov 19th, 2022], Part 4 [Final] [Dec 28th, 2022], Part 5 [first half], Part 5 [second half]

Also check out my previous moment from my WMMT5DXPlus - Please CLICK ME to see it all.

Tagged: @bryan360, @carmenramcat, @leapant

[20dollarlolita]

Me, last week: Since my embroidery machine is in the shop, I should design more Cricut stuff, since I can't embroider anything for a minimum of another week.

Me, today:

iSo I made this bag design to go with the dress....If anyone has an embroidery machine with an 8x10 hoop or larger, and who wants to try this out, let me know. It needs a bit of optimization to actually stitch out efficiently but it's only like 20 minutes of work away from being ready for someone to try it out. You would also need to figure out how to, once you have all this, turn it into a bag.

Details: I'd start by hooping a double of black tear-away or maybe some heavy freaking soluble, use that black vinyl (remnant that I got a couple of months ago and never used) as the applique fabric, and then do the clock's border in an actual metallic thread so that it (hopefully) stays cool and textured when you rip the tear-away out. The hands are going to take an exacto to cut the insides with. Once the pieces are embroidered, I'd rivet the hands to the center of the bag and then stick a tailor's tack near the end of each to stop them from flopping. Then the whole embroidered piece can just be glued onto whatever I feel like making the bag out of.

But yeah, tell me what format you need and I'll do my best to save it in that format and send it out.

While we're at it, if anyone wants the other files from the rest of the project (clocks, ship, seagulls, etc), hit me up.

[majesticbrownjawn]

The Best Man

Things get complicated when the best man looks like him ⬆️ But probably not complicated in the way you’re thinking.

Oldie from Wattpad. ‼️Chris=Erik‼️ I ain’t feel like going thru and changing his name. Deal with it. I wrote it with Erik in mind though. Enjoy boos❤️

——————————

His hands unashamedly gripped her ass, making her jump in shock.

"We can't do this Chris..." her voice faded out in the most unconvincing way, letting him know she was enjoying the moment as much as he was. When he pressed his lips against hers, she kissed him back, forgetting where she was and focused on his tongue entering her mouth. Ms. Johnson was quickly brought back down to Earth when her phone started vibrating in her hand, reminding her it was almost time for the mother/son dance. Sanai was a stickler for things being on schedule and wanted everything to be perfect for Bryan's big day, which to her meant keeping to the strict time table she mapped out.

She finally broke away from the younger man, staring him down with a frustrated look before disappearing into the large crowd of people to find her pursuer's best friend and the groom--her son.

***

Sanai Johnson was a woman with a plan, well, at least since she had become a mother at the age of 16. She fell in love with her son's father, August, and she thought he felt the same until he disappeared six months into her pregnancy. He was from the other side of the tracks, the "right" side. His parents were wealthy and he had earned a scholarship to a prestigious university a few hours away. When he finally showed up fours years later begging for Sanai to take him back so they could be a family, it was way too little, too late. From the moment he stepped back into their lives, he proved to be a great father to Bryan, and that was all she wanted from him. He on the other hand, had just stopped confessing his love for her just over a year ago before their son's 25th birthday--when he showed up to Bryan's party with a woman who looked just a few years older than the birthday boy himself.

It was funny, after all these years of refusing him, Sanai was actually contemplating giving August another chance and then he shows up with with some young girl. Oh well, she thought. She had bigger fish to fry, like planning the wedding she never got to have. It's not that she couldn't have gotten married in the past or sometime in the future for that matter, she was still in her early 40s, but could easily pass for someone a decade younger. She'd loss count of all the times people mistook her for Bryan's sister. Her buxom figure, glowing skin and beautiful features added to her appeal, but she always fell just shy of being completely confident in her appearance.

Where she lacked confidence in the physical, she made up for it in business and street smarts. While August was doing God knows what those four years in college, she graduated from high school early and started working at a museum. Little did she know she'd fall in love with art history and would later become one of the most sought after and well paid art curators in the country. She got to where she was by working hard and staying focused, which for her didn't leave much room for romance.

The wedding weekend had finally come and the guests had started to arrive at her large estate. She planned a series of events designed to make the large 250 person guest list feel a little smaller. This first event, brunch, was purposely hosted at her home to make everyone feel a little more comfortable mingling and getting to know each other.

"Chris!" Bryan was ecstatic to see his best friend who was more like a big brother to him. He flew across the foyer and embraced Chris, who he hadn't seen in almost three years. The two met when Bryan was in the 7th grade and Chris was in the 10th grade at a basketball camp. Chris was Bryan's counselor and the youngster immediately took to the older boy, following him around and following his lead in almost anything he did, except when Chris moved to China. Ms. Johnson wasn't having that. Both men studied business at the same university and started learning Chinese in high school, continuing through college. After graduating, Chris decided to take a job in Beijing making just under seven figures at a budding tech start-up.

"It's been too long, man." Chris was just as excited to see his friend, but was always more reserved than him, being careful to save his energy for just the right time. He knew this weekend would be full of exciting and possibly emotionally draining moments, so he decided to ease his way in.

"So your mom got it like this now? No wonder she invited the wedding party to stay here. This place is massive." He looked around absolutely impressed with his surroundings.

