#after a million years my hiatus is over

[yourlocalsmutwriter]

Bookish girlfriend you're my yum yum - Mark Webber x reader

Summary : After going viral on book social media, you give the fans a completely new side of you. It catches the eye of an author (who happens to be a 9 GP winner)

FC: Mima by Cami

inkscentedglamour: Squeezing in some last girly romance books before I film a new video for you 👀

username: Our queen is finally trying romantasy, I can feel it.

username: I need another object x human romance. I know it was an April Fools thing, but I need her to read Double Stuffed

username: DARK ROMANCE. DARK ROMANCE. DARK ROMANCE.

username : I know the sports romance PR is talking to her like the Green Goblin Mask

> username : Especially the new book with the MMC inspired by Danny Ricciardo

> username: need to rewatch her F1 romance streams on patreon.

username: Do you think this is after Two Girls One Formula podcast backlash?

> username: The girls brought her on to talk about books, specifically romances. I don't understand why the fans were attacking her for not talking much about the current grid and things like that and focusing on the fiction.

> username: Especially when she has said many times that she's easing into the fandom. How would you feel if people bullied you for starting with edits/ fanfics and books, like she's doing?

inkscentedglamour: Writing my script for the upcoming video and staring at what got me here

username: Throttled slander era, you will forever be famous

> username: The way she started off so hesitant to give it a bad review or DNF it. This was her first 1 star. People died.

> username: Asking people to still try it for themselves and to not just judge it based on her review. Cemented her as my favorite BookTuber, I fear.

username: The fact that she still followed through and read the entire series. And rearranged her entire Goodreads ratings after that? Iconic

> username: I miss her giving 5 stars. But the quote "if I can be cruel enough to give 1 star, then I don't think I should be generous to give 5 stars to any book, but one" will forever live on.

inkscentedglamour: New video, out now

username: MARK WEBBER????? OVER EMILY HENRY????

> username: over Christina Lauren?????? Ali Hazelwood? Katee Robert

username: you're telling me an Australian driver who retired like 10 years ago is her favorite author??? And was the driving force for her to get her to watch a GP?

username: she's the queen of Booktok, has talked about every book boyfriend, and now she's into cars that go fast?

aussiegrit: Talked about Porsche, F1, Mentoring Oscar, and my book, somehow. Why is Aussie Grit trending?

username: Oh no, our little Booktuber girl bossed too close to the sun (she has a million subscribers and multiple brand deals)

> username: she got it to 5 stars on Goodreads and onto the trending page on Amazon.

username: Mark, wear the My fake boyfriend drives for F1 mech, and my life is yours

username: @inkscentedglamour, look who sorta knows you exist.

inkscentedglamour: Oh oh

inkscentedglamour: Reading the book 😄🤩🥺 vs. having to describe its impact on you, your career, and the future 🙃😑☠️. If you see me verbally abusing a Google doc at the airport, no you didn't

username: Mark Webber in the likes?????????

> username: I guess he found out why Aussie Grit was trending

username: reading video hiatus is over, society is healing

> username: we haven't gotten a part two of her trip to a random destination yet

> username: true, she just packed and left us on a cliffhanger. Surely we're getting that first

> username: her caption says it all. For book lovers, some of you have no reading comprehension.

inkscentedglamour: I finished reading my book, so it only makes sense to hit the thrift, right? Reading vlog will be up when I'm back home (I was strictly told to relax)

username: the two glasses (which could mean nothing)

> username : this is the girl that relies on our discord pins to drink water, what is going on in the house of commons

username : Mark Webber, here again????????? Before me?????????????

> username: she sped through her book cause she has his new book on pre-order

> username: I just know she'll get it on Kindle too, no way is she waiting til it ships to her house

username: Mark's pr team was sleeping because wdym they didn't reach out to her

> username: And apparently, he's got a launch party coming up with "surprise BookTube influencer" attending

inkscentedglamour : Photographic proof that my favorite author knows I exist. Thank you, @aussiegrit, for the invite. And thanks for getting a decent picture before I cried at the blurb and dedication

aussiegrit: Figured you'd wanna skip the queue at Waterstones. Can't wait for your review of this one (also please re-read the new prologue before posting)

username: Mark has been secretly divorced for a year and was writing this whole book as a therapy exercise??????

> username: he couldn't tell anybody and felt like he was slowly fading into obscurity, which affected his mental health

> username: he was not thinking of releasing this until the OG Aussie Grit review

> username: Mark saying that the YouTube video changed his life, just as much as it did hers

inkscentedglamour: Night and day

Comments on this post have been disabled

14.02.2025,approximately 3 months after the book launch

inkscentedglamour: Valentine's Day, Book Buying Day, and Merch Drop Day. Shop the My Real Boyfriend Drove for F1 tee. And yes, he signed off on this specific hard launch

inkscentedglamour: time to be sappy real quick after the merch plug. Mark has been inspiring me, guiding me and showering me with praise ever since his second book launch. I'm so happy he's in my life and I intend to keep him there for as long as I can. He beats all the bookish boyfriend one can have (yes, even Zafir)

aussiegrit: I'm so glad to have you in my life. You see me and be with me, sharp tongue,flaws and all. I wanna build you bookshelves and watch you put my books on them last. Now stop being a YouTuber for a second and get back to being my girlfriend.

[thinking-emoji]

RNZ interview mirror - the original file is exactly 700 kb too big for tumblr so I had to compress it slightly 🙃

Transcript under the cut!

YouTube megastars Dan and Phil will be coming to Aotearoa next week with a live show full of scandalous stories. For those who don't know them, these two Brits invented being internet famous. Coming to stardom in 2009, the pair have amassed a media empire with over 40 million combined followers, 2 billion views on YouTube, as well as a handful of best-selling books. Dan and Phil went on hiatus in 2018, with each coming out as gay soon after. This is their first tour together since then. The show is called Terrible Influence and it's coming to Auckland's Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre next Thursday, the 19th of December. I caught up with Dan and Phil earlier on the line from Australia.

DnP: Hello.

(Interviewer laughs)

D: Sorry, was that a weird stereo hello there? That must have been disturbing.

I: That's exactly how I wanted you to answer the call.

P: Yes, that's how we speak all the time. D: We share one braincell.

I: You speak in unison.

P: Yes. (laughs)

I: Because you two have lived together for quite some time, haven't you? D: We have. I: Not only working together for many years.

D: Yeah, like imagine like being really fed up with your co-worker and then you want to come home and you want to be like, God, this guy, I can't stand him. Like, what are we doing here, people?

P: Then he's in your house.

I: How long have you lived together for?

D: Errr, fourteen- P: No. D: No, thirteen- twel- P: Twelve years. I want to say twelve years. D: Twelve years, but it feels like 2000. Do you know what I mean? P: Time is not real. We don't know what's going on. D: At this point, we're like, you know, when you go to a zoo and there's two elderly tortoises that are about 400 years old. P: Yeah. D: That's how we feel. P: Yeah.

I: I'm glad that you've decided to, you know, take air travel to get to New Zealand.

D: It's literally the furthest place from home we could ever. So we get some tweets from people that are like, Dan and Phil, thank you for coming to New Zealand because, by golly, you've travelled a bit of a way. But hey, we're happy to be there. New Zealand is a beautiful country. P: Yes. D: And so are the people.

P: Whenever I come to New Zealand, I just want to move to New Zealand. I'm like, why am I in London when I could be in this beautiful, verdant land?

D: A lot of people do abandon for New Zealand and we understand why.

I: Yeah. Yeah. I'm glad that you do understand that. And it's your first big tour back since coming out in 2018. D: It is. I: The show is kind of a little bit like a gossip session. Is that right? Setting some things straight?

D: Absolutely. We're people that have been on the internet for a very long time and people have talked a lot of smack about us over the years, as a lot of people do with anyone with a lot of followers. And we're like, you know what? We all deserve to look back at our past. We all deserve to be roasted for the things that we did and said. That includes us being embarrassing and what our audience were like when they were all teenagers on the internet. But if we have a bit of a therapy session slash Catholic confession, we can end it with a bit of a hug and a pat on the back and go, it's okay. We survived. Here we are now in 2024. So it's like a roast and a healing session at the same time.

I: That must be quite an interesting thing because, you know, you both grew up on the internet and made so much content. You have this huge following that you've built. And so many people work really hard to kind of erase their former selves online. And that's probably something that you cannot do.

D: Oh, no. I would love to. It's too late. P: That's the thing as well. Sometimes our audience know us better than we know ourselves because they watch these videos so much. I never watch my videos back ever. So they'll come up to us at a meet and greet like, remember that thing you did in 2014? I'm like, no. D: No, I don't. P: I don't know what I said or did. D: But Phil, you love this ice cream flavour. P: Yeah. Speaking of ice cream, I'm excited for the Hokey Pokey ice cream. That was the thing I remember in New Zealand. I: It is good.

D: Yeah. Someone said, hey, you're excited to have it again. I was like, what was that? P: We don't have that. D: Don't you remember the time that you had it? P: No. D: Here, I've got this photo on my phone. P: Yeah. I'm going to have some more when I get there for sure.

D: That is not the main reason why we made the travel, but it will help with the jet lag.

P: It's 80% of the reason, I'll be honest.

I: Why is the show called Terrible Influence?

D: I think there's this idea that everyone on the internet, all these creators, all these TikTokers and podcasters are just horrible people that are trying to sell you some kind of crypto scam. And the truth is 90% of them are. And the question that we're asking is, were we terrible? What did we do to all these young people that watch it? Maybe the other question is, what did they do to us? Is what we do inherently bad? Is it a two-way street? Well, maybe we can answer that question and along the way just giggle so much that we kind of forgive and forget.

I: I'm sure you have a pretty good idea of the extent of your influence. But being in high school in New Zealand when Dan and Phil were first starting out, it was almost like a code word. (Dan laughs) It was how weirdos, kind of, identified with each other.

P: I think we've always been happy to kind of have representation for the slightly alternative people of the world.

D: Yeah, we like to joke that it's for the goths, the girls, the gays and the geeks. Any type of person that feels like on any level, they may not be completely mainstream. They may not be vanilla. They might feel other in any kind of way. We have an audience and we look out now because you understand when all these people were 14, it kind of looked like they were all teenagers. Now that they're all adults, some people are coming up to us, they're like, hi, Dan and Phil, meet my child. (laughs) But all these people have been in such different journeys in life. But it's knowing that, you know, back in the day, there was a place where no matter what kind of person they are, they felt like, you know what? Here in this comment section with these guys, I can just be myself and that makes me happy. I think whether that is something that we did do intentionally or it's an accidental byproduct of our influence, we'll take it.

P: And a lot of them have grown up with us as well. That's the lovely thing. So we're meeting people now that are just much older, but they're still watching the videos because we've- we've grown up and they've grown up as well.

I: Absolutely. And you took this hiatus, you know, from the internet. How long was that hiatus for and what was the impetus for it? And for coming back?

D: It was five dark years. P: Five years. D: And there was no Dan and Phil in the world until one day, like Jesus, we returned and here we are now.

P: We did. I think it's always a good thing to kind of have a moment where you're like, what's going on in life? Have a reset. And and I think we're kind of back now.

D: You know, like when everyone, you know, there was a pandemic and then they were like, you know what? My relationship, my job, you have decided it's not for me. I think we were trendsetters there. We did that early, voluntarily style, because we'd been going nonstop since 2009. And I was like, I just need to hit the brakes and look around for a little bit. And then I came back and I was like, hi, guys, I'm gay now. And they were like, ah, yes, that makes sense. But sometimes you have to hit the brake in life in order to take the space, look around you, take stock of things, make decisions. And ultimately, when you come back, it'll be healthier and happier.

P: And we didn't know this Dan and Phil thing- Like when we came back, we're like, do you guys still want these videos? And then, like, the reaction has been incredible, like, so many people watching the gaming channel. D: To the extent people thought Dan and Phil, you need to go on a tour right now. You need to get your butts all the way to Auckland (laughs) because I've been waiting for you to come back and we need to have a good night together. P: Yeah.

I: Yeah. And get out from behind the screen and kind of just interact face to face. You two are hugely into gaming and it's been quite a good pivot from YouTube to kind of try and be more successful, I guess. It's incredible how popular you are on these platforms. Can you tell me a little bit more about how that works and how you kind of make a career out of this?

D: Well, Phil's been doing it so long that he did it before YouTube could even monetize videos. He was doing it purely out of boredom and passion for the craft. P: Yeah. D: That's terrifying.

P: I'm a YouTube dinosaur. But I think with the gaming, we've got a Sims series, which we've got- how many episodes now? Like- D: Oh a hundred or so. P: A hundred episodes. And I think people follow along the journey with us playing the games. And it's like, I guess it's like when you were a little kid and you're watching your big brother play a video game. It's kind of that thing. You're just like watching along, having the bants. So I think what the people come to our videos for is more of the personality and us having a laugh rather than getting really into gaming.

D: Yeah! I mean, gaming is just the topic. It's like any type of TV or radio talk or commentary show, it could be about football, it could be about music and pop culture or the news, you just want to see people that you relate to, that you find entertaining, doing something that you find interesting and then you pair it together, and for lots of people they go: yeah! This is what i want to see P: Yeah.

I: Phil, how have you noticed the kind of gaming culture change over time, and was that something you're a little bit hesitant about, you know coming out as gay in that kind of domain, because we know generally that - you know, over the last decade-

D: The gamers are the worst demographic in the world absolutely- I: Things have changed. D: We’ve been on the internet since the ancient times and it's hard to say, like in a way obviously the internet these days, it feels like it's more terrible than ever, but in a sense it is a lot less toxic and a lot more wholesome and inclusive than it used to be.

P: Yeah, I'd say coming out on the internet is always going to be a scary thing, when you're saying that and being kind of vulnerable in front of so many people. Thankfully we've got such a great audience that the reaction was incredible, I would say.

