#also also the funniest thing about this song is the agency it gives the other girl and the helplessness of the guy

[itspileofgoodthings]

things I truly do not give a damn about: Taylor removing the mattress line

[bungou-stray-dingus]

hey there, so like this is my first time requesting but your writing is sooo good i can't help myself. if you could, could you make a scenario for dazai and chuuya where his s/o is a non-ability who is very bubbly and innocent but they find out she has a deadly skill that could almost pass as an ability. im sorry if you're busy, you dont have to write this if you dont want to. I LOVE YOUR WRITING SO MUCH💕💕

OH IM GONNA WRITE IT BECAUSE I THOUGHT OF THE FUNNIEST BUT ALSO CUTEST THING OH YEAH ITS GETTING WROTE

THANKS BOOBOO ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Dazai

You were like an angel, too pure for this world. Your heart was filled with nothing but good. You donated to charity, helped out in elementary schools during the week and volunteered at children’s hospitals, homeless shelters, and animal shelters during the weekend.

He looked at you as if you were a saint. Whenever you would come home from volunteering he’d bow down at your feet. “My goddess has returned! I’m not worthy!” You’d laugh at his dramatics, grabbing his hand and helping him off the floor.

“Shush.” You’d say before pecking a kiss on his lips.

When you weren’t out helping in the community, you were at home doing what you could to help out without being there. You took up knitting, and Dazai joked about it often. He even went as far as to buy a rocking chair with extra cushion for you to sit in while you would work. “You’re the cutest grandma, you know that?” He’d say, and you’d throw your ball of yarn at him.

“Shut up, and bring me my yarn back.” He’d re-wind the yarn that came undone when you threw it as he walked the ball back to where you sat.

He poked fun at it, but he would often sit on the floor next to your rocking chair, becoming entrances as he watched your hands carefully wrap the yarn around the needle and thread it through the loops. He didn’t understand how you did it, but everything you made came out perfectly, especially the tiny hats for newborn babies with matching booties, and sweaters for dogs and cats in the shelters for when it got cold. You had even made blankets for the people at the homeless shelters, making sure to use the softest yarn that would also be warm.

Sometimes he would come with you to the hospitals or the homeless shelters when he wasn’t working. He never went to the animal shelter though, he didn’t want to be anywhere where dogs were.

When he would go to the hospitals with you he would spend hours making over the babies and how cute they were in the new hats and booties you had made for them.

“Y/N, is it illegal to take a baby from the hospital?” He would ask you on the way back home and you’d just stare at him.

“You’re a cop, I hope you’re joking.”

“Yeah, obviously I’m joking but... so it’s illegal?”

You were used to people not liking your boyfriend. He had helped bring a lot of people to justice in his line of work. You weren’t expecting people to hate you though. Dazai had worked hard to make sure that anyone from opposing agencies or enemies didn’t know that you and him were dating. In the beginning he was always worried and on edge that something bad may happen to you just for being associated with him, but it’s been a year and a half now and nobody had tried to hurt you or kill you.

That’s why you were less than serious when the door got kicked open and three men stormed in, all of them wielding knives. It had to be some kind of weird prank by Dazai, or maybe even some strange act that would set the stage for a new fantasy kink.

“I’m kind of busy right now, can you come back in an hour?” You said calmly, holding up the knitting needles to show them that you were occupied.

“We don’t give a damn. You’re coming with us.” One of the men said, you didn’t know what he looked like, all of them had black masks on.

“Eh, I don’t think I am.” You shrugged, not even looking up from the new sweater you were making.

They were getting angry, the three men stomped over to where you were sitting in the rocking chair. One of them held his knife to your throat, and you finally realized that they weren’t joking, and Dazai wasn’t in on it. “I think you are. That bumbling boyfriend of yours needs to know. Mess with us and we mess with him. Now let’s go.” He pressed the knife deeper and your fight or flight instinct kicked in. You wouldn’t be able to outrun the three of them, so you had to fight.

You gripped the needles tighter, bringing your arm up to jab it into the mans neck. He staggered back and fell to the floor against the wall, trying to pull the needle out.

“What the fuck!?” One of the other men shouted, as the third one started sprinting towards you. You quickly grabbed the knife that the first man had dropped, preparing yourself to stab the man before he could get to you. As soon as he got close enough you forcefully pushed the knife into the mans stomach. He screamed as you twisted it, making him drop to his knees, blood dripping out of his mouth from the damage you had caused.

The final man stood there, assessing the scene, his hands in the air. He had already dropped his knife.

“Get the fuck out of my house.” Your voice was low, you were out of breath. You watched him run out your door, then took the time to finally realize what you had done. “Oh my god. Oh... oh my god....” You swallowed back the bile that was rising up your throat. You had killed two people, you had single handedly taken out two grown men. You were a murderer.

With sweaty hands and shaking fingers you dialed Dazai’s number, praying that he’d actually answer.

“Hey swee-“

“You need to come home, I need your help. Please hurry and come home.” Your voice was as shaky as your hands were.

“I’m coming.” His voice wasn’t as cheery as when he first picked up. Obviously his first thought was that you were being attacked or someone was trying to break in. He wasn’t expecting the grisly scene he walked into.

He examined both guys, confirming they were dead, and you couldn’t really understand why he was smiling the entire time he was making his mental report. You couldn’t see anything good about having two dead men in your apartment.

“You did this? Yourself?” He finally looked up to you while poking the knitting needle protruding from the mans neck.

“I was scared! I didn’t know what else to do! I didn’t mean it.” He watched you try to explain yourself. He tried to imagine what was going through the men’s brains when his adorable girlfriend, wearing a skirt with knee high socks and buckle shoes started fighting back, especially with knitting needles. He couldn’t help but laugh. “Why are you laughing!?”

“You’re just so... sexy. You got a little blood on your shirt too.” He got up off the floor and surprised you by sweeping you off your feet as you tried to find the blood stain he was talking about. “Don’t worry, I’ll get that shirt off you soon.”

Chuuya

If he could describe you as a color, it would be yellow. You were bright, fun, happy, you always found a way to put a smile on his face, even when he had the worst day. It was as if a ray of sun took form and for some reason decided that he was the one who deserved it.

Your spontaneous adventures, even if it was just to the park always kept things exciting. He would stand back and watch as you ran over to anyone with a dog, sitting on the ground in front of the furry animal as you looked up and conversed with the owner about the breed and how cute the dog was. He would hear about it for the rest of the day, your hands moving freely through the air as you described the dog, even though he was right there and seen it as well, he would smile and nod. You always found something to be excited about, even on days when it would rain and you both were stuck in the house you would find some way to make him forget about the dreariness of the outside world. Building pillow forts and watching movies as you both attempted to toss popcorn into each others mouths. You had a stash of board games for days like that, and you would let him pick which one he wanted to play. It was the simple things that he enjoyed.

Waking up to the sound of music drifting into the bedroom from the kitchen, your spot on the bed empty. He would groggily walk into the kitchen to find you in front of the stove, the smell of eggs and bacon and pancakes filled the room, but that wasn’t the best part. You would be wearing one of his button up shirts, and only that. Your hips would sway to the rhythm of the song and he’d just stand and watch, unable to fight the smile that would form on his lips and the feeling of pride as he watched you, knowing that you were his.

Other days he’d come home from work while you were straightening up, singing into the broomstick handle as if no one was watching and the living room was your stage. He’d shrug out of his coat, kick his shoes off and slide across the floor while playing the air guitar. You always put a smile on his face, everything you did was his favorite thing. He could never pick one particular thing that you did that made him happy, because honestly you in general made him happy.

Even when you weren’t being goofy, which was rare, but it did happen, he would take the time to sit back and appreciate your beauty. When you would curl up on the couch and drift off to sleep and he’d come home and find you there, he would just marvel at how perfect you were in that innocent state.

That’s why he did everything he could to keep you safe, make sure you were protected everywhere you went. Sure, it was kind of ridiculous to have the black lizards guarding every store you went into, but it was a precaution that needed to be taken. As long as his little drop of sun was safe he could relax.

The two of you were on your way to the restaurant, it was date night. You looked flawless, as usual, and Chuuya couldn’t wait to show you off. His phone started ringing and you picked it up for him so that he could keep one hand on the wheel and the other on your thigh as he drove.

“Hi Mori!” You greeted him excitedly, and although he didn’t understand how Chuuya ended up with you, he couldn’t help but smile at the sound of your voice. You seemed to have that effect on anyone you came into contact with. “Will do! Thanks Mori! Buh-bye.” You shut the phone and put it back into the center console. Chuuya looked over to you, his eyes asking the question. “There’s some problem in an alley around the corner. He said it should be quick and you can handle it and get back to our date.”

He groaned but took the sharp turn that would lead to the alley in question. He saw the cloaked figure, like they were waiting for him. “Alright, this’ll be quick. Stay in the car.” He said, kissing your cheek before hopping out of the car.

You stared out the window, watching him stride into the alley. It sent a shot of electric up your legs, seeing him so dominant in situations like this. That was your man, and you couldn’t be prouder. You smiled as you watched him deliver kicks and punches to the figure in the alley, silently rooting for him.

Then you saw more figures coming from nowhere it seemed. There were at least six of them, and you started worrying. He would get hurt if he tried to fight all of them by himself, and you couldn’t have that. It would take too long to call someone and have them come out and help. Your mind raced as you tried to think of something to do, then you remembered the pistol that he had in the glove box. You pulled it out, checking to see if it had ammo, and then hopped out of the car.

“Hey, assholes!” You called, and everyone stopped to look at you. You cocked the gun and aimed it at them. Your hands didn’t shake, and you eyed up your target and pulled the trigger. Headshot.

The figures split up, some advancing towards you while the rest went after Chuuya. You fired the gun quickly, they all dropped like flies. Each one being hit exactly where you aimed. Headshots, chest shots, you even managed to get one in the throat which even you were shocked about. You moved further into the alley, pressing the barrel of the pistol against the head of the one who was about to attack Chuuya while he was fighting the first figure. “Not today, pal.” You said menacingly, pulling the trigger. Blood and bits of flesh and brain tissue splattered onto your face and you dropped the gun to the ground.

Chuuya finished with the final figure and ran over to where you stood. You were frozen, the warmth of the blood against your face made you want to vomit. “Are you okay?” He asked, grabbing your arms and examining them, then moving to the rest of your body to make sure there was no damage done. The amount of blood on you worried him, but once he realized that you were okay, he sighed with relief.

“I need a shower and and and and.... oh my god this is gross.” You couldn’t keep your hands from shaking as you tried to wipe the blood off your face.

“I mean, it’s pretty gross, but god damn, my bad ass little princess. Who would have thought?” His sense of pride sky rocketed.

After you both returned to the penthouse, the date was completely forgotten about at this point, and you both showered together. He rubbed your shoulders as the water fell over both of your bodies. The water was stained with red as you washed the blood from your face and when the shower was over you wrapped the towel around yourself and laid in the bed.

“You took the gun and you were like ‘bang bang bang’ and I was like ‘oh my god!’ And you shot all of them! How did you learn to do that?!” He was pacing the room in his boxers as he described the whole situation again, his feet padded against the floor leaving water footprints on the hard wood.

“I don’t know, I just didn’t want you to get hurt, so I shot them.” You said it nonchalantly, rolling to your side and propping yourself up on your elbow. “Seems like you enjoyed it.” You joked and he whipped around to look at you. The look in his eyes, you knew the look well.

“Oh I enjoyed. I don’t think you know how much I enjoyed it.” His voice was low and husky.

“You can tell me.”

He got into the bed and situated himself over top of you, holding himself up with one arm while the other pulled open the towel that you had wrapped around yourself. “I think I’d rather show you.”

