#he’s the only reason why i use innisfree

[ongshimi]

MINGYU for INNISFREE

THE NEW ISLE: 새로워진 이니스프리

[trash-tan]

Haikyuu Skincare Routines

I know most of these hoes would actually just use the bar soap they just used on their pubes on their faces but I’m a skincare whore and that’s unacceptable. This is mainly going to reference kbeauty bc that’s what I’m most familiar with. This is unedited brain heartburn please be wary

Kuroo would come across that one™ heavily quoted vit c research paper (15% ascorbic acid, 0.5% ferulic acid and 1% vit e in alpha tocopherol form) and literally only use that serum (he uses the wishtrend 15% with ferulic acid bc fuck skinceuticals and their $150+ serum) in his routine in combination with the Good Morning cleanser from Cosrx bc it’s cheap and the first thing that popped up when he searched for low acidity cleansers. Uses a combo spf moisturizer from clean and clear bc he hasn’t ‘gotten that far’ into skincare

Hanamaki would be the anti-skincare guru and only believe in cetaphil and whatever prescription his derm gave him but still wonder why his skin isn’t getting better. Uses Elta md sunscreen which is good but there’s so many better options out there honey (get out of your asshole we know you can see the results on your friends)

Mattsun would take a page out of makkis book but prob would opt for curology instead bc he doesn’t have the spare money to see a whole ass derm+/saw the ad somewhere and it worked for him so he kept the subscription. Doesn’t use spf like a heathen

Akaashi would have a solid three or four step routine depending on his mood for the day consisting of: 1. a cream to foam cleanser (bc he doesn’t like the way his face feels tight after super stripping cleansers) 2. probably that galactomyces toner from cosrx except he sprays it onto a cotton pad, tones his face, and then sprays it directly for a good pat down 3. (Optional) a lululun facemask or serum sample he got when he bought his toner 4. A thin layer of a rather dense cream but opts for a lighter cream in the summer or daytime but sometimes whatever bokuto got bc he basically shares akaashis stuff. Spf when he’s going to be out and about that day, but not to school bc he considers that indoors even with the windows flooding uv rays into the room but ok

Bokuto would use whatever akaashis using bc it looked cool to have a routine but then realized after following it for a while that he likes the super clean feeling after washing his face and would probably buy perfect whip by senka bc the foam is super satisfying to play with and it leaves him feeling super clean. He would feel bad about using akaashis products all the time and replace them every now and then with whatever he saw on a commercial or with whatever he got suckered into buying from the super convincing attendants at the beauty counter. One time bokuto used all his savings and bought the flagship pitera cream from skii bc if it’s the most expensive and best it’s gotta be good right? Akaashi sighed and tried using it but the fragrance broke him out and he couldn’t muster up the heart to tell bokuto so he just replaced the insides of the jar with the snail cream from cosrx and the placebo affect made bokutos skin shine like he belonged on the face of Elle. Doesn’t know spf exists unless it’s on a beach

Tendou would fall into any skincare fad and try it once. Has a billion products he’s tried once and thrown away bc it ‘didn’t work out’. Has definitely fucked up the pH balance of his skin, over exfoliated more than once, destroyed his skin barrier, and sometimes combined all of these in one sitting. Needless to say his skin is screaming all the time because it’s so damn sensitive from the torture he puts it through but he thinks the stinging is the product ‘working’, When he ‘tries’ a product he goes straight in without patch tests and applies w a y too much. Gets intoxicated with the feeling of slippy slidy on his face which makes him feel like the product is sinking into his skin better. Definitely makes faces and contorts his face while doing so. Does not actually have a semblance of an actual skincare routine other than doing it for fun. For some reason he always uses spf and remembers to reapply.

Ushijima would be the king of spot treatments and moisturization. Knows more than basics, and definitely incorporates skincare into his routine because he just likes the word routine jk he just gets frustrated from the occasional spot that typically comes up on his chin, otherwise he has immaculate skin. Moisturizes with a gel cream (probably the water bank cream from laneige) because he likes the feel of the oil/water balance on his face. Definitely tries the occasional fad with Tendou but in moderation and picks up whatever he likes/whatever tendou wants to throw away. Favorite products would probably be benzoyl peroxide spot treatments and would only use acne patches overnight. Uses spf occasionally but forgets most of the time unless tendou reminds him.

Kenma would accidentally click an ad for a gimmicky all in one skincare product but then whirlpool himself into the world of skincare and pick up a thing here and there and use it most of the time. If he’s on a gaming binge he won’t wash his dusty face until his eyes water and the crap his long eyelashes have so desperately kept away for the last 18 hours get mixed into his eyeballs and then he’ll finally wash his face. Probably uses good morning cosrx cleanser like kuroo (they get 1+1 deals together) and then the anti stress carrot pads by bellamonster bc he liked the flip top and the big pads bc it’s faster to finish his skincare with more wiping surface area. Finishes with dr jarts cicapair cream bc he’s got somewhat sensitive skin and it doesn’t bother him for his long wear hours. Knows that he should wear sunscreen but still opts out bc he rationalizes it by saying that he prob doesn’t even get enough sun to get his vit d requirement so he doesn’t really need it and to that I say touché

Hinata watched a hadalabo commercial on tv when he was young so he has a firm! belief that your skin should be sticky enough so that the van der waals forces between your palms and cheeks feel like peeling tape after you’re done with your skincare routine. An absolute hyaluronic acid whore, started off with hadalabo but the paraben scare ultimately made him switch to isntrees hyaluronic acid toner plus, not to be confused with the normal one because the more diverse the molecule sizes, the better, no? He doesn’t really understand but he understands that it sinks in better than the original and he likes the dark blue color of the toner on his counter because it makes him feel 0.00001% more manly. Also uses the sleeping mask from the same line before tournaments to mentally(?) prepare himself. Doesn’t use spf unless playing outside because hyaluronic acid is all he knows about actual skincare

Asahi would probably try to find an oil that’s good for his beard and his face. A true connoisseur of cleansing oils as well because he got sucked into it after overhearing from the girls in class that it helps with clogged pores. He always needed something to help with that because he had been getting ingrowns ever since he started getting facial hair. It took a lot to muster up the courage to ask for recommendations and even though he started off with the kose speedy cleansing oil hes made his way all the way up to shu uemuras anti pollution cleansing oil. He doesn’t keep it in the open because he doesn’t want anybody to mistake it for hand soap (ahem nishinoya) and it’s kind of his little secret because he treats it as a mini stress reliever at the end of his day. Doesn’t use spf because he thinks it’ll make him tan unevenly

Osamu looooves using apothecary themed skincare or skincare with essential oils. Probably a whore for the klairs supple preparation toner and innisfree as a brand. The type to cup his hands around his nose after using a product on his skin and breathe it in. Solid skincare routine (that he actually makes a routine) equipped with regular sheet mask sessions every week. His skin is positively glowing and glorious and it makes atsumu mega jealous but he really just doesn’t put in the same effort as osamu does and it shows. Thinks if the packaging says ~derived from natural ingredients~ it’ll have less chemicals or something. If he ever went on a trip to Korea he probably went to jeju as well to experience the innisfree green tea/osulloc luxury tea shop (2 birds with one stone, ya know?). When he was younger he probably liked skinfood (I’m sorry I had to) or tonymoly bc it was cheap, gimmicky, and fun to play around with with atsumu. Hates it when atsumu steals his sheet masks, especially if they’re the mediheal ones he keeps at the back of his drawer. Uses spf at the end of his routine always but forgets to reapply sometimes.

Atsumu really likes fragranced skincare bc he thinks it makes the product more luxurious. Forgets to wash his hands between hair care products and skincare products which makes him break out from time to time. He thinks he has a routine but in reality it’s just the normal 2-3 step he puts on occasionally for the ~vibes~ but is still worried about that line or two starting to form around his eyes. Loves sheet masks, especially the cellulose ones where it feels like agar jelly on your skin. Honestly just likes masks in general (eye masks, wash off masks, sleeping masks, modeling packs) but he likes getting them done at the spa (he takes osamu with him when he steals one too many of his mediheal masks). Washes his face regularly with whatever osamus using because he’s too lazy to bother getting his own but too invested in looking good to ignore the pretty bottle of face wash just begging to be used. Uses spf when he remembers that uva=wrinkles

[triptychexe]

TITLE: Days and Nights SUMMARY: Jin’s on house arrest and it’s harder to handle than she thought it would be. Van makes everything a little bit better by giving Soojin a much-needed pep talk.  WORD COUNT: 2.3k GENRE: angst? some soft moments too. PAIRING: Platonic!Jin + Van, Platonic!Triplex 

WARNINGS: mentions of stalking, mentions of declining mental health, I think there’s a few swears? If any other warnings should be made, please let me know! 

A/N: This piece does follow up Escalation  if you are interested! If you don’t feel like reading that, basically all you gotta know for this is that Soojin has a stalker still out there & while her company is looking for him, she’s not supposed to leave her building without supervision for safety reasons <3

WINTER 2018 

It took Jin only two weeks to come to the conclusion that time was just a social construct. Days and nights were nothing but the sun setting and rising. There was no difference between three o’clock and four o’clock. And sometimes days felt like a familiar film that replays in an infinite loop, except there was no plot, and nothing ever happened.

The only excitement in the singer's new routine was when she would get calls from her manager or Hak Bonghwa himself. Before every call, her heart would skip an irregular beat, the nagging fear that her stalker might have found her phone number again. But everytime she checked the caller ID, the rest of the interaction was always familiar.  Whoever called would inform her that no new leads have been found, that they’re still looking, and that things will be resolved as soon as they can. Then she hung up, and went back to her dull existence. 

For a while, she was fine with everything being mundane and regular. She needed some time to let herself bounce back and to relax. This relaxation period only lasted about two days. Then she started overthinking everything that has happened up until now, the thoughts making her more anxious than soothed.

The only thing to stop her from thinking too much was to stay busy. Even though Trois’ promotional period ended prematurely, HBH was gearing up for Triplex to make their debut. As the self-proclaimed leader of the second generation, she felt the urge to assist in any way she could.

“Chaewon, your hair is a mess.” Jin scolded one morning as she placed a homemade omelette in front of the younger girl. It was the second successful omelette Soojin has ever made. Her daily breakfast routine was finally starting to result in some cooking skills. 

“Chaewon, your hair is a mess.” Chaewon mimicked a pitched sing-songy voice. “I don’t need to do my hair perfectly, we have stylists on set that can do it for me.” 

Soojin arched her eyebrow at the younger girl. “And I don’t need your attitude. Mock me again and you’ll get bruises your stylists will have trouble covering.” Her harsh words would have been intimidating, if it wasn’t for the small grin on her lips. Chaewon chuckled, shoveling a piece of eggs with peppers into her mouth.

“Good one, Soojin. I’d love to see you try to batter me up.” Chaewon teased. 

“No talking while eating.” Soojin playfully narrowed her eyes before turning away to glance at the clock. It was nearing eight and Sunhee hadn’t come out of her room for breakfast yet. Soojin sighed before taking a deep inhale, inflating her lungs. 

“Sunhee! Let’s go! Breakfast is getting cold!” Soojin hollered towards the direction of Sunhee’s room. She was sure she heard a groan of annoyance in response, but she chose to ignore it. 

In a few minutes, Sunhee was sulking into the kitchen, her eyes still bloodshot and heavy. Soojin sighed, as she placed a second omelette in front of her.

“Good morning, Sunhee.” Soojin greeted. She got a guttural grunt in response. 

“Why do we have to be up so fucking early to take pictures?” Sunhee complained. Jin frowned at the vocalist, unimpressed with her attitude. 

“Be grateful that you have a sponsorship like this so early into your career.” Soojin reminded them. “Innisfree is a popular company, and the fact that they wanted you three out of all the idols they could have hired means a lot.” 

Sunhee didn’t respond. She silently shoveled food into her mouth. Chaewon giggled and poked one of Sunhee’s puffed cheeks. Sunhee grinned and swatted the hand away, but Chaewon wasn’t done teasing her friend. Eventually, the two were nudging each other and trying to knock each other off their stools. Soojin learned when they first moved in together that interrupting SunWon’s rough housing only resulted in two sulky girls. It was better for them to get their playtime in.

Right before Chaewon was about to topple over in her seat, the doorbell rang. Soojin rushed to the door, opening it to reveal a well-groomed Kit. 

“Aw, Heshen! You look so handsome!” Soojin cooed, opening the door further for the younger boy to enter the apartment. Kit’s cheeks flushed as he looked down at his outfit. He was wearing a button-up shirt under a soft cardigan, cuffed pants, and shiny loafers. To Soojin, he looked like the perfect representative for Innisfree products. 

“Thanks, Soojin.” He smiled. Sunhee and Chaewon hopped off their seats when they heard their friends voice, rounding the corner and sliding in their socks against the wooden floor.

“Woah, Heshen. You look…” Sunhee’s eyebrows shot up.

“Presentable!” Chaewon completed Sunhee’s thought, a teasing grin on her face. “You usually dress so bummy, I forget that you’re actually attractive!” 

Heshen’s smile faded. “How the hell am I supposed to respond to that?” “By thanking me.” Chaewon wrinkled her nose playfully. “That-” Heshen started to argue but Soojin intervened after she got a text on her phone.

“How about you guys continue this in the car? Hyungjung says she’s downstairs waiting.” Soojin said. 

The three teenagers gathered their things and filed out the door. Soojin waved goodbye from the doorway, smiling as the trio of them waved from the elevator. When the elevator doors closed, Soojin felt the weight of loneliness again.

Now that she was alone, she started to remember the last time she was alone in the dorm. The night she received that infamous phone call.  Soojin shivered at the memory, an irrational worry that someone might pop out behind the couch seized her consciousness. Before she let herself think about all the horrible things that could happen unsupervised, her doorbell buzzed.

Jin peeked through the peephole cautiously. Through the fish-eye lens, she saw a smiling Van rocking back and forth on his heels. Van and Jin weren’t exactly the closest members of Triptych, given their scheduling. Maybe he was here to give her updates on her sasaeng. 

With a shred of hope, she opened the door, peeking her head out cautiously. Van’s smile was still present as ever, his eyes squinting ever so slightly with the curve of his cheek.

“Hi!” Van smiled. “Hey.” Soojin returned the smile kindly. “What’s going on?” “Nothing. I don’t have anything to do today, so I thought I’d come over to check on you.” Changmin said, his expression changed into one that was slightly sheepish. “But I totally understand if you wanted space.” 

Soojin’s chest felt lighter, like a weight has been lifted.