D: And i think that what's great about the internet is that people can find their own communities, so even within spaces that you might think, oh they're dominated by this type of person – any subculture, any type of person that feels like, I want this space for myself – you can find it. If you want to order you know a ping pong club for girls with ginger hair called Susan that drink wine on a Tuesday, you can start that discord server, people will love it.

I: And I think it's nice to have those pocket on the internet where people can feel safe and can kind of commune together. You will be playing the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, on December the 19th. What about people who didn't grow up watching you, who think you might be quite funny right now. Like what could you say to them if you want them to come to your show?

P: I'd say, well luckily for you we have got a whole section of the start of the show which is the complete history of Dan and Phil in five minutes, so if you might have just slightly known who we are and be like, what's going on with these guys? We're going to catch you up in no time.

D: A lot of people drag their boyfriends, their sisters, sometimes like that mum that you need to drive you so you can have a couple of cocktails to the show, and we're like we need something for these people, we're going to catch them up, we're going to get them on our side, and if we have a spot- there's like a grumpy dad folding his arms in row three, I'm like, I'm going to crack you P: but- D: My mission for the night is you're going to be belly laughing by the end. P: They're always smiling at the end though. That's the thing, we do. We do crack them.

I: Oh and this will be your last show before a well deserved Christmas break, then back into the new year. What will Christmas look like for both of you?

P: I mean we're going to try and get home for Christmas. D: Yeah, yeah the question is, can we get back from Auckland on the 21st of December? P: Twenty- yeah. I think it's gonna be a challenge to get all the way home, but then I'm probably just gonna be asleep on my mum's sofa with jet lag, hoping to drink a lot of cocktails. D: I'm gonna slip into a nice coma.

I: I'm really glad to hear you are back together again.

D: Oh, well thank you! We really, really appreciate it and we're so excited for the show, so thank you New Zealand. P: Nice speaking to you!

@dnp-described

[comradecorvus]

A confused Tumblr user's guide to r/196

In the coming weeks, many of you may notice posts containing the tags "r/196" and "196", so to avoid any confusion, I would like to explain what it is, what is going on, etc.

r/196 is a subreddit that can best be described as "condensed tumblr but a tiny bit more horny". Honestly, half of the posts are just tumblr screenshots. So the general vibe, sense of humor, and political slant are the same as Tumblr's.

As for why its all suddenly crossing over here, Reddit's dipshit CEO has been going after third party reddit viewer apps that are better than the official app for no reason at all, even going as far as to lie about one of the third party apps' developers threatening him. He is planning to put reddit API access behind a paywall at a pretty steep fee. Apparently for some of them it would run them like $20 million a year, which obviously, no third party app dev will be able to afford.

In protest, thousands of subreddits are planning to stage a blackout on June 12th, many of them some of the most popular subreddits on the site, and countless others. Such blackouts and mass protests have worked before, and as such, most subreddits plan on doing just a 2 day blackout where nothing can be done on the subreddits, which completely destroys any ad revenue and other such financial activity.

However, many are coming to realize that a mere 48 hours might not cut it, and some plan to go on hiatus indefinitely until the ceo backs down on his bullshit.

r/196 is one of those subreddits, I myself realize that this has the chance of resulting in no impact on the outcome and a dead subreddit, but its a gamble worth taking, in my opinion.

This is just a general primer on r/196, if you want to get into deep lore like "Spronkus" and the "Wasp Discourse", seek out someone who is more seasoned in the subreddit's history than I am.

[vynegar]

vyn 5th birthday ssr, part one

so… it has (yet again) been almost a year and a half since my last translation. honestly i didn’t expect to be back either since i’ve been taking a hiatus from reading CN server cards, so this is a surprise to me too! there were just some parts of this story i really liked and wanted to translate, so here we are. i hope you enjoy!

disclaimer (there is an extra one): this is a fan translation and i am not fluent in chinese, so keep in mind that there will be mistakes. please also note that although i’m translating this story, i don’t necessarily agree with everything that’s said in the story or with how it handles certain topics (mainly regarding the justice system and mental illness). feel free to let me know if you have questions, concerns, or comments.

do not repost without explicit permission. if you want to quote this or reference parts of the translation, credit and link back to me.

check my masterlist for more of my analysis/translations.

timestamps go along with the card video here. it’s not mine, please support the uploader ShiroNaya by liking/commenting/subscribing. also note that while the video uses the S-CN dub, the text is T-CN, so the on-screen text may have slight differences with the dub and my translation.

[PART ONE]

[0:31] Themis Law Firm

It was lunch hour, and the drowsy atmosphere spread through the office like a virus. Sunlight blurred the words on my screen until they were hard to distinguish. My thoughts were starting to wander, as the red circle I had drawn on my desktop calendar looked especially bright.

MC: (Come to think of it, it’s almost Vyn’s birthday…)

Last year we were stuck in Svart because of the Appointment Ceremony, but this year things were quiet. However, I couldn’t be sure if this was simply the quiet before the storm, or if Eirik had truly understood Vyn’s resolve after we escaped…

MC: (Either way… last year was tumultuous, but this year we should be able to peacefully celebrate Vyn’s birthday. Maybe I should ask him what his thoughts are…)

I unlocked my phone. Figuring that Vyn was probably still taking his afternoon nap, I instead started to search restaurants he might be interested in…

Kiki: Huh!? Is this real?!

The quiet office broke out into commotion; Kiki’s shout startled me so much I almost dropped my phone.

Kiki: MC, look at this.

Before I could react, my vision was completely obstructed by a phone screen Kiki reached over to show me.

???: I, Zheng Yan, have had my life ruined by false charges! My family was torn apart, and now they’re all dead! Do I really deserve all this?! Yes, I’ve made mistakes. But if this is all just karma, then where’s the karma for the people who harmed me?!

Kiki was showing me a livestream of a middle-aged man standing on a rooftop. His face was haggard, his hair was mostly white, and he made no attempt to conceal his pain and despair. The hoarse shouting was scattered to the fierce winds.

Zheng Yan: You’re all good people, but I… I just don’t want to live anymore!

MC: What?!

The man stepped over the railing. His cumbersome body seemed like he might lose his balance at any moment, causing several more people in the office to cry out in alarm.

MC: Is he livestreaming his suicide?!

Kiki: Yes. He’s only just started, but the stream already has over a million hits.

A livestreamed suicide made for a shocking headline. Before long, the law firm was filled with continuous sound of the man’s laments.

Zheng Yan: My son is just a boy, but because we didn’t have the money for his treatment, all he could do in the end was just wait at home to die. When he was in so much pain he couldn’t sleep, I was in prison. When he was on his deathbed crying out for his dad, I was still in prison! I’m despicable. I should just die! I’m sorry, Xiao Zhuo, I’m so sorry… (1)

He was crawling on the ground, weeping. I couldn’t help but frown at the sight of such a heartbroken father.

MC: What happened to him? What made him like this?

Kiki: It seems like he was wrongfully imprisoned in Svart, but he hasn’t gone into specifics.

MC: Svart?

The sobbing gradually stopped. Zheng Yan calmed himself, then looked back into the camera.

Zheng Yan: But before I die, I won’t let the person who harmed me get away with it!  I’m going to show everyone your true colors!

[flashback]

[3:39] Interrogation Room

The room was dim. With the only window facing a hallway, even the alternation of day and night had lost all meaning here. Worse still was the unrelenting rain – like hypnotic white noise, the incessant thunderstorm wore down even the most resilient of minds.

Zheng Yan didn’t know how long had passed, but based on the increasing impatience of his interrogator, Detective Jack, he figured his custody limit was almost up (2). Just hang in there a little longer, he thought. They had simply gotten the wrong guy. Soon, he would be free, and once he was out of the police station he could go home to Stellis. It was summer, which meant Xiao Zhuo’s birthday was coming up. Zheng Yan hadn’t seen his son since coming to Svart. Did his son still remember him…?

???: Ahem.

A coffee spoon clinked against the walls of the cup. The crisp sound immediately interrupted his wistful daydreams.

???: You seem distracted.

Ah yes, how could he forget. There was someone else in the room.

A young man sat across from him nonchalantly, holding a coffee mug. There was nothing remarkable about his appearance – except his unforgettable eyes. Zheng Yan had been to prison in Stellis and seen people with all sorts of looks in their eyes: those muddled with desire, those agonized by regret… but he had never seen eyes so clear that they made him feel ashamed. People had weaknesses because they had a goal, and this man seemed to have no goal.

Zheng Yan: Oh… what were we talking about…?

Although the atmosphere wasn’t tense, Zheng Yan still felt a sense of unease. The young man hadn’t revealed his name, only that he was a psychology consultant invited by the police and that he just wanted to chat with him. It didn’t sound very formal, almost as if the police were out of other options… However, it was still possible that this was just a smokescreen for something else. What had this person been thinking when Zheng Yan was lost in his own thoughts?

Young man: We were talking about how the different the weather is in Svart compared to Stellis. You are still not accustomed to it.

The young man easily brought up the trivial topic, wasting the police’s precious time.

Zheng Yan: Ah… that’s right, summer here is nothing compared to summer in Stellis! Xiao Zhuo’s mom would always make a big pot of mung bean soup around this time of year, and any leftovers we would make into mung bean popsicles. Whenever Xiao Zhuo got so hot he was sweating like a pig, he would eat one to cool off. You probably haven’t had mung bean soup before, have you? Back when I was in Stellis, it was too sweet for me, but now I miss the stuff.

Young man: I have tried making it before, but it is not as hot here as it is in Stellis. Its cooling effect was not that apparent.

Zheng Yan: Oho, sounds like you’re interested in Stellis! You’ve even tried making mung bean soup. I didn’t think people from Svart had even heard of the dish.

Young man: Is that enough to count as “interest?” Although, it is true that I would like to visit Stellis.

The man was reticent, but it was the first time he showed an emotion that Zheng Yan could not understand.

Zheng Yan: Sounds good! When you have a chance, come visit me at my home. People from Stellis are very welcoming to guests.

Young man: “Visit you at your home”… So you believe you still have a chance of leaving.

The man responded to Zheng Yan’s promise with an almost-instinctual disdain, as if he knew something that Zheng Yan didn’t. His tone wasn’t even that of a question, it was one of finality.

Zheng Yan: Why wouldn’t I? I already said, I didn’t kill anyone. And the police haven’t found any evidence – are they planning on arresting a good person?

Zheng Yan unwittingly rose his voice. Ever since he’d been detained, everyone had been acting like he would never be able to leave… Why? He hadn’t killed anyone! The police had it all wrong, and there was no way they found any evidence. Once the custody limit was up, he would be free to go. Xiao Zhuo was still waiting for his dad. Zheng Yan was certain he’d be able to go home, of course he’d be able to, he had to.

Young man: You, a good person? Perhaps Stellis and Svart have very different definitions of what it means to be a “good person.”

Zheng Yan quickly realized that getting emotional was playing right into his hands… But no matter how much he tried to control himself, the derision in the man’s words wounded him deeply. When he left Stellis, Xiao Zhuo had said the same thing – sobbing, he said that he didn’t want a bad person as his dad. Xiao Zhuo was only a child, so that undisguised loathing had stabbed Zheng Yan right in the heart. He couldn’t help but clench his fists.

Young man: I saw your Stellis criminal record. First burglary, then armed robbery… just one crime after another. Right now your child is only seven years old, but the sum of all the prison terms you have been sentenced to is longer than the time he has been alive.

Zheng Yan: I admit it, I made a lot of mistakes in the past. I lost my way. But for Xiao Zhuo’s sake, I turned over a new leaf – I’m a changed man now!

Young man: Hah…

The man snorted. His blatant ridicule provoked Zheng Yan once again, even after Zheng Yan’s effort to calm himself down.

Zheng Yan: Is something funny?!

Young man: Why of course. I would love to ask Xiao Zhuo whether he thinks someone sitting handcuffed in an interrogation room is a “changed man.” I am sure he would laugh even harder than I did.

Zheng Yan: You have the wrong guy! I didn’t kill anyone, the cops made a mistake!

That had provoked Zheng Yan. His handcuffs made a harsh sound as metal scraped metal, a reminder of how dire and helpless his current situation was.

Young man: The police would not arrest someone without a good reason. Only you and the deceased were in the office when the crime occurred, and you do not even have a proper alibi. Do you really think you can escape this?

The man’s index finger tapped the table sporadically. In contrast with Zheng Yan’s agitation, he seemed certain of his victory.

Young man: You are only this relaxed because you believe the crime occurred in a locked room. As long as the police are unable to determine how you committed the crime, you will be released once your custody limit is up. But were your efforts really that flawless? To be honest with you, your custody limit is going to be extended again. This means that the police will have more time to investigate.

Zheng Yan: You guys—!

On the verge of being consumed by rage, Zheng Yan was no longer rational enough to discern the veracity of that statement. The young man paused, suppressing his annoyance at having to waste time talking to Zheng Yan, then put on a charitable expression.

Young man: There is a difference between choosing to turn yourself in and having to confess. I am sure you understand this better than I do, considering all the experience you have.

Because he wasn’t a police officer, the young man spoke with no reservation. Each word was filled with contempt for someone with a criminal record.

Zheng Yan: How can I confess to something I haven’t done!

Young man: Stop with the useless defiance. Have you thought about how your son would feel? Maybe when you left Stellis for a fresh start, he still had a sliver of hope for you. But if he knew how much of a coward you were, how you were trying to escape the consequences of your actions, I bet he would wish he never had someone like you as his father. You see, all you fathers are like this. You claim that you have your children’s best interests at heart, but in reality you are nothing but selfish!

Zheng Yan: That’s not true!

Zheng Yan pounded the table, but nothing could stop the man’s scathing words. The young man was still speaking, but Zheng Yan could no longer hear it. Once again, he recalled Xiao Zhuo’s sobbing face.

“I don’t want a bad person like you as my dad!”

“He would wish he never had someone like you as his father.”

The two voices wove together until they seemed to come from one person, and Zheng Yan couldn’t take it any longer.

Zheng Yan: Shut up! You’re lying! There’s no way… Xiao Zhuo is my son, there’s no way he wouldn’t want his dad!

