#firstly: youre full of questions today mister.

[merverelli]

"you just feel yourself let go."

still thinking about this episode. man. 💪💥

[cheri-translates]

One-shot: Mr Commander is especially clingy the day before your business trip

This work, 我出差的前一天，指挥官先生格外地黏人..., was originally written by 喵小柒吃很少 on Weibo, and she has given me permission to translate it 🌸

A large figure suddenly appears from behind you, causing you to exclaim.

“Gav, what are you doing?!” Your hands instinctively tremble as you pack your luggage, causing the pile of clothes to fall.

But Gavin doesn’t seem to have any intention of leaving. He presses his entire frame against your back, both hands wrapped around your waist.

“Mm... nothing much,” he answers with a drawl. “I just got off work, and I’m tired.”

So why is he latching onto me since he’s tired?

Resigned, you turn your head to the side, looking at him. “Let me pack first, okay? I have to board the plane early tomorrow...”

“I’ll send you there.” His face is mere inches away, and his warm breaths burrow into your ear. Your face flushes in an instant, and you hurriedly turn your face away.

You recall how this man wasn’t like this a few years ago - his face used to flush before yours did. Did the innocent and pure senior, who would become too shy to even speak once you were nearby, get swallowed up whole by the person behind you?

After spending much effort in persuading him to sit on the sofa, you manage to extricate yourself and successfully pack your luggage. 

However... just when you finish washing your face and prepare to head to bed early, Mr Commander once again “restarts” his clinginess. The moment you lie down on the bed, Gavin embraces you from behind.

“Don’t move. Let me hug you for a little longer.” His tight grip prevents you from moving. “Just for a little while.”

You have reason to believe that you’ve actually married an animal which loves to attack from behind.

“Gavin, don’t mess around. I’m so tired...”

“Cough. What did you call me?”

“Gavin Gavin Gavin!”

Hoping that he’d release his hold once you’ve enraged him, you call your husband by his full name several times.

...

Silence. The only response you get is silence. 

Is he genuinely angry...? You turn your head slightly, wanting to peek at his reaction. At this moment, the sound of an urgent ringtone interrupts this awkward atmosphere.

Gavin unwillingly releases his grip, then picks up his phone. “Hello? Eli, you...”

He pauses, then speaks coldly. “There’s no need to tell me about such trivial matters. You can handle it yourself. I’m hanging up.”

Despite what he says, you always have the feeling that you’re taking up precious public resources...

“Do you have work to do...?”

“Nope.”

Sensing the moodiness his voice, you decide to coax your Mister quickly. While he places the phone back onto the bedside table, you give him a quick peck on the cheek.

Turns out you were worried over nothing earlier.

Because right after your action, Gavin returns to how he was before. This time, he doesn’t simply hug you tightly, but goes one step further to plant a kiss onto your lips.

He chuckles softly.

“A sneak attack? Looks like you don’t plan to go on the business trip tomorrow.”

“No, no! I’m sleeping now!”

He doesn’t respond for a long time. Then, he breaks the silence with a question. “When... will you be back?”

“A week. What’s up?”

“Nothing...” he looks as though he has something to say, but stops. Finally, he speaks. “Mm. What did you call me earlier?”

“I was in the wrong, Mr Commander!”

Knowing exactly what he’s asking for, you decide to play along.

“Cough. Not that.”

“In that case... Commander Gavin?”

Today, you’re a girl looking for trouble.

“Still wrong.” Gavin frowns.

“Hahahaha hubby, hubby! Is this okay now?” You give up on bullying him. Shaking with laughter, you obediently give him the answer he wants.

“...go to sleep.” Gavin chuckles. “Goodnight, my... wife.”

- Fin -

(Who says Mr Commander doesn’t get shy even after marriage? When he said this, his face was definitely red. It’s just that the surroundings were too dark, and you couldn’t see it properly. *places hands on hips*)

(Also, I actually have something to say to Mr Commander - “Old Gav, I’m not as clingy when you’re the one going on missions!” *places hands on hips*)

-

More translated and original works: here

–

[ Permission to translate ]

喵小柒吃很少: Hello~ Firstly, I’m really touched that you like them, I feel very honoured~ You can translate the works! If more people who like MLQC can read them, I’m very happy too 💝 Thank you!

[myarmsaretoolong]

Psych 101

@whumptober2020​ Prompt #11: Psych 101 | AltPrompt 14: Shot

Word Count: 1692

Warnings: Gun Violence | Blood

Synopsis: Tony and Peter are attacked at what should have been a simple press conference revealing the next heir to Stark Industries

Read Under the Cut | Read on AO3

“Alright, you ready for this, kiddo?” Tony said as he and Peter weaved through the halls of the Avengers Facility. It was a big day, Peter’s first appearance in a press conference - Spider-Man aside - and the announcement of a new heir to Stark Industries would cover the headlines for days.

Peter rhythmically clenched and unclenched his fists trying to work out his nervous energy. “No, not really. But yeah.”

“Don’t worry,” Tony squeezed Peter’s shoulder. “I’ll have your back in there.”

“Are there any rules I should know about? Like a ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ kind of thing?”

Tony hummed. “Well, firstly you gotta think before you say anything, but not for so long that it looks like you’re thinking. If you don’t like a question they ask, just turn it into a joke - or give me a nudge and I’ll handle it. And give them a flash of that Parker smile, it’s been known to melt hearts-”

“Yours included?”

“Yup,” Tony nodded once. “Mine included. How did you think you got here?”

“Hard work and dedication?”

“That too, I suppose. Oh, and don’t mention Spider-Man at all. Superhero stuff tends to lead down a rabbit hole and we both know you’re prone to rambling as is.”

Peter threw his arms in the air and sighed. “Great, well now all I’m thinking about is Spider-Man.” Tony chuckled. “Try not to overthink it. Remember, I’ll be beside you the whole time.” They came to a stop outside the door to the press room, Happy, vigilantly standing guard outside, nodded a greeting. “Last chance to back out, Pete.”

“No,” Peter said, shaking his head. “I can do this.”

Tony wrapped his arm over Peter’s shoulder and pulled him into his side, pressing a kiss to the bird’s nest he called hair. “That’s my boy. Now,” Tony turned his attention to Happy by the door, “If you’d do the honours, Mister Hogan.”

“Gladly,” Happy replied. Though he clearly tried to hide it, a smile pulled at the corners of his lips, just barely visible before he turned and cracked open the door. Before letting Tony and Peter enter, he stuck his head through the gap and surveyed the room. Seemingly content with what he saw, Happy stepped back and allowed the others the file through. “You’ll do great, kid,” he whispered, following close behind Peter, “I know it.”

“Thanks, Happy,” Peter muttered over his shoulder. He turned his head towards the at least thirty strong crowd all pointing flashing cameras in his and Tony’s direction, some even calling out questions. Tony strode to the centre of the stage at the front of the room, one arm held out to welcome Peter to join him, he did so, tucking himself just slightly behind his mentor for safety.

“Alright, alright,” Tony called over the racket of clicking camera shutters, an easy going grin on his face. “You’re gonna scare the kid, it’s his first time out here so cut him a little slack.”

“Tony!” Peter hissed, lightly punching Tony’s back with his hidden arm.

Chuckling, Tony held his arms out in a welcoming manner. “Thanks, everyone, for coming out here. Believe me when I say your bosses are going to love you come the morning prints, this one’s a real doozy.” A series of mutters broke out amongst the crowd, an excited buzz filling the room. “This,” carefully, Tony manoeuvred Peter to stand by his side, his arm secured over the kid’s shoulders. “Is a very special kid I’d like you all to meet. Peter Parker, my personal intern here at Stark Industries.”

Tony paused, allowing a few seconds as another flare of camera flashes started up. Peter held up his hand and waved. Noticing the quiet tremor in said hand, Tony squeezed a little tighter and rubbed his thumb in small, calming circles. Maybe the kid could do with a little pep talk. “He’s diligent, hardworking, and most importantly trustworthy. If my life rested in his hands, I wouldn’t have a fear.”