“Yeah! I could use some company. Come in.” She smiled, thanking the stars above that she wouldn’t have to brave the lonesomeness of the dorm alone right now. She eagerly stepped aside, allowing Changmin to enter her dorm. 

“You’re alone?” Changmin frowned, looking around the dorm. “Shouldn’t someone be here with you?” 

Soojin shrugged. “The others have schedules today. Plus, I can take care of myself, you know?” 

Changmin nodded. “Of course, of course.” Soojin couldn’t tell if he was saying that genuinely or to comfort her. 

“Um, can I make you tea or something?” Soojin asked politely, swaying her arms back and forth to fill up the awkwardness that had settled over the pair. 

Changmin smiled. “I’ll make us some tea. How about you sit down?” 

Soojin arched an eyebrow. The offer caught her off guard. Changmin chuckled at the expression on the girl’s face. “Kit mentioned that you have been helping Triplex prepare for debut and making him breakfast and stuff. Let me repay you for taking care of our maknae.” Changmin insisted.

The gentle finality in Changmin’s voice told Jin that there was no use in arguing with him. Instead, she led him to the kitchen and sat herself down at the table. She watched as Changmin moved around the kitchen, finding the materials he needed to make them both a hot beverage.

“So,” Changmin spoke as he turned the oven on to boil some water. “Kit hasn’t been bothering you, has he? I know he’s over here a lot.” 

Soojin shook her head. “I like the company. Keeps me busy.” 

“Aren’t you supposed to be resting?” Changmin arched an eyebrow. Soojin couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “I tried that, but I realized that resting goes hand in hand with reflecting and…” Soojin let her voice trail off. She stared down at the kitchen floor, licking her teeth. She didn’t need to continue, Changmin understood the rest. 

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Changmin asked, furrowing his eyebrows in worry. Jin hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to talk about it or not. HBH already made her go to two therapy sessions. After the second session, Jin decided that reliving one of the most traumatic nights of her life with a woman she’s never met didn’t help her in the slightest. She didn’t want someone psycho-analysing her, she didn’t want to feel like she was put under a microscope. 

“Not really.” Jin answered honestly. Changmin nodded in understanding. “Well, if anything changes, you know where to find me.” Changmin angled his head towards the wall, gesturing in the general direction of his own dorm. Jin hummed in appreciation. 

“What about you? Anything on your mind lately?” Jin asked, the pad of her finger tracing the ceramic lip of her cup in a lazy circle. Changmin sucked on his bottom lip, shrugging.

“Nothing’s really been going on.” He responded. “I guess I’m just anticipating the second generation’s debut.” 

“Trois already debuted.” Jin reminded him. Their debut was short, but was it really that forgettable?  “I mean like… You know. The other subunits.” Van shrugged. The tightness in his tone helped Jin piece together the hidden emotions that her older groupmate had towards the additional members of the group.

“You’re skeptical.” Jin inferred. 

Changmin sucked on his teeth. “The word ‘skeptical’ seems really judgemental…” “But you do have concerns?” Jin arched her eyebrow. 

“I mean, yeah. Nothing major, of course.” Changmin held a hand up in surrender. “But you know… It’s just kinda nerve wracking thinking that your career in this group could be snuffed out by a teenager who has more charisma than you.” 

Soojin’s eyebrow arched even higher, the corners of her lips settling into an unpleasant frown. What was he implying? 

Suddenly, the corner of Changmin’s lips quirked before he quickly straightened out his face. A small chuckle slipped between Changmin’s lips.

“What?” Jin asked, finding a small smile quirking on her own lips at the sight of Changmin trying to keep himself composed. An identical smile mirrored on Van’s face as he shook his head.

“Sometimes you act just like Yerin.” He confessed. “The amount of times she’s given me that face… You’re gonna have to develop a stronger gaze if you wanna intimidate anyone in our group.” 

Soojin pressed her lips together. The Yerin comparison. It was bound to happen. Despite not being close, Yerin and Soojin’s name had been strung together since Soojin’s trainee days. Even after making an attempt to give herself her own name, Yerin’s identity seemed to stick to her more than ever. 

“Looks like someone else has their own concerns.” Van noted. The playfulness in his tone was gone, replaced by curiosity.

“It’s just… Comparisons get dull.” Jin shrugged. Changmin nodded in understanding. “I didn’t mean it like that. You and Yerin are two very different people.” 

Jin managed a dull, mirthless chuckle. “Yeah. I’m her but if she had two left feet and a stalker.” 

“Not funny.” Changmin frowned. 

“It kinda is though.” “No, it’s not.” “I’m coping, let me have this.” Soojin’s lips quirked, bringing her mug up to her lips, although the drink had lost its warmth.

“You have a darker sense of humor than Yerin, that’s for sure.” Changmin shook his head, taking a drink himself. He hesitated before speaking. “Don’t mention any of this to Yerin, but… You’re not like her in the best way possible. You seem more… human.”

Jin let out a low whistle. “Damn. That’s…” Jin quirked her head, looking down at her cup and trying not to laugh at the bluntness of Changmin’s statement. Changmin let out an air of a chuckle.

“No, listen,” He pleaded. “Yerin’s great but Yerin’s never had the general public go against her like you have. You’ve gone through hell these past few weeks and you still are a kind person. Yerin kinda loses it when someone so much as steps a toenail out of line.” 

Soojin searched Changmin’s face skeptically. “I thought you were friends with Yerin.” 

“I am, but working with people closely makes you realize their flaws in high definition.” Changmin mused, a small smirk on his lips. “If you’re not getting under each other’s skin at least a few times a month, you’re not getting the full Triptych experience.” 

Soojin pursed her lips and nodded. “Good to know.” 

“But hey,” Changmin spread his arms with a smile on his face. “We’re still one big, slightly-dysfunctional family. We support each other just as frequently as we bicker with one another. Which is why I’m here! I’m like… The brother you never asked for.” 

Soojin’s heart clenched. She hasn’t had a ‘family’ in so long. Not since she stopped talking to her parents. The trainees were the closest she’s gotten to a home. Now with everything going on and promotional schedules being so frequent, she felt like there was no structure anymore. Maybe that’s why her days and nights bled together, because there was no one there to help her keep track of them.

Tears formed on her waterline as she placed the mug down on the counter. Without thinking much of it, Jin walked straight into Changmin’s open arms, pressing her cheek against his chest as she hugged him.

“Oh.” Changmin let out a small exclamation of surprise. Gently, his arms came down to hug Soojin back.

[wherewindysurgeswend]

Deep heart’s core: chapter three

chapter one

chapter two

taglist (please dm, send an ask or leave a comment if you’d like to be added or removed): @tunes-on-a-typewriter @rememberedkisses

Kathleen walked quickly towards the first-class lounge. Right before turning the corner, she smoothed her hair, straightened her posture and assumed a snooty expression. Then, she walked in as confidently as she possibly could, trying her hardest not to burst out laughing. 

None of the passengers paid her much attention. Most of them were reading magazines or newspapers. Some were talking in hushed voices. One or two women were knitting. A young man in the far corner of the room seemed to be watching her from behind his newspaper, but she didn’t care.

Larry was sitting in the first-class lounge, pretending to be interested in a copy of his uncle’s newspaper, when a pretty, dark-skinned girl with a mop of curly black hair walked in. This was of interest to Larry only because he had been under the impression that he knew all the first-class passengers by sight if not by name (you were bound to meet a lot of them if you spent most of your time at the bar or in the ballroom), but he was certain he had never seen this girl before. It wasn’t just that the people who frequented the first-class lounge tended to be white, and this girl wasn’t, although that was a factor. The main reason he was so sure they hadn’t met before was that she had a face that would be hard to forget. There was a vibrancy and easy self-assuredness in her expression that few people Larry had ever met had. Nonetheless, she carried herself as if she was where she belonged, so Larry figured maybe he had met her the previous evening but had been too drunk to remember.

As Larry watched in amazement, the girl walked up to each person in the lounge one by one and struck up a conversation with each one. He couldn’t quite hear what she was saying, but after talking to each passenger for about a minute, they would laugh, and she would move on, waving as if to an old friend. 

After a few minutes of this, the girl approached Larry. “Darling!” she exclaimed, “It’s perfectly marvelous to see you!” Larry blinked a few times.

“Do I know you?” 

“You mean you don’t remember me?” She looked genuinely hurt.

“Er — I’m afraid not.” She looked even more hurt. Larry was about to try to comfort her when the unexpected happened — she laughed. “You shouldn’t,” she said, “We’ve never met.” Larry stared at her. “Then why….?” she laughed again.

“I wanted to see if I could fool you.”

“Wait a minute,” Larry asked, beginning to understand what was going on, “Just how many of the people in here do you know?”

“None.”

“That’s…. That’s amazing, is what that is! How did you do it? And more importantly, why?”

“I wanted to test my theory.”

“Which is….?”

“If you act like you know what you’re doing, people will believe just about anything. None of the people in here have ever seen me, but if I acted convincingly enough like we were old friends, they would have no choice but to assume I was telling the truth, and they would be too embarrassed to admit they had forgotten who I was. I had a perfect score, too, until I met you.”

“I suppose I’m the exception that proves the rule.” The girl laughed.

“I guess you are.”

“Now, since you’re so adept at fooling people, I suppose we ought to be friends. I’d much rather have you on my side than not. I’m Larry.” He held out his hand for her to shake.

“Larry. What’s that short for?”

“Larold.”

“No it’s not.”

“No it is not. It’s short for Lenry.”

“That’s not it either, is it?”

“What does it matter? You just want me to say on the record that my name is Lawrence, don’t you?”

“Maybe so. You don’t look like a Lawrence.”

“What’s your name, then, so I can tell you if you look like it?”

“Kathleen.”

Anna and Margaret were looking out at the ocean, talking idly about nothing in particular when Kathleen came around the corner. She was followed closely by a young man Anna and Margaret both recognized at once.

 “You!” Anna blurted out.

“Larry?” exclaimed an incredulous Margaret at the same time.

“Afternoon, Peggy,” Larry said graciously. Margaret was glancing back and forth between Larry, Kathleen and Anna in disbelief. “How do you know Larry?” she asked Anna.

“You might say your friend here fell for me,” Larry said with a grin. Margaret looked even more confused. “That’s a funny way of saying you bumped into me and knocked me over,” said Anna, recovering the power of speech. “Oh, Larry, you didn’t!” exclaimed Margaret.

“He did,” said Anna.

“Your friend here is, unfortunately, correct. I did.” he turned to Anna, “I didn’t get your name?” “No, I expect you didn’t, since you ran away while I was picking up my things. It’s Anna Byrne.” 

“Pleased to meet you. My name is Lawrence Sterling Kittredge, Jr. But you may call me Larry.” Nothing about what he had said was especially funny, but his tone of voice and expression were so comical that Anna couldn’t help but laugh. “Another Kittredge…. are you and Margaret related, then?”

“Peggy is my cousin. My favourite cousin, I might add.”

“I’m your only cousin who doesn’t hate your guts.”

“Hence why you’re my favourite.” Kathleen was looking more puzzled by the second. 

“Jesus Christ, does everyone on this boat know each other or something?” 

“How do you know Larry, anyway?” Margaret asked, turning to face Kathleen.

“We met in the first class lounge.”

“She was trying to see how many people she could talk into thinking they had already met. It nearly worked on me.”

“And just how drunk were you at the time?” Margaret asked.

“Not at all. I was stone cold sober. I swear it to God.”

“Larry! I’ve never known you to take the lord’s name in vain like that before!” Larry pretended to be hurt. “Oh, cold, cruel Margaret! You have so little faith in me.”

“You wouldn’t have faith in you either if you knew yourself.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.” Margaret tossed her head.

“I don’t take criticism on what makes sense from someone who thought Cary Grant and Gary Cooper were the same person until eight months ago,” she said disdainfully.

“They look eerily similar and —”

“They do not,” Kathleen interrupted.

“And they have almost the same first name! Have you ever seen the two of them in the same room together? It seemed perfectly reasonable at the time.”

“Anything can seem ‘perfectly reasonable’ when you come up with it after you’ve had seven martinis. That doesn’t make it correct.” Larry pretended to be deeply offended.

“I didn’t come here to be mocked. Come on Kathleen, You’re my only ally.”

“No I’m not, I think you’re just as ridiculous as Margaret says you are.”

“Oh, how alone I am! Whoever can I turn to?”

“All right, all right, that’s enough with the dramatics,” Margaret interjected, “did mother tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Phyllis is going to be in Paris at the same time as us.”

“Which Phyllis? Phyllis Schuyler or Phyllis Andersen?”

“Phyllis Schuyler.”

“Well, won’t that be fun? I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a trip,” Larry said drily. 

“What’s the matter?” Anna asked. Margaret had mentioned Phyllis to her but she didn’t know what Larry could possibly have against her. “You remember how I said Phyllis had two broken engagements?” said Margaret. Anna nodded.

“One of them was to Larry.” Anna laughed incredulously.

“No! That can’t possibly be true.”

“I regret to inform you that it is,” said Larry, “so you see how this puts me in an awkward position. Two weeks in Paris with my aunt and uncle, both of whom despise me, and my ex-fiancée. Christ, it’s like something out of a movie.”

“Not just two weeks in Paris. She’s going home on the same boat as us.”

“She isn’t!”

“She is.”

“Peggy, you may have to shoot me. I don’t know if I can get through this.”

“Don’t be silly. How am I supposed to get through it without you?”

Anna and Margaret spent the evening on deck, watching the sunset in comfortable silence. As the full moon was rising and the stars were coming out, Anna turned to Margaret. “Can I ask you a question?” Margaret nodded.

“Are you happy?” Margaret hesitated.

“I — well, I guess so.” “Don’t you sometimes feel like you’re missing something?”

“Of course I do. Everyone does, I think.”

“I guess so. It’s just — you looked so sad. Just now, I mean. You were looking out at the sea, and you just looked heartbroken or something.” Margaret forced herself to laugh.

“Don’t be silly. I’m fine. I promise.” She squeezed Anna’s hand. Anna didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t say anything else. 

They sat there silently for a few minutes, but it wasn’t the easy silence from before. There was something loaded in it. Finally, Margaret spoke. “Anna?” Anna turned to face her.

“I have a question for you, now.” Anna didn’t say anything, so Margaret carried on.

“Why did you become a reporter? Why not something else?”

