#does he make her pose for a pic anytime they go out (in the next town over. obv) bc hes obsessed and wnts to remember it? absolutely

[bittcrsuite]

📸 gemma + logan

send a 📸 to see 3-5 pictures that my muse has/has taken of your muse(s)

[earth-architect]

Senior Year Adventures (Zuko xOC) pt.16

“So much for a drama free New Years”

“Hey Ki?” Zuko knocked on Kianna’s bedroom door “are you almost ready, we gotta leave soon.

“yeah I’m ready” she puts some last-minute touches to her red lipstick, grabbed her purse and opened the door. Zuko was standing there with his arm on the side of the door. He was wearing a black long-sleeved turtleneck and black pants with a red jacket to finish the look. ‘man can this guy dress’

“wow, you look beautiful” Zuko gives her a sly smirk when he sees the blush creep up on her cheeks.

“do you mind taking a picture of me?” Kianna hands Zuko her phone. She turned slightly posing for the picture.

“Ok come on” Zuko looked at her with his phone in her hand.

“what, do I need to change my angle” she turns her body

“no, you look beautiful, I just” Zuko rubs her face “your butt is showing”

“well yeah that’s the whole point” she gets back into the pose she was first “now take the picture”

Zuko took a few pictures, changing his angle a few times before handing the phone to her.

“are you going to post this?” Kianna takes the phone to look at the pictures.

“I mean yeah” she looks at him to see an uncertain look on his face “ok what’s wrong”

“nothing, I just”, he sighs “as much as I want everyone to know your mine, I don’t really want anyone to be able to look at your ass anytime they want”

Her expression shifted, she hoped Zuko wouldn’t notice but of course he did.

“I’m not trying to control you or anything I promise,” he steps closer and puts his hands on her waist “I just can’t help but be a little possessive”

“no, I don’t feel like your controlling me, and I’m sorry I guess I never thought of it like that, I just thought I looked cute”

“you look gorgeous, forget I said anything you can post anything you want” Zuko felt a little sad he didn’t want to push his insecurities on her, he didn’t want to make her feel like he’s trying to change her.

“no Zuko, if you feel a type of way about its i’ll pose differently, here you can keep the ass pics I’ll take one from the side”. She pushes the phone back to Zuko and does a side pose. She can see him smile while he takes the picture. After the mini photoshoot, Kianna forced Zuko to take some picture too, the two quickly hurried to Zuko’s car (he opened the door for her – what a gentlemen). The ride to Toph’s house wants long, but it was enough time for Ki’s nerves to spiral. Somehow Zuko could tell she was silently freaking out and like the good boyfriend he is, he placed his hand on hers to calm her nerves. Even though the two haven’t been dating long it felt like they have known each other for years. Kianna apricates how sweet and understanding Zuko can be and Zuko feels like he’s lucky to find someone as patient and open as Kianna is. Kianna instantly feels better when she holds his hand. She doesn’t let go when the walk from the car, to inside Tophs house. The first people to greet them where some players from the soccer team. Kianna wasn’t listening because she was too busy looking for her friends, but she assumed that they were still trying to get Zuko to try out for the team. Zuko spots their friends before she does, he tells the soccer guys he will see them later and guides Kianna towards the group. Sokka was the first to notice the new couple, he gives both of them a smirk. Sokka draws the attention of the group to look at Zuko and Kianna. The pair finally get to the group and everyone notices them holding hands.

“so, you guys are together now, officially” Katara looks at the two, crossing her arms over her chest.

“yes, its official now” Kianna couldn’t help the bright smile that formed on her face.

“good cause Azula told me you guys almost did each other in my kitchen and I wasn’t keeping that secret long” toph says as she gets up and leaves the group. Everyone’s eyes turn to the two in amusement. The couple blush furiously as their friends stare at them.

“I think we’re going to get a drink” Kianna pulls Zuko away from the group. The two walks to the kitchen weaving through the crowed. Zuko walked over to the drinks to make drinks for them while Kianna stayed towards the entrance of the kitchen. Basically, the whole school was at this party, she saw people she knew, people she’s seen before and some people she had never seen before, ‘people form another school are probably here.’ Zuko walked up to her and handed her a drink as he was talking to Haru. The two were deep in a conversation about some video game so Kianna slipped away to find Katara and suki. Now that her and Zuko were out in the open, she wanted to show them the beautiful ring Zuko gave her. She gave the house a quick walkthrough before she checked her phone. A few messages from Zuko asking where she went was quickly ignored when she noticed the group chat going off.

She rolled her eyes at her friends’ messages.

‘I can be in the same place as jet’

she thought

‘I’m totally over what happened, I mean I’m not going to be friends with the guy, but I can be civil’

just when she turned around to walk to where Zuko said he was, she saw him. Jet. He didn’t look any different from the last time she saw him. Still had brown untamed hair, a smirk glued to his face, and dark clothes to put together his ‘bad boy’ look. And of course, he sees her too, he makes his way to her, wearing the same smirk that used to make her weak in the knees a year ago.

“Well well,” he says when he finally reaches her.” If it isn’t Kianna, long time no see huh”

“Hey jet” she sighs with slight irritation 

“Well damn I guess your not happy to see me”

“well I’m not really jumping for joy, am I?”

“Look I get it, I treated you like shit and you hate me, but I’m a changed man, Kianna rolls her eyes,” no really I’m different, and I came to this party cause I knew you would be here”

“Oh god not only are you saying you changed but your stalking me? I’m walking away now.” Before she could turn around, he stops her with a hand on her wrist.

“I came to apologize, not to stalk you. I want to move past this, be friends like we used to be.”she looks at him, waiting to he the grand apology.

“I’m sorry I treated you badly, I had no reason to do that when I was supposed to love you and care for you and instead I tore you down, I know an apology will never be enough but I miss my friend. I miss the Kianna I grew up. I know I messed up bad, but I want to fix our friendship.” She found herself speechless. This was old jet talking. Jet before becoming a jerk, jet who she grew up with the jet she shared secrets with and hang out with everyday. Part of her wanted to hug him, welcome back his friendship, but the other part of her thought back to how bad things ended with them, how bad the relationship was. She continuously fought everyone who said he was no good for her, defended him when he did into deserve it.

“I appreciate the apology, but I think it’ll be a while before I could trust you again. He looks down at his shoes for a Brief moment before looking back in her eyes.

“I understand, and I’m sorry again,” He pauses as if he’s debating on saying what he’s going to say “I heard you with that Zuko guy, just be careful.”

“what, why are you of all people warning me about someone”

“I know I know, but seriously, I’ve heard some things from his ex, there not good”

“Look I don’t know what you heard but Zuko is a good guy” she turns preparing to walk away

“don’t defend him like you did to me” she stops dead in her tracks, her mind racing with what he just said, ever inch of her body was fueled with rage as she walked back up to him and slapped him, hard. 

“no one will ever do you me what you did to me, just own up to the fact that I moved on to someone better and stop trying to bring me down like you did when we where together.” She brushed last him, making sure to hit his shoulder with hers, and walked to her old room. ‘So much for a drama free New Years’

A/n: only updating once a week makes me sad but that's all I have time for now. but anyway I hope you guys like this and thank you for the love and the likes, my tumbler has been blowing up with likes and follows these past two weeks and honestly its what been keeping me going, sadly this fit is coming to a end in the near future (within the next 3 weeks) but don't worry, your favorite oc will be back in season 2 of Senior year adventure!!(in December). and of course im rambling.... thanks again everyone, if you want to be added to the taglist let me know!!!! lots of loveeeee P.S the next part is a continuation of this part which will be posted later today.

Tag list: @snickerdoodleeee @fanficflaneuse @welovediaaxx @pyromanicschizophrenic @firedancer016 @bostwickellin

[dirtydobrik]

girls trip - d.d.

plot: you and natalie are close friends and plan a girls trip to fiji. david isn’t too happy about it since he can’t come with you and he takes every opportunity to tell you that he misses you like crazy 

requested: yes, by anon! Dating david and being really good friends with nat so when you plan a girls trip david wants to come with you two and during your trip you post like bikini pics and david texts you that you look hot and he misses you and stuff :)

author’s note: hi! this was requested anonymously so hopefully it was similar to what you had in mind. if you want to send in a request for an imagine, send me a message!

word count: 1808

masterlist

"Babe, do you have to go?" David whined, and you nodded, holding back laughter as you tried to pack. David had been pouting over the fact that you and Natalie were going on a weeklong girls trip since you told him about it a few weeks ago. You were going to Fiji since David can't leave the country, and Natalie wanted to make sure that your girls trip would stay a girls trip the entire time.

"It's only for a week, bub," you said, causing David to pout more. He hated when you two weren't together. He complained anytime you went anywhere without him, even it was just running out to the store or going to get your nails done. His love language was definitely quality time and you felt bad about leaving for a week, but you also needed a girls trip.

"You know I hate it when you leave," he groaned, reaching his arms out and wrapping them around your waist and pulling you on to the bed with him. You hardly ever slept at your own place since you were always with David and he begged you to stay at his house night after night.

"Trust me, I know," you giggled, planting a kiss on his forehead. "I hate leaving you, too."

"So then don't go," David suggested.

"Not happening," you smirked, weaseling out of David's grip and returning to packing. You were probably packing way too much, but you needed options even though you would probably borrow Natalie's clothes.

"Why couldn’t you guys do a girls trip to Malibu or something? Why does it have to be Fiji?"

"So you can't come crash it, Mr. Illegal Immigrant," you teased, tossing a pair of sandals into your suitcase.

"But Fiji is so far," he grumbled. "David, you're going to be fine. I promise." He pouted again, and you gave him a quick peck.

 The next morning you woke up in David's bed. You untangled yourself from him and hopped in the shower. You and Natalie had to leave for the airport at 9am, and it was already 8:20. By the time you were showered and dressed, Natalie had made breakfast but David was still asleep, even though he was driving you to the airport. You quickly ate before going to wake David up.

"David, wake up," you whispered, crouching down next to him. He rolled over so he was facing you, but kept his eyes closed, not wanting to have you and Natalie leave.

Once David was awake, he carried Natalie's suitcase out to his car. A few minutes later, you were on your way to the airport. David recorded a bit for his vlog about how he was going to be without his two girls for a week, and to not blame him if his life is a mess for the next week. You and Natalie were chatting about how much fun you were going to have when you noticed David's jaw tighten out of the corner of your eye. You reached over gave David's hand a squeeze, his face relaxing for a moment, but quickly tensing up again.

When you finally got to the airport and he stopped the car to drop you off, you asked Natalie to give you and David a minute alone. She nodded, hopping out of the car as you turned to face David.

"You okay, bub?" you asked, and he nodded. But you knew he was lying. You two hadn’t spent more than four nights apart since you started dating six months ago, so a week was going to be hard on both of you.

"Call me every night, okay?" David phrased it as a question but it was more of a demand. You agreed, leaning over and giving him a hug.

"See you in a week," you whispered, running your fingers through his hair. "I love you."

"I love you too, babe." You gave him a kiss before climbing out of the car and rejoining Natalie. You both grabbed your suitcases from the trunk and David came out with his camera to say goodbye. He gave both of you hugs before telling you to hurry so you don't miss your flight.

 Once you and Natalie landed in Fiji, both you and Natalie already had multiple missed calls and texts from David asking if you were alive.

"Let's ignore him for now," Natalie suggested, annoyed that David was being so clingy. She wanted a getaway and had no desire to be listening to David. You reluctantly agreed, sending him a quick text that your flight landed and that you would call him when you had a minute before putting silencing your phone and putting it in your back pocket. You and Natalie collected your luggage and went outside, immediately engulfed by the heat and the humidity. You called a cab and headed to your villa, which was right on the water. It had two small bedrooms and one bathroom, and Natalie called dibs on showering first. While she was showering, you took your phone out to take a few photos to share with David so he knew you two had made it safely. He wanted to call you, but you heard the water turn off and put your phone away. You took a quick shower to rinse off from the long day of traveling before changing into your pajamas and getting into bed. You were both exhausted and it was late, so you decided to get some rest to take full advantage of tomorrow.

The following morning you ordered oatmeal and fresh fruit for breakfast, which you quickly scarfed down. You then changed into a solid black bikini as Natalie put on a cheetah print one, both of you wearing jean shorts and sandals.

You posed for a quick mirror selfie to post on your Instagram story and then headed down to the beach, leaving your phone behind. The two of you went right to the bar to get a couple drinks since that was the only proper way to celebrate the start of a vacation. You two had a relaxing day on the beach, enjoying the peace and quiet you never experienced around David. Over the next few days, you stayed off of your phone for the most part, having nightly facetime calls with David to catch up, but you kept those short since you and Natalie went out drinking at night.

Four days into your trip, you and Natalie had a photoshoot earlier in the day to get cute pictures. You had her take a few risqué photos of you to send to David, but kept them appropriate for the most part. You posted a collection of photos of you in a bikini on your Instagram and sent David the risqué photos Natalie took of you.

A few minutes later you got a series of texts from David talking about how hot you are.

david❤ : you are so hot

david❤ : jesus how did I get so lucky

david❤ : goddamn you're hot

david❤ : come home now

david❤: baby I miss youuu

You decided to facetime him since Natalie was in the other room. "Hi Dave," you smiled when he answered. You were still in your bikini since you hadn’t had a chance to shower yet.

"Hi, baby," he grinned, admiring how you looked in the swimsuit. You watched as he ran his fingers through his hair and breathed out.

You two talked for a while, David mostly rambling about how hot you looked in the pictures you sent him.

"David, we know your girlfriend is hot. You don’t have to keep saying it," Natalie sighed. She had waltzed into your room a few minutes ago and was now sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for you to hang up so you could make plans for the night. You giggled at her comment, but David was unamused.

"Nat, leave him alone. You know I need the ego boost," you said and Natalie rolled her eyes. "Can I call you back later?" you asked, focusing on David again.

"Yeah, I'll be up all night editing so I'll need some company," David pouted, suddenly hit with a wave of missing you. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too, Dave. I love you."

"I love you, too, babe," David said, blowing you a kiss. You giggled and blew him one back. You two exchanged goodbyes and you hung up and turned to Natalie.

You and Natalie talked about your plans for the night, which included dinner and the beach bar. You had made friends with a few other girls that you would probably meet up with tonight at the bar. You showered and changed into an outfit appropriate for dinner and drinks with the girls before heading out with Natalie.

 The rest of the trip flew by and pretty soon you and Natalie were packing to go home. It was a much needed girls trip, but you were excited to get back to LA and, more importantly, David. Your flight home felt endless, and you were getting butterflies about seeing David. You missed him so much and you were ready to hug him and never let him go. When the plane finally landed, you and Natalie headed to baggage claim to find your luggage and David, who wanted to pick you guys up. You saw him with his camera in hand and sprinted over to hug him. A huge smile splashed across his face when he noticed you and he held him arms out.

"How was your trip?" he asked, looking between you and Natalie.

"Felt great to get away from you," Natalie smirked.

"Well, I missed you, babe," you replied, and he smiled at you.

"Thank you. I missed you, too," David said, giving you a quick kiss.