[scarletjedi]

I don’t think it’s a surprise that I read a LOT of fanfic. Recently, that fanfic has been almost exclusively in CQL/MZDS/The Untamed. I have read some truly *mindblowing* and *heartwrenching* fics. I have read some *epic* smut. I have seen some *amazing* art. 

And, of course, I have read a LOT of time-travel fixits. 

I think that time-travel fixits is, by in large, one of my favorite tropes. there’s something about character who have completed their arc going back in time to create a softer world for themselves, a better world for themselves and those they love, or simply addressing issues that they were too young/immature to make that just speaks to me. It’s highly reflective and deeply nostalgic and allows for a greater exploration of canon timelines. 

So, I’ve been thinking, recently, about what would make my ULTIMATE time travel fixit for The Untamed. A lot of this will sound like my Sangcheng Time travel fixit AU, which should surprise nobody, but hey - it’s been a few months. I want some new things now. 

Scarletjedi’s Time Travel Au Wishlist

Both Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian travel back in time

Their type of all encompassing devotion is one of my favorite features of their relationship, post resurrection, and I want to maintain that. I don’t think it would be quite the same if Lan Wangji didn’t mourn for 16 years

...and a Lan Wangji who is willing to look the Lan Elders in the face and say “I recognize that the Council has made a decision, but given that it's a stupid ass decision, I have elected to ignore it,” is comedy gold. Also, a force to be reckoned with, and one that will be necessary to facilitate change. 

Sneaking Around Gusu to Fool Around Shenanigans. If this is my AU wishlist, there’s a sprinkling of cherrypicked book canon, and “everyday is everyday” is part of it. Though, please boys, use oil. 

Yilling Laozu’s Wicked Tricks without the bad reputation. Subian and Chenqing. Wei Wuxian’s original body. 

Jiang Cheng has traveled back in time

Jaing “Right in front of my salad!” Cheng!

Sandu Shengshou is a badass, and I love my angry purple lightning baby. I want to see the confidence that he has, the sharp tongue that tells the truth even when inconvenient, because it’ll set some necessary foxes on the henhouse. 

I choose to believe that in cql canon that Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng attempt to reconcile in some way. The “lets be brothers in our next life” well - it’s Wei Wuxian’s next life, so brothers, baby! Only this time they have been learning how to talk to each other, so they don’t need to rely on Yanli to do all their emotional labor. 

Jiang Cheng raised Jin Ling. He built his sect back up from ashes after losing everything and made it a force to be reckoned with. And then he’s a TEENAGER with a CURFEW and yesss

Grown up Jiang Cheng vs his Parents. 

A scene where, during Sunshot when Jiang Cheng is out re-earning his title, Jiang Fengmian is forced to confront the fact that his son is a badass and it had *nothing to do with him*. ...and the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon...

...fuck it, reunite the Yunmeng Trio! Jiang Yanli is back, baby!

absolution for the brothers that only she can give

Let Yanli get Angry, 2021

No, seriously, this is mostly to give Yanli the opportunity to have some fucking agency and be proactive. Perhaps she embraces her Yu side more -- or, as I think Jiang Cheng has embraced his into Yu, she learns to be more Jiang. I think I’d like to see Jiang Yanli out Jiang Jiang Fengmian. 

She deserves more time to be happy, so...

...Jin Zixuan and come back too...

mostly because I like the idea of having everyone come back before the Gusu Lectures start, and I want him to allow them to stay together at the inn. This pulls double duty of making Wangji wait longer for Wei Wuxian (and I would love to see him just loose all sense of propriety and lay on on him the minute they’re in proximity), but also gives us a chance to know this absolute goober. 

because he is a goober. he’s a himbo who loves his wife. They can also have fun sneaking around adventures. For a treat. But, knowing what’s coming, I’m sure they’re able to not bring Jin Ling into this world early....

Give Jin Zixuan friends, damnit. Also, having a Jin on the inside of Jinlintai will also help their plans. Speaking of plans...

...Nie Huaisang, but he’s the last one, I promise!

Listen. They’re facing Wen Rohan and Jin Guangshan, they’re going to need a schemer. 

I can do that think where nobody knows he’s back right away because Meng Yao is there and Nie Huaisang doesn’t want to give anything away, and he can totally figure the rest of them out first and then choose when to reveal himself - likely at the time he’ll find the funniest. 

I’m 100% behind him revealing himself to the group because he starts fooling around with Jiang Cheng. I am 200% behind him letting JC know quickly, and the two of them decide to wait to see how long it’ll take for the rest of them to figure it out. 

Nie Huaisang is Weak For A Nie (which means he’s strong to rival Lan Wangji)

Like I said, they come back as teenagers, before the Wen’s begin their attack. I’d like to see Lotus Pier and Cloud recesses survive, but they don’t have to be unscathed. I’d like to see the Jiang’s survive, but they don’t have to be unscathed. Wen Ning never becomes the Ghost General, but I’d like him and Wen Qing to stay Wens. 

I’d like a Meng Yao redemption arc. why not. and you can kill Xue Yang. Get. Rid. Song Lan and Xiao Xingcheng reconciliation with bonus AQ-Qing. 

A lot of time travel fixits do a lot of these, but none of them do all of it. 

I dunno. Anyway. Feel free to chat with me about this - I’d love to discuss details!

[leggomylino]

hi celi :)) 🐬🧮🚏🔮🪐 !!

Angie <3 <3 <3 :D

🐬 - “Favorite English lyric?”

OOF you know I gotta say-- I have a few.

“Fly to the sky” - Get Cool Felix’s “Cookin’ like a chef” - God’s Menu “LIKE AN ASTRONAUT” 😩🌠 - Astronaut “I’ll always be on track” - On Track (Even a Fool Knows) ((I put this one in a scrapbook 🤪💓))

I’m sure there’s more but my sleep-ded brain can only think of those for now

🧮 - “A concept you’d like them to try?”

I think I’d like to see a storybook/fairytale/mythology theme? I think having an album that’s like a book and every song is a chapter or important moment in that story...they already kinda do something like this but, ah, hopefully you know what I mean 😅 I imagine it to be a softer, dreamy aesthetic as well, with lots of deep hidden secrets and values portrayed. And like, the whole thing is a synchronized dream they’re all having; or maybe they got sucked into a book and have to fight to make it back home

🚏 - “Song recommendations from your bias?”

Okay listen everything that Chan my man has written is phenomenal 😩✨I’d recommend just about anything that’s been written by him

🔮 - “Last dream you had about SKZ?”

BRUHHH okay listen. I have what a friend of mine calls “Fire Emblem” dreams and what this means is-- if you’ve ever played or heard of the Fire Emblem franchise, the games consist of long RPG stories with plenty of plot twists and turns. The last one I had was actually last night and it consisted of Hyun and Felix listening to me tell a story to this girl I was babysitting??? It was weird and not Fire Emblem-y so I’ll give you my biggest tea one I remember.

My friend and I (I’ll call her Kumi, her sometimes-internet name) had been hired as detectives to solve a burglary for some snotnosed princess’s missing crown. The King was a man who liked games so he additionally hired our rivals, SKZ, who ran a detective agency across town. Whoever found the thief (who was apparently also a murderer, as he killed a few guards and servants) would get a ~handsome~ reward and become the modern kingdom’s official sleuths.

Kumi and I were raring to go and dashed off to do our research. We decided to start by interviewing all the potential suspects that the palace guard had managed to gather for our convivence (lol). Because SKZ got fair dibs as well we chose to split up and multitask; she would take a few suspects to the library and I would take the other half gathered in a waiting area. She went off to the library followed by half the guys, and I entered another room where a suspect was already waiting for interrogation.

Oddly enough it was...this giant closet??? There were lots of clothes and boxes but I just ignored them and sat at the small table. I asked a few questions and jotted notes until I became keenly aware that it was just the two of us in a closed off room and for a sec could only stare at the closed, dark brown door. Then I dumbly looked back at the suspect, and he had this evil grin on his face and pulled out a knife.

I’m a very pro-safety gal so I immediately jumped up and reached for my taser and/or pepper spray but before I got there Seungmin comes walking out of the thick wall of clothes with a calm, pleasant smile on his face. He asks the man what he thought he was doing and starts commenting nonchalantly about “what a lovely day it is” and the man, for some reason, acts very afraid and drops his weapon, and Seungmin handcuffs him and has Lino and Changbin escort him out. Flushed from my possible-death experience and embarrassed at my stupidity I thanked him for saving me (note: this would be the first of three dreams he ends up saving my behind (nonromatically) idk why he’s just my guardian angel apparently). I made a joke about being his enemy in the contest, and he laughed and said it was no problem. When I asked why he was hiding between the clothes or where he came from/how long he’d been there, he just smirked and didn’t say anything. 😳💧

Before we stepped out I asked if he’d like to form an alliance and split the reward, and he agreed. Seungmin and I were partners for the rest of the dream, later joined by Felix, Han, and Hyunjin, who had gained a crush on Kumi. Because I’m a Chan stan I later asked Minnie where he was at, and he replied by pointing somewhere behind me. I turned around to find the princess drooling all over him and working her feminine charm and uh...🔥🔥🔥 started walking over to drag her off but he ended up politely turning her down 🥰🤪 Seungmin told Chan about the growing alliance and he got the others to sign off on it, so then we all worked together and found the crown!!! ...Felix actually found it in like the princess’s bathroom LMAO it was never stolen she was just...careless and wanted attention.

The End <3

🪐 - “Funniest SKZ meme or tweet you’ve seen recently?”

I don’t have nor do I check Twitter but I’ll share my favorite Jeongin (and skz) meme of all time with y’all 😊

Send me an emoji(s) and I’ll answer about SKZ!

[yoosea-mysme]

For the ask game: 3, 21, 47, 48 and 50 if it isn't a bother, thanks!

Ask Game

Hi! It’s no bother at all, thank you for the asks ❤️

3. Favorite theme

Fun fact, it took me reading about it on Tumblr to realise each character had their own theme songs. I just thought Seven’s was for when something crazy happens, Jaehee’s was for when things are chill, Yoosung’s was for when something good or happy happens etc. I’d say my favourite would be either Dark Secret (the one that happens in tense plot scenes) or Unknown’s Theme Ver 2 (the one that’s a bit more upbeat). 

21. Favorite character interaction with each other

You know what, I’m going to cheat and just name my biggest “not including MC” OTPs because most of why I ship them is because of said interactions: Yoosung/Zen (they care and look out for each other so much! even if they kind of do it in a big “ahah no homo totes bros here” way mostly from Zen! they just have such sweet and nice interactions, I love them!), Jaehee/Jumin (these two literally care about each other so much, Jaehee is the only one who can actually handle Jumin and Jumin would trust Jaehee with his life (and protect her with his, honestly)), and Jaehee/Seven (they have the funniest interactions in the whole game and I’m mad they don’t have more).

Also, I’ll defend Vanderwood caring for Seven and vice versa with my last breath because the fact some people say they don’t care about each other hurts me. They’re so close you guys, they just couldn’t admit it while working in the agency. Dammit.

47. Moments that made you laugh out loud?

There’s been so many: most of them related to either Jumin or Jaehee. I think my favourite though has to be that moment in Jaehee’s Good End when Jumin asks for advice and our options are just *gives advice* and *explains* with Jumin just repeating to us what we supposedly told him. I remember giggling like an idiot and going “wow game, I’m so glad you gave me the “OPTION” to do that. I feel totally involved”.

Also, special mention to that moment when Jumin sends Zen a picture of Elly’s paw with only the word “revenge.” just to annoy him because it’s so goofy and hilarious, I love him.

48. Ever cried or shed a tear while playing?

You know, I actually think I haven’t x’D I’ve laughed, been extremely tense and worried during a dangerous scene, I’ve been mad, cringed even or spoken out loud in reaction to what was happening, but never cried (will Another Story change that?)