“Well, a girl’s gotta eat. I had to do something, and I guess journalism seemed like something I wouldn’t be too bad at, and I kind of liked the idea. Blame it on the movies. It seemed exciting and romantic. You know, telling the untold stories, standing up for the downtrodden, all that sort of thing.” Margaret nodded thoughtfully.

“But say you didn’t have to eat,” Margaret said after a long pause, “Say money wasn’t a concern. What would you do then?”

“Well,” Anna said slowly, “you know that poem by Yeats — The Lake Isle of Innisfree?” Margaret nodded. “You know how it says ‘and live alone in the bee-loud glade’? Well, that’s what I would do. I would get myself a cottage near a lake and live there all by myself.”

“But wouldn’t you get lonely?” Anna considered this.

“I guess so. But not for a while yet. For as long as I can remember, things have been noisy and hectic. That’s O.K. most of the time, but sometimes I just want some peace and quiet. If I could, I would just isolate myself until I got tired of peace and quiet. It’s like the poem says — ‘peace comes dropping slow’. I expect it would take me years, decades, even, to get tired of peace.”

“But wouldn’t you get bored?” Margaret persisted, “All alone like that….”

“Maybe so. But I’d still want to try it. I could always come back if I couldn’t stand it. What about you? What would you do if you could do whatever you wanted?” Margaret was taken aback. She hadn’t expected Anna to turn her own question back on her. Truth be told, she didn’t have an answer. All her life, someone had been telling her what to do. What would she do if nobody was telling her? She had always longed to break free from her obligations, but now it occurred to her that she had no idea what she would do with herself. So she did what she always did in this sort of situation — she said something flippant. “I guess I would just run away and have as much fun as possible before I die,” she said with a forced laugh. Anna looked at her like she knew that wasn’t true, but she didn’t say anything. She figured it was best to keep her mouth shut. They tried to just look out at the sea and the night sky like before, but it wasn’t the same. The spectre of Margaret’s unspoken truth floated between them. Not more than five minutes later, they were both back in their cabins. Neither slept very well that night.

[namjoonchronicles]

everything he couldn’t say | yg

↳ GENRE fluff, domestic 

↳ WORDS 3.4k

↳ SUMMARY –Aloof. Stoic. And many other words used to describe your husband. He’s not always like that, is he?

↳ WARNING none

↳ NAMJOONCHRONICLES’ HONORARY TAG LIST @kai-tashi @joon94net @yourlocalalien @septemberalien @yoongiseesaw

A new mixer. The device was not even released on international market yet. Jimin opens his mouth to close them again. No words. Yoongi stood beside him, pressing the power button, off. Jimin opens his mouth again, closes them without saying a word. He inhales through his teeth, and whistles.

"...Hyung." He smacked his lips together. "I know." Yoongi darted.

Jimin swung his head to Yoongi this time, but Yoongi was staring down at the device, as if he was staring down at a blackhole of his uncertain future. Jimin frowns and pouted. Then he puffs his cheek and shifted his weight on another foot. He pressed his index finger to his chubby cheek, and drag the down his chin, eyes not leaving the new mixer before scratching the skin underneath his jaw, blinking, and "...How did she even got this?" To which Yoongi answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"It's close to impossible." Jimin drawled. "I know." Yoongi shot.

"It's limited edition." "I know."

Jimin sat next to Yoongi on the leather couch he has in his Genius Home Lab. Fixing his blonde-do, he rested his elbows on his knees, Jimin didn't plan to be here.

He could blame it on his attentive side for being thrown in this situation, but Jimin sworn to help any how he could when he first got close to Yoongi. It was a given. This morning, Jimin didn't have a plan, nor a place to hangout in or someone to hangout with. He was about to delve into complete boredom of his day, not being able to disturb Jungkook because the guy had locked himself in his room until further notice, Taehyung was out with his schoolmates, yet again--so, Jimin was scrolling down his phone when the screen flashed into an incoming call from Min Yoongi. Answer call.

Jimin spiked on his bed and answered. He was greeted with an off-key singing of 'Spring Day' which turns into Agust D's 'Tony Montana' and then 'Dead Leaves' before spiking off to an upbeat 'Not Today' chorus before slowering down to 'So Far Away'--medley. A medley Jimin never thought possible, in a span of 50 seconds. "Yoongi-hyung?" He hesitantly say. "...Oh, Jimin..." The singing in the background hasn't stopped. "...Is everything alright? Is that the sister-in-law?" Jimin asked. Yoongi shut his eyes, massaging his temples with one hand, "...Yes, that's my wife. Hold on..."

Jimin heard Yoongi called your pet name. Twice, and then three times.

"...Sweetie. Mrs. Min. Earth to Mrs. Min! Mayday...Mayday!"

You looked at him, paused and stare. Yoongi brightens up. She finally stopped.

And then, "I want it, this love. I want it, real love..." Then you proceed to sing his rap verse in DNA. Yoongi burst into short chuckle and held the phone away a bit, "Please, go. GO! I'm trying to work here..." The singing gets dimmer and Jimin could hear the door being closed. And even then you weren't done singing your high notes that could pierce any healthy ear drums. You surely weren't the best singer, but hey, at least your vocals had power. "Now I know why you have locks on your door, hyung..." Jimin passed. Yoongi sighed into the phone, "Didn't mean to call you and disturb your peace, but can't you get anyone out there to bring my wife to that fried chicken shop, I really can't leave my studio right now, I'm 87% done with this track and I don't want to lose my muse."

Jimin tipped his eyes to outside his room and saw Jungkook's door that had the 'Do Not Disturb' sign outside, hanging on its knob before sighing into the phone. "Jungkook is not leaving his room, so I guess that's gonna be me." Yoongi was quick to say no. "Is there no one else there? Apart from you? I need your opinion on something... so someone else has to accompany her." Yoongi leans back into his chair next to his covered piano. He grabbed the remote and pointed it to the aircon to have it slowed a little, because its getting rataher chilly in here. "...I'll see if Seokjin is around." Jimin walked out the room he shared with Hoseok and peeped to Seokjin's room he once shared with Yoongi.

"...Yup, he's here." Jimin nodded. Seokjin tipped his eyes up. "What?"

After Seokjin dropped Jimin off and fetch you to go to that fried chicken shop, Yoongi invited Jimin into his home studio. "We had our new year gift exchange every end of the year, and this year she gave me first." Yoongi revealed the item underneath a black silk cloth and showed a black mixer. It has his name engraved on it. "I never once told her I wanted this. I don't know how she found out." Yoongi let the information sink into Jimin as he watches intently at the specimen.

"...Maybe she checked your browsing history?" "Cleared it, every single time."

"Asked Namjoon?" "Namjoon has never heard of this device."

"Psychic?" "The only probable answer to this mystery. She's psychic."

Jimin blinks at it. A new mixer. The device was not even released on international market yet. Jimin opens his mouth to close them again. No words.

Jimin sat next to Yoongi on the leather couch he has in his Genius Home Lab. Fixing his blonde-do, he rested his elbows on his knees, Jimin didn't plan to be here.

"So this is what you've been worried about for the past few days?" Jimin crinkled his eyes as he smiled and Yoongi casted his eyes down. He didn't think it was obvious. But apparently, it caught Jimin's attention, somehow. It had been days. He was growing increasingly worried about it. To match your gift with his own kind of thoughtfull gift. You gave him something so precious, so unpredicted that it has somehow turned into a 'who had the better gift' competition. Last year, Yoongi went to Innisfree and bought you a gift pack, with a custom made cover with your name on it, then have it delivered to your door while also sending one rose to your office, signed with a Mars chocolate bar that he knew you loved. And you matched that by buying him a new pairs of fuzzy socks with his name on it, in three different design. He came home to a box of limited edition shoes he had been eyeing for many months. No cards, no apparent reason. Just a gift to come home to.

Splurging on your significant other is something you enjoy doing. And it was something that Yoongi picked up too. At first he was quite hesitant, but when you reciprocated the tradition, it became a monthly-thing. Yoongi was running out of creative ways and items, hence, he had asked Jimin today, if he had better suggestions.

"...I have an idea." Jimin said that, and then disappeared for days. Yoongi never knew what it was. So he walked around leisurely into another Innisfree store, and when they approached him, "Are you here to pick up a new set for your wife, Mr. Min?" They are almost certain that Yoongi would come two months once, to fetch the usual facial care products you wear and have it paid for you.

It became his routine. You never had to spend a dime. Sometimes he'll search online for a good spa and have one-whole day spa package purchased for you, to pamper yourself and away from home while he prepares a meal, and do all the house chores for you. Yoongi really knows how to treat you.

It's like he's born to be a husband.

He is very good at managing things at home, fixing stuff, washing dishes--hates doing it but does it anyway; Yoongi take the car to workshops if he notices something odd about it. Making sure you don't have to get your hands dirty, like that one time he caught you changing the car tyre alone. He almost had a heart attack. "I can do it!" You protested with a smile. "...no hands of my wife will touch such greasy material, move. Let the husband do it. I know you can, but what am I here for?" he rolled his sleeve up his elbows and took over entirely.

Smiling down at him as he twist the bolts back into place, you grinned. "If only you saw me living as a student when I was younger... I had friends who never know how to put gas into their car. So I do it for them. I also pump my own tyres. I talk to mechanics. I was not a pretty princess, I do many things on my own..." Yoongi focused on the bolts, managing pretty well of it, before hiking his breathe, commenting, "Is that why you don't like me calling you princess?"

You dropped your head and nodded, leaning against the hood.

"You're right...it's offensive." He suddenly, crossed his leg and sat down on the dirty ground, two remaining bolts needed attention.

You quirked your brows at him, a smile waning. "Why is that offensive? Girls like being called that, but not me...I thought it was weird. The fact that I'm not like everyone else...liked being called: princess." You shrugged your shoulders, looking at the sky and then to him. He twists in the fouth and final bolt into the tyre. "You definitely do not call a Queen, a princess. Your majesty." He cocked an eyebrow at you to which you replied with a growing smile. "You don't look for a knight in a shining armor, because you don't need one. You are your own hero. You find out places you lack in, and you fill them up, no problem. You take one problems head on and stay firm to your ground even when no one else is standing with you...now that's fucking sexy." He hoisted himself off the ground, then drop the spanner to his side, making his way to you. "Sometimes," he rubs his hands together, wiping off the grease as much as he could as he squinted his eyes to the sky behind you, "...I am afraid to tell you things you don't realize you were glancing past, for fear that you will fix and patch it up, leaving me nothing to be good at."

Yoongi framed you with his arm, while keeping a distance, not touching you at all, resting the heel of his palm on the car's hood while he speak in murmurs. "...What are you even saying..." you shook your head and he inhales, "...like where I keep the ladders to refrain you from being able to change the bulbs on your own. Or when I purposely tighten all all jars at home so you could call me for help. And these tyres. You're missing out the tyres," he listed, biting his lips, inching in close and repelled repeatedly, to tease you. "...What about the tyres, what's wrong with them?" You darted your eyes to it. "It needs changing." He shot and you looked at him, "I know. I pretend not to, so you could feel like a man."

"Why you manipulative little carrot." He shot. "I've also found out the way to open the jars without calling you. And I don't use ladders to change the bulb," you sprinted away.

Yoongi is well-aware that you don't need him. You are independent, self-less, diligent and learn very quickly to adapt to situation that sometimes he's scared that you would leave him. He didn't even understand why you're with him when you possess all this survivor capability but he does try to do everything he can, to make himself worthy of your time. But what he didn't notice is that, you began to feel like he was a necessity eventhough you never really expected someone to be this important to you. Min Yoongi was a recklessly forward lover that drilled his way through your concrete heart, and made it, his throne. You have been trespassed and colonized by this being and when you realised it was happening, it was already too late. All the insecurities that made you learn and aspire to be perfect, become more prominent when you realise that Yoongi could have easily chosen somebody else.

"Jimin? Did you get what I told you to get?" You asked, and Jimin handed a pile of books to you, "But why do you need Yoongi hyung's high school magazines?"

Research. You know you can't get that from Yoongi. For some reason, he had been hiding it from you, throwing it away (tried to) before finally giving it to Jimin and you recently find out that the magazine is alive and well. Today, Yoongi sat on the couch, watching Netflix, deciding what to watch and you walked in, reading a passage that sounded so familiar to him. "...For me, it’s not clothes but mine is a little odd. A Hi-Fi (High Fidelity) headphone. A headphone that has high fidelity,"

Yoongi snapped his head to your direction, coming from the depth of the hallway, jumped from the couch and try to get that magazine away from you while you keep reading, unbothered one bit, "Kind of like when you see people carry around expensive electronic devices," he snatched them from your hand but with your incredible memory, you read out aloud what your eyes caught in a split second, eyeing him, "When I see a girl with that kind of headphone, like, she attracts me.” He shoved the magazine down the dry bin, with his legs, stomping a number of times. "Guess who doesn't have a Hi-Fi headphone?" You sat cross legged on the sofa with your arms crossed and menacing grin while Yoongi rested his hand on his hip, staring at the floor, turning his back on you, slouched. "...Which idiot was it?" He grumbled. "Which idiot gave you that magazine? I thought I burnt it..." He repeated. "I don't want to answer that question, I don't have an expensive headphone," you stood up from the sofa and poke your head into the fridge.

And it has begun.

"Honey, did you see the cable I brought home last night, I can't find it..." "I don't know, maybe you should ask girls who uses expensive headphone, she probably knows where it is." "Do you want to order a take out?" "Can't say. A Hi-Fi headphone wearing girl would eat salads and shit." "Let's talk." "I'm not worthy of your time, I used an earphone I bought five years ago, still. I'm not your ideal type. Marrying me was a mistake."

Yoongi hung his jaw open while you walk past him, push him away from the fridge to get to your food.

"You're in my way, move." "Excuse me, you're hurting my feelings." "You're hurting mine." "How exactly do I do that?"

Slam the fridge door shut and gave him your acid eyes. Your mouth opens and closes, before you snapped open the coke can and start gulping it down angrily. "You can't say because you know how irrelevant it is..." he challenged you. "Who are you to tell my anger is irrelevant knowing very well that it's you who made me hella mad." You growled back.

"At a stupid passage I wrote in high school..." He passed, leaning his hip on the counter, peering down at you.

"What's written is strong enough to be an argument. You actually thought that I was going to look past this?" You pointed him with your finger, scoffing a mocking air out your mouth, "Ha! You wish."

"Are you bored? Is that why we're fighting?" Yoongi snatched the can from your hand and drink it down until its finished, before crumpling them in his hands and discarding them by throwing it to the bin, not budging from where he stood.