Young man: Who would acknowledge a father who brings nothing but shame?

The man’s voice seemed to get sharper and sharper. Zheng Yan wished he could cover his ears but was unable to. With tears and snot streaming down his face, he knew he looked a complete mess already, but he just wanted the man to shut up.

Zheng Yan: Shut up! Shut up!

Young man: There you go again, trying to run away. How utterly humiliating it is for a son to have a father like you!

Would confessing to the crime shut that man up? He just had to confess, and that man would shut up. Then he would confess – to the murder or to whatever other crimes, he would confess to them all.

Zheng Yan: I… I did it. I confess.

Young man: Now if only you had done that earlier.

Completely numb, Zheng Yan didn’t even know what he was saying. He mechanically pressed his thumbprint to the document with his confession, signing it. Then, as if possessed, he looked again toward the young man.

Young man: *sigh*

The man hadn’t left yet. Of course the victor would want to stay behind to examine his spoils.

Sensing Zheng Yan’s gaze, the man looked back unflinchingly.

[11:11] [screen blacks out]

Zheng Yan vaguely recalled a nature documentary he had once watched with Xiao Zhuo back in Stellis. The eyes of a cheetah were visible from where it was silently hiding. It wasn’t that it had no goal, but rather that it had already determined its plan.

[11:19] Themis Law Firm

The sun was still high in the sky, but Zheng Yan’s narrative was so expressive that I felt like I was really in that dark, damp interrogation room.

Kiki: Do you think this Zheng Yan is telling the truth?

Kiki clearly felt the same way I did, as she subconsciously rubbed her arms and shuddered.

Kiki: Our current justice system is so refined that I don’t believe a confession could be induced or coerced… but his story is just so horribly realistic. It’s hard not to believe him.

MC: Right. Even if he were coerced to confess during the interrogation… There’s still a lengthy trial afterwards, where Zheng Yan would have plenty of opportunities to retract his confession. If there were no evidence whatsoever, how could he get such a long sentence based only on some botched false charges? But still, he doesn’t seem like one of those suspects who puts on act in order to be exonerated…

As a lawyer, we had seen countless suspects who kept up the crocodile tears until they were faced with ironclad evidence, then finally confessed.  As a result, it was critical for us to learn how to distinguish those who were putting on a show from those who were sincere. But his words had even stirred experienced professionals like us, let alone the vast majority of the public in the comments. Immediately, the comments toward the person who forced the confession became vicious and hateful, the words they used downright vitriolic. 

MC: Pain and despair aren’t difficult for a criminal to feign, but fabricating other characters in a story is much harder. You can practically feel the pressure from the psychology consultant that he described. If he hadn’t personally met the man, then considering his rash personality, it would be very hard for him to describe him so vividly.

Kiki: Vivid? I didn’t really feel that way, I just thought that person sounded scary. Maybe it’s because you’re with Dr. Richter, who’s also a psychologist. You’ve seen so much of his work that the story affected you more.

Kiki was just making an offhand remark, but it had given an outlet to the discomfort I was feeling. It was impossible to ignore the connection after the mentions of Svart, psychology consults, and those comments about his father. And yet I was unable to associate my image of Vyn with that person who trampled all over someone’s mental defenses. There was no way that the Vyn I knew could be an immoral person who stereotyped others and lodged personal attacks.

MC: Maybe you’re right…

Zheng Yan was still tearfully describing what he experienced in prison and how he returned to Stellis to find both his wife and son had passed away. I could faintly hear police sirens in the background. It seemed that the police had arrived at the scene, and the situation was changing rapidly. Zheng Yan, however, was hopelessly consumed by his own fury.

Zheng Yan: At first when I got out of prison, I just wanted to forget about everything that had happened and be together with my family. But I no longer had a family. At first I just wanted to take my own life and end it all, but I never thought that… I’d come across news of that psychology consultant. I never thought that he would actually come to Stellis, and even become a famous professor at Stellis University.

As Zheng Yan recounted his enemy’s personal information, it wasn’t clear whether he could predict the waves that those details would make.

Zheng Yan: The person who harmed me is out there living a great life, and here I am, an innocent man made into a criminal! How is the world so unfair!

Each sentence crashed into me like a tidal wave. Dimly, I guessed what he was going to say next, but I felt I could no longer think.

Zheng Yan: I know that if I say his name on livestream, it might be considered slander. But I’m willing to take responsibility for everything that I say. I’ll pay the price, no matter what it is. It’s not like I have anything left to lose!

Zheng Yan paused before facing the camera head-on, as if making a declaration of war.

Zheng Yan: It took a lot of work to find out what that consultant is called nowadays.

If he hadn’t spoken out on this kind of platform, maybe the situation could still be salvaged. But here, like an arrow released from a bow, there was no turning back.

Zheng Yan: His name… is Vyn Richter!

With a “whoosh,” that arrow sliced through the air, piercing me right between my eyes.

[END PART ONE]

[PART TWO]

(1) Xiao (小) is a prefix to make a nickname out of the name Zhuo (卓)

(2) “Custody Limit” Big Data Lab entry (under Academia>Law): A custody limit is the legal time limit that an accused person can be detained while under investigation, prosecution, or trial. Under Svart law, the police can arrest a suspect for up to 48 hours. If the suspect isn’t formally charged within the time limit, they must be released. The time limit can be approved for extension, but cannot exceed 96 hours.

[peachhcs]

anywhere with you

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)

somewhere in between samy's sophomore year of college and after will's rookie season, the two talk about what's next for them.

1.1k words

i'm back?? maybe?? hiii i've been on a small hiatus mainly because i didn't know what to write and didn't like everything i did write, but this little blurb may have gotten me out of the slump!! i wrote them sometime in the future..timeline a bit off, but it's okay we'll create our own timeline :)) also someone requested this awhile back and i finally got around to writing it

au masterlist

will made himself comfortable between samy's legs as they laid out on the couch together. the sun was warm—weirdly warm for an april afternoon in michigan, but neither of them were complaining getting to spend some time outside after being cooped up all winter. somewhere inside was luke and jack playing on the xbox and the couple could hear their voices from all the way outside on the back deck. the day felt perfect.

"ow, will," samy shoved her boyfriend's head when he was crushing a little too much of her leg.

"sorry, we don't really fit on this couch together," the blonde laughed a little.

"well, yeah. it's not made for me and a 6 foot hockey player. why are you sitting so close anyway?" she reached down to play with some of his messy curls.

"because. i haven't seen you since february and i leave in three days again," will said in a "duh" tone earning a small eye roll from the girl above him.

since playoffs were right around the corner, will didn't get much time off. he had exactly four days to do whatever he wanted and guess what he chose? spending all of it in michigan with samy while she was on spring break.

"right. guess you're telling me to be grateful you're here," she teased.

"i wasn't, but now i am," his lips turned up into a smirk. will disregarded his computer for a moment, flipping himself over so now his chin rested just below her belly button. samy couldn't help but smile seeing her boyfriend's big, goofy grin.

"nervous for the playoffs?" she wondered, hand wandering back down to toy with his curls again.

"a little. maybe i'm nervous i won't live up to everyone's expectations," will frowned.

"what do you mean? i feel like you met the expectations this season. everyone loved you," samy saw all the comments about the shark's new number 2. the fans went crazy for him and his talent was real.

"i know, i know. i'm just worried i'll blow it and they won't love me anymore," the blonde admitted. all the pressure was hard sometimes. will definitely thrived off of it to fuel him for his rookie season, but that didn't mean it didn't get to him.

samy's hand fell to his arm, giving it a tight squeeze out of love and comfort, "well, whatever happens, i'll be proud of you and i'll still love you."

will's face flushed, face heating up at his girlfriend's words. even if he's heard it a million times before, it still got him blushing like crazy whenever she said it. "i think your opinion's biased, but thank you. as long as i know you're watching i'm sure i'll be fine," now it was samy's turn to blush.

a comfortable silence fell around them as will's finger wandered and traced little shapes into the exposed skin on samy's stomach. he always got lost in his own world whenever they were together and he could never seem to think about anything other than her. (he also simply just never stopped thinking about her either, even on the ice.)

"i think because i'm almost done with sophomore year mom's started to pester me about what's next after graduation," samy changed the subject, breaking the silence.

"yeah?"

"yeah. nothing too annoying, but i know she wants me to think about it more than i have been. stuff like if i wanna go to grad school; what's my job gonna be; am i staying in michigan blah, blah, blah," the brunette mimicked ellen's voice pretty well making both her and will laugh.

"do you know what you wanna do?" will wondered, finger still tracing his little shapes which was as soothing for samy as it was for him.

"i mean..no. not really. maybe law school but i'm not 100% sure about that yet. i'm still gonna take the lsat, but i don't really know if that's my career path anymore," the younger hughes rambled a little.

"that's okay. you don't have to know. there's a lot you can do with a political science major. at least i know you can do a lot with it because you're so smart," will's words made the girl blush again.

"will"

"i'm being serious and i'm not just saying that. you're really smart, samy. you're gonna figure it out," he offered a half smile.

"i wish i was like you and jack and luke and quinn who just have their whole life already planned out because of hockey. like, they just knew from when we were kids that this was gonna be their life. i was always so..confused," samy frowned which will hated seeing.

"i think we just got lucky. you're gonna figure it out, i promise. if law school isn't for you, that's okay. you can do marketing, pr, analysis, literally anything. plus, there's always a home for you in san jose if you'd wanna like..i don't know..take a year to figure it out after you graduate," him and samy always talked about how she'd live with him wherever he ended up in the nhl once college was over, obviously joking —sometimes or sometimes it wasn't a joke—but right now will was being serious. samy could tell by the way he looked at her, his blue eyes so set and serious, yet so loving.

another blush rose to her cheeks, "i appreciate it. i'll definitely remember it."

"while we are on the topic though, whenever we decide to settle down..i wouldn't mind landing back here," the future, future wasn't a topic samy and will spoke a lot about together, but for some reason it seemed so close at the moment with how samy was going to graduate college in about two years.

"whenever we settle down? oh boy," but of course, she had to tease him about it first. will flushed, burying his head into samy's stomach. she giggled at his reaction, threading her fingers back through his hair—and will always wondered why his hair looked so messy after hanging out with her.

"but yeah, i wouldn't mind coming back here. i'd go anywhere really. i've been kind of everywhere growing up. you don't wanna go back to boston?" it seemed hard to believe will didn't want to go back to where his roots lived.

"i mean, yeah but i'll go anywhere you go. i don't care where i end up," the blonde smiled and so did samy.

"wow, you're so corny, but i'd go anywhere you go too. california, boston, michigan, wherever," will pushed himself up more so him and samy were almost face to face and he was basically on top of her.

"i guess we'll just be corny together then," they connected their lips in a sweet kiss.

"i love you, will," samy hummed when they pulled apart.

"i love you too," he made himself comfortable again, but this time right on top of her. it was clear they weren't getting any work done anymore, the warm air slowly putting them to sleep and everything else fading out.

[heechwe]

𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖⤷.𖥔 ݁ ˖.ᐟ

𝑰 𝑪𝑨𝑵𝑵𝑶𝑻 𝑩𝑬𝑳����𝑬𝑽𝑬 this blog has officially hit 2k followers! After coming from a years-long hiatus and seeing the XO music video, I didn't know how to come back and write even if I knew writing was such a big part of my life I wanted to reinvigorate. And now, because of so many of you, I have found my passion and creativity again, and this is just a post to thank those who have been here for me in this new phase of my blog! 𝑼𝑵𝑫𝑬𝑹 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑪𝑼𝑻 is where I'm going to be super mushy so beware. I can't help it y'all, I'm a Gemini!

𝑭𝑰𝑹𝑺𝑻𝑳𝒀, I would not be able to continue on if I didn’t have all of you, truly. I feel incredibly supported and appreciated by all the new friends I have made over the past few months being back and also being apart of the networks I am in now. I’ve realized that culminating a community is a key element to the creative process for me, and if it takes a village to raise a baby, it takes a whole community for a story to come to life. I don’t know where I’d be without having so many resources and helping hands whenever I need them, and I appreciate it so much. I could not write what I have recently without all of you guys in my corner, so here’s to say I love you all very much and I am eternally grateful. 🤍🤍🤍 Just know if I didn’t tag you you are still tagged in my heart forever and I LOVE YOU!! @seokgyuu @loserlvrss @yvnempire @temptaetions @haologram @gluion @heesuncore @jayparked @mini-mews @babeyun @won4kiss @luvlucia @00kittenz @hollyoongs @yoursjaeyun @sungbeams @okiedokrie-main @jenoslutie @mygnolia @kwanisms @enreveriee @shadowkoo @varietae @sweetvenomnet @svthub @k-vanity

𝑺𝑬𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑫𝑳𝒀, This is just to say that this community of writers is so inspiring. I see so many incredible writers every day and I am in awe of their talent, hard work, and creativity. I aspire to be as talented and dedicated as the people I aspire to. This is all to say I just wanted to highlight a few names here because literally everything these writers make is gold, honestly, and I am a huge fan. 🤍🤍🤍 @yeonzzzn @simpjaes @taeghi @yzzyhee @flwrstqr @paarksunghoon @ja3yun @jjunieworld @p4ranormaluv

𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑭𝑰𝑵𝑨𝑳𝑳𝒀, full-heartedly, I want to say thank you to every person who follows me now and has been following me for a long time. I am surprised every day when I see a like, reblog, or comment praising my work. Too often, I deal with bouts of Imposter Syndrome and wonder if I am cut out to write stories that live up to the ideas in my head. And with even one person who appreciates my work, it uplifts me a million times over. Even when I feel my work is not up to par, you guys are there to remind me my work is not worthless and I’m not shouting into a void. So, I am so grateful to be here with all of you and happy to share what I love to do with you guys, and as long as you want to read, I will be here to write. And I appreciate all of you letting me hold onto my first love. 🤍🤍🤍

[doyouevenshipbr0]

gruvia drabble

author’s note: HI!!! ok so im here. im risen. im inspired. here’s something FUNNYYYY about the inspo for this… so its based off of a theory from an anti gr*via post LMAOOO this feels soooo bitchy but i swear to GOD it is not a call out it is just genuinely something that gave me inspiration. so basically an anti said that gray doesnt actually have feelings for juvia and he is just saying that he does because he feels indebted to her for saving his life. sorta kinda something like that. im not gonna go back and look bc tbh i may have blocked the account? JFJDKDJDJ idk. anyways. here’s this. you’ll see where my heads at in a sec bc ur probably like “ok so how tf is that gonna be a gruvia fic” just WAIT ok my gears are turning. this one is a lot longer (and possiblyyyyyy OOC but in my defense!!!!!!!!! picture how gray would act if he were in an established relationship with juvia. like boyfriend girlfriend. for six months.) than it should have been BUT lets call it even for my million year hiatus. ENJOY BABIES!