"I know right? When's the last time you've seen her? Like right after I graduated?"

"Yea--high school, I think. Maybe when you moved into your dorm freshman year."

"Well, she's around here somewhere. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you. Let me show you where you'll be staying."

***

Sanai was the kind of woman who always had things under control, but her son's wedding had her out of sorts. She was so hell-bent on everything being perfect that she was stressing about every little detail. She did a self-check about 30 minutes ago, realizing her worries were affecting the time she was having, so she took a couple mimosas to the head to take the edge off.

After settling in, Chris made his way back downstairs and gave himself a tour of the home. Along the way, there was a woman who he couldn't stop looking at from afar as she weaved in and out of the crowd. The red dress she wore was what caught his eye first. Then as he closed in on her, her familiar smile pulled him in, making him wonder if he and Bryan went to college with her because she seemed to know a lot of people here. He approached her from behind, placing his hand on the small of her back and leaned into her, introducing himself.

"Hi, I'm Chris. Do I know you? You look so familiar." When she turned around and he finally got an up close look at her, he immediately knew who she was. "Ms. Johnson?"

She smiled and answered, "In the flesh." Instead of letting her go, he froze, still holding her close as she now faced him.

"Uh, uh--it's good to see you," he finally spoke up, his arm still holding her tight. "You haven't aged a day. You're so...beautiful," he blurted out. It was like he was seeing her for the time. In a way he was, this was his first time seeing her as a man.

"Thank you, Chris. It's good to see you too," she replied blandly, gently patting him on his chest, trying to release herself from his grip. Despite trying to get away from him, Sanai certainly noticed what a handsome man Chris had become. She was on the taller side for a woman, but he easily towered over her at 6'4". His frame was full, with just the right amount of grown man thickness she liked. The rest of brunch Sanai was slightly distracted by Chris, partly because she was so shocked at how much he'd grown up and also because she thought she caught him watching her. It was probably just her imagining things.

That night after dinner at the house with the bridal party, Sanai was cleaning up the living area when she felt a quiet presence enter the space.

"Can I help, Ms. Johnson?"

"Oh, please call me Sanai, you're grown now, Chris."

"Ok. So tell me Sanai, what's your secret?" She looked at him confused. "I meant what I said earlier. You haven't aged. It's incredible. You look incredible." He didn't try to hide the fact that his eyes couldn't stop taking her body in.

She blushed at his comment but tried her best not to act phased by his repeated mention of her looks.

"Well, you certainly have changed."

"I hope that's a good thing," he smirked. "How are you dealing with Bryan getting married? I assume it can't be easy to let go of your only child. And you're single, right? I'm sure you've thought about how lonely it may get, him not being around as much."

"Bryan has been on his own for a while now. I'll manage."

"How?"

"How what?"

"How will you manage, Ms. Johnson?" His tone seemed a bit suggestive, but she figured maybe it was the wine she drank playing tricks on her.

He was, of course being suggestive in the slightest way. His immediate attraction her earlier today threw him off initially, but that wasn't going to happen again this weekend. He decided everything else he'd say and hopefully do to her his weekend would be very deliberate.

"I mean, I'm sure you have needs, right?" He moved closer to her, so close that she had no choice but to look at him As his tilted his head sideways at her seductively.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"I think you know exactly what I mean, Sanai." Chris' hand slowly traced up the side of her body, carefully following the curve of her hip upwards, stopping just below her bust. She watched his hand closely, allowing his touch to send a shiver up her spine.

"Your behavior is so inappropriate Chris." She said it so sternly that he momentarily forgot he was a grown ass man now who could pursue her without worrying about getting in 'trouble.'

He lifted his hands in surrender and openly watched her as she nervously cleaned up a few more things before heading upstairs. He noticed the way her breathing picked up when he touched her. The goosebumps on her arms told him she enjoyed his hands on her, despite her calling his actions "inappropriate." Chris laid in the bed that night, thinking about her and trying his best to ignore the nagging feeling of his dick hard-pressed against his shorts. The hornier and unsatisfied he was, he figured, the more persistent he'd be about getting a taste of Ms. Johnson.

***

The following afternoon, the bridal party gathered in the foyer of Sanai's home to learn the tango for the reception. After the instructor paired everyone up, Sanai noticed Chris was missing, but remembered he didn't have a partner because as the best man, it was his job to walk the grandmothers and her down the aisle.

"Looking for me?" She jumped at the sound of his voice.

"No, Chris. Why would I be?" She figured if she acted like she was uninterested in his attention that he'd leave her alone. She had another thing coming though. The more time Chris spent in her presence, the more his desire for her increased. Even if he wasn't able to see straight through her hard-to-get act, it wouldn't have stopped him from doing all he could to get her.

He bent down and bowed, lifting his hand to hers, "May I have this dance?" He grabbed her hand but she quickly yanked it away.

"Come on, don't be like that, Sanai."

"Maybe you should call me Ms. Johnson after all."

"I'll call you whatever you want. Just dance with me. Please." He was a little surprised when she took his hand and stood close to him. He took the lead, already familiar with the sensual dance. His hand rested low on her back and he used it to push her lower half into his. Front to front, Sanai could feel Chris' bulge brushing up against her as they moved across the foyer.