"Let's do it, let's fight. Come at me baby. Let's go," he taunted you, arms wide spread, ready to accept punches. You squinted your eyes at him, unfazed by his pleas but is growing increasingly waning away.

"...Why do you even like me. Are you pretending?" You dropped your gaze to your feet, and pouted. Your voice softens and barely audible, but Yoongi caught every word. He dropped his fighting arms and scooted next to you, leaning on the counter as well, so you both are facing the refrigerator.

"I don't wear Hi-Fi, I don't even have a Hi-Fi. I don't play musical instruments. I don't know anything about music. I'm not graceful. I change tires for cryin' out loud..." you tilt your head back, begin to laugh while a tear escaped the tail of your right eye that Yoongi could see clearly.

"I fix the toilet, spends more time in Harvey Norman's than I do in boutiques, I am nothing like the girls in the TV. Not goddess like, I don't even like heels. I think vanity is overrated and I throw on anything I feel comfortable in, you must be so embarrassed." You ran your fingers through your hair once and sniffed.

"I know I like you. I love the things you do. I love the way you smile and how you talk me out of things. I like that you listen. And when I read that, your high school fantasy, I just, felt very... not ideal?" You glanced at him briefly but broke eye contact even when you feel his eyes on you. He's doing what you love, listening.

"I was very stupid. I don't know anything back then...how do I say this," he grew increasingly restless, trying to explain emotions knowing how bad he is at it.

"...you're just saying things to make me feel better." You wiped away a tear that fell, smiling bitterly. "Why am I like this..." you whimpered, suddenly feeling the rush of emotions ravishing your sanity.

Yoongi shook his head, murmuring no's.

"...There's nothing wrong with you. Let me say this as simple as I can. I was materialistic. I was intrigued by physical attractions, like every other boys my age, but then I met you. And I realised that there's so much more to love than what meets the eye...I liked pretty ankles, beautiful hands, charming smile but I saw you. You came to me like a hurricane I wasn't prepared for. When I see you walk in with a basket full of muffin and left them at the hospital for strangers to take, I fell hard. I realised that love is so much more than the movies made them to be."

"Suddenly, love wasn't whether she had a Hi-Fi, or expensive headphones. I used to want someone who I can speak music with, but realised teaching you the things I know is much more rewarding. Your eyes sparkle when you hear me play, I won't get that from someone who knows music like the back of their mind. Do you know how cool you are, not being graceful? How you take everything into your control and take charge? People trust you and do you know how attractive that is? No Hi-Fi comes at parr to the leadership ability you have. Do you know how many girls I know who could change their tyre and be independent as fuck? One. And how you curse? That's so sexy. You can insult me everyday, and I would thank you," Yoongi shrugged.

"Are you on drugs, Yoongi." You chuckled, and wrapped an arm around his waist, leaning your forehead on his upper arm. "I wish I was, what the fuck did I just say," he begin to blush.

Jimin came back with a pen-drive, thankfully you got the door. "It's for you, from your husband." Jimin said. "Happy gift day!"

You watched him scampering down the hallway outside your apartment and frowned in confusion. Inserting the pen-drive into the slot of your large TV, you sat and waited for it to load. Yoongi creeps behind the hallway to watch you. Jimin was obviously the one carrying the camera into Yoongi's studio office.

"What's up, what's up Mr. Min Yoongi!" He sang, chirping and Yoongi gave him a side eye and ignored pretty much the whole time he was there.

"...who's texting?" Jimin asked, from the video you heard. Yoongi is typing something into his phone,"...my wife." He is smiling till his eyes turned into crescents.

Then the video shot cut into Yoongi walking side by side with Jimin, Jimin is the one shooting it. "Our beloved hyung is getting a pizza for his wife. Is it okay? She just got well from a fever."

"She likes pizza." "What's the best thing about Mrs. Min?" Jimin asked. Yoongi glared at the camera. "Everything."

Everything.

Jimin compiled everything Yoongi couldn't say. In a video.

[ace-of-novas]

Stealing Glances // Fan Chengcheng

Summary: You recently got a job as an audio assistant and one of the members of the group your filming won’t stop staring at you. 

Reason: Because Fan Chengcheng looked so soft during the Innisfree interviews and virtual reality

Pairing: Fan Chengcheng x Reader

Word count: 2,065

Warning: Un-betaed, super attempted fluff

++++++++

{{original gif}}

“Hello, we are Nine Percent.” The large group of boys bowed.

Their voices startled you into almost dropping the battery packs you’d been sorting through.

You’d gotten an internship with a filming company a couple months ago as an assistant to the audio tech. You enjoy the work but you still weren’t quite used to just how loud a lot of the groups you had to film were. Most were young boys you had to film for the appeal of the teenage girls but this group, Nine Percent, was the largest group yet. Nine members seemed a little too much to you. They’d introduced themselves individually but you hadn’t been able to keep up. The group was doing a photoshoot and virtual reality for Innisfree so they were all wearing relatively the same outfits, making your life that much harder. Your younger sister was really into them and you’d been told Fan Bingbing’s brother was in the group, but other than that, you knew hardly anything about the tall group of boys. However, if Bingbing’s brother was as pretty as her….

Because they were really only doing a photoshoot, your job was simple. Just wire the boys with mics so that their voices could be picked up on the camera one of your co-workers had strapped to her head, seeing as the Gopro’s original microphone was terrible.

You picked up the microphones you’d been sorting through and made your way to the group. As usual, the idol group consisted of undeniably attractive men, one after the other, and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t a little flustered to be in their orbits. Luckily, none of them paid you any mind as you instructed them how to wrap the mic pack around their waist and attach the actual microphone so it was hidden. The boys talked excitedly to one another as you tweaked the battery packs around their slim waits.

The first couple weeks on the job you’d been a blushing mess as your fingers had involuntarily skimmed well defined abs. Now that you were used to it you could at least keep a straight face. Even when you saw a small tattoo on one of their hips that dipped below his waistband, your face remained blank (you just hopped no one noticed that you were staring a little longer than usual at the black lettering).

You gave a soft greeting to each member until you came to the last boy. His brown hair was slightly curled in soft ringlets and donned a mint button down over a white shirt, both tucked into his slim white pants. You pouted a little. You hopped the stylists wouldn’t yell at you for untucking his shirt.

“Could you lift your shirt,” you asked.

The boy sputtered and you looked up. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

You giggled softly into your hand. “So I can put on your microphone pack,” you said, holding up said items.

“Oh!” he exclaimed. A couple of the other boys turned and snickered at the dark blush that was spreading from his ears down to his cheeks. The boy slowly untucked and raised his shirt to reveal soft abs.

You resisted the urge to coo at how cute the boy was. Instead you wrapped the battery pack around his waist. “What’s your name?” you asked once the pack was secure.

“F-Fan Chengcheng,” he stuttered.

“My name is L/N F/N.” You turned the microphone on. In one swift movement, you curled both arms around the idol in a lingering hug. You could feel his heated red skin against your cheek. You innocently tucked the microphone into Chengcheng’s back pocket and pulled away. “Good luck.” You smiled. You didn’t wait for the stunned boy’s reply and walked off, quite proud of yourself. You could hear some of Chengcheng’s group members laughing at him.

One of your co-workers gave you a smirk as you gave back a smug shrug. If you didn’t take the opportunity now to flirt with cute celebrities then when would you have the chance again.

As the crew began to set up, you could feel Chengcheng glancing over to where you stood at the sound mixer, checking audio levels. The gaze would quickly leave whenever you turned your head to look. It seemed a soft smile wouldn’t leave your face and your co-worker kept rolling her eyes.

“How are you whipped already?” she whispered.

You shushed her. It was endearing to say the least. To feel someone’s interest in you was something you’d never felt before and screw everyone if you weren’t going to revel in it a little.

“Places everyone,” the director yelled and the room went quiet.

The shoot went well though you and your co-worker were cringing through half of the ridiculously cheesy lines the writers had given the idol group. Even as the camera rolled Chengcheng kept looking at you and your eyes were naturally drawn to him. You smiled at him, giving a small wave. His cheeks rose in a gentle smile before he snapped back to look at the girl with the camera like he’d just been caught in an illicit act.

At one point, Chengcheng raced up to the girl with the camera and leaned closer so she could put some of the cream on his face. As she did, he stared right at you, a silent challenge to gage your reaction. You gave a playful pout and turned away. When you turned back you had to look away again because you didn’t want anyone to see how disappointed you were that Chengcheng’s ears were just as red putting the cream on the girl’s face as they had been with you.

Nearing the end of the shoot, Justin (your co-worker had enthusiastically made you memorize all of their names) came up to you as you were wrapping up cables.

“Hi, how can I help you?” you asked politely.

Justin’s lips curled in a charming smile as he leaned on the wall next to you.

“I like collecting pretty things so I was wondering if I could have your number,” he said.

You crossed your arms and gave Justin a ‘really?’ look. Honestly, pick up lines weren’t your thing. They kind of made you uncomfortable and feel out of your comfort zone but that one was just ridiculous. You glanced around Justin to where Chengcheng was watching you from behind a camera, not being very secretive about his hiding place. He ducked behind the camera as soon as he saw you looking and you huffed out a laugh.

“I’m addicted to the word yes and deathly allergic to the word no, so what’s it gonna be?” Justin wiggled his eyebrows.

This time you couldn’t help but laugh. “What would you even need my number for?”

“Oh, you know,” Justin shrugged. “Arranging times to go on dates, making sure to treat you right, keeping Chengcheng from really mess—” Justin cut himself off and his eyes went wide at his own slip-up.

Now it was your turn to raise a brow. “Are you going to give my number to someone else?”

Justin stutted. You smiled and pat his cheek. “Tell your friend to ask me himself if he really wants it.” And with that you turned and left the idol cursing.

++++++++

You regretted not giving Justin your phone number later as you were packing up the equipment. After that interaction, you hadn’t see Chengcheng at all and it was a small studio. It had sounded cool in your head, a real badass move, but now you were without contact with the cute boy. Nine Percent had left a little while ago as your co-worker so kindly informed you making your heart feel heavy.

“Aw, are you pouting because your boyfriend left without you?” Your co-worker teased. You swung at her arm half-heartedly. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry for your loss. How about you take these boxes out to the car and see if you can catch one last glimpse of him leaving.” She shoved two boxes into your arms making you whine in complaint. Your co-worker smacked you on the back as you left.

As you were leaving the studio, you jumped when you heard your name being called. Fan Chengcheng was running towards you at full speed.

You panicked. Do you drop the precious sound equipment? Do you jump out of his way? Do you let him hit you like some dramatic k-drama?

Well you didn’t have to decide on anything as your instincts kicked in last minute causing you to step out of the bull’s way. But Chengcheng was going too fast for him to slow down enough causing him to crash into the box of wires. Both of you, along with the box, went tumbling to the ground.

The box was thankfully closed so nothing spilled out but both of you lay groaning on the ground for a minute. You were winded, the air hadn’t been knocked out of you but you might bruise a little tomorrow.

“I am so sorry!” Chengcheng all but screamed as he scrambled to help you up. You thanked him softly. You took one look at his concerned face and doubled over in sudden laughter, startling the idol in front of you. You weren’t sure why you were laughing other than the fact you were relieved the boy in front of you hadn’t left. Chengcheng’s lips twitched until he too was a laughing mess. Hair frazzled from the fall he looked nothing short of a teddy bear that you just wanted to hug forever.

“You didn’t leave yet,” you said, voicing your thoughts as the last of your giggling subsided.

The broad smile that split Chengcheng’s face was the first one you’d seen and you took a mental picture in your brain incase you never got to see the sun smiling like that again.

“We were about to, but I forgot something,” Chengcheng said.

You carefully picked up the box. “Oh, what’d you forget?”

“Your number.”

You blinked at him in shock. The shy Chengcheng from before had taken a back seat as the idol looked at you with a sparkle of determination in his eyes. It made you quiver with happiness and you nodded your head quickly.

Not even caring about the box anymore you threw it to the floor and whipped out your phone to give to Chengcheng before he could disappear again. You felt like you were dreaming as you watched his slender fingers type your number into his phone. You were practically vibrating from excitement.

He handed you back your phone and you clutched it to your chest with glee.

“Oh, and, um,” Chengcheng said, the shy boy from before returning. “Y-You should, come to our concert.” His cheeks were bright red even in the dying light of the setting sun. When he ducked his head smiling you once again resisted the urge to coo and push his chin up.

“Of course,” you laughed. “Just send me the details.” You waved your phone at him and his whole face lit up.

“Great!” he exclaimed and you echoed the statement. The pair of you stared at each other in silent awe before a car horn interrupted you.

Falling back into the real world, you blinked away the sun lit fantasy you’d managed to conjure up while standing under the glow of Chengcheng’s smile.

“Chengcheng, let’s go!!” Justin yelled from the window of the car. “We’re going to leave you if you don’t hurry up.”

Chengcheng tensed. “Th-they actually will leave me,” he said hurriedly. He flashed you an apologetic smile before he took off after the slowly rolling car. You watched him until the car was out of sight.

“Hey, where’d you go?” Your co-worker asked as she came upon your star struck figure a few moments later.

You shook yourself out of your daze and apologized to the woman before picking up the fallen box and moving it to the van.

That night when you got home you flung open your sister’s door and sat down on her bed. “Tell me everything about Nine Percent,” you demanded.