~

Although Juvia had hardly gotten any sleep this past night, rolling around in her sheets all night with excitement, she certainly walked with a spring in her step when she eagerly made her way to the local convenience store.

She would’ve been lying if she said she hadn’t thought about setting up camp outside the little shop that night so that way she could hold those glorious, glossy, pieces of paper bound together by glue as soon as physically possible. Fortunately, she was reasoned with when Gray quickly pointed out the ridiculousness of the notion after she had brought it up to him as a genuine idea.

Making sure to get up bright and early the day of the big release would do. As long as she would be the first person in the store with the very first copy of that week’s edition of Sorcerer Magazine in her hands, she would be content.

Naturally, Gray initially rejected the idea. It was so completely and irrevocably unlike him. An interview about himself, just him, was a tall order, but an interview with him and Juvia, as a couple? There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell. For Gray, opening up to the people closest to him was hard enough. Even finally getting the nerve to ask Juvia on a date was something that took a great deal of time and effort. Things so personal like this were hard for him.

All these years in Fairy Tail, and he’s hardly spoken more than a few sentences to Sorcerer Magazine, let alone sitting down for a tell-all interview.

Unfortunately for him, his enthusiastic water mage was over the moon when Sorcerer Magazine reached out to them for an interview.

Public displays of affection were never Gray’s strong suit, and after finally realizing his feelings for Juvia, he still isn’t a fan. As much as he would deny it, he had become quite a softy with Juvia behind closed doors, but as soon as those doors open, he retreats back to his shell-like and cool exterior.

Even after a good six months of dating, Juvia really didn’t mind. It’s not like he acted like he didn’t know her. They went on dates, they were finally an official item, and he would even do subtle things like resting his hand lightly on her leg under the table at the guild hall or give a “Love you, see you later” loud enough for Happy to hear even knowing he’ll snicker and tease Gray about it for the next few minutes.

All in all, they were both content with the amount of their relationship they let others see.

So something like an interview with a very popular magazine would certainly throw a wrench in all of that for Gray.

But Juvia begged, and begged, and begged, and finally, once they came to an agreement about the types of questions they would answer and the depth of their answers, Gray agreed to the interview. After all, it would make her happy, and he was comfortable enough with himself and his self esteem at this point to be able to do this for her.

Juvia was elated with how the interview went. Of course, she had done most of the talking, but she was happy to do so. She tried her best to hold back on doting too much as to save Gray some embarrassment, and she thought she mostly succeeded. Even when questions got a little personal, like asking about how Juvia got the scar on her side (of course, with her new stripping habit when in battle, her scar is easily visible for large enough periods of time), she answered as succinctly and lightly as possible while still giving an honest answer.

So to say the headline that Juvia saw that morning plastered on the front of that cold and stiff magazine was horrifying was an understatement.

“Gray and Juvia: Girlfriend or Guilt Trip?”

Juvia wasn’t sure how many times the clerk at the store had asked “Miss? Are you alright?” before her consciousness finally came back into this orbit. She blinked for the first time in what may have been minutes, and looked up at the clerk. Without giving a reply, she looked back down at the magazine, and saw the picture they used, which was Juvia clinging to Gray, wrapped around his arm.

Gray’s face in the picture became warped by a water droplet hitting the cover, and then another droplet, and then another. It wasn’t until she looked back up at the clerk who looked even more concerned than before that she realized those water droplets came from her eyes.

“Sorry.” She quietly said as she handed the magazine to the cashier so he could scan it, handed him a bill of some value that she wasn’t entirely sure of, took the magazine back into her trembling hand, and left the store without getting her change.

Juvia got back to her apartment even quicker than she got to the store that morning. Every part of her mind told her not to do it, not to read the magazine, but then why did she buy it? Her brain screamed at her to put it down, not to go to the page of that article, but then why did her fingers frantically flip to page 14, just as instructed on the cover?

Each word was not only a dagger to Juvia’s very soul, but also a twisted reasoning and explanation, that Juvia fully believed by the end of her read. She couldn’t quite make the words into sentences or the sentences into paragraphs but as she buried herself in her covers, some phrases repeatedly burned into her mind and punched her in the gut such as “clingy”, “desperate”, and “leech”.

The worst part of it all weren’t the attacks at Juvia, but it was what this all meant for Gray. He was trapped.

He was her prisoner.

A prisoner that was bound to her out of a crippling feeling of guilt and sense of responsibility.

She may have been in her bed writhing in agony and mortification over these words for hours until a bang on her apartment door jolted her back to reality.

“Juvia? You in there?” Said that voice she knew all too well. How could someone’s voice be both such a comfort and a misery? She needed to hear him more than anyone at this moment and yet, she couldn’t bear to hold him hostage for another second.

She hoped if she said nothing, he would go away. But this was not the case.

The door slowly opened. “Juvia? Are you here? I’m coming in.” She winced as his voice got closer, now coming from her living room.

Her apartment wasn’t very big, so he found her in her bedroom in the next few moments. All Gray could see was a lump that was seemingly her body, crunched up into a balled up position, bound under her covers. Not even her face was out.

He stood in her doorway, not wanting to fully intrude “So you are here. Good.” He said calmly. “I was kinda’ worried when you didn’t meet me at the cafe this morning like you said you would.” Juvia then remembered they had plans to get breakfast together, bright and early, so she could gush about their big debut as a couple. Those plans changed

“Oh.” She said softly. “Juvia is sorry Gray-sama.” She tried to speak as clearly as she could knowing her voice was muffled underneath her blanket. “Juvia didn’t feel well this morning.” She lied.

“Oh.” Gray replied. He took a step into the room. “You sick?” He stretched his neck over her a bit to see if he could get any sort of glimpse at her face, but to no avail.

“Yes.” Juvia sniffled, using her congestion from her tears as fuel for her lies. “Juvia thinks it’s just allergies.”

Gray raised an eyebrow. Something was off. “Allergies? Since when do you have allergies?”

Juvia remembered in this moment that lying was not one of her strong suits. She was far too unapologetically herself to ever lie about anything, and she was just plain bad at it. To say she doesn’t have a good poker face would be putting it lightly.

“Well— Um—!” The pitch in her voice jumped with nervousness. “This spring has been a really brutal one! Pollen has been all over the place, and it’s driving Juvia crazy!” She finished with a fake sneeze, sealing her fate.

“It’s November.” Gray said, dryly.

Juvia’s face lit up a red so bright, she was sure she was glowing from underneath her covers.

After a few more moments of no response as Juvia tried to think of her next plot, Gray spoke again. “And I know you wanted to see me at the crack ass of dawn so you could show me the newest Sorcerer Magazine edition.” Gray sat down at the edge of her bed. “Even if you were in an accident that tore off all your limbs, you would’ve been at that cafe, magazine in hand, ready to explode from excitement. There’s no way some sniffles would stop you.”

There was another pause. Juvia meekly responded. “Well. Since Juvia’s body is made of water, it��s actually impossible for me to have all my limbs torn off.”

Gray barely let her finish the sentence. “Juvia!” He snapped back, fed up with the antics.

“And what does it really matter?!” Juvia erupted from her covers, finally revealing her swollen eyes, puffy and blotchy face, and ratted hair to Gray, whose eyes softened with concern. “It’s not like Gray-sama wants to have to wake up at 7:00 AM to meet Juvia for breakfast anyway! Just for Juvia to show you a magazine that I made you be apart of against your will.” Her eyes were welling with tears.

Gray was taken aback. His eyes widened with surprise and confusion. “Well-“

“Don’t deny it.” She cut him off. “We both know it’s true.” Tears dripped down her hot cheeks. “Just like it’s true how Juvia clings to you, and suffocates you, and even forced you into a relationship.”

“Whoa!” Gray sat up straight, and turned himself more to position himself facing her on the bed.

“And I always thought Gray-Sama just finally let Juvia in.” She interrupted him again, and gripped the sheets of her bed within her fists. “But it’s got nothing to do with that.” She looked down and gritted her teeth.

“Gray-sama feels indebted to Juvia since Juvia saved his life.” She clenched her eyes shut, and felt tears melt from her eyes in pools.

Her tense body jolted and almost instantly released tension as she felt Gray’s sturdy hands grab onto the sides of her arms, clutching her.

Juvia opened her eyes and looked up to find him just an arm’s distance’s length from her, staring at her with so much intent it almost looked like anger.

“What the hell are you talking about?” His voice is low and gravelly. Juvia was glad her eyes would cloud with more tears so she didn’t have to see his dark eyes piercing into her. She looked away.

“The magazine.” She pulled one of her arms from Gray’s grasp and pulled the magazine in question out from under the covers where it rotted away with her minutes ago.

Shamefully, she held Sorcerer Magazine out to Gray who promptly took it from her hands. She was brave enough to watch his face as he first locked eyes with the cover, but wasn’t brave enough for anything else. She saw his scowl quickly scan the bold words and looked back down as she squeezed her eyes shut.

This was it. The end. He would see those red capital letters shouting at him, telling him “Run!”, and he would heed the advice. Of course he would. The magazine was right, after all. He would turn to page 14 just as eagerly as Juvia did and read, in gruesome detail, the truth of their relationship. At least after all of this, he would finally be free from her venomous clutches. He would be absolved of all guilt, now that the article plainly told him the truth of their situation. He would no longer have to pretend-

CRRSHH.

Juvia’s cruel daze was broken by the sounds of Gray tearing the magazine in half.

And then another half, and then one more half for good measure.

“Gray-Sama!” Juvia exclaimed, shocked.

“What a load of shit.” Gray said plainly, but with distinct irritation in his voice.

“But! You didn’t even read the article! It explained how-“

“I don’t give a fuck.” He interrupted and finally made eye contact with her once again once the magazine was finally in enough pieces to do no more harm.

“Well, you should.” Juvia looked down at the shards of Sorcerer Magazine.

“And why is that?”

“Because it all made sense. From start to end. Our relationship. I clung and clung and clung to you, and when I saved your life, you had no choice but to break for me. You felt like you owed me something. And that debt was big enough to do something as crazy as convince yourself that you love me.” Although Juvia explained the situation plainly and logically, her own words were like poison in her mouth, as tears had no choice but to fill her eyes again. She looked up at Gray who was at a loss for words.

This was good. There was nothing left to say. She smiled softly at the thought of their departure, and thus, Gray’s freedom. She knew she needed to swallow her tears, so she did.

“It’s ok.” She shook her head with her smile still curled through her lips. “You don’t have to force yourself to do this anymore. The debt is repaid. These last six months Juvia has spent with you have been filled with enough love to keep me content for a lifetime. We can go back to being friends, and we can both be happy.” Juvia paused and watched Gray’s brow furrow.

“Thank you for everything, Gray-sama. Loving you this closely for this long has been everything Juvia has ever wanted.” She closed her eyes, and a single tear crept through. She smiled thinking about how even though they won’t be together, she will love him for the rest of her life, and that was more than she ever deserved.

“That’s enough.” Was all Gray said as he used one hand to pull her head directly towards him onto his shoulder, and he wrapped the other around the middle of her back. They were positioned awkwardly because of how they were sat on the bed, but Gray didn’t care or even notice.

“Have you officially lost your mind?” Was his next question, and his tone was still low, but a bit softer.

“Eh?” Juvia was at a loss for words. How did she en up in his arms?

“I knew this stupid interview was a bad idea.” He grumbled, talking to himself, but obviously for Juvia to hear. “It’s a magazine. Of course they would twist our words into whatever made for a juicier story.”

“But-“

“Juvia,” Gray cut her off and sighed. He grabbed her by her shoulders, putting her back at arm’s length, and looked directly at her. “Here’s the truth.” He said certainly. Juvia’s eyebrows clenched with confusion.

“I’m not with you because I feel like I owe you anything. I’m with you because you’re clingy, you’re relentless, and you’re obnoxious about what you want, which is me.” Gray was serious. Juvia looked down in embarrassment.

Gray gently swept her bangs out of her face, and his hand traveled to her cheek where he cupped her face. She had no choice but to look back at him.

“And I wouldn’t want it any other way.” He finally smiled, and Juvia’s heart oozed.

“What?” She whispered.

“You’re the most passionate, determined, loyal, genuine, kind person I’ve ever met in my entire life. You were the person who showed me that not only did I deserve love, but I was capable of loving. After all the people I lost, I had walls on top of walls on top of walls. And one by one, you broke each barrier down with a smile in your face.” He used a thumb to swipe away a tear, and Juvia let out a chuckle.

“Never in my life did I think I would think about stuff like romance or love. I was too scared. Now I think about having an actual future with somebody. And I know for sure that somebody is you.” Gray was saying things that Juvia only heard in her wildest dreams.

“Really?” Juvia grabbed onto the hand that held her face.

Gray nodded. “The way you’ve loved me has showed me how to love, Juvia. It took me awhile to get that, but I got it.”

He paused. He looked at the shred of magazing beneath him. “Not only is the person who wrote this article too stupid to know that I would never do something I don’t want to do or be with someone I don’t want to be with, but they’re also too stupid to know that you are the best thing in my life. A ‘guilt trip’ couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Juvia smiled, and instinctively her hand reached down for her scar, remembering how her sacrifice to save Gray’s life was what brought forth that term. Guilt trip. Gray took note of her hand placement, and knew she was thinking about this.

