#hey. artist achievement moment!!

[salty-an-disco]

the joy and catharsis of overcoming your obstacles vs the comfort and stability of staying in a gilded cage

(palette used was Hunter Eyes from this color palette collection)

Longing&Terror

[k0juki]

Hi! So I saw you were writing for joost and I was wondering if you can do joost dating fem!reader hc’s and readers a contestant at Eurovision? Maybe if ur comfortable with it can you add some comfort angst?

Jurr♡ I can :)

Dating Joost Klein hc.

Joost Klein x fem!reader

English is not my first language, so feel free to point out any mistakes or errors! More posts here.

Wc: 552

---

• You and Joost met in the Netherlands, before he, himself got pretty famous.

• It was fall and you were here because you always wanted to go here, to see all the colors and meet new people.

• As you were mindlessly looking around, you didn't watch where you were going and accidentally bumped into some stranger. Joost.

• You apologized to him and he just laughed, saying it's alright.

• He asked if you wanted to get coffee together as an apology and you immediately agreed.

• And the rest is history, now Joost is your boyfriend of two years and is your biggest cheerleader at Eurovision, he's attending all your rehearsals and performances.

• He's pretty proud because he never missed a single one show.

• And also, he is proud of you, how far you made it.

• He fulfills you with affection and support, whether it's giving you pep talks before going on the stage or holding your hand during nerve-wracking moments.

• He's always here with you.

• Despite his busy schedule, Joost always makes time for you, whether it's planning romantic dates or simply cuddling on the couch after a long day, he cherishes every moment spent together and never fails to make you feel loved and valued.

• Music also is a big part of your relationship with Joost.

• You bond over shared favorite songs and artists, often spending lazy afternoons listening to music together or even writing songs collaboratively.

• He admires your talent and creativity, as you admire his.

• Joost is incredibly proud of your achievements at Eurovision, but he also understands the pressure you're under.

• He's there to comfort you during moments of doubt and anxiety, offering words of encouragement and reassurance when you need them most.

• As the Eurovision competition heats up, tensions run high, you find yourself struggling with self-doubt and anxiety.

• Joost notices the change in your demeanor and becomes increasingly worried about your well-being.

• One night, after a particularly stressful rehearsal, you break down in tears, overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed.

• Joost rushes to your side, wrapping you in his arms and soothing you with gentle words of comfort.

• "Hey, hey love, it's alright, okay? I'm right here."

• He assures you that he's there for you no matter what and that your worth isn't defined by the competition.

• Despite Joost's efforts to comfort you, the anxiety continues to gnaw at you, casting a shadow over your relationship.

• You worry that your insecurities are driving a wedge between you, but Joost refuses to let you push him away.

• No matter what.

• He stands by your side, offering unwavering support and understanding as you navigate the emotional rollercoaster of Eurovision.

• On the night of the final performance, nerves are at an all-time high, but Joost is there to hold your hand and remind you of your strength and talent.

• "it's just a competition love, nothing more." His words calmed you down.

• As you take the stage, he watches with bated breath, his heart swelling with pride as you pour your heart and soul into the performance.

• In the aftermath of Eurovision, you and Joost take time to reflect on the experience and its impact on your relationship.

• Despite the challenges you faced, you emerge stronger and more united than ever, grateful for the love and support that you have from him.

---

Don't copy or translate my work! Also the picture is not mine! Credit goes to owner!

[number1jeonginstan]

Hiii!! I saw you take requests! I was wondering if could request something.

Really sweet sex with Chan x fem! Reader. You go out to a fancy party he needs to be seen at. He helps you into your dress and zips it up for you, he applies your mascara. Once they get back from the party, he just wants to show his love, you know? Really sweet sex with chan where he’s super gentle and sweet. I don’t have any preferences for that other than that at some point, he eats us out.

Also, can I be 🌻 anon?

-🌻

A/N: You gave me too much liberty with this fic. Something about Chan in a suit just makes me wanna go feral! I made it so he cough proposes cough because what’s cuter than that? Nothing! Anyway, I had so much fun writing this, it’s my longest fic to date and I’m so proud of it so I hope you like it and it does you justice! It just makes me so happy when people enjoy my writing!

WC: 3.5k (I genuinely asked myself what the fuck I was on when I saw that I wrote over 7 pages… this is the longest thing I’ve ever written)

Minors don't interact, 18+

Pairing: Non!Idol Bangchan x Gf(to a little more?)afab!reader

Warning: Tooth rotting fluff, like I felt like my teeth were falling out while writing this because I tried making it hella cute! Unprotected sex (Is it really one of my stories if they don’t have an underlying breeding kink?) 

“Hey babe, can you please help me zip this up?” you ran into your and Chan’s shared bedroom wearing a black tight-fighting sparkly dress. You guys were attending the Grammy’s where Chan was being nominated for best producer and songwriter. He was dressed head to toe in Givenchy, wearing a full black look. “Fuck baby, you look amazing,” he said while coming behind you and zipping your dress. 

He kissed your shoulder, his face falling into the crook of your neck. “So do you,” you said, turning around to admire him. He had kept his hair natural, his curls framing his forehead. “I’m so proud of you!” 

You kissed his lips, your lipstick slightly rubbing onto his, making his lips look red. “I’m so proud of you and everything you’ve achieved.” Chan had worked so hard to get to where he was in life and you would be stupid not to admit that. You know the time and effort he put into his work and you want him to see that what he has done has not been futile. 

You wanted to see him up on that stage, receiving the award that he has been working the last 7 years for. His close friends, Jisung and Changbin, were also going to be there, rooting him on. “We should get going, we don’t want to be late to you winning that award” you gave him a grin. 

“Babe, there are so many other more talented artists that are up for that award, I don’t think I’m going to win.” He groaned, following suit behind you, picking up your car keys from the counter. 

You stopped him mid-in his tracks. “Are you fucking kidding me?” you turned him around, forcing him to face you. “You are so talented and need to stop looking down at yourself” You fixed his tie, “You are going to win and then when we get home I’m gonna give you a reward.” You walked away from him quickly, hearing him jog to catch up to you. 

“And what would that reward be?” grabbing your waist as you were getting out of the door. “Now that is a surprise.” 

You both finally got into his car, you in the passenger seat while his right hand gripped your thigh, the other on the wheel. It was a comfortable silence, while you zoned out, looking out the window, he occasionally looked at you. He grinned to himself, what would he do without you. 

When you finally arrived at the show, you told him to walk the red carpet alone. “They don’t know who I am, but they need to know you, so please just go.” He wouldn’t budge, “I’m not going without you, I would rather turn around and go home. Jisung or Bin can represent me instead.” 

You groaned out loud, “Why, this is your moment, you should do this by yourself.” He stopped you mid-sentence. “This is our moment, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you, so we are going together or not at all. “Fine, let’s go together superstar” you giggled into his ear, eliciting a laugh from him. 

You guys walked through the red carpet, cameras flashing all around you. You felt like you were going blind, but for Chan, it was second nature. Someone had called him over and he dragged you along with him. 

“So Chris, tell us what you are dressed in. If I may say, you look quite dapper.” The reporter stated, causing Chan to laugh a bit. “My girlfriend and I” he wrapped his hand around your hip, pulling you closer to him “are both wearing Givenchy.”  

“Wow, can I say, you both look beautiful, but now on to the serious question. How does it feel to be nominated for a Grammy? 

“I feel great, I’m so thankful to all my fans for putting me in the position where I can make music that they enjoy. I am also thankful for my family, friends, and most of all my girlfriend for always being there for me, giving me constant support, and dealing with my constant all-nighters” he poked your cheek, “to help me get to where I am and do what I love.” 

“Wow, well thank you so much for your time, I wish you the best of luck and I hope the two of you have an amazing night!” 

You both waved the reporter goodbye, wishing her a good rest of her night. You both walked around a bit, meeting big names and saying hi. Looking around Chris could feel the effort he’s been putting in for the past few years. 

The all-nighters, the never coming home, the days where he forgot dates with you or anniversaries. You stood beside him through all of it, you were the one that was constantly supporting him, and that’s why he wanted to surprise you when you got home tonight.

The ring he had bought to propose to you was burning a hole through his pocket. He prayed that you didn’t know, that it could be a surprise for when the two of you got home. He even got Changbin and Jisung in on it, convincing them to let him go home with you after in exchange for tickets to the after-party. 

“Wow, it is beautiful in here,” you said, looking at the room in awe. Then you pointed out the stage, “look that’s where you are going to get your award” you giggled, kissing his cheek. 

“How many times have we talked about this, I don’t know if I’m going to win or not” he groaned into your ear, the both of you walking to your designated seats, sitting down. “How many times have I told you not to think negatively? I believe you are going to win, so that’s good enough for me.” 

He sighed next to you, you had no idea how lucky he was to find you. He would have been lost without you, aimlessly swimming in the sea, if it wasn’t for you, his rock. When the two of you first started dating, you always told him to achieve his dreams. 

It was five months into your relationship, and you both were supposed to go on a date, but he was so wrapped up in work that he forgot about it. He also forgot basic necessities, like eating and sleeping, he was just too enamored with his work. You had ended up calling him and asking him where he was. He profusely apologized telling you that he had lost all track of time, that he would be right there, but you just told him to not worry about it. 

What he didn't expect was that you were going to bring him a basket of food he liked to his studio. “I told you not to worry about it!” you giggled, bringing his favorite dish. “I know how hard you work, so please don’t worry about it. It’s okay if you forget sometimes, I don’t want to get in the way of you and your passion, as long as you make some time for me!” 

That was the moment he knew he was in love with you. From then on, he tried to put a little less focus into his music, and some into you. He loved that after work, you would come to the studio with him, listen to his demos, and give input. His last relationship was nothing like this. He was constantly busy and the girl ended up cheating on him, making it hard for him to trust others again, but when it came to you, everything came naturally. 

It wasn’t just him that loved you, it was the artist he worked with. Jisung and Changbin also loved you, constantly asking to hang around with you. You were perfect for him, and he never wanted to let you go. 

“Are you excited, your category is next!” He had lost all track of time, just thinking about you. He just smiled, he wanted to win, but he also knew that if he didn’t he still had you. You would never amount his success to the numbers or awards he won, but the effort he put into his work. He just looked at you with his signature smile. “Yeah, I hope I win.” 

That was the first time he ever said anything like that and you beamed a smile at him. “I know you will” you whispered into his ear. As the commercial break was going on before the next award was presented, he took a sip of your champagne, trying to cool down his own nerves. You looked at him in shock, Chan barely ever drank. “Something to help with the nerves,” he told you and you just nodded. 

The infomercials had finally ended and they were about to announce the winner of the best producer of the year. You took Chan’s hand in yours in anticipation, “And the winner is… drum roll please” Your grip around his hand tightened “Christopher Bahng!” 

His face was one of shock, he was bewildered seeing the camera on him. You just smiled at him, clapping. He quickly got up and walked to the stage. The hostess passed him a mic while he stood with the Grammy in his hand. 

“Ummm, wow I was not expecting this at all” the room laughed, “I want to keep this short and sweet, but I don’t think I can. I truly appreciate everyone who has been with me since the beginning, it warms my heart knowing that so many people enjoy the music I make and I am appreciative to my close friends Changbin and Han who helped me make my music” 

You heard them shout behind you, while people stared in their direction. “I want to thank my family and especially my girlfriend especially because without them I don’t think I would have made it this far. I am entirely grateful for all the support, and please look out for new music. Thank you once again!” 

Everyone cheered as he got off the stage and you ran up to him, giving him a bear hug. “I told you, I know everything, I knew you would win.” Before you could even finish your sentence, he kissed your lips. “Thank you, for everything, truly, I love you so much,” he said, kissing your lips again. “I love you too.”

After the show was over, you were prepared to go to the after-party, but as you got into the car, you saw the map showing your address. “Channie, don’t you want to go celebrate?” you asked, a bit puzzled. “I do, and I want to celebrate with you, in the comfort of our home.” 

You just sighed, confused by his decision, but happy that he was going to get some rest at home. The drive back was just as silent, you falling asleep, face pressed to the window. You were tired from the entire day and were glad to get some rest, Chan was also glad because he knew the night you both had in store.