"You know I had a crush on you back in the day right?" He whispered closely to her face.

"Excuse me?" She cackled at his comment but he pulled her closer, feeling like she'd walk away from him at any second.

"Honestly, I wasn't even tryna be Bryan's friend at first when we were kids...I just needed an excuse to be around you," he continued. "You were just so creative and kind. I didn't know a mother could be so damn beautiful." Sanai blushed at his memory of her.

"I used to love to come over so I could see you walk around the house in those baggy t-shirts with no bra. Watching you in them little ass shorts had me on hard every time. I can't tell you how many times I had wet dreams about you, Ms. Johnson."

Sanai could feel Chris' excitement pressing up against her. Wisdom urged her to break away from him, but her body begged her to stay put. It had been so long since she allowed a man to be this close to her. And he just smelled and looked so good.

"Are you serious? Why are you telling me this now?" She shouldn't have asked, but her curiosity and her attraction to him was getting the best of her.

"Because it's the truth...and because I always fantasize about being close to you, just like this." The pair was face to face, their foreheads pressed against the other's. Lucky for them, no one would think anything of it because the tango called for that intimate positioning.

"You always fantasize? Or you used to?" She asked her question while looking him square in the eyes.

"Can I cut in?" Bryan's father looked at Chris suspiciously for a moment before taking Sanai's hand and trying to shake off the notion that his son's best friend was doing what it looked like he was doing—pushing up on Sanai. Their interaction would have looked innocent to the average person, but August recognized game when he saw it. He stayed close to Sanai the rest of the day just in case his suspicions about Chris were correct.

***

Hey, can you come downstairs for a minute please?

The text came in to Sanai's phone after 1 a.m. that night.

Who is this?

Guess 😈

I don't have time for games. Who is this?

It's Chris. I want to apologize.

Sanai made her way downstairs cautiously, as not to wake anyone in the house. When she laid eyes on him, she immediately knew she was in trouble. Chris wore a pair of silk pajama pants that left little for her to imagine about how girthy he was and the way his arms looked in the wife beater he wore was already doing things to her.

"He's Bryan's best friend..." She reminded herself as she approached him.

"Do you always talk to yourself?"

"Don't be cute, Chris."

"I hope I'm cute to you."

"I thought you want to apologize for your behavior?"

"Oh yea, I do." The pair was whispering trying not to wake anyone, especially Bryan. It would be hard to explain why they were down here whispering at this hour. Her home was large enough that no one would have heard them anyway, but that fact eluded them both in the moment. "Is there somewhere we can talk without having to whisper?" he asked.

She looked him over trying to decide if she could trust him being alone with her. He'd been so bold the last few days.

She decided she probably couldn't trust him, but still answered, "Sure, follow me."

***

So there are three, maybe four 🤔completed parts to this miniseries but the series itself isn’t completed. Hopefully posting this here will motivate me to finally finish it (it’s been like two years 🥴) I know y’all are waiting on Delicte part 4. Wrote on it some tonight and plan to have it up in the next week. Thanks for reading🖤

[theravencawsatmidnight]

Pink Chains

Pt 3

Kyotani owns a grunge /punk apparel shop after leaving the Sendai Frogs after a incident with the Black Jackals. He designs his own clothes and hires Oikawa & Iwaizumi as his employees. Everything goes smoothly for awhile, till you walk in; pink dress, big smile , and bubbly personality. His whole life stops in that moment. 

Punk! Kyotani x Bubbly! F! Reader. ❤️

Kyo had walked you to school after the both of you had calmed down. He hated seeing you cry jesus christ, it hurt him to his core. All he could think about was those tears running down your pretty face down to your fake smile. He was really falling for you, this was a first for him so he had no idea if what he had been doing was right or what.

You skipped ahead of him, he glanced up a couple times and got a big smile on his face. You had on a blue dress with flats and his jacket on, it was too big for you of course but you insisted on wearing it. And that's when he knew he was doing it right. Seeing you in his clothes and having that big smile on your face that was just for him.

“Kyooo!!! I gotta go!”

He shook his head walking to you and putting his arms around your shoulders. “Do you? Skip sweetie.” He teased looking over you to see people staring.

“Kyo!” You gave him an angry face and he just laughed kissing your head. “I'll turn you into a rule breaker yet. Have a good day sweetie.”

“Not uh!” You squeezed him tightly for a minute. “Dont sweat this morning kay?!? I can fight with you, are you working today?”

Your words cut him deep, sure his friends had his back but this was .. different. You were willing to defend him from anything . Hopefully you never had to do that. He ran his fingers through your head and swayed a bit whispering in your ear. “People are staring,”

You giggled just squeezing him more and Kyo smirked , he placed a light smack on your thigh stepping back chuckling at the little yip you did .

“Kyo!”

“Yeah sweetie i work today but im closing early, beach volleyball with friends . Ill text you when i close up shop okay?”

“You better!!” You placed a kiss on his chest and ran off into the school looking back and waving before disappearing.

Kyo waited till you were in the school before leaving. He shot everyone a smug ass grin too as he made his way down the street. Fuck his car was still at the store.