“Yes, you saved my life, and that may have been the moment that changed everything for me— for us, but not because I felt like I owed you, but because seeing how close I came to losing you made me realize that life is short. And up until then, I had spent all that time pushing everything off when I should’ve been letting you in. That moment made me finally realize that.” He looked at her deeply. “And I know I love you.”

“I love you too, Gray-sama.” Juvia finally allowed herself to melt in his arms, and he wrapped her up in his warm embrace.

“Y’knowww~” Juvia almost sang. “Saying you see a future with Juvia is practically the same thing as a proposal.” She snuggled closer into him.

“Alright, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” Gray reflexively replied.

Juvia giggled and nuzzled even further into Gray’s chest. “Thank you, Gray-sama.”

Gray and Juvia held each other for a little while longer as the discards of Sorcerer Magazine crumpled and bunched up within the covers where they sat, but they didn’t care.

They let the words be buried beneath them.

[l0vem41l]

it's a new year and i still love you.

「 tws + notes: no tws, unedited, gwen wearing her shoes on the bed made me wanna claw my eyes out but thatz ok can u tell shes a fave, do we f with pining and yearning, short asf but shhhh dont talk 2 me im in hiatus 」

「 gn!reader, romantic...ish relationship <3 」

↳ ft. gwen stacy, hobie brown, miles morales (1610 + 42), miguel o'hara

author's note: i miss writing for atsv. anyways this is a draft from new years. ITZ LATE I KNOW I KNOW SHHHHHH

▸ GWEN STACY who's not the best with words, but has drafted about a million letters of confession for you anyways. they stay in a shoebox under her bed— some crumpled up, folded away out of timidness, or ripped out of frustration with none of them quite good enough for you.

she's spent the entire year writing letter after letter and has experienced the hand cramps to prove it yet, no progress has been made.

during new years, she invites you over for a celebration for two, just hanging out in her bedroom.

she's praying you don't notice that she accidentally left the shoe box out. freaks out when you ask her about her new kicks— until she realizes you're referring to the ones she's wearing. the ones she stole from hobie. phew.

silently makes a promise to tell you eventually. while terrified of losing you— gwen at least wants to let you know you're loved and cherished, that you mean the world to her. maybe this year.

▸ HOBIE BROWN who's figured that whatever you have is better than nothing. he's as direct as possible with you without saying it outright. and it's not quite a relationship, not quite a friendship— but he likes it that way.

at least you're heading into the new year together, watching the fireworks in the distance on a rooftop. there's no better place to be in the world, as far as he's concerned.

hobie offers you a kiss on new years as a joke yeah right, but will definitely be surprised when you happily lean in and plant a few on his face.

"are you missing on purpose?" he quips, chuckling to himself.

he decides to place a quick one on your lips, just as it turns midnight.

both of your faces heat up as you awkwardly glance away from him— but then you feel hobie lean into your side, his head rested on your shoulder.

▸ MILES MORALES (1610) who's rehearsed the planned confession in front of his mirror night after night, only to realize an entire year has passed and he still hasn't told you.

he tries to and... yeah, fireworks make it hard for anyone to hear anything. it's okay though. at least they're pretty. not as pretty as you. he watches you tilt your head and laugh and nod politely, knowing damn well you didn't hear any of what he said.

after a moment, the noise dies down enough for you to say, "hah... uh— sorry what?"

miles decides just to crack a joke instead. something about starting his year off right with you around. nearly dies when you grin and squeeze his hand in agreement.

▸ MILES MORALES (42) gets you a nice gift even though new years gifts aren't exactly typical. just wants to show that he cares about you.

will try to scowl as you grin and gush about it but eventually chuckles at your reaction to such a simple gesture.

you have a minor freak out, realizing you have no gift for him— but he only shrugs.

"you're enough."

the grin that forms on your face is almost stupid. he's already anticipated the words that will come out of your mouth as you tease him for being sappy. he just rolls his eyes, threatening to never be nice again. whine and complain about it and he'll reconsider.

▸ MIGUEL O'HARA is barely celebrating new years. sure, realizes he's done absolutely NOTHING in terms of confession and intends to keep it that way. i mean. he's kinda busy. and maybe this next year will pull you two apart.

you don't kiss him at midnight, mainly because he's barely spoken the entire time and you're worried about his silence— but you place your palm in his instead. the size difference of your hands makes you smile slightly.

you pause, glancing at him. "i have a good feeling about this year."

he quirks an eyebrow up. "yeah?"

"yeah. we'll have each other."

your earnest smile is enough to send him into cardiac arrest atp.

"...i guess i have a good feeling about it too then."

— reblogs always appreciated!

[poguestarkey]

not in the same way- t.n.

back after a quick 8 month hiatus my b

decided to write a little blurb about reader not being in love with theo since i feel like it's always the other way around.

yes i am eating up the tiktok ideas of him being italian don't start w me

warnings: just angst on angst, destruction of a friendship, theo being sad (that's a trigger in and of itself tbh), sickly sweet adorable girlhood moment btwn the GryffGirlies, like one potty word, i plucked that one scene right out of TSITP don't come for me, horrifyingly unedited cuz i just dont care

theo nott x gryffindor!reader

-----

Dread.

That's all that washes over you when you finally meet his eyes. It runs ice-cold through your veins and you can practically hear what he's going to say before it even leaves his mouth. You're sure he can see the way your head shakes slowly as you realize because he reaches for your hand and holds it tightly between his. Not out of comfort, but as a plead.

Please, please don't do what I think you're going to.

Theo... oh, sweet Theo. Theo, with his huge blue eyes and endlessly large heart. Theo, always the first to celebrate the small wins with you. Theo, who in theory, should be the perfect man for you.

But Theo, who no matter how hard you tried, never made your heart sing the way your friends giggled about.

You never thought twice about the way his hands would linger over yours as he explained Arithmancy problems or how he always pulled you close in by the shoulder while chatting with his Slytherin friends, his fingers mindlessly tracing patterns into your sweater. His sweater. You've been friends since third-year, best friends. So many years of being close to him desensitized you to the constant comments of "That's Nott's girl," and "Would you look at the lovebirds!" They never hit home and you always scoffed them off with ease.

With ease, until last weekend in your dorm after an open-mic night at the Three Broomsticks. You and Theo had performed the most atrocious duet rendition of the new Weird Sisters song, "Why Can't You See."

"Y/N, do you even see the way he looks at you?" Parvati asked. Your head shoots up this.

"What?"

"C'mon, Y/N/N. The man is absolutely smitten with you. It's almost painful to watch, really," Lavender piped in, causing Hermione and Padma to sit up and join the conversation. Eyes widening, you realize who they're talking about.

"Theo? No... No, Theo and I are just-" You're cut off.

"Just friends. We've heard. A million times," Hermione sighs. "I mean Merlin's beard Y/N, you have to have noticed by now. Nott can't keep his hands off of you."

"'Mione, that's not- no, that's different. He just likes physical touch and that's fine-" You're cut off yet again by a slurry of teenage girls throwing evidence at you.

"-ever touch Malfoy-"

"-actually lights up when you enter a room, I've never-"

"-bigger heart eyes for you if they were cartooned on him in the Prophet-"

Your hands grow shaky and your breath becomes heavy in your lungs as the weight of what this means washes over you. Hot tears prick at the corners of your eyes and you fight the burn in the back of your sinuses with everything you have.

"Wait!" Hermione nearly shouts, and the cacophony of squeals and stories comes to a halt. "Y/N? Why are you crying? Are you alright?"

Her words make the first sob break out of your chest, and your hand shoots to your mouth to try and stifle the sound. Padma, ever the lover, is immediately at your side.

"I- I- I can't... I don't lo- if he really feels that way, it will destroy us," you cry, leaning further into her touch. Quickly, and with increasing amount of concern written on their features, the rest of the girls surround you.

"What do you mean, love?" you can't see her, but you know it's Lavender's breathy voice. "Isn't this a good thing?"

"No, no, no, no-" Your breath begins to hitch again, and 'Mione rubs gentle circles on your back. "Lav, him being in love with me is the worst thing that could happen."

"I don't mean to be insensitive, but the rest of us are quite out of the loop here and, er, well- why?" You let out a chuckle at Parvati's bluntness, but still felt the squeeze of the answer in your heart. You've known, deep down. You denied it as hard as you could manage but still, it creeped up on you, terrorizing your thoughts.

"He will never forgive me. I know he'll try so hard, but it'll never be the same, because he will never forgive me for not loving him the same way. Because he's done everything right. He is kind, and patient, and loving, and all of the wonderful things I've always said that I wanted but still, I just don't love him like that. And I want to- fuck, I want to so bad. It kills me that I can't. But he can never know that I know, because he will never, ever forgive me when I can't say it back." The last few words come out nearly inaudible as gasping sobs take over your body. "And I am so afraid to lose my best friend."

A squeeze from Hermione saves you from your thoughts. No one knows what to say, and Padma pulls your pillow and quilt from underneath you before grabbing her own, forming a pile on the floor. The corners of your lips perk up as you realize what she's doing, and soon the room is filled again with the sounds of girlish giggles and gossip and your four closest girlfriends do their best to keep your chin up for you.

The rest of the week, you can hardly look Theo in the eyes. You're not trying to avoid him, but every time you're in the same room you feel so overcome with guilt that it's hard to breathe.

On Sunday, you skip breakfast and hole away in the library under a stack of potions textbooks, shooing him away with a curt "Sorry, Teddy. Too busy."

Monday, you sit at Gryffindor's table for every meal and only speak in DADA to tell him it's his turn to practice defensive spells.

It's Tuesday night when you get the owl.

Y/N/N,

please talk to me. i need to see you, i'm worried. you're not alright.

i miss you.

-T

You write him back on the same piece of parchment, your shaking hands causing ink to splatter into tiny dots across his script.

I know. I'm sorry. Friday night.

Wednesday and Thursday are a blur of forced smiles to him and the burn of his stare from across the Charms classroom.

Friday comes, and you're damn near ready to pull Mrs. Norris' tail just to get a detention.

You know the exact bench in the courtyard he'll be sat at, and you count your paces as you walk. His eyes catch you and he swings his feet off the ledge, shutting his book.

"Y/N," He breathes, the sweetest smile on his face. "What's going on, cara mia?"

Every strategy you had for keeping him away from the elephant in the room goes flying out of your head faster than a Firebolt.

"It's nothing, really. Please don't worry. I know I've been distant but it's really nothing to be concerned about so-" your voice is getting louder and faster, a tell-tale sign that you're not telling the truth.

He cuts you off with your name.

"Y/N." You're eternally thankful that it's late enough that no one is outside with you. "Tell me what's happened. Please." His eyes grow even larger with pure concern and he moves his hand to tuck a piece of hair behind your ear. You pull your lip between your teeth while thinking about how to respond.

"I just... Teddy, I can't tell you. I just can't. I promise it's alright, I just don't want to talk about it." You're lying through your teeth and you're sure he knows it too.

"Alright," he whispers, voice dropping. His hand hasn't moved from the side of your face since he fixed your hair, and his eyes move to scan the slope of your lips. You can feel the pit in your stomach start to form as you fear what's coming next. "You are the most beautiful thing on this planet, you know that?"

His thumb is tracing the plane of your cheek.

"Theodore..." He smiles at his full name, and his eyes start to close.

No.

No.

This is what you feared so much.

That you would lose everything over one moment, just like this.

He can't be more than a breath from your mouth when both of your palms find his firm chest and push him away.

"Wait- wait, Theo. No. I don't- I'm sorry, but I-" His eyes snap open, that beautiful blue full of confusion. "I'm sorry, Theo." You can already feel hot tears threatening to spill over, and your stomach is churning.

"I.... What?" He says it so quietly you aren't even sure he meant to say it aloud. His hands move from your face, now salty and wet, to run through his hair, tugging on the strands.

"That's what I've been off about. I've been scared that you're gonna..." You gesture wildly between the two of you, not sure what to call it.

"Kiss you?"

"Yes."

"Why would you be scared of me kissing you, Y/N?" He looks genuinely, honestly puzzled.

"Because... because I don't... I didn't know, and then this weekend the girls were all on about it and I had no idea what they were talking about, and they told me, and I just panicked, Theo. I had no idea." He's stood up now, and you're seconds behind him, standing still in the chilly air as he paces and presses his hands into his eyes. "If I'd known sooner, Teddy... I would've- I could've done something, I don't know, could've tried-"

He stops, now just in front of you. "If you knew?"

"If I knew that you felt that way-"

"I thought you knew!" The crack of his voice splits your chest in two, unaided by the tears beading in his eyes. You've never seen him cry. "I thought you knew! From the moment I crashed your cabin on the train, I thought you knew."

The two of you just stand there, staring at each other, as cold, biting raindrops start to fall from the sky. You fight to form words but absolutely comes to your brain and you can't do anything but stare at him as he continues.

He hasn't even opened his mouth to start the next sentence when you realize what you're going to hear. You can't tell if it's the rain or the pure dread coursing through your veins that's turning your fingers ice-cold as you shake your head "no" to something he hasn't even said yet.

"I've been in love with you since I was 13, Y/N/N." He's holding onto your hand with both of his like it's his only lifeline while he desperately spills words. "I am so in love with you. You turn my world. You are my absolute everything. It consumes me. I can't hold it anymore, Y/N," He cries. Your eyes are squeezed shut and it's a wonder you haven't broken his hand with how tightly you're holding it between you. "Please, please, please say something."

"I love you," He sucks in a breath and you open your eyes to meet his. "I love you so much, Teddy. More than anything." His hands are now on either side of your face, and your fingers are laced around his wrists. "But I'm not in love with you," You choke out, grip relaxing.

His forehead presses against yours and he does nothing to quiet to sobs racking his body as you pull him against you, wrapping your arms around his warm frame.

You whisper dozens of apologies and "I wish I dids" into his ear before he releases you and sits back on the bench, moving the thoroughly soaked book to the side so you can join him. His head is in his hands and his elbows rest on his knees, and you think that you've never seen him look so defeated.