[iplowoodsa1988-blog]

Additionally my libido tanked and I had a hard time getting aroused to self lubricate enough for comfortable sex. All this led me to stop taking birth control and I haven't really looked back since. Yes the stress of a potential pregnancy sucks but I feel like myself again and that's super important to me.. The painter felt strangely moved. The lad was infinitely dear to him, and his personality had been the great turning point in his art. He could not bear the idea of reproaching him any more. So I wondering if anybody knows any novels that feature a similar relationship. Old grizzled loner who reluctantly takes on a young female charge who frequently calls him on his bullshit. Lots of snark and gruffness a plus but the relationship has to be completely non sexual and non romantic. Wisdom teeth aka third molars are the teeth at the farthest most part of your upper and lower rows of teeth. The term "wisdom" has been used to characterize these teeth since the 1600s. Initially, they were called "the teeth of wisdom" and, by the 1800s, "wisdom teeth." The teeth, of course, don't make you any smarter but they tend to appear later in life than any other teeth mid teens to mid 20s, typically. Why do you think the drug problems we have right now exist? Because of desperation. When Nixon put the southern strategy into effect, he knowingly hurt lower class citizens, forcing them to do anything to survive. Often times many of these less fortunate people were black. Like the other reply said I sometimes use it as a makeup remover if I lazy but I like to use it more as an astringent toner after my cleansing step and before I use my innisfree HA toner. I think it does a good job getting the last bit of gunk off my face after cleansing and then the witch hazel and other stuff soaks in and does it thing before I layer on the more nourishing stuff. 강릉출장마사지 Also it kinda expensive but the big bottles last me quite awhile so I not too mad at it. Before I got back into school I worked at a transmission shop for a couple years but my back is bad from military shit, hence the idea of getting into computers. I got married and divorced, have three beautiful children from that, plus two step children from my current wife. Let me tell ya man, this shit is hard juggling family and school. Because many believed it was too difficult to compare dogs among the different breed groups, the show actually did not give out a Best in Show award until 1907 [source: Stifel]. Here are some notable Best in 강릉출장마사지 Show records set at Westminster: Breed that has won the most: The fox terrier (wire) has won a whopping 13 times. Dog that has won the most: Ch. No it's not. He's just telling her that like hey, I'm here for you. This hurts me to but I'm here for you. It can take a few days all the way up to two weeks for new products to effect your skin. For this reason, you should introduce products one at a time. I would cut out all actives for a while and strip your routine down to just wash, moisturize and sunscreen (I recommend Cotz sensitive) until your skin is healed. "Because the short form may seem baffling (or even spin doctored) to some new readers, we want to avoid its use in articles and headlines," says the memo. "Beginning in December, use it only in the direct quotations and then be sure to explain what GOP means. Even among people who know that GOP refers to the Republican Party, many may not know that it stands for Grand Old Party.".

[lgcjiho]

･ﾟ  care basket

---------- future dreams, gig opportunity 006 / care basket 

     when he was handed the care basket and the camera and told to show how they used at least one of the products in the basket, he knew immediately that he was going to be an overachiever and show all of them. it’s not a hard task, considering everything in the basket are things that he would probably use on a regular basis anyway. he doesn’t have any prior cf deals to brands that would perhaps not want him to be showing a different sponsored product—since 1, he wasn’t a student and wouldn’t be always wearing a school uniform and 2, it wasn’t like he was only going to be drinking water for the rest of his life. 

     his morning is carefully planned.

     he starts the day off by setting an alarm for an early-ish hour, a time when he knows most of his roommates would be asleep. he starts filming when it’s still dark in the room, having allowed himself a good twenty minutes or so to wake up before starting to film. he didn’t actually want to show a half asleep jiho—that wouldn’t be good for anyone. 

     “hi,” he keeps his voice low, making sure not to wake anyone. he’s still curled up under his vivalon weighted blanket, carefully arranged so the tag was in sight but looking like that was just how he used it. in reality, he usually turned it the other way around, but the blanket was something he had started using from day one when he had received it. it had helped his anxiety a lot, especially on the nights that it had thunderstormed since he had gotten it in the care basket. 

     “it’s really early right now,” he says, checking his phone and showing the screen to the camera, his lockscreen a little fanart of him. the screen reads ‘6:17AM’ and he covers his mouth as he gives a cute, little yawn. staged, but realistic enough. “i’m not usually a morning person, but i wanted to show you guys how great this blanket it. even though i slept not too long ago, i feel really rested. it’s this one!” he points at the vivalon tag, hoping that it showed up well enough with the bit of the pale, morning sunlight that was streaming through the top of the curtains. 

     “i have some stuff to do for school today, so i was going to show you my skincare routine on days i don’t have to worry about sweating and stuff, he adds, climbing out of bed. he had purposefully worn the nike hoodie to sleep in, though that was a normal, regular occurrence considering how comfy and warm it was, bringing the camera with a tripod to the bathroom with him. 

     he sets it up on the bathroom counter, his fingers immediately moving to comb through his hair. stopping the recording so he could brush his teeth first, he starts again once he’s put his cat headband on to push his hair away from his forehead, when he lathers up a water-based cleanser to wash his face. he makes a few cute expressions at the camera with his face all soapy, before rinsing it off and patting his face dry. 

     “this is really nice,” he comments, showing the innisfree toner that he had received in the basket. he’s been using it for a while now, and it’s obvious with how there’s a section of it missing from the top of the bottle. “it’s really soothing and i like putting it onto a cotton pad,” here he shows the cotton pad before pouring some toner onto it, “and wiping it over my face and neck.” 

     the confidence he’s showing with his no makeup face isn’t fake or exaggerated either, always having thought he was good-looking even without makeup. makeup just enhanced his features, which he would never not enjoy. 

     he’s quiet through the rest of his skincare routine, heading into the kitchen of the dorms. “i don’t have time for breakfast right now, so i’m going to grab something small to drink,” he comments, tugging the fridge open and pulling out a cold bottle of the vita 500 drink. he usually doesn’t go for vita 500, preferring oronamin-c because it was fizzy, but this is for sponsors. 

     twisting the lid off, jiho takes a long sip, chugging the bottle down in one go and wiping at his mouth afterwards—it reminds him of how he had to drink refreshingly for the eska water cf, which had been a fun experience, honestly. hopefully, he would get another one. “vitamin c drinks are really good for you—especially if you’re like me and don’t eat enough things that have vitamin c in them. i should eat more tangerines ... but for now,” he grins, waving the little bottle and then putting it into the recycling. 

     “i’m going to head to school now,” he adds after, heading to the door before running back to the kitchen to grab something. there’s a small grin on his lips, like a kid who had snuck a treat from his mom, and the reason why is clear once he’s left and was outside. he holds up a mini bag of haribo gummy bears with the grin on his lips only widening. “a snack before a grab lunch after my group meeting!” he chirps, opening the little bag once he’s sitting at the bus stop. “what’s your favourite colour of gummy?” he asks, holding out a yellow one—his personal favourite. 

     “anyways, i’ll end this here because the rest of my day will be boring,” he comments with a soft laugh, popping the gummy bear into his mouth and then covering his lips so he could speak without showing the food inside of it, even if it was just a gummy bear. “until next time! this was lee. ji. ho! thank you~” 

     once he ends the video, he heads back into the dorms. he does have a group meeting today, but it’s not for another couple hours or so. 

     hopefully he could catch a quick nap before he needed to get up and go again. properly, this time.

[all-about-wannaone]

The Lost and Frazzled Boys [Part 1]

Words: 2195

Genre: Friendship, Bromance, Comedy, Wanna One-centric

Characters: All Wanna One members 

Plot: When it came to the logistics of the dorm, whether it was the way it looked or its cleanliness, Hwang Minhyun was the man in charge, and that was the reason why he had named his role as being the “cleaner” and the “environmental gardener” of Wanna One. The other boys were grateful, of course, and soon started to depend on him when they had claimed that their items had “grown legs and ran away” and he would find it in a flash. In other words, he was their caretaker. However, what happens when their precious Hwangje falls terribly sick with a high fever and the flu? Will the members be able to sustain themselves and keep the dorm clean like how Minhyun would want it to be? What kind of adventures would they find themselves having? Stay tuned to find out. 

A/N: Yup, I know I claimed that I did not have the time to write full scenarios but this inspiration came about by listening to a series of happy songs, looking through Wanna One’s handwritten profiles and finding out that this Innisfree 360-degree video had actually been filmed in their dorm. Coupled with Minhyun’s love for cleanliness, this idea came to me pretty quickly and I soon found myself finishing one entire chapter in a combined span of 2-3 hours? ^^;; Hope you guys would enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed writing it! :) Perhaps this could serve as a sample for you guys for future requests! ^^ 

——————————————————————

When the adjective “clean” came to mind, all of the members of Wanna One would probably associate it with their fellow member, Hwang Minhyun. He was the perfect package that anyone could ask for in a band with his good looks, god-sent falsettos, stable vocals, height and prince-like visuals to match. In fact, those traits probably explained why he had earned the nickname “Emperor Hwang” and especially the endearing “Nation’s Husband”.

Furthermore, he was also blessed with an exceptional character. Minhyun was mature, calm, level-headed and always seemed to be the “namaste” factor of the band. He, too, had a heart of gold and always put others before himself. Sometimes, on hindsight, he forgets about his own physical and emotional well-being, which worries the members, but he never seemed to notice it. Lastly, he was also extremely hardworking and with 7-8 years being a trainee and an artiste as a part of Nu’est, it was clear that he was a natural and adaptable being to their newfound showbiz. Despite all this, he remained humble and tended to cringe and laugh when someone gave him genuine praise with his ears turning lobster red.

At this point, what is there not to love about Hwang Minhyun or more like the endearing “Hwangje” that the members address him as?

However, even though Minhyun looked like the type who would probably spend more time going through his skincare routine than lifting a finger around the house, he was pretty much the opposite with the latter. In actual fact, he was always cleaning, all day and every day. If he had nothing else better to do (or more like he just wanted to because it was already habitual), one could easily see him either sweeping, mopping or just putting things back into place and sorting them into alphabetical order or colour. If he was not in the house at any point in time, he was probably outside watering the plants with the garden hose in the backyard or mowing the lawn.

The members always gave him strange looks when he sees them sorting out their shoe cabinet or wiping the seemingly spotless floor, but left him be. To them, it was more of a therapy after all he went through on Produce 101 Season 2 and they sympathised with the way he felt.

How could they forget?

He was the only one from Nu’est to make it to the top 11 and Jonghyun, whom everyone thought that he would make it, stood at #14. Everyone was happy for the rest of the 10 and bright smiles were seen on their faces as they hugged the other trainees that they missed dearly, but Minhyun was the complete opposite once again and it broke him to see that he was the only one who made it in. They knew. They knew that if Minhyun could give up his seat, he would do it in a heartbeat with no hesitation and even though they tried to be strong for him (like Jonghyun advised), they could not help but feel their heart hurt a little whenever they took a glance at Minhyun to see if he was alright.

Perhaps cleaning was his way of therapy and relieving stress.

Everyone was different; Woojin and Daniel danced their frustrations away, Jaehwan would strum his guitar to sing the blues and Daehwi would search for new food recipes to try out and engage in various mukbang videos et cetera et cetera.

As time went by, the members started to rely a little more on Minhyun to keep the dorm clean and the garden well maintained. They did not need to say it when they could not find stuff because Minhyun would sense it right away and would probably passed them whatever they were looking for with a smile and LOTS of nagging that will ensue. On live broadcasts and interviews, there are times when they would complain about the former’s incessant nagging but they all know that if they did not have someone like him, their dorm would not only turn into a pig sty and they would probably not get along well either.

Sure, he was clearly defined to be part of the “Hyung” line but he was also the quiet cheerleader, as well as the glue of the entire band in general. It was something they needed and yes, Wanna One could now be reassured that with Minhyun, their friendships and memories would probably be something that they would never forget and they could be still talking and keeping in touch, even when Jisung turns 50.

That thought just brought a smile to everyone’s face and they would always try their best to show their gratitude to Minhyun for spending the next 18 months with them. Again, it was difficult for him to move out of the dorm that he had shared with the Nu’est members for the past 6-7 years and adapt to a completely new environment. Sure, he had been in the same team with most of them, but that did not mean that Minhyun knew everyone personally and considering his introverted personality, that frightened him and for the first few days, he spent most of the time either quietly sitting in the garden watching the clouds or reading a novel in the living room as the rest of them caught all the rest that they had lost from Produce 101, as well as their already hectic schedule.

At first, Minhyun felt lonely and detached, even when he was constantly surrounded with his 10 other group mates, but he figured that he should start warming up to them too if he truly wanted the team to succeed. And besides, a team was only as strong as its weakest link. Soon, he started finding himself getting closer to Jaehwan and Woojin, his roommates, and also started to get to know Guanlin and Jinyoung a little better, and became the second mother (the first being Sungwoon) or that dependable older brother that the younger ones could rely on.

Deep inside, he did not want to disappoint the fans, and most importantly, worry the fellow Nu’est members. All of them had spent their last few moments with him by his side and they were all worried, especially when Minhyun was not one to show any other emotion except happiness and positivity. Furthermore, the fans were the ones who got him here; they voted for him, despite the odds that he had already debuted in a once successful band and this was the least that he could show his gratitude for the LOVEs who had stuck by him.

Strangely, on this very day, Minhyun was simply not feeling too well today. He was out of breath during practice and he had experienced some occasional dizziness when they took short breaks in between the long hours that they had spent mastering the strenuous choreography. They had to make their debut stage good for the fans, he thought, and used that as his motivation to practice one last time before they retreated back to the dormitory for the night.

“Hwangje-ah,” Jisung asked in a concerned tone, “You okay?? You look a little pale…”

“I’m fine,” Minhyun grimaced and drank even more water, hoping that it will help him ease the headache that was on its way, “And besides, it’s just one more practice. I will be fine.”

Jisung clearly did not buy it, but he understood what Minhyun wanted and rubbed soothing circles on his back as a form of encouragement and Minhyun only showed his gratitude with a bright smile and his signature laugh, while putting his arms around Jisung in the hopes to assure him that the former would be able to stand on his own two feet for a little more.

True enough, the manager had kept his word and let them off to go back to the dormitories to rest and shower, while he goes out to buy them dinner. Wanna One were clearly way too tired to move, especially with all of them lying on the floor and panting heavily. There was a pin drop silence in the studio for once and all that could be heard was the heavy pants, growling stomachs and if one were to keep absolutely quiet, one could probably hear the sound of the members’ hearts palpitating against their chest.

And with that, they proceeded to pack their stuff, ensuring that they did not leave anything behind and took refuge in the van that was already parked outside the building to bring them home. Minhyun took slow steps, almost tripping down the steps as he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head, but he only smiled when the rest shot him looks of care and concern so as to act as if he was okay.

The flight of steps felt endless, but he finally took refuge in the back row of the van, snagging the window seat so that he has something to put his head on and rest. Once seated and belted in, he placed his head against the window, only to realise that the last thing he heard was the incessant chatter of the members and their fight for the remaining window seats.

As expected, Minhyun had overestimated the distance and was clearly in a deep sleep, clueless to whatever was happening around him. He felt like he was tapped awake, but his eyelids refused to open and his whole body started to ache. In response, he probably groaned to show his desire to be left alone in the car to catch his much needed sleep as a remedy for his pounding head.

“Hyungggg,” one of the maknaes whined, “We are already home and all of us are ready to eat!! Manager hyung’s home!!”

“Is he alright?? He was feeling exceptionally breathless before our last practice and looked like death for a moment.”

“Really? Honestly, he actually does look like he’s shivering now but it’s 30 degrees celcius now and the atmosphere is apparently at a 65% humidity level??”