When you both got home, you were about to open your side when Chris stopped you. “Nuh uh” he said, wiggling his finger causing a giggle from your lips. He walked around, opening your side of the car. “Wow, I really am a passenger princess aren’t I?” 

“You don’t even know the most of it.” 

Before your feet could even touch the ground, he picked you up, carrying you bridal style to the door. As you got inside, he told you to enter, he had to get something from the car. You just nodded, taking off your shoes at the front entrance, and turning on the light to your apartment. 

You saw an entire row of pedals on the floor, covering every inch. You walked in still confused, seeing your living room covered with pictures of you and Chan, memories from your dates, even the napkin from your first date when you accidentally dropped coffee on his lap, profusely apologizing. “Channie, what’s going on?” 

You turned around to see him on one knee in front of you. “I didn’t expect to be giving two speeches today, but this one is more important than the one I gave earlier in the night. You have been here through thick and thin, you stayed up just to see me and give me a kiss some nights. You sat with me when I got the flu, you make me feel like I’m the only man in the world. That day when you brought food to my studio, I knew I was in love with you. You are the only person in this universe for me. Will you please make me the happiest man on this planet, and marry me?” 

You began to sob in front of him, “Is that a yes or a no? Because I had to bribe Felix to do this for me, and that was hard, I had to buy him a brand new CPU and GPU.” Before he continued to ramble on, you grabbed him, brought him back to his feet, and kissed him. “Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes.” 

He grinned into your kiss, placing the ring on your finger. “Christopher Chan Bhang, this is way too big, how much did this cost?” You looked at the ring placed on your finger, it was huge. “Not much for a Grammy award winner like me” he giggled, picking you up and spinning around. “Now please, let me show you how much you mean to me.” 

You simply nodded, allowing him to take you to your shared bedroom. “Though I think you look absolutely stunning in this dress, let me take it off you?” You simply nodded, allowing him to undo the zipper, slowly pulling the dress off you. You covered your tits with your arms, the dress having padding, making it so you didn’t have to wear a bra. You were just in your panties. 

“Fuck baby, you always look so beautiful,” he said, causing you to look at him shyly. No matter how many times you both have slept together, you always felt like it was the first time. He was so attentive, loving every inch of your body like you were heaven on earth. He placed a kiss to your lips, laying you on the bed. 

You tried to undo his pants as he took off his tux jacket, but he stopped you. “Tonight is about you princess okay? Be a good girl and let me take care of you.” You just nodded, wanting to speak up, but not wanting to stop him. 

“Fuck princess, you look so good. Always look so good for me, look at you.” He dragged his hands against your thighs, kissing you as he brought a hand to your nipple, playing with it. You moaned as he began to rub against it. “Fuck, always so vocal for me.” 

He placed another kiss on your lips before he went down, slowly opening your thighs with his hands. “Just want to taste you, baby”

He began to kiss your thighs, making you squirm underneath him. His kisses were wet and hot, but they felt amazing. He slowly worked himself to the place you needed him most. He placed a kiss on your covered cunt, taking his hand and hooking it to your underwear, slowly bringing it down your legs. 

You could feel the cool air on your pussy, causing you to moan. Before you could even react fully, he licked a strip on your folds, making you moan. “Fuck baby, you just keep tasting better and better, can’t get enough of your delicious cunt.” 

He began to dive into your pussy like a man starved, placing a finger on your clit while he worked in and out of your hole. You moaned and brought your hand to his hair. “Want you to sit on my face, can you do that baby?” You nodded, you had never done it before scared that you were somehow going to hurt him, but he looked at you with his pleading eyes. 

You couldn’t say no to him, it looked like he wanted to do it more than you. You got up, allowing him to lay down underneath you. He rid himself of his clothes first, the only piece of clothing on his body being his boxers. You placed your hands on the headboard as he lay underneath you, grabbing your things with his hands. 

“I have a pretty big nose you know, and it’s perfect for this.” Before you could even giggle at what he said, he began to eat your cunt out. His nose was rubbing against your clit, causing you to moan out his name.

“Fuck, so good Channie, so good, you feel so good.” He moaned in response, the vibrations being sent through your hole and to your core. His tongue was hitting that spot inside of you, making you feel wonders. You didn’t think you could stay up any longer. “Feels good baby?” He spoke into you, causing you to moan even louder. “So good, can’t control myself”

“It’s okay baby, get off on my face, cum all over it baby please.” You moaned, he took one of his fingers, adding extra stimulation to your clit, causing you to cum all over his face. He kept going, over-stimulating you. “Fuck baby, you taste so good, can’t wait to taste you for the rest of our lives. 

“Please Channie, need you, need your cock inside of me.” That was all Chan needed to flip you around. You were underneath him and you could still see your cum dripping off his face. He kissed you, his tongue entering your mouth, allowing you to taste your arousal on him. “Baby, I’m so excited for you to take my cock.” 

He took off his boxers, and let his dick slap his stomach. Chan’s size never seemed to surprise you, he was so big, but it was perfect. His cock was perfect for you, always hitting the specific spots inside you. “Give me a second baby, let me go get a condom” 

You stopped him, “Want it in me raw this time” You looked at him with your doe eyes. If looks could kill, Chan would be dead right now. He felt like he ascended to heaven right there and then. “Fuck baby, gonna fuck you so well then. You weren’t joking when you said you had a surprise for me.”  

He slowly entered his cock inside you, making the both of you moan at the same time. “Fuck princess, this pussy takes me so well, I’m so glad that this is going to be mine forever.” 

His cock was finally fully in you, he slowly began to fuck into you, already hitting that spongey part inside of you causing you to moan his name. “Fuck, so good Channie, you feel so good.” 

He kissed your lips again, you both weren’t fucking, you were making love. He started thrusting inside you faster as you wrapped your legs around him. It was your signal to him that you wanted more, that you wanted to be drilled into the bed, and that’s exactly what he did. 

You were both moaning, your pussy clenching around him and his cock throbbing inside of you. You both were close, your moans becoming more and more as his grunts became louder. “Want to cum with you okay princess” you just nodded, “want you to cum in me Chris”

That was exactly what you both needed to cum over the edge. His cock came inside of you, your walls covered in his cum as your walls milked him dry. The both of you lay like this for what felt like hours until he spoke up. “Let me clean you up”

You allowed him to, he picked you up after he drew a bath for the both of you. 

“What was that surprise you wanted to give me?” he asked as you guys finally got back into bed. “You will find out in the morning,” you said kissing his lips before the both of you fell asleep in each other’s arms. 

You woke up to hear screaming outside your room. “There is a puppy at our door!” you heard him shout from your shared bedroom. He ran into the room. “This was the surprise?” he grinned, his smile spread from ear to ear. “We have to start our family some way?” you said. He stared at the dog in awe, petting behind his ears. 

“What should I name you, huh?” he said in a baby voice. “I’m thinking wolfie, he kind of looks like a wolf, and you. That’s why I got him.” 

He came over, pecking kisses all over your face. “I love you y/n” 

“I love you too Chris” 

taglist: @sclassstay @minhosify @brooklynie

[trans-cuchulainn]

contrary to my entire vibes i do actually enjoy anachronistic media sometimes. a knight's tale is one of my favourite films. the thing is, the anachronisms in AKT are done deliberately to achieve specific effects. singing queen during a joust is a choice to establish knights as the rockstars of their age and this moment as the popular culture/entertaiment of its time. that is a decision made for artistic effect and to convey a specific mood.

what would have pissed me off is if, instead of using queen, they had decided to use, like, baroque string ensembles, because all history's history and who cares that it's three or four hundred years off, it's the past, ain't it? or if they had treated lances as if they were made of metal and interacted with them as if they were made of metal and all it would take is one google search to confirm that no they don't work like that and they didn't do it -- and at the same time had put a ton of research into another aspect of material culture, like making all the heraldry spot-on...

when you aim for historical plausibility in some areas of your story and then completely miss the mark with everything you didn't care about enough to even google it, that is when i get pissed off, and i am also pissed off that no editor, copyeditor, proofreader etc so much as went "hey, does parchment work like that?" because they SHOULD have done

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Sebek Zigvolt - Platinum Jacket Vignette

"Happy 100th Anniversary"

[Land of Dawning – National Museum of Art]

Sebek: That pedestal there is a reproduction from the King of Beasts' bedchamber, and that teacup yonder is ceramic wear with a Queen of Hearts motif.

Sebek: Heheh… That's right, my preparatory research is completely perfect. With this, there shall be no opportunity for me to embarrass myself due to a lack of artistic knowledge.

Sebek: There is no way I can allow myself to appear unsightly now that I've been appointed a supporter of the Land of Dawning National Museum of Art.

???: Hm? What's with this green light in the middle of the painting…? Oh, it's just a bonfire flame.

???: Those fairies look like they're having a blast partyin' like that, I wonder if something good happened.

Sebek: How dare you claim them to be "partying." This is a painting depicting the Thorn Fairy's men extolling her grand exploits!

Ace: Ack, Sebek… Looks like I got caught by an annoying one. So what, you're tellin' me this painting's got something to do with the Thorn Fairy?

Sebek: Exactly. It is often said that these men were as proud of the Thorn Fairy's achievements as if it were their own, and would express their joy with their whole body and soul.

Sebek: Anyone should be able to infer how magnificent the Thorn Fairy was just from witnessing these men's unwavering loyalty.

Ace: Uh-huh, okay. Kinda just looks to me like they're just partyin', maybe masking it as a celebration for the Thorn Fairy.

Sebek: Don't you dare liken them to superficial humans like yourself. Each one of those fae that appear in this tale are all diligent folk.

Sebek: Back in my hometown there are many stories of the Thorn Fairy and other fae passed down for generations. We even have special functions held to emulate their greatness.

Ace: Sure. Can't see those functions as being anything other than boring, though, if it's attended by lame, "diligent" faes～

Sebek: Heh, curious, are you? One such event that has been around for a long while now is a dress color changing competition. Whosoever is able to magically dye the dress to the color closest to the provided example is the victor.

Ace: Ugh, that pisses me off that it's actually kinda cool-soundin'…

Ace: But I guess the whole having to use magic for it just shows it really is an event in the fae-rich lands of Briar Valley.

Sebek: …In my youth, my elder brother and sister took me to witness one such competition and I was struck with amazement.

Sebek: I was completely taken in by everyone's astounding magical prowess to turn a dress vivid blue or pink in the blink of an eye…

Sebek: I remember how excited I was to learn magic as soon as possible so I may also take part in this contest.

Ace: Guess even you have adorable moments. So, what place in the competition did you get once your long-awaited magic finally manifested?

Sebek: Don't be absurd. Color changing magic is a course of study that human mages only learn in their courses at an arcane academy.

Sebek: This was merely something I found enchanting as a mere child. Obviously I would not take part in such a contest now.

Ace: You suuure? Sounds pretty fun to me. Oh hey, then how about you and me have our own little contest with color changing magic back at my dorm sometime.

Sebek: Why would I set foot in Heartslabyul…? Wait.

Sebek: Surely I am mistaken, but… Were you intending on shoving your rose-dying tasks onto my shoulders?

Ace: No way, I wasn't saying that at all! C'mon, don't you think it'd be a great little competition to have with a fellow freshman?

Sebek: Your excuses will not work on me! I know for a fact that you constantly complain over having to paint the roses.

Sebek: The only contest I had any interest in attempting was the dress color changing competition in Briary Valley. Do the tasks assigned to you on your own!

[Land of Dawning – National Museum of Art]

Ace: Oh hey, I know this one. It's a painting of a girl and some talking flowers.

Sebek: According to the legends, the flowers native to the country the Queen of Hearts' presided over had the ability to speak.

Sebek: Who would have thought that the flowers cultivated there would be able to speak or sing as such. I'm sure it was disturbingly loud in the Queen's country.

Ace: Sure, probably. But hey, probably a lot less loud than your voice can get.

Sebek: …Perhaps if you were to cease your own impudent retorts, I wouldn't have a need to raise my voice.

Ace: Reeeaaally, you think? 'Cause to me it feels like you're always angry about something.

Sebek: Of course not. I simply find the uncouth antics of you humans to be utterly aggravating.

Sebek: I know there is a time and place for everything. I myself would never do something as rude as to throw a damper on enthusiastic festivities.

Sebek: In fact, I attended a performance at a live music club just the other day and I did not chide the audience for their overjoyed shouting one bit.

Ace: …Eh. What did you just say? YOU WENT TO SEE A LIVE MUSIC PERFORMANCE!!!???

Sebek: Why would you react as such?

Ace: I mean, come on, didn't strike you as someone who'd go to something like that. So, like, what was the live show you went to go see?

Sebek: My latest venture brought me to attend a small show that showcased a collaboration between bands that primarily performed heavy metal music.

Sebek: This was all due to Lilia-sama, who imparted on me that this was the best way to train my imagination, and that listening to live music is an important part of life.

Ace: Aaah, that makes sense now. But hey, do you even listen to heavy metal?

Ace: I mean sure, you can kinda get into it once you're at the concert even if you don't know the songs, but if you don't even like that kinda stuff in the first place, ain't it tough to actually take in?

Sebek: "Get into it once you're at the concert"? Don't liken me to someone like you. Of course I went to the show after doing my due diligence in research.

Sebek: If I were to attend the show without a full understand of what I am to partake in, it would be an absolute disservice to Lilia-sama's recommendation.

Sebek: I studied everything from the exact times the music club opened their doors and how the audience would be filed into the venue, to the established rules on refreshments, to the proper cheering behavior utilized by the crowd near the front of the house…

Sebek: I believe it is called a "mosh pit." Prior to attending the performance, I made sure to carve into my body and soul the different techniques and proper etiquette as well.

Sebek: On that day, I purport that I banged my head back and forth much harder than anyone else there, shouting and cheering alongside them.

Ace: Don't think I've ever heard of someone practicing to mosh before. But I guess it sounds like you had a pretty fun time, though.

Sebek: Indeed. Although, I did run into slight trouble.

Ace: Huh, what kind of trouble? Cause some mischief, did ya?

Sebek: Absolutely not! I'm not sure if they lost their footing during the show or what, but the performer fell forward towards the audience.

Sebek: I immediately caught the performer and returned them to the stage. After that, the show continued smoothly until the end.

Ace: PFFT! You seriously returned the performer to the stage!?

Sebek: Obviously. I could not allow this concert that Lilia-sama had recommended to me be cancelled merely because the performer had become injured!

Ace: Bwahahaha! Looks like all that prepping you went through didn't help at all. All they wanted to do was stage dive, too.

Sebek: A stage dive…? Hold on now, don't tell me that was part of the performance!?

Sebek: I suppose the performer did look rather stunned when I returned them to the stage… Ghurk, what a blunder…!

Ace: Oh man, that's so hilarious. Wish I was there to see it. Hey, let's hit up a show together next time.

Sebek: SHUT IT! WHO WOULD EVER GO ANYWHERE WITH YOU!?

[Land of Dawning – National Museum of Art]

Sebek: This is a painting of the hyenas who served the King of Beasts, I see. Their countenance depicts an atmosphere overflowing with trust from their liege and confidence in their own abilities.

Ace: Yeah? To me it just looks like they're up to something.

Sebek: Isn't that due to your own wily tendencies?

Sebek: I have seen you multiple times in locations outside the gymnasium during what should be basketball club hours.

Ace: Hey, it's not like I'm slacking off or anything. C'mon, I'm a freshman, right? Sometimes I get saddled with odd jobs from the upperclassmen.

Ace: But, man… Sometimes I do want to skip morning lessons on cold days. Hey, aren't there times you don't want to get out of bed when it's way too cold out, too?

Sebek: It's true that back home it has happened that I couldn't get out of bed in the morning. However, that was not because I wished to skip my training!

Ace: W-Woah, really? I thought you woulda hit me back with another "Don't liken me to you!" or something.

Sebek: I could not help it. I was thoroughly chilled to the bone that morning. It was so cold that there were numerous icicles dangling from our roof, as well.

Sebek: I did not even wish to fathom the temperature outside, but… I somehow forced myself out of bed to begin my morning training.

Sebek: Perhaps it was due to not having slept well, but I could feel my eyelids start to droop. So I decided then to attempt to wake myself up further with the bitter taste of coffee.

Sebek: I swallowed down the strong black coffee and believed myself ready to go. But that was the last thing I remembered.

Sebek: I ended up falling back asleep on the couch and when I finally woke up, it was past noon… An absolute blunder. This is a blot that I will carry with me forever.

Ace: Hey now, that's pretty normal, c'mon. Pretty steep to say you'll carry that forever.

Sebek: No, you are just weak-willed. I, however, strived through trials and tribulations to overcome the bitter cold of mornings and finally found "that" thing.

Ace: What're you acting so pompous about now?

Sebek: Heh, of course you'd be curious. I suppose I can tell you. The thing I am talking about is… A HOT WATER BOTTLE!

Ace: A hot water bottle…? You're seriously using a hot water bottle? Even in this day and age when we have air conditioners and heaters!?

Sebek: Do you seriously not understand? That thing is a fantastic item that warms your entire body without fear of causing a fire or desiccation.

Sebek: Cold winter nights not only diminishes my ability to fall asleep, but also affects the quality of sleep I am able to get. In turn, that makes it difficult to rise from bed…

Sebek: However, a simple hot water bottle prepared at bedtime can warm my body and lull me to sleep even in the coldest winters!

Sebek: The temperature can even be easily adjusted by wrapping it in a towel, or adding water to the bottle. A very convenient item.

Ace: Huh, interesting. I mean, sure, it might not use electricity, but I'm surprised you're using a "human" item.

Sebek: I received this hot water bottle from my father. Back when he had just arrived in Briar Valley, it apparently was very useful in keeping him warm even without magic.

Ace: Oh, so it's a hand-me-down, huh. And here I thought I'd get to hear another hilarious story or something～

Ace: Since it sounds like there ain't gonna be a punchline anymore, I think I'll go check out the shop. Byeee―

Sebek: YOU ASKED THE QUESTION, HEAR ME OUT UNTIL THE END! Good grief, I can't stand that human. …Hm?

Sebek: This is… A painting depicting a the human chattering along with animals. I've read this story in a book my grandfather gifted me.

Sebek: This young lady speaks of her dreams to these critters… Does she truly believe that her wish will come true without any effort on her part? What a lazy creature.

Requested by Anonymous.

[binniebakery]

​🇼​​🇦​​🇸​​🇹​​🇪​ ​🇴​​🇫​ ​🇦​ ​​🇸​​🇺​​🇳​​🇸​​🇪​​🇹🎧🎐

Non Idol AU Academic Rival!Beomgyu x Gn!Reader Enemies to lovers(?) fluff

Summary♡: Your number one enemy, Choi Beomgyu, always managed to ruin everything for you. So of course the one time you decide to let yourself relax on the school rooftop– you’re stuck with him–  just like you’ve always been since you both met.

Warnings♡: mentions of jumping off a roof as a joke, banter, slight cursing, little bit of angst sprinkled in but it gets resolved lol A/N♡: just in time for beomgyu's birthday... this was inspired by the song 'a lovely night' from lala land! to all my bamtoris: enjoy!

The sky began to be decorated with hues of gold and pink, not even the perfect strokes of an artist’s brush could replicate the way the sun’s rays peaked over the multitude of buildings and clouds.

You inhaled as the cool breeze washed over you, the temperature for the day slowly dwindling as the sun lay to rest, the moon soon to take over.

The Mathletes club had just finished its meeting and you were relieved of your duties for the day as president. Student organizations were allowed to stay after school hours, as long as they responsibly cleaned after their club activities. They were free to go home as teachers stuck around to grade papers and janitors monitored the buildings to ensure things were in order.

You leaned against the metal rails of the rooftop with closed eyes. This was the most peaceful you had felt since the school year had started. Finals were over and you could finally take a breath of fresh air– literally. You had been locked up in your room studying for weeks, in hopes of achieving that perfect grade.

You never gave yourself time to go out and have fun anyway. As vice president of the student council, you had a job to do: paperwork, maintaining the council image by appearing at all school events, helping solve issues of your fellow students— etcetera, etcetera. So finals were no exception to your busy schedule.

Friends were rare to come by. You had been deemed “nice, but secluded” by your classmates so hardly anyone had the confidence to approach you.

If only people got to know you better, sure they knew you were nice but if only they knew you loved karaoke, you watched a ton of anime, you loved music– just like them. There was so much more to you than studies but no one seemed to look past that stern persona you portrayed.

You sighed thinking about the loneliness you felt. It’s always been this way, but at least right now you had peace. It’s just you and the cicadas that began to hum and buzz as the sun went down.

At least it was peaceful.

The door behind you swings open and loud footsteps interrupt your moment of tranquility. You hear the soft sound of music carrying through the wind and you turn to spot class president Choi Beomgyu.

Of course. You just couldn’t have one thing.

Beomgyu’s dark hair swishes side to side as he bobs his head to the tunes playing from his headphones, eyes closed and mouth shaped into an ‘o’ as he sways further outside, oblivious to your presence. 

You cross your arms and stare as he continues his little performance, whistling to the sound of the notes playing from his headset. How could he even stand playing music so loudly? ‘He’s gonna lose his hearing by the time we graduate if he doesn’t fix that habit’ you think with a scowl.

“Ahem. Excuse me, earth to Choi.”

Beomgyu opens his eyes and looks at you with a face that resembles a cute puppy.

“Oh! Hey y/n. Whatcha doin’ here hanging at my spot?” He grins and you quirk an eyebrow at his question. His spot?

“I didn’t know you hung around here.”

“Yeah, every day after school. I come here to unwind from my presidential activities.” His tone changes into a silly accent at the end of his sentence and it almost feels to you that he was emphasizing how much he didn’t take his job seriously.

You still couldn’t believe this fool got chosen as student council president over you.

“Well, I’m also here to relax if you don’t mind.” You reply, tapping your foot impatiently.

“I mean I can leave if you want. I don’t wanna interrupt your sulking– or whatever you do for fun.” Beomgyu places a hand on his hip as if mocking you, and you scoff.

“I’m not that miserable, Choi.”

“Uhuh.. and can you please call me Beomgyu for once? Come on we’re classmates, not working at an office.”

“Alright fine! Beomgyu, jeez.”

“Nice job, you finally do something right!” His tone is so fake the words practically fall from the air from how much plastic they were made of.

“Can I say something? I’d honestly rather die than be stuck up here with you,” you mumble as you rest your head on the railing.

“You should just jump then,” he chuckles.

Your eyes couldn’t have rolled any farther to the back of your head. God he was so fucking stupid.

“You first Choi, be my guest!” You snap back, nothing pissed you off more than Beomgyu’s cocky tone.

“Call me Choi one more time and I’m gonna start calling you noona from how old you sound.”

“Well, I’m sorry I try to remain professional unlike you! Ugh, I’m fucking leaving!” You begin to walk back to the doors of the building until Beomgyu decides he wants to have the last laugh.

“Alright well, at least I can still have fun and be president!  I have fucking friends– unlike you.”

Ouch. Beomgyu: 1 You: 0

You’re not sure if you’re more angry or hurt but regardless tears threaten to form as you bite your lip unable to respond. Because he’s right.

You really don’t have any friends.

Beomgyu is popular, he makes everyone laugh, he's easygoing, he’s kind when he wants to be, and most of all he’s handsome. 

You internally kick yourself for thinking of that last part. Though as much as you hated to admit it, you did find him very attractive just like the rest of your school did.

Both of you were incredibly smart and since the day he transferred to your school, you were no longer alone at the top of your class.

You constantly tied with Beomgyu when it came to grades, and when you couldn’t it was always back and forth over who had the better score. You two were just too evenly matched.

You both always bickered about it. Finding yourself despising that Beomgyu was a person you weren’t. In a way, it felt like he was better. You wanted to be someone like him. Though you’d never tell him that.

And thus you hated him for it.

You inhale sharply and raise your sleeve to wipe your eyes. Beomgyu’s eyes widen as he watches you attempt to go back inside.

You pull.

You pull again.

It’s locked.

“Are you kidding me..” you mumble. This was probably the most embarrassing moment of your life. Your rival makes you cry and now he’s forced to watch you suffer as you’re locked up on the roof with him. “Y/n.. I- um.”

“Save it Beomgyu. Please just leave me alone” You whisper, eyes closed shut as your last attempt to stop your tears from falling. You plop yourself down at the railing that overlooks the streets and buildings of your small city.

Beomgyu knew he fucked up, he was used to teasing you but he realized he took it way too far this time. His eyes stay soft as he watches you curl up onto the ground, head leaning against the rails.

He walks over to you and sits next to you, unsure of how to respond to your weak sniffles. He had never seen you this vulnerable before. He never knew you were this vulnerable.

So he does the one thing he knows, he pulls an earbud out and places it into your ear.

You look over to him with wet eyes, and he lets out a weak smile.

“Such a shame, the sunset’s really pretty right now. Someone else would have probably enjoyed this view instead of us huh?”

Beomgyu interrupts the silence with a sigh. It was like he was attempting to lighten the mood after what he said. This was the first time he had actually shown that he (somewhat?) cared about you

“Hey. I didn’t mean that, I’m sorry y/n…” he begins as he scratches his neck, averting your gaze.

“If anything I’m kind of jealous. I don’t really know what to do with the fact that you’re so much more organized and better at things than me that I just let out my inner frustrations onto you. You don’t.. you don’t really deserve that though.”

His voice was calm and warm, and so quiet as if there was someone around that could hear his confession. The cicadas grew louder and the music playing in your ear felt like it was engraving itself into your brain, as if it was attempting to connect Beomgyu's mind to yours.

You look over at him and see that his face holds a tender gaze. Nothing like the loud and obnoxious class president you were used to.

“I can be serious too you know? Everyone seems to go to you for their problems because they see you as more responsible, but trust me when I say I’m just as sincere.” He begins to fidget with the wires of his earbuds.

“I study a lot, I never have time to go out to the arcade with my friends. All because I want to be just like you. So at school, I let myself loose and act carefree.”

You stare at him bewildered.

Had he really felt like this all along?

Beomgyu sends a text to one of your teachers and mumbles ‘they should be here soon’ as he lightly traces small circles on your arm.

You’re too shocked to speak, too attached to the warmth of his fingers tracing your skin.

So you two sit there just like that, allowing the playlist of songs to speak for yourselves. You and Beomgyu were never that close but in that moment, for the first time, it felt like you two had connected.

Beomgyu can’t help but stare at the way you close your eyes, silently mouthing the words to the lyrics of his favorite songs. The way the sunset’s hues outline your hair flowing in the wind, the way your nose and eyes have a soft reddish blush to them from crying. You looked so breathtaking in that moment.

As you finally regain your bearings, you look up to Beomgyu and he immediately curses at himself for letting you catch him staring.

“You know.. I always felt the same towards you. I wanted to be like you as well. I guess..” you bite your lip as you contemplate what to say next.

“I guess we’re more alike than we thought. Maybe we should’ve just made the effort to actually get to know each other, but instead we ended up here.” You softly chuckle and Beomgyu makes a mental note that he wants to hear you laugh more.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but you’re right.” He replies and you burst into laughter.

“Beomgyu you’re actually funnier than I’d like to admit,” you smile and lightly smack his shoulder.

“There you go, like hearing my name coming from you.”

Your face flushes with a rosy hue and you see Beomgyu’s ears are turning the same color as he plays with his shoelaces.

You’d never seen him this soft.  Usually, he was sure of himself and confident.

Was he flirting with you?

Moments of silence pass by at Beomgyu clears his throat.

“Crazy how this view.. Is so pretty..”

“Huh?” You tilt your head.

What was this sudden change of conversation topic?

“I mean, it’s kind of romantic, isn’t it?.. A shame that you uh- have feelings for me and I clearly don’t feel the same way towards you.”

Your jaw practically drops at his words. Beomgyu’s tone is playful but the way he hides into his hoodie, ears turning redder than before shows that he’s trying to indicate something else.

You smile and decide to play along.

“You know what. I’m frankly feeling nothing.”

“Is that so?"

“As a matter of fact Beomgyu, less than that.”

“Good to know we finally agree on something.”

“Yeah.” You both look over at each other.

And of course, neither of you could help but burst into a fit of giggles.

The crisp air entices you to scoot closer to him. Only because you were cold and not because you just needed to feel his body next to yours.

Totally not the latter.

The distant skyline is painted in shades of amber and rose, silhouetted against the fading light. You feel yourself relax again, and Beomgyu gently places your head on his shoulder. If you were any more receptive you could feel the way his heart beat louder than the bass of the music blasting through his headset.

Maybe this wasn’t such a total waste of a beautiful sunset.

[genericpuff]

Hey so I have a question-

Is Rachel even contributing to LO's art anymore? Like, at all?

CAUTION: MILD FASTPASS SPOILERS AHEAD !!!

I've talked at length about the 'tells' of each assistant and artist, and while it doesn't guarantee that I can tell exactly who drew each panel, there's one thing there's been a lot less of in the most recent episodes that have caught my attention - things that I know Rachel would typically contribute.

And most of it comes down to her lineart.

The shading was always her, no doubt about that, you could tell with how consistently awful it is, how she would take actual decent flats from her assistants and proceed to butcher them with muddied shading.

AmyKim89's flats vs. after Rachel's gotten her hands on them:

(seriously Rachel why tf did you darken Persephone's legs here, it looked so much better before ??)

But there was also her lineart which, at first, I didn't realize who was drawing it. It didn't show up super often in LO but it was always very noticeable when it did so I knew it had to be someone on the team doing it:

The thickness of the lines and the extra little strokes added in along the knuckles and bends, that wasn't something that was really common in LO at this point... at least it hasn't been since S1:

And when comparing it to the lineart she used to do in The Doctor Pepper/Foxglove Show:

(look at the mouth in The Doctor Foxglove Show vs. Hera in the pilot version of LO, they're literally the same)

So yeah, it was certainly the revelation to discover that that one instance of "weirdly detailed lineart" wasn't one of her assistants having a little extra fun, it was Rachel herself. It was already so uncommon for her to contribute all the way back in S2 that her contributions seemed to be more of the exception rather than the norm.

And since seeing the art that's been in the newest FP episodes following the return of the series... is Rachel even drawing at all anymore? Because lately the lineart has felt very thin, in a way that I can't tell if it's her assistants just doing all the lineart now or if she's trying to emulate S1 LO more by using less lineart. But S1 didn't have thin lineart, it had very thick lineart, BUT only being used where necessary to emphasis shadows and depth.

Now the lineart feels very... dinky? Especially when you look at the eyelashes.

That said, there are moments from S1 that had similarly 'dinky' lineart, so take this with grains of salt. It still didn't feel as dinky though as it does today where the lines are practically non-existent in how thin they are.

There are also times when you can tell they're really trying to emulate that S1 look, the pieces are there but they aren't being put together very well:

So yeah at this point I wouldn't even be shocked if all Rachel's doing at this point is scripting and roughs. And considering there are definitely times where she'll just draw without knowing what to write, the 'scripting' is also practically non-existent. It's just her leaving her roughs off to the last second for her assistants to whip out with very little time to pay attention to what's being submitted.

Once again it's Rachel fundamentally missing the point of the criticism that's being made of her work. She's trying to forcefully emulate something that she didn't even have a process behind. I can attest as someone who's been trying to do studies of her past work to recreate it as faithfully as possible through Rekindled, it's very difficult to achieve the 'old LO' look because 'old LO' was literally just Rachel slapping down brush strokes until they looked good, there was no specific process or guidelines that she followed, she just made things look textured and colorful. Everything else was basically up to her figuring out what actually looked good, with panels often having their own vibes separate from others in isolation of one another.

Now she's trying to replicate that look while missing the point entirely that it's not something she can really replicate anymore. Though we do get the odd panel that's way closer to the point, those panels have one thing that she's clearly not putting into the comic as a whole anymore - love and effort.

(fr this panel is so gorgeous but I feel like at this point it was more sheer luck because of how rare it is to see panels like these nowadays, this feels like an accident LOL)

Case in point, this honorable mention towards Persephone's outfit which is literally just a color-swapped version of the sketch that Rachel posted to Blue Sky that got meme'd to death in the ULO sub:

Did you catch that though? The weird dark patch over her boob and the gap in the lineart of her cleavage?

That's because they copy pasted the first panel and then erased out the hands, but missed the part of the hand shading that was overlapping the breast and the gap in the lineart.

I shit you not, Rachel coming up with memes on Blue Sky that she's scraped out of shows she watched 20 years ago is basically the full extent of her writing at this point.

Haha take a thing and make it bigger! So funnyyyy!

(seriously Rachel's 'humor' feels like it's stuck in 2010)

Yep, you're really earning that #1 NYT Bestseller label that you haven't even gotten since Volume 3, Rachel. Put your hand down, there are no high fives for you here.

[tanzdoesthings]

Birthdays

for the Ancient AU. Five Pebbles and Seven Red Suns celebrates a birthday.

a gift for @ardienothesieno !

“I thought you didn’t do birth-cycles?” Pebbles said as he tilted his head and looked to Suns. His cup clinked against the smooth table, drink sloshing a bit, letting the ice clink against the straw. The room was filled with the low hum of conversation, casual and yet refined. Suns fit in better than Pebbles ever did.

They sipped their drink, as poised as the cycle they met, embodying a silent holiness that Pebbles could never dream of achieving. “No, it is not my usual style,” they reply, “but it seemed valuable to celebrate.”

Void below. What is he supposed to say to… this? All of this! Seven Red Suns taking time out of their busy schedule just to take him out to lunch? He’s an artist and lab tech, for wyrm’s sake, and yet they continue to meet, discussing anything under the sun, and then lower as well. Religion, philosophy, paintings, life, their work on the lifeblood of their civilization. Turning Spires is activating soon, and they’re here. Celebrating his birthcycle.

“Pebbles?” they prompt, bringing him back to the moment. “Is everything alright?”

He nods, taking another sip of his drink. “Just thinking about all that’s happened.”

They raise their glass in agreement, tipping it towards him and then taking another sip. “It’s incredible, really. We always wonder if the cycle has us trapped, and here we are, celebrating it.”

“Tradition, I suppose,” he contemplates, holding the cup on the table.

Suns seems to have noticed the oddities, to his dismay. “We don’t have to celebrate here, you know. I thought it would be nice to take you up here, but you seem… uncomfortable.”

“Thanks for stating the obvious, Suns,” he bites back, harder than he really meant to.

Smoothly, always elegantly, in a single motion, Suns sets their cup on the table, taking Pebbles by the arm and pulling. He almost falls, but manages to keep step with his friend. They travel down the elevator, out onto the street, moving between the flowing crowd.

It takes until they are standing in front of the rolling door to Pebble’s workshop that he realizes what Suns is doing. “Hey- I thought you said no work today!”

Suns unlocks the door. They’ve known the code for many cycles now. “Where do you keep your paints? And an apron, preferably.”

Little Pebbles, standing in the doorway where he was left, stares. “You want to paint?”

“It’s your birthday, yes? You enjoy doing this. I want you to show me.”

It takes another moment before Pebbles snaps back into action, collecting two aprons and moving to hang his mask on the hook- until he remembered Suns was also there. Should he take off his mask-? It would be more difficult to paint with it on- would it be weird?

Maybe it would, except Suns had moved behind him, taking an apron in one hand and holding their own mask in the other, hanging it. Oh. He tries to stop thinking, pulling off his own mask and hanging it side by side. They are smiling at him- have they always been? Their eyes are so vibrant- focus. Paint. Cans are pulled from the cabinet, nozzles fitted and set in front of a blank wall in the workshop.

“It will take some getting used to,” he says, picking up a red can and shaking. “Keep your hand moving, or else the paint will pool and drip.” A piece of paper is handed to Suns, and they reach down to pick up another can. Purple.

They shake it as well, trying a few sprays across the paper. The first two drip, but the third is relatively even. Pebbles watches, and void below is it different having Suns in this workshop. They’re tall, he’s always known this, but even without the mask Suns towers over him. He nods at the test sprays, pointing to the wall.

“We start with a sketch. This will get covered up later, but it’s good reference.” He takes a deep breath, stepping up to the wall. Scholar symbol. That will do. It’s bubbly and big, and Suns moves to add some pearls in around the character.

“Is this good?”

He’s always painted alone, this is so different. It’s good. “Yes, very. I like the way it frames the subject.”

Five Pebbles gets into the rhythm of painting. Shake-shake-shake, spray. Step back, see the big picture. Next color. Repeat. Suns works on the pearls, and they almost glow on the wall, colors weaving together. They’re picking this up well.

“You’re quick,” Suns observes, adding gold to one of the pearls.

“I’ve done this for a long time,” he replies.

More painting. Outlines are added, highlights giving emphasis to the shapes. Suns steps back at this point, letting their friend finish the work.

He steps back, dropping the near-empty canister on the ground. “Well. We did it.”

“Thank you Pebbles.”

“Oh-“ He really had needed to get something on this wall, this had just been a good excuse to-

Suns puts their hand on his shoulder. “Let’s get this cleaned up.”

He nods. It was still so surreal to see Suns without their mask, but there they went, picking the cans up off his floor. He hastily followed, putting caps back on and throwing out the empty ones. It all cleaned up quickly, and they both returned to the cabinet to put away the cans and aprons.

“It’s a shame we must wear these bulky masks and not be able to properly appreciate all the artwork on the walls.” Suns states as they pick up their mask, inspecting it before putting it back on.

“Yeah.”

Suns glances to Pebbles. “Let’s get home. It’s been a long day. Oh- send Moon my regards! I’m still writing a response to her last message,” they laugh, standing and walking to the door.

“Yeah, I’ll make sure she knows.” He follows suit, closing the door behind the two and locking it.

Many cycles later, when he’s running for his life, he’s going to come in this workshop, looking for supplies. He’s going to see the mural, made with the one who set him up to fail. The burns on his hands, his face, all from the void fluid that Suns gave him. And he is going to swallow his despair, and run.

Run far away.

[less-dev]

We're making a Starbound/Terraria inspired space sandbox game!

We're making a 2D sandbox game similar to Starbound! Or uh, terraria in space.

#nodev contains shitposting

#planetarium contains dev progress

Specifics under the cut

Who are you?

Aspen - Project Lead, Programmer, Pixel artist, Sound Designer.

Hey! I'm Aspen, I've been programming and making games for many many years in basically every engine there is... But never felt the drive to finish one, until now! I consider myself very experienced in the engine we're using (Gamemaker Studio 2.5) and have confidence we'll be able to make this game a reality. I also run the Tumblr account, so assume it's me behind the wheel as a default. Thank you for checking the game out!

Alec - Concept artist, Character Designer

H a l l o I'm Alec, I like writing and drawing and painting and designing shiiiiiiiit. I adore world building and have frequent bursts of creative possession in which I conceive and birth the greatest ideas and concepts in a mere moment. Otherwise, I can be a total dumbass and completely useless. I'm good at colours 👌 I have been a 85% a home-brew DM for about 2 years now and that is the greatest proof of my ADHD-given God powers of creativity. Slay.

What a cool guy!

Design pillars

Immersion. Above all else, I would like roleplay (casual or serious) to be natural and well supported. I would like players to find engaging with the world, and it's characters to be very personal.

Innovation. Tropes such as "You spawn in a green forest and can walk left or right" will be actively avoided. Biomes will have generation that presents more unique movement opportunities. Such as geysers in rock pools launching players high up, or giant twisting vines that hold up chunks of land to hop between.

More quality less quantity. Planets will be significantly more content-dense than Starbound, and perhaps controversially travel between them will be more difficult/expensive as well. This would encourage players to take advantage of all the resources presented on each planet, instead of hopping from one to the next. This would also encourage us throughout development to give each planet as much love as possible. Each planet should feel like a 'miniature terraria world'. Though actually achieving that is easier said than done.

Meaningful content. Procedurally generating creatures from 100 different pre-set monster parts could technically produce limitless alien creatures for players to encounter. But in both No Man's Sky and Starbound. I find this novelty to wear off quick, these creatures are not manually, meaningfully crafted and beyond an unusual appearance and some shallow gameplay changes... They do not create much of a memorable experience for the player. In my opinion, anyway. I would rather hand-craft every creature and make them all significantly unique and interesting. That's not to say procedurally generated creatures won't ever have a place in the game, but they certainly wont be as prevalent as others games.

Okay well... What's finished?

Fundamental lighting shaders akin to Starbound.

Some world generation brushes and basic commands.

A text mark-up language (heavily optimised), and game chat.

Extensive custom debugging tools

Hard and soft-loading of chunks to save on as much memory and CPU usage as possible.

Complete unloading, and compression of chunks on top of the previously mentioned system. As well as a live-saving system.

Setting, Story baseline, and conceptualization of the first 3 playable species. Each species will have a different starting planet, and immediately different playthrough.

Designs and cultures of several additional unplayable races.

Character proportion tests, sprites and sketches.

First-pass on collision functions.

Weighted Tile variance and tile connections.

CONCERNS

Multiplayer. While I have made an online multiplayer game before and it's definitely doable for this game, it would require some practice in a one-off test game to be fully confident. It would also take a LOT of time.

Modding. As far as I know gamemaker games are notoriously difficult for players to modify. Something like Unity is far easier even without mod support. Gamemaker on the other hand is difficult even if I want to design systems in favor of modders. This is kind of a problem for later, I have faith there'll be something we can do to make it work... But a cursory look says it won't be easy. I would be extremely disappointed if there was nothing we could do.

[spdrvyn]

before i get to requests again, punk miguel has been on my mind! i'd like to think that he's in a band with some of the other senior spiders like jess, peter, and ben. hobie could be there too, because he's obviously also punk.

i'm also thinking about a reader who's an independent artist, they got big due to sheer creativity and social media. they're nearly the complete opposite of miguel's aesthetic. sweet, soft, and serene. he was naturally drawn to you the moment he walked by you backstage.

"hey, you." he'd caught you in the break room, the music festival that you two were invited to had allowed some downtime before the big act later at night. to which you diligently took the time to devour all of the free snacks that they left in the cupboards and mini fridge, so you were more than embarrassed that the leader of woven wishes caught you.

"i'm sorry, were these yours?" you muffled with a mouthful of cheese fries, slowly pushing them away from you. blasted, you were caught cheese-handed. but miguel simply chuckled loudly, before setting himself in front of you on the small round table.

"nah, they're peter's, but i'm sure he wouldn't mind." they were still somebody else's lunch, so you decidedly tucked the box away for now. hastily grabbing some tissues from the nearby dispenser to freshen up a little, god forbid anyone see how not soft you get when eating. "so, i heard you're fresh in the industry. is that right?"

he heard. he's heard about you. "oh, uh, yeah! i'm pretty new. the internet has been my stage for a while, so it's pretty surreal to feel the physical eyes on me now..."

"i get that, minus the internet bit, don't really use it, but hey. you've got a lot of good material, jess played me one of your songs." miguel shrugged, "keep it up, don't give any of this shit to the big corps, okay? trust me."

"i- i wasn't really planning on that, haha. don't worry," you felt awfully awkward. what could you say to someone with as much experience as miguel? you knew of his reputation despite not being in his genre, his presence was just that powerful. "you... like my songs?"

"of course, guess you could say that i'm bit of a, uh–" miguel cheekily swooped his hands through his ruffled hair, as he flashed a darling smile at you. "... romantic at heart."

immediately, you roared with laughter. miguel didn't think that he could achieve it, hearing how smooth your voice sounded through your recordings couldn't compare to how good you sounded when you laughed.

"ahh... i'll take it your word for it then. miguel, if i'm right? you're infamous."

"don't let that scare you, 'm perfectly harmless."

"i wasn't worried about that," you giggled lightly, still recovering from his joke. "trust me, i've heard nothing but good things about you. i've heard some of your band's songs from time to time and i can see you why you're so beloved in the community."

"really?"

"really."

miguel didn't know why he had such a hard time believing it, his music was critically acclaimed to be glorious, he built tough skin from the amount of bullshit he's faced in the industry. yet, hearing your opinion felt oddly refreshing. maybe there was a lot more to you than what he'd seen so far. a treasure trove of a person waiting to be discovered.

[veevz-drawz]

DoaHD | Entry 2: But Tea Time with Friends is the Best

A/N: hey remember when i said i would upload biweekly? yeah so that was a lie LMAO. anyways sorry for literally uploading a month after, i was busy moving and switch to working full time;; (and working on a zine :0!) but i've been getting used to the schedule change so hopefully updates will be more consistent now!

Taglist: @minecraftninjerkid (DM if you would like to be added!)

Previous | Masterlist | Next

The summer months were never Strawberry Tea Cookie’s cup of tea.

It was so oppressively humid. The consistent moisture never failed to soak through her dough, making it intolerably soft and sticky. Her curly locks always flatten the minute she stepped out of Strawberry Mansion, with the glaze holding her hair up immediately dissolving upon contact with the damp atmosphere.

However, on this day, the Great Witches seemed to have taken pity on the former heiress, sending waves of cooling wind across the kingdom after hearing of yesterday’s misfortunes.

The breeze traveled deep within Hollyberry Palace, carrying ballads of rustling leaves and songbird melodies past pristinely kept rose gardens and winding bush mazes. It softly brushed past four cookies huddled around a tea table, careful as to not disturb their conversation.

Strawberry Tea Cookie was situated under the protective shade of a berry palm tree, recounting what happened between sips of refreshing fruit tea. Princess Cookie and Wildberry Cookie basked under the oven-hot sunlight, listening to their friend intently— the former more visibly angry. Knight Cookie stood beside his princess, insisting to keep his post despite the chair offered to him.

“...And now I’m no longer heiress,” Strawberry Tea Cookie sighed, placing her now empty cup back on its saucer. Dread crept through her dough like mycelium across a dish of rotten fruit. If the weight of her parents’ decision hadn’t hit her last night, it certainly did now after she told her friends everything.

“How dare they!” Princess Cookie huffed. “Your parents had no right to do that!”

She turned to her retainer for affirmation, which he gave in the form of a quick nod and a “yes princess!”

“I agree, it’s strange that they would forfeit your position like this,” Wildberry Cookie commented.

“Yeah! You practically launched House Strawberry into high fashion!” Princess Cookie added. “That alone makes you more than deserving of that spot!”

Strawberry Tea Cookie leaned back into her chair, remorse pulling her mouth down into a slight frown. “I… Don’t think that mattered to them.”

The designer agreed that this achievement alone should’ve solidified her place as heiress. She clearly remembered the proud look in her parents’ eyes when FragariA debuted during Hollyberry Fashion Week, its popularity instantly skyrocketing to rival established oat couture powerhouses such as House Blueberry.

A fresh wave of betrayal snapped open the wounds she had stitched up the night prior, her sullen expression digging deeper into her features. “I just… Don’t smile like the rest of my family.”

Strawberry Tea Cookie’s brows furrowed, her previous emotions washed away by resentment. From the moment she was born, House Strawberry’s intertwined principles of creativity and expression were emphasized in every aspect of her life. She studied every immaculately painted portrait lining Strawberry Mansion’s walls, was tutored by the best artists in the Hollyberry Kingdom, and attended the same kingdom’s most prestigious fashion institute.

Yet she will take drawing a naked cookie for eight hours straight in the smallest, most dingiest studio over being forced to smile and laugh like the rest of her family members.

Growing up surrounded by creativity also meant that she was constantly criticized for her lack of emotion, which her family never failed to remind her of. Yet she always believed that forcing expression countered creativity. Acting happy impedes one’s ability to connect with where art fundamentally came from— their true feelings. Plus, Strawberry Tea Cookie would argue that her defiance was still a form of expression, much to her parents’ dismay.

Sure, disobedience was undesirable within her family circle, but what’s the problem if that’s what she truly felt? She couldn’t possibly perform at her best if all her family wanted were soft smiles and saccharine words towards their benefactors.

Then the realization sank in, pulled down by a heavy peach pit as horror blew out her frosted pupils. “...And that’s the problem…”

“That’s not true and you know it!” Princess Cookie practically jumped from her seat, grabbing Strawberry Tea Cookie and pulling her closer from across the table—into the light. “You are perfect the way you are, Peach Jam Cookie’s words mean nothing!”

“They meant nothing until my parents agreed with her,” Strawberry Tea Cookie argued, voice cracking as she retracted back into the shadows, holding herself close. “And what father said…” 

Bare minimum. Incapable of expression. Too spoiled.

“He’s right, I’m far from a good heiress.”

If showing up to family dinners was a rare occasion, then attending parties hosted by other nobles was something that didn’t even occur on a blue moon. She found them to be a waste of time that otherwise could have been used on building FragariA’s name.

Yet they were excellent opportunities to network, as her parents constantly stressed, but Strawberry Tea Cookie found no use in it. She already had strong connections with the royal family and a few notable designers, there wasn’t any use for more besides maintaining the ones her family already forged.

Ones that she has actively destroyed due to her inactivity.

In retrospect, the designer should have put more care into strengthening these precious relationships— she only did when her parents implored her to. Perhaps she naively believed that they would remain static for years to come.

Though, if she were to be completely honest with herself, it was because those cookies weren’t all too interesting to talk to. But that excuse was leagues more fragile than her cousin’s ego.

“Don’t tell me they brought up Blueberry Raisin Cookie too?” Princess Cookie asked heatedly. “Removing him from your life was the best choice you could’ve made!”

“Your aunt already crossed the line by mentioning him.” Wildberry Cookie stated, an annoyed inflection edging his tone.

“No, thankfully they didn’t.” Strawberry Tea Cookie sighed. She would have truly snapped if they did. “But, I think they were referencing other events…”

The fighting finally died down after what seemed like a millennium, leaving the once elegant banquet table an absolute mess. Strawberry Tea Cookie stepped over scattered silverware and shattered plates, grimacing when she accidentally stepped on a piece of sticky cake. She sat down on a nearby chair, watching as cookies regained their senses.

What a great start to the Princess Contest.

The designer was still dumbfounded by the amount of cookies who drank the punch after seeing it turn a different color— they didn’t even listen to her warnings when she made said observation! She was left stuck on the sidelines watching the feast turn into a battle royale until whatever was mixed into the punch wore off.

“Whew! I need a break.” Princess Cookie sighed tiredly, slouching next to Strawberry Tea Cookie. She looked worse for wear, but her dress was still impressively intact— as expected of the true Hollyberry Princess.

“Why are cookies always fighting,” she bemoaned. “It’s not fun, AND it’s exhausting!”

“How dare you, that is an insult to the noble House Raspberry!” Raspberry Cookie proclaimed, pointing her candy cane blade towards the two. “We have built our culture and wealth with nothing but the tips of our swords!”

Strawberry Tea Cookie and Princess Cookie exchanged confused looks with each other. But while the latter seemed only bewildered, the former was growing ever more annoyed with the pompous raspberry heiress.

“And how exactly is that an insult?” Strawberry Tea Cookie questioned, standing up and shielding Princess Cookie. Not only had Raspberry Cookie called her friend “unimpressive” earlier, it now seemed she was just cherry-picking—or rather, raspberry-picking—a reason to confront her.

“Fighting is what molded us!” The noble fencer explained fiercely. “What brought us above the other Cookie Houses!”

“Yet here you are, needing a silly Princess Contest to prove your family’s worth,” the designer shot back, eliciting an indignant gasp from her opponent. “House Raspberry is far past its glory days, it’s evident from the way you’re so desperate to undermine Princess Cookie.”

Now that was an insult, not a harmless comment her friend made.

“You just insulted the great deeds of my ancestors,” Raspberry Cookie furiously cried. “Who risked every speck of flour in their bodies upon their blade.”

Strawberry Tea Cookie had to fight every grain of sugar in her body to not openly roll her eyes.

“I demand an apology, here and now!” The raspberry fencer ordered, pointing her rapier towards the irritated designer. “Strawberry Tea Cookie, I challenge you to a duel!”

“Hold up!” Princess Cookie interjected, standing up and marching towards Raspberry Cookie. “This is MY battle,” she declared with determination, swinging her scepter to match the stance of Raspberry Cookie’s sword. “And it’s time for me to find out what kind of dough she’s made of!”

“You were defending her highness’s honor!” Knight Cookie interjected. “I see nothing wrong with that.”

“Yeah! And I really appreciate you supporting me throughout the Princess Contest,” Princess Cookie chimed in. “Plus, you apologized to Raspberry Cookie after, right?”

Strawberry Tea Cookie shook her head shamefully, her mother had to apologize on her behalf. She didn’t miss the way Princess Cookie’s expression shifted subtly.

“And that’s not even the worst of it,” the designer lamented. “I permanently severed ties with House Blueberry after I made Blueberry Cookie cry during that one ball.”

Fate seemed to have it out for Strawberry Tea Cookie that evening, being forced to face Blueberry Raisin Cookie’s granddaughter only a short month after being dismissed by him.

The young blueberry noble looked undeniably nervous under the designer’s scrutinizing gaze, a stark contrast from her usual bubbly self. 

“Spit it out.” Strawberry Tea Cookie demanded frigidly. Cookies began gathering around the two out of concern and curiosity, surrounding them like a blinding spotlight. Blueberry Cookie glanced at the crowd anxiously, stuttering out jumbles of unintelligible words.

The strawberry heiress couldn’t care less.

Out of patience, she walked past the trembling noble, purposely bumping against the other’s shoulder. “Wasting my time just like your grandfather, good to know that it runs in your family’s dough.” She remarked tartly.

That seemed to set Blueberry Cookie off. “Why are you so mean!?” She shakily blurted out, so loud that it cut all conversation and music in the ballroom. “I was just trying to apologize for what Grandpa did!” 

Strawberry Tea Cookie’s jam stilled. She turned around, the hot tears running down Blueberry Cookie’s face biting through the heiress’s hardened expression. Every sob-induced hiccup and whimper pounded more guilt within, grinding it into her very dough like she was trapped in a mortar and pestle.

Blueberry Cookie ran off before the designer could utter an apology, leaving the crowd’s scornful gaze solely on her.

Judgemental murmurs filled the room as Strawberry Tea Cookie’s face grew hot with embarrassment and shame. The sea of ornate ball gowns slowly melted into a tall, amorphous wave of burnt caramel, yet she could still feel the contemptuous heat radiating from each individual cookie.

The spotlight was all on her now.

“Why does Lady Blueberry Cookie have to apologize anyways?” A voice whispered.

Strawberry Tea Cookie glanced at the direction Blueberry Cookie ran off to. If she’s quick, she could probably catch up to her and apologize– she didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of the designer’s frustrations.

“No, no, Lady Blueberry Cookie was apologizing on behalf of Sir Blueberry Raisin Cookie.” Another cookie corrected.

“But he’s such an upstanding cookie!”

That caught the heiress’s attention. All plans of apologizing flew out the window with that single phrase alone.

Upstanding? They can’t be serious.

“I heard she was so difficult to deal with that Sir Blueberry Raisin Cookie dismissed her as his apprentice.”

Strawberry Tea Cookie turned to face the gossiping cookies, anger threatening to boil over. They were glaring right back at her, as if wanting her to hear their absurd rumors.

“I’m not surprised, given how she acted with Lady Blueberry Cookie.”

This was ridiculous.

“Well maybe if he wasn’t such a gross wretch, she wouldn’t need to apologize in the first place!” The words just slipped out of her mouth– a culmination of months worth of resentment and stress.

The entire ballroom collectively, and dramatically, gasped at Strawberry Tea Cookie’s statement. A surge of indignant shouts rose after the brief silence, drowning out all attempts at explaining herself. 

Strawberry Tea Cookie was tired. Tired of this ball, tired of her family, and especially tired of maintaining that geriatric raisin’s reputation for the sake of public relations.

The heiress rushed to get out of the limelight, wading through the massive ocean of angry cookies towards an exit— an escape.

“House Strawberry’s relationship with House Blueberry was already a thread away from snapping,” Strawberry Tea Cookie sighed, burying her face into her palms. “I completely severed it that night.”

She made such a huge mess that not even her family’s extensive connections could clean it up. House Blueberry refused any contact, turning away Strawberry Tea Cookie and her parents when she tried entering their estate.

For months, the former heiress couldn’t show her face in public without hearing the scrutinizing whispers of cookies nearby. She had to endure her relatives complaining about the endless rumors at social gatherings— not to mention the arguments that ensued after.

“Crumbs, and now my cousin is heir,” Strawberry Tea Cookie cried. “That means House Strawberry will belong to the Peach Clan, and who knows what will happen afterwards.” Strawberry Sugar Cookie’s stagnant view on art and Peach Jam Cookie’s… personality were already concerning enough. She couldn’t possibly imagine what would happen if the Peach Clan got their sticky hands on her house. “Great Ancients, what do I do?”

How could she possibly fix this? Would her parents even consider giving back her inheritance? Just how long ago did they decide Strawberry Sugar Cookie would take her place?

“You’ll figure something out.” A strong, warm hand grasped Strawberry Tea Cookie’s shoulder. She looked up to meet Wildberry Cookie’s comforting gaze. “I know you wouldn’t let this go without a fight.”

“Yeah! You’re THE Strawberry Tea Cookie after all!” Princess Cookie added, wrapping her arms around the designer.

“The Princess has her faith in you,” Knight Cookie exclaimed. “You better not fail!”

“Thanks, you guys.” The designer smiled, uplifted by their encouragement.

But what should she do..?

“Oh! Isn’t Hollyberry Fashion Week coming up in a few months?” Princess Cookie perked up. “This would be the perfect time to prove you’re the rightful heir!”

“A comeback during one of the biggest events in the Hollyberry Kingdom…” Strawberry Tea Cookie thought for a moment. “That’s a really good idea.”

If she were to come up with a collection so compelling that it got cookies talking about her again, she could revive FragariA’s popularity and skyrocket the brand back to the top. At the same time, she’ll work on mending those severed connections while also forming new ones. That would hopefully demonstrate to her parents that she’s more than capable of taking over House Strawberry. Determination filled her jam, and for a brief moment, she felt there was hope in this situation.

But there was still one problem…

“What do I base this collection off of..?” There’s a reason why Strawberry Tea Cookie hasn’t participated in Hollyberry Fashion Week in almost two years, let alone released any new designs. She had simply exhausted all sources of inspiration in the Hollyberry Kingdom. Worse yet, it seemed that the more time she spent stuck here, the more creativity drained out of her.

“Why don’t you go traveling?” Wildberry Cookie suggested. “You have been burnt out for quite some time, perhaps a change in scenery could bring new ideas.”

“That’s true, but where have I not gone to?” Strawberry Tea Cookie pondered. She had made collections based on all the nearby regions, and reusing ideas wouldn’t garner the necessary attention for her brand.

“Wait, what about that Isle of Tea collection you made years ago?” Princess Cookie mentioned. “It was so pretty, but you never released it...”

“Considering how much of a fuss my parents made when I showed off just one of the dresses, I doubt they would allow it,” Strawberry Tea Cookie sighed. It was a shame, that collection was genuinely her favorite— her magnum opus, even. “I should refrain from arguing with them anyways.”

This left the trio–or quartet when counting Knight Cookie–stumped. The designer considered writing to Mont Blanc Cookie for some help, perhaps arranging a short visit to the Cookie Kingdom so she could get some inspiration.

“...Her Majesty, Hollyberry Cookie, and I have been invited back to the Crème Republic to celebrate its reconstruction,” Wildberry Cookie brought up. “Perhaps you could join us.”

“Isn’t the Crème Republic on the other side of Crispia?” Strawberry Tea Cookie queried, she was reluctant to travel that far when Hollyberry Fashion Week was just around the corner. It would take a couple of weeks alone just to figure out the logistics. However, she couldn’t deny her curiosity regarding the city-state. The snippets Wildberry Cookie shared of its culture and architecture piqued her interest back then, so perhaps risking the trip could rekindle that spark.

Anything to become heiress again.

“Would Her Majesty allow me to tag along?” The designer asked.

“Of course, she always enjoys the extra company,” Wildberry Cookie reassured. “…And she’ll probably use this as an opportunity to get her hands on more strawberry juice.” The dread in his tone was apparent.

“Then I’ll be sure to procure House Strawberry’s finest bottle,” Strawberry Tea Cookie chuckled. “When are you two planning to depart?”

“A week from today.”

Strawberry Tea Cookie’s eyes widened in surprise. A week? There’s no way she could arrange travel plans that quickly, even with the help of the Strawberry Estate staff.

“I’m aware it’s rather last minute,” the retainer admitted. “But don’t worry, I will make sure accommodations are arranged for you when we arrive.”

“Thank you,” the designer smiled, bowing her head towards Wildberry Cookie in gratitude. “Then I suppose I shall start packing.”

[twosides--samecoin]

How do you get your screen caps ??? they’re literally so amazing and perfect and I love them so much 😭

Hey gamer, thanks for the ask~

Prob a good place to mention that I take free screenshot commissions in Fallout 4! Free! Send me a poseprompt/NPC and in my downtime between fic chapters I'll see what I can do! You can browse my photos on my archive with this tag -> Fallout Screenshots. I can pose pretty much any NPC/animal. Long rambly post so there's more below the cut.

I was a film photographer before I ever was artful about game screenshots. I came up in the Ansel Adams school of thought. His whole thing was he'd hike up to a mountain with a large format camera on a heavy tripod. He'd see the resulting image in his "mind's eye" and imagine each and every problem possible he'd have to contend with in the creative process to get there. He was the most low-key, soft-spoken batshit crazy control freak artist who made each photo look easy. You'd never guess at the amount of time and work and travel it took him to take one photo. Even his simplest works make people feel ant-small compared to the arresting grandness of the American landscape's most boring viscera. I have several books of his and four of the official/authorized prints, and I bring AA up because I'm kinda insane in the same ways when it comes to screenshots. In my books, it should never be just an image, it should be the most elevated version of the image you can make given your current skill and tools available at that present moment. My Yeehawgust 2024 entry, Rocky Mountain High, is an example of that. A five image composite stitched in post processing with set and lighting design including hand-placed trees and custom terraforming of a map in Creation Kit.

The easy answer is Photo Mode. I have a 400ish-entry mod list that is built around taking photos, but Photo Mode is really the key because it allows you to rotate the camera and pause game time with a user interface instead of relying on console. I approach screenshots the same as my film cameras.

My simplest game -> upload pipeline are my candid portraits. I will notice the way light creates shadow on an object or a character will be doing something interesting and then I bring up Photo Mode to capture it. I then load the image in Clip Studio and adjust using correction layers; normally levels/saturation/brightness and contrast set to lowish opacity, a sharpness action then a crop and that's it.

My more complex game -> upload pipelines can be as "easy" as posing characters (mine often begin with premade anims/poses but the end result is almost always a custom-tweaked pose; I'm considering releasing a pose mod of my custom work) or as complex as set and lighting design. Sometimes that's as easy as using the settlement builder. Sometimes that's as complex as fixing up a model in Blender/Nifskope, or opening up Creation Kit and making custom tweaks to the world map because the way I need it to look doesn't exist in mods/vanilla. Depending on what I am trying to accomplish, it can take me several days to create a staged scene. Work on Chapter 15 screenshots started two months ago because I knew I would need a lot of time to test and iterate.

Uhhh what else? Most photos take between 10-30 test photos before I get it right. I also use 4k-8k textures; Jack, Livvie and RJ all have unique clothes and bodyslide presets. Shit gets weird when I forget and put RJ in clothes meant for Mr. Bowling Ball Deltoids himself, Jack. I manipulate game time and weather with console. I dislike most ENB and in my arrogance I believe there's almost nothing ENB can do for a still image that I can't achieve in post-processing.

I could go on for hours about taking photos so I will stop here! Thanks for the ask!

[staytinyville]

Wooyoung

PLEASE REFER TO MASTERLIST TO GET FULL TAROT READING EXPERIENCE

↣ Summary: You weren’t a starving artist, but you were struggling to come up with the perfect piece after a famous critic commissioned one. When Wooyoung, your boyfriend, had told you he would help to find the missing piece, it leads to something that you would never be able to find without his words.

↣ Characters/Pairing: Jung Wooyoung x afab!reader

↣ Genre: smut (m), fluff

↣ AU/Trope info: starving artists!reader, supportive bf!wooyung 

↣ Word Count: 1.5k

↣ Warnings: mommy kink if you squint, sub!Wooyoung, dacryphilia sorta

↣ A/N: I will be honest and say I tend to write the reader a certain way when it comes to smut. However, I do try to avoid it as much as possible. However, for this one, much like my Hongjoong one, I feel that their emotions are really high to the point where your sexual desire is up there for Wooyoung. 

THE EMPRESS

Femininity, beauty, nature, nurturing, abundance

The Empress is a card that represents femininity. Whether you are male or female. You are taping into your emotional side that shows you are much softer than most. It doesn't mean you are a push over. It means that you are someone who knows what they are feeling and how they are feeling.

It also signifies abundance meaning that you are in a point in life where you have what you need. It might not always be there but for the time being you have the resources needed to achieve everything.

There is a lot that this card means, but a majority is when it talks about the side of you that needs to get in touch with your feminine side. Going out into mother earth and getting familiar with nature is something talked about with this card.

III THE EMPRESS

There was something bothering you as you stared at the canvas that seemed to be morally gray. Literally.

“You good?” Your assistant asked you, cleaning up the mess you had left behind. “You've been staring at your painting for a long while.” They told you.

“Yeah.” You sighed, setting your brush down. “I don't know, I feel like it’s missing something.” You answered.

“It looks kind of dull.” They told you, coming to stand next to you.

“Colors, maybe?” You asked them.

“Possibly.” They nodded their head. “Imma head out. See you tomorrow.” They waved to you

“Bye.” You called softly. 

Staring at the piece for another hour, you gave up with a groan and decided you were done for the day. The moment you stepped out of your shoes, you felt a relaxing energy flow into you as the scent of dinner seemed to enter your senses. You smiled softly, walking into the kitchen to find your long-term boyfriend finishing up dinner. 

“I'm home!” You called out, hoping he had heard you come in. 

“Hi, sweetheart!” Wooyoung smiled brightly, coming to wrap his arms around your waist. 

“Hi, Woo.” You giggled, kissing his head as he snuggled into your chest. “You didn't have to make dinner.” You pulled him back by his cheeks, watching as they squished together under your palms. 

“I wanted to.” He blinked slowly, giving you a grin. “Don't worry.” He waved you off, going back to finishing up what he needed to. 

As you watched him plate the food, you took a seat at the dining table, shoulders slumping from the stress that was seeping into your pores. You had told the man that you would cook dinner sometime this week, but the large piece you were working on seemed to be taking up your time. You felt bad for neglecting him, which made tears spring into your eyes. 

“Hey, you okay?” Wooyoung suddenly gasped, turning around and wiping at your cheeks as he kneeled in front of you. 

“I don't know.” You sniffled, looking down at him. “I feel like I've been neglecting you.” You admitted. 

“You could never.” Wooyoung smiled at you. “You've just been too busy with that commission.” 

“I'm almost done with it, but I feel like something is missing.” You sighed thinking about it. 

“Are you stressing over it?” He asked.

“No.” You shook your head. “I just can't seem to find the right colors.”

“How about I take a look at it tomorrow? Maybe I can help.” The man’s grin made you smile, not wanting to reject his offer if it meant you got to spend more time with him. 

“Thanks, Woo.” You spoke softly. 

“Anything for my love.” He leaned down to give you a kiss. 

The following day, Wooyoung sat in a stool looking over the canvas that seemed to have dark colors. While there were some greens and blues, the hues were washed out and looked too dark or too light. 

“It's missing colors.” He immediately told you.

“I know that.” You told him, walking closer. “I just don't know which ones.”

“It's missing your personal touch.” Wooyoung spoke up. 

“What do you mean?” You asked, looking at his dazed smile. 

“You did the painting, but it doesn't look like yours.” He stood up, moving you to stand in front of your canvas. 

“You're someone who is nurturing, like the mother dear taking care of her fawn.” He said, looking at the painting from over your shoulder. 

“You're free, like the trees that look like they are swaying in the wind. But you're also a natural beauty, like the flowers in the meadow.” You felt him grow closer to you, his front pressed to your back.  

“It's missing your personal touch. The you that sets you apart from another painter.” He reached over to whisper in your ear, making you shiver. 

You took in a breath, eyes glancing over the painting once more. As you felt Wooyoung’s hands move to your waist and over your hips, a smile began to form on your lips as you finally came to a conclusion of what to do with the rest of the picture. 

“Thank you, Wooyoung.” You breathlessly said, turning around in his arms.

Your hands found themselves behind his neck, softly playing with his hair as you dug your fingers into his scalp.

“It's my job to make you see the beauty you have for everything.” He whispered, glancing down at your lips. 

“I love you.” You told him, placing your forehead against his. 

“I love you, too.” He smiled softly. 

You pushed your lips onto his, savoring the slow movements of his kisses. Your body began to grow hot with each passing second as you pressed harder to Wooyoung. And the moment you heard his sweet whines, you felt your nerves vibrate down your body. You had one thing on your mind and one thing only. 

If you could paint the way he looked and the way he sounded the moment you pulled away, you would do so in a heartbeat. You pulled Wooyoung along the studio, softly making him sit down on the couch where you would lounge during some of your breaks. He looked up at you with a frown, hands placing themselves onto your thighs. 

“What are you doing?” He pouted. “I was supposed to show you what you were missing.”

You laughed softly, leaning down to give him a kiss. “As you said, I am a nurturing mother. Let her take care of her baby boy.”

A whine fell from the back of Wooyoung’s throat, which made you sigh in pleasure. His head was dropped back against the couch, Adam’s apple bobbing as he took in shallow breaths through his open mouth. Taking the chance, you softly licked the tip of his lip with your tongue, causing him to twitch as the soft feeling. He licked his lips out of habit. 

Before you sat down on his lap, you took off your pants, allowing him to feel the skin of your thighs against his fingertips. You sighed at the warmth that was radiating off him, hips moving back and forth as your body began to feel everything going on around you. Especially on top of Wooyoung. 

Wooyoung didn’t have to be told what to do at that point because he knew exactly what you like. His hands wandered up your shirt, rubbing against your sensitive skin. Just as he was doing that, your own fingers pushed themselves into his hair, messaging his scalp. 

“Woo.” You spoke breathlessly. 

“Tell me what to do.” He whispered against your skin as he placed his lips against your collarbone. “I only want to please you.”

You allowed him to pick you up, setting you down on the couch on your back. He hovered over you, slowly grinding himself into your heat, which had you twitching. As he kept his eyes between the two of you, you had moved to grab a hold of his cheeks, making him look at you. 

“You please me more than enough.” You whispered against his lips. “Show me how much you love me.”

“Anything for you.” Wooyoung quickly began to rid himself of his clothing, leaving him bare for you to see. 

As he had been taking off his own clothes, you took off the rest of yours allowing the cold air to hit your nipples and make them hard. Wooyoung went back between your legs, crawling up towards your lips to give you more kisses. As his tongue slipped past his mouth to play with yours, your knee jerked up when you felt his hot length against the inside of your thigh.

Your fingers scratched at his back lightly, which made him sigh against your lips. As his hips began to rut against you, he felt that you were slick enough to avoid you being in pain. But still when he felt you rutting your hips against his every time his tip caught against your clit, he kept trying again and again to hit the same spot. 

“You’re so perfect.” Wooyoung breathed out, lips moving down to a stiff nipple. 

You breathed out, chest puffing outward towards his lips. “I just want my sweet boy to be happy.”

“You make me so happy.” Wooyoung was close to tears at how much pleasure he was feeling just hearing you talk about him. “You treat me so good.”

His hips began to pick up pace. “You wrap around me so perfectly.”

“You get so wet for me. I can’t help but cry when you do.” He choked up a little. 

You quickly picked his head off your chest, wiping away at his tears and kissing them away. “You’re such a good boy, Woo.”

He moaned out, falling forward as his orgasm sputtered out of him. You could feel his seed hot on your pelvic bone, so you moved your fingers down to clean it off you. As you did, you brought them up to your mouth and licked them clean. 

Wooyoung’s whine made you turn to look at the boy laying on your chest. “You’re perfect.” You whispered against his lips. 

“Only for my goddess.”

Tags : @cultofdionysusnet , @wonderlandnet , @pirateeznet , @k-vanity

[smolwritingchick]

The Bangtan Gal Chapter 1- The Foreign Trainee

Chapter Summary: After being scouted to be a part of a new girl group thanks to an audition, Jen worked alongside her four bandmates to form the group "Amity". Things went great at first but then after a while, Jen starts to get concerned about her position in the group while the company starts to focus on the other members and their success. She then learns the unfortunate truth about the situation she's in and makes a decision. Motivated, she continues to be persistent in achieving her dreams thanks to an audition in her area which happened to be for BigHit Entertainment. 

Jen meets Taehyung and starts to build a friendship with him. For those interested in being the Bangtan Girl, they learn the Bulletproof dance and No More Dream dance. They're also hit with a homework assignment, create a verse for Bulletproof and present it to the audition. Jen hopes to impress the company with her efforts and earn the spot.

Words: 10,000+

Author's Note:  Hey! I wrote this story back in 2016 on some fanfic websites and am bringing it back as I edit the chapters. I wanted to put my perspective and imagination on what if BTS had a black girl in their group from America. This'll be a long story starting from their debut so enjoy the ride!

I have so many chapters already written. I had stopped in the story around late 2016 before the MAMA Awards. As I wrote this story over the years I wanted this character to be relatable and grow as a performer as well as go through hardships. It'll be a slow start but it will get better as the chapters go on, I hope you give it a chance.

This will mainly start with friendship. Not just the character and the love interest. I didn't want to rush things and I tried my best to add a lot of bonding and cute moments. 

This is a SLOW BURN with my OC and Jungkook. The two will not become a couple until 2016.

As I planned to create this story years ago it took me months to prepare and research so I could get a good timeline. I wanted to add a lot of things like K-Con, going to school, Variety Shows, interviews, American Hustle Life, V-Lives, sasaeng fans and so on. 

Please note this is fiction. Yeah it may be unrealistic for this to happen but I had a lot of fun ideas and just went for it. Also I am not a song writer so sometimes the custom lyrics may be a little silly

---

It was November 9th, 2012. Backstage at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, 14-year-old Jen sat in a chair, getting the finishing touches on her curly light brown hair, which was put into a high ponytail. She and the rest of her group named Amity were to perform at their last concert of their small tour.

Amity consisted of five members. 16 year old Hailey, who was the leader and main vocalist, 16 year old Trinity who was the lead dancer, 15 year old Layla who covered the high and dramatic notes and 17 year old Angelina who took care of the raps. 

And then there's Jen.

Who was she?

Who was she in the group?

She never got the chance to showcase her talent on stage.

So was this worth it?

Back in early 2011, a rising new company named SongStress Entertainment was looking for young female talents to form another girl group. They partnered up with Disney and started to put up commercials and ads everywhere to promote auditions. When Jen heard about it from a TV commercial, she quickly went to tell her parents. After some persuading, and chores around the house, they took her to the audition in New York that was set in March. No matter what the challenges were, she remained persistent and her family supported her because of her passion for singing and dancing.

She wanted to perform ever since she was ten years old. Listening to artists like Rihanna, 2NE1, Mariah Carey, Big Bang, Wonder Girls, Whitney Houston, and Eminem sparked her interest as she begged her parents to pay for singing and dancing lessons. The lessons seemed to have paid off because after she auditioned she was called back a week later.

When she passed the second callback, Jen and her parents wasted no time signing the contract as she went on to debut with four other unknown girls, to form the group Amity at 13 years old. They got popular fast, from their adorable charm to their catchy songs and music videos. Things were great. But things weren't always what they seemed to be. 

Egos began to get in the way.

As time went on, the company began to pay more attention to more girls than others. The leader, Hailey, even felt threatened by Jen's dance skills and the company forced her to dance slower, and with less effort to feel like she was a sluggish dancer. To Jen, it didn't make any sense since Trinity was the most talented dancer in the group and Hailey didn't say anything to her about her dancing. Favoritism came into play.

What caught Jen's attention was that she started to not get a lot of lines like she used to in the songs. She would only sing the chorus with the group. She is also the only one who doesn't have a solo song, while the rest have their songs recorded and performed at concerts whenever Amity goes on stage for a performance.

Jen was also set over the edge, finding out that Amity had recorded songs without her. Her voice was great at harmony but she wasn't credited for it. They recorded her and made it seem like Hailey sang the beautiful harmonious notes. As she took all the credit, Jen couldn't do anything about it because of the contract.

Whose fault was that? Jen's.

So maybe she did get a little too excited by the fact that she was going to be signed to a record company. Maybe she and her parents didn't read the contract despite the president's reassuring that everything would be fine and fair.

She was naïve and young.

Rushing into things without really thinking things through. Not thinking of a backup plan just in case things like this happen.

She wasn't like the rest of her bandmates. Her love for KPOP, thanks to listening to Wonder Girls, Big Bang and 2NE1, motivated her to learn the Korean language while the company thought it was pointless.

They asked her, "Who would you speak Korean to?"

"Why are you trying to learn that language if you're in America?"

"We're not touring in South Korea; you're wasting your time."

However, she continued to learn for her enjoyment and love for the Korean culture. It was difficult at first. She had a difficult time pronouncing the words. There were times she wanted to stop but her parents gave her encouragement because they knew how much she loved KPOP. For her studying, she tried to study Korean for at least an hour or two a day since she was 13.

Thankfully it's been beginning to pay off.

Sometimes she ponders what if she didn't do the audition and stayed in school just like her two older sisters. She could probably get somewhere with a college degree. But she loved being an artist. She wanted to do this.

And as much as she hated to admit it, this company wasn't the place for her to do it. She finally got her dream to be a performer, and now she was thinking about letting it go because of the mistreatment. She had to do what was best for her.

"This'll bring out those pretty eyes." The makeup artist explained with enthusiasm as she applied mascara to Jen's eyes.

"Oh make sure you put on more makeup on her. She needs it." An unfortunate familiar mocking voice belonging to Hailey was heard as she shot Jen an innocent smile. The harsh words made Jen clench her fists and glare at her. "What? Just telling the truth. They always say the truth hurts."

"Hailey, stop it. Don't be such a brat. That's so friggin' rude. Go somewhere." Angelina sternly called her out. Hailey responds with a shrug and walks away to get mic'd up. Angelina walks over to Jen with a smile and puts a hand on her shoulder. "You look fine, Jen Jen. Don't listen to her."

Jen didn't reply as she continued to be in deep thought about being in Amity. Everyone should be getting along, not trying to bring each other down.

The redheaded Angelina notices her frowning and snaps her out of it as the makeup artist finishes her make up. 

"You know you have to stop doing that. Letting people get to you and ruining your pretty smile with frowns. Is it Hailey again?" Angelina asked.

Jen looked up at her friend. Best friend. The only friend she had in this girl group. Angelina was the one who had her back in this company and wasn't self-centered or had the fame go to her head. She was the one who let Jen know about the company recording without her as well. She was very grateful she had someone looking out for her.

"I don't care anymore. I'm not paying her any mind." Jen firmly asserted with a sigh.

"Ten minutes until the show!" The manager called out as everyone ran frantically for finishing touches.

"We'll talk later." Jen promised as they both walked outside the dressing room to get mic'd up.

"Come on Jen, we ain't got all day!" The manager escorted her to the stage before giving her a jacket to put over her dark brown skin. "And remember, don't dance so hard."

"I don't understand what the big deal is." She mumbled, shaking her head in disapproval.

"Big deal? Hailey needs the spotlight. It would be great if you remember to stand back, this time. You aren't the visual, get that through your head. How many times do we have to tell you that? This is your last warning."

Jen frowns in response as she watches the manager walk away. Frustration was beginning to build up inside of her. Whatever happened to equality? Not one person is better than the other. She wanted to be in a company that had equal opportunities.

The show was like the others. Fake smiles, watching Hailey's back, it wasn't fun anymore. Jen believed she had so much potential to improve and become a great performer, but her talent was wasted and not used the way she wanted it to be. She didn't want to be wasted and neglected.

Amity was supposed to be a team. A five-member girl group who had each other's backs. Be great friends and treat each other as equals. Not a competition of who's better than each other. It was sad that the entertainment business was like that these days.

After the show, Jen checks out her Twitter account and tweets 'Thank you for an awesome show Philly! #AmityInPhilly'

She didn't have a whole bunch of fans like the others since they were on TV shows, interviews and other photoshoots to get more publicity. She always pondered why SongStress didn't do that for her. They never really gave her a chance to show off what she could do as a singer and dancer. Or even as an actress if she could try that out.

She didn't say anything because she was too humbled. She was grateful for all the things she had done so far in Amity. All she ever wanted was to perform and she got that. She would ask occasionally if her solo would come up, or if any photoshoot or show opportunity was available for her. But SongStress would always give her the same answer.

"Not at the moment. Soon."

How far away was "Soon?"

She felt discouraged. It was like she was just there. She might as well be called a backup dancer.

While backstage in the dressing room, lounging on the couch, she checked the #AmityInPhilly hashtag since it was trending on Twitter while the rest of her bandmates came in. Jennie began to think about her birthday which was tomorrow and it started to boost her mood.

"Hey guys, I wanted to talk to you about something." She spoke softly, gaining their attention. "Since my birthday is tomorrow, I planned this singing exhibit where people around the area can showcase their singing for fun. Do a little meet and greet, pictures...all sorts of stuff. It'll be a fun gathering. I also made a song and I'd like you all to be there to support me."

"You know we have to practice right?" Trinity recalled in a flat tone.

The indifference in Trinity's voice made Jennie's stomach drop as she timidly replied, "I-It's after practice."

"And where is this?"

"In my hometown. Here in Philly. It'll start around 7:00PM."

"Does SongStress know about this?" Hailey asked, looking skeptical at the event that's been planned.

"Why wouldn't they?" Jen questioned.

"We'll see about the event. Anyway, group meeting!" Hailey called out. "I'm so proud of us! We definitely have to celebrate tonight. We're going to dinner. But uh Jen, remember what the manager told you about your diet. And you were a bit sloppy out there. Don't make us look bad out there. Did you practice at all?"

All the happiness about the upcoming event for her birthday left Jennie's body as annoyance was clearly shown on her sweaty face. Okay, so she didn't have a flat stomach like the rest of them did. She had a curved stomach with a small pudge but that was nothing to go on a diet for. She was already satisfied with how she looked. She told herself she did want to work out to gain more muscle and possible abs on her stomach when she gets a little older, but she wasn't going to feel obligated to do so. She'll do it in her free time.

Her hair was naturally curly and her thighs were a bit thicker than theirs. She even had light stretch marks on her hips but so what? Why does that have to make her go on a diet? She was born this way, and she was fine with how she was. Why should she change her look because someone else wanted her to? She wanted to look natural, not a Barbie doll. She was still going through puberty as well. The baby fat was still there but it'll most likely disappear from her body and face soon enough when she's a little older.

"You know I really don't understand why I'm the only one who has to go on a diet. I'm perfectly fine. I'm the same size as you. I'm not starving myself." Jennie protested with irritation.

"Well you're not going out with us, so get food at the hotel and get yelled at by the manager. It's on you."

Jennie shakes her head in disbelief. "I really can't stand you."

"Whoa, what did I do?" Hailey faked a shocked look.

"I think you know what you've done. This is so unfair."

"It's not that serious." Layla sighed

"It is serious. Almost all of you have the biggest egos I've ever seen and it's like you're forgetting that we all made Amity and we work as a team. Can't you see how wrong this is? How I'm the only one who has to dance slower while you guys give it your all? I want to put as much effort as everyone else." Jen exclaimed

"Jen everything is going to be okay-" Angelina tried to reassure but she waved her hand and shook her head.

"I'm gonna go. Enjoy dinner." She grabs her bags and leaves the room.

Hailey sighs out of annoyance. "This is why you don't have young people in groups because they always want to act like brats. It should've just been the 4 of us, but no~ they wanted one more person and they had to pick her out of all people. She doesn't do anything but whine and complain-"

"Hailey shut up!" Angelina exclaimed sharply while standing up. "You're the brat here."

"Excuse me? Who do you think you're talking to?"

"You're not superior to any of us just because you're the leader. And if I were betting on the future of Amity...I'd say we'll disband and it'll all be because of you."

Hailey huffed in dissatisfaction. "I am so telling the manager on the both of you."

"Oh go ahead. The only reason you're here is because the vice president is your father. Did you even audition for SongStress or did you get everything handed to you on a silver platter?" The redhead questioned. Taking the silence as an answer, she retrieved her bag and grumbled, "That's what I thought." 

---

An hour had passed since Jen left backstage and went back into