Finally, you tear your eyes away from him and stare straight ahead at the ivy covered walls, praying that the silence swallows you whole.

It's practically deafening, actually, because the sound of his heart breaking is echoing across the stone.

Eventually, you speak up.

"I think... I think I should probably go, right?"

He picks his head up but doesn't look at you as he replies:

"Yeah, I think that's for the best."

[livelybutterflyy]

introducing the new standard

FORMING : 

It was February of 2015 when Lee Hyori's representative team announced that her contract with her entertainment agency had expired 2 years prior. 2 months later, she announced that she closed her blog aswell as her twitter account & 5 months later it was announced she’d be taking an indefinite hiatus from her entertainment career, “to pursue other ventures”

In the new year of 2016, new accounts on all sns called THE NEW STANDARD came out , their first and currently only post? A casting call calling for anyone born from 1992-2004 to audition along with a link.

Press the link? A document form for future trainees to fill out the information and submit. 

The next day, a formal professional photo of Lee Hyori was posted to the account along with the caption, “please support me in my new endeavors”, the post reached 600k likes in 48 hours.

Over 10,000 people auditioned for the first audition held by TNS, only 130 people made it in, who placed number one? Only Naoi Rei , a future member of The Nowhere Girls Club.

BUILDING :

This is their new building, built late 2021 due to the success of The Nowhere Girls Club and BILLLIE. It is 20 floors on each part of the building, every group has their own floor and there are still floors to spare for future artists. The middle part consists of office rooms and conference buildings.

This is the dorm building for the artists, it is 3 bedrooms each apartment, and if a group is big enough (svt) they are able to occupy a whole floor. The left side is for male artists and the right side is for female artists. The middle part has a spot for idols to hangout

FIRST TRAINEE GROUP : 

The NEWTEAM was a very popular predebut trainee group that consisted of 6 girls and 6 boys, they were set to be the first two groups that TNS would ever debut, the working names for the two debut teams were EUNOIA , for the girls team and SUNSET , for the boys team.

Notable trainees for EUNOIA team

Naoi Rei (The Nowhere Girls Club)

Mo Danielle (Newjeans)

Park Sieun (StayC)

Unfortunately, the three other members of EUNOIA decided not to pursue the idol life after the failed debut of EUNOIA.

Notable trainees for SUNSET team

Myung Jaehyun (Boynextdoor)

Shinyu (TWS)

Dohoon (TWS)

Yuma (&Team)

Unfortunately, the two other members of SUNSET decided not to pursue the idol life after the failed debut of SUNSET.

FIRST GROUP :

THE NOWHERE GIRLS CLUB (아무데도 여자 클럽) also referred to as TNGC (스파), is a six-member girl group under THENEWSTANDARD. TNGC consists of; Manon, Yunjin, Rei, Chaewon, Sooyoung and Megan. They made their official debut on june 19, 2020, with the debut extended play ‘stay out of my soul’ and the lead track ‘accendio’, their Pre-release track came out June 12th 2020.

Originally set to debut nearly 2 years before with a near completely different line up , the circumstances with their debut and pre debut era was quite unknown until their documentary ��the world is my oyster” came out in june 2021 for their 1 year anniversary. 

Their debut was immensely successful, allowing TNS to buy PLEDIS and to build a new building. Some of the many accolades the group received for their debut : A rookie grand slam, having 6 million pre-orders for their debut album winning 6 daesangs, having the fastest song to hit 1 billions streams in history (6 days ) & many more. 

THE NEWCOSMOS : 

The NEWCOSMOS is an app similar to weverse solely for TNS artists, the app came out along with the debut of TNS’ first debut group, TNGC. 

It has many features including , livestreams , messages akin to direct messages, “group chats” where all members can participate in, stories like instagram and more ! 

The app has small bubbles per artist ,called “topias” for example, THE NOWHERE GIRLS CLUB’S is called “clubtopia”, ZEROBASEONE’S is called “ONETOPIA” & YENA’S is called “YEPIA” 

The app is available in all regions and countries and the age rating is 13+ 

Slight ibs : lumisdr & phoning 

Acquisition of Pledis : 

On May 25th 2021 it was announced that THE NEW STANDARD has aquired Pledis entertainment and that the company would be dissolved into one.

On July 19th 2021 it was announced that all 13 members of SEVENTEEN had renewed their contracts with THE NEW STANDARD and 8/9 members of FROMIS_9 had resigned aswell , with member GYURI leaving at the end of the year.

ACTING LABEL : 

On June 1st 2022, THE NEW STANDARD announced the launch of their sublabel THE LAST STANDARD that would operate as an acting agency with Han Yuna serving as CEO . ( Han Yuna doesn’t exist here. )

A List of some actresses / actors currently under The Last Standard

KIM MINJU 2022-

BAE SUZY 2022 – 

MOON DA’AH 2022 – 

BYEON WOO-SEOK 2023 – 

LEE JAE-WOOK 2023– 

CHUU 2023– 

SON JIWOO 2025 – 

KIM GARAM 2025

MODHAUS ACQUISITION

On November 29th 2024 (loona 9/11 /j) it was announced that THE NEW STANDARD had acquired MODHAUS and their two groups TripleS and Artms. 

On December 1st it was announced that all members of TripleS and Artms had renewed their contracts with THE NEW STANDARD and would continue their activities.

There would be a slight change though, Cosmo would have a limit to how many times members could be in a unit to make it more ‘fair’ for other members and to lift the amount of work one member has to do.

GROUPS & SOLOISTS 

THE NEW STANDARD leads every generation it participates in (currently, yes it's only two generations but wtv) it is the standard for all other kpop companies.

Groups : 

SEVENTEEN 2015 – active 

FROMIS_9 2017 – active 

TNGC 2020 –  active

BILLLIE 2021 – active

KEP1ER 2022 –  active

VIVIZ 2022 – active 

LOOSSEMBLE: 2023 – active

TRIPLES: 2023 – active 

TWS 2024 –  active

ARTMS 2024 – active

ZEROBASEONE 2024 – active

IZNA 2024 – active

ABLUME 2025 – inactive

GIRLS ON FIRE 2025 –inactive 

RIIZE 2025 – inactive (re-debut)

LOONA 2025 -- inactive

Soloists : 

YENA 2021 – active

NAYEON 2022 – active

CHUU – 2023 –active

ROSÉ 2023 – active

✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・✭

extra things

We brought back fun to kpop

the company actually protects us

Collab variety show named "the newverse" that airs weekly starting from 2022

85 % for idols , 15 % for company

Training is very good , all idols are very talented

Extremely good at promoting

Doesn't discriminate against idols, all idols are cared for under TNS

[hballegro]

grandpa is gonna kick everyone's ass at basketball

hes got big thighs for a boy what do you want from me.

also he doesnt have to have a red bandana because hes repping the st louis cards [canonically accurate]

the file is officially Too Large [over 10k pixels across] so now i have to split the group shot up into segments so it actually uploads rip

just now realizing bj's head is really fuckin big comparatively. prolly gonna fix that when i do charles rip

bts under cut

shoutout nick valentine for being an aged man that i drew 5 million times in prep for making face wrinkles not look like ass

after my field day hiatus wherein i did everything but his face and stopped for like 5 years; yeehaw hes here.

i hope you all are fully realizing by now that i CANNOT dress myself let alone anyone else. that being said charles is gonna be wearing polo-esque clothing and have a sweater tied around his neck because rich people play polo and tennis. what do you want from me

shout out the cards they're a banger of a team. had to learn the whole history of their fucking hats for this and originally hat it as white and red [wrong for the 50s]

lastly

the file names

really fucked up grandpa on that one huh

[gofancyninjaworld]

OPM Manga Update 247 Review

I was puzzled as to why the translation for this was listed as a redraw, as the previous chapters had covered the entirety of the ninja arc to date before the hiatus. Then I realised that it was the numbering foolishness messing with the translators. EH! Not my problem. Shall we go on?

Summary

The chapter opens with Suiryu being discharged from hospital. He's been given a huge bouquet by the nurses and wished a speedy return to hospital, something he understandably has no plan to do. As he makes his way down the road, his attention is attracted by screaming, which turns out to be coming from a woman about to be eaten by a monster giant anteater. He splits it in half with a single chop, noting with satisfaction that his strength has returned.

He turns back to the business at hand, that of finding the Hero Association and Saitama, and is surprised that every online search for 'hero' brings up the Neo Heroes. Things have definitely changed... but he doesn't have much time to muse on it for he is nearly flattened by the enormous head of what had been a much bigger monster giant anteater. Could Saitama be out here? No, the person who'd sent the monster's head flying was an idol. She introduced herself as Webigaza, and that she was back from her hiatus to work as a Neo Hero as well as sing. She pauses to take a deep drink of water -- she's thirsty -- and then encourages people to support the Neo Heroes before flying off.

Suiryu stares after her like a cat seeing baubles hung up on a Christmas tree. Come to that, maybe he's a little thirsty too. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to check out the opposition first... after all, he can quit right away. Elsewhere, we see an unamused Suiko surprised that her brother has discharged himself without telling her. Her concern quickly turns to outrage when she reads the note he's left for her and realises that he's stuck her with the bill.

He's just the nicest guy, isn't he?

Suiryu arrives at the Neo Hero tower and is quickly ushered into the testing facilities. With difficulty, he gets squeezed into a power suit, all while muttering to himself about how uncool it'd make him if he approached that girl looking like that.

Once on though, he feels the enormous surge of power it brings. Excited, he flexes, and the suit crumbles like a badly-baked biscuit. Worse, he now need to pay for it. Five million, which is more than the three million he earned in the Superfight.

If you break it, you've bought it. Love the detail of Suiryu flexing hard enough to break his remaining armband.

The chapter closes with a weeping Suiryu being introduced to Metal Bat. He's stuck in Neo Heroes until he can earn enough to pay off his debts.

Oh yeah, one final detail. Has McCoy handed in his notice before he started moonlighting for the Neo Heroes? He better have, the rat!

Phew, thank goodness this wasn't longer! Shall we do some meta?

Meta

We're a week on, so the outraged whines of fans expecting a showdown between Blast and Void have died down. It's totally par for the course. All I will say is this:

If you were around when this chapter (chapter 67) was first posted, you'll know that it was well over a year (in chapter 77) that we got to find out what happened.

Yup, ONE reserves the right to go 'Meanwhile...' and go somewhere else, sometimes for extended periods of time. Deal with it.

Saturation Bombing

Well, now we're back to the Neo Hero storyline, and man, when they launched, they launched HARD. They've sopped up all the SEO real estate to crowd the Hero Association off the first page of the search engines. Their TV and billboard ads are everywhere. They've even bought up the storefronts around around their headquarters. And all in the space of days. The wallets bankrolling this venture must be abyssally deep (I will return to this in a sec).

A leopard doesn't change his spots

I won't lie: Suiryu is the character I've had the most trouble seeing the point of. I've tried, but I'm still of the opinion that this lazy, feckless, superficially charming, and not-at-all-nice guy gets given way too much real estate. Well, he may be serious about wanting to be a hero but he's still as feckless as he ever was. Yes, he won a considerable sum of money just before being hospitalised and so had no chance to spend it. Yet, true to his nature, he fucks off and sticks his sister with the bill. And true to his nature, he decides to take a pass at an idol (someone who will have hell to pay if she's even thought to be dating), fully intending to cut and run as soon as he gets what he's chasing after. Well, the wheels were always going to come off sooner or later. Might as well be now. Good.

Chef's Kiss

I know that many people were a bit disturbed to find how... normal Webigaza looks but I think it's FANTASTIC. Why? Well, a slightly creepy idol isn't everyone's cup of tea, but they'd be someone's shot of whiskey, unusual and thus not interchangeable. It's a recognisable brand she'd have been able to build on. That worked *against* Webigaza's stated desperation to stand out and gain lasting fame.

Anyone into the 'creepy doll' look really, really is into it, and won't be substituting them for another.

By making her an absolutely normal-looking idol, loveable but totally replaceable, Murata has understood the brief. I can 100% believe that this Webi is desperate to be different in some lasting way when she looks exactly the same as a dozen other idols. I can 100% believe her when she's obsessed with Sweet Mask and wants what he has when she knows that the crowd that cheers for her today will cheer just as enthusiastically next year for someone who looks and sounds almost exactly like her. That she'll be forgotten despite having poured her entire life into entertaining. And that she'd rather die than see it happen.

Because she looks generic, it makes sense that she's painfully aware of how replaceable she is.

This works. This really, really works.

Let's talk cash, pt. 1: suits of contention

As many sharp-eyed readers have noticed, that suit that Suiryu got given looks awfully familiar. It's a dead ringer for the ones that Tongara's team got given by Narinki.

And once those suits hulked out...

... they looked an awful lot like the ones Hammerhead's crew got their hands on.

No prizes for guessing that this Neo Hero thing is most probably a front for one of the most successful conspiracies in fiction, The Organization. Successful because they're able to work to achieve their aims without anyone blabbing prematurely.

Let's talk cash, pt. 2: debtor's jail

It probably shouldn't surprise us too much that Suiryu is in such good shape after leaving hospital. After all, it wasn't just any hospital he went to but a Hero Hospital, a place where exceptional effort is expended in healing people rapidly. Also a very costly place, as McCoy pointed out to Mad Devil Yankee.

The drop of realism that sells the fantasy harder: yes, there's medicine and technology to heal up incredible injuries and illnesses super fast. But the price is steep!

Oh yeah, the apparent throwaway is becoming quite relevant now. I wonder if someone will point out to Suiko that joining the Hero Association would be a quick way to discharge her brother's medical debt?

I wouldn't mind this brewing Neo Hero saga to stick around a little longer. But I'm easy -- I've long since stopped expecting a particular thing to happen at a given time. All will be well in the end.

[vyorei]

PSA:

Unfortunately I will be taking a temporary hiatus.