Peter smiled wide, but muttered through gritted teeth. “I don’t see how this is helping. Now it seems like I’m going to murder you.”

“I digress.” Tony clapped his hand twice against Peter’s shoulder. “The reason I’ve dragged the kid out here in front of you today is to announce him as the heir to Stark Industries.” As soon as the words left his mouth, the room exploded. Much the same as his other infamous press conference. Reporters leapt up out of their seats, stammering to yell their questions and jostling for the best photograph position.

That’s when it all went wrong.

Tony felt Peter’s shoulders tense under his grip. At first, he assumed it to be nerves, but then he noticed the way the kid’s head swivelled about the room wildly. Scanning the faces of every reporter in the room. Happy noticed it too and half stepped forward, half reached out to grab the door handle behind him. They both knew what this meant.

At the last second, Tony spotted the guy violently forcing his way through the crowd, something small and metal clasped in one hand. There wasn’t time to react. Not for Tony, at least.

The guy levelled his gun at Tony’s chest. Screams broke out, Happy’s included as he started across the stage. Peter slipped from Tony’s grip and turned, shoving his mentor down to the ground with a full bodied tackle. A horrific shot rang out. The guy fled.

Happy reached them first. He grabbed Tony’s shoulders and rolled him onto his back, already searching for the gunshot wound. Tony pushed his hands away and scrambled to his hands and knees, crawling towards Peter. The kid’s face already held the sheen of a layer of sweat and he clutched a hand over his abdomen. Blood seeped between his fingers and trickled to the floor where it pooled together.

The security team began shouting orders. Some chased after the attacker, while others fought to remove the press, most of whom stood in a state of shock. Some - monsters, Tony would later describe them as - pulled out their cameras and took photos. The image of a young man laying on the floor, weakly reaching out for his equally terrified father-figure would cover every news outlet the next morning.

Tony grabbed Peter’s hand and pulled the kid into his lap, his other hand pressed down over Peter’s wound. “Sorry, kiddo,” he whispered when Peter’s face curled up in pain. “I have to.”

“I think I’ve been shot,” Peter rasped. Tony couldn’t tell if he was trying to make a joke, or simply in a state of shock. Why not both.

“Yeah, Pete, me too.” Tony turned his head towards Happy who now stood, his phone pressed to his ear. “Hap?”

“Doctor Cho’s on her way down here from the mebay. She’s bringing a stretcher. Two minutes.” Happy relayed the information quickly before kneeling by Peter’s side. “Hey, did you hear that? Hang on a little longer, then Cho can dose you up with some of the good stuff.”

Peter chuckled wettly. Blood specking his lips. “I don’t think ‘Do Drugs’ is a message you’re supposed to give to kids.”

A tear slipped over Tony’s cheek, followed by countless more. He didn’t - couldn’t - let go of Peter’s hand, so let them fall without wiping them away. “Hey, we never said Happy was Uncle of the Year.” His joke fell flat, the delivery ruined by his voice cracking. Still, Peter laughed again, this time ending in a coughing fit. “Shhh,” Tony hummed while Happy rubbed circles of Peter’s arm. “It’s okay, Pete. We’re here.”

Doctor Cho burst through the door, a pair of nurses following her and dragging a stretcher between them. Happy backed up to allow her room, Tony couldn’t bring himself to move away. “Prepare the mebay for major hemorrhage protocol,” Doctor Cho ordered one of the nurses - who ran out of the room - before turning her attention to examining Peter. “Dammit,” she hissed, “there’s no exit wound. The bullet could have lodged anywhere inside his chest or abdomen. Help me get him on the stretcher, stat.” She looked up at Tony expectantly, he could only offer wordless bobbing of his mouth in reply.

“I’ve got it.” Happy stepped forward and helped Cho and the remaining nurse transfer Peter onto the stretcher. “Tony,” he whispered, gently pulling his hands away from the kid so Cho could apply a temporary bandage to stem the bleeding. “Let her work. She’s the best shot we have.”

Tony looked down at his blood stained hands, then watched as they whisked Peter away. “I-I was supposed to have his back.”

Happy nodded and started to guide Tony out of the room. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

* * *

After washing away Peter’s blood from his hands and changing into clean clothes, Tony stood by Peter’s bedside, Happy opposite, and May somewhere between the city and the Facility.

Peter’s hand twitched, and Tony instinctively reached down to take hold. Relief flooded his body when he squeezed back, weak, but there. “Hey, kid.” Tony gently brushed his hand through Peter’s hair. “You awake?”

“Mm-hm,” Peter murmured, his eyes fluttering open only to squint against the bright light. “What happened?”

“Someone attacked the press conference, do you remember?”

Peter reached up and splayed his hand over his face. “Right, yeah. The gun.”

“I think I owe a thank you for that.”

“It was nothing,” Peter said.

“Nothing?” Happy huffed disbelievingly. “Kid, you could have died. The bullet missed your heart by a millimetre according to Cho. It’s a miracle you’re not dead.”

Peter’s grip on Tony’s hand increased tenfold. Tony shot Happy a disapproving glare. “Nice work, Hap.”

“Uncle of the Year,” Peter laughed.

“Ah, so you remember all of it, then?”

Peter nodded slowly, his hand falling back to his side as he met Tony’s eye. “I guess I had your back, huh?”

“You sure did, Pete.”

“I love you, Tony.”

Tony’s heart filled with the same warmth it did every time the kid said those simple words, a genuine, not press-faked smile lit up his face. “Love you too.”

[mrsspidermanmaryjanewatsonparker]

Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #13-15 Thoughts

Previous thoughts here.

Yes I know I couldn’t be later to this party but I started this series so I’m going to finish giving my thoughts on it.

I tried very hard to finish Houser’s run on RYV in time to read Spider-Girls but it just didn’t happen, I only made it up until just before the penultimate arc and I didn’t write up a proper post of my thoughts back then. So I re-read her first arc today with ambitions of re-reading the next 2 stories before finally experiencing the final arc and then Spider-Girls as part of reading over most of Spider-Geddon. What you will read below are a mixture of some initial thoughts I jotted down during my first read through and my thoughts upon revisiting the story, mostly the latter.

Oh SPOILERS I guess

So let me immediately get some obvious business about Renew Your Vows’ direction from here on in. The book, sans its covers, desperately misses Stegman. It also misses Conway but that is not a condemnation of Houser at all.

Houser in this arc does a good job with the situation presented by the new direction. Whether that new direction was her idea or editorials is unknown, though likely the latter.

And really that is the absolute worst thing about this story, the new direction itself.

It isn’t so much that it is bad unto itself but it is reductive that after 12 issues building a certain status quo, the one also built by the RYV Secret Wars mini-series and was promoted by Marvel prior and during the book’s initial release that we are abruptly changing course in a big way.

The book is still unique, at least the Spider-Books on the stands (even now). But it is less unique for various reasons.

Firstly we simply have way more teen heroes than pre-teen ones. Secondly a book that pays much attention to Spider-Man’s super powered teen daughter is going to either tread upon familiar ground that Spider-Girl stood on or else it will evoke Spider-Girl in the memories of the readers. Annie unto herself innately did this anyway, but that was offset when she was much younger than Mayday.

It also throws away the world building and set up Conway enacted in his initial arc, not to mention it just fast forwards a lot of Annie’s potential character development.

Does this render Annie uninteresting or the premise less likable? No because Houser has a strong handle on both the characters and more specifically what RYV as a book is.

Perhaps this is nowhere more apparent in how she structures her opening arc. Each issue shifts the POV to one of the Parker family, starting with Peter, then handing off to MJ and concluding with Annie, exactly like Conway’s first three issues did. This is a pretty clever way of conveying to readers Houser ‘gets’ the book and reassure readers who might not be thrilled about the time skip that these are the same characters just at different points in their lives, and not even that different, sans Annie.