Kyo was not in any rush to get to work. Hell it was his store whos gonna rage at him? No one . Hes the boss. And besides Iwaizumi is most likely there already opening up the store anyway. The heavy rings on his right hand clicked all around while he made his way down the boardwalk strip , hands in his pockets while he eyed all the shops.

Buncha no good stores. If it didn't cost so much to get his brand up and running he could have a bigger building , or at least a better location-… he stopped walking and shook his head. “That's a terrible idea. Kyotani cmon get it together.” He sighed, rubbing his sleeve. “I would never had met her..”

Bbbbbbeeep

“Mad Dog chaaaaaaan!!!!” A car zoomed up to him skidding to a stop . Oikawa peaked out the window grinning.

**

Meanwhile, you were just getting into the first class of the day. Everyone was sneaking looks at you because of the jacket but you had no idea. You were too caught up on last night to really pay attention. Trying to take your mind off it you pulled a red notebook from your bag to doodle while listening to the teacher.

Soon enough the blank notebook page was full of design ideas; red pandas with hats , clothes and big fluffy tails. The designs were really cute , your teacher even complimented them from time to time . But you really just wanted a brand to pick you up, graduation was soon and you did not want to not have a job lined up.

“Y/n.. hey y/n”

A voice next to you alerted you to look up and over to see Kio, the girl who sat next to you in class.

“Oh hey Kio, whats up?!?”

Kio placed her hand on her head with her elbow on the table looking you over in this jacket. She never really talked to you unless she needed notes and was only taking this class for the credit she needed .

“That jacket is so different from what you wear y/n. Where'd ya get it?”

You were about to answer her but heard a snicker behind you , must be Yukio, Kios friend, also in need of credits for graduation. Would probably be best not to mention the store, Kyo did not need the harassment.

“Its my boyfriend's jacket!” You told them pulling it close with a big smile on your face.

Kio and Yukio locked eyes then looked at you .

“Boyfriend?” Kio asked.

“Looks like he has the opposite style as you y/n.” Yukio chimed in , leaning over her table. “Was he that guy with you this morning?”

“Yep!!!”

“He looks.. familiar..” Kio said tapping her pen on his lips.

“He does huh?” Yukio said leaning closer. “Whats his name hm?”

“..Kyo?” You were starting to get uncomfortable with all the questions.

“Oh!!!” Yuki yipped looking at Kio. “Kyotani! The Sendai Frogs!!!”

“..the Frogs? So hes..” Kio shot you a look. “He beat up Bokuto. For no goddamn reason.”

You shuffled around in your seat sneaking glances at the clock hoping it would somehow speed up so you could leave. It was not their business to know the reason behind it. Kyo was a very sweet guy , you had only known him a day but in those hours together you had never been happier; he opened up to you, cried even. Kyotani genuinely feels bad about that incident. He helped you through the tattoo instead of getting upset and brought you around his friend. The smirky smile he threw you always gave you butterflies in your stomach and sent your heart a flutter. He was just a misunderstood guy trying to start over with his friends.

You pulled the jacket off as soon as you heard the sweet sound of the bell and gathered up your bag standing up with the jacket over your arm close to your heart.

“Where do you think youre goin?” Kio got up following you out of the classroom along with Yukio. “Were not done y/n.”

Yukio grabbed your bag yanking it back and You spun around with a big smile and a sweet but slightly angry voice. “Kyo is a good guy and i really like him. I don't care if you two don't. You dont know the whole story either. And please stop following me, its not nice.” You waved at them so they could see your tattoo and you left in a quick pace down the hall . You pulled your phone from your bag texting with shaky hands.

**

Oikawa had dropped Kyo off at his store so he could drive home to shower and change and then go back to start his shift. He was tired and thankful no one could tell he had been crying the night before. Iwaizumi probably knew but he did not say anything, not with Oikawa around.

Kyo had on his shops uniform shirt which was a red dog house on a black shirt that said The Dog House on the back wrapped in chains. The summer line was selling smoothly and Mattsun had let him know that Yahaba agreed to come to the beach volleyball . He helped Iwaizumi unload a shipment while Oikawa was manning the front .

“So how'd it go last night?” He asked, passing Kyo a box.

“I told her .. everything.” The box was set down

“Oh ..? You? You did? What she say?” Iwa got another box groaning from its weight and giving it to Kyo

“Fucking hell.. would it kill them to pack the boots in all the boxes.. she said she was not scared of me. Dammit Iwaizumi she said she would fight with me.” He set the box down cursing .

“Fuck.. Kyotani.” Iwaizumi closed the truck up patting the back watching it drive off. “I know you've only just met her but she seems- Kyo?” He looked at his friend and he was staring at his phone , he looked like he was going to punch something .

Y/n: Kyo.. these girls in my class asked me about my jacket so i said it's my boyfriends and they asked your name cuz you look familiar and I told them and they .. brought up the Incident .

Y/N: i uhm, i did not say anything else but they were upset cuz they like Bokuto i guess but.. i left and they followed me and.. yanked me back. I .

Y/n: i was tough like you would be and asked them to leave me alone and i left. But.. uhm.. can.. can you call me when you can please..