Minhyun heard all of this, but he was obviously too tired to respond and could not find the much needed energy to. His whole body felt like lead and it was as if he had attached himself to the side of the car, and more specifically, his head to the back window.

Soon enough, he felt a hand being placed on his forehead, followed by a loud gasp and a sudden rise in volume when the person spoke.

“Hyung!!! He’s burning!!” The member shouted in shock and there was the sound of people scrambling back into the van again.

He felt another hand on his forehead again and another on his neck, before he heard an “Oh no… He really is.”

“We can’t leave him here hyung!! What do we do?”

“Daehwi please, we are obviously not going to leave him here. Come, help me get him. He’s a little too tall for me to handle all alone.”

“We can try to wake him up maybe?? And besides, the dorm is just right there.”

“No. We don’t need him to injure himself even more. He nearly tripped down the stairs just now if you guys did not notice.”

“Alright then, we cannot wait forever so I will go and get him. Jinyoung, grab his things and bring them up. Jisung hyung, please explain to the manager what happened too. Lastly, Seongwoo hyung, I need you to help me get him on my back.”

Minhyun was then back in a noisier environment with the shuffling of bags and Jinyoung packing his things neatly before he got out of the car and followed behind the rest of the members. Meanwhile, Minhyun then felt a presence of someone in front of him and another adjusting Minhyun’s sleeping position so that he was now leaning on his fellow member’s back with arms slung around his neck. With some effort, Seongwoo had also managed to hoist Minhyun up enough, just so that the member carrying him (most likely Daniel) could get a solid hold of Minhyun’s thighs.

His eyes still remained closed and he wanted to say something about letting him go and that he was fully capable of walking on his own, but all that came out was tired moans and groans as he attached himself to Daniel’s broad back with Seongwoo probably getting ready to support Daniel should Minhyun slip off by accident.

He could not see their facial expressions at that point, but it was probably laced with concern and worry, especially with their debut stage coming in 3 weeks time. And at this point, Seongwoo and Daniel had a short discussion that Minhyun could barely make out, before he felt himself moving rhythmically to Daniel’s footsteps.

“Hyung… Hang in there please. We are almost home. Just… Stay with us for now and I hope you can still hear us as we talk. Really hyung, we are 20 steps away from your bed.”

Minhyun could still hear them, thankfully, but he succumbed to the fatigue with his heavy head and fell into a deep sleep once again.

[min-jins]

KCON LA INNISFREE BOOTH » MY WILD STORY

I wanted to dedicate all of my WANNA ONE posts into one place (my main is so messy) so hi to my new account and I decided to start my first post off with my WILD ASS adventure to making my way TO THE FRONT of the Innisfree booth to see the love of my lives. HERE WE GO! 

So this year at KCON, Wanna One’s only engagement was through buying merch for a chance to win a hi touch pass with them at Star Square on Sunday. (Fun fact, I’ve been with P101 since the PR videos and I cried shitless on the way to the doctor's office when they announced the final 11 for Wanna One). Due to a couple of people buying all the merchandise on Friday and I couldn’t make it on time Saturday, I made it a GOAL to give it a try Sunday. I woke up and picked up my friend at 5 AM and literally drove to the convention where there was already a line forming to get into the convention. I managed to make my way to the front when the security guards opened up another section and were third in line. Came 9 AM when the doors were supposed to open to buy merchandise and you would think bag check would be kind of quick. The security checking my line was extremely slow but right when I got out of it, I busted myself up and we were all blocked inside to get our wrist bands checked and there I was, in the sea of people ( thank god I was in the front ) and I could see the merchandise booth right in front of me. Once they began to scan wrist bands, I have never seen a sea of people rush through and run past the guards without getting checked and there I was pushed inside and getting extremely anxious, I managed to pull my friend through and we were probably the 20th-30th person(s) in line. Obviously, I wasn’t lucky and got the sorry ball so I decided alright, let’s head to the Innisfree booth. I began to get extremely anxious, as someone with a mental health condition my anxiety level began to rise as my friend decided she didn’t want to wait at the Innisfree booth. Thank god I was a part of a KAKAO chat and I had asked if anyone wanted to partner up and behold, someone recognized me and was nice enough to go with me. As we waited, we were probably, the first two on the right side and when the security guard let us through, a sea of people ran and both of us busted our asses and some how made it to the front of the booth. 

Now, a little background, I have been to over 23 concerts and have been in pit three times of the 23. Those three times, legit I either made it to the front or I was in the second row. I’m only 5′1, small, and have had panic attacks before inside due to shoving, and seriously aggressive people so I told myself I will either be in the front or I'll just stand all the way in the back because I honestly don’t want ever go through those moments ever again. 

Anyways, my new friend and I made it to the front and behold, I was thanking the Lord for allowing me to make it to the side front. It’s basically where Wanna One walks through the narrow aisle. 

Now for me, the security guard decided to cut me off and decided to make that gap the entrance for Wanna One to make their way into the booth. I’m like okay that’s fine but the people wouldn’t shift just a bit to the right and it honestly didn’t help at the fact that the person who was super aggressive was a fan site (will not name who they were there for). She was at least 5′6-5′7 and argued that she was supposed to get the spot where I was standing and that it’s the best spot and the only reason why I was there was because the security cut me off but she was there first. Honestly, I was so heated but at this point, I could feel myself about to cry from the overwhelming amount of people and pressure from the booth that I just tuned her out and didn’t care. The security guard just decided to split it right at me. I never asked or demanded it be split there. She then stated that she’ll just let me stand there but she’s going to cross over me to take photos when they walk through. I didn’t want to argue at this point and just decided to ignore her from then on. 

Despite all the shit that was going on with the fan site, the booth people could tell that I was having a really hard time and saw a number of times I was being shoved so occasionally, they would come back and ask if I was alright and would tell the crowd to step back to make some room. 

Finally, when they came through, it was such a great moment where I can’t even fathom and explain how handsome all of them were. I managed to get a video of them walking down the aisle where mainly Woojin saw me (mind you Woojin is my fave along with Jinyoung and Minhyun like how to choose one fave ya know) and waved a couple of times. Jaehwan’s expression was definitely a ‘omfg wow’ and waved. Daehwi was probably the most smiley there and he noticed my Wanna One sign (it was holographic and reflective af). Ha Sungwoon legit stared into my phone and soul and I kind of lost it at this point. Being dumb, I angled my phone kind of off and missed Daniel but he looked really thankful and grinned. Finally, Jihoon looked hella shy and waved into my phone before they stepped into the booth. 

At this point, the shoving got seriously unbearable front and back, and people pushed me off to the side where my body was twisted into the railing. The fan site was basically arguing with the guard and she was about to throw hands and they were about to throw her out, but she was so aggressive I can’t even put it into words. That’s when one of the security guards saw me and decided to move the railing for me a bit and allowed me to stand kind of outside of it. He still had his arm blocked but he made a tiny space for me to be able to see and I was honestly so grateful and I didn’t care at this point and I reached a good level of being able to get a bomb fan cam of Wanna One and I just wanted to leave. As they exited, I got Minhyun to say bye and the boys rushed out and it was beyond chaotic afterward. It was worth waking up early and I didn’t really mind like three bruises (until the next day LMAO) because people were paying over $800+ for a 40 second hi touch and as a college student, ya girl does not have that type of money (cash) on her.

It wasn’t bad until a couple of minutes later, and I was beyond traumatized at this point where I couldn't even step into the convention without having the urge to cry after what happened. My legs were in pain, and for the rest of the day, I decided to sit outside of the hi-touch waiting area the entire time until my friend was done with her KARD hi-touch. As I really wanted to try to make my way through for Star Square, I knew it would be too much to bear on myself so I decide that I should be content and just try to stay alive until the concert. It affected me so much until I saw them perform at KCON (ya girl ended up being place in the section where they came out of to go stage). 

Also, I saw a couple of fan sites (will not name) carry in stools and hid them like in small openings near I was sitting. Trust, I honestly appreciate and thank you for taking really high-quality pictures of the boys, but some of you need to tone it down be decent human beings too. Ask nicely, and don’t be rude. You see your faves all the fucking time and I understand you have a site to run. However, hurting others in the process and being a complete asshole to those around you don’t make up for your photos.  

The aftermath the next day, my entire lower back was in pain, my hip and leg were bruised from the aggressiveness of people the following day. I’m thankful for the fact that I somehow made it to the front with a friend (who ended up being in the second row somehow cries) because if I was in the middle, I would have had a panic attack. I’m glad I got to see the group I came for that close and I know security was a mess at KCON, but some of them were genuinely really nice. I’ve even had small chats with some of them outside the convention area and some are great. Also, shout out to the workers at the Innisfree booth. Thank you for checking up on me. 

[hwallsgrl-archive]

kconla ‘17

this is more or less a post for my own reference bc i tend to forget things rlly easily... and i really don’t want to forget this weekend!! sorry if this is unreadable.. like i said, it’s mainly for my own reference ghfjdksn

friday convention: pretty uneventful seeing as it’s only the first day... me n my friend lined up to try for the w1 hitouch but we were told to come back at 2pm. we had heize’s audience engagement to go to at that time, so we just ended up buying w1 banners and nametags anyways bc tbh.. we didn’t have a chance at winning LOL.. (i heard fansites bought all the merch tho? so at least we got our stuff before that madness). a lot of people were selling their heize passes, so the rest of our party bought them to go in and honestly.. it’s a loss for the people who sold them !! heize is one of the sweetest n down to earth people i’ve ever met/seen... someone in the hi-touch area got her an olaf backpack and she was so excited!! she also said she really liked the vibe of la and that more people showed up than she expected (which broke my heart HJKDS). she also describes herself as a “srapper/ringer” bc she says she likes both singing and rapping... im gna fast forward to the cosmic girls audience engagement which was.. life changing tbh.. they’re all so pretty and cute irl, but bona couldn’t make it for some reason :( yeonjung sang miracle + secret, dawon did eunseo’s “hing~”, and meiqi did luda’s “mollah-ah”. they were also asked who they wanted to switch bodies with and from what i can remember, dayoung wanted to switch bodies with dawon (bc in her words, dawon is “hot, tall, and sexy” HJFSHLJ), and luda wanted to switch bodies with seola (bc she’s really pretty.. and i agree!! all of them are!!!) cheng xiao is my bias but unfortunately she didn’t say much..... also every idol whose never been to la wants in n out but i don’t blame them, it’s good!! i didn’t have that great of a view either bc the people in front of me were already tall + they were against the barrier which adds another inch or so to their height.. but overall it was a cute n fun audience engagement!! we went home afterwards bc there was nothing else left to do..

saturday convention: we went early bc my friend had sf9′s audience engagement so while we waited for her to finish that, me n the rest of the party just went around the convention hall and got free stuff :’)) when she came back, we went to juncurryahn’s meet and greet. he’s rly nice and talented, but i don’t watch his videos so i didn’t know what was going on majority of the time... afterwards we were going to get food and i was going to line up for seventeen’s audience engagement, but on the way out i saw people already lining up outside? when i asked what was going on, a guard told me to wait in the indoor waiting area but when i went there, vixx’s audience engagement hadn’t gone in yet. i asked the woman scanning bracelets but she told me to go outside. when i told her the situation, she then said i could stay inside. thirty minutes later, more people came in and started complaining so she told us all to.. go back outside lmfao... when i headed back outside the guard said the waiting area was full, so i’d just have to sit around until they started letting people line up again... i did meet a few more carats in line tho so i guess? it’s fine.. i also got a mingyu fan from one of his fansites, like u! it was super hectic inside bc a lot of people were crowding me and i was getting anxious, but the carats i met in line were nice enough to check up on me every few minutes to make sure i was okay... and seeing seventeen..... made my heart stop.... i couldn’t get a good view bc 1) im short and 2) people brought posters and constantly held them up whenever their biases talked.. it was a good experience but the only thing that bothered me was people screaming whenever a member tried to talk... i’d hate to be biased but seeing dino in the same room as me was the most memorable.. like he actually glows irl and he’s so handsome and pictures don’t do him justice!!!!!!! also junhui? ethereal. he can’t exist like.. he’s too handsome. they then played a dice game where each number means they have to do a certain thing.. dino got freestyle dance (how fitting...), seungkwan and wonwoo got fav pop song (when we were young + see you again, respectively), jeonghan and joshua both got aegyo, dk got random dance (and he threw the dice inflatable into the crowd and.. mightve hit someone ? idk i only heard him apologizing!!), and mingyu got sexy dance (hgfjdkl it was funny bc he started off fine but got rlly awkward n shy). everyone and their mothers are hip hop team stans btw... after that i left to go find my friends at the mwave stage, where they were doing signed album giveaways. oh my girl was having a fansign at star square in thirty minutes and i happened to be near the barrier where they walked by... in the midst of waiting for oh my girl to come out, my friend’s number was called for an album and he got the night version of astro’s dream pt 01 signed by all members!! literally 3 minutes later oh my girl came out and??????? they’re so pretty i was FLOORED.. i could only get a good look at jiho’s face before a guard stepped in front of me tho.. but i did see all the other member’s side profiles and? i love girls. wow. once that was over, we went to go get food and line up for the concert when the friend who won the album said he didn’t listen to astro.. and he gave it to me....... i started crying

saturday concert: HJFKDSLHJFK IT WAS WILD TBH!! the pre show was really good w/ juncurryahn playing crush’s beautiful on the violin and dancing to not today.. then it was krnfx and he beatboxed a few songs.. also lydia paek joined him for bs&t which was cool!! the first mc’s for the night were scoups, joshua, and vernon and i kind of.. lost my shit HJKDSLHJFK.... i don’t rmr the exact order but i do know that sf9 was the first act and they performed fanfare, jungle game, and easy love. also when they did the whole robot acrobatics thing in jungle game? my face was like :O the whole time!!!! chani looked like a cute lil pumpkin and zuho... is spicy... after that was cosmic girls and I LOVE!!!! THOSE SPACE ANGELS!!!! SOO MUCH!!!!! they performed happy, i wish, and secret (though i really wanted them to perform miracle...) i’m not a big fan of girl’s day but they’re sooo beautiful and they performed i’ll be yours, something. and ring my bell.. i knew nothing about suju d&e but they did 3 songs! the only song i can recall the name of is oppa oppa, which is really catchy... vixx’s act was really good!! they performed shangri-la, black out, and fantasy, but i was thinking about haknyeon and ravi’s lil head twirl part the whole time ghjdfkl.... vixx had a thing called ‘pinata time’ and got photo session, and they made cute poses around the stage so fans could take pictures of them. seventeen was the last act and ................ it was life changing, truly... they performed don’t wanna cry and I STARTED CRYING BC I LOVE THOSE BOYS SO MUCH AND WORDS CAN’T DESCRIBE HOW MUCH THEY MEAN TO ME AND HOW MUCH THEY’VE DONE FOR ME.... they had a pinata time and got everyone in the venue to dance to mansae which made me tear up again... they shot signed tshirts into the crowd in reserved seating!! mingyu + jun + woozi had to share a gun and after they shot one shirt, mingyu was trying to put the other shirt in and almost broke the gun HJFKLHJSDK... jun was interacting w/ the crowd all while woozi n mingyu were trying to figure it out.. like he was just shrugging and being his cute bubbly self.. eventually a staffer had to come up and help them lmao.. they also performed boom boom and aju nice which put me in the happiest mood!! i wanted them to perform pretty u which is like.. my fav song.. but i would have started UGLY CRYING so i’m glad they didn’t... somewhere in between cosmic girls invented the song i need u and sf9 covered sorry sorry... both groups danced together for the last chorus or so for sorry sorry..... also all of svt’s units performed a song! performance team did swimming fool, vocal did habit, and hip hop did check in. but saturday’s concert was amazing and seventeen.. really did change my life..... i also hope hoshi is feeling better !!!