This is rather realistic because Peter and MJ being the adults are comparatively less likely to change all that much even within 8 years whereas Annie inevitably will drastically change going from a pre-teen to an out-and-out teenager. Fittingly Houser compensates for this by showcasing Annie’s new state of being throughout the issues that are about Peter and MJ.

On the one hand this does somewhat undermine the idea that this book is about the family collectively as opposed being about Annie or placing Annie as the ‘first among equals’ in the team dynamic of the book.

On the other hand since the book is about the Parker family it adds up that so much of Peter and MJ’s characterization will stem from their relation to Annie; your child is after all the most important thing in your life.

So we get Annie’s somewhat more salty and disconnected relationship with a Peter who is very much starting to feel his age. Which is GOOD, the obnoxious proliferation of teen Spider-Man renders almost any older portrayal interesting by default. With MJ though, Annie seems to have a much more conciliatory relationship, its more that she exhausts her mother and seems more comfortable going to her about stuff. Also as a nice way of distinguishing her from Mayday, Annie seems to share her mother’s passion for fashion which Mayday actively didn’t.

Speaking of fashion lets talk about Annie’s new costume. I’ll level you all..it looks better than her prior costume, but also less unique but neither is...all that great. I guess when you have Mayday Parker and Spider-Gwen and all the Spider-Women running around, coming up with something thing that fits the general Spider-Man motif, looks unique and also is really dynamic can be difficult. I can see where the designer was going though. Peter, MJ and Annie share the same outlines for where the chest areas of their suits turn into another colour. Peter’s is red and blue, MJ’s red and white and Annie’s is blue to black. So the ‘shape’ of the suit lends to the ‘unified family’ idea. The colours also make her stand out but maybe too much. If her parents had red chests and then she has blue it’s kinda weird. If the idea was she was trying to strike out on her own sure but I don’t get that impression at all. It is kinda cool she has MJ’s mask design but I preferred her old mask which was a compromise between her parents’ masks.

As for the main plot, I think Houser could’ve milked it much more than she did, we could’ve done with much more of the slice of life stuff and the Lizard was underutilized. There is a strong element of family defining the Lizard’s character because of his wife and child. In a book about family I presumed that was where we were going when he showed up. But...no he was just used as a monster amidst monsters.

I’m not saying Houser got the Lizard wrong just that there was an obvious and more compelling angle to exploited in the story.

The two big reveals surrounding the plot, that there is a zoo full of near-human people, and that it’s being run by Mister Sinister was also...underwhelming.

Spider-Man has the best supporting cast and rogue’s gallery within Marvel comics. Not only does this mean we don’t really need to see non-Spider-Man characters (like the X-Men) pop up, it’s frankly less interesting when we do because they have little-no history with Spider-Man or his family.

It was also just kind of a reveal that didn’t land for me, I could not care at all.

Mister Sinister was a little different because, I like Sinister as a bad guy I really do...but not in Spider-Man. I get including and referencing the X-Men in this arc because for some reason they were practically supporting cast members in Conway’s run, so paying that off makes sense. But why double down upon it with a major X-villain? Like the Jackal, even Doc Ock, either of them would be more fitting villains in this type of story or where the series implies it will be leading onto later.

It didn’t help that when we met Sinister initially in disguise there was just very little gravitas to him because he obviously looked like a no-name 18th century circus reject.

The ending let this arc down is what I guess I’m getting at. Issue #13 and #14 had pretty nice hooks for the next issues.

What was a letdown throughout though was the action sequences. They were pretty pedestrian along with the art overall. Like it wasn’t BAD per se (except Peter’s eyebrows...wtf?), it just was a major step down from Stegman and even Stockman, the latter of whom I think the artwork was chosen to be more like. It had this softer undefined element to it, and not in a Romita Senior way.

Returning to the character though, I do commend Houser for having a good grip on everyone and efficiently finding a way to distinguish them from one another across the three issues.

Peter dealing with being older and now decidedly less cool and engaging to his teen daughter is delightful..even if at points it feels like the narrative is kind of undermining him, especially in the Wolverine scene at the start of the story...still Dad Joke Spider-Man is awesome. Even more awesome is how together he over all is. This isn’t an angst ridden Peter Parker or one who is introspectively questioning himself. Throughout the story he gives off this air of relaxed experience, like he knows what he’s doing and can tell the situation allows for a few jokes and a bit of fun. Refrshingly he doesn’t angst about not pursuing the bad guy at all.

Moving on, Houser probably dissing MJ’s place in the Iron books at the time with her reprimanding and smack down of Tony was awesome (although I don’t get why she was so miffed at him). Her playing Spider-Mom, and more poignantly dejectedly owning it, was hilarious. Her sense of exhaustion is relatable whether you’ve been a parent or just been around them. It very much taps into Conway’s characterization of MJ as a juggler

Houser’s Annie also shines. She is believably an older version of the kid Annie we once knew but also stands firmly as her own person. She’s somewhat embarrassed by her Dad and wants greater independence. She loves being a superhero, but is (also in contrast to Mayday) a more of a punch first think later kind of gal with a dash of overconfidence.

She is untrustworthy of the Lizard and more gung ho, whilst MJ and especially Peter (to my delight) are both more reigned in and trusting.

This is nicely explored in the family’s single page descent underground where Houser gives Peter a really great speech about what it means for Annie to accept the great responsibility of the mask, that it might mean trusting those who are not trustworthy for the sake of others. This serves to nicely develop Annie as its her Dad treating her as more of an adult for the first time. the fact that it’s her Dad, the iconic hero Spider-Man conveying this wisedom onto her is very fitting and helps further legitimize Annie as a Spider-Hero to the readers of RYV and legitimize the new teen version to those jumping aboard at this point.

Not to be outdone, MJ an issue earlier got a wonderful piece of dialogue about how in spite of how their lives might be messed up by being heroes she and her family will still endeavour to make plans and live normal lives. Which is both a wonderfully inspiring heroic statement but also so very true to who she and Peter are as people.

Some other small points:

I saw Carrion amidst Sinister’s menagerie

The underground nature of the story’s conclusion nicely evokes the first arc by Conway

Overall Houser sells/sold you on the new dynamic with this arc as much as I preferred the older one and wish they hadn’t changed.

B+

[ninjagoat]

Notes on Supergirl 3x09

There's a good chance I might end up being facetious this episode. See if you can guess where.

So, it's the next day after Wake Up? When did Crisis happen?

We talk about bad writing on the show a lot (and believe me, we WILL be discussing it a lot today), but I want to talk about how Mon-El describes the future:

"Technology has developed beyond imagining; but at the end of the day, it's still in service of communicating with each other, and entertaining each other, and also killing each other. In this day, or in a thousand years, conflict is constant. But so is strength." The repetition, the cadence; this is a man who has given so many rousing speeches as a leader that they invade his regular conversation. It's so different from how he used to speak, and it's a lovely piece of work.

Kara's Best Friend Winn - who spent two days with a police scanner and a sewing machine helping her become a superhero, when even Alex didn't want her to be one - being tickled pink by Imra not knowing what phones are is nice.

Amy Jackson is from the Isle of Man, if you were wondering what that accent is. It's its own thing, but the Youtube videos aren't usually this... breathy.

Mon-El was basically the 31st Century Apostle of Supergirl. I'm here for it.

And for Imra's hero worship.

It's a good thing he turned down your invitation, Kara. Things might have gotten awkward, what with Lena being there and all. Or perhaps not. Who can say?

Can we have a ship war between Kara/Food and Alex/Booze soon? I think we're due a ship war that makes sense.

"Crone Buddies"? What happened to the realisation there must be someone else for you Alex? It was just last week/yesterday/possibly an alternate time-line.

I'm getting bored with Danvers Sisters time, to be quite honest. Yes, you're going to support each other through this. We know. Talk it through with someone else, Kara. Perhaps your Best Friend, Winn (who one time requisitioned an entire Catco office and server just so you would have a base of operations at work)?