“Iwaizumi...”

“You dont gotta say it. I can watch the front for a minute. “ he put his hand in Kyotanis arm watching his friend huff and puff . “Relax. Take a deep breath. “ Iwaizumi left his friend and Kyotani sat down on a box outside looking at the clouds in the sky with his phone to his ear.

“Kyo…” you sounded shaky and panicked

“Sweetie. Take a deep breath.” He was surprisingly calm sounding. He wanted to explode on the inside though, march right back to that school and take you into his arms and scare the hell out of those girls..He heard you breath in and out a few times till it evened out.

“Alright. Where are you right now Sweetie?”

“The.. outside.. courtyard..”

“Is it pretty there? Tell me what you see.” He leaned back on a box with his back to his shop. He brought one knee up tracing his index finger around in one of the holes in his jeans tugging at the strings making it bigger.

“Uhm… magnolias.. an oak tree.. some students are studying. It is pretty..”

“Sweetie..”

“Yes..?”

“Everything is okay now. Okay?”

“I.. yeah.. I tried to be tough but..i don't know. I said your a good guy cuz you are and I asked them to leave me alone.”

He ripped a few strings in the hole maging it even bigger over his knee. “Do you want me to pick you up after school?”

“Yeah.. i .. i just.”

“Ill be there sweetie.” He suddenly got an idea. “Promise. Now hows my happy girls day going now?”

He heard you giggle and the both of you relaxed slowly while you talked on the phone. You told him about your classes and the doodles you did too and Kyo asked you to send him them, he did not say why though.

“I gotta go sweetie. Ill be out front okay?”

“Kay.. have a good day Kyo.”

“You too Sweetie.” He hung up the phone and got up feeling the fire in him grow again.

After moving the boxes in he went to the front pulling Kawa and Iwa aside to the register explaining what happened. They were both upset over what they heard. Kyotani smirked texting Mattsun then looking at his friends.

“So after beach volleyball you know what we gotta do right?”

“Ou im excitedddd.” Kawa said with a big smile

“I gotta say im excited too.” Iwa said smirking and leaning on the register . “Im sure Mattsun is eager too.”

Kyo looked down reading the text with a side smirk. “Fuck with my girl and see what happens…”

**

@squeaky-ducky @zoppzoop

@haikyuu-but-low-iq @mochababes @kozushiki. @milkbreadcat @derpeedoo

*

[hugsandpeaches]

It's U Again

Fluff

bxg

jiu x reader

---

Minji and you are High School sweethearts, well, before.

Both of you wears the same clothes, dream the same dream, thinks the same thing most of the same time. You two are defined as 'soulmates'.

She was very talented, you too as well. As said earlier, both if you has the same dream. A dream of being idols.

"I got accepted as a trainee!" Both you two surprised each other at the same time. It was an accomplishment you two dreamt of. Both of your hardwork has been paid off. But there's a thing...

Trainees can't date.

Your dreams led the both of you to separate ways. It hurts. Minji's training period is coming and you have to send her away on the train station.

The day she's leaving was very gloomy. It rained hard as you and Minji waited for her train to come. Her head laying on your shoulders, hand holding yours tightly. She want to savor her last moments with you as her boyfriend.

"When you debut, I'll wait for you"

Her heart skipped a beat and then she lifted her head up, meeting your eyes.

"You'll do the same thing too, right?"

Her eyes glistened in tears and hugged you side ways.

"When we became successful someday, let's not forget each other." As she told you the words, her train came and you stood up, helping her with her bags. She entered the train and you were left behind the yellow line she just crossed. There's just a little number of passengers getting inside the train so the train doors closed as she stepped inside.

Minjin stopped on the glass door looking at you, tears streaming down her eyes. She waved her hands at you and you copied what she did.

"Y/n-ah, we'll meet again"

The train started moving slowly and you followed it's direction, still looking at Minji. She was smiling at your actions and was shocking her head. The train moved faster and you felt the rain slap your face as you ran.

"I love you"

Minji mouthed you behind the glass doors and you ran as fast as you can, dropping your umbrella, just to say back the words.

"Minji saranghae!"

Once again, Minji waved her hands and you stopped from running, rain washing you and your clothes.

<6 years later>

5 years ago, Minx debuted and then 1 year later, Dreamcatcher was born. The group's popularity started to climbed up as they toured around the world. Minji never forgot you. She always kept your picture on her bag without the members knowing. Minji always ask for you whenever she come home but too bad you weren't there. Your parents told her that you moved to US to do something. Minji understood but it kinda hurt her because you didn't let her know.

Well, she lastly asked for you 6 years ago. Now, dreamcatcher is having their comeback and have been busy this past few months not noticing this rookie soloist under SM Entertainment.

Fans started going crazy about his visual and how soothing his voice is.

Lee Y/n.

Your name was all over internet. You didn't knew you were going to be this viral after your cover of Xiumin's You last week. SM promoted you by singing their ballads then dropping your teaser the day after. You've been busy preparing for your debut for a month so you didn't recieved any news from her. Netizens was amazed by you and then started talking over you.

You were the current hot topic.

But the only thing that you want is being noticed by her.

Did she recieved the news?