sunday convention: got lost on the freeway and we all started freaking out bc we thought we’d miss wanna one at the innisfree booth. fortunately we made it in time, but the booth was already packed and there were people pushing and shoving. the security was really rude and told people near the back “if you cant see anything you’re wasting your time, what are you doing with your lives??” though i get he was doing his jobs.. there’s better ways to just tell us to back up lmao... i also i stood next to a baejin fansite (cheese bae) and they gave me a banner! my friend and i got claustrophobic and left, but i’m glad i did bc the people in front of me were a good 7 inches taller than me and when wanna one showed, the pushing got so bad that kcon threatened to end the session. the rest of the party stayed and said that they were only there for 5 minutes and that they looked visibly upset (understandable bc of the whole airport incident. i don’t blame them if they hate la lmao). they did get a blurry video of baejin and daniel tho so.. they airdropped that to me. we did pretty much everything the convention hall had to offer and no workshops/panels really interested us so we just hung around the toyota booth for astro... there i got a sanha fan from a fansite, but their name isn’t on the fan so i can’t find them :(... kard was said to make an appearance at the state farm booth right next to the toyota one, so it got crowded and my friend and i left. we just sat in the entrance hall near an outlet until astro came out, and we stood near the elevator so we could see them walk out... sanha is unbelievably tall. like.... what’s he so tall for. why. also while waiting i got a taeyong banner from leetaeyongbar! we then decided to go back inside to hopefully see wanna one at star square, so we went to the area where we stood for oh my girl. luckily not a lot of people cared to stand in the back so we got right up by the barrier. i also talked to a wannable and she was rlly sweet!! i mentioned getting anxious abt crowds of people against me and she also made sure i was okay, which is nice.. also a fansite stood behind me and i told her that if i was in the way, she could just let me know.. i dont know which fansite she is but she was nice n was thankful!!! wanna one came out and i only got a good look at guanlin (who is tall, but not sanha tall) before staff stood in front of me.. after they walked by a bunch of people left so i got closer and waited for them to come out... i’m glad i stayed bc i actually saw them walk out... and jisung!!!!!!!! waved!!!!!! in our direction!!!!!!!!!!!! my heart almost burst out of my chest bc he’s so handsome irl and he’s so cute and he looked really happy... after that we left to line up for the concert

sunday concert: sunday’s crowd was a lot bigger than saturday’s, and i’m pretty sure everyone there was a got7 stan... while in line i saw papa tuan (mainly bc he was dressed as their lightstick, which was cute)!!! inside the venue, the girl sitting next to me as also an aroha so we talked abt astro while we waited for the concert to start!! the preshow was a band called iamnot (correct me if i’m wrong, i couldn’t read their logo ghjfdk) and they were really good.. i liked their act a lot!!! the night’s hosts were mark and jackson, and they did a good job hyping up the crowd (tho everyone in there was a got7 stan so.. who wouldn’t be hyped lol). when they were calling up all the artists, heize brought the olaf backpack on with her and my heart!!!!! exploded w love for my mother!!!!!! once again i don’t remember the exact order, but i do know that the first act was kard, who performed don’t recall, hola hola, and oh nana. we also sang happy birthday to somin who teared up :’)). also j.seph is super cute n shy........ heize performed don’t know you. after a small ment, a sign asked us to turn on our phone flashlights... the music for star started and heize started to cry bc of all of the lights hjgfdklhg :( she only performed two songs... oh my girl performed coloring book and closer, and yooa is sosososo pretty!!! arin is super cute too!!! also binnie doesn’t have bangs anymore and my heart almost stopped!!! my robong DIED during coloring book bc me, being the fool i am, reused batteries from my carat bong... the aroha next to me gave me her spare batteries which was so nice of her... but then her robong died during closer so i gave back the batteries bc i knew astro as her ult, n she needed those batteries more than me LOL.. when wanna one performed, the girl saw me with my banner and she asked to record for me and i’m so grateful!!! they performed energetic and burn it up, and i think me and my friend got on the screen for like 2 seconds HJKDLSHJGKL... astro did a collab with kim taewoo and they did so well!! the dance was super energetic but their voices still sounded so good!!! kim taewoo then performed and his voice was really nice.. i can’t recall the song names but i believe his last song was love rain? astro performed should’ve held on, breathless (with a transition into polaris), and baby!! sanha was soo cute during the ment :(( they also had a pinata time and made tshirts to throw to those in the pit. they also had tshirt guns and shot those to the reserved seats... also i recorded the performance for the aroha next to me in exchange for the w1 videos... nct’s stage was.. so hype.... they performed firetruck, limitless, and cherry bomb!! some of the mics weren’t working during the ment so mark leaned over to let taeil use his in-ear mic and everyone in the venue went wild... also sicheng’s self intro was “my name is winwin!!! today.. we winwin!!!!!!!!” HJFKSLHJSF HE’S SO CUTE I LOVE HIM SO MUCH I’LL FOREVER BE SICHENGSGIRL NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I CHANGE MY URL.... once again, the aroha next to me recorded nct for me and i later recorded got7 for her.. jj project performed, and they did never ever, hard carry, and?? correct me if i’m wrong but confession song?? idk.. they had a pinata time as well and a lucky fan got proposed to by three members, who i think were bambam, jaebum, and jackson. somewhere in between, wanna one came out again in navy colored school uniforms and perfomed never and nayana.. and i teared up during the latter... after the concert was over, me n the aroha airdropped each other the videos... i never got her name but she was super sweet and im glad i got to sit next to someone who didn’t consider my screaming obnoxious (she apologized for screaming during astro and got7 but.. we get each other LOL)

overall i’m so happy that i saw 6/6 of the groups i stan at my very first kcon!!! it’s rlly a memory i want to keep forever.. but i probably won’t go again in a long time (unless ofc.... wanna one or seventeen decide to come again :’))) )

[atamascolily]

Episode Review - Sinbad 1x14 - “The Ghoul’s Tale”

In which Maeve saves everybody, our antagonist is seriously creeptastic and our main ally isn't all that much better, orgres have some serious seuxal dimorphism that I was not previously aware of, there's a macguffin to quest for. Oh, and I spent a lot of time wondering how the bicycle was going to fit into all of this.

(Photos from Far Far Away.)

Allegedly, the crew is sailing to the Lake Isle of Innisfree Leopold now. I don't know about you, but that looks like a tropical atoll with a ship photoshopped in. Certainly doesn't look like South Africa to me... but still fun to visit!

Apparently, Dim-Dim told Maeve that she needed to go to Princess Gaia's eighteenth birthday party, so that's what they're doing. How the logistics worked out, I have no idea, so I will just assume "magic" and move on because we've got way bigger fish to fry here. Also, who doesn't love a party? Especially Doubar. But Firouz is also getting into the spirit...

.... by tooling around on his latest invention!on his latest invention! I then proceeded to spend the rest of the episode wondering under what circumstances the bicycle could be used to save the day in medieval Arabia. But Firouz's prototype needs some work, and Rongar has to save him from falling overboard. 

It was about here that I started to imagine Firouz and Rongar opening a seriously tricked out bike shop in Baghdad, given how Rongar always seems to be helping him with the inventions and I enjoy their dynamic.  Firouz is a genius, but he's not really interested in the people aspect, so Rongar's the one who always saves the day from behind the scenes. HILARITY ENSUES. I would watch an entire series about this, actually.

We are distracted from such dreamings by weird shit on the horizon. Good thing Firouz invented the telescope so the crew can see it coming, right?

"Oh, that must be Vatek the Ghoul," Maeve says all matter-of-factly. "Master Dim-Dim told me was the source of evil on the island. Greedy as only a ghoul can be."

Okay, 1) What exactly makes him a ghoul? (a question, I might add, that this episode never attempts to answer) and 2) How can you tell that he's greedy?

But Sinbad is too freaked out to care about such details. Instead, he decides to get the boat out of there as fast as possible. The crew is concerned, but pretty soon they don't see a telescope to see the problem. 

With the flames rapidly gaining, Sinbad turns to his two resident problem-solvers. Firouz begs off under pressure, so Sinbad gives Maeve his most imploring look and asks, very gently, "How about a little magic, Maeve?"

Well, when Sinbad looks at you like that, you don't say no, even when you're not about to be roasted to death, so Maeve tries her best. But they're still not out of danger yet.

Sinbad tries the subtle approach: "Maeve! I know you can be windier than that!"

Doubar goes for the direct approach: "Where's Rumina when you need her?" OUCH. But it is very effective.

This provides further evidence for the idea that magic is intimately connected to self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-worth, an ongoing theme in this series and the centerpiece of Maeve's character arc.

Also, this particular magic involves chanting rhyming couplets while spinning in a circle, so Maeve is very wobbly when she finishes. But everyone is happy to be alive, so they don't tease her... much. "Rumina would be so proud," grins Sinbad and Maeve rightfully punches him for it.

Well, that was weird, everybody agrees and then they just keep on going because... they've got a party to attend!

Cut to stock footage of a castle. Look at those yuccas in the foreground, aren't they awesome?

Also, for some reason only known to the writers of this episode, the ruling monarch's name is Shadbush. This sounds dirty, but get your mind out of the gutter - it's actually the common name for a genus of North American temperate trees that produce tasty fruit - but every time it comes up I still can't stop snickering.

Shadbush's chief advisor Malicut tells him his daughter Gaia is returning. Shadbush is distraught because she was supposed to stay in hiding until after her eighteenth birthday so Vatek wouldn't kill her, but kids today, you know? Can't tell them to do anything. Shadbush also comments on how much Gaia looks like her dead mother when SHE was eighteen.

Meanwhile, somewhere involving dungeons...

Kylo Ren Vatek the Ghoul uses the Force magical powers that hold the galaxy together to summon his minions out of a wall. For some reason, they are cavemen with big hair. Ominous laughter.

For once, it's Maeve's name and not Sinbad's that gets them in to see the king. Everyone's all happy and joyous...

... and cavemen with big hair attack. Oh, and spears.

There's a fight, but the cavemen end up grabbing Gaia's necklace and running away. Gaia collapses and everyone freaks out. Turns out that necklace was crafted by Dim-dim to keep her alive. Oops.

The creepy advisor wants to give her all sorts of weird home remedies, and Firouz is rightfully disturbed by this, but Shadbush just shrugs. No medicines can help Gaia because Vatek cursed her for... reasons.

Not only was Vatek upset that Shadbush married Gaia's mother (whom he wanted for his own) but then Shadbush promised him he could marry Gaia when she came of age - because she looks just like her mother! Hahaha, not creepy at all, right? Or at least until Shadbush rightfully chickened out - apparently, marrying off your beloved daughter to a rich old guy who had the hots for her mom is all well and good, but being a subhuman sorceror is right out. Standards, people, standards.

(It's not clear if this is metaphorical or literal subhumanity, either - what the hell do people mean when they say he's a ghoul?)

Anyway, Dim-Dim apparently couldn't be bothered to actually do anything about Vatek, so he constructed a magic necklace for Gaia to fend off Vatek's curse. Why Gaia also had to go into hiding is not especially clear, but anyway Sinbad and crew have to get the necklace back or she'll die.

Okay, so where's Vatek's place? everybody wants to know. Shadbush gives supremely unhelpful directions. "Travel west. When you get to a small village, it's just beyond there."

Firouz decides to stay behind, because SCIENCE! but everybody else hits the road.

Unsurprisingly, no one in the village is pleased to see our heroes. Unsurprisingly, no one in the village is pleased to see our heroes. Sinbad asks for water and a guide, but gets no takers. Eventually, though, a PC character stands out of the crowd of extras. Her name is Sariyah, she's extremely sarcastic, and Maeve really doesn't like her. But she says she'll take them to the well to get some water. 

Vatek, the jerk, put an orgress in the well, and she emerges when our heroes try to pump some water. I don't think I would have recognized the particular antagonist as an orgress, but Maeve recognizes her immediately, so I'm just going to assume some serious sexual dimorphism in the species and move on. 

Sinbad decides the best solution is the crew to push on the blocks surrounding the well and cave the top in, but Maeve gets sucked up by the ogress. Sinbad yells for Rongar to grab Maeve and shouts her name a lot.

But they succeed, and the ogress is destroyed, and there's a lot of water everywhere. All of the villagers are ecstatic. "Drinks are on us!" yells Sinbad is a fit of euphoria.

Meanwhile, back in the castle, Malicut is giving Gaia all sorts of remedies under Firouz's withering sarcasm. Name calling ensues. "Neo-Hippocrate!" "Retro-quack!" It is awesome. Shadbush eventually intervenes in favor of Firouz, at Gaia's request, and Malicut goes to the corner and literally sulks. What a jackass.

Firouz wants to go get herbs, but Malicut wants to bleed her. Firouz begs Shadbush not to listen to his most trusted advisor, but Shadbush is all confused and disoriented. After Firouz leaves, Malicut urges Shadbush to give Gaia up to Vatek to save her life. At which point, I am thinking, Okay, either he's seriously incompetent or an agent of Vatek. 