"Ugh, get a room you two," Natalie groaned as she walked away to pick up her suitcase.

By the time you got back to David's house, you were half asleep. The traffic was brutal and it took much longer than it should've. You followed David and Natalie inside, ready to collapse on to the first comfy surface you see. You found yourself on the couch a few moments later. Natalie had gone into her room to go to bed, and David plopped down on the couch next to you. You rested your head on his chest and your eyes fluttered shut as David wrapped his arms around you, pulling you in to him.

"Did you have a good trip?" David asked, and you hummed in response, too tired to talk.

"You missed me, right? Because I missed you like crazy." You hummed again, before falling asleep. David placed a kiss on the top of your head and let out a content sigh, happy to have you back in his arms.

[jlf23tumble]

Agree so much with your post about the teams and fan engagement ! And love the way you articulated all of that. Although now I definitely am interested in knowing what your notes about the specificity of each team/artist cause I feel like they'd be fascinating to read. Hope you'll post them some day, and thank you for sharing your thoughts with us ! 😊

Awwww, that’s very kind! It’s definitely head canon city, I litcherally have ZERO clue what goes on behind the scenes (and I can’t stress this enough, none of us do), so this’ll look hilariously dated when we find out that blah woof was true all along, lmao (me @ myself, thinking of some random Grimshaw interviews from last fall, oh, bless). Let’s dig in!!

For those of you who just stumbled upon this post, it’s related to the one I made last night about how I think the management teams of all these men (mid-20s means = you’re a man, not a boy) are not, in fact, sabotaging them. They negotiate a lot of tricky interconnected arrangements that none of us are privy, to, plus they’re at least trying to achieve the goals their clients are going for. And they’re doing it—the trick is these goals are highly individual and not 100% sensical (at least given our own view from the afternoon, Arctic Monkeys ref, holllllllah!!!).

In addition, these goals constantly shift, as does the music industry itself—I drive my own self loony when I lurk on blogs that are seemingly broadcasting from 2012, confused by why xx’s team is so “terrible” because they aren’t throwing good money after bad to get on a radio playlist, or why they haven’t announced yy “properly,” as if they’re being paid to worry about this level of shit (which fires me up on about five levels, deep breaths in, deep breaths out). I’m much nosier about the signals we’re getting when we hear them talk in their beautifully media-trained way about their musical interests, when we get some of that sweet, sweet fan service with a Gallagher or a Capaldi, when we get that heads up about who’s attending what concert, stuff like that. These signals don’t necessarily indicate future collaborations, but they DO indicate what kind of image these guys want to have, the kind of music they want the public to associate them with.

Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself…their personalities and goals at the moment are all so vastly different, and I truly do love seeing how their teams are workin’ it accordingly. Again, please @ god, don’t @ me…opinions, massively unpopular opinions, dead ahead!

* Zayn. My read on Zayn is that he enjoys the creative process, loves writing and singing, digs collabing with people, but he doesn’t seem to give two shits about the biz side (and why should he? that’s called living the dream at this particular point in his career). His website recently added “tour,” which EYEBALL EYEBALL, but he doesn’t seem to be all that interested in putting himself back out on stage or into radio/print/etc. anytime soon, and again, why should he? His numbers are HUGE without pushing himself through the anxiety-provoking churn he endured for four years, so there’s no real drive for him to do any promo if he doesn’t want to (see: the netflix-like binge dump of Icarus Falls, which could be “sabotage,” or it could just be, “fineeeeeeee, here’s some stuff for you, enjoy”). What other artist gifts his fans with gorgeous covers of such a wide variety of songs that indicate he’s more interested in sharing them than selling them. Accordingly, his fan interactions seem fairly pure and not all that promo-y: he has a keen interest in fanart, he’s done some fan pop-ups/listening parties that are pretty low-key and *seemingly* fan-focused, and recently (with zero anything to really promote), he’s been posing for cute pics and chatting with randos on the streets of NYC. I recently read that his mgmt team is no longer with him, but that sort of folds into my feeling that he’s not pursuing anything biz-wise, hence no need to jump through those particular hoops (I think he’s also struggled with a lot of demons, so yeah, why add one more). Could he be adrift? Maybe, but the next guy is the posterman for lack of focus….

* Liam. Honestly, I worry about Liam most of all. His post-1D career seems very much adrift, and I like to joke that he’s giving me that tell-all about the D one sentence at a time, but goddamn, are people listening? The struggles with alcohol, the lack of focus on every level, the reliance on his dad’s career advice (which more clearly reflects his dad’s financial class, background, and history than it does Liam’s), and the overall confusion about look, sound, and direction also flow back directly into his team. I get the feeling that they aren’t sure what to do because LIAM isn’t sure what to do or what he wants, so they follow in his wake. He’s agreeable to a fault, so seeing him at a meet-and-greet at an HMV in Birmingham last week felt like a step back into 2010 for no real reason, just like hearing that he was more or less coerced into full nude photoshoots for an underwear ad (the decisions to say yes to both of those—who’s steering this ship? If it’s Liam, he needs to tell the team his overall goal, so they can plot a course he and his fans can follow; if it’s the team, ditto). Like Niall, Liam’s actually pretty good at the SM game: lots of selfies, snapchat filters, outfits, gym service, twitter interactions. But generally speaking, his promo is confusing, and that’s probably because there isn’t much *to* promote at this point, other than a mix of collabs, clothing endorsements, spon con, horse farms, and an album that’s always on the horizon. This might be tied to the general post-1D jolt they all went through, like a plane coming off autopilot and into the hands of someone who’s just learning how to fly it. Zayn debuted at number one, so his bump wasn’t as harsh, but the others are slowly, steadily finding their footing after taking some time to find themselves and their sound, releasing songs/albums, performing (or in Louis’s case, going through unspeakable tragedy). Liam’s still adrift…and somewhat admittedly, which is kind of telling in its own way. Just know that my nervousness on his behalf ratchets up every time he feels the urge to assure us all that he’s happy.

* Niall. Truly the one following the original 1D template, right down to working with most of the same people but with more of the overall control in his hands instead of a faceless management squad. Of any of them, he seems the most ambitious, the most scientific about the sound he’s after and how he’s gonna get there. His promo is a mix of new and traditional—radio shows, talk shows, podcasts, special events, twitter interactions with fans, twitter interactions with entertaining celebrities—and it’s all hustle hustle hustle, build build build, as if he were a new ingenue instead of coming up hard on solo album number two. He’s explicit in his goals, which is refreshing, but it means he walks a weird line with fans: on one hand, he’s done with their bullshit, get ready to get rekt if you start commenting on his boring food seasoning or home décor. But on the other hand, he fully recognizes how much he needs them, which is why we get so many peeks into his “normal” life (yet zero percent of his actual personal life). It’s also probably why the blatant tweets of the last two days seem so jarring to me (I might be alone on this one, but I’m not a fan of directives in general, and asking me to call radio stations on behalf of a rich white man to become even richer just rubs me the wrong way, same with asking me to stream stuff to get you to number one…you’ve been there, buddy, how about you calm down and build some character at number 51). And speaking of calming down, it does fascinate me that both Niall and Louis namecheck Taylor Swift as someone who gets the whole fandom push/pull thing right, so watching them try to reverse-engineer her secrets is fun. Louis nails it (that hotspot treasure hunt: chef’s kiss), but Niall’s heavy-handed easter egg dump in NTMY, she would never!! I think Niall’s team needs to watch “Calm Down” about five more times before they try that again.

* Louis. I think Louis honestly has an AMAZING team in place, and they’re all clearly on his side, which makes for a refreshing change. Like Niall, he has publicly praised Taylor Swift for how she engages with her fans, but I think he’s missing a key point: she doesn’t let her fans dictate strategy, and I HOPE that’s the case for Louis, too. His old team *was* shit, so yeah, encouraging people to do fan projects to get the word out was a good idea, but turning that spigot off to let a good (paid) team step in and take over has been, uh, challenging. He’s dealt with more than his fair share of personal tragedy, but every time he gets some momentum going, it feels like something bts pushes him back off track, and he tends to keep it private, which only makes his hardest-core fans scream “sabotage.” Rightly so, he’s focusing on his personal life, and rightly so, his team is giving him the space to do that, even when it costs cash money and throws a lot of shit seriously for a loop. It makes my heart soar to see the potential of what his team can do/is doing, how much space he’s being allowed to process what he needs to process. Weirdly, that’s an unpopular opinion, and a lot of people want to indulge in an angst wank fest where Louis’s the victim of a terrible team that won’t DO anything (nevermind the fact that he’s probably ASKED them not to do anything), so they undertake a tremendous amount of performative unpaid labor that ends up being counterproductive on just about every front. Even worse, most of them can’t seem to process the fact that losing your mum is a blow, losing your SISTER is a blow, juggling other siblings or close friends handling some serious demons of their own in the aftermath of all of *that* is a blow, let alone handling your own personal coping mechanisms, nope, they want Louis to release release release, perform perform perform, c’mon, what’s holding him back, he *said* he wanted to release an album this year, there’s “no reason” for a delay, gotta be his shitty team, free him. It drives me ‘round the bend because it’s the same talk from late last year, you know, when we later found out that at least one family member was losing a fight with drug addiction. Louis’s fan engagement/promo is therefore hella fraught: he has to balance LouisTM on twitter (Mr. Donny, he’s hard, mate), his werk IG posts, and his constant edging because nobody can remember or trust that he’s got this, that multiple things are in play. But he also knows his fanbase, knows that it’s resistant to any kind of change, so I hope he pushes through and stays true to what he wants to do. I was really encouraged with his last promo round because he seems to have narrowed in on a something solid, he’s got a plan, and it’s not, “hey mr dj, put my record on,” it’s getting his fans to trust that he and his team know what the fuck they’re doing, and spoiler alert, it ain’t radio, but go ahead and keep pissing off djs by sending angry tweets their way. (Related: why is it so bad to avoid the radio when all of us admit that radio music is garbage? Is it because it’s more about you than him? Much to think about.)

* Harry. My very favorite head canon is that Harry is Jeff’s nightmare client: what was perfection at first because the Azoffs are old-school promo all the way (no SM, baby, gimme that sweet, sweet paper), and that dovetailed nicely with post-1D Harry, but it quickly veered into mulish teeth pulling. Low profile can quickly spin into no profile, and that really doesn’t work too well when you’re trying to sell sell sell, even if your brand is Harry StylesTM. HS1 and Dunkirk in their own separate ways worked VERY hard to push past the still-persistent way the general public views Harry as boybander Harry Styles, or more accurately, former boybander Harry Styles who dated Taylor Swift (if you venture out and ask someone who’s not a fan), but what I love about Harry is that much like Zayn, he doesn’t seem to be too bothered by all that. Sure, he’s ambitious, he wants to challenge himself and do things, but he’s no Niall Horan. He’s put in his time! If he gets a number one, then cool, but he’s not gonna chase it. And this is where Harry’s team really reflects his goals and energy: sure, they want him to do some promo (that “Do” tweet, the entire bit about the fan in Australia and Harry Lambert’s follow, goddddd, I loved it, petty Harry, resigned Jeff), but they clearly aren’t forcing him. He drops a song that makes a HUGE splash, and the follow-up is…liking some tweets and going to a John Mayer concert (not a John Mayer fan, so that wouldn’t be my first choice, but I respond to the zero fucks given about the whole thing). The music industry has changed a LOT in just two years, so it’s kind of cool to see team Harry pivoting a bit, seeing more SM interaction, the kindness generator, etc., but that said, the team takes their cues from him, and he clearly doesn’t want to do a whole promo circuit beyond persons a, b, and c, and magazine R, F, and A. Does it make sense to have Rob Sheffield write a profile about Stevie Nicks-blessed shroom-eater Harry Styles when his new song sounds like the Zarry combo of my dreams? NOPE, but that’s okay, Harry wanted to talk to Rob, so that’s what happened. The new song is more streaming friendly, and thank CHRIST, a lot less crusty white dude stuck in the ‘70s, so I can only hope that the rest of the album is thus, but we shall see! We’ll also see if Harry’s fan engagement shifts any further into the active zone…so far, it’s been “I’m gonna follow some larries, like these fun generator posts, check out a few dads” and staged photo ops with the same familiar faces, but I think he’s dealing with his own major bts issues as well (album delayed at least twice; that entire stalking situation). I still contend the album’s coming in the next few weeks, so it’ll be interesting to see if/how any additional promo rolls out in this new world order post-gryles landscape, how many interviews he’ll do, but I like that there’s a strategy that seems less stodgy…kudos to the new SM team, at least!!

Oh man, that got really long! Hope you enjoyed, and YES, opinions opinions opinions, and they’ll be stupid in about three weeks’ time, thanks for coming to my already dated buzzfeed article

[whereisten]

Hero, Yuta, & Me

Summary: Your pet sitting job lands you at the doorstep of the magnetic Yuta Nakamoto, owner of the cutest Shiba Inu on the planet, Hero.

Multi-part series: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

Part 2

Word Count: 3.3k words

Sunday morning came around. The morning light peaked through the curtains. You left the door into the guest room open as Yuta suggested. He was worried about how Hero would react with a new person taking care of him. Apparently, other times it didn’t work out that Hero would get anxious and whine as he laid on Yuta’s bed. Hero really loved Yuta and since Yuta had to travel often, it was hard on both of them. It made your heart clench. When it came time for bed last night, Hero followed you into the guest room and plopped himself onto your bed. Well, that was a relief. You couldn’t wait to tell Yuta that Hero slept well. He was a snorer. But a cute one. 

You changed Yuta’s contact name and your face became significantly warmer. Like you were breaking some unspoken rule.

Even though Yuta was your age, he was still your client and designated boss for the weekend.

HowRU Group Chat: With Yuta

You: So guess what? Hero slept in the guest room with me!

Yuta: Pics or it didn’t happen

You: Hold on

You were on the fence about sending Yuta a picture of your bare face. You probably had sleepy dust in your eyes, too. You shrugged. You opened the selfie feature on your phone and saw that you looked passable and there was no way you were going to keep Yuta waiting half an hour in suspense while you scrambled to look decent. Hero was sleepy but his eyes were flickering open. He licked your face when you moved closer.

“All right, Hero. Let’s take a picture to send to Daddykins,” you said as you extended your phone out and snapped a picture of Hero sniffing your head. It tickled and you smiled wide. You looked so goofy as your one left dimple made an appearance in the photo. You were happy. The smile didn’t feel forced. It came easily. Selfies for you were usually so forced and awkward.

You sent the picture and waited for a response. You were getting antsy as the minutes ticked by that you were about to go brush your teeth. Then, he texted as if he knew you were about to leave your phone for a bit. 

HowRU Group Chat: With Yuta

Yuta: Oh my God

You: I told you

Yuta: How?

You: I charmed him with something from my family’s spellbook. What else?

Yuta: You are amazing. 

You: Tell me something I don’t know, Mr. Nakamoto.

Yuta: Please. Mr. Nakamoto is my father. 

You: Okay, Yuta. Now that you have physical proof that Hero did in fact sleep in my bed, you can be assured that Hero is doing okay. He hasn’t cried or thought about you AT ALL.