Did she read something about me?

Is she proud of me now?

Questions took over your mind as you became nervous coming into the stage. You were the first performer of today's Mcountdown.

You placed your position on the stage and hopefully searching for her on the dark crowd but she wasn't there that broke your heart. You bowed your head in disappointment and then started performing as the your song started playing.

After performing, you took your last glance on the now bright crowd but still, didn't saw her figure. You forcefully smiled at your audience and bowed before exiting the stage. You saw your manager waiting at you and you hugged him, thanking him for your successful debut.

While walking, you were your sad expression. You can't believe she wasnt there supporting you.

"I miss her"

Just then, a loud heels running on the hallways was heard by you and then someone suddenly bumped on you while doing your turn on the intersection hall.

A tall yet not so taller than you just bumped their head on you chest and then ran off without saying sorry. That was rude but you guess she's chasing someone important.

You looked down and then saw bunny necklace, you were familiarized by it and took it anyway. It was the same necklace you gave Minji 8 years ago.

The girl must been dropped it while bumping at me. You thought and then walked back at your dressing room. You sat there and then looked at the thing on your hand.

"When will I meet you again, Minji?"

I placed the necklace on my pocket and then stood up.

"I'm hungry"

Jiu's POV

"I'm here, manager unnie" I opened the door and saw my members on their phones. "Unnie, there was a handsome guy on the monitor earlier. You're late to see him" Gahyeon said while munching her food. "And he's the same age as you, maybe..." Dami wriggled her eyebrows at me while smiling sheepishly. I sighed and then sat down beside the two maknaes.

"I told you guys, I'm not interested" I said and then placed my hand over my neck. An unfamiliar feeling came into my body as I didn't touched my necklace.

"My necklace is missing" Dami looked over at my neck to confirmed it. "You rarely took that off, maybe you didn't wore that earlier? " Gahyeon asked. I shook my head and stood up.

I went out of our dressing room to find my necklace.

That wasn't just a necklace. That was his gift from our 1st year anniversary, how can I lose it. I led my way to the girl's comfort room where I went earlier and again while turning into the hallway, I bumped into someone... again.

Wait, maybe I dropped the necklace after bumping on someone earlier!

I avoided who I bumped into and was about to run when I felt my arms being pulled.

"Wait miss, you bumped at me 2 times already and you didn't even apologize "

Is that- that voice sounds familiar.

"I'm so sorry, something important is missi-"

Third Person's POV

Minji stopped on her tracks as she saw the person's face. The person was also shock from who she is, forgetting his hands was still on her arms.

"Minji?"

"Y/n?"

The bot immediately let go of her hand and then bowed at her. "Annyeaonghaseyo, Lee Y/n imnida" Y/n greeted with the widest smile plastered on your face.

Y/n can't believe what's happening just now. He's now face to face with his first love, the only girl he loved. Jiu on the other side was surprised but same as Y/n, she cant contain her happiness. Her lips started to spread into a smile and chuckled.

"Is that really you, Y/n? Am I only dreaming?" She pinched herself just incase. "Ani, I'm real" the boy spread his arms and turn around. "I'm real Minji" his smile never left his lips. Jiu came and pinched his cheeks as well.

"You're real!" Minji exclaimed. You then heard footsteps coming into one of the corners but luck is on your side. You two were just standing infront of your dressing room.

You opened the door and pulled Jiu in. She never complained, why would she? She had been waiting for this moment to happen.

As the both of you went inside, you immediately enveloped Minji a tight hug. You felt her hug back that made you tear up.

"I can't believe this is happening, please tell me I'm not dreaming!" You told her and you felt her shook her head on your chest. Then suddenly, you felt your shirt getting cold.

"Minji?" You broke the hug and you saw her brightly smiling at you, her tears rolling down her cheeks with her mascara. "Yah, don't ruin your make up" you wiped her tears using your sleeves. "You're performing soon, I'll watch beside the stage" she nodded at you and got out from your arms.

"Oh- I remember, your necklace " you grab the necklace on your pocket and turn her around to put on the necklace on her.

After putting in on, you kissed Minji's cheeks making her blush and turn around at you. "Yah, we're not official yet, take me out to date first" she said and pushed your shoulders.

"Hmm, noted. So...?"

Silence filled the room, the both of you smiling while staring at each other. "I missed you" you look down on the ground while fiddling your fingers. "Me too" you heard her said that made you blush.

"Have you watched my performance?"

"Performance?"

Your head shot up and you glared at her. "Y oi u missed it, did you?" Minji bit her lip and looked down. You smiled at her cuteness and then went closer to her again.

"It's okay though, at least we met again. So Minji... I mean, Jiu-ssi" you said and took out you hand for her to take.

"Faith really made us see each other, would you like to go out on a date with me on Saturday" you kneeled down at her and she started squealing. "Yah~ what are you doing, get up" she held your hand and pulled you up but you remained in your place.

"Only if you agree, Jiu-ssi" she smiled sweetly at you and pecked your lips.

"Of course, I would love too" you smiled and then stood up, pulling your necklace that was hiding behind your shirt.