Sariyah leads them through a dry riverbed. Vatek has taken all the waters and corrupted them. Sariyah calls him a ghoul because he preys upon the living and the dead. Ominous music. Sariyah leaves, which is totally not suspicious at all, and Rongar find the skull prop from Episode 10 and everybody freaks out. Meanwhile, Firouz finds a bonaza of herbs, and also oil, and gets knocked out from behind for his troubles. Ow.

Vatek sends a giant raven after them, but Rongar throws some knives at it and it flies off.

Firouz comes to in a dungeon just as Vatek shows up to gloat and make all sorts of vague threats. The cavemen grovel. 

Anyway, it's too bad Firouz isn't there, because the rest of the crew stumbles across Vatek's oil refinery and I bet Firouz would have appreciated it. Everyone else is just squicked out.

So it turns out that the fire on the ocean in the beginning was Vatek magically putting oil on the water and then lighting it on fire because he's a jerk like that, although nobody in the show appears to make that connection. Also, Sariyah is back for more exposition, although nobody trusts her. But she does go and get the necklace back for them, revealing in the process that she was Vatek's mole in the village. Maeve is furious but Sariyah insists she can be trusted, and shows them a secret passage to get back to the castle before midnight, when Gaia is destined to expire.

Oh, and they set Vatek's refinery on fire on the way out. Torches and fossil fuels just don't mix. It's really too bad Firouz wasn't there.

Back in the palace, Malicut and Shadbush are arguing again. When Shadbush refuses to surrender Gaia to Vatek, Malicut transforms and realizes he's really Vatek and has been manipulating the king the whole time just to watch him suffer! Jerkass.

But is he a literal ghoul or a metaphorical one? Why is this episode called "The Ghoul's Tale," which makes it sound like Vatek should be narrating for Chaucer? I'm so confused here.

The secret tunnel ends up in the palace dungeon where Firouz is tied up. But at his urgings, the crew runs upstairs to rescue Gaia first. 

Vatek uses his magic to freeze Shadbush and his guards and is about to kill Gaia. The crew shows up, but most of them get incapacitated right away. Only Sariya is free, and she tosses the necklace over Gaia's head, breaking the spell, just as we get to midnight and Gaia turns eighteen. Oh, and Sinbad kills Vatek by stabbing him through the heart. Suddenly, everything is okay! Wow!

(Meanwhile Firouz is down in the dungeons wondering what the hell is going on, and eventually someone remembers to go back down and unchain him... I don't know what happens to the cave men, either. )

Cut to Gaia's eighteenth birthday party, where Doubar is helping her learn to handle her new bicycle! I don't know what happens to the cave men, either. (And here I thought it would be instrumental to defeating Vatek...)

Cut to Gaia's eighteenth birthday party, where Doubar is helping her learn to handle her new bicycle! Firouz is gushing about Rongar's suggestions for steering modifications. "I think he's got the touch of the inventor himself!" which just makes me want a Firouz-Rongar bikeshop AU more than ever now. Sariya is flirting with Sinbad, which Maeve does not approve of. All is well, until Doubar decides to try the bicycle for himself... and Firouz admits he forgot to put on break. Cut to the best episode ending ever:

The devastation and repercussions of this are so much better left to the imagination, don't you think?

I'm kinda upset that nobody calls out Shadbush for his questionable and squick-y decisions to arrange a marriage between Gaia and Vatek in the first place, although he seems genuine regretful. And I might give him a pass because Malicut was probably egging him on about it.

Anyway, overall this was a fun episode for a number of reasons, and I was honestly caught off-guard by the plot twist, which was a nice treat, even though I should have seen it coming.

[pebbeul]

fenty beauty: hydrating longwear foundation

Fenty Beauty just released the new PROFILT’R Hydrating Longwear Foundation and I was beyond excited to try this baby out. I’ve always had a good impression of Fenty Beauty products since its conception in 2017 - their price range is decently affordable and their products are always of excellent quality. Coincidentally, the first product I ever tried from the brand is their original PROFILT’R Soft Matte foundation released in 2017. It was my initial holy grail foundation and I used it religiously until it started becoming too drying for my skin and I started looking for other hydrating alternatives (hello, NARS Sheer Glow!). Later on, I found out that the Soft Matte foundation was suited for oily skin, which made me hope that Fenty would eventually release a hydrating foundation for my dry-skinned friends and me.

Needless to say, when the Fenty team dropped the news on this upcoming foundation, I was instantly intrigued. What I initially loved about the original Soft Matte foundation was that it had decent coverage, was incredibly long-lasting, and it had this airbrushed finish that made my skin look super smooth. To know that the Hydrating Longwear Foundation had all that in a moisturising formula made this new release a must-have. I was so afraid that the stores would run out of my shade that I went down to the nearest Sephora during my lunch break to purchase it. I decided to skip on the Soft Silk Primer for now because I didn’t feel like it was necessary - I usually prefer my primers to have a little more shimmer in them to help create that dewy skin look. However, I did splurge a little and got the 115 Kabuki Buff Foundation Brush along with the foundation to try out.

Spoiler alert: I regret nothing.

There are many great things to say about the new Hydrating Longwear foundation, but the very first thing has got to be that their shade range exactly matches that of its Soft Matte sister. The one thing I hate the most when brands come out with new foundations is that the shades are not always an exact one-to-one match to their previous foundation releases. I then have to go through an anxiety-wracking process to determine whether I will be going home with my One True Shade (it sucks when foundations are so pricey and it feels like its money wasted when you don’t get a good match). I thought Fenty really went the extra mile here to ensure that their existing customers won’t need to go through additional trouble to purchase the new foundation release.

Secondly, the packaging is also revolutionary. I’m always very cautious with all my foundation products because of how fragile the glass bottle is: anyone who has accidentally broken a foundation bottle before will know exactly what I mean. It’s not the easiest thing to clean up when there’s glass and liquid all over the place, and it’s even worse when you’re travelling. Having the foundation in a tube makes this foundation so much easier to travel with, and it even has a pump, which is fantastic! The only downside is that it kind of deviates a little from Fenty’s luxurious packaging present in their previous products, even though the tube itself feels very sleek and of good quality.

I got the Hydrating Longwear Foundation in the shade 210 this time around. My previous shade for the Soft Matte foundation was 230. I was much tanner back then than I am now, so I opted for a lighter shade instead. This proved to be a good choice on my end because Fenty foundations, in general, tend to oxidise a little bit after application, so 210 was a perfect match after it settled down on my skin (thank God). I tried blending this foundation out two different ways: one with my fingers, and one with the 115 Kabuki Buff Foundation brush. I felt like the brush especially blended the Hydrating Longwear foundation beautifully, and it wasn’t patchy and uneven on my skin. It helped that the 115 Kabuki brush’s fibres are more densely packed than other buffer brushes I’ve used (i.e. my preloved ZOEVA Buffer Brush), which helps pat in and blend the foundation much more smoothly. It does absorb quite a bit of product than if you were to use your fingers, but I think it’s a good trade-off for better application.

The coverage of this foundation also lives up to Fenty’s claims of delivering comfortable medium to full coverage with a natural finish. Its texture was runny but not super watery, which makes ideal for blending out the foundation smoothly and easily. It also covered up my facial imperfections quite well (my pimple scar, dark eye circles, and some freckles around my left eye) with only one pump of foundation. I didn’t feel like I needed to go in with more foundation to cover any redness/blemishes and I didn’t use any concealer or setting powder as well. My face still looked really natural; but my skin tone was evened out nicely and the best part was that my face looked like it was completely devoid of pores.  However, at the end of the day, the Hydrating Longwear foundation still creased just a little bit around my eyes and nose, so I’m not too sure if this creasing effect will be more prominent if you have on a thicker layer of foundation for higher coverage. A little side note here that this foundation is not meant to give you that dewy glass-skin look. What I do to still achieve that dewiness is to mix it with a few drops of my very-dewy Innisfree foundation to get decent coverage with a more radiant complexion.

The Hydrating Longwear Foundation is also, for a lack of a better word, really long-wearing. I applied this foundation at 7.30 in the morning because I had an early morning meeting last week, and it only started fading a little bit around 5 in the evening. But for the first 6 hours while I was travelling to and fro, my makeup felt as fresh as it did when I just applied it. That’s really impressive because Singapore’s humid weather is the primary reason why my makeup doesn’t last when I am out and about in the day.

With regards to the heaviness of the foundation, the Hydrating Longwear Foundation has a more airy and lightweight texture than the Soft Matte foundation, which is denser. Wearing this for an entire day doesn’t feel like my pores are clogged; which is something I can’t say for the latter. I definitely think that this foundation is a lot more comfortable than the Soft Matte one. If you’re oily skinned and are worried whether this foundation will suit you, I thought that this comparison video might be particularly helpful. It’s by Manny MUA, and he features the Soft Matte and Hydrating Longwear foundation side by side on his face to see how it held up against his oily skin.

All things considered, I would say that this foundation is a pretty good bang for your buck if you're looking for a new one. The durability, texture, coverage, and finish is pretty decent and the price is quite affordable at 52 SGD for 30 ml. As a whole, I find that the Fenty Beauty range isn’t very discriminatory with their price; their products are all relatively affordable and not insanely overpriced. While it might not as cheap as most drugstore foundations, the superb quality of the foundation makes up for it. I would recommend this foundation, and especially to inexperienced makeup users because of its versatility. I can just imagine wearing this for long days at work and still looking put together at the end of it.

Have you tried this foundation out in stores yet? What did you think about it?

[hallyu4160-blog]

My Gradient Lip Challenge:

Before you watch the video I’ve made, read this!

For the whole of 5 weeks (including the upcoming week), I decided to give a Korean makeup trend a try, and I came to the conclusion that the gradient lip would be worth a shot, because of several reasons (I will explain them further later on).

What inspired me to take on this challenge:

I have noticed in the recent years that there have been an increasing number of Korean makeup brands entering the local market. Brands such as Innisfree, Skin Food, Tony Moly, It’skin and Sulwahsoo have made their way to both central shopping centres (Ion, Takeshimaya, and Plaza Singapura) and neighbourhood malls (Nex, Junction 8, and Jurong Point). And the fact that they are still growing in numbers (in terms of new store fronts opening) means that there is a growing market of consumers here in Singapore that is buying into the makeup products. Also, with the increasing number of makeup tutorial videos easily available on Viu (this is the video that inspired my look and another I have watched to get an idea ), a site increasingly popular with the Asian audience, because of easy accessibility to Korean dramas and makeup tutorials like the ones from Heizle and Ssin, and Pony (who is a Korean makeup tutorial Youtuber with 2.3 million subscribers) from YouTube. It is very interesting to see how there is a shift in terms of beauty standards in Asia, and I believe it would be something different for me for once to actually get involved in the trend.

Also, on a personal level, I made a resolution at the beginning of the year that I would try to wear more makeup and look more presentable than I did in 2016. And I just felt that the idea of Western beauty- cat eyes, dark smokey eye shadows, defined cheek bones and jaw lines- does not sit well with me, so I have always struggled with makeup because it felt as though my makeup did not suit my face, nor my personality. After researching a little on Korean makeup looks (link1 , link 2, link 3), the looks seemed achieveable and more than manageable on my part. And since I have already taken a step into learning about something I have no clue about, Hallyu, I felt like it was only natural to go all out and try something different! And makeup it was! Also, I realised that Koreans take so much pride in maintaining their beauty, and constantly admire their celebrities’ makeup. It seemed like the most Korean thing to do to get involved in a makeup routine so as to understand why they love their makeup products and dolling themselves up.

But do read on after you’ve finished watching the video to have an idea of what I’ve learnt (because of time constraints, I think it was better for me to write it down)

What I have learnt from this challenge:

I learnt that whenever any celebrity, or idol says that they are not wearing makeup...There is definitely a lot of makeup going on their faces. But it is not necessarily a bad thing. I realised that the amount of effort to make it look like an effortless look reflects the Korean’s pride about their appearance. They say everyone makes their first impression in 7 seconds, and I think that if they are Korean (or just wear Korean-inspired looks), they would have aced those 7 seconds with you. Their pride in their appearance can also be seen as a sign of respect in that they will not look sloppy, unkempt or unpolished to guests and others, which is rather similar to Japanese culture. There is a lot I can learn from them when it comes to taking pride in how I look.

The plus point is that people give you more compliments than usual! Here are some reactions I’ve gotten from posting my photos on social media, as well as sending them privately to my loved ones.

I sent this to my boyfriend, who has no clue about makeup and anything vaguely Korean (except for ramyeon), and he was very supportive of the look, even though I thought it seemed more ‘emo’ than Korean.

Fun fact: I learnt that Between was developed by South Koreans and I have to say that I really enjoy using the app very much!

I even posted it on Instagram to see what was the reception like, and I can safely say it was well-received by my friends! 

I even tried using some possible hashtags to give me a boost, and hopefully, a new following of people who are also Kpop/ Kbeauty fans!

And a new follower I’ve gotten. (kat_pot)

Who is a Kpop fan! So I guess the hashtags help a lot.

And even Innisfree’s social media manager was included in this affair, and gave me a like!

But the best feeling from all of this is that my friends have been really supportive of the looks I have been wearing. It’s encouraging to see others cheering me on as I embark on a completely different journey from what I’m used to.

Also, with research and practice, I understand that Korea is the leading Asian country when it comes to makeup in Asia. They have a following unlike other Asian countries. Singaporeans, Malaysians, Indonesians, Thais and even more recently, the Myanmese have take to Korean makeup and Korean-inspired look. I think that Hallyu is now setting the beauty standrd when it comes to Asian beauty. They have made the girl-next-door look on so many dramas the international standard of Asian beauty that it is really worth commending.

Finally, after wearing it for 4 weeks, I really enjoyed myself through it. It made me feel like I was finally getting involved in a trend, and part of something global. It is a start and a big step into the unknown for me, but I think the plan is to keep an open mind and see where all these little projects take me to. Also, it felt a lot better wearing a natural look compared to the Western look that I have been trying to work on. The products themselves made a difference in my opinion. For example, in doing the gradient lips I gave both the Innisfree lipstick and NYX matte lipstick a try, and the end result differed very much so. The Innisfree lipstick felt like I was not wearing any lipstick at all, but for the NYX lipstick, it felt very drying and heavy on the lips. I was constantly conscious of the lipstick because of that. I think I would continue wearing the makeup, because I like how simple it is to do, the natural look does not scream out for unwanted attention, and how light it feels on the skin. Definitely continuing this! :) 

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!

(update):

 After wearing it for 4 weeks, however, my skin is a little more sensitive, so I will try to wear it every other day, or every 2 days, for the upcoming week so that my skin can breathe a little and recover!