Yuta: You wound me. Who’s to say you haven’t been bribing him with treats? It’s on you if Hero gets fat. 

You: I’ve done everything you’ve asked. Nothing more.

Yuta: Y/N, be honest.

You: Fine. I gave him one extra Beggin’ Strip last night. Sue me!

Yuta: Hypocrisy! 

You: Like you don’t bend your own rules for Hero. 

Yuta: Huh.

You: Well?

Yuta: You caught me. But can you blame me, though? I’m his father. 

You: Hypocrisy doesn’t suit you. So I’m glad you told me the truth.

Yuta: *eyeroll emoji* This isn’t about me. I’m sorry but I gotta go. My boss wants to have a sit down before we go into our last meeting for the weekend.

You: That’s fine. I hope it goes well!

Yuta: Thanks, Y/N :) I’ll call you when I’m at the airport. 

10

You took Hero out for his morning walk. You were very comfortable in your sweatpants and your worn out FC Barcelona tee that your mom gave you for your sixteenth birthday. Your phone rang and half hoping it’d be Yuta, you quickly grabbed it out of your pocket.

It was Kaia. Still excited to hear from your best friend, you picked up. “Yo,” you answered.

“Yo,” she replied, “How’s it going with Hero?”

Hero was fascinated with smelling a palm tree. You answered, “It’s good. He’s amazing, actually. Like I genuinely want to adopt him.”

Kaia laughed, “Marry his owner and he’ll be yours.”

You rolled your eyes. “How about you?”

Kaia hesitated over the line.

“Kai?” You asked.

“Y/N, Jaehyun is back in town,” she said, quietly.

You froze and Hero almost yanked you forward without you realizing it. You regained your balance and composure. “And?”

Kaia said, “He invited everyone from our graduating class to his place in Coconut Grove. And…”

“There’s more?” 

“He reached out to me. To get back in touch with you.”

You laughed. “Kaia, your sense of humor has never been this cruel.”

“I’m serious, Y/N. Jaehyun called me last night and begged me to give him your number. Of course, I said no. But he wanted me to give you a message.”

Jaehyun Jung was the last person you wanted to hear from. His smug, conceited presence left a bad taste in your mouth when you remembered high school. He asked you to go with him to senior prom, to your shock and delight. He told you to wait for him to pick you up in one of his family’s sports cars. 

But he never showed. 

After an hour of waiting like an idiot and seeing he messaged you on Facebook of all places. To let you know he was going with an old flame. Infuriated, you called up your friends and hitched a ride with them to the dance. There was no way you were going to sit at home and cry over a pretty face you’d probably see replicas of in college. 

Sweetwater High School - Senior Prom 2012

You walked in with your friends to the Cinderella-themed prom. The pale blue lights beamed down on you and you were filled with dread at the possibility of seeing Jaehyun.

Joanna tapped your shoulder. “Y/N, he’s here.” She pointed at the snack table where Jaehyun was getting punch for another girl. 

“No…” You said.

“I will cut him. Just say the word,” Joanna offered.

You sighed. How exactly could you confront him? He played you for a fool. He must have laughed with his date and his idiot friends. Why oh why did you agree to go on a date with a stereotypically popular piece of shit? How did you not know how mean he was? That he would toss you aside for someone he deemed worthier?

You went up to him, realizing his date was Candice from Pre-Calc.

“Hi Candice! Jaehyun,” you began.

Jaehyun nearly dropped the plastic cup of punch from his hand at the sight of you. “Y/N.”

Candice greeted, none the wiser. “Hi, Y/N! You look beautiful! Your date is a lucky man.”

You knew Candice didn’t have a bad bone in her body. She was a little naive and blissfully unaware of certain things, like Jaehyun’s extra promposal to you in the senior square at school. She didn’t know Jaehyun asked you first.

So you wouldn’t take it out on her.

“Thank you Candice. You look amazing!” You said as you turned to give Jaehyun and gave him a wintry cold glare. 

Jaehyun was frozen in his tracks. “D-did you get my message?”

“You mean your Facebook message? When you didn’t even bother to call? When I was already dressed up and ready to pose for the pictures my parents were looking forward to?”

“Y/N…”

“Jaehyun Jung, you didn’t have to ask me to prom. You could’ve called me last night and said you changed your mind but you didn’t have it in you.”

Jaehyun looked sad, then. “I’m so sorry. I just…Candice.We dated in middle school and-“

“You’re a coward,” you said as you moved closer to him. You snatched his cup from his hand, some of the punch spilling onto your corsage-less wrist. You spilled all of the contents on his very expensive Hugo Boss tuxedo and walked away.

You danced the night away with your friends, avoided him at graduation the next week, and never saw him again.

Except on social media, television, and newspapers. When it wasn’t up to you. 

You asked Kaia, “What did he say?”

Kaia replied, “He wants to apologize for how shitty he was at prom. His exact words were: “She can toss an entire punch bowl over my head in front of everyone if she comes to my party.”

You laughed. “Why does he care? It’s been seven years.”

“Don’t know. Maybe he’s turning over a new leaf. Look, I’m with you either way. It’s not like you’ll ever have to see him again after this. I say take him up on humiliating him at his own party.”

“And face the wrath of his fans?” You asked.

Jaehyun was a successful soccer player now. He played internationally. He had been with Chelsea F.C. for a while now. He probably owned half of Miami with his income, if you had to guess. 

Kaia laughed, “Still tempting. What do you think?”

You would never forget the pain and humiliation he put you through. Prom didn’t have to suck. You didn’t care if you had a date or not. But when he offered, you set expectations to have a decent date, at least. It wasn’t that much to ask for.

The sting of what Jaehyun did to you hurt way less than it did back then, thankfully. You weren’t going to be buying his merch anytime soon but you decided to go and hear him out.

And drink all of his booze and eat all of his food. Maybe rearrange his sock drawer. Maybe he had some gift bags he was giving away and you would take two instead of one.

“Let’s do it!” You replied. 

You and Hero made it back to the Nakamoto residence as you ended your call with Kaia. You got a text from Yuta. 

HowRU Group Chat: With Yuta

Yuta: Left the airport. Should be home in 10 minutes. 

You: You sure you don’t have any stops you need to make? Hero and I have to clean up from the party we threw last night.

Yuta: A party without me? 

You: We saved you some pizza. 

Yuta: I feel less bitter. Still bitter, though. 

You: Haha. We’ll see you soon :)

Yuta: :)

10

Yuta unlocked the front door and Hero barked excitedly. Yuta was in more casual clothes. Looking gloriously tanned, he wore Adidas sweatpants and a plain white tee and sandals. He was a natural and effortless beauty. It physically ached you to look at someone so godlike. You reminded yourself that this man was human, just like you. You almost laughed at that. He was on a whole other level. 

Hero scurried over to pounce on his dad. Yuta set his stuff down. Hero was jumping over his legs. Yuta laughed and bent down to take his kisses.

“Hi, bud,” he said, “I missed you, too.”

You stood there awkwardly with your bag packed, ready to bounce. It was weird. It was like you were leaving a place that felt like home. You didn’t like to feel that way but you couldn’t help it. 

Yuta got up and smiled at you. “Y/N, thank you for taking care of Hero.”

You smiled. “Hero’s easily the best dog I’ve ever met.”

Yuta moved closer to you. “Did you have dinner?”

You choked at his proximity. “No, actually.”

His eyes never left you. “I want to thank you properly.”

You backed into the wall behind you. Your breathing was shallow. “Pet owners are never usually this nice.”

Yuta smiled knowingly. “I think you know why I’m being this nice.”

You teased. “I don’t. Enlighten me.”

Yuta leaned down and you got up on your tiptoes to meet him halfway. You kissed each other with such longing. It was so unexpected to feel this way about someone you just met. You fit together. His tongue pleaded for entrance into your mouth and you allowed it. He took you higher than you’ve ever been before with that kiss. He matched every move you made in his mouth. Even your moans were oddly synchronized. 

Hero barked, shocking you both out of the kiss.

Cherry red, you began. “Damn it, Yuta. Hero is just a child!”

Yuta, his cheeks flushed like yours, said. “Hero, I let you down. I’m sorry. I’ll never be able to live it down.”

Hero grabbed his hamburger squeaky toy and ran up to you. You grabbed it from his mouth and threw it to the kitchen. Hero ran and slid against the wooden floor after it.

“So,” you started, “I’m curious.”

Yuta’s eyes grew bigger. “Go on.”

“Do you like me?” A natural question. 

“I don’t kiss people I don’t like, Y/N.” Yuta plopped himself on the couch. He motioned for you to join him.

“When did you realize it?” You asked as you sat next to him.

“When you sent me your picture with Hero.” He smiled softly.

“Oh.” You were surprised your morning face didn’t scare him away.

“And you?” He wondered.

You said, “I realized I liked you when I saw the way you were with Hero. And...while we’re spilling secrets, I found out that you’re a world famous soccer player.” 

Yuta feigned shock. “You mean I didn't mention that during the house tour?”

“It must have slipped your mind,” you joked as Hero came back and laid down by the two of you. He was chewing on his toy. 

“I admit my paycheck is my charm point but my personality and devilishly good looks are my crowning glory,” Yuta teased.

“I’ve always had a thing for soccer players, Nakamoto. The paychecks are just a bonus.”

He laughed. “Have you dated a soccer player before?”

Your mind went back to Jaehyun for a second. You pushed him to the back of your mind. “No. Well, once. Almost. He sucked.”

Yuta frowned when he saw how still you became at remembering Jaehyun. He wondered what was going on in your head. He felt a wave of jealousy over whoever must have crossed your mind then. That boy better pray he never crosses paths with Yuta.

You continued, “Anyway, dinner?”

Yuta knew how to charm you. If it wasn’t his megawatt smile that wore you down, it was his cooking. He made amazing sushi rolls and takoyaki, neither of which you’d ever tried. You wondered if the top-notch restaurants in the area could do him justice. He told you about his life in Osaka before he moved to Tokyo. 

“I was the most popular boy at my school. The girls would get down and kiss my feet. Now don’t look at me like that, Y/N. My sisters have pictures. I’ll send them to you.”

Yuta loved exercise and being outdoors always. He was also an avid manga reader. He loved dancing as well and claimed that had he gone the dance route back then, by now he would have been a world famous musician. 

At age sixteen. Yuta went to train with the Under-23 Japanese team. He joined the national soccer team just two years ago and became a key player. He was the star forward and Japan’s pride and joy. 

Yuta went on to talk about how supportive his parents were of his dreams. His parents owned a very popular flower shop in Osaka and Yuta worked there part-time until he was sixteen. When he lived in Tokyo and wasn’t training, he worked part-time at a convenience store so as not to be a burden to his parents. This fact especially pulled at your heartstrings. Yuta’s older sister Kyoko was a very popular manga artist who specialized in romance and fantasy. His younger sister Kairi was studying in university to be a cellist. Yuta spoke of his family with such reverence and affection. After achieving success, Yuta bought his family a home outside of Tokyo, where they can visit him anytime. Yuta hoped they would come more often but he knew that his parents particularly would never truly want to leave Osaka. You could tell he missed them a lot.

Which made you wonder how Hero came into the picture.

“So what made you decide to adopt Hero?” You asked as you licked your French vanilla ice cream cone. Yuta took you and Hero out for some ice cream at the boardwalk. Yuta had Hero’s leash in one hand and his green tea ice cream cone in the other.

Yuta licked a corner of his cone that was about to drip. “My high school friend Sana’s Shiba had puppies and asked me if I would be interested. I’ve always loved dogs. We’ve had them growing up, too. But I just never made the time for one of my own.”

Hero ran up to a couple and their cocker spaniel. Hero and the sweet yet timid cocker spaniel named Lucky sniffed at each other and hopped and skipped at each other. You giggled.

The couple laughed and Yuta smiled. “Alright Hero, let’s go. Say bye!”

We kept going. You continued, “Then you met Hero.”

“Then I met Hero,” he concluded. “It was an instant connection, Y/N. He was so small but already full of personality. He wouldn’t let me leave without him.”

Your jaw dropped. “You were going to leave him? You monster.”

Yuta shook his head. “I knew I was getting him the second I saw him. I had to go to the bathroom and he yanked at the hem of my pants. Like he was begging me not to go.”

You let out your full-bellied laugh, the kind of laugh you only threw out when you were truly at ease. You hoped it didn’t scare Yuta much.

Yuta grinned. “I like your laugh. Pure evil. Just like mine.”

You blushed, then. Well, technically you’ve been blushing the entire night.

You stopped in your tracks when you realized that you forgot something. 

You checked your phone to see that your family blew it up. They were asking for your status and whereabouts. You said you were going to be home at around 6 PM. It was 8:15 PM.

With how melodramatic your family was, they probably thought you were dead, by now. Or being impregnated! 

Y/THREE MIDDLE NAMES/N, WHY AREN’T YOU PICKING UP? -Your youngest brother Hector, 16

Y/N he better be paying you extra. He has you working overtime. -Your second youngest brother Jaime, 21

Y/N, call me when you get this. -Your passive aggressive mother Matilde 

Y/N, we brought you a present from Disney! Your father who just drove for four straight hours Jaime Sr.

“You okay?” Yuta noticed the panic on your face.

You rolled your eyes. “It’s my family.” You showed Yuta your notifications. 

Yuta whistled in amazement. “Your name is really long, Y/N.”

You punched his arm. 

Hero nuzzled himself against your legs. You ran your hand over his coat. You apologized, “Sorry, guys, I have to go. I’ve been summoned.”

Yuta smiled sadly. “That’s too bad. It felt like we were going to walk the boardwalk ten more times, at least. Hero wanted to, anyway.”

You smiled knowingly at him. “Me, too.”

Yuta drove you back to his place. He let you in to grab your belongings. He and Hero walked you to your car. Hero whined as put your bag in the backseat. He knew you were leaving. It broke your heart.

You got down and pet Hero. He moved closer to you so you can hug him. “Hero, oh my God, I love you so much.” He sniffed at your head, tickling you and making you laugh your ���evil laugh”.

Yuta chuckled at the sight of you two. It awoke something in him. Seeing the two of you that way made him look forward to the possibility of something in the future. 

Yuta knelt down because you didn’t want to let go of Hero and hurt his feelings. Once you let Hero go, Yuta swiftly kissed your cheek. 

His eyes looked up at the night sky, avoiding you like an awkward middle schooler. 

“But ladies’ man of Yakuen Gashina High School, you’re going to be modest now?” You joked as Hero licked your face.

Yuta met your gaze. His shyness faded instantly as he kissed you, putting you sass on hold. 

Part 3 (Coming Soon)

A/N: I’m sorry for the delay! The plot thickens in Part 3 with Jaehyun’s party. Of course! 