On your necklace, there are two rings that was familiar to Minji. It was your necklace since you were still together. You wore it everyday. She wants to ask why there are 2 rings on it but her head says 'it's just design, that's it's

"Kim Minji, you were mine before, I'll make you mine again" you pulled out the rings and put the small one on her left hand. She blushed and you put the larger ring on your left hand.

"Now we're unofficially enganged" you smiled cheekily and kissed her forehead.

"Welcome back"

[dessertwaffles]

Hello dear Valentine! I hope you are having a good weekend so far!

Please do not ever feel like you need to respond right away! Only when it is convenient for you - this is supposed to be fun! I hope you are feeling well rested today.

Thank you for sharing those quotes - that Alexis one really resonates with me too, as someone who constantly overthinks what others are thinking of her...

You totally cheated!!! (BUT I'm definitely not mad about it!) 😉 I will take all the kissing gifs all the time!!! My top kiss is definitely the one from DGIR4. Something about the head tilt and the softness and all of that is just *chef's kiss* for me.

Fave episode per season is just SO hard - now you're giving ME the super tough questions!!! I am going to try and answer without overthinking but reserve the right to change these at any time...😂

S1: Allez-Vous

S2: Happy Anniversary

S3: Grad Night

S4: Open Mic

S5: The Hike

S6: Moira Rosé

(I feel like I'm staying true to my extremely sentimental nature here with my picks!) I also have a hard time sticking to one and I almost wrote a bunch of special mentions but I erased them all 😆

Q1: I'd definitely love to hear your top episode for each season? Let's see how many match up!!

Q2: This time, another visual one - I'd love for you to please share maybe two or three of your top SC photos with me! I'll leave this open for any photos of characters, cast members, absolutely anything!

Q3: Tell me one fun fact about yourself! Something most people don't know about you...(but of course something you'd feel comfortable sharing!)

I'm also excited to chat once reveals are made and for you to get a chance to enjoy what I'm cooking up for you...I've made some good progress so far and am really hoping you like it! 🤞🤞🤞

♥ Your Secret Valentine

Hi secret valentine! My weekend has been pretty good so far. I had waffles for dinner! And tomorrow I have no plans so I’m looking forward to relaxing and hopefully doing a lot of writing 😊

How has your weekend been??

Yessss the kiss in DGIR4 is SUCH a good one. Here’s a gif for scientific reasons!!

1. You listed so many great episodes so there is definitely going to be some overlap! (Also this is so hard and I’m totally going to change my mind on some of these after I hit post)

S1: Surprise Party

S2: Happy Anniversary

S3: Grad Night

S4: Open Mic (but I want to cheat and say Olive Branch too because I always watch them together!)

S5: Life is a Cabaret

S6: Start Spreading the News

2. I’m looking through what I have saved on my phone and here are a few that I love!

Look at David’s face!!!

This! Kiss! It’s so good. I’ve always loved it but I am extra attached to it because it’s been my tumblr header for almost a year at this point.

I just think this one’s cute 🥰

AND FINALLY the kiss that we will never see in it’s entirety but that we know exists:

3. In college I competed in an annual fashion show where I designed and modeled dresses made out of trash/recycled materials. I won three years in a row!

Can you share a fun fact about yourself, if you’re comfortable? And would you rather learn the A Little Bit Alexis dance or Patrick and Stevie’s dance in Cabaret?

I’m so excited to see what you’re creating and I’m sure I’m going to absolutely love it!!! ❤️❤️❤️

[cartermarcian]

4Kids Korner - Season 2 - Episode 3

I'm a bit late this week because I got caught up with work and school-related dread, but now I'm back to bring you more 4Kids products! This week we have an epic trifepic: Winx Club Magazine Issue one - the castle, Kirby Right Back at Ya - Ice Kirby (DVDouble-Shot) and Kirby Right Back at Ya - Kirby Comes to Cappy Town!

Let's start by getting the smallest one out of the way. Here's Kirby Right Back at Ya - Ice Kirby (2005)

There's something I oddly like about DVDouble-Shot. Starting In 2005, the DVDouble-Shot line was introduced featuring two-Episode DVDs of 4Kids most profitable shows as a way of promoting 4Kids TV. As for the consumer, the main selling point is that you could buy them for a low price, collect and possibly trade them with your friends, kind of like Pokémon cards. I like the idea of one kid saying to the other on the playground, "hey, wanna trade your Ninja Turtles for my YuGiOh?" How successful they were, I have no idea, but they're fun and easy to review on this show. Given their small portion size, practically every DVDouble-Shot is the same. This one had the episodes "The Chill Factor" and "DeDeDe's Snow Job," in accordance with the ice theme of the disc. It also features assorted promos for then-current and upcoming 4Kids shows identical to those seen in the 4Kids TV September demo disc (which I will hopefully review some time in the future.) Before we move on, though there's one little thing I want to point out about the box art. You can't see it in the photos I've provided, but the ice monster on the cover is far more pixelated than Kirby, if you look closely at it, so it appears to me that they lifted it right out of the episode and placed it on the cover. I guess that's just what happens when no official art of a character exists for your graphic designers to use...