Look, relationships are the only thing James Olsen has ever been shown to be bad at, so can you two hurry up? I wanna know how he's going to screw up a good thing this time.

I want to love this scene with J'onn/M'yrnn/Kara's Best Friend Winn - who once served as a buffer between Alex and Eliza at Thanksgiving while Kara basically ignored him in favour of her not-boyfriend, who called her from a romantic getaway with his actual girlfriend - but I know it's all a ploy to keep him away from Lena, and thus avoid pesky questions like, "So, how do you know the analyst from the clandestine government agency that helped me out with those things those times?"

Unpopular opinion: American Christmas songs are almost universally shite.

I should also point out that, since Lena knows he is DEO, Kara's Best Friend Winn - who once committed treason on Alex and Kara's behalf after Kara invoked his difficult relationship with his father - is the only person currently in this room that is not concealing a secret identity from her.

I'm just gonna stop having headcanons. I keep thinking of ways the show could mine conflict from the scenarios they've created, and the show doesn't then do it badly, so much as ignore it entirely. I actually burst into tears once because I thought up a thing where Kara tells Winn he can't come to the Christmas party because Lena knows he's DEO and it would raise too many questions. I would actually prefer that to this version. At least it would be a story point then.

Wait. Hang on. Are they trying to tell us that Wake Up happened on Dec. 22nd? Because... seriously, what?

Alex, you can't just steal a child, even if you are great with her; so stop thinking about it. Who said this 'wanting to be a mother' thing was out of character?

I like the choice that Lena would make weak excuses for why she can't just go for it with James. Putting your last boyfriend out of his misery by deactivating the nano-bot swarm he's comprised of must be a tough act to follow.

A funny thing about chemistry that's "off the charts"? It can't be measured.

A rhyming scene of James and Winn on the other side of the room having *their* version of this conversation would have gone a long way.

This is literally the fourth episode of eight you've spent time with Sam, Kara. It's not like she's one of the Barton Bellas.

"I've always had Alex, and she has my back, but-" Sorry, NOW TV keeps cutting the sound there, so I don't know how the sentence ends. I'll presume it's something along the lines of, "If you don't want to date someone who works for you, do you remember my Best Friend, Winn? Really smart, you saved the world together that one time? And at your party? Hates your mom? Remember? Look, he's rocking that Christmas sweater!"

(And he's clearly single, since his girlfriend of 44 weeks isn't here)

I cannot imagine how difficult blocking this scene was, if J'onn has to come up to Kara in front of the friends that don't know she's Supergirl and say she has to leave her own party on Dec. 23rd. I'll assume this scene was written by the Buffoon.

VASQUEZ! You have returned to us! From where-ever it was!

The Symbol is Kryptonian? What were the odds?

I get the feeling that 'if we don't know it, it can't be known' is a common attitude from Krypton. Kinda... snobby, wouldn't you say?

And since we, the audience, already know the Symbol is Kryptonian, why are we sending James and Lena on this wild goose chase?

Speaking of which, why would Morgan Edge burn a symbol into your corn-field, Lena? Explain the logic. While you're at it, why would you go see him about it? What is he going to tell you?

And by saying "I will go with you," as opposed to "This plan is stupid," we've got a solid idea of why there were no 'James helps mentor Kara as a reporter' stories last season.

A two minute scene solely to remind us that Morgan Edge exists. Yay.

Get Prince's name out of your filthy mouth.

"I'm here just to make sure you remain civil." You know what else would have achieved that James? Not going at all.

Here's the thing. It's Reign. We know it's Reign. There is no mystery here. THIS IS NOT HOW MYSTERIES WORK.

THE ALIEN BAR! Still lacking in visibly alien aliens. Bloody gentrification.

Dude, just put lobsters down on the floor if you're gonna do this ribs shit (given the platform, this is probably a one-percenter joke).

Look! Kara's Best Friend Winn - who quit his good job at a global media empire so he could help Kara with superheroing full-time (you know, right before Kara considered moving to Metropolis) - distracting Imra so Kara and Mon-El can talk! What a great Best Friend he is!

I'm gonna say this now: not on board with SaturnNerd, unless it's rounding out Winn's doomed trip through Nerd Fantasy Romance Tropes (the list so far: Kara - Girl Next Door; Siobhan - Mean Girl (To Reform Through Kindness); Lyra - Manic Dream Pixie Girl; Imra - Sexy/Naive Foreign Exchange Student).

You're not at the jokey we-had-fun-didn't-we stage yet, mister.

Creepy Preacher Dude! You're back! And still creepy!

Fort Rozz!

Right, they are clearly establishing Sam as Reign, and Reign as the World-Killer. THERE IS NO MYSTERY HERE.

Sam. Have you never seen a Christmas film before? You know what happens if you work Christmas Eve.

The Christmas story is nice, though. Sam & Ruby are a nice addition to the show.

El Mayarah, brothers and sisters.

'Cip'. Imra's WAAAAAY overplaying this 'foreigner' stuff.

Yep. Break her heart more, Imra. Solid plan.

Sigh. What are you doing going to other hackers, Lena? We know they're gonna be sub-par. Or James should, at least.

For newer, confused viewers, James is a superhero, who has a shield. Winn built it for him. You may not have known this.

This Reign fight is one of the best vampire attack scenes I've ever seen.

Sooooo, we needed Lena and James to visit Edge, so Edge would pick tonight to hire an assassin to kill Lena, so Reign will then target Edge. 'Kay. Oh, and Edge is apparently using Reign as a cover for Lena's 'death'. Except it happens before Reign goes on the rampage. So circular, this logic.

No love in his eyes? Admittedly, Kara's never been good at this.

Edge has a lead-lined panic room. This is the smartest thing he's done yet. Ineffectual mustache twirler.

This week's Jeremy Jordan Award For Doing So Much With So Little goes, unsurprisingly, to Jeremy Jordan; for seamlessly transitioning from sarcasm to serious through repeated use of the word 'No.'

And kudos for Kara's Best Friend, Winn - who once got up in his best clothes and went to a posh party solely to humiliate himself in front of the hostess (the hostess being Lena, who is of course not Kara's best friend, because Winn is Kara's Best Friend) because Kara had gotten herself in a jam - for emphasising that an attempt on Edge's life is only 'objectively' bad. Sticking up for his Sister in Science.

Okay, how late is it on Christmas Eve? Everyone's still at Catco. IT'S A SUNDAY. WHY IS EVERYONE HERE? GO HOME.

I'm not against GuardianCorp, there's a lot of story to mine there in terms of the relationship between Journalism and its Corporate Masters (it's not a marriage made in heaven, nor should it be); but like many things, it depends on execution. With that in mind, there's a few tangible details I want to highlight here:

Firstly, with the exception of letting her call him Jimmy, which is only relevant to a specific section of the audience (casual viewers won't remember why that's a big deal, and longer term fans of the character consider it the default); the nicest thing we've ever seen him say to or about her is that he doesn't see her as an extension of her brother. That seems like a low bar to cross. In fact, I have no idea how James feels about this particular development at all.

Secondly, James hasn't been challenged yet; or at least, it doesn't *feel* like he's been challenged yet. In my notes for 3x02, I wrote of GuardianCorp, "This isn’t a thing that’ll be resolved by him doing nothing until someone else makes the decision for him," but he hasn't actually made any decisions. This story isn't a James story (yet). It's a Lena story, about her taking a chance on him.

(ASIDE: At some point, someone decided that Lena's main flaw would be 'self-doubt' instead of 'hubris', as was previously established in 2x05. I take small comfort in the fact that person is likely no longer employed)

Thirdly (and this last one's much more open to interpretation, so YMMV), Mr. Brooks isn't really pulling his weight here. Ms. McGrath is doing *all* the heavy lifting: she's standing there, giving him full heart-eyes, and he barely seems to notice that it's happening. James could be playing it cool, I suppose; but that's just another way in which I can't relate to James as a character (because HOW? How do you play it cool when she's looking at you like THAT?).