[tfw-no-tennis]

hxh RESUME

back at it again w/the hxh, heres my recap of the last few eps 

ok so i totally forgot to recap that one ep at the end of the hunter exam arc lets see what i remember from like 3 wks ago lollll

i thiiiiink i left off in the middle of ep 21 lol. i really dont remember much tbh so im gonna skim the ep to refresh

exposition time! its so wild that if you lose ur hunter card That It like u cant get another or retake the exam hgabjdfuhasjf Ls 

also the fact that you can sell it is rlly interesting 

leorio & kurapika backing up gon as he confronts illumi again :’) good lil family 

illumi u fool. gon is a shounen protag. he can do anything he sets his mind to

the fact that gon thanks illumi for telling him where killua is....hes literally THAT polite like...what a perfect boy 

hisoka just fuckgin stepping out of the shadows....ok bitch 

the fact that gon fucked up illumis arm that bad with one hand....boi is STRONK 

AUGH AUGH AUGHHHH HISOKA IS SO CREEPY AUGHHH I HATE THIS BIIIITCH 

ok but like is illumi implying that hisoka is a fr p*do bc uhhhhh thats so nasty oh lord. pls stay away from gon, and killua, and like everyone as a matter of fact 

EWWWWWWWWWW I HATE HISOKA HES SO NASTY. PLS STOP MAKING P*RNO FACES IN RELATION TO 12 YR OLD BOYS. 

no but rlly what IS hisoka gonna do now. im assuming he’ll show up p soon (tho probs not in the zoldyc arc like i thought bc its shorter than i thought) 

ok the fact that they have the internet is hilariously wild to me for some reason....it just seems like this would be one of those fantasy shounen worlds with very little tech (a la one piece) but lol nope we can just google shit hvbhjdhjdfks

gon: it was fun when you beat me up for 3 hours and broke my arm! seeya dude!

i love gon he is so chill and doesnt seem to hold grudges except when it really matters (like hisoka and illumi) 

hanzo has.....ninja business cards....thats amazing hvbhsdjkujfnd

dont worry pokkle, leorio was basically carried thru the hunter exam by various people and also won by default. he still deserves his license tho

an exotic game hunter sounds pretty cool! i wonder if we’ll see pokkle again. kinda doubt it? that sounds pretty firmly non-combat based, and therefore probably pretty far from any plot lol

so gons dad is a bigshot huh.....whatever hed be a bigger deal if he didnt abandon his son tbh 

gon swinging his feet on the bench....sooo cute 

so ging could restore a bunch of ruins but he couldnt raise his son...ok

im just gonna be bitter at this guy for abandoning the most perfect boy vhbhjfbsjhdhbfsk sorry dude but being a good hunter doesnt make up for being a shit father 

gon is so precious ;_; 

WHAT WAS SATOTZ GONNA SAY TO GON???

why does it look like theyre googling things on MS paint 

ah yes, padokea, on the continent of Africa But Sideways 

idk if i talked abt it before but the world map is WILD lmao i love how its all the continents/landmasses scrambled around.....im super curious abt that weird island in the top center of the map, thats the only thing that immediately sticks out as not having a real life equivalent 

the music in this show is so charming :’) i love the main theme sm 

gon is sooo precious i literally cant get over it. and his hurry to rescue killua is so sweet....and i love how naturally charming/charismatic gon is....pretty much everyone he meets likes him, especially leorio and kurapika, who basically adopted him after knowing him for like a day, and continue to be completely taken by him

ok wtf is satotz & co talking abt......do they know something abt ging that they arent allowed to tell gon???? shouldnt gon have access to the same info now that hes a hunter? i need ANSWERS

i bet this whole thing abt the hunter exam not rlly being over is a metaphor abt the hunter exam NEVER truly ending bc youre always being tested, or st

ok the ED continues to be So Much like especially the last shot where the 4 main characters look like theyre posing for a JC Penny catalog while the singer goes FULL metal-screamo

ok ruth and i just rewatched the next two eps woohoo

i love that there are tourist busses that take people to the front gates so they can like pose for pics and stuff vhbhjafdsfkj and its like ‘ah yes here are where the local assassins live!’ thats so funny yet it makes so much sense

i love that leorio passed tf out during the bus ride. big big mood 

gon is so cute...hes like ok yes i understand that we’re not supposed to go in but i think they can make an exception for me bc im very polite. 

those 2 dudes r so ugly and so dead god bless

that bigass buster sword....sir please 

ruth and i rlly thot that the old guard guy was gonna turn out to be grandpa zoldyk or st lol

the fact that the dog managed to eat All their flesh but left some clothes....skill 

also the dog is named mike but it sounds like the guy is calling him miku hvbjdfssk

this cant be the first time some morons have been killed here likeeee 

i cant believe nobody has visited the zoldyk estate in 20 years damn they all rlly b havin no friends. depressing 

the whole gates thing is wild. also that part where gon gets the math wrong on the weight.....BIG mood kiddo 

ok the part where gons on the phone w/the butler is soooo good oh man. i love how gon just calmly dials the phone again after hes hung up on the first time and then YELLS....and leorio and kurapikas faces r so good 

also the butler guy unfortunately has a point, it isnt foolproof that gon is here Legit....but he IS let him see his tiny bf :( 

as ruth pointed out, the butler guy is reminiscent of kuro from one piece. same vibes 

maybe if leorio was jacked like he is in the manga/1999 anime he couldve opened the gate that first time around....Ls 

god i love this shows approach to Everything so far,....as ruth put it, half the time its like ‘oh wow they should do [x]/i wish theyd do [x] but ofc they wont cause its a shounen’ but then they DO do [x] and its like damn thats dope 

anyways i love how gon is increasingly approaching situations with his Plucky Shounen Protag Attitude in full swing, and he pretty much gets shot down every time. BUT his general determination to see killua bc killuas his FRIEND and hes gonna RESCUE HIM is still a good and pure motivating force 

like here, when hes climbing over the wall and hes like whatever i dont wanna have to deal w/being tested thats bullshit, i wanna see killua, my intentions are pure, im gonna try my luck with the dog....i was like ok yeah he’ll get over and like tame or defeat the dog and the guard will be suitably impressed bc nobodys ever done That before, and then gon will continue on to get killua 

but NOPE instead the guard calls him down and explains that gon Will Die if he tries that, and then the guard will die too for letting that happen. and gon is like oh shit my actions have consequences for people other than me, wow. 

and THEN the guard takes them in to meet the dog. and hot DAMN that is a scary creature. not even really a dog tbh. they did an excellent job making the dog Legit Scary and not just like, big and flashy looking....those eyes are so soulless, and the proportions are freaky 

and the guard says exactly what i was thinking - that gon would use his Country Boy Woodland Creature Skills to workaround the dog....but then the subversion - this creature is NOTHING like the woodland critters gon is probably used to dealing with. theres no way gon stood a chance here. the guard just saved him from a really unfortunate death 

i love all the Super Heavy Stuff in the servant house that seems so inconvenient vbhjdkfasjfld. also forgot to mention earlier but the guard guy being Absolutely Ripped was wild and kinda funny 

training montage! gon continues to be so cute. and i love so much how leorio and kurapika are like no, you rest, we’ll take care of this. good parents!!!!

and then!!!! they sync up and use the power of gay love to almost open the gate. but then gon uses the power of Improbable Shounen Protag Healing Speed to toss that arm sling off and help out

i feel like leorio was side-eyeing gon like w8 a sec u broke that arm like a few days ago that aint right.....

oh man i almost forgot abt that scene with the zoldyks torturing killua :( :( this poor kid he doesnt deserve that 

also mom zoldyck seems truly awful but i must say her aesthetic does fuck. the victorian-lookin outfit paired with the futuristic cyclops visor thing....excellent. also im betting this face bandages are from killua cutting her face 

this family is so fucked up hvbsjdhjfbakdfn

killua telling his mom that gon is definitely gonna make it there :’) hes got such unshakable faith in his bf thats so good.....

back w/the gang, and immediately they run into more trouble in the form of the young girl butler, whose name i dont know, but i love her....her design is SO good oh man. a non-caricature black person? who also isnt sexualized? in MY anime??????

 i love how gons approach to conflict is currently ‘let more powerful person beat me up for hours straight in hopes that they get tired or something idk bro’ like....i love him lol, is it in an effort to show how determined he is? he doesnt even try to dodge her blows or get around her....id be tryin to hop that fence lol 

oh shit the tiny zoldyk kid from earlier is spying on them....she was w/the mom so im sure thats not good

when he punches the rock part and it breaks....strong boiiii 

oh man that little flashback from when killua first came back and told her that he made a friend ;_; bruh 

i love butler girl :( she wants to let gon but knows it isnt allowed....and as soon as she starts to waver BAM here comes mom zoldyck JFC that was so sudden and jarring....im assuming butler girl isnt dead cause that would be lame and anticlimactic 

also IS THAT NEN??? NEN>>>??? NEN??? HM? NEN????????? 

im so annoying abt nen i need to make one of those ‘is this a pigeon?’ memes w/’is this nen?’ bc thats me anytime anything remotely weird happens lmao

i do think its rlly nen this time tho

anyways shit is wild, cant wait to meet the full zoldyck family 

PREDICTION CORNER: 

as i said above i doubt hisoka will show up now bc this arc is a lot shorter than i anticipated. also im doubting that illumis even gonna show up honestly 

i think we’re gonna have this OP for a while, as the part just at the end shows gon and hisoka fighting in what looks to be an arena, and ik the next arc is the heavens arena arc, which im assuming is the tournament arc....

also i have no idea what that weird building in the OP is but my guess is that its the building w/the heavens arena in it bc its tall and,,,,heaven 

i predict there wont be much fighting in this little arc bc how tf else is it so short. at this point i rlly think gon is just gonna grab killua and go lmao. im super curious abt how thats gonna go down, considering that killua is currently strung up just bc he wont apologize...so i cant imagine his family would just let him leave w/gon. i wonder if killua will fight them, or if gons determination will impress them and then theyll let killua go (doubt it)

thats basically it....we’ll see abt the next few eps holla

[rosyerim]

cafe au | haechan

“yeah, welcome to our cafe and please don’t ask for our “secret” menu because we don’t have one.”

»»————-　♡　————-««

lee donghyuck, or haechan as everybody else calls him is cafe angel’s resident grumpy boy

can be found either clinging onto mark whilst whining or chilling on the bean bags meant for the customers

but does anybody tell him to move? yes, but does he? nope

unless its doyoung or ten telling him off then he moves and “works”

until they find him sitting in the backroom with jisung instead of working 

sometimes sits by jaemin whose working the cash register and judges his flirting skills

“did you really say she doesn’t need sugar because shes already sweet? lameee”

“haechan aren’t you meant to be working?”

“jaemin, you’re not working either, you’re flirting”

cue doyoung shouting at them to attend to the customers

he’s pretty good at raking in the tips mostly because the customers always have good banter with him as he is very sassy

rolls his eyes when he asks “for here or take away?” and they say “here  but in a to go cup”

he will legit fight the next customer who asks for  “secret” menu option

“this isn’t starbucks our only menu is the one on the wall!!”

likes to doodle on the to go coffee cups and gives away the ones with hearts on them to nice customers but gives ones w angry clouds on them to cheeky customers

renjun highkey judging his art skills in the corner

despite his lazy rep, haechan can make a mean hot chocolate and always makes it look pretty

half of his ig feed is him uploading pics of his hot chocolates with colour coordinated captions

claims only he can make good hot chocolates and doesn’t let anybody else make them when he works

he won’t tell anybody but he’s super satisfied when he see’s a customer smiling after they drink his hot chocolate

“...haechan why are you smiling so intently at that little kid”

“because he reminds me of an elf fuck off mark”

during his breaks catch him extending them from 15 minutes to an hour and chilling on the bean bags but with a blanket tucked up all around him

if he ends up falling asleep he will not budge so good luck moving him

chenle takes this opportunity to draw on his face but his dolphin laughs wakes him up every single time

groans when rush hour starts and always tries to get out of it but mark keeps on iron grip on him

even though he seems he doesn’t like his job, haechan will not go to any other cafe and will square up to anybody who shit talks cafe angel

once, his sister came home with pastries from starbucks and haechan wouldn’t talk to her for a week 

he loves it when it rains mainly because he can watch people getting splashed by cars on the sidewalk and laugh at them 

he’s stuck with the customers in a bad mood tho but then he turns on his full sun mode and the customers leaves with an extra large coffee and two pastries they didn’t know they wanted

which is how he met you

it was an extremely rainy Sunday evening and you were in a bad mood having fought with your best friend & your guardians at home, you went for a walk to cool off 

and of course it started pouring rain and you were umbrella less

the to top it off you were splashed by a damn lorry just as you were about to head into a cafe called angel for shelter from the downpour

you dejectedly had walked into the cafe which was surprisingly busy and waited in the queue, feeling so done with how your day was ending up 

the pink haired cashier asked for your order and you just mumbled out “a large black coffee with 4 extra shots of espresso”

jaemin titled his head lowkey concerned cause thats a lot of caffeine but an orders an order 

you paid him and picked an empty booth to sit in by yourself after grabbing the warm drink 

you didn’t even make a face when you sipped the drink you were feeling so bleak

but little did you know an angel was going to brighten up your day

you were lost in your thoughts when a sudden flurry of moment caught your eye and next thing you know theres a smiley boy sitting across from you and a plate of two muffins next to your coffee

before you could even say anything he stuck his hand out and introduced himself

“hello my name is haechan and I noticed that you seemed down so I'm here to lift you up!”

you shook his hand and introduced yourself back a little surprised 

“it’s very nice to meet you y/n”

you smiled politely at him not really in the mood to talk to this very bubbly person but he was insistent asking you how old you were, where you went to school, etc until you ended up in a deep conversation about Michael Jackson and his best song

haechan was so close to busting out a moonwalk just to prove he was right until doyoung interrupted to tell you it was closing time

two hours had passed without you two realising and you awkwardly brought our your wallet to pay for the muffins which were very nice

you bought two again the next time you came

haechan just waved you off for paying

“don’t worry its on the house”

“ah no I have to give you something in return for the muffins”

you could literally see haechan’s lips curl into a smug grin

“okay! give me your phone number then”

very smooth donghyuck

you gave it to him slightly giddy at the prospect of him wanting to actually become friends or more with you

but before you left you thanked him for making your day better and he just smiled bashfully 

“anytime, you know they named this cafe after me because I'm an actual angel and I could be your guardian angel ;)”

you just giggled at him before quickly pecking his cheek and walking out,  your face probably a tomato 

yet the second you left haechan was tackled by mark and jaemin as his face flushed the brightest red, doyoung rolling his eyes behind the counter

“damn hyuck since when did you get so slick?”

“wow lee donghyuck talking to a customer no, flirting with a customer?!”

he just pushed them off and whipped out his phone staring at your contact name looking back up at him

he smiled happily to himself as he changed your name slightly and waddled over to the bean bags, debating what to text you first

[to] y/n♡

hey, its your guardian angel ;) sent 10:02pm

you almost dropped your phone when you read the text, feeling your face grow warm

then you received another text from him and it was a selfie of him wrapped in a blanket, a peace sign held up by his grin 

hooo the softest boy I LOVE

your fingers hovered over the screen, racking your mind for a smart reply 

[from] y/n♡

oh? I didn’t know my guardian angel was so cute sent 10:04pm

then you sent him a selfie of yourself back, doing the same pose as him

sadly, you didn’t get to see haechan blush as he read your message then scream as he saw your selfie, running around the cafe to try and express how his heart felt

“donghyuck, you’re getting the floor dirty, I just fucking mopped it!” 