When I started sharing news reports in October I had never expected for things to go on for this long with the sheer level of carnage and slaughter that was taking place. I was foolish, but I was determined to see through what I'd started because people wanted to know what was happening.

At the time I had been recovering from a long illness and was trying to find work. I was grabbing reports from 2pm to 3am at the start, every single day. The hours shrank over time, obviously, because that was too much for one person. I'd wake up, immediately get the news, then neglect myself for the day trying to get everything out. Then I recovered enough to work again, got a new job, and had to try and balance that and the news, but also try to find enough time to rest and recover from physical energy loss and the mental stress of work and activism.

On top of this, as I've stated before: I am disabled. I have conditions that are tough for me to manage, they often incapacitate me and the burnout is intense.

An extra and private factor is that I live in a very volatile and unhealthy situation, one that I am hoping to finally escape after years, the time is approaching, I want to be free.

I have reached a limit point where I need to take a proper extended period away from reporting to try and get my energy and things together so that I can try to finally exist like others do. It stings to think so, though, because 2.2 million Palestinians don't have that opportunity and I recognise my luck and privilege.

After I sort things out, I will come back and resume reporting, as I firmly doubt the atrocities being commited by the Apartheid state will have ceased in mid-April and people will need to have access to the news.

Thank you all for the support and kind words you've offered over these last 5 months. I'm sorry I have to go for now and the guilt is rather immense, it goes against my nature to need to do this.

I'll be back by the end of April, maybe sooner if everything goes smoothly. There is no set date as return is entirely unpredictable at this moment given the situation, I apologise.

Don't stop talking about Palestine

Long live the fighters 🇵🇸✊🇮🇪

[angelikook]

Keep Your Enemies Close

⤿ Pairing(s): Detective!Namjoon; Mafia boss!Yoongi; Mafia!Taehyung x reader

⤿ Genre: Slight angst, slight fluff, mafia, detective, crime

⤿ Word Count: 3.3k (unedited)

⤿ Warning(s): Murder(s), profanities

⤿ Summary: This time, you realize that your annoying brother, Namjoon, might not be so annoying after all. Not especially after what you two have been through.

⤿ A/n: This is the first fic I’m writing after years of hiatus :D I’m trying something different with this fanfic where Y/n is not the center of the story. This fanfic is not so much about the romance between Taehyung and Y/n, but more about Namjoon and his attempt to fix his relationship with his sister, Y/n.

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"Don't. Tell. Me. What. To. Do." Y/n slammed the door behind her, leaving only the Mandarin smell of her perfume, Vanilla smell of her freshly washed hair, and a gust of wind from the closed door.

Namjoon plopped himself on the couch, not minding the creaks it let out. His mind had other things to think about.

First, Mr. Lee. Somehow the killer of his parents disappeared with million dollars worth of drugs. It'd been reported that he might have stolen it and smuggled it somewhere. All of Namjoon's progress on finding him vanished. He had to start over.

Second, Y/n, his dear sister, the only family member left. After the death of their parents a few years ago, she became more and more distant with him. She barely ate the food he cooked, rarely answered his calls, and went out until late at night. And today was no different.

He came home to a messy house. Today's breakfast leftovers were still on the table. Stale and soggy. He gagged during the entire process of cleaning them.

Trashcan overflowed. It was still fresh in his mind when he told Y/n to take out the trash as she left this morning. Guess she didn’t listen to him as usual. Reluctantly, he grabbed the full trash bag and dragged it out. He really needed to give Y/n a word on discipline.

Upon returning to his dim apartment, Namjoon could've sworn the atmosphere in his apartment had changed. The strong smell of alcohol mixed with tobacco was a dead giveaway. He never arrived home smelling of alcohol or tobacco.

Namjoon slowly closed the door behind him. “Come out,” he says to no one in particular. He didn’t know who or how many people were there. Until the intruder chuckled.

“You’re well trained. Like a dog.” Yoongi walked out from his hiding place while clapping. The scar across his right eye glistened under the dim light.

Third, Yoongi was on the wanted list. Several smugglings of weapons and drugs couldn’t really get far without notice in this city. And for a criminal on the run to show up in front of you was not a good sign. Yoongi in Namjoon’s living room was a bad sign. A bad omen.

“I don’t have time for this.”

Yoongi sat on Namjoon’s couch. “But you do. Because fucking Mr. Lee ran away with my stuff and I know you’re on the lookout for him.”

Namjoon couldn’t say he wasn’t interested. But he wasn’t about to let a mafia boss interfere with his own mission. “What does it have anything to do with me?”

“Because I know where he is. And I know your people are looking for me. Go put two and two together.”

“Let you off the hook and I can kill him? Deal.” And as easy as that, Namjoon reached an agreement with a fugitive.

They shook hands and just a moment before Yoongi disappeared just like he usually did, Yoongi said, “Oh, and your sister, she’s safe.”

***

Unlike any other mafia gang, Yoongi’s wasn’t in a shady part of the city. In fact, his headquarters was in the nicest business complex in the city. Namjoon scoffed at the sight of the skyscraper. It was very on brand of Yoongi to hide in plain sight.

“What are you waiting for? Come on in.” Yoongi in his black suit, standing right in front of the door.

“I want to see my sister first,” Namjoon said as he followed Yoongi into the lobby.

“Not so fast. I don’t want to see any sibling fights here.” Yoongi headed to the elevator with Namjoon still in tow. “You should know why and how she got here.”

The elevator dinged and opened. At first it looked normal, until Yoongi gestured to the panel inside it.

“Real diamonds,” he commented.

Namjoon scoffed again. Only Yoongi would want his elevator buttons to be made from diamonds.

“As I said, you need to know why she got here. Only then you won’t yell at her when you see her,” Yoongi continued his speech as they waited until the elevator stopped.

“I have my reasons.”

“I know. That’s why I’ll explain to you why you shouldn’t.”

"You seem so confident I won't be angry after listening to your speech. But you should be aware that Y/n is my sister. Whatever I do to her is for her own good."

The elevator stopped and opened. The two of them walked out.

"Bla bla bla, that's what adults say to kids. Or you to your sister. But she's no longer a child. She knows her things."

"She clearly doesn't know anything if she ever chooses to stay with you."

"That's where you're wrong. She clearly knows more than you if she ever decides to stay here." Yoongi gestured to the long corridor in front of them.

The corridor reminded Namjoon a lot of the corridor of a hotel. Long, narrow, carpeted, cold, and quiet. Doors upon doors lined up with numbers on them. This floor must be where Yoongi's people sleep.

"This floor is one of the 'living' floors if you wanna call it that. This is where we sleep. Well, not me personally, but you know what I mean," Yoongi explained. "This floor is where my high ranks sleep. And to enter, you must go through facial recognition."

Only then Namjoon realized that in front of him was a glass door. Clear and almost invisible from how clean it was. On the side of the door, there was a panel in which Yoongi scanned his face. A beep and a green light showed that the facial recognition worked and the door opened.

"Let's go." Yoongi walked in with Namjoon following suit. The carpeted floor padded the clicks from his chelseas.

"The higher ranks only get a fucking glass door as protection?" Namjoon questioned.

"If the glass door is broken, it'll send an alarm to go off and enforce a metal wall as a temporary replacement. That wall is even stronger than the entire building. You won't go through unless you can knock down the entire building." Yoongi smirked. "Like I said, your sister is safe."

Yoongi stopped in front of room number 1017 and pressed the bell. As if their visit had been anticipated, a man opened the door.

The man was probably in his late 20s, not much younger than Namjoon himself. But despite the slight difference in age, he looked way rougher than him. His eye lines were clearly visible, his jawline sharp and decorated with razor scars from shaving. A toothpick hanging from the side of his lips. Namjoon didn’t know who he was, but he prayed it wasn’t anyone important.

“Oh, it’s you, boss. Come on in,” the man invited both of them inside. “Y/n is in the bedroom. Go sit wherever, I’ll call Y/n.” Then he left to what Namjoon guessed as the bedroom.

“That’s Taehyung. My right hand. My best strategist,” Yoongi said while taking out a lighter and a box of cigs from his pocket. He put the items on the coffee table before sitting on the white couch.

Namjoon followed suit, sitting in front of Yoongi. The couch definitely felt much nicer than his. No creaks nor groans even when you forcefully land your butt there.

“Why is he in Y/n’s bedroom? And why does she own a room here? Is this the reason why she’s rarely home anymore?” Questions upon questions left Namjoon’s mouth.

“I’ll answer them one by one. This is not Y/n’s room. This is Taehyung’s. You see how the room is two-storey?” Yoongi pointed with a nod of his head at the stairs that lead upstairs, something Namjoon had only noticed. “Best room for my best people. Y/n just stays in Taehyung’s guest room. I let my people bring important guests over, they are even allowed to stay as long as they want. Isn’t that great?”

Namjoon about to open his mouth when Yoongi continued. “I know you want to ask why Y/n is an important guest for Taehyung. Well, I’ll let Taehyung himself explain it to you.”

As if on cue, the man Yoongi mentioned appeared with Y/n in tow. Her wet hair and widened eyes upon seeing Namjoon said a lot.

“Well, nice to meet you.” Taehyung’s calloused hand shook Namjoon’s. “I never expected to meet you like this. As you can probably guess, I’m dating Y/n. I’m probably the reason why Y/n likes to go out a lot. But I can assure you, she’s safe more than ever.”

Before Namjoon could say anything, Yoongi said, “Yes. For my most trusted people, I also take great care of the people the love. Y/n is safer here than anywhere.”

To be frank, none of those reassuring reassured Namjoon. He wanted answers from his sister. “No. Y/n, how did you know them? How did you get here? Is home not safe for you?” The last question was rhetorical since Namjoon himself was constantly afraid of Y/n’s safety.

“Bro, I’m an adult.” Y/n took a seat beside him. “I’m gonna be honest with you. I know about Mr. Lee. I know I’m not safe.”

“Then why are you always criticizing me when I’m on my mission to find him?”

“Because, if you do something to him and he catches on, he might do something to us. I’m not scared of your safety because you’re the head of the city’s police department. If you ever go MIA for a few hours, they’d be on the lookout for you. But, what about me? Who’s keeping me safe?”

For once, Namjoon no longer saw Y/n as the little girl who used to follow him everywhere, but as who she was. A grown woman in her mid 20s. A grown woman who spoke sense into him.

Y/n continued, “Taehyung is my boyfriend. I met him during one of his missions in the cafe beside my office. My card kept being declined, then he helped me. And after a few weeks of returning favors, we made it official. Weeks later, he told the truth about everything. Mr. Lee, the coffee shop, and me. I was in denial at first, but everything he said made sense.”

“But why you never listened to my explanation about Mr. Lee?”

“You’re always yelling at me when you’re talking about him. You never once listened to me.” Y/n raised her voice but Namjoon wasn’t phased. He was here for answers, not fights. Especially not with his sister.

“I assume what I said about him aligns with Taehyung’s explanation.”

“Yes. That’s why I deem being with Taehyung is safer.”

“And even if Mr. Lee is captured and killed. You still don’t want to come home? Do you still want to stay here?”

Y/n took a deep inhale. “Yes. But for a different reason.”

“What is that? You love him?”

“Not only that. I’m marrying him.” Y/n grinned at Taehyung who returned her smile with his own. “Whether you like it or not.”

“But our dad wouldn’t want that. Our dad was a good man. He wouldn’t want you to marry a gangster.”

Y/n laughed bitterly. “Our dad is a dead man. Mr. Lee killed him because he ran with his money. If I want revenge on him, it would be because he killed mom in the process.”

Namjoon held back a snort. So Taehyung already told Y/n about dad’s involvement. “So don’t marry Taehyung. For mom,” he finally said.

“I’m marrying him for mom. She wouldn’t want me to marry a backstabber and Taehyung is very loyal.”

Not wanting to think about losing his sister, Namjoon sighed. “Fine. We’ll talk about this later. At home.”

Yoongi clapped his hands once. "Good. Now let’s talk about business.”

***

If he were being honest, he would have expected Yoongi’s office to be on the highest level in the building. Instead, it was on the second floor.

“Would wanna be close to my hostages,” was Yoongi’s answer when he was asked. He sat down on his chair which looked more like a throne.

"You're sick," Namjoon commented, sitting in front of him. Unconsciously describing himself as the lavender smell in Yoongi's room slowly intoxicating him.

Yoongi bursted a laugh. "I'm the most normal mob boss. The others are all freaks and stupid."

Namjoon wanted to beg to differ but stopped himself. There were bigger things to talk about. "Are you not worried at all about showing me all these things?"

"We made a deal," Yoongi replied matter-of-factly.

"I know. But I also know your business."

"Even if the police come, they'll find nothing. I'm clean." Yoongi continued in a whisper, "I know how to hide."

Namjoon rolled his eyes. Of course Yoongi was right, that was part of the reason why his name had been sitting on the wanted list for years. It had been common knowledge that no one could find Yoongi. If one had met him, it was because Yoongi himself approached them first. Namjoon had initially thought it was just a fairytale, meant to scare children. But after seeing Yoongi manifesting in front of him, he started to question his beliefs.

"So, what now?" Namjoon finally asked.

"Let's just skip all the intro, shall we? I want you to cover my back." Yoongi placed a glass in front of Namjoon before pouring a drink into it. "Do you drink?"

"Not in daylight."

"Good. I don't feel like sharing." Yoongi picked up the glass and drank it whole.

"So you were saying?"

"Yeah." The glass clanked as it hit the table. "I have some ships coming, carrying my stuff, I want you to cover my back. If you say yes, I'll bring you to Mr. Lee. If not, you're going home. What do you say?"

"I'm in."

Yoongi was right when he said he wanted to be close to his hostages. He was indeed the closest person to them. The basement, where Yoongi kept all his hostages, was inaccessible from the elevator. There was only one way to get there and it was only through the hidden door in his office. The hidden door then led to yet another elevator.

Yoongi and Taehyung walked out the elevator first, leading the way through the tight, dark corridor to a room with many doors. The rows of doors kind of reminded Namjoon of the 10th floor, except this was less fancy, less lighting, and more cold.