(FURTHER ASIDE: You know who would have been a challenge for James? LYRA. Or, at least, a visibly alien alien. That story would be about James and his perception of himself; having been friends and love interests for 'passing' aliens over the years, why is an ALIEN alien a sticking point for him? Played by a trans actress, preferably, to hammer the metaphor home. It would also have given him a cause to champion at CatCo)

At some point, I should stop doing notes, and just write a damn review. It'd probably be shorter.

Why are all these Christmas parties happening on Christmas Eve?

You know when would have been a great time to do a Christmas episode? Last season, when it was all about the immigration metaphor, and your three non-human characters can all express how they feel about this religious festival they don't belong to.

Love the tone of this office fight (the song still sucks)

Kara's getting the beat-down of her life, and she's still trying to protect others. I love her.

That block and swing is fucking incredible.

AND THEN THE FLAMING DOOR!

Where the hell is this fight happening that James, Lena, AND Edge can be witnesses?

Impressed at how objective Alex is being here. Would like more detailed reaction shots though. Particularly from Kara's Best Friend, Winn.

Imra's very confident about Kara being okay.

Episodes since Winn and Lyra have had a scene together: 13. THIRTEEN. These counts were supposed to be a joke, show. Not a running commentary of despair. Speaking of which...

Episodes since Winn and Lena have had a scene together: 9 (Record high: 16). No, I'm not counting this one. Being in the same location does not a scene make. We'll just have to live with my pain extending to double digits in January.

[ongsniel]

[request] i was about to hug you (but i didn’t)

AUTHOR: ongniels (ali) TITLE: FANDOM: WANNA ONE/Produce 101 RATING: PG-13 PAIRING: Park Jihoon/Lai Guanlin WORD COUNT: 3,8k WARNING: cursing SUMMARY:   He knows he should have come to terms with the fact that he actually likes Guanlin the way he does - but it just doesn't add up to him why he had to know about it now, when Guanlin was hundreds of miles away.

"What’s up, butt face?"

It’s not even 8 a.m. and Jihoon's day already sucks.

First of all, his alarm had been way too late - probably because he forgot to change it to the right time last night - thus he missed his bus and had to come running to school.

Now, even Lai Guanlin, current exchange student and resident flower boy, had to make an appearance. Wonderful.

"Nothing much, asshole," Jihoon responds with his cutest smile. "What do you want, my dear boo?"

Guanlin responds with his best disgusted face.

"You’re not cute even if you try," the younger points out; Jihoon just sticks his tongue out. "Have you seen Jinyoung anywhere?"

"My best friend Jinyoung? Hmmm..." Jihoon slams his locker door shut. "I’m afraid I haven’t, sorry!"

In fact, Jinyoung had just passed by to say hello before scurrying to his first period Korean history class. But Jihoon is not going to say that.

"Now, I don't have more time to waste, hope we don't see each other again!" Jihoon calls out as he walks away.

***

But of course they see each other again.

Jihoon is silently eating his lunch, sitting with Samuel and Daehwi as they talk about their current psychology project, when Guanlin and Jinyoung appear.

The Chinese boy is obviously being dragged to sit with them, if Jinyoung’s hand on his wrist and Guanlin’s pout are anything to go by.

Jinyoung, how surprising, sits down next to Daehwi. The both of them smile at each other before Daehwi continues talking. Guanlin, however, remains standing next to the table, glaring at the only seat that’s available - the one next to Jihoon.

"What? Aren’t you going to sit down? Are you so afraid to fall in love with me?" Jihoon teases, blinking repeatedly with his most adorable smile.

"I'm more afraid of catching your 'I-suck-at-English' bug," Guanlin retorts, unwillingly sitting down.

"I’m sorry mister 'I-have-never-had-a-perfect-score-in-math'," Jihoon replies.

"You’re just jealous I was the top of the class last semester," Guanlin accuses him.

"Sorry to break it to you, but we have the joint first place, loser," Jihoon defends himself. "You should work on your memory, it sure is getting worse."

"Can you guys stop bickering for at least one minute?" Samuel laughs, definitely way too amused by the situation. "Some people here are even struggling to be in the average half of the class."

Jihoon and Guanlin just glare at each other one last time ere both of them go back to their own meals.

***

To be honest, Jihoon isn't even sure why he and Guanlin are so antagonistic towards each other.

It seems to have been like this since the first day they met.

Jinyoung had excitedly greeted them, grin on his face as he told them that he had befriended the new Chinese student and that exactly that same student was going to be hanging out with them at lunch, right then and there.

Jihoon had been too concentrated on studying for a biology quiz to even notice Guanlin sit down beside them. Thus he had neither greeted him nor tried to make some small talk like he usually would.

This happened for the reminder of the week, Guanlin sitting with them and Jihoon learning for something or the other.

Then, when the stressful project and learning phase had ended, Jihoon and Guanlin began their "bickering", or at least that's what their friends called their interactions.

It didn't help that for every semester after Guanlin arrived, Jihoon and him would fight for the number 1 spot in their class.

But if Jihoon is honest, the thing he hates the most, or nicer said, annoys him the most about Guanlin is how little effort he has to put into studying to get the same or an even better result than Jihoon. And as if that wasn't enough, he was handsome, too.

Jihoon’s life was just that fucked up.

***

Finally, at 4 p.m., classes end and Jihoon is free from all the bad things (e.g. Guanlin).

"Hey," Jihoon is surprised to hear the exact same person he was thinking of call out to him.

It’s weird because of a lot of different things. Firstly, Guanlin would never call or talk to him - no matter what happened, both of them would rather die than talk to each other and secondly, Guanlin would never smile while calling for him.

Jihoon is too astonished to respond.

"Congrats on having a full score on the math quiz, again," Guanlin laughs, eyes crinkling - and what the fuck?

Guanlin pulls him in for a hug, with shoulder patting and everything. Jihoon just stands there tense for the whole ten seconds it lasts.

After that, Guanlin seems to regain his sanity because he just lets go and leaves the classroom without saying another word.

Needless to say, Jihoon is confused.

***

Even at home, Jihoon can't stop thinking about Guanlin. And his hug.

***

The day after that Guanlin is back to normal - or at least almost normal. Okay well, maybe the only "normal" thing about Guanlin today is that he made Jihoon be late by chatting with him.

Anyway, Guanlin stands nearer to Jihoon than he usually would and there's a special kind of fondness behind his every banter. The Taiwanese boy is even smiling at him with his gummy smile that's usually only aimed at the rest of his friends.

It kind of makes Jihoon uncomfortable so he just makes sure that his words are twice as rude as they normally would be to make up for it.

***

At lunch, Guanlin is still not... normal. He willingly sits down next Jihoon - without protesting, which is unusual to say the least.

The younger boy doesn't even flinch when Daehwi starts saying they look like the cutest couple.

"They seriously look so cute," Jinyoung agrees.

"Yeah, do we?" Guanlin replies, wrapping his arms around Jihoon's shoulders and squishing his face against Jihoon's.

He pushes Guanlin’s face away, feeling his face heat up and digs into his hamburger.

Guanlin’s laugh that follows makes him blush even more.

***

Jihoon isn’t sure how or why their dynamic has changed so much over the span of one day when it has stayed the same for over two yeas.

***

At the end of the day, right after Guanlin and Jihoon's student council activities, it starts raining. Jihoon curses at himself for forgetting his umbrella this morning - even more so, because his mother will be waiting with an "i told you so" look on her face when he arrives at home, all drenched and exhausted.

He is getting ready to run for his life with his jacket as a shield and hey, he actually goes through with it, but Guanlin pops up next to him in seconds, holding up an umbrella that covers the both of them, saving Jihoon from getting even wetter.