Now that we have that one out of the way, let's talk about the stars of today's episode, which actually turned out to have much more historical value than most of the other stuff in my collection. So say hello to the Winx Club Magazine Premiere Issue, The Castle (2005)

This is a very special addition to my collection not only because it's part of what I consider to be 4Kids' absolute peak year, but since the book was presumably printed in January of 2005, it means this was one of the first pieces of of merchandise to feature the now-famous 4Kids TV logo. Heck it might have even been printed before then. As for the book itself, it's quite cute as it features everything an 8-11 year old girl wanting to be a hip and trendy 2000s teenager could want, and contains surprisingly few ads for Winx Club merch. And even more adorable, is the publisher's attempts to fit that description using words like "slammin'" in sentences. I call it a magazine, but it's really more dedicated to the comic included, "The Castle," which I would have read, but I needed to get some sleep the day I read it, so I skimmed the book's numerous activities, instead. But for those still interested, the comic is a retelling of Bloom's enrollment in Alfea, with original art that's pretty accurate to the actual show. But the book's real allure is the activities. Like the free trading card you'll see in the photo above. It even comes with a full-page description of what a trading card game is, making reference to YuGiOh in the process, which I thought was funny since 4Kids owned that, and also because it heavily implies that only boys play YuGiOh when the show itself has many female duelists. After that, you have a faux interview with Bloom taken from the perspective of a fellow Alfea Student. What I remember most clearly about that, is that Bloom says she listens to top 40's, which made me think "man, she's got some trash music taste," even though I, myself have said on multiple occasions off of tumblr that I listen to basically everything. Also included on the magazine are a paper fortune-telling toy, a best friend diary which includes a "secret crush" slot to fill in, a page for writing down predictions about the reader's future, and even a personality test which assigns your traits to a type of flower, as suggested by Flora on the page. The funny thing about this is that one question asks for the reader's favorite kind of movie, and one of the options is "anime everything," which I thought was funny since anime was just starting to get big at that time in America, and the online anime community was just starting to grow. Finally, on the last page, probably the most creative of all, is a step-by-step slumber party plan by Musa, which details inviting everyone over, having them show up dressed as their favorite popstar (like Brittany Spears, for example) and bring their favorite CD from said popstar, then taking turns playing them and talking about them. It sounds quite fun, and it made me smile imagining all the little kids who tried this. That's exactly what I think is awesome about children's entertainment: it makes them happy and builds their imagination. So that's the Winx Club Magazine, a really good buy, but I must admit they used the same art of the girls more than once on a few occasions, and also wrote in a plot hole in the interview with Bloom, where she says she discovered her powers as a child, but in the show she unlocks them at her current age when saving Stella from the first monsters of the series. So it may have a couple flukes, but still quite enjoyable.

And last, but never least, it's time for Kirby Right Back at Ya: Kirby Comes to Dream Land (2002)

This one is also historically significant for two reasons. One is that it was the very first release of one of the more famous non-Pokémon/YuGiOh shows 4Kids had to offer, but it also played a part in promoting the very launch of the Fox Box, as you'll see on the box art. This disc may only have the first three episodes of the show, but it super makes up for it with a plethora of special features, more than any of the DVDs I currently own, and that they strangely enough don't tell you about on the box. And speaking of the box, though you might not see it, the episode descriptions on the back are written entirely in comic sans. Yeah, it's clear to see 4Kids wasn't quite as sharp as they would be in the next few years... and the DVD menus are also written entirely in this font. But that doesn't take away from the outstanding value. much like the Fright to the Finish DVD, this one's special features are split between two menus. For this one, there's "More Kirby" and "Added Attractions," which is the far superior one, but more on that in a minute. The More Kirby menu features a character gallary telling you about the main cast, set to music from the show. Then there's "Kirbyoke," which is there to teach the kids the words to the theme song. And finally, we have a preview for the next DVD in the series, which at that point hadn't a proper name, so Mike Pollock's voice just refers to it as "Kirby Right Back at Ya Volume 2." Then, in the "Added Attractions" menu, we have a promo for Cubix - Robots for Everyone's first DVD release, a short promo for the newly-launched FoxBox.TV website, and the star of this review by far, "What's Inside The Fox Box?!" This incredible 14 minute long promo (which you can find on Youtube, by the way,) previews every single show in the Fox Box's initial lineup as a way of hyping up the network for it's September 2002 launch. Well, kind of... You see, 4Kids made multi-minute promos for their own productions, complete with plot synopses by Mike Pollock and others and theme songs for the shows. Meanwhile, Stargate Infinity, a third-party show, only got a promo featuring still images of the main cast, a paper-thin explanation of the plot and no opening, all clocking in at under a minute. So, yeah, pretty lame move on 4Kids part, but at least we get to see HD footage of 4Kids lost Ultraman Tiga dub. Ultimately, it's a really fun promo from 4Kids' very beginnings as a dedicated children's entertainment company, even though it uses some uncut clips of guns in Fighting Foodons since the dub wasn't finished at that point. One last thing to point out: the promo for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (which hadn't even started production at the time,) features an unused theme song demo for the series which also made it's way onto the illusive Fox Box CD. So there you have it, one of the DVDs that started it all. Thanks for reading about it, as well as my other items this week. I will be back with more next week, so hang in there, and I'll see you all next time. Take care!