They stopped in front of a random door, or at least what Namjoon thought was random. Taehyung inputted some code and the door unlocked.

"This is the moment you've been waiting for," Yoongi whispered to Namjoon before entering right after Taehyung did.

One thing Namjoon noticed immediately was the man tied to a chair in the middle of the room. He looked nothing like the Mr. Lee he knew. His unkempt beard and receding hairline made him seem older than he actually was. Eyes dropping, signs that he had been here for a while restless. Nevertheless, Mr. Lee had put on a grin on his face, greeting the three of them with yellowing teeth.

“Kim Namjoon, nice to see you,” Mr. Lee said loud and clear as if he was the owner of the place.

“Let’s cut to the chase,” Yoongi says to Namjoon, not even once acknowledging Mr. Lee’s presence nor his words. “Do whatever you want. Taehyung and I will be outside.”

Just as Yoongi and Taehyung were about to step out of the room, Namjoon responded, “No need.”

He pulled his pistol, aimed at Mr. Lee’s grinning face, and pulled the trigger. In his mind, he was already thinking of an excuse for his missing bullet to his superior.

“Wow, that was quick.” Yoongi chuckled followed by Taehyung as they looked at the splatter of blood on the floor. “Call someone to clean up, yeah?”

***

A loud bang woke him up. He scrambled up from his bed before walking out of his room towards the source of the sound. A series of 'fuck fuck fuck' could be heard coming from the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Namjoon crossed his arms at the sight of his sister facing the stove. "And when did you come back?"

Y/n quickly turned her back and grinned. "I wanted to cook us something. Taehyung drove me here around 11 p.m. You were already asleep."

“Tell Taehyung I say thank you.” Namjoon thought he should probably start to warm up to the young man.

Y/n brimmed. “Will do. I might bring him here in the future so he can properly introduce himself.”

Namjoon snorted. What an extraordinary life he had. “Why are you cooking, though? You can’t cook.”

“I cook because I want to say sorry.” Y/n put the pan on the dining table. “I guess I was wrong about you. I was too harsh. Taehyung told me everything last night, including what you did to Mr. Lee.”

Namjoon felt like his heart might burst from contentment. “I apologize, too. I should’ve seen things from your perspective. I was too rash and reckless.”

“Aww. It’s okay. Everything is okay as long as we’re together.” Y/n ran to him and hugged him tight. Her face was buried on his chest.

Namjoon snaked his arms around her frail shoulders. His nose took on the scent of burnt food on her hair. It had been forever since he had Y/n in his arms. The last time was when Y/n crying from having to let go of their parents too soon. It was nice to finally hug her again on good terms.

***

"What got you all smiling like that?" Seokjin said before gulping down his morning coffee.

The room was too hot for Namjoon, typical Seokjin. But since it was Seokjin's room, he wasn't one to complain.

"The case with Mr. Lee. It's done. I'll write the report soon."

Seokjin's eyes widened. He had been here longer than Namjoon had, hence he was Namjoon's only superior in the department. But during all these years he had spent rotting in his hot sauna-like room, not even once he found the trace of Mr. Lee. "How did you find him?"

A bead of sweat started to form on Namjoon's back he could feel. He really had to leave this room as soon as possible. "He was found dead. I'll explain the rest in the report."

Seokjin leaned forward, afraid that his voice could be heard from outside his room. "Does this have something to do with the missing bullet?" he whispered.

Namjoon shrugged. "Maybe."

As if it was timed, a knock could be heard from outside the room.

"Come in," Seokjin yelled.

The door opened and revealed the new, young police recruit whom Namjoon recognize as Mr. Jeon.

"Someone by the name Ms. Min wants to see Mr. Kim," he said.

Namjoon stood up from his seat. Silently grateful that he had a guest right when he was about to sweat bullets in Seokjin's room. "Bring her to my office. I'll see her right now."

"On it." With that, the young man closed the door.

"Guess I'll talk to you later?" Seokjin asked.

"Yeah. How about lunch?"

"Sure."

Namjoon's office was right beside Seokjin's so it didn't take time to get there. When he opened the door to his office, he was met with a waft of lavender, which reminded him of Yoongi's office back at his headquarters. He suspected the smell was coming from Ms. Min's perfume.

Upon hearing Namjoon walking into the office, Ms. Min stood up from her seat and faced him. Namjoon almost couldn't stop himself from gasping when he saw who wanted to see him.

Ms. Min smiled and extended her hand towards him. "Hi, Mr. Kim. Nice to meet you. I'm Yoonji, Yoongi's sister. I'm here because I have a proposal for you."

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[Taglist]

@lyoongx @jjddk @babeejeon @thehopelessromanticclub @okvmv

[seducemefanficsandheadcanons]

I'm literally about to simply yap about a rewrite I started forever ago.

So, I'm definitely going to steer away from canon a lot more when I rewrite my rewrite lmao.

Initially I was worried about doing so. I started it because I struggle with plotting, and the plot was pretty much already there.

But I personally feel I have grown as a writer since starting it, and I think I can do a lot better than I had. I want it to be more than rewording what's already in canon, I want it to be new. Maybe not a new story, but a much more fleshed out version than I had originally planned.

Like, I want to explore a relationship with each boy before Mika choses Sam. And not just, oopsie I've kissed all of them. I want there to be conflict with the boys because they have all fallen for this woman, and she isn't even fully aware of it.

I want to explore the incubi's magic more and incorporate my headcanons better. I want to really dive deep into the possibilities of their magic and for that to terrify Mika, more than it did in canon and in my rewrite.

For example, Sam is more brute than the others, so how would that affect his magic aside from being able to feed on rage? I headcanon he can use fear enthrallment. Or how much can Erik affect dreams! Canonly he just absorbs them, but that's kind of boring lmao. I want him to be able to create them.

And some smaller headcanons as well! I like to think all of the boys have fangs for example.

I want to really work out Mika's background and explore her relationship with Harold more. This man was practically her father figure in my canon, but I would like to flesh that out more. I also decided to give Mika a power, I have now given Aron, my self-insert. I hadn't really developed Aron as a character, so in some ways, I had put her into Mika. I felt like I was writing multiple people in one character, so I failed to make her a consistent MC. Also, I want to make Mika a college student or have her already working at a job.

I want the threat of Malix to be truly explored. I failed to do this properly, and the plot was very much all over the place because I was like "Wow! Since it's a rewrite, the plot is basically written out for me!" so, I never truly sat down and thought about what I wanted to happen differently aside from ideas. I do plan to actually plot this out when I start again.

I want more hesitancy from Sam. (The boy I have chosen for the fic, because he is canon and because I live laugh love him) I want these weird fuzzy feelings in his chest to confuse him. Demons aren't able to love, so the fact he's feeling something that can only be described as such must confuse him.

There are so many more things, but these are the ones that come to mind. I am actually going to write this story and plot it out, whether that is with a million bullet points or chapter by chapter.

Really when I think about it, I'm still relatively new to writing. I started on Wattpad around mid-January of this year in attempt to gain back some cognitive skills after major surgery and because there were so many Seduce Me the Otome ideas, I wanted to read but couldn't find. I had just gotten into the fandom I have loved the game for many years, but it never went beyond playing the game and watching YouTube videos. I had never used Tumblr before and had never even heard of AO3. Wattpad was the only fanfiction website I knew about.

My point of saying that is that I am still knew to this. There are still things I'm learning and want to continue to improve. So, I am trying to have grace with myself for my lack of consistency and plotting.

It is still on hiatus, until I finish Soul Bound, I likely won't write for it at all.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[genericpuff]

I WANNA TALK ABOUT THE FUCKING EISNERS-

i've been finding lately that there are so many topics i still wanna talk about concerning LO and its development and they just don't happen because i get distracted or busy and my brain is like "ok we're just gonna pretend we've already talked about it even though we haven't" JFKDLSAJFDASKLFJSLKA

Let's talk about the Eisners and LO's recent 'win'.

I've already briefly mentioned in previous posts that LO has had a lot of its awards and accolades bought for it. This is especially true for both the NYT Bestseller label (seriously, none of those labels are ever earned, it's not some top 100 list that you compete on, it goes to whoever is willing to pay for it or whoever an editorial column wants to highlight) and, of course, the Eisner Award, which is not exactly an award judged by the industry's finest (the judges this year were made up of largely comic book shop owners and librarians).

But we're not here to talk about that. I wanna talk about what happened after LO won its second Eisner.

First off, the fact that it can be nominated at all when it doesn't even really fit the criteria for their submissions is sketchy at best:

see: "new, professionally produced long-form original comics work posted online in 2022." LO is not 'new'. Sure, it has new episodes, but I don't think that really follows the spirit of what they meant by 'new'. The Eisner doesn't seem like an award that should be granted to the same series twice, is my point, and that's one of the many complaints brought up in the absolute dressing down that LO got in its announcement post on the Webtoons Official IG page.

Of course, you can see for yourself right here.

But for the sake of fun, let's share some of the excerpts here.

(and yes I'm sharing a LOT of these because frankly I don't trust WT to not delete them in an attempt to hide all the shit that's being thrown at their precious "baby")

While names have been censored to protect the users involve, I will say one thing - this isn't some attempt from antiLO/ULO members to brigade the series' win, there are other comic creators in this discussion as well from the Canvas section who aren't pleased with seeing LO win another Eisner when there are multiple new series from this past year alone which deserve more attention than they're getting. Again, see for yourself if you click on the link above, the vast majority of comments on this post are expressing their disappointment and you can tell from how they've been sitting at the top while all the positive comments are being 'pushed' to the bottom - the like counts say it all.

All of this, paired with the fact that LO didn't win a SINGLE user-voted award during the Webtoonies, goes to show that the Webtoons audience is over LO. They're done with it. It's not relevant anymore, the only ones who still keep up with it are the stans and those holding on in the hopes that the story gets around to resolving the SA plotline and gets its TV show (which I've also mentioned has a real possibility of not happening, at least not now when it would count the most LMAO)

It still gets more likes than any other series on the platform (for now) but you can tell during its current hiatus that when LO is out of sight, it's out of people's minds - despite many of these episodes now being weeks old, their like counts aren't going up, no new readers are being pulled in. And the fact that a series with over 6 million subscribers can barely scratch 100k likes nowadays is... really something.

And that's on its free to read episodes, it's FP episodes - where views count the most because it's where LO makes its money and initial views - aren't even a fraction of what the free episodes often take well over a week to gain at this point.

Episode 252:

And the midseason finale, 253:

Compare it to Down to Earth which gets 70k likes on average on its free episodes (though its current new FP is sitting at the 1k mark), is LO still bringing in higher numbers than other series? Yes. But it's clearly falling to a point where it's going to be on par with every other comic on the platform in no time. I can't even imagine what it's going to be like after it comes back from this poorly-timed hiatus, when all of its official fan groups have also been shuttered preventing people from staying in touch within their own fandom.

Awards like the Webtoonies are, while largely just for street cred, still audience-based, and I really hope the fact that the people have spoken not once, but twice through their engagement with the platform - both through the comment section on LO's Eisner win and the votes in favor of other series in the Webtoonies - will be a major wake-up call to WT that they can't keep trying the same things over and over again expecting different results. They can't keep stuffing money into LO as if advertising or awards are the reason LO isn't pulling in the numbers it used to. They can't keep pretending that LO still has the merit and credibility that it once had 5 years ago.

It's like that comparison from Super Eyepatch Wolf talking about why you shouldn't take advice on how to be "successful" from Youtubers who got famous 5+ years ago:

"Say you decide you want to become a carpenter, and particularly, how to build a nice chair. Think about the kind of person you'd want to learn that skill from. Would it be from someone who has built nice chairs every day for 20 years? Or would it be the guy who built one nice chair five years ago out of a special kind of wood that doesn't exist anymore, who has no experience with the kind of wood available to you now?"

LO is a byproduct of a version of Webtoons that no longer exists. It was fortunate enough to join the Canvas section when the Canvas section was still only lightly populated, before WT started trying to sell the idea that anyone could become "rich" on their platform (an idea largely perpetuated by creators LIKE RACHEL who only became big because WT threw all of their money at them), before Greek myth comics became commonplace (again, something that's a consequence of Rachel/Lore Olympus) and before the romance genre became largely filled with problematic "dark" romances (again, see Lore Olympus).

Do you see the pattern of what I'm talking about here? A lot of what Webtoons became known for was a byproduct of Lore Olympus and series like it, because those series did phenomenally well, due to being in the right place at the right time, so WT went "hey, cool, this makes us lots of money! Let's do more of that!" Obviously this isn't to say that Lore Olympus is the root of all evil here OR that it didn't have its own merit back in the day, but if you make a series that blows every other series out of the water in stats, it's only natural for a company to want to pursue more series and story tropes like it in the hopes that it'll replicate exactly what comics like LO did, completely misunderstanding why LO did well in the first place. At the time, LO's art was unique for the platform, and it was tackling a story that was extremely popular on platforms like Tumblr so it naturally gained a crowd.

But that was five years ago. Since then, the WT audience climate has changed dramatically, as it always does every few years; and LO and WT haven't kept up. We went through a phase of BL, isekai, and now WT seems to be in an odd limbo because it's still clinging to a series from three whole lifetimes ago, especially now with so many of its other signature series either finally ending (True Beauty) or walking away from the platform entirely (Let's Play).

At this point, Lore Olympus is a chair that was nice five years ago, but has since started to fall apart - its paint is chipping, and its legs don't stand up so well anymore - and WT is still trying to sell it you as the exact same chair - with cheap new paint and a few bits and bobs attached to try and convince you that the chair is new - but it's long past its prime. This isn't to say that the chair itself doesn't deserve to exist, just that it shouldn't be given so much proprietary advertising and attention when there are so many other works on the platform that deserve to be uplifted and seen.

LO was good for its era, it was successful for a reason, but we're halfway through 2023 and it's painfully obvious that the comic and the platform's audience is ready to move on to new territories. Webtoons just needs to learn to let go.