50. How has this game affected you overall? Do you regret playing it?

It’s completely owned my life that’s what it’s done x’DD I don’t think I’ve been that invested in a game, show, book or anything as much as I’ve been with this. I just want to get to experience all of the content of the game, spend as much time with the characters as I can, read about them, etc. which is why I started this sideblog so I could gush about it uninterrupted in peace xD It’s just given me a lot of things to look forward to and enjoy and I’m really thankful for that. Sometimes it might take over my time a bit too much, but I’m still happy I finally decided to download and play it after knowing about it for half a year.

[nightvalethings]

Episode 2 - “The Glow Cloud”

I decided to join in on the nightvale rewatch being run by @welcometonightblogging. And, as part of that, I decided to do a post. I’ve gathered some ideas and thoughts on episode 2 - the clow cloud.

The visitable nightvale campaign is hilarious, and weird, and paints such a fantastic picture of what this town Is with an amazing amout of word building in it. 

“The View is literally breathtaking”. The specification that the posters will be put in police stations and yogurt shops is weird but the final touch about the free gifts is Hilarious. 

”John Peters, you know, the farmer?” And a long standing gag begins.

The cloud changes colours randomly/depending on who is looking at it but it *whistles*? I don’t remember that detail but it really ups the creepy factor. This plus Cecil’s deadpan delivery is proper spooky.

”We’d never have time to do anything right?” - Ha.

The sheriff’s secret police are established in this episode - it’s fun how much of what I associate with nightvale is introduced in this episode.

The secret police are trying to get  people to run at the cloud, screaming?? Hmm. Cecil is pretty wild but at least he doesn’t agree with that!

I enjoy the take down of the Apache tracker and his nonsense. He’s a character we’ll see more of but I like Cecil’s reaction to him.

 The “great screaming” of the post office is terrifying, horrifying, stuff. Words on the wall written in blood and all.

Here’s something odd Cecil says. Like the entire episode hasn’t been Odd. CECIL, why are you like this.

Which introduces us to Khoshekh! :D Who is now resident in the mens bathroom. This bit is Wild and does make me wonder if Cecil has, in fact, ever seen a Cat. Not convinced he has TBH.

”No pet is perfect, it becomes perfect when you learn to accept it for what it is.”

The message from our sponsors is a fantastic bit of high concept writing but has that wonderful punch at the end -”This message was brought to you by Coca Cola”. Which is literally the funniest thing ever. I remember the first time that happened I was just like ??? And then burst into fits of laughter.

The vague yet menacing government agency are up. That, and the secret police, really let us know that Nightvale is pretty controlled huh?

”Strange sights that no one saw” - Hm. I enjoy the continuing theme we have running through the first two episodes that strong establishes just how much in denial the town, and to a degree, Cecil is about what’s going on. If not in actual denial then willing to play to it anyway.

“Remember, if you see something, say nothing, and drink to forget.”

The scouts! I forgot they where introduced in this episode. The Scout changes are fun, but it’s also playing into the whole authoritarian thing going on. Children don’t enroll into the scouts, they’re selected. Hm.

The glow cloud is raining lizards. Sure. At least the animals are already dead and they have that eternal animal pyre in mission grove park. Right. Right?

Hyrum McDaniels. This is Wonderful as an introduction. “He is suspected of Insurance Fraud”. “After discerning that Frank Chen was a five headed dragon from somewhere other than our world.” Hilarious.

Alert Citizen card gives you stop sign immunity. But it’s that authoritarian thing, isn’t it? This is all painting quite a cohesive picture of how power is controlled in this town.

See, this is the first reference to the Public Library in the community Calendar in which is becomes un-knowable. Is this when the librarians get out of control? I’ve always wondered. Its a “sort of renovation”

Dot day is Scary. I do not like dot day.

”Wednesday has been cancelled, due to a scheduling error.”

Lion. Dropped by the Glow cloud. Onto the ice cream shop. Okay.

ALL HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD

That segway from the Clowcloud monologue to the weather is Wonderful and the change in Cecil’s voice is amazing and creepy. And establishes a pretty strong pattern for Cecil being possessed by various entities from here on out. Fun.

WAITING FOR THE BUS IN THE RAIN - this will forever be stuck in my head. And I always link it with episode one for some reason, even though that’s “These and more than these”.

My headcanon is that the weather is a song so that the citizens of Nightvale are never given any actual information - information is power, after all.

He doesn’t remember the cloud and there’s no tapes. Of course. Of Course.

This also establishes the standard thing of the “evil” of the week being defeated in the weather segment which, you know, I do quite like.

““I’m going to get a little personal here” - Oh, character growth. Thy name is Cecil Palmer. It’s weird how flat, and almost. Disengaged he is? Compared to the Cecil we grow used to.

The closing monologue is oddly Soothing - discussions of how you recover from trauma and the list of things. It’s lovely.

[purplesurveys]

409

A little F•R•I•E•N•D•S survey just because.

Characters Favourite character? I relate to Monica the most but my favorite has got to be Chandler. Favourite male character? Chandler by a long shot. Favourite female character? Monica. Man, three questions in and I’ve already got my biases established ha. Favourite non-main character? Probably Jack Geller. Least favourite character (main)? Joey. I was always too impatient for his dumb ass. He’s adorable though.

Least favourite character (not main)? EMILY for days. They wasted so many episodes and storylines dragging her ass through them. I also kinda hated Amy. Funniest? Chandler, and this is going to be unpopular: Ross. He’s funny when he’s not being a jackass. Sweetest? ...Chandler. That episode where Monica ‘freaked’ him out by pretending to book a wedding venue when it turned out Chandler loved the place and ended up proposing to her was the sweetest. Best looking? Rachel. Girl’s style was always on point. Most mature? Phoebe trumps them all so hard. She lived through the Civil War, World War I, lost her mom, lived on the streets, and did so many shady things before landing in that apartment of theirs – she’s a kook but she’s a hella smart kook. Most immature? Has to be a mix of Joey and Rachel. And Ross.

Most annoying? Joey had his annoying moments especially the episode where he tries to speak French!!!!!!!!! but I love all of them just the same. Relationships Favourite couple? CHANDLER AND MONICA Least favourite couple? Joey and Rachel when they got together. I liked the slow burn that preceded the whole thing, but when the writers mashed them together, the execution was just ughhhh. I hated Ross/Julie, Monica/Pete, and Ross/Emily too. Favourite couple that wasn’t a main couple? Oh oof, I guess I’ve listed them all there. ^ Couple you wish would’ve happened? Chandler and Rachel. Their cheesecake episode was awesome.

Best friendship? Monica/Chandler and Joey/Chandler. The two that had the worst friendship? Phoebe and Ross were the two that just clicked the least lmao. Ross was too serious and too nerdy and Phoebe was more liberal and very eccentric. They had that debate on evolution once which I found hard to watch lmao, and not to mention that Ross is the biggest baby in the group whereas Phoebe had to grow up earlier than all of them because of her awful childhood. Couple you’re surprised happened? Rachel and Joey, obviously. Overrated couple? Ross and Rachel. They’re so hyped up when in reality, they were on and off for ten deadass seasons??? It was stretched for so long that it’s very easy to lose interest in it. Most underrated friendship? Phoebe and Ross, I guess. They weren’t very close, but I remember how Ross got Phoebe a bike when he found out she never had her own. That gets overshadowed a lot but I found that episode very sweet. Phoebe/Joey is also pretty underrated. You and them Which character would you be? I’m already Monica. Which character would you wanna be bffs with? Rachel hahaha. Monica’s too high-strung, Phoebe’s crazy, I’d get annoyed with Ross’ bitchfests, Joey is a little immature for my liking, and I feel like I’ll eventually get offended by Chandler’s sarcasm, so I’d go with Rachel.   Who would you date? Chandler. Who would get on your nerves? Joey or Ross. Who can you relate to the most? Monica AF. Organized, obsessed with weddings, obsessed with kids, loves spreadsheets, makes everything a competition, loves food, the mom of the group...all of this is me. Which character pulls on your heartstrings the most (gives you feels)? Chandler aaaahhhhhhhhh. Who would you makeout with? Monica. Show Funniest moment or episode? There’s a lot of em, so let me keep a list:

The episode with the quiz

Joey putting the pieces together about Chandler and Monica

“Ross hasn’t worked in the museum for a year” “Monica and Chandler aRE LIVING TOGETHER” “Ross married Rachel in Vegas anD GOT DIVORCED, /AGAIN/” “I love Jacques Costeau” “I wasn’t supposed to put beef in the trifle” “I wanna GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”

Ross spelling out F-I-N-E

They don’t know that we know they know they now

Saddest moment or episode? Monica finding out they can’t have kids, Phoebe having to part with the triplets, Erica almost giving up on Chandler and Monica because they lied, and the final goshdarn episode. Moment or episode that melted your heart? When Monica made Thanksgiving dinner, only for Joey to ruin it because Monica had to answer the phone, then when Chandler told on Joey, she was like “I don’t care, the adoption agency called and we’re having a baby” :’( Best episode/moment? I can think of so many depending on what kind of episode you’re asking for, but the first ones I can think of off the top of my head are the quiz, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s resolutions episodes, and the one where Chandler and Phoebe pretend to be into each other to see who breaks first. Cringiest moment? A lot of Season 10 stuff was cringey just cos everything felt forced by that point. I also didn’t like the scene where Chandler was checking out their home-sitter’s bra because Monica was convinced she was stealing from her wardrobe lmao. Oh and the one with Ross’ list about Rachel. OH and Joey failing so bad at French. They def had their cringey moments lmao. Worst moment/episode? The one where Pete decides to be a UFC star(????) was so fucking random. There’s also an episode that shows their alternative lives - Monica was still chubby, Phoebe was a bitchy executive...I forget the rest because I’ve only seen it once cos the whole thing was pretty pointless. Best season? The ones in the middle. Best quote? “It’s an electric drill. You get me, YOU KILL ME” or “Gum would be perfection.” Joey Best trait? He’s adorably clumsy and he’s also pretty confident. Worst trait? He has his creepy tendencies, he doesn’t share food, and he’s too stupid for my humor to appreciate him. Who should he have ended up with? Definitely Phoebe. Was he just a player or a sweetheart? Meh. He was a player. If Matt LeBlanc couldn’t play him, who should’ve? Chandler His best season? I’m not familiar which season it is but it has to be the one where he decided he was going to marry Monica. Chandler was always the most insecure out of the six who had a lot of childhood issues and as a result, was perpetually afraid of committing and being serious and actually being an adult. Deciding that he knew he wanted to marry Monica is such an underrated pivotal moment for him. Funny or annoying? FUNNY.  Why did he have trouble with girls? Because he’s so awkward.  If Matthew Perry couldn’t play him who should’ve? Best trait? He really cares.