"What? Are you going to decline my offer to take you home with this amazing umbrella just because it's me doing it?" Guanlin questions, eyebrows raised.

Jihoon actually feels kind of offended. He is not that stupid.

"I didn't even say anything," he grumbles, blush coming back.

"Jihoon, you never had to say anything, your face says it all,like always," Guanlin replies with a huge, stupidly attractive grin on his face.

He pretends as if he hadn't heard anything.

***

They walk in relative silence; Guanlin randomly jumps into little puddles and stops to look at small, hipster stores just as randomly.

It's about to get to the awkward point of the walk but Guanlin starts to talk about their upcoming finals, asking Jihoon if he has had any difficulties learning for them, which makes the almost awkwardness disappear instantly. Instead, the all too well known final related tiredness and annoyance comes.

For a moment, Jihoon forgets that their usual interactions are filled with banter and mutual dislike.

***

It takes twice as much time to make it to Jihoon's house but he can't find it in himself to complain, Guanlin had actually been a really nice travel companion.

"Uh, thanks for walking me home?" Jihoon says, awkwardly scratching his left arm.

Guanlin just snorts at him.

The younger boy puts the umbrella down, letting small rain droplets fall on him and pulls Jihoon into an embrace.

This one feels different than their previous hug - more intimate, more... them.

Guanlin has his head in the crook of Jihoon's neck and his arms tightly wrapped around the older boy's waist as he crouches down for the hug. Jihoon too, is more responding to this hug. He has his chin resting comfortably on Guanlin’s shoulder and his hands around Guanlin’s lower back.

It feels kind of nice.

They stay like that for at least five minutes before Jihoon can feel Guanlin sigh against his neck. The younger boy pulls away with a smile and takes his umbrella.

"Bye, Park Jihoon," he says, gummy smile and crinkling eyes.

Jihoon just waves back with a small smile of his own.

***

The whole night the only thing that is on Jihoon's mind is Guanlin and how utterly nice it feels to have all of Guanlin and his lanky form hug him.

***

The next day comes and, although it seems like a miracle, Jihoon is not late for once.

Weirdly, none of his friends seem to be around, so he has no other choice than to head to his class alone.

He takes his English book, shuts down all the Guanlin related thoughts the item brings him and slams his locker shut.

***

It’s not until lunch that Jihoon sees his friends. Nothing seems out of the ordinary; Samuel is sitting in front of Jinyoung and Daehwi, while the two look at each other like they're the best thing that has ever happened in each other's lives.

"Where have you guys been all day?" he asks as soon as he sits down.

"What do you mean? Don’t you know?" Samuel questions back. "Thought you, our intelligent, “I never forget anything”, boy, would know out of all people."

"Hm... Did I miss something important?" Jihoon literally can't remember anything.

"Figures," Daehwi sighs. "You didn't like Guanlin all that much anyway."

Jihoon goes tense at that.

"Can you guys come to the point? What did I miss? What was so important?" he is starting to get a bad feeling about this.

"You’ll notice soon enough," Daehwi smirks.

With that all of his friends go back to their easy chatter and pizza. He shrugs his shoulders and joins in.

***

It takes almost a whole week for Jihoon to actually notice.

Guanlin is not at school. He is in none of their classes and he hasn't shown up to eat with them for lunch. Plus the younger boy hasn't been pestering Jihoon for his math notes for the upcoming finals.

It seems almost as if he vanished from the face of earth.

Jihoon wouldn't even have noticed, if his classmate Woojin hadn't brought it to his attention after their biology class.

"Jihoon, since Guanlin is not here, you have to actually do the classroom cleaning today," the other boy had said.

It surprised him for two reasons, one, he already mentioned it but Guanlin wasn't there and secondly, fuck, he hadn't done the classroom cleaning for two years. Exactly those years Guanlin had been there.

"Wait, did Guanlin usually do my turns for me?" he asks, astonished.

"Yeah, I thought you knew?" Woojin raises his eyebrows. "He mentioned something about you having to concentrate on your studies, etc."

Jihoon just nods, he feels kind of numb inside. He had never done something as nice for Guanlin, never even considered to.

All of a sudden, he feels anxiety bubbling up in his body. He decides to ignore whatever it is though.

Maybe Guanlin is sick or something.

***

Jihoon sighs as he sits down next to his friends. Daehwi shoots him a worried look.

"Are you okay?" Daehwi asks. "You look really fucking pale."

"Yeah, I’m good," he replies, not really being able to form the unconcerned smile he was aiming for. "Where the heck is Guanlin?"

"Wow, now you notice," Samuel laughs smugly - Jihoon wishes he would choke on his piece of meat. "Two things, one, I won, so pay up you losers, and secondly, he's back in Taiwan."

Jihoon feels something in his stomach sink, he doesn't know why or what it is, but he feels very weird. The anxiety he felt earlier starts to resurface.

"Yeah, his visa expired so he had to go back," Jinyoung continues. "And so you know, I’m not paying, I didn't agree to the bet!"

Samuel begins to argue that Jinyoung did, then Daehwi starts saying something else and they get distracted. Jihoon, however, still hasn't been able to wrap the fact that Guanlin is in Taiwan - and will probably stay there - around his head.

It explains how not like himself he had acted before disappearing, being all chummy and smiley and nice and - and the fuck...

"Can you guys stop talking about your stupid bet for a minute?" Jihoon interrupts them.

Samuel, Daehwi and Jinyoung simultaneously actually stop, looking at him as if he grew a second head.

"Is he coming back? Guanlin, I mean," Jihoon says with a frown.

All of them seem to deflate, Daehwi looking at the floor and Jinyoung is trying to look at anything but him.

"Do you even want him to?" Samuel shoots back. "It’s not like you cared, it didn't even seem like you liked him very much."

"That doesn't matter now, does it?" Jihoon answers. "He was part of the group so of course I care!"

"You care but forget about the day he is supposed to fly back to Taiwan?" Jinyoung asks. "I’m not saying you don't care or anything, but I’m more than a little bit surprised that you actually do."

"Well, I am confused about that too!" Jihoon snaps. "Jesus Christ, when did he say anything about that?"

How can he not be confused? He never actually hated or resented Guanlin, but still, their dynamic and most of their interactions involved their dislike for one another, always bickering and insulting each other.

The younger boy was an easy outlet for all of his frustrations and need to banter, a rival with equal abilities. He hadn't thought about what would happen if he wasn't there anymore - never needed to until now.

It feels unreal.

When he didn't notice the absence, it didn't really matter but now that he knows it's weird.

It’s weird not having Guanlin in front of him taunting him because of his English skills. It feels weird not being able to steal Guanlin’s chocolate puddings and it overall just doesn’t seems right.

"What? Are you missing him?" Daehwi asks, curiously.

Jihoon doesn't know how to respond to that. Maybe? Yes?

"Shut up and just keep me informed if he's coming back or not," Jihoon snaps and then digs into his salad.

***

Weeks - three to be exact, but Jihoon isn't counting, right? - pass before he gets any Guanlin related updates.

Jinyoung comes running to them, with an excited puppy smile and his lunch. He sits down, gulps a sip of water and then literally beams at them, as if he had just won a million dollars.

"Did you pass the French exam?" Daehwi asks, looking hopeful.

"As if!" Jinyoung responds, his excitement subdued for only a second ere it emerges for a second time. "So, I skyped with Guanlin yesterday and he said that he got his parents to agree to -"

Jihoon is, no, not excited, it feels different. A special kind of happiness starts to spread in his body, making his heartbeat quicken, and a rare full on grin makes an appearance. The news sound good and he hopes that they have something to do with Guanlin coming back to Korea.

"Buy him a play station! Isn’t it really cool?"

Of fucking course.

***

It’s the weekend before their finals and Jihoon hates himself. He knows he should be cramming last minute information into his brain until he falls asleep on his desk, but... but he can't seem to concentrate.

It bothers him even more because he knows the exact reason. Lai Guanlin. 16. Taiwanese. A freaking giant.