“okay mark if you had someone as pretty as y/n sending you selfies, your dumbass would do the same!!”

cue doyoung rolling his eyes again and hitting haechan with a towel, urging him to help clean up but deep down he was happy for haechan finally finding someone for himself 

thus, began your love story with the one and only lee donghyuck ♡

a/n: get well soon fullsun ♡

[askguyslikeus]

oh shit yall send lots of questions hoo nelly answering almost all of them under the cut ,,, im gunan try and answer more technical ones first then fun ones and ones about the mod later so u dont gotta scroll all the way to the bottom for the good deets

Hi! I'm still kinda new to the blog and I was wondering what are the 'do and do-not' kind question I should do? Because im sure theres always that one ask thats just Innapropiated, like that one of Michael 'taking advantage og high Jeremy' that was just not cool.  i got this ask a lot so ill be clear with yall. im just not a big angst fan? so sending michael asks about his anxiety nonstop and about how he had a panic attack in the bathroom over and over again wasnt that fun. usually if it pertains the musical though you should be find sending an ask about it? but sometimes i get asks that are like “jeremy ur nothing and how does it feel knowing u fucked everything up” like homie how i think its feels? how u think hes gunna react to that? i made this blog to negate a lot of negativity in my own life so i can promise u im going to be answering asks mostly positive always forever. that being said tho i sometimes get asks pertaining to a few things that ive dealt with in the past and these topics make me very very uncomfortable. dont send asks about these topics please. this is the no no list

-self harm, cancer, suicide, rape, parent death, car accidents, sudden death.

What was your inspiration for this blog? hoo boy well,,, ultimately i thought of them rooming together and got emotional and made a huge list of headcanons and was like ,,, why not run an askblog for a bit ill just abandon it after three asks lets have some fun. but somehow im still here and i got sucked in by the complexity of michael and jeremy. i know that sounds kinda silly but just, as someone who is dealing with a lot of similar things, like dependency issues and abandonment issues and depression and anxiety, having these fun functioning character to explore was such a gift for me. i believe honestly thats why im still here and doing this. being able to try and portray a healthy relationship and a healthy way of coping and growing has helped me a lot this past month and given me an outlet i didnt have before. TBH THO the main reason i made this blog if imma be real with u guys id because i didnt like the treatment of a lot of these issues in the fandom. it made me very upset to see depression used as an plot device and michaels dependency issues treated as romantic so i wanted to make a blog that had little to no angst. ANYWAYS somehow im still here ,,, gvrkjvrnkjfd sorry i rambled

honestly I just wanna say first that I love his blog and your art and you're so cool and kind!! a question would be (I'm not sure if you've answered this before or not) but is there like an on going story here, or is it mostly just answering questions with the characters set in this universe? (if that makes sense I'm sorry!) thank you, you're super awesome! ❤️  djrnjg first off thank u so much aaaa,, ive kind of answered this before but its ok its been a while since then! but um i do kinda have a story but how howdy i sure am dragging my feet. the story isn a hUGE OVERARCHING EPIC OF WOE AND THIS PERSON IS UPSET AND THIS PERSON IS MAD AT THIS PERSON its just michael and jeremy getting together. i have a plan and ive talked to a few people on how i want it to happen but ive gained like ,,,, 6,000 followers since then and im kinda nervous BUT ILL DO MY BEST but also please understand that i do this for fun for myself and if i dont get to it im so so so sorry woops

i know this has been said before but i'm really really happy w how you're handling so many aspects of their characters. i.e. michael being trans, michael and jeremy's anxiety, michael's dependency issues, and other stuff i'm too tired to think of. you made the characters have even more depth than they did in the play and i'm rly grateful for the way you're dealing w my favorite boys. (also your richjake is suuuper adorable) ahhhhhh thank u so much? i talked a bit about this on my main but im really glad people are happy with my decision on this blog because im suPER SUPER NERvous anytime i post an ask dealing with these things. (ask hachi or nate i always message them like freaking out and send them my scripts and asks and wait for them to tell me its ok before i post it omg) also like i talked about before i love,,, having these fun stoner gamer boys to explore these issues with. im honestly shocked by how many people also deal with dependency issues because when i first listened to the musical i was so overwhlemed by the song michael int he bathroom because i had never heard someone basically write “dependency issue: the song” and it felt so so so good to realize i wasnt alone in this pit of despair i fall into so easily aha. but im!! glad everyone is ok with this wild ride im on right now (also thank u so much i struggle writing rich and jake but i get so emotional cause they would TOTES call each other babe)

how come you just use sketch form for most of your drawing (sketches and uses sketch for the final result)? im ,,, not really sure what this is asking but i thnk its along the lines of why do i only sketch my answers?? and i do that because dude do u see how often i post and how lONG some of them are. i made this blog for fun and i love doing comics but i hate lineart and coloring and if i tried to churn out finished pics for every post id defs have given up a few asks in,, shrugs

I want to say I love your little comics they're so funny! How long does it take you to make a comic? Are any of them based on your experiences? Ok have a nice day!  thank you! i love my little comics too! it usually takes me anywhere from an hour to five hours if im dragging my ass or talking on discord while im drawing. it can be kinda exhausting but since i took my break ive also been like, starting long comics one day and finishing them another day which, before i would do it all in one sitting then post it hahha. AS FOR EXPERIENCE the first half of the lifeguard comic was based on real life! we were stuck stoned up there for like an hour or two? but we didnt have anyone to help us but we got down eventually!! the wendys comic is also something i did because man!! i need to compliment food workers if they do a good job!! ummmmm just like jenna i also have a friend that said HAHA BYE and moved to cali and she is also lIVING IT UP and doing really well for herself and shes very independent and shes very inspiring to me! hmm i think thats it besides i used to have movie nights with my dad all the time too except we would watch my fave animated movies and sometimes lord of the rings cause my dad loved that

What kinds of things can we NOT ask ? What kinds of things do you WANT us to ask ? i covered the what not to ask in the first question so!!! um if my askbox is open and u want to respond to previous asks ive answered for the boys that would be so so so rad. sometimes im done with a certain ask and i have nothing to add but sometimes ive got more to say but am looking for an opportunity! that being said it made me really happy that i got a lot of asks about pj? shes not going to the main focus of any more asks but!!! i was nervous to introduce her and im glad u guys like her shes fun to write. but overall just general asks i can make a big ol fun story out of so!! dont worry too much about what to ask, if its something ud ask a real person and not like “lol what if ur dad died” ur gunna be fine probably

Hi! Not a question but your blog is so sweet and refreshing! I actually really appreciate that you refuse angst, that stuff tends to rub me the wrong way in fandoms... Keep taking good care of these boys ! gggg thank u!!! it means a lot to me that a lot of people are backing me up on this! i mean if u are an angst fan there are a lot of askblogs that explore that!! so its not in short supply bmc askblog fandoms got something for everyone

Which drawing program do you use?? i use paint tool sai and my tablet is a cintiq !!

this isn't really related to the faq but that bakunawa boy reference was great I LOVE THAT FIC MAN!!! the line was originally a little diff in that ask but i changed it cause ,,,, i could,,,,

an art style question. how do you keep the design of characters consistent from frame to frame? my characters they look a lil different every time I draw em (or a lot different) and it tends to disrupt the flow of my comics/animations ohh boy hoo wee props for doing animations im too scared to give that a whirl but!! it helps that i draw all the panels for an ask on one canvas! so if my next panel is going to be the same character in the same spot just in a diff pose i keep the lower layer on just at low opacity so i can use it as a ref! that helps me a lot!

Sorry if I'm nosy or rude, but are you reflecting Micheal Anxiety, Panic attacks and depence? iii think this is asking if i reflect my own issues onto them boys? and if so then yes i do. i dont place any of my own personality or anything on the boys but i do use them as a way to help me learn how to cope with my own shit and i try to deal with their issues in the healthiest way possible while also keeping in mind they are flawed individuals aaa

what are your pronouns??? and maybe your main blog??  im a cis girl so she/her is good! and my main is squigglegigs! also that being said IF YOU SEE THE USERNAME SQUIGGLEGIGS ANYWHERE JUST?? ASSUME ITS ME?? i have a twitter and an instagram and my tumblr account 

((Hello mod will Michael and Jeremy eventually someday get together. I love them.)) if all goes according to plan yes! if i get overwhelmed and stop having fun on this blog then no! sorry thems the breaks but! i do want them to get together so HOPEFULLY

going off on that confrience on pornogrefy for birds, Im geussing jeremy has played Hatoful Boyfriend. am I wrong? well it wasnt intended as that ref and i dont know anything about hatoful boyfriend but i can see jerm finding it and playing it so, sure homie! the pornography for birds thing is a my brother my brother and me reference! i love that show and them boys so give it a scope!

I'm crying bcuz Michael said he's in love with Jeremy and it's beautiful yeah that boy is DEEP IN love with his bro bro

Any advice for running an ask blog?? (Ps i love this blog keep it up) personally whats worked for me so far is doing just sketches for art. honestly ive been able to work so much more and post so much more often while also trying to work on my expressions and poses! also taking my own experiences and shaping them to fit the characters has been SO MUCH FUN. th most important thing tho is,,, dont overwork urself dude. if ur having a fun time it shows. if ur just forcing urself to churn out material and its not fun? like shit we doing this for free dont push urself? idk idk overall being looser with my art and writing the dialogue before hand has been the most helpful for me for this askblog! ive run a bunch before including @ask-maz and ive run that sporadically for ,, three or four years? its so funny cause u can see my art style juMP AROUND SO MUCH but i love that blog and i only update it like every other month or so but?? i still like doing it and no on likes those posts but it makes me smile so ANYWAYS

~ok from here on its mostly just me replying to nice messages or people asking me personal questions that dont pertain to askguyslikeus so!!~

I just wanted to say I really really love your blog and just your art in general!! Keep up the good work and hope you're having fun! thank u!!! i am having fun and im glad u enjoy it!!

What other musicals do you like? :0  i really like heathers A LOT. i also like doctor horrible i know thats not technically a musical but i just relistened to it and im emotional. i like dear evan hansen but it makes me really sad so i can only take it in moderation! ummm rent? chicago?? music man? now im just naming musicals i was in rip. being in a musical fandom is a new thing to me? i was really into heathers last year but didnt really interract with the fandom at SO THIS IS SUPER NEW?? ive never been into a musical as much as im into bmc and heathers tho

tell us a little bit about urself!! u seem v cool i am squigs or fork!! im 24 and work fulltime as a barista at starbucks! i get high on the beach with my friend gwen a lot and drink wayy to many slushies, my tv shows are brooklyn nine nine and bobs burgers right now! i table at conventions sometimes and sell my art as merch and whatnot and i cosplay as a hobby as well. im pretty boring but i draw a lot and always carry my big sketchbook with me and im pretty sure its given me back issues BUT OH WELL HAHA also i am very not cool THE TRUTH COMES OUT

Who do you most relate to from bmc and why? like ,,, a mix of michael and christine with a sprinkle of jeremy i guess ahaha i relate to michaels dependency issues and overarching positive attitude and love of music, i relate to christines bright disposition and the need to not stick to one set thing? like she loves theater cause she can be sO MANY PEOPLE and like same homie thats why i cosplay. and jeremys need to be likes while also ability to put himself out there is very relatable. i also identify strongly with his dad issues idk idk whats good

Also -- just thank you for how you handled all the panic attack and anxiety attack asks. I used to deal with anxiety attacks multiple times a day and it just was really nice that it was positive and not them having one. Thank you, sincerely. ahhhhhh ur so welcome i,,, have anxiety and it sucks and i deal with panic attacks like everyday at work so i dont really wanna come home and draw someone having one i guess? im glad its helping other people too tho!

Dude- I love your art? Actually so much? It's... I love it. The whole sketch-ish way your art style is, and the way you color, and the expressions! I'm so glad I found your work - you've given me so much inspiration. Keep doin what you're doin and I hope you have a good day! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ANytime any one compliments my expressions i die cause i legit made this blog to help with that as well ,,, like dam

im lvoe ur art style b o i :0 !!!!!!

Mod, I love you so much I love you you have my soul and my love and my eternal gratitude thank you and I love you (This is the guy who was excited about PJ on your ig live stream a while ago and I love you) !!!!!!!!! im so happy u like my content omg and that u like pj im so glad!! shes a good bean

I just wanna say... I'm crying over that post about Michael and his anxiety? cuz I know how it can feel that you're only your flaws and weaknesses, but Michael just tells that to screw off in the most wonderful way and I'm?? thank you so much for that post, I bookmarked it for future times when I can't look past my depression... honestly, that post made my day (along with every other post on this blog), thank you for being such a lovely part of this fandom ,,,, im,,,, im scared of a lot of this fandom tbh but if i can be something good that come out of it and my love of these boys and desire to show them functioning together in a healthy way can help other people its so much more than i ever thought id ever be able to do. i am blown away everyday by the support ive been given on this blog and i might be crying right now because i never thought id be able to touch other people like this and i just. im really glad yall are here with me for all this.

(To the mod: You are a beautiful person that I highly respect. I love this blog and what you set out to do. thanks for giving something that makes me smile and gives me something to look forward to everyday, keep up the good work! ❤ ) hey im still crying from the previous ask aaaaa im honestly so emotional

what are ur true feelings for wendy's??? i fucking love wendys man thats some top tier fast food right there

what fast food restaurant do you think has the best nuggets WENDYS HANDS DOWN

do you have a favorite movie? paranorman makes me very nostalgic and ive seen it like eighty times and used to watch it with my dad a lot and i love it

I would just like you to know that your Wendy's comic prompted me to pull the same thing with a bakery in the town I'm visiting and the baker got so excited and happy, so thank you for making that comic because I made that woman's day. GOOD GOOD GOOD GOOD GOOD I LOVE WHEN PEOPLE COMPLIMENT ME WHEN IM WORKING DUDE LIKE IM SO GLAD IT MADE U DO THIS!!! IM SMILING REALLY BIG!!

chocolate milk or strawberry milk? or plain? woops i hate milk im so sorry

do u love michael mell with all of ur heart, mod?  i really truly do man what a fucking good ass character

hi squigs i love you! i love your content too and i hope u have a good day pal :>  WHAT A SWEET BEAN!!! THANK YOU?? OMG

I'm just saying that recent ask you did with Michael really hit me hard because I really related to it and I started crying because it made me realize that I've been pining my self worth on everything my anxiety causes and I'm so much more than that. Thank you, so much for that I really needed it because I'm in a really bad place right now. <3 -for the mod i legit cry everytime i get asks or dms like this cause once again the idea that im helping other people is so ovwehelming i love you??? i let myself just be”depressed” for ahwile and by that i mean i just,, let my sadness consume me and i was scared of getting better cause the sadness was all i knew for so long and just. its so easy to think u are ur illness but you are so much more. soooo much more man.

I relate A Lot to Michael so the way you portray him in the blog is really good, and I think it's really awesome you refuse to like?? do terrible stuff and answer bad questions just bc people wanna see that. You run this blog really well 👌  AHHHH THis is the biggest compliment thank u so much ,,, i get real anxious bout this blog soemtiems but then yall send me sweet things like this and its worth it man

Hey mod, just know you're a really cool person. Thanks for running this blog in the first place. Keep doing the great work.  thank you!!!! for ur support!!!! 

not really a question!! i just wanted to say your posts on this blog always brighten my day and you're really an incredible artist and person, keep rockin on my dude!! *clutching my heart* the fuck this is so sweet

1 .I just wanted to say your blog is really awesome! It's very lovely. I also like how you made michael trans and like handled it? (just with how all the characters treat him and stuff its v nice). Your art is super duper! Thanks for running this awesome blog! 2. Hey! This isn't a question but I wanted to say that I appreciate michael being trans!! As a trans boy it's just rly awesome to see something like that casually thrown into an ask blog without making it a huge weird deal :D immm,,, i kinda really love the idea of michael being trans cause a lot of my trans male friends are actually pretty confident in their skin and michael is a very confident character? and u rarely see that with trans representation and its so refreshing to see it portrayed well. im trying to do that here but again if! i do anything wrong let me know!

how did you first get into art? (also i really love your blog, it's amazing!) ive been drawing as long as i remember! ive got mad adhd and wasnt diagnosed until late in ym life so i would just draw nonstop in my classes ahaha i used to read the sunday comics a lot and they really inspired me to try and make comics of my own too!! (and omg thank u) 

someone also asked me if i went to church or was religious but tumblr ate the ask but i used to go to church a lot as a kid but im currently not religious at all aaa

ok holy shit that was a lot but thanks again to everyone i legit cry a lot about how supportive u all are thank u so much aaaa

[jazi-j-sims]

THE DELGADOS - In My Purse Challenge

  "What's up guys it's Demi & Deidre here with another videooo!" Demi said with her usual vibrant, dramatics of elaborate gestures and goofy facial expressions. It was normally the intro to Demi and Deidre's YouTube videos but Deidre secretly couldn't stand it. 

Deidre slightly rolled her eyes and hoped that Demi didn't pick up on it during the video edits or better yet, their 2 and a half million subscribers didn't take notice. Matching her sister's smile she looked straight into the camera and quickly added "So we've been getting a lot... scratch that... A WHOLE LOT... of requests to do the "In My Purse Challenge" and today we have a surprise for y'all. Demi and I have decided to include our mom in the mix."

"Yeah boy!" Demi said as she pumped her fists in the air. "We're also adding a twist, we want you guys to comment whose purse is most like yours, whose purse you like the best... WHATEVER... and the one with the most comments is the winner. Of course I already know y'all gonna pick your girl" Demi smirked as she used both her thumbs to point at herself.

"Yeah whatever" Deidre scoffed, this time elaborately rolling her eyes. "So anyways the two losers will be the winner's slaves for a whole week!" "AAAAND because we always wanna include YOU our clan we're giving away custom made monogrammed t-shirts with your family name to the first 10 people to comment! So without further ado -"  

"LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" Deidre and Demi shouted in unison.

"Delgado-Fan-Fam-And-Clan this lovely lady here is my clone!" Deidre stated while Demi, dancing like Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, softly sung Isn't She Lovely a bit off key.

Aisha chuckled as her daughters flanked her. She quickly struck a pose and the girls followed suite.

"Okee jokes aside this is our lovely mama" Demi said "As some of you may know she's the editor-in-chief at Delgado Bazaar fashion magazine, a judge on Project Catwalk, stylist to the stars and she's the brains behind a lot of our subscriber fashion giveaways. Yup all that and she still finds time for us and our little brother... ooh and Dad!"

"Because she's dun-duh-duh-dunnn... SUPER WOMAN!" Deidre states gesturing her hands as if she's about to take flight. Demi starts humming Alicia Keys's Superwoman. "And because you're so awesome and inspiring -"

"AWE-SPIRING" Demi cuts in.

"You get to go first!!" Deidre finished with a grin. 

"What?!" Aisha says "Well ok but let me warn you there's A LOT in here..."

*few minutes later* "Whoa!" Deidre said as her mother finished emptying all the contents of her handbag unto a glass table on one of the balconies, overlooking their pristine back yard and the desert skyline. "You weren't kidding; your bag looks like a hoarder's paradise mom!"

"Yup, that's what happens when you're a working mom."

"It's like you got a little bit of everything in there." Demi added as she scanned her mom's stuff.

"Sure do" Aisha replied. "I've got gadgets for work, toilettries, credit cards, money, makeup, Snacks for Asaud, Birth Control because dear sim-Lord FORBIDS we should have another kid running around here anytime soon; oh and the latest issue of Delgados Bazaar... so to all you working moms out there watching you should get a copy. It speaks on how to be a workaholic and a great mama at the same time... because YES you can have the best of both worlds!"

"Well said mom." Demi stated "Well normally I'd say we save the best for last, me of course, but I lost a coin toss to Deidre earlier so I gotta go next."

"Hmmm condoms ehh?" Aisha's expression was quizzical

"Mom!" Demi could feel the blood rushing to her face. "They gave them to us in Sex Ed."

"Girl don't even try lying to me." Aisha wagged her finger in Demi's direction. "Everyone knows they don't give out Trojans! Well at least you got your mama’s taste"

"Eeeew mom but she has a point Demi." Deidre shrugged .

"Oh shut up! Before I -" 

"Wait, both of you be quiet! Why is it that you have got a C on this paper?"

"Uuuggh!" Demi began to protest "Mom can we not do this right now?!"  

"Yeah mom. Deidre said. "We're gonna have a hell of a lot of editing to do."

Aisha smirked in response, with a slight wave of her hand to signal they carry on with shooting the video.

"So as you guys can see my purse isn't as cluttered as mom's..." Demi glanced in her mother's direction. Smirking she quickly added "and in case you are all wondering why I got a C on my test well because someone who will remain nameless asked me to help with a project for the Delgado Bazzaar website."

Aisha returned her daughter's gaze "Lest you forget that someone didn't merely ask you to help out. She's paying you a hefty sum for your time, so you should be grateful and at least bring home an above average grade so THAT SOMEONE... ME can stick it on the fridge and brag to all her friends."

"Mom no offense but we're waaay past that. Don't worry you got Asaud for that though." Deidre said patting her mom on the back. "What do you have here Demi."

"Well the norm... my laptop, my hair products, toiletries, cash, spare keys to dad's Benz; yup he's the coolest... and makeup because duh it's essential!" Aisha rolled her eyes. "I ought to have a talk with Derrick. Your asses should be taking the bus!" "MOM!" both girls shrieked in unison. "Who does that?!" Deidre carried on "All the girls at Oasis Springs Prep drive to school or they get chauffeured." "Sure, because you're all privileged! I had to take the bus and let me tell you the bus system in Jamaica was no joke when I was your age. Sometimes -" "OKAAAY!" Demi cut in. "Mom I'm sure everyone wants to hear of your wild days in Jamaica but we gotta save that for another video. Deidre it's your turn."

"Wait hold up!" Aisha said  as she scanned the contents of the Louis Vouitton tote Deidre had placed on the table. "That bag looks verrry familiar."

"Well in my defence mom you have hundreds of bags and this one looked lonely, that's all." Deidre grinned sheepishly. "Now if I may carry on, here are the contents of my bag guys"

"You mean my bag that you stole" Aisha grinned.

"Whatever mom. I wear it better."  Deidre teased. 

"Hold on, why am I just noticing your obsession with unicorns? Your laptop, journal, notebook and even your phone case!"

"Not to mention her obsession with Pepsi! Apparently she's saving the cans now." Demi picked up an empty Pepsi can with a disgusted look on her face. "Girl your bag's a hot mess. It's called In My Purse Challenge not In My Dumpster Challenge!"

Both Aisha and Demi started chuckling. 

Deidre rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time and swatted Demi's hand causing her to drop the Pepsi can back on the table. "Moving right along... mom here's a pic Asaud drew when I picked him up from school a few days ago. You can place that on the fridge."

"Wait why did you pick up Asaud and why haven't you started those packs of birth control?" Aisha pointed at the little blue pills she had gotten her youngest daughter a few weeks prior. They had agreed that since she’d be 16 in a few months she could start dating. Aisha was always blunt with the girls about sex, teen pregnancy and pretty much everything in life and even though the girls both claimed they weren’t seeing anyone and didn’t need birth control, Aisha didn’t want to leave anything to chance.

"Um... uhh..." Deidre stuttered, she shot a nervous look at Demi. Aisha turned to face Demi's direction a stern look on her face. "Well can you give me an answer? Since you're the one that's suppose to be picking him up?" "Umm, I had to stay back after school to work on a project with Lacey for -"  

"BULLSHIT!" Aisha snapped, cutting Demi off. "But hold on keep that lying thought. Just gimmie a second." Turning to face her other daughter she continued "Why haven't you started taking those pills Deidre?"

"Well I don't need them Mom, I told you..."

"Yeah... so you don't have a boyfriend now... you might one day and one thing might lead to another and I am not ready for no grand-baby!"  

"Mom do you ever listen?! You won't be getting any... EVER... at least not from me. I don't want kids and I'm..." 

"What are you trying to say?!?" Aisha's facial expression was a mixture of shock and fear.

Sensing the drama that was building  Demi quickly stopped the video that was still rolling and stepped in between her mom and sister. "Mom Deidre is... uh... she's had a long day ok. Can we all just call this quits?"

"No." Aisha shook her head firmly. "I need to get to the bottom of this and someone better start talking before everyone gets an ass whooping!"

Placing her hand on Demi's shoulder, as if to excuse her of the big sister duty of defending her Deidre quickly chimed in "She's right Demi." She looked away for a second gathering all the confidence she had. "Mom I'm into unicorns and rainbows and boys.......but.... mostly girls... I'm bisexual." 

Aisha felt all the blood in her face drain. It seemed they were coming out her eyes because she could feel heavy hot droplets on her cheeks. "What. When. How... WHY?! You're just 15 you don't know what you want!"

"MOM!" Demi shot her mother a glare she wouldn't normally dare but she always felt the need to protect her little sister. Trying to remain assertive but respectful she added "That's enough ok. Let's just all go downstairs and have dinner before someone says something they’ll regret."

Aisha sank in a nearby chair. The girls watched as she mulled over the shock of her youngest daughter's news. She could feel the girls's eyes piercing her like four bullets. "Go. Just go, both of you."

Deidre breathed out a sigh of relief. She wasn't even aware until then that she had been holding her breath. Demi tugged on her arm and both girls practically ran downstairs, making their way to the  dinning room.

[lubdubsworld]

Under my Skin. ( Namjoon/Oc) (Yoongi/OC)

Author’s note : i would like to apologize for the completely unoriginal titles. i clearly suck at naming my fics, smh. 

Chapter 3 

“this is weird.” I say softly, propped up against the headboard of the bed, the thin white sheets covering me up, shoulders bare and stinging a bit from the cold air. Yoongi is lying on the opposite end of the bed, leaning back on huge pillows, my camera grasped firmly between long ivory white fingers as he snaps away a few pictures. He’s shirtless, chest bare and starkly white against the sheets, bed cover hanging lazily off his sharp hip bones. He’s all smooth skin and lean muscle, skin faintly flushed and sweaty. 

After a nice dinner, we had spent the night walking across the skywalk, while i snapped off some truly spectacular photos of the Seoul skyline. I realized during the course that Yoongi was a lot like me, laidback, casual and an easy going guy. 

“You have some amazing post-coital glow thing going on, seems a shame not to record it.” He says, going back to check the pictures. I’m pretty certain at least a few of those pics have nipple-slips. I make a mental note to delete them before my roommate accidentally saw them. 

“For posterity?” I grin. 

“For posterity.” His gummy smile is blinding, displaying sparkling white teeth and the whole thing is just unfairly adorable. 

  i shake my head and fumble for the bra that’s hanging off the lamp shade and his hand shoots out, gripping my wrist. 

“Don’t. You’re pretty this way.” He protests and I tug my hand away. 

“I’m cold.” I mutter in protest and he sits up, the camera placed to the side, forgotten already. I smile as he crawls over, drawing me in till I was cradled against him. 

“I’ll warm you up.” His lips pressed briwfly against my ears and I sigh. 

“What am i even doing here? “

“Having bomb sex and playful banter? Why’re you complaining?”

“Because, you’re an idol  . This is stupid. whatever this is, it’s reckless and dangerous. ” I shake my head. 

“It’s too soon to think that far , come on. It’s just... you’re really pretty and you’re intelligent. And I love Photography and honeslty it’s like all my favorite things in a girl and I feel like letting you get away would be like, the worst mistake of my life.”

“That’s oddly creepy but very sweet.” I laugh, burrowing closer to the warmth of his body. 

“Tell me more about you. Where’s home?” He says curiously and i hesitate. 

“Busan...” I say softly. 

“When did you come to Seoul?” he asks. 

“When I was fifteen. I got a scholarship to the School of Performing Arts. And then after High School, another Scholarship to the Seoul university. i got into the photography department three years ago. I’m in my final year. Working on my thesis and hopefully I’ll land a nice job by the time i get out...”

“Parents?” He lightly stroked back my hair. 

“Dead.” I say shortly. 

He doesn’t reply, just hums. 

“SO how did this happen? How does a photographer suddenly start taking fancams.” 

“Beats having to work in a supermarket. “ I say drily. “ Mostly because it pays and i get some experience too. i mean, i know I can’t actively build a portfolio on what I do, it’s all copyrighted stuff after all but, I’ve learned a lot. Lightings, angles how to make the subject look good. It’s a learning process.I don’t see it as anything different from one of the classes I take in college and i work just as hard. ” 

“Am I too?” He says curiously. 

“Are you what?”

“A course you’re taking and working hard at? ” He grins. 

“Something like that....You’re just... an interesting elective that i’ve taken up for fun.” 

He laughs at that. i hesitate a bit before turning over. 

“What about you?” 

“I came here when I was eighteen. No scholarship though. Came on my own bucks. Ended up sleeping on the pavement some nights but.. yeah, was worth it at the end I guess.” 

I swallow. 

“you should be pretty fucking proud of what you got done.” i say firmly. 

He shrugs

“It’s just luck, most of it. The right people at the right time. Mostly it’s about grabbing on to opportunities when they come around. “

“And the right people.” He adds. “ I’m nothing without my bandmates. I’d die for them. Especially Joon ah and Hoseok... ”  

I swallow. 

 Didn’t yoongi hyung pay you yet? You know you aren’t special right? 

“ Do you do this with a lot of girls?” i hate myself the moment the words were out. 

“Take them to bed? Sometimes. Take them to an expensive  hotel ? I’ve done it once or twice before.... Tell them about my life story and take naked pictures of... no. You’re the first. ” 

I feel worse. 

“Then why-”

“You’re honest. True to yourself. You know there’s a distinct lack of genuine people in the world. I like people who act the same with everyone. And i feel like you’re one of those people. “ 

I didn’t reply and he pulls me closer. 

“Besides, I think you’re good at what you do. I spoke to my PDnim ... you can give me your portfolio and maybe the next photoshoot you can sit in. If they like your work they’ll hire you as an assistant. At least it’ll be experience you can put on your resume. Don’t waste your time chasing idols. That’s not something a girl with your talent should be doing... ” He says seriously and i go still.

“what?” i stiffen , pulling away.

“ It’s just an opprtunity. i’m giving you an opprtunity. Don’t overthink it. “ His voice is awkward and a little annoyed and i try to still my pounding heart. 

In the end, it’s not really an option. i’m not an idiot. An opportunity like that is invaluable.  I promise to send him my portfolio and he agrees to call me once he talks to his boss. 

“I’m busy the next few months. Our Comeback is next month. October 12... I’ll get you free passes for the stage, if you promise to come without your camera.” 

I laugh. 

“i get passes anyway. and sorry , i don’t go  anywhere  without my camera” 

~~~~~~~~

“ I need just 100 dollars! What fucking use is a scholarship if you can’t give your old man , 100 dollars?” My father is gripping the edge of the couch with blue veined fingers, the inside of his wrist and elbows littered with needle marks and he has that feverish look in his face that i’ve come to associate with hurled abuses, broken glasses and bruises that couldn’t be hidden with make-up. 

“i didn’t get paid yet. I still don’t have a job, you know that.” I grit out impatiently. My landlord hates me. She’s in her early thirties and she once tried to make me sneak her into the backstage of a BTS concert because she ‘ wanted to find Jung kook. Aside from the fact that Jung kook is a baby( barely legal) my neighbour was beyond creepy. I’d yelled at her to stop being a pervert and to find someone her own age. 

In return, anytime my father came around to visit, the stupid woman let him into my apartment. 

“You’re shitting me. Gimme that stupid camera then, if you’re not making money off it. I’ll at least sell that piece of crap and buy myself some stash.” 

I clench my fists. This was tiring. I had classes in an hour. i grab my purse and get the money i got for my last assignment. i count it out carefully, keeping just twenty dollars for the food this week. There was a GOT7 comeback and an ASTRO stage as well. They would pay less but maybe if i took on a couple more (  but you have two papers to turn it, fuck..) I’d be able to make rent this month. 

 “ i have forty dollars. That’s all i have. Take it and leave.” I snap, grabbing the cash and thrusting it in his face. 

My father stares at me with a seedy look in his eyes. 

“I’ll be back for the rest , later this week.” He says, snatching the money out of my hands and stalking out. 

I watch him leave and sigh, dropping my head into my hands. 

There went six hours of shivering in the cold and making Min Yoongi look good. 

~~~~~~~~~

The next three weeks were a frantic mess of shows and concerts, lots of bruises from being jostled in crowds , finishing two papers and finally finding a muse from the fashion department to pose for my piece on Extravagance. Now all i had was my final paper to turn in and i would be done for this semester. The last semester would be my finalk thesis presentation and ?I would be done with college. 

And honestly, it was the thought of getting it over with, that kept me going. i was busy all day and Min Yoongi almost completely slipped out of my mind ( except when i occasionally felt too stressed out and took that snow globe out of the closet and stared at it . i couldn’t help it, because that trip to Florence had been one of the best times in my life. ) 

As October came around with  rainfall and winds, my boss told me that i would have to go for the BTS comeback stage at M! Countdown. He’d managed to get a special press pass for me and I was beyond flattered that he’d actually given me and actual journalitsic work. This wasn’t just recording. i could get pictures backstage for the offical article. This was actually something i could put on my resume. 

I quickly, nod, grinning ear to ear when he drops the bombshell. 

“ You’ll be focusing on Namjoon, this time.” 

i freeze in place. 

“what?”

“Kim Namjoon. He’s the leader. He’s the one our journalist will be interviewing backstage. JJ will ask the questions and you’ll just have to take a few snaps. it’s easy work. “ 

“The fancam..”

“That too. Because you’ll be busy backstage, i’ve asked other kids to cover the fancams. You can just watch the concert. No need to film. “ 

I nod wordlessly. 

I was screwed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kim Namjoon still hates me. 

That much is obvious, as i stand to a corner of the stage, clutching my camera while JJ took notes next to me. The screaming is unbelievable and as the rest of them do their soundcheck, I try to ignore the way Namjoon keeps tossing glances at me. Yoongi gives me one subtle wink and a small pouty kiss that send the fans into a frenzy and ignores me completely afterwards. Or So I assume. i’m too busy trying not to spontaneously combust from the heat of Namjoon’s gaze. 

In the seductive lighting , with his perfect make up and insanely well fit clothes he looks like something straight out of a Grimm’s brother’s fairytale. A wayward prince . I can’t believe how utterly sinful their attire is, expensive jackets and in Namjoon’s case, a poet shirt with a firm black waist band and ruffled lace in the front. His hair is off his forehead and his legs look like they’re a few miles long at least. His pants are skin tight and tailored to perfectly fit his thighs and his calf muscles and honestly, there’s nothing more disconcerting than the way his dimples keep peeking out at sudden intervals. 

I’ve never been happier about not filming. My brain is turning to mush. 

But as the first strains of the music start, i can’t help turning my camera on, simply because i felt naked without it. It’s easier, safer to look at him from behind the lens of my trusty friend. I grip it harder and it’s better , through the lens he’s just another subject. Someone to record. 

focus. Lighting. Angles. Posture. Learning Process.

Except the only thing i could learn was that his legs were too long, his waist so mouth-wateringly lean and everytime his palm moved over his waist and caressed his crotch, I felt like dying. 

But really, why were they grabbing their crotch?!

 the worst part was, Namjoon kept glancing at me, and each time he did , i felt my throat constrict. He moved sharply and i realized that he wasn’t even a bad dancer. He was just too tall and too.. manly . Namjoon would look so much better in a suit in a board room , gripping a glass of scotch and playing God. 

The choreo was brutal , and by the time they were done with all three songs, the boys ( men really ) wwere sweaty and tired. Me on the other hand, I was completely zoned out. My breath came in stark pants and it felt like there was cotton wool in my lungs and I felt disgusted, my shirt sticking to my skin and the hair at my nape dripping with sweat. 

i feel saturated with feelings of inadequacy, like i’m doing something wrong and it feels a bit like I’m going to overflow, like all these miserable feelings are going to spill out of me and make a mess on the dirty floor . I choke on air as I grip JJ’s sleeve, letting her lead me to the backstage door. 

“Hello. Nice to meet you, Rapmon ssi..” JJ shakes hands and bows and I just stand there, too stunned to react. 

But he does it for me. 

“Hello, Ae Rin.” He says, voice low and polite and so respectful, not at all the rough angry tone I’d heard the last time. He sounds amazing. Whisky smooth and attractive. 

 My name. How did he know my name?

“ So about this comeback..”Jj began her questions and I pulled the camera up, trying to get the right angle. The first two clicks are easy. And then he glances at me and my mind comes undone like a ball of wool in the hands of a kitten. I stare stupidly , wondering how his stare was all it took to unravel me. What the hell’s happening? 

i drop my gaze to the camera and review the pictures, frowning when I notice the smudged lipstick in the pics. I look back up and it’s there , on the corner of his lips.

“You’ve got...” I stop, picking at my own lips to try and tell him that his gloss was smudged, except all the gesture did was draw his gaze to my lips and the way he stares at my mouth... it’s not good. 

“Fix it..!! Come Here!” Jj hisses and pushes me in his direction and I stumble forward, stunned. Did I really have to ..

I slowly get down on my knees in front of him and my throat is parched. 

He stretches out, offering his face to my touch and I feel cross eyed, staring at him as my thumb presses against the plush softness of his lips. I swallow, audibly, loudly and his gaze slips to my throat, and I wipe at the smudge, once and then twice. When I do it again, in a trance, his tongue sneaks out, without any warning, tip brushing against my finger and I yank my hand back in shock. It’s enough to almost send me sprawling and his hand shoots out , fast, gripping my wrist firmly. He pulls me back up and I topple over, my palm landing on his thigh and my fingers curling on the lean muscle of his leg without conscious thought. 

“I’m sorry about the last time. i was out of line.” His words catch me off guard and i feel like I’m sinking and the sensation is so foreign and unexpected. His thigh feels firm beneath my fingers and his grip on my wrist is hot and firm and oddly grounding.  I wonder what it would be like to have those long , firm fingers on other parts of me and a whimper bubbles out before i can smother it. 

Namjoon looks even better upclose and there’s something unreadable in the way he looks at me. His gaze is heavy and fond, affectionate and curious and almost sad. I feel like i’m drowning and I have to tamp down the urge to press my palms against his face and slot my lips over his. To climb on his lap and just kiss him senseless. 

But he’s sitting with JJ and I’m kneeling on the floor in front of him, the camera forgotten, my hands on his thighs and this is not how this is supposed to go at all.

“I.. it’s.. fine. I’ll just go.” I stumble back and stand up. 

My legs feel weak, my heart feels battered and my mind is still on stand by. I go through the rest of the interview like a zombie, my brain complete mush. When he finally leaves, JJ gives me a look that is part disbelief, part annoyance. 

“God, why didn’t you tell him you had a crush on him?! i mean could you be more obvious...” 

I shut her out, my mind running in circles. 

I didn’t have a crush on him. I was sleeping 9 or had slept 0 with his best friend. 

I didn’t. 

I  couldn’t. 

AUTHOR’S NOTE : Oh wow, this just took me back to college when i had this super huge crush on an older guy.i would literally start tapdancing when i saw him, hahaha... Thank fully he never knew...  kekekeke... 

What do you guys think? 

[technicalsolutions88]

Have you ever wanted to see one of your “hate-reads” stretched out to feature-film length? If so, you’ll want to watch HBO’s new documentary, “Swiped,” which takes a depressing, trigger-inducing and damning look at online dating culture, and specifically Tinder’s outsized influence in the dating app business.

The film evolved from journalist Nancy Jo Sales’ 2015 Vanity Fair piece, entitled “Tinder and the Dawn of the ‘Dating Apocalypse,” which was criticized at the time for its narrow focus on 20-something, largely heterosexual women in an urban setting. The piece had extrapolated out their personal dating struggles and turned them into condemnation of the entire online dating market.

But the VF piece was actually more memorable for Tinder’s response.

The company – well, it went off.

In a 30-tweet tirade (that’s still some of the best of the internet, mind you), the company lost its ever-lovin’ mind on both Vanity Fair and Nancy Jo Sales alike.

One sample tweet from the Tinder meltdown: “@VanityFair: Little know fact: sex was invented in 2012 when Tinder was launched.”

Ah, take that! Right?! Right?

Despite the complete PR buffoonery, Tinder had a point.

The VF piece wasn’t representative of Tinder’s larger user base, only a sliver. And the complaints from a few users couldn’t be used to make a point about the entire industry.

Besides, what exactly was unique about those complaints?

Was it truly swipe culture to blame for the mistakes made in dating and sexual experimentation, when you’re young? Don’t you at least once or twice have to choose the wrong person, so you can begin to triangulate on what’s right?

Unfortunately, the film doesn’t fully correct the article’s problem in terms of its demographic samplings.

It still mostly relies on anecdotes told by (usually drunk) 20-somethings, which are then spliced up by the occasional expert commentary.

And the subjects are often really, really drunk.

There’s one scene where a young woman is so wasted, it’s hard to believe she gave the filmmaker informed consent to use her footage.

(Not the one below. But I’m pretty sure those Solo cups aren’t filled with lemonade.)

Meanwhile, the expert commentary has its highlights, too.

There’s one expert – April Alliston, a Princeton professor – who breastfeeds her baby on camera while giving her commentary on pornography. (Oh yes, please discuss rape porn while the baby suckles your breast, thank you very much.)

Look how cool and progressive we are! is the unspoken subtext, even as the film continues to subtly vilify casual sex among young adults, or act as if Tinder itself is somehow entirely responsible for the callous behavior of its users.

Unlike the magazine article, the film does slightly expand its cast of characters to include gender non-conforming and other LGBTQ people, more people of color, and – well, it’s Tinder! – a couple interested in threesomes.

But the general slice of the Tinder user base interviewed remains young, urban, and, in some cases, fairly vapid.

As for “Swiped’s” milieu,  much of its action is in the city.

Specifically, scene after scene in the film is labeled, “New York, New York,” as if the experiences of people in this competitive and unique market – a place where leveling up to something better is a way of life – could somehow represent a universal truth applicable to all of Tinder’s estimated 50 million users.

The film does, however, cover nearly everything that’s awful about dating apps – from young men ordering girls to their door as if it’s a meal from Seamless, to the overwhelming sense of dread and the depression that results from being on dating apps – or really, the internet itself – for too long.

There are also scenes touching nearly every Tinder trope:

The sending of dick pics; men posing with fish in their profile photos; that supposedly happy couple “looking for a third” (spoiler alert: they’re not happy and are broken up by end of film); the “DTF?” come-ons; and basically every other reason people delete these apps in the first place.

Where the film is somewhat stronger is when it talks about the very real psychological tricks Tinder and other dating apps have adopted to keep users engaged and addicted to swiping.

Tinder, it’s pointed out, uses gamification techniques: Brain tricks like intermittent variable rewards that are proven to work on pigeons, no less!

You see, if you don’t know when you’re getting the reward – a treat, a match, etc. – you end up playing the game more often, the psychologists explain.

One of the better quotes on this topic comes from Tinder co-founder and CSO Jonathan Badeen, where he essentially compares the act of using Tinder to doing drugs or gambling.

“We have some of these game-like elements, where you almost feel like you’re being rewarded,” says Baden. “It kinda works like a slot machine, where you’re excited to see who the next person is, or, hopefully, you’re excited to see ‘did I get the match?’ and get that ‘It’s a Match’ screen? It’s a nice little rush,” he enthuses.

Yeah.

Yikes.

Of course, these are concerns that extend beyond the online dating app industry.

Social media apps, in general, have been more recently called out for similar behaviors – that is, for leveraging psychological loopholes to addict their users in unhealthy ways.

The ramifications of our smartphone addictions are only now being examined, in fact.

Apple and Google, for example, have just launched screen time controls aimed at giving us a chance at fighting back at the dangerous dark patterns and brain hacks these apps use. (Apple’s toolset is only arriving in iOS 12 – which is just now getting to the public.)

It’s certainly fair to criticize companies like Tinder and Bumble for bringing these gamification tricks into delicate areas like those where the focus is supposedly on forming real human connections or “finding love.” But it’s disingenuous to act as if this is something unique to Tinder (et al) and not just, generally, the god-awful state of the tech industry as a whole at present.

The only other worthwhile part to “Swiped” is where the film points out that no one knows if any of these addictive apps actually succeed in helping people find real relationships.

Dating app companies don’t have any data on how many lasting relationships result from their app’s usage, “Swiped” finds. It’s odd, as tech companies are usually data hungry beasts. And success rates would seemingly be the exact kind of metric a company claiming to solve issues around relationship-finding would want to track.

Though everyone today seems to know someone who “met on an app,” it’s unclear what portion of the user base is actually finding long-term success with those relationships. The dating app companies have no idea, either, the film proclaims.

Asked how many people who met on Tinder got married or ended up in committed relationships, Jessica Carbino, a sociologist at Tinder, tells the filmmaker: “we do not have that information available.” She then adds she’s “inundated with emails” from Tinder users getting married and having babies.

(She also hilariously defends casual hookups as something that people go to church to pursue, too, so don’t blame Tinder for that! I mean, sometimes this film is just comedy gold, I swear.)

Of course, with a user base in the tens of millions, a good handful of happy emails should be expected. It’s definitely not evidence that Tinder is any better than the alternative – bars, blind dates, introductions through friends, etc.

The film then drives this particular point home by citing user studies by both Tinder and the more relationship-focused dating app Hinge, which seem indicate that swiped-based dating doesn’t work.

“80% of Tinder users are looking for a serious relationship,” says one Tinder survey. The text then fades, and the next statistic, this time from Hinge, appears.

“81% of users have never found a long-term relationship on any swiping app,” it says.

By the end of the film, it’s clear you’re expected to delete Tinder and all the other dating apps off your phone and get on with your life.

However, as with Facebook and social media, backlash doesn’t mean abandonment.

Tinder’s swipe culture is the new normal. It’s right to hold it accountable in areas it can do better – reporting and abuse, for example – but it’s not going away anytime soon.

from Social – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2p1MxuE Original Content From: https://techcrunch.com

[sheminecrafts]

I watched HBO’s Tinder-shaming doc ‘Swiped’ so you don’t have to

Have you ever wanted to see one of your “hate-reads” stretched out to feature-film length? If so, you’ll want to watch HBO’s new documentary, “Swiped,” which takes a depressing, trigger-inducing and damning look at online dating culture, and specifically Tinder’s outsized influence in the dating app business.

The film evolved from journalist Nancy Jo Sales’ 2015 Vanity Fair piece, entitled “Tinder and the Dawn of the ‘Dating Apocalypse,” which was criticized at the time for its narrow focus on 20-something, largely heterosexual women in an urban setting. The piece had extrapolated out their personal dating struggles and turned them into condemnation of the entire online dating market.

But the VF piece was actually more memorable for Tinder’s response.

The company – well, it went off.

In a 30-tweet tirade (that’s still some of the best of the internet, mind you), the company lost its ever-lovin’ mind on both Vanity Fair and Nancy Jo Sales alike.

One sample tweet from the Tinder meltdown: “@VanityFair: Little know fact: sex was invented in 2012 when Tinder was launched.”

Ah, take that! Right?! Right?

Despite the complete PR buffoonery, Tinder had a point.

The VF piece wasn’t representative of Tinder’s larger user base, only a sliver. And the complaints from a few users couldn’t be used to make a point about the entire industry.

Besides, what exactly was unique about those complaints?

Was it truly swipe culture to blame for the mistakes made in dating and sexual experimentation, when you’re young? Don’t you at least once or twice have to choose the wrong person, so you can begin to triangulate on what’s right?

Unfortunately, the film doesn’t fully correct the article’s problem in terms of its demographic samplings.

It still mostly relies on anecdotes told by (usually drunk) 20-somethings, which are then spliced up by the occasional expert commentary.

And the subjects are often really, really drunk.

There’s one scene where a young woman is so wasted, it’s hard to believe she gave the filmmaker informed consent to use her footage.

(Not the one below. But I’m pretty sure those Solo cups aren’t filled with lemonade.)

Meanwhile, the expert commentary has its highlights, too.

There’s one expert – April Alliston, a Princeton professor – who breastfeeds her baby on camera while giving her commentary on pornography. (Oh yes, please discuss rape porn while the baby suckles your breast, thank you very much.)

Look how cool and progressive we are! is the unspoken subtext, even as the film continues to subtly vilify casual sex among young adults, or act as if Tinder itself is somehow entirely responsible for the callous behavior of its users.

Unlike the magazine article, the film does slightly expand its cast of characters to include gender non-conforming and other LGBTQ people, more people of color, and – well, it’s Tinder! – a couple interested in threesomes.

But the general slice of the Tinder user base interviewed remains young, urban, and, in some cases, fairly vapid.

As for “Swiped’s” milieu,  much of its action is in the city.

Specifically, scene after scene in the film is labeled, “New York, New York,” as if the experiences of people in this competitive and unique market – a place where leveling up to something better is a way of life – could somehow represent a universal truth applicable to all of Tinder’s estimated 50 million users.

The film does, however, cover nearly everything that’s awful about dating apps – from young men ordering girls to their door as if it’s a meal from Seamless, to the overwhelming sense of dread and the depression that results from being on dating apps – or really, the internet itself – for too long.

There are also scenes touching nearly every Tinder trope:

The sending of dick pics; men posing with fish in their profile photos; that supposedly happy couple “looking for a third” (spoiler alert: they’re not happy and are broken up by end of film); the “DTF?” come-ons; and basically every other reason people delete these apps in the first place.

Where the film is somewhat stronger is when it talks about the very real psychological tricks Tinder and other dating apps have adopted to keep users engaged and addicted to swiping.

Tinder, it’s pointed out, uses gamification techniques: Brain tricks like intermittent variable rewards that are proven to work on pigeons, no less!

You see, if you don’t know when you’re getting the reward – a treat, a match, etc. – you end up playing the game more often, the psychologists explain.

One of the better quotes on this topic comes from Tinder co-founder and CSO Jonathan Badeen, where he essentially compares the act of using Tinder to doing drugs or gambling.

“We have some of these game-like elements, where you almost feel like you’re being rewarded,” says Baden. “It kinda works like a slot machine, where you’re excited to see who the next person is, or, hopefully, you’re excited to see ‘did I get the match?’ and get that ‘It’s a Match’ screen? It’s a nice little rush,” he enthuses.

Yeah.

Yikes.

Of course, these are concerns that extend beyond the online dating app industry.

Social media apps, in general, have been more recently called out for similar behaviors – that is, for leveraging psychological loopholes to addict their users in unhealthy ways.

The ramifications of our smartphone addictions are only now being examined, in fact.

Apple and Google, for example, have just launched screen time controls aimed at giving us a chance at fighting back at the dangerous dark patterns and brain hacks these apps use. (Apple’s toolset is only arriving in iOS 12 – which is just now getting to the public.)

It’s certainly fair to criticize companies like Tinder and Bumble for bringing these gamification tricks into delicate areas like those where the focus is supposedly on forming real human connections or “finding love.” But it’s disingenuous to act as if this is something unique to Tinder (et al) and not just, generally, the god-awful state of the tech industry as a whole at present.

The only other worthwhile part to “Swiped” is where the film points out that no one knows if any of these addictive apps actually succeed in helping people find real relationships.

Dating app companies don’t have any data on how many lasting relationships result from their app’s usage, “Swiped” finds. It’s odd, as tech companies are usually data hungry beasts. And success rates would seemingly be the exact kind of metric a company claiming to solve issues around relationship-finding would want to track.

Though everyone today seems to know someone who “met on an app,” it’s unclear what portion of the user base is actually finding long-term success with those relationships. The dating app companies have no idea, either, the film proclaims.

Asked how many people who met on Tinder got married or ended up in committed relationships, Jessica Carbino, a sociologist at Tinder, tells the filmmaker: “we do not have that information available.” She then adds she’s “inundated with emails” from Tinder users getting married and having babies.

(She also hilariously defends casual hookups as something that people go to church to pursue, too, so don’t blame Tinder for that! I mean, sometimes this film is just comedy gold, I swear.)

Of course, with a user base in the tens of millions, a good handful of happy emails should be expected. It’s definitely not evidence that Tinder is any better than the alternative – bars, blind dates, introductions through friends, etc.

The film then drives this particular point home by citing user studies by both Tinder and the more relationship-focused dating app Hinge, which seem indicate that swiped-based dating doesn’t work.

“80% of Tinder users are looking for a serious relationship,” says one Tinder survey. The text then fades, and the next statistic, this time from Hinge, appears.

“81% of users have never found a long-term relationship on any swiping app,” it says.

By the end of the film, it’s clear you’re expected to delete Tinder and all the other dating apps off your phone and get on with your life.

However, as with Facebook and social media, backlash doesn’t mean abandonment.

Tinder’s swipe culture is the new normal. It’s right to hold it accountable in areas it can do better – reporting and abuse, for example – but it’s not going away anytime soon.

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/2p1MxuE via IFTTT

[fmservers]

I watched HBO’s Tinder-shaming doc ‘Swiped’ so you don’t have to

Have you ever wanted to see one of your “hate-reads” stretched out to feature-film length? If so, you’ll want to watch HBO’s new documentary, “Swiped,” which takes a depressing, trigger-inducing and damning look at online dating culture, and specifically Tinder’s outsized influence in the dating app business.

The film evolved from journalist Nancy Jo Sales’ 2015 Vanity Fair piece, entitled “Tinder and the Dawn of the ‘Dating Apocalypse,” which was criticized at the time for its narrow focus on 20-something, largely heterosexual women in an urban setting. The piece had extrapolated out their personal dating struggles and turned them into condemnation of the entire online dating market.

But the VF piece was actually more memorable for Tinder’s response.

The company – well, it went off.

In a 30-tweet tirade (that’s still some of the best of the internet, mind you), the company lost its ever-lovin’ mind on both Vanity Fair and Nancy Jo Sales alike.

One sample tweet from the Tinder meltdown: “@VanityFair: Little know fact: sex was invented in 2012 when Tinder was launched.”

Ah, take that! Right?! Right?

Despite the complete PR buffoonery, Tinder had a point.

The VF piece wasn’t representative of Tinder’s larger user base, only a sliver. And the complaints from a few users couldn’t be used to make a point about the entire industry.

Besides, what exactly was unique about those complaints?

Was it truly swipe culture to blame for the mistakes made in dating and sexual experimentation, when you’re young? Don’t you at least once or twice have to choose the wrong person, so you can begin to triangulate on what’s right?

Unfortunately, the film doesn’t fully correct the article’s problem in terms of its demographic samplings.

It still mostly relies on anecdotes told by (usually drunk) 20-somethings, which are then spliced up by the occasional expert commentary.

And the subjects are often really, really drunk.

There’s one scene where a young woman is so wasted, it’s hard to believe she gave the filmmaker informed consent to use her footage.

(Not the one below. But I’m pretty sure those Solo cups aren’t filled with lemonade.)

Meanwhile, the expert commentary has its highlights, too.

There’s one expert – April Alliston, a Princeton professor – who breastfeeds her baby on camera while giving her commentary on pornography. (Oh yes, please discuss rape porn while the baby suckles your breast, thank you very much.)

Look how cool and progressive we are! is the unspoken subtext, even as the film continues to subtly vilify casual sex among young adults, or act as if Tinder itself is somehow entirely responsible for the callous behavior of its users.

Unlike the magazine article, the film does slightly expand its cast of characters to include gender non-conforming and other LGBTQ people, more people of color, and – well, it’s Tinder! – a couple interested in threesomes.

But the general slice of the Tinder user base interviewed remains young, urban, and, in some cases, fairly vapid.

As for “Swiped’s” milieu,  much of its action is in the city.

Specifically, scene after scene in the film is labeled, “New York, New York,” as if the experiences of people in this competitive and unique market – a place where leveling up to something better is a way of life – could somehow represent a universal truth applicable to all of Tinder’s estimated 50 million users.

The film does, however, cover nearly everything that’s awful about dating apps – from young men ordering girls to their door as if it’s a meal from Seamless, to the overwhelming sense of dread and the depression that results from being on dating apps – or really, the internet itself – for too long.

There are also scenes touching nearly every Tinder trope:

The sending of dick pics; men posing with fish in their profile photos; that supposedly happy couple “looking for a third” (spoiler alert: they’re not happy and are broken up by end of film); the “DTF?” come-ons; and basically every other reason people delete these apps in the first place.

Where the film is somewhat stronger is when it talks about the very real psychological tricks Tinder and other dating apps have adopted to keep users engaged and addicted to swiping.

Tinder, it’s pointed out, uses gamification techniques: Brain tricks like intermittent variable rewards that are proven to work on pigeons, no less!

You see, if you don’t know when you’re getting the reward – a treat, a match, etc. – you end up playing the game more often, the psychologists explain.

One of the better quotes on this topic comes from Tinder co-founder and CSO Jonathan Badeen, where he essentially compares the act of using Tinder to doing drugs or gambling.

“We have some of these game-like elements, where you almost feel like you’re being rewarded,” says Baden. “It kinda works like a slot machine, where you’re excited to see who the next person is, or, hopefully, you’re excited to see ‘did I get the match?’ and get that ‘It’s a Match’ screen? It’s a nice little rush,” he enthuses.

Yeah.

Yikes.

Of course, these are concerns that extend beyond the online dating app industry.

Social media apps, in general, have been more recently called out for similar behaviors – that is, for leveraging psychological loopholes to addict their users in unhealthy ways.

The ramifications of our smartphone addictions are only now being examined, in fact.

Apple and Google, for example, have just launched screen time controls aimed at giving us a chance at fighting back at these dangerous dark patterns and brain hacks these apps use. (Apple’s toolset is only arriving in iOS 12 – which is just now getting to the public.)

Now, it’s certainly fair to criticize companies like Tinder and Bumble for bringing these gamification tricks into delicate areas like those where the focus is supposedly on forming real human connections or “finding love.” But it’s disingenuous to act as if this is something unique to Tinder (et al) and not just, generally, the god-awful state of the tech industry as whole at present.

The only other worthwhile part to “Swiped” is where the film points out that no one knows if any of these addictive apps actually succeed in helping people find real relationships.

Dating app companies don’t have any data on how many lasting relationships result from their app’s usage, “Swiped” finds. It’s odd, as tech companies are usually data hungry beasts. And success rates would seemingly be exactly the kind of metric a company claiming to solve issues around relationship-finding would want to track.

Though everyone today seems to know someone who “met on an app,” it’s unclear what portion of the user base is actually finding long-term success with those relationships. The dating app companies have no idea, either, the film proclaims.

Asked how many people who met on Tinder got married or ended up in committed relationships, Jessica Carbino, a sociologist at Tinder, tells the filmmaker: “we do not have that information available.” She then adds she’s “inundated with emails” from Tinder users getting married and having babies.

(She also hilariously defends casual hookups as something that people go to church to pursue, too, so don’t blame Tinder for that! I mean, sometimes this film is just comedy gold, I swear.)

Of course, with a user base in the tens of millions, a good handful of happy emails should be expected. It’s definitely not evidence that Tinder is any better than the alternative – bars, blind dates, introductions through friends, etc.

  The film drives this particular point home by citing user studies by both Tinder and the more relationship-focused dating app Hinge, which seem indicate that swiped-based dating doesn’t work.

“80% of Tinder users are looking for a serious relationship,” says one Tinder survey. The text then fades, and the next statistic, this time from Hinge, appears.

“81% of users have never found a long-term relationship on any swiping app,” it says.

By the end of the film, it’s clear you’re expected to delete Tinder and all the other dating apps off your phone and get on with your life.

However, as with Facebook and social media, backlash doesn’t mean abandonment.

Tinder’s swipe culture is the new normal. It’s right to hold it accountable in areas it can do better – reporting and abuse, for example – but it’s not going away anytime soon.

Via Sarah Perez https://techcrunch.com