Worst trait? He hates himself and uses humor to mask everything lol. Ross Best trait? He’s a sweetheart and looks after the girls the most.  Worst trait? Immature and cocky as fuck and loves to kiss his own ass. Which of his gfs/wives do you like best? Rachel. Funny or annoying? I’m split. Everyone hates Ross but he’s actually pretty funny to me lmao, but only when he’s not being sexist or trash. If David couldn’t play him who should’ve? Smart or dumb? Academically smart, pretty dumb in life. Phoebe Best trait? She’s highkey the most mature of all of the friends. Worst trait? She can be a liar. Weird or awesome? She can be both!!! Best song? Either the Santa song (”Rachel and Chandler, hshsshhshsh handler!”) or the shower song (”And tegrin spelled backwards is nirget”). Both slap. Best relationship? That guy from Minsk, David. That highkey should’ve happened. Did she have a better friendship with Monica or Rachel? Tbh Rachel. Monica’s very...analytic and Phoebe doesn’t care. Total opposites. Did she really wanna get with Joey or was it all a joke? It’s all a joke, but I wouldn’t be surprised or offended if they ended up together in some alternative universe. Did she really hate Ross? Probably aspects of Ross, but not fully. Rachel Was she secretly a bitch? She was openly a bitch lmao. Best relationship besides Ross? I hated all of her boyfriends. Probably Joey. YEA I SAID IT Best trait? She grew up so much in the show and I’m so proud of her <3 She went from fully dependent on her dad’s credit cards to getting her dream jobs and being a really good mother and ugh, I just feel for her. Worst trait? She was still the biggest baby in the show. Monica Best trait? She’s the mom of the group. Nothing better than that. Worst trait? She was overly competitive sometimes. Put together & organized or a stressed mess? Definitely put together and organized. She was also stressed, but she was never a mess. Would you find it hard to live with her cause of her cleaning issues? No, we’d be the same more or less. Was Richard too old for her? Yes. Richard knew her since she was little, which makes it worse. Short or long hair? Long. Do you think the fat jokes are funny or mean? Mean, but then again they were jokes of their time so idk why people today are being SO LOUD crying foul over it. More questions Were they on a break? Yes they were. I will defend this to my death. They were on a break after that very bad phone call and Rachel immediately invited his dude-friend over without thinking of Ross. Ross had every reason to be with a girl. Was Gunther weird or kinda cool? He was cool. I loved that they kept him as a recurring character.

Should it have ended sooner, later or when it did? They ended it perfectly. Some elements of season 10 already felt inorganic and unnecessary, but if we didn’t get the last season then we never would’ve seen Chandler and Monica’s twins and Rachel getting off the plane. I’m fine with the way they ultimately paced the show. Based off looks, who of the six would’ve looked best together? Chandler and Monica.

[nellpire]

[1206xx] Nell - Paper interview (translation)

Q: Should we start with a lighter topic? What's making you happy recently? All: Performing! Jongwan: It gives us energy, so we love it. We give off energy ourselves but the energy we get from the crowd is much greater. We're dead tired afterwards, but during it's like we don't even know what ‘exhaustion’ means. That's thanks to the crowd's energy. And the foot massage this time was really great, too.

Q: Foot massage? Jongwan: See, some people came to give us foot massages before the gig. Jaewon: We invited them.

Q: Was that an example of your agency taking care of you? Junghoon: We asked for it. Haha.

Q: Do you often get foot massages? Jongwan: I do. Although I went more often back in the day. Sports massages!

Q: Do you not have a skincare routine? All: None at all! Jongwan: I noticed you didn't ask 'Do you have a skincare skincare routine' but 'You don't do skincare?'. Jaewon: One look at our faces and you knew, didn't you. All: Hahahaha.

Q: Four years ago, Jaekyung said "I hope that when the four of us meet again (after our military service) we've gone through a musical and/or mental upgrade". So how was it? Did you come back upgraded? Jongwan: I think everyone except for Jaekyung matured. Jaekyung: I've grown, too. I grew taller (laughter) Jaewon: I don't know if I've matured musically, but maybe as a person. Jongwan: I think we've just gone through a natural process. There's a lot more to consider once you go from your twenties to your thirties. And surprisingly, some things have gotten easier, too. I've realized there are many things I can’t have in my own way. In relationships, for example. When I was younger I used to obsess about my relationships with others but now I just think, 'the people who will come will come, and the people who will go will go'.

Q: How was the reaction to your fifth album in comparison to what you expected? Jaewon: We don't think about that while working, but I do think people have liked it as much as we hoped. Jaekyung: It's interesting. You know, we've shared these songs between the four of us only for several years. It's interesting, showing those songs off to so many people all at once. Now they're songs we can't control anymore. While that's great, it also feels weird. As the albums pile up some things get easier and some things get harder. Jaewon: Nothing gets easier. Things I thought were easy become harder, and the things that were hard stay hard. Jaekyung: That's because things get clearer as we go along. We can tell easier than before what a good sound is, what's useless, and what sounds go into what kind of music. Jongwan: It gets harder the clearer we are on what we want to achieve. When you only have a vague idea of what you want you can go in any direction, but when you have a clear image of how you want it to sound and it doesn't come out that way, it can be very stressful. That's the reason why we took so long to make this album.

Q: (Nell's hands get busy as soon as the food we ordered arrives) Are none of you picky eaters? Jongwan: We eat everything. The show I want to guest on the most is Gourmet Road (laughter)

Q: Do you meet up often even when you're not promoting? Jaekyung: Yes. We're neighborhood fiends (Songpa-gu olympic park area), so we meet often even when we're not working. Not just us, but our whole friend group. Me and Jaewon were elementary-middle-high school classmates, and Jongwan was in our class in middle school. We became friends with Junghoon in high school, but we all grew closer later.

Q: In comparison to your school days, who has become the most sly? Jongwan: Junghoon. Junghoon: It's possible that I was sly back then too. It's just that it took a few years for the guys to get close and see who I really was. They told me I was kind all the time back then (laughter) Jaewon: It took us years to get close to you? Wasn't it like six months or so? Junghoon: The first one or two years were so awkward it stressed me out a lot. It was even worse when our other friends joined. If we go to that neighborhood all elementary, middle and high school friends get together, you see. Now they’re my close friends of ten years as well, but back then I felt very out of place. They'd all talk about their school, so we had no memories to share.

Q: Where did you live at that time? Junghoon: In a nearby neighborhood. It was in Songpa-gu too, but near Gaerong. The others lived in Bangi. They're only two stations apart, but the gap between us turned out huge.

Q: You must have had friends in Gaerong, so why go all the way to Bangi? Jaekyung: He got swept up by our flood. Our friend group was that big. Even the head manager at our agency has become close with our friends. Jongwan: It's a fairly charming neighborhood. Jaekyung: Once you enter, you never leave.

Q: Oh~ Please invite me too sometime. Jongwan: You'll either love it or detest it.

Q: Why would I detest it? Jongwan: We talk a lot of nonsense. Junghoon: Crude nonsense. Jaewon: And we hate pointlessly serious talks. Jaekyung: And anything unfunny. One time a friend tried to make us laugh through something unfunny and we froze him out for five years. All: Hahaha.

Q: What do those friends say about Nell's serious(?) music? Jongwan: We're a group of around fifteen people, and most of our friends used to be musicians. There's another band of four people just like us, too. The guy we froze out for five years was also a musician. By now they all have different jobs, but since we're all musicians at heart we’re very serious when talking about music. Jaewon is only ever serious when music is involved.

Q: Who's the funniest? Jaewon: Everyone's funny. We have different styles. Jongwan is great with jokes strangers would never understand. You'll only understand once you're close with him. Junghoon: It's a double edged sword. Sometimes they're hilarious, but to some people... Jongwan: It's incomprehensible. Jaewon: Junghoon is great at throwing jokes at us out of nowhere. The style to catch us off guard. Junghoon: I bite once and move on. Jaewon: Jaekyung is funny using his expressions and movements. Jaekyung: I have an expression that can make any person in the whole world laugh. Junghoon: I saw it for the first time in our fifth year of elementary school but it still makes me laugh. He told me he'd show me ten different expressions and if I made it to the tenth step without laughing he'd grant me a wish. I grit my teeth and did my best but only made it to step three.

Q: Show me! Junghoon: He'll never show you. Jaekyung: I only show it to men. If you see it, it'll haunt your dreams.

Q: Then, could Jongwan describe his expression through lyrics? Jongwan: It's f****d up! All: Puhahahahaha. Jaewon: Sometimes I think Jaekyung is truly insane. One time we were on the KTX (train) from Busan to Seoul, and we were so bored we decided to compete and see who could hold their breath longer. I was happy that I could hold it for one minute, but Jaekyung put his life on the line and held it until his whole face was dark red. Did you hold it for three minutes? That's when I realized, wow, this idiot is actually insane.

Q: That's a new side of Jaekyung. He seems like he'd have sides to him that the other members never expected. Do you ever feel surprised by one another? Jongwan: It always surprises me to see Jaewon use manners around women. Junghoon: I'm surprised whenever Jaewon says something clever or analytical. All: Hahaha. Jongwan: Jaewon is really a wondrous man, whether there are girls around or not. But sometimes he'll be super polite out of nowhere. Jaewon: I'm a man of manners, I am.

Q: It looks like Jaekyung is good to women. Earlier when he laid out a napkin next to me, I thought 'he's full of manners'. Jaewon: He does have manners. But he can't meet with many women. Jaekyung: Why would you say that? I meet with women often! After midnight. All: Hahaha. Jongwan: He's probably the one who dates the most out of all of us. Junghoon: He's always been the most popular. Jaewon: Free man.

Q: It is because you don't want to be confined, or is it because you haven't met a woman who's willing to be confined? Jaekyung: I like dating. But I think the better it is, the more problems it brings. Plus I tend to be single-minded, which would be a burden for the girl. I think my current situation wouldn’t allow for anything other than a shallow relationship, and I can't stand that. Just going to the movies, just having dinner together, having to talk about earnest things when we're not actually serious -- I hate things like that. Also, when you date you lose a lot of time to think, you know. I find it tiring when people contact me when I'm playing music and I have to stop to tell them what I'm doing and where. Jongwan: That's how we live. I have never let dating get in the way of our music. When my partner asks me, "what is more important to you, music or me?" I always say "Music is more important to me. If you can't deal with that then you can go right now." I’ve fought and broken up a lot because of that (laughter) But no matter what Jaekyung says, he's always really good to his girlfriend when he has one. He becomes sharper. For example, when us guys go drinking together. If Jaekyung is in a relationship, he won't come if there are other women there. Jaekyung: Maybe we fight because I am good to them. I don't think about it much these days. I don't think I'd date right now even if someone approached me. Ah, but Junghoon always told me not to say it like a resolution... Junghoon: No matter what you resolve to do, this is what happens. I heard it from somewhere a long time ago-- was it you, Jongwan? Jongwan: Yeah. I read this book called 'The Monk's message', and it said that the reason why you're more likely to get divorced if you have a child is because you keep thinking you can't get divorced. That determination invites problems. And couples who don't have kids don't think like that.

Q: What kind of girlfriends do you wish your members would meet? Jongwan: A domestic girl for Jaekyung! A woman who takes care of him even more than he takes care of her. And I think Junghoon would fit well with a girl with a good sense of humor. Someone who can make him laugh. Jaewon: Jongwan needs someone who's like a sponge. Someone who's ok with anything! (laughter) Jongwan: Good! I like girls like that! (To their manager) Hey, throw me some sponges. All: Hahaha. Jongwan: But then again, I can't stay with women like that for too long. It's no fun. I say I like kind girls, but if you look at my exes most of them have strong personalities. The style who's charming, but not always easy to get along with. They probably see me in the same way. When we fight, we tear each other apart, and when it's good it's amazing.

Q: As for Jaewon-- All: (silence) Jongwan: This is sad. You won't even ask him since he's married. (laughter)

Q: Haha. Let me change the question. What do you think it the most important thing in a marriage? I'll give you options. One: finances, two: health, three: sexual compatibility, four: other. Jaewon: I think it'd be 'other'. All: No! It's health. Money is is useless if you're sick. Jaewon: (Immediate acceptance): That's true. I'll choose two: health. Haha.

Q: What was the 'other' you thought of? Jaewon: Love of course, love.

Q: If you had a younger sister and she was to get married to a Nell member, who would you pick? Jaewon: Junghoon. Junghoon: (mercilessly) You'll regret that. All: Hahaha. Jaewon: I picked him because I think even if he goes drinking, he'll go home afterwards and not cause trouble. Jaekyung: See, I really love my friends. But I wouldn't want my sister to marry a single one of them. Hahaha. Jongwan: I feel the same. They're great friends, but I'm too aware of their flaws.