He knows he should have come to terms with the fact that he actually likes Guanlin the way he does - but it just doesn't add up to him why he had to know about it now, when Guanlin was hundreds of miles away and not while the Taiwanese boy was here for two years.

He hates himself so much that instead of studying he goes for a pint of ice cream and the edge of seventeen, like the teenager he is.

***

Jihoon comes exactly on time for his first final - math, thank god. It makes him feel less guilty about not studying at all during the weekend. Jinyoung, Daehwi and Samuel smile at him from where they are sitting.

He notices that every seat in the classroom is taken besides the one next to him, which makes him feel kind of uneasy.

The teacher is handing out the exams when - the actual hell?

Lai Guanlin walks in in all of his glory. The younger boy looks better, more tanned and with a better haircut. Jihoon seems to forget how to breathe.

Guanlin apologizes for being late and then sits down next to Jihoon.

Jihoon can't help himself, so he just stares at Guanlin until the boy turns around towards him with a smug smirk and raised eyebrows.

"Am I so pretty to look at that you can't take your eyes off?" Guanlin asks, gummy smile in place.

"Yeah," Jihoon says confidently. "The prettiest."

***

Jihoon is a hundred percent sure that this is going to be the first time in his life that he doesn't get a full score in the math final.

***

As soon as their exam is over, he takes a hold of a surprised Guanlin’s hand and leaves the classroom – Jinyoung and Daehwi looking at them bewildered, Samuel just smirks smugly and mouths “good luck” directly at him.

Guanlin doesn’t complain at all until they arrive at the school’s rooftop, instead he is holding Jihoon’s hand tightly and not so subtly protecting Jihoon from bumping into people in the hallway by shielding him with his body. That action makes Jihoon’s heartbeat increase ever so slightly.

***

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going back to Taiwan, you asshole?” is the first thing that leaves Jihoon’s mouth when they sit down on a bench near the edge of the rooftop.

He was aiming for an “I missed you” or “Fuck, I am so in love with you, please date me”, but his brain doesn’t seem to be cooperating with him. Guanlin doesn’t seem to want to play along either because he just stares at Jihoon with an unimpressed look.

“Thought you knew,” Guanlin answers. “It’s not like I made it a secret, plus Jinyoung talked about it for weeks before I actually did fly back.”

“Oh,” Jihoon replies, awkwardly fiddling with his fingers.

The both of them stay silent after that. Guanlin stares at the sky, the light making him look like an angel, what with his tanned skin, plumb lips and dark hair. The only thing that’s missing is some wings and a halo.

Jihoon just looks at his lap, not knowing what to do or even what outcome he had expected from coming up here – He should have known that as the most awkward person on planet earth, things wouldn’t happen like he wanted them to. Jihoon should have known that instead of confessing his feelings calmly and rationally, he would be an absolute mess.

“Did you drag me all the way here just to ask me that?” Guanlin inquires, turning around to look at Jihoon. “Because I don’t think that’s the only reason.”

He doesn’t know how to respond to that, so he simply doesn’t. Just stays quiet, still looking down and folds more into himself.

Guanlin stands up then. For a millisecond Jihoon is afraid that he’ll just go away, leave him there and never look back, but of course Guanlin surprises him. The Taiwanese boy squats down in front of him and places his hands on Jihoon’s knees. He leans in so that his lips are only centimeters away of the older boy’s right ear.

“You know, your constant bitch face is no match for me, I can read you like an open book, Park Jihoon,” Guanlin whispers, breathe tickling Jihoon. “I know how madly in love with me you are.”

That makes Jihoon snort.

“Even when confessing you make me cringe uncontrollably,” Jihoon grimaces, but the smallest hint of a smile is on his face.

A laugh escapes Guanlin’s lips. It sounds nice, although kind of high pitched, it makes Jihoon relax instantly – and why did he have to discover that Guanlin was so utterly beautiful two years after first meeting him?

They look at each other for a few seconds before the younger boy seems to have enough of just looking because he takes a hold of Jihoon’s hands, makes him stand up and then hugs him tightly. Guanlin is so tall he seems to engulf all of Jihoon with his body, it feels weirdly satisfying, makes Jihoon want to stay there hiding all day.

“Ah, between,” Guanlin mumbles, lips caressing the crook of Jihoon’s neck. “I like you too.”

“Yeah, figured,” Jihoon replies acting way more composed than he feels like. “I mean, you flew over from Taiwan just to see me.”

“Pretty sure I did it because of the finals but whatever,” Guanlin playfully points out.

The Taiwanese boy suddenly straightens his body, towering over Jihoon, lifts his arms and cups Jihoon’s face. He squishes his cheeks for a couple of seconds, quietly giggling and smiling happily.

Jihoon, also all in a sudden, feels quiet brave so he stands on his tip toes and leans forward, pecking Guanlin on the lips. Although it’s obvious that the younger boy is surprised, he still responds to the kiss.

He caresses Jihoon’s cheeks softly and deepens the kiss. If Jihoon had to describe the kiss, he would say it was quite lazy, both of them enjoying the slow pace, and it also is utterly awesome.  

“Jesus, had I known kissing you would feel this good, I would have done it sooner,” Jihoon hums happily.

“Well,” Guanlin starts, Jihoon can feel how smug he is going to be just by the way he speaks. “It’s difficult to resist someone as amazing as me, although it did take you long enough. I’m still not sure how you managed to ignore how perfect I am.”

“Your mouth is the problem, you say so much shit it’s almost hard to believe,” Jihoon points out with a laugh.

“I’m pretty sure my mouth is perfectly fine,” Guanlin smirks ere he leans in for another kiss.

And well, Jihoon has to admit, as he kisses the younger boy again, that Guanlin’s mouth is and works perfectly fine, indeed.

[mistermobilesingapore-blog]

iPhone LCD or screen cracked? 5 things you must know!

These are the Top 5 questions you must know when you break your iPhone LCD or screen.

"HELP! I just broke my iPhone screen! Do I need to replace the JUST the screen or also the LCD display?

Will you be using original parts for iPhone LCD / screen / glass replacement?

What is the difference between iPhone Grade A replacement and Grade B replacement?

Why do you need 2 hours to replace my cracked iPhone glass when other repair providers can do it within 30 minutes?

Does the price-savings justify choosing a third-party service repair provider over the Apple service center?

Hello everyone! The purpose of this post is to debunk ALL of your most frequently asked questions have when you are staring at the most dreaded and OCD-cringing problem with their phone - A CRACKED IPHONE LCD or screen!

More often than not, and more prevalent than ever before, due to the ceaseless size "improvements" of mobile phones and its bigger screen display, the enlarged surface area of your iPhone LCD display means that when you accidentally drop your beloved iPhone, the risk of it being a beloved CRACKED iPhone is increasing at an alarming rate.

Of course, at Mister Mobile, your friendly neighborhood handy-man, you can have your iPhone cracked screen replaced in a jiffy, but we shall not be covering this topic today. You may check out our services and prices for iPhone screen replacement here.

1. "HELP! I just broke my iPhone screen! Do I need to replace the JUST the screen or also the LCD display?"

[caption id="attachment_img" align="aligncenter" width="200"]

Reliable iPhone cracked screen replacement to restore your iPhone to its beloved condition in a jiffy![/caption]

It all boils down to, frankly, your luck. When you drop your phone, there will be only 3 possible outcomes :

The first and best outcome is, of course, nothing happens to your phone (duh). There are no cracks and it looks exactly the same. You don't need to do anything to it.

Second, cracks may appear in just the EXTERIOR layer of your iPhone display. It does not matter if the crack looks like a spider-web or if it's just a hairline crack - they all belong in this category.You need to replace only the glass (repairers in Singapore commonly refer to it as "glass", to minimize confusion between the screen and the LCD display. For our tech-savvy readers, this glass is technically the digitizer).We only need to replace just the glass of your iPhone IF your LCD display is working perfectly, and the touch responsiveness of your phone is 100% sensitive.The repair cost for iPhone glass replacement is much cheaper compared to replacing the LCD assembly (we will be talking about this later).