Q: I heard Jongwan moved between several different countries growing up. Jongwan: I lived in Bahrain, Canada and Switzerland. We left Korea in my first year of elementary school and returned during my sixth, then left again in my third year of middle school and came back in my third year of high school. I got to know the rest of the members in middle school but we didn't get close until high school. When I got back to Korea, I joined a band. Jaekyung and Jaewon were playing in a different band at the time as well. I got to watch them play by chance and they were very arrogant. (laughter) And that's why I saved them. Jaekyung: I think that's when we were practicing for a festival. We met Jongwan and his team by chance when we left the practice room, and Jongwan said he wanted to watch us play. Jongwan: I had already heard people say Jaekyung was great at the guitar. It made me curious to see, but when I did it was truly tragic. (laughter) Jaekyung: He watched us while leaning his head in his hand and then he just left. He just vanished suddenly. Jongwan: I couldn't take even ten minutes of it. Jaekyung: Jaewon saw it and went "ah, I'm so f*****g annoyed!" He wanted to show his skills and was annoyed that Jongwan sneaked out. It was honestly tragic, but also hilarious. Jongwan: It's even funnier looking back on it now. A bunch of nineteen year olds trying to intimidate each other in that small practice room. It's a funny memory. (laughter)

Q: You described their performance as tragic, so why did you ask them to join your band? Jongwan: They were playing music that didn't suit them. They played well but were wearing clothes that didn't fit. So I asked Jaekyung to play guitar when I made my own team. One week later I asked Jaewon to play the drums, and one or two months later Nell was made when Junghoon joined. You know, if you go drinking with someone you can get to know their mind. Thinking back, we were young but I think we were all cool. All the other bands at the time would only play cover songs at their club gigs, because that was the way to get fans. But we've almost never played covers. All of us thought that was a given. We matched well in that sense. Jaewon: That's when the club scene was being revived and cover bands were very popular. You attracted an audience depending on what you copied. Which is why we weren't popular at all.

Q: You must have had a strong sense of self-respect, sticking to your own songs even though you were unpopular. Jaekyung: It wasn't self-respect. We did it because we found it fun. It’s only wow that all this time has passed that we look back and call it self-respect. Sometimes musicians ask, "do you know the rock bottom of musicianship?". The four of us know it. Jongwan: I think there are very few teams who know rock bottom better than us. We'd play seven times a week, but the combined audience wouldn't even add up to ten people. That's how we performed for almost a year. We stuck with it because it was exciting. Nowadays there are festivals and 500-600 seat clubs, but back then most clubs couldn’t house more than fifty people. Junghoon: If a hundred people arrived we'd be like, "seriously? No way!"

Q: Who were the popular bands back then? Junghoon: Dr. Core 911. And Crying Nut were popular from the get-go. Jaekyung: The sad thing is many decent bands started trying back then but almost none of them are still around. Jongwan: There's Pia. We first saw them in, what, 2000? They're still doing well, but aside from them there's almost no one.

Q: Many bands including Pia are partaking in Top Band 2 right now. It must make you feel all sorts of things. Jongwan: I don't normally watch TV, but I made sure to catch that. It was emotional. There's never been an opportunity to introduce so many bands on public TV before. I wish the charm of band music would be known far and wide. It's just that that one-time interest is dangerous, I've seen many teams who have gotten attention for things other than their music and then been forgotten. That would be extremely hurtful to the band members. I wish bands would get the chance to appeal through their music alone on broadcast.

Q: You must have met a lot of foreign musicians through your band activities. What do they think about the Korean music scene? Junghoon: I'm not sure about the band aspect of it, but I think the mainstream music scene is generally seen in a good light. Our idols' and mainstream singers' skills are much better than they used to be. We've also gotten better at producing. Jongwan: I have a producer friend in Philadelphia, a black friend. We spoke on the phone not too long ago and he said "I hear things are going well for Korea right now". I asked him what he meant, and he said that all these famous American songwriters and producers go to Korea to sign contracts. There's more money going around the Korean music scene than the American these days, so Americans want to come work here. Hearing that made me happy. Before it was always us who had to go abroad (laughter)

Q: Is your dream of advancing into Japan still intact? Jongwan: We're in the midst of consultations about it. We don't want to just dip our toes in and then withdraw. We want to be cautious so there's lot to prepare. And their management system is very different from ours in that it's extremely divided, so we have to discuss those things as well. We also have to consider whether to sing in Korean or English, so we're discussing many different points right now. Junghoon: We're not stubbornly holding onto Japan, exactly. We just want to expand our opportunities to perform. Whether that's in Korea, Japan or otherwise doesn't matter. Jongwan: Right, we want to play somewhere the environment is better suited to our needs. Just like how anyone would like to live in a good house, we want to work with talented staff members and perform where the sound comes out the way we want. I think that's what all musicians want.

Q: You've said that "Slip Away" refers to how "the more you want to hold onto something, the easier it slips away". In a world that changes by the day, what is one thing you wish wouldn't change? Jaekyung: My passion for music. And inspiration. Junghoon: The four of us. I wish our relationship wouldn't change. Jaewon: Me too, the four of us. And our attitude towards music. Jongwan: I wish things that have been around for a long time won't change. People these days have a tendency to dismiss old things as ‘outdated’. Old things have their own charm, and some are valuable simply because they are old, and I think it's a pity to constantly replace those things with something new. I wish they'd stay where they've always been, whether it's buildings, music, art or people.

Q: Should we take some time to let you ask each other questions? Jaewon: What's your least favorite thing to do as Nell? Jongwan: I realized this now: Taking pictures for magazines. Jaekyung: Jumping for photos. Lying down close together (for photos). Phew~ Junghoon: Now that you mention it that's what I hate the most as well. Other than that there's not much. It's not that I don't have things I dislike, but there's nothing so bad that it makes me want to die. Jaekyung: It's all for the band, so.

Q: Does Junghoon have something you want to ask? Junghoon: Other than music, what's something you want to do this year? Jaewon: Study English. We went to New York while preparing this album, and I was ashamed of how bad I was at English. Jaekyung: We were deaf and dumb. I want to study English too, and Japanese. There are many foreign music magazines where you can read experts explaining their know-hows. Jongwan does read them and explain to us, but I get stuck if I look for them myself. So I want to study English so I won't have to be so frustrated.

Q: What does Junghoon himself want to do this year? Junghoon: I don't think we'll have time for anything else than promotions. All: Hahahaha. Jaewon: This is how he attacks out of nowhere.

Q: Is Jaekyung curious about anything? Jaekyung: What are your plans after this interview? Jaewon: I'm going home. Jongwan: I want to go to the Nanji camping grounds. The weather is great for grilling meat and hanging out these days. It's been too long since I last went travelling. I want to go right this moment. What about tomorrow's schedules, you ask? It's fine if I go today and come back tomorrow. (laughter)

Q: Can you tell us about an especially memorable trip you’ve been on? Jongwan: Were we twenty three? The four of us and another friend went to Gangneung. That was university O.T. season so there were lots of students on the other floors of the condo we were staying at. We had lots of fun but we ran out of alcohol at dawn. We wanted to drink more and wondered what to do, so we decided to go the students' floor and try to get some from them. But as it turned out, they'd all drunk themselves to sleep. So we tried to wake them. "Hey, get up!" Jaewon: Since it was their O.T. they didn't know everyone's faces yet, so we pretended to be fellow students. Jongwan: No matter how we shook them they wouldn't wake up. So -- and this is terrible -- we grabbed the nearest bottles and ran away. Jaekyung: We didn't know what exactly what was in them, so we just grabbed some, thinking it looked like alcohol. Jongwan: The thing was, it was actually motion sickness medicine. I thought it was alcohol so I downed it all in one shot, and according to the others I was sleeping on all fours on the floor the next morning. It's hilarious to think about now. (laughter)

Q: Does Jongwan, who went through so much due to motion sickness medicine, have a question? Jongwan: If there was a girl you liked, what would you want to do with her? For Jaewon, it's assuming he didn't get married. Jaekyung: From trivial to big, I want to do everything. Jongwan: What are the big things? Jaekyung: I have to date first to know that. Dating and making music is similar in that sense. Because you never know in which direction to go. Junghoon: Like I said, I don't have time for anything other than band activities. All: Hahaha. Jaewon: I'd want to bring all my friends and girlfriend together and chat over some drinks. I used to do that often when we dated, but now that we're married and have a kid it's difficult to find the time.

Q: What about Jongwan himself? Jongwan: I’d want to play her body (like an instrument). All: Hahahaha. Jongwan: I'm sorry. I've been watching lots of cooking shows recently and they often cook and eat outdoors. I'd like to go somewhere with a beautiful view and eat together. And then play her bod-- haha.

Q: I'm asking this to fit the mood: What are you individual sexual fantasies? Haha. Jongwan: This is Paper, right? Not Maxim? (Maxim: A magazine focused on style for men, the content of which is often sexual.) All: Hahahaha. Jaekyung: I have to get a girlfriend first of all. Jaewon: Well, I have one. (Thinks for a long time) It's two characters, but I don't know if I can say it. Hahahaha. Jaekyung: This is what interviews are~ Jongwan: You have to protect your family! Jaewon: (Uh-oh) Pass.

Q: Hahahaha. What about Jongwan? Jongwan: I've tried it all, so. Huhu. I'm an honest person so I speak up if I want something. These days I often long for the fluttering and romance of the past. You know, the older you get the more open you become about sexual things. I often dream about the kind of relationship in which you're aware of how precious your emotions are. Junghoon: I seriously don't have any sexual fantasies. Just the basics! All: Basics? What even is that? Junghoon: Just sex! There's not much else I want to try. Even when I watch porn, I'm not interested in different positions and stuff. Jongwan: When you say 'basics', you don't mean doing headstands or something, right? All: Puhahahaha!

Q: (The rest of the 19+ talk has been edited out) Okay, okay~ Let's change up the mood. You know, sometimes it's easy to be a bit narcissistic. Jaewon: (Flexing his shoulders and legs like Popeye) Like this? All: Hahahaha. Jaekyung: Now we're stuck in this mood! What are we going to do about this?! Jaewon: I get narcissistic after our concerts when we're all complimenting each other. "You did great tonight", "your singing was on point", things like this. I love that. Jongwan: For me it's when we finish writing a great song. Each song contains several long processes, you know. Writing, arranging, recording, etc. So when a song turns out well, of course I'm happy, and feel like we all did well. Junghoon: For me it's during performances. It’s not that I think I look cool. But when thousands of people come to see us, talented engineers put their all into our sound and the lighting technicians do their best to make us look good, I feel that the work we do is really amazing. Jaekyung: I think Nell itself is joy, that I'm drunk on the fact that I got to do this with my friends for this long. Basically, I think I'm similar to Jongwan. We can keep making music, but of course it doesn't turn out well every time. So when it does, we get drunk on it.

Q: Nell have gone strong for thirteen years without replacing any members. Jaurim, who have been around even longer with their fifteen years, picked the secret to their longevity as 'individual activities'. I'd like to hear Nell's thoughts on individual activities. Jaekyung: For now, we're not sure. Doing Nell right now is overwhelming enough. We’re busy as it is.

Q: I don't think you need to limit activities to music related things. It could be business, too, and-- All: We'd stop each other! Junghoon: We know better than anyone that we have no talent for things like that, you see. Jongwan: Stocks? I taught the others myself. That they shouldn't do it (laughter) As long as we know what we're doing, individual activities would be fine. As long as we know that Nell is the most important thing and it doesn't cause the band any harm, that is. But of course it'll be hard. See, I think passion has a limit. If you give sixty percent to something, you can only give forty to other things, so you have to find your balance. As long as you distribute yourself well, it should be okay.

Q: These are the member's individual weapons, right? Voice, guitar, drums, bass -- if they were living things, what would you want to tell them? Jaekyung: (to the guitar) "Make the right sounds, won't you!" 'Just focus on yourself', something like this? (laughter) Jaewon: (to the drums): "You've been through a lot." Junghoon: (to the bass): "Let's do well, I'll do my best as well." Jongwan: I'd say thank you. To my voice, but to music itself, too. If we didn't get into music we’d have lived very ordinary, perhaps boring lives. Because we're originally fairly shy. We're living satisfying lives thanks to music, so I'm always grateful.

Q: Will we see you in concert at midnight on the 24th of December this year as well? You always used to play at that time before. Jaekyung: We're planning to. Junghoon: Last time was in 2007. Christmas Eve is Jongwan's birthday, too.

Q: Is having your birthday on that day a good or a bad thing? Jongwan: There's not a single advantage to it. I share a birthday with the most famous person in the world, so I can't win. I say "I'm working on my birthday" half joking, half seriously, but to be fair I'm the happiest on stage.

Q: If someday in the future there'll be a movie about Nell, what would you pick as the opening and closing song? Jaekyung: Wow~ I think we'd have to make new music for such an important cause. Jongwan: If we were to pick from the songs we've already made, I'd choose Take Me With from our first album as the opening song. It's the first song we recorded in a proper recording studio. For the closing song, I'd say 12 Seconds from our fourth album, we always play it last at our concerts. At some point it became our final song.

Q: What would be a good title for the movie? Jongwan: The title of our first indie album "Reflection Of". Since it's our story, I think "Reflection of Nell" would be good.

Q: I see you have a lot of affection for your first indie album. Jongwan: It's because there are so many memories attached to it. I lived in Ilsan back then, and all the members camped out at my house for almost a month while we made the album. It's far from perfect but at the end of the day, it’s our beginning.

Q: It's gone out of print and can't be purchased any longer, but do you each have a copy? Jongwan: I don't. I honestly don't own any of our CDs. As soon as we release an album, I start thinking of the next. It could come off as cold, but it's just that I look towards our future music rather than the songs we have already made. That’s what I want to focus on.

Q: Nell's lyrics often revolve around the past, but I suppose your music itself is the opposite. Jongwan: Yes, we don't obsess about the past.

Q: I enjoyed today's interview with you. Jaekyung: It had the four steps of composition (introduction, development, turn and conclusion).

Q: "The basics" played a huge role. All: Hahaha.

Feel free to use, but please credit Nellpire.

[killingmebtob]

What Can I Do? ~Mini Series~ 3: I Don’t Know... Maybe // Lee Minhyuk

Author: @killingmebtob // Sara

Mini-series: What Can I Do?

Part 3: I Don’t Know... Maybe

Author’s Note: I am so terribly sorry for taking so long. I really tried my best huhu. Hopefully it will be okay for you. :)

Summary: Lee Minhyuk, the all-around and athletic idol, finally meets (Y/N), a female idol well-known in the industry, who doesn’t seem to swoon and fawn over him like most of the female idols he met before.

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 4 // Part 5

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Your name: submit What is this?

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“Uwa~,” (Y/N) almost squealed when she got to the school where they were set to shoot today. She didn’t know that the agency prepared food support for her. A small food truck was set up at the front of the school. It had a standee of her wearing her character’s uniform at the side. There were cookies and iced coffee was also being served. Everything had her face on it and it made her a bit shy.

The female idol checked her watch. She was still too early for her call time so she decided to stay by her food support for a while. The girl even managed to convince the person watching over to let her serve people while waiting for her call time. (Y/N) eagerly wore the apron with a drawing of her face on it.

Jiyoung could only shake her head at the idol’s wishes. She let her be as she went ahead to meet with the director.

“Hi~,” (Y/N) would warmly greet anyone who stopped by to grab some snacks and drinks. She even let them take photos with her. “Thank you~ Please do support our web drama~,” she’d say once they were done.

“Jiyoung-ssi told me I’d find you here,”

(Y/N) smiled at her newest customer. “Hi~ What would you want for today?”

Minhyuk shook his head but decided to play along. “A cookie, a cup of iced coffee, a photo with you, and maybe your number?”

“Oh my God…” She exasperatedly sighed as she jokingly rolled her eyes. “I can give you all that minus my number,”

“I thought my smooth moves would work,” he pouted causing the girl to laugh. She handed him the cookie and a cup of iced coffee.

“Boo hoo,” she teased. “At least you’ve got stuff with my cute face on it. You get a picture with me too so that’s a great deal in itself,”

“And you still think that I’m the one who’s so full of myself,” Minhyuk chuckled. “But I do believe it’s the other way around. You’re getting a photo with the one and only Lee Minhyuk,”

“Sorry to burst your bubble but there are tons of Lee Minhyuk’s walking around the land of Korea,”

Minhyuk cleared his throat as he corrected himself. “The only Lee Minhyuk in this project,”

(Y/N) laughed at him. “Don’t worry. You’re the only Lee Minhyuk I personally know anyway,”

The male idol bit his lip. He didn’t know why such simple words made him feel like a teenage boy. It was such a general statement yet he felt happy that he’s the only Lee Minhyuk she knew despite the numerous Lee Minhyuk’s in the industry.

‘Ah… Minhyuk. You silly man,’ he internally scolded himself.

“Anyway,” she laughed. “Let’s take a photo together,” she grinned as she motioned for him to join her inside the booth. Minhyuk asked the staff to take the photo for them. After a couple of shots, they moved to take a photo with (Y/N)’s standee.

“Oh, I want a solo photo with my standee please,” (Y/N) told Minhyuk when he took his phone from the staff. The girl tilted her head to the side towards the standee and made a peace sign as she smiled at Minhyuk.

“Got it,” he smiled.

“Thank you~ Please send it to me,”

“Your number?” Minhyuk smirked.

“Ah… You got me,” (Y/N) laughed. With no warning at all, she reached for Minhyuk’s phone and took it from his hands. Their fingers touched for a brief moment and Minhyuk felt a weird tingle run through his fingers. He wasn’t sure if (Y/N) felt it too because she didn’t seem to react.

“H-Hey,” Minhyuk finally realized what just happened. But (Y/N) was quick. She was able to save her number instantly to his contacts.

“There you go. It’s not like I didn’t want to give you my number. I was just playing with you,”

‘Like how you always manage to play with what I feel,’ he unconsciously thought but he shook his head in surprise. What was he thinking?

//

Minhyuk: Hey. Hey. What are you doing?

Similar messages have been appearing on (Y/N)’s messaging app along with cute stickers ever since she and Minhyuk exchanged numbers. It took the male idol a while to ask for her number and if the female were to be honest, it was cute. He was trying to act cool and casual about it but it was clear that he was nervous. She didn’t know why and she decided to play with him by saying no. The crestfallen look on the boy’s face made her heart hurt a bit but still she laughed and eventually gave him her number.

(Y/N): Replying to you.

Minhyuk: Ha ha… Funny. -_-“

(Y/N): I know. I’m the funniest out of everyone you know. ;)

“Ready?” Jiyong asked when she opened the door to (Y/N)’s dressing room. She was having her hair and make-up done for a magazine’s feature photoshoot and interview.

“Yeah,” (Y/N) smiled at her manager through the mirror. She quickly inserted her phone back into her bag and left the room trailing behind Jiyoung.

Her manager was raising her eyebrow at the female idol who was walking with a bounce on her step. “What’s got you in a good mood? You’re usually sleepy at this time of day,”

The female idol just shook her head. “Nothing, really. I just feel happy today,” she replied in a sing-song voice. “Maybe I woke up on the right side of the bed for once,” (Y/N) smiled at the older female.

A series of hello’s and good morning’s greeted the two when they entered the studio. The camera staff were going around fixing the lights while the stylists were by the rack making sure that they’re ready just in case a wardrobe malfunction happens. The writer for the feature article was stationed beside the photographer with her notes and recorder.

(Y/N) took her spot in front of the camera and bowed at the photographer and writer.

“Hey, hey. What are you doing?” Her co-star greeted her, causing her to laugh.

“About to do a photoshoot with a weirdo,” she teased.

“Ouch. You wound me,” Minhyuk pretended to feel hurt. He even placed his hand on his chest to emphasize how her words hurt his feelings. The girl widely grinned as she shook her head at the boy’s antics.

This has been a normal thing between the two idols. Even the production staff and their managers noticed how the two looked as if they’ve known each other for their whole lives. Jiyoung was happy for the girl because it’s been a while since she smiled as brightly. She’d always worry for the female idol who she’d sometimes find gazing out the window with a long face. It was refreshing to see her this way but Jiyoung fears the moment that the project ends and (Y/N) would start feeling as if she was alone again. Even if the female idol didn’t say it, her manager knew her well enough to know.

Jiyoung and Daegyeom shared a smile as they watched their idols do the photoshoot. Everyone in the studio could hear them having fun while following the directions given to them. Aside from the formal shots, the director was also asking them to take fun and candid photos.

Minhyuk had a huge, playful grin on his lips as he teased the girl who was rolling her eyes but she was still smiling. His arm was around her shoulder while she was trying to lean away. If they didn’t know any better, the crew would have thought that the two idols have known each other for a long time.

Once the photographer was happy, he motioned the crew to place the stools in the set. The writer and the two idols took their seats while the photographer was still stationed by his camera.

“Hi. My name is Park Eun Ha. Thanks for letting us interview you despite the tight schedule,” the writer introduced herself. “That’s my partner, So Ji Hun. I hope you don’t mind if we continue to take photos of the interview itself,”

“It’s not a problem. Thank you, too, for considering this webtoon for your feature,” (Y/N) smiled.

Eun Ha nodded and began her interview. Her first few questions were more focused on the web drama. The atmosphere was light as they discussed what they thought about ‘In Our Spring’.

“If you were to change one thing about your character, what would it be?”

The two idols thoughts about what to answer. There were so many things to consider when changing an aspect in their respective characters.

“None,” they both said at the same time. Minhyuk grinned whilst (Y/N) rolled her eyes before laughing.

“I think their current personalities make Se Jun and Jae Eun’s friendship. One is too fun-loving and resorts to teasing while the other is a little uptight. Even if it does give Se Jun a problem when trying to get his feeling across, I think that it also gives Se Jun the push he needed to somehow grow up,” Minhyuk explained.

“If he wasn’t written in that way, I think the web drama wouldn’t have been possible,” (Y/N) laughed. “It’s kind of like a coming of age story between two friends. If both of them were perfect and mature characters, then there’s barely any conflict,”

“Then we wouldn’t have gotten this project,” Minhyuk joked.

Eun Ha laughed along with (Y/N) as they shook their head. “This is the first time you’ve worked together, yes?” When the two nodded, she continued, “How is it like to work with each other?”

“Ah,” (Y/N) felt a little shy but she tried not to show it. “It’s been great so far. Minhyuk’s been really fun to work with. He’s very professional on set but when the camera’s not rolling, he’s really funny. He gets along well with the crew and he’s really respectful too. Personally, I think the director and the writer made a great choice casting him for Se Jun’s role,”

Minhyuk felt his heart soar at her words. It was the first time that he heard (Y/N) say those things about him. He didn’t know why but he felt warm inside.

“What about you Minhyuk?” Eun Ha asked the boy who had his head above the clouds. He quickly composed himself and smiled.

“Hm… (Y/N)…” He grinned teasingly. “I’ve learned a lot from (Y/N), especially when it comes to acting. She’s frank when it comes to criticism and she’s quick to let you know how you can improve what you just did when there’s a retake. But she also evaluates her own performance and adjusts herself accordingly. I think that’s what makes working with (Y/N) easy,”

“Oh yeah,” the female idol laughed. “There was this one time during the table reading when I frankly told him that he was bland and the look on his face was hilarious. It was a mixture of disbelief, annoyance, and surprise,”

“Sorry but you said it out of the blue so I was surprised,”

(Y/N) waved him off. “Yeah, yeah. My bad,” she grinned despite the sarcasm that was dripping in her tone.

“In the future, will you want to work on another project with each other?”

The two idols nodded earnestly.

“If the opportunity arises, then yes,” (Y/N) smiled.

“Ah… Really? I knew it,” Minhyuk teased her. “I’m flattered,”

“You are so full of yourself,” the female idol mused as she shook her head.

“I’ve heard that before,” the rapper playfully scoffed. “But I do agree with (Y/N). It’d be nice to work again together. Maybe a song or a music video,”

After a few more questions, Eun Ha wrapped up her interview with the two idols. The two bowed in gratitude to everyone who worked with them for the feature before heading to their dressing rooms.

“What’s on your schedule today?” Minhyuk asked as they walked.

“Don’t tell anyone but I’m preparing for a comeback,” she whispered, pretending that there were people listening in on their conversation. “It’s top secret,” (Y/N) winked.

“I’m honored to have been blessed with this information,” he formally responded causing the girl to laugh loudly. “I can’t wait to hear what you’re preparing,”

“Eh,” she shrugged. “Everything is still in the planning stages but I’m excited too. What about you?”

“We’ve got a music festival later tonight,” he said as they stopped in front of their respective dressing rooms, which were in front of each other’s. “If you’re free, do you want to… maybe… come and watch?”

(Y/N) cracked a small smile. “It’s been a while since I’ve been to one so I would love to go but,” she sighed. “You know how long preparations take. I’ll try to go if I finish early,”

“Okay,” he responded. Minhyuk didn’t let it show that he was slightly disappointed but he was still holding onto that little chance that she’d be able to. “Let me know,”

“Do you want me to be there that much?” She sighed. He wasn’t really doing a good job at hiding his disappointment. “I’ll do my best, okay? But not promises. See you when I see you,”

The male idol was left gaping at the space she occupied just a few seconds ago. Was his disappointment that obvious? Some actor, he shook his head at the thought. Minhyuk felt conflicted too. Did he really want her to be there that much? Why?

//

Minhyuk was being more silent than usual as they were in their dressing room preparing for the festival. The members noticed that he had been checking his phone a lot while his stylist fussed over him. They knew that there were times when Minhyuk was just silent as he thought over some things but they also knew that this was different.

“Hyung,” Sungjae sat beside the older male on the couch who was done with his hair and make-up. “You’ve been really quiet,”

“Ah,” he smiled at their maknae as he shook his head. “It’s nothing,”

“Are you waiting for a text or a call? Did you go to an audition or something? Are you waiting for a confirmation message that you got the role?” The maknae kept on asking as he hoped that his hyung would cheer up a bit.

“Ah… No,” he shyly said causing Sungjae to wonder. “Don’t worry about it, Sungjae. It’s really nothing,”

With that, Minhyuk handed his phone to Daegyeom who was watching him carefully. The manager had an inkling of what it was about but he chose not to say anything. Sungjae looked at Daegyeom questioningly but the manager just shrugged.

When the boys were done performing and were back in their dressing room, Daegyeom went to Minhyuk first. “Your phone has been vibrating non-stop a while ago,” those were the only words he said as he handed Minhyuk his phone.

The male idol was flustered and he was nervous as hell as he hastily opened his phone. His notifications were flooded but there were a couple that stood out a lot. He bit his lip as he opened the messaging app.

(Y/N): Minhyuk… Sorry! I don’t think I’ll be able to make it.

(Y/N): Ahhh… We just finished and I only have 10 minutes to spare until the start of the festival which is an hour away from me.

(Y/N): I found a livestream!

(Y/N): You all sound amazing??? I mean… I know you all do but… Oh man!! *blown away*

(Y/N): Good job tonight~ See you at the set!

Minhyuk’s smile was so bright. He didn’t even realize that he was smiling until the boys were teasing him about his smile.

“Ya~!” Eunkwang poked his friend as he grinned. “Who was that?”

“Was that why you were so sad a while ago? Huh, hyung?” Sungjae wiggled his eyebrows.

“Hyung! Are we getting a new song composed by you?” Ilhoon teased. “Is this about a girl?”

Minhyuk just shook his head as they kept on talking at the same time. “Hey,” he finally spoke up. “It’s nothing,”

“The smile on your face says the complete opposite,” Hyunsik smirked.

The rapper rolled his eyes as he pocketed his phone. He thought that if he didn’t respond, they’d drop it. Apparently not.

“Is it (Y/N)-ssi?” Peniel asked causing the male to freeze. Peniel has always been the perceptive one despite his usually quiet nature.

A series of OH’s and AH’s echoed in the room.

“Ya, ya, ya!!” Minhyuk huffed in frustration but his cheeks felt warm at the mention of her name.

“I think Minhyukkie hyung likes her,” Changsub chuckled. “His face is starting to get red,”

Minhyuk groaned as he plopped down on the couch. “I don’t,” he uttered but he wasn’t sure either. Sure, he likes her as a friend but as something more…? He didn’t know. He had no idea. All he knew was that he liked making her smile. He was way past the stage of wanting to know what makes her heart race or skip a beat. Every gesture he had been doing was more for her to be happy.

“I don’t know,” he spoke lowly. “Maybe,”

[kadobeclothing]

9 of the Most Inventive Interactive Marketing Examples We’ve Ever Seen

If you really think about it, the content formats we rely on today have an uncanny resemblance to the content formats we relied on yesterday — our blog posts look like print articles, our offers look like books, and our slide decks like look presentations.

Relying on the content formats we used yesterday to educate and entertain our audience today is fine: Our audience is ultimately used to these mediums. At the same time, “fine” is not exceptional, and we’ve missed a huge opportunity to engage them at record levels because we glossed over the fact that screens and computers are so much more than just digital pieces of paper and printing presses. Fortunately, the interactive marketing movement is charging along, and their early adopters have proven that if marketers want to cut through the noise, they can’t just do what they’ve always been doing. They need to refresh their work.

What Is Interactive Marketing? Interactive marketing is an innovative type of marketing where your audience can interact with engaging visuals or videos within your content. This new form of marketing unleashes your creativity and, in turn, allows you to tell more gripping stories, crowning it as one of the best ways to capture your audience’s attention.

Interactive Marketing Campaign Examples Capturing attention sounds great in theory, but you may be unsure of how to incorporate interactive marketing into your strategy. To get some great ideas, learn from some of these great examples of interactive marketing: 1. Interactive Music Experience | Clash Up by Eko

Mash-up remixes like Two Friends’ Big Bootie Mixes are some of the most popular tunes around today, racking up over 35 million SoundCloud streams over the past three years. However, Eko, an interactive storytelling platform that produces interactive shows, music videos, and branded content, has created a remixed music experience that’s arguably more entertaining than any of Two Friends’ mixes. In Clash Up, Eko’s interactive music experience, you are able to mix a variety of songs from different genres and decades with one main track. For instance, in their first episode, Six Degrees of B.I.G., you get to choose from a diverse range of songs like A-Ha’s “Take on Me,” Jason Derulo’s “Wiggle,” Brandy’s “I Wanna Be Down,” Devo’s “Whip It,” and The Flaming Lips’ “When You Smile” and blend it with one of The Notorious B.I.G.’s most legendary songs “Big Poppa.” 2. Interactive Slide Show | The Structure of Stand-Up Comedy by The Pudding

Stand-up comedians might seem like the lucky wisecrackers who are blessed with the talent to improvise some of the funniest jokes and bits you’ve ever heard, but in reality, they polish their performance with painstaking precision. To crack their audiences up as much as possible, they make sure their routines’ stories seamlessly flow from one to the other. However, some comedians like Ali Wong take their stand-up preparation to an entirely different level. In their interactive slideshow about how Ali Wong structured her Netflix special Baby Cobra, The Pudding, a digital publication that crafts visual essays about culture and entertainment, describes how she sculpts her routine into a narrative instead of just telling a bunch of separate jokes. By visually outlining her entire routine, The Pudding reveals how Ali Wong weaved all her bits into a story, building her world and perception of life in a way that her audience can truly understand, which left them with a deeper feeling of empathy, meaning, and ultimately humor. 3. Conversational Marketing | HubSpot We rely on messaging apps to interact with friends and family, so it only makes sense that brands should incorporate them for communication to reduce friction in the buying journey. Despite this, marketers have been sluggish to adopt conversational marketing — using chatbots, live chat, Facebook Messanger, and other chat features — into their inbound marketing strategies. In fact, according to Business 2 Community, only 36% of companies have adopted these tactics. At HubSpot, we hope to change that by offering new messaging tools that can integrate with your entire marketing suite and database. We double down on this idea by using our own conversational marketing software on our homepage. Website visitors are asked a question and given several choices of potential answers. This allows the prospect to engage in website content almost like a “choose your own adventure” story. This improves the overall site experience and ensures that the site is serving up the content (or actions) that will benefit them the most… without any sales pressure. 4. Interactive Infographic | Family Fun in Scottsdale by Marriott

Marriott Hotels manages to make vacation planning even more fun while positioning their brand in front of potential customers with an interactive infographic. Vacationers who are headed to Scottsdale are able to take a customized path through the flowchart to receive destination advice. Just a little bit of animation goes a long way, and it adds a touch of personalization that normal infographics don’t.  The beauty of this is that infographics are a great visual tool that have a ton of utility. By using lemonly.com, Marriott pushes the envelope just a step further, which provides unexpected delight. 5. Interactive Slide Show | The New Media Message by Velocity Partners In their interactive slideshow, which honestly looks like it belongs in Tron, Velocity Partners, a B2B marketing agency, explains why innovative marketers need to leverage new content formats in order to tell more refreshing stories. Velocity Partners shows, not tells, how their interactive slideshow can captivate an audience. This is in stark contrast to how marketers have churned out so many blog posts, eBooks, and SlideShares that they’ve become dull and predictable. The end result of this message hammers home the point that the most engaging and surprising mediums are the best at delivering the most engaging and surprising stories. 6. Interactive Article | The Big Gronkowski by Ceros In honor of Rob Gronkowski’s retirement, Ceros, an experiential content creation platform, decided to create an interactive article that spotlights the two things Gronk will always be remembered for — his athletic prowess and goofy attitude. When you visit their interactive article, you can toggle between Gronk’s “Warrior” and “Goofball” side, clicking on hotspots that reveal his impressive achievements, his laundry list of injuries, and some of the funniest things he’s ever done. Once you finish interacting with the article, you’ll truly understand how Rob Gronkowski is just as athletic as he is goofy. 7. Immersive Video | Scotland From the Sky by BBC Scotland

In 2019, Rough Guides, a renowned travel guidebook, named Scotland the most beautiful country in the world. And a big reason why it’s such a spectacle is that Glen Coe, a Scottish valley that cuts through the ruins of an ancient supervolcano, is one of the most striking landscapes in the world. With their immersive, 360-degree video of Glen Coe, BBC Scotland can grip viewers because they’re able to experience the landscape from an intimate point of view at every possible angle, making them feel like they’re actually there. 8. Playable Video Game Ad | Narcos: Cartel Wars

In the past, video game apps had to use video/gif demos to advertise gameplay in hopes to attract new players and increase app downloads. The thing about watching videos, though, is that it’s a passive activity. The visuals of the game may be enough to attract prospective players’ attention, but it may fall short of giving them enough inertia to actually engage and play. FTX Games found their way around this by partnering with Glispa for their game Narcos: Cartel Wars. Prospects are immediately drawn into the action of the game with the ability to try it before buying it. Rockets and explosions abound for a few rounds before the demo prompts the player to install the app and continue their game. The good news is that this type of functionality is about to become much more mainstream with Facebook offering playable video ads on their platform. Much like the Cartel Wars example, these playable ads are composed of:  A short video preview A playable demo to get people hooked on the gameplay A call-to-action to get the users to take the next step 9. Interactive Voice Ad on Pandora | Doritos

Pandora for Brands has recently begun testing a new interactive ad functionality on their platform that allows users to verbally engage with the ad. Doritos is one of the first brands utilizing this new interactive format on Pandora. The audio uses the distinctive Doritos crunch and then prompts the user to answer a yes or no question. Using artificial intelligence, the ad can then serve up a personalized experience based on how the listener answered.  This is exciting for the same reason as the playable video game ads are: They disrupt passive listening in an attempt to get the listener to engage and actually process the information being conveyed to them. Plus, by being able to respond hands-free, there is less friction in order to learn more.  The campaigns in this article should give you a few takeaways to apply to your own marketing. As you create great content, you should also be thinking about:  How to disrupt expectation to earn attention, engagement, and interest How to best personalize the experience for each individual prospect How to reduce friction as much as possible to increase momentum By putting concepts these concepts in action, you’ll be in a position to generate buzz, make your content stickier, enhance the experience, and fuel your flywheel.

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7 of the Most Inventive Interactive Marketing Examples We've Ever Seen

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7 of the Most Inventive Interactive Marketing Examples We've Ever Seen

If you really think about it, the content formats we rely on today have an uncanny resemblance to the content formats we relied on yesterday — our blog posts look like print articles, our offers look like books, and our slide decks like look presentations.

Relying on the content formats we used yesterday to educate and entertain our audience today is fine, though. Our audience is ultimately used to these mediums. But, at the same time, we’ve missed a huge opportunity to engage them at record levels because we glossed over the fact that screens and computers are so much more than just digital pieces of paper and printing presses.

Fortunately, the interactive marketing movement is charging along and their early adopters have proven that if marketers want to cut through the noise, they can’t just do what they’ve always been doing. They need to refresh their work.

What is interactive marketing?

Interactive marketing is an innovative type of marketing where your audience can interact with engaging visuals or videos within your content. This new form of marketing unleashes your creativity and, in turn, allows you to tell more gripping stories, crowning it as one of the best ways to capture your audience’s attention.

Interactive Marketing Campaign Examples

1. Clash Up | Eko

Mash-up remixes like Two Friends’ Big Bootie Mixes are some of the most popular tunes around today, racking up over 35 million SoundCloud streams over the past three years. However, Eko, an interactive storytelling platform that produces interactive shows, music videos, and branded content, has created a remixed music experience that’s arguably more entertaining than any of Two Friends’ mixes.

In Clash Up, Eko’s interactive music experience, they let you mix a variety of songs from different genres and decades with one main track. For instance, in their first episode, Six Degrees of B.I.G., you get to choose from a diverse range of songs like A-Ha’s “Take on Me”, Jason Derulo’s “Wiggle”, Brandy’s “I Wanna Be Down”, Devo’s “Whip It”, and The Flaming Lips’ “When You Smile” and blend it with one of The Notorious B.I.G.’s most legendary songs “Big Poppa”.

2. The Structure of Stand-Up Comedy | The Pudding

Stand-up comedians might seem like the lucky wisecrackers who are blessed with the talent to improvise some of the funniest jokes and bits you’ve ever heard, but, in reality, they polish their performance with painstaking precision.

To crack their audiences up as much as possible, they make sure their routine’s stories seamlessly flow from one to the other. However, some comedians, like Ali Wong, take their stand-up preparation to an entirely different level.

In their interactive slideshow about how Ali Wong structured her Netflix special Baby Cobra, The Pudding, a digital publication that crafts visual essays about culture and entertainment, describe how she sculpts her routine into a narrative instead of just telling a bunch of separate jokes.

By visually outlining her entire routine, The Pudding reveals how Ali Wong weaved all her bits into a story, building her world and perception of life in a way that her audience can truly understand, which left them with a deeper feeling of empathy, meaning, and, ultimately, humor.

3. Incorporated Interactive Trailer | Syfy

To promote Matt Damon’s and Ben Affleck’s science fiction television series, Incorporated, Syfy teamed up with Wirewax, a company that offers interactive video technology and creative services, to produce an interactive trailer that pulls you into a dystopian future where global corporations also serve as totalitarian governments.

As the trailer plays, you can click on hotspots that’ll play clips of the show, previewing its premise and giving you a glimpse of the main character’s motivation and scheme to undermine the corporate government that controls his city.

4. The New Media Message | Velocity Partners

In their interactive slideshow, which honestly looks like it belongs in Tron, Velocity Partners, a B2B marketing agency, explains why innovative marketers need to leverage new content formats in order to tell more refreshing stories.

By showing, not telling, how their interactive slideshow, which is called a Velocity String, can captivate an audience, as well as how marketers have churned out so many blog posts, eBooks, and SlideShares that they’ve become dull and predictable, Velocity Partners hammers home the point that the most engaging and surprising mediums are best at delivering the most engaging and surprising stories.

5. The Big Gronkowski | Ceros

In honor of Rob Gronkowski’s recent retirement, Ceros, an experiential content creation platform, decided to create an interactive article that spotlights the two things Gronk will always be remembered for — his athletic prowess and goofy attitude.

When you visit their interactive article, you can toggle between Gronk’s “Warrior” and “Goofball” side, clicking on hotspots that reveal his impressive achievements, his laundry list of injuries, and some of the funniest things he’s ever done. Once you finish interacting with the article, you’ll truly understand how Rob Gronkowski is just as athletic as he is goofy.

6. Scotland From the Sky | BBC Scotland

In 2019, Rough Guides, a renowned travel guidebook, named Scotland the most beautiful country in the world. And a big reason why it’s such a spectacle is because Glen Coe, a Scottish valley that cuts through the ruins of an ancient supervolcano, is one of the most striking landscapes in the world.

With their immersive, 360 degree video of Glen Coe, BBC Scotland can grip viewers because they’re able to experience the landscape from an intimate point of view at every possible angle, making them feel like they’re actually there.

7. Conversational Marketing | HubSpot

Interaction is the crux of conversational marketing, so it makes perfect sense that HubSpot leveraged this Velocity String to convey the importance of conversational marketing and promote their 15-part video crash course on applying live chat, Facebook Messenger, and bots to your inbound marketing strategy.

By contrasting our reliance on messaging apps to interact with friends and family with marketing’s sluggish adoption of chat bots, covering conversational marketing’s benefits, and spotlighting how HubSpot’s new messaging tools can integrate with your entire marketing suite and database, HubSpot’s interactive slideshow not only engages you for its entire duration, but it also persuades you to take the next step and learn even more about conversational marketing after you finish interacting with their content.

[tdotrenae]

Man Crush of the Month: Quenton Jordan

Happy  June!!! I know you all have been waiting so patiently for this month’s man crush! This month’s crush is Quenton Jordan. He’s a major heartthrob from Chicago, IL – he’s 22 years old and single (!!!). We both attended Hampton University and he is a person I definitely look up to. He has this crazy work ethic and natural intelligence that I admire so much.  He embodies the “grind day is everyday” lifestyle. He is currently juggling two careers: one as a business and technology integration analyst at one of the world’s largest consulting firms (fancy lol) and the other as the Co-Founder of a non-profit organization geared towards revitalizing the concept of financial literacy and spreading it to underrepresented groups throughout the U.S. His main hobby is to give back to those who’ve paved the way for myself and others and to those less fortunate than myself. He also enjoys long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and other overly romantic activities (“ladies, peep the relationship status”). He truly enjoys trying new foods, watching movies, arguing about sports, and learning new things.

What makes Quenton most unique is that he is extremely fun to be around and that’s not something everyone can honestly say. He came from a difficult background and now he’s making it to where he is today, puts him in a great position to where he is relatable to people from, almost, all walks of life. He tends to have a different perspective than most people on a number of topics, which makes conversations with him very informative and just great overall. Everyone walks away with some additional knowledge. That’s unique because most people can’t tell you the last thing they learned while in a random conversation.

Now on the rest of the interview!

Do you have any interesting fun facts about yourself?

I’m the funniest person I’ve ever met.

How would you describe your personality in three words?

Dope Ass Individual

Which do you prefer to listen to your heart or your brain? Why?

Brain – I’m a logical person

Who is your celebrity crush?

Draya

Who do you think should make the first move males or females? Why?

Ladies first, as any true gentleman would say.

What’s the longest relationship you’ve been in? What did you learn?

3 years – Working relationships are all about sacrifice and timing.

What motivational words would you tell someone on the come-up?

If you don’t plan on giving 100% just stop while you’re ahead. Half-ass effort breeds half-ass results. You’ll be beaten by someone who’s fully committed every time.

What’s the most awkward date that you’ve ever been on?

I went out with a girl who was extremely attractive, based on appearance, but she couldn’t hold a convo about anything relevant. I hate wasting words about dumb stuff, so I cut the date short.

Where do you see yourself in the next five years?

In the next five years, I’ll either be in my final year of an MBA program (Harvard or NYU, fingers crossed) or I will have just obtained my MBA. My nonprofit will have tripled in size and quadrupled in impact. I’ll be working on becoming a life coach, and hopefully, my first child will be here making me the happiest man in the world.

What do you usually do to let a girl know that you are interested in her?

Like pictures from months ago on IG.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about yourself?

My favorite thing about myself is that I’m fully aware of my strengths and areas that could use improvement. My least favorite thing about myself is that I don’t take the time to really appreciate small things, achievements, etc. I’m always looking for what’s next as soon as I complete the last thing. I don’t celebrate myself enough.

Who has been the most influential person in your life?

My grandfather.

What’s your personal theme song?

Turn My Swag On – Soulja Boy aka Big Draco

How are you changing the world?

I’m directly and indirectly challenging every person I interact with to step their game up and become the best them they can be.

Why do men often look over the average girl?

Because if you’re ‘average’ then that means there are millions more like you, and I already know everything I need to know about you without you having to tell me. There needs to be something unique that attracts me to you over the tons of other ‘average’ people walking around. I don’t think anyone should refer to themselves as ‘average’ or ‘typical’ or anything of that sort. Makes you sound dull. If I ask you to tell me about yourself, you should be able to go on forever because you know yourself better than anyone else and should love talking about how great you are. I know I’m not average, so why would I settle for that?

Why do guys tend to hide your feelings and not fully express them?

This has traditionally been viewed as being feminine. Most men, including myself, still live with this mindset in certain situations.

How do you seize and take advantage of every single day?

I set daily goals – what do I want to get accomplished today, what do I need to ensure that it happens. I set long term goals with incremental steps in between and work on achieving them daily. I ensure that I leave every day with a new piece of knowledge on at least one topic.

What do you feel men aren’t recognized enough for?

People, in general, aren’t recognized enough for their individual contributions to making the world a better place. I wouldn’t categorize it based on gender. I actually wouldn’t categorize it at all. I think this is better when looked at on an individual basis.

What’s one thing you want the world to know about you and who you are?

I don’t have any talents that others can’t acquire. I simply take advantage of every learning opportunity and train myself mentally to be able to tackle any obstacles in my way. If everyone did the same, the world would be a better place.

Do you have a brand? Share what it’s purpose, mission, and goals here –

RichBefore25 has been my personal brand for the last few years and has recently developed into a business concept, which is in the beginning phases of building its own brand. RichBefore25 is a nonprofit agency focused on spreading financial literacy to members of traditionally underrepresented groups throughout the United States, motivating individuals to pursue their passions, and providing mentorship to those in need. Acting as a connector, linking forward-thinking firms, organizations, and individuals to members of the target demographic, RichBefore25 seeks to leave a lasting impact on communities across the country.

Want to connect with Quenton – Here are his social media:

To check out all of Quenton’s pictures follow his Instagram

Also, Check Out Rich Before 25’s Website

  from Man Crush of the Month: Quenton Jordan