[caption id="attachment_img" align="aligncenter" width="300"]

Above is an example of iPhone cracked screen where only the outer layer is cracked. The display and touch sensitivity is functioning perfectly.[/caption][caption id="attachment_img" align="aligncenter" width="300"]

iPhone 6S Plus glass replacement Grade A. As you can see, it is just a piece of glass which does not control/ affect the display and the touch responsiveness of your phone.[/caption]

Lastly, and also the most costly, is when the interior layer of your screen is damaged. It does not matter if the outer layer is cracked or not - once the interior layer is damaged, you have to replace the full iPhone LCD assembly consisting of the LCD display, the touch screen flex, and glass (or just the short form of "LCD", as repairers in Singapore commonly refer it to. The common symptoms when your iPhone LCD is damaged are - blurred images, lines appearing on the display, blacked out display, insensitive to touch, black spots. Should these symptoms appear almost immediately after you have dropped your phone, chances are, your phone is due for an LCD replacement. At Mister Mobile, we can replace your iPhone LCD within 60 minutes.

It is NOT POSSIBLE to replace just the iPhone LCD WITHOUT replacing the glass due to 2 reasons. Firstly, we purchase our parts in one set which includes the glass. Secondly, and more importantly, it is impossible to retain your glass in its original condition after the separation process of the glass and the LCD display.

[caption id="attachment_img" align="aligncenter" width="225"]

Cracked LCD display for iPhone 6S. Lines are appearing on the display[/caption][caption id="attachment_img" align="aligncenter" width="300"]

Blacked out display after you have dropped your phone. This means that your iPhone LCD is damaged.[/caption][caption id="attachment_img" align="aligncenter" width="300"]

Damaged iPhone glass after the separation process, which makes it unusable.[/caption][caption id="attachment_img" align="aligncenter" width="300"]

We separate the iPhone LCD and glass using specialized machinery.[/caption]

2. Will you be using original parts for iPhone LCD / screen / glass replacement?

Technically, NO ONE in Singapore can claim their parts to be original EXCEPT authorized Apple service providers, which in Singapore refers to the service center you go to, to service your iPhone within Apple's one-year warranty period.

"Brand Copyright Infringement – Unless you’re licensed to sell Apple iPhone parts, you’re not technically allowed to advertise new “Original” parts, even if the item is new and 100% authentic. If you ever see the words “for iPhone 4s, 5, 5s, 5c” etc. at the end of the item title or advertising pitch, now you’ll know why. Apple has actually been fairly quiet about imposing seizures at customs and online marketplaces for those who sell parts without authorization." - Source - harvestcellular.net

To abide by this consumer law, we refer to our products as "Grade A" or "Grade B". Our "Grade A" parts are as good as original, which is as good as what you get at authorized Apple service centers.

So, if you come across any repairers in Singapore who advertise their parts as "original", think twice - chances are, they are using the exact same parts as we do.

We define ourselves as an alternative choice to authorized service providers, who provide similar services which are cheaper, faster and is more accessible without compromising on quality. Our technicians are very highly-trained and we are able to fix many issues which authorized service centers cannot. For example, Apple only offers full iPhone LCD replacement, even if you need to replace only the glass (Source: Apple Singapore).

3. What is the difference between iPhone Grade A replacement and Grade B replacement?

The easy answer? Grade A is always better than Grade B!

As explained above, our Grade A parts are

As good as the original. Your phone screen will be restored to its original condition and it will work perfectly in these 3 aspects - its touch sensitivity, the DPI and resolution of its display, and its physical appearance.

Its touch sensitivity is 100% responsive.

Its background colour is white.

It will break less easily than Grade B parts.

Also, should your glass break again, you can still opt for glass replacement.

Our Grade B parts are after-market products manufactured by non-Apple suppliers. These LCDs are basically targeted at consumers who wish to get their screen fixed at a cheaper price. They may be due for a phone upgrade soon, due to budget constraints, or just the simple fact that their screen will break again sooner or later anyway.  Grade B LCDs are

Less touch-sensitive.

Has a blue-ish background.

Generally breaks more easily.

Should your glass break again, it is also impossible to replace just the glass - you can only replace the full LCD assembly.

For everyone looking to replace their iPhone screen, do inquire carefully and thoroughly to avoid being overcharged!

[caption id="attachment_img" align="aligncenter" width="159"]

Grade A and grade B difference.[/caption]

At a Glimpse, Grade A iPhone LCD has a whiter background which is as good as the original and is 100% touch-responsive. After-market Grade B iPhone LCDs have a blue-ish background and is less touch-sensitive

At Mister Mobile, we offer both, to cater to your different needs,

Grade A and Grade B glass replacement AND

Grade and Grade B LCD replacement

However, we will always recommend Grade A iPhone LCD or screen replacement due to its reliability.

Notes for Grade B glass replacement: Technically, we will just swap your cracked-glass Grade A LCD to a new, working Grade B LCD. We then sell your cracked-glass Grade A LCD to buyers who refurbish it. We offer this category of repair to customers who are looking for the cheapest repair option available.

4. Why do you need 2 hours to replace my cracked iPhone glass when other repair providers can do it within 30 minutes?

This is the repair-cycle breakdown when you fix your iPhone glass with us.

10 minutes - In-processing and a full test of your phone to ensure all components are working fine.

10 minutes - Disassembling your iPhone.

15 minutes - Separating the glass and iPhone LCD using specialized machinery

15 minutes - Applying a brand new Grade A glass onto your own LCD.

30 minutes - Heat-induced process to adhere the new glass firmly to your LCD, using specialized machinery.

10 minutes - Assembling your iPhone

10 minutes - A full test of your iPhone to ensure your phone is working perfectly before you leave.

Total time WITHOUT delay - 100 minutes.

As you can see, it takes approximately 100 minutes to replace the glass of ONE iPhone. Many a time, there will be multiple jobs at once and our technicians will multitask to get your iPhone fixed as soon as possible.

Other service providers are able to do it in 30 minutes because they do a straight swap of a NEW Grade A iPhone LCD with your CRACKED-GLASS  LCD, postponing or sub-contracting the tedious and time-consuming process of actual glass replacement to a later date. You will probably be getting the same end result, but you will not be getting the same iPhone LCD which you sent in.

Notes: We are able to carry out this 30-minute iPhone LCD swap process too, but we will only do so at the request of our customers who have time constraints.

5. Does the price-savings justify choosing a third-party service repair provider over the Apple service center?

Yes and No. Before we carry on, we wish to mention that our repair prices are as much as 60% cheaper than Apple service centers.

Yes Camp.

No data loss - 99% of the time, should there be no unforeseen circumstances, your phone data will remain intact. We advise you to back up your data before coming, but it will save you the hassle of restoring your backup. At Apple service center, your data will be erased, 100%, no questions entertained.

Very fast - We can fix your iPhone within 2 hours, whereas Apple service center needs at least one working day to replace your iPhone screen.

You can fix an appointment with us at your convenience, walk in, and get your iPhone repaired. No waiting in line, no disappointment.

No Camp.

Voided Apple warranty - your warranty with Apple will be VOID after repair. This is especially important for newly-launched iPhones within warranty (example: the newly launched iPhone XS and XS Max).  Sometimes, the price savings may not justify the loss of 9-11 months of warranty left on your iPhone. What if your iPhone breaks down and it happens to be a very costly issue?

Ending thoughts

Besides the voiding of Apple warranty, we do not really see any other reasons why we third-party repairers in Singapore are losing out to authorized service centers because we are faster, cheaper, and more flexible. At Mister Mobile, we place a great emphasis on customer service too, and our experienced customer service staff and technicians will probably do a better job than them!

Also because we do it better, because we do it safer, because we do it with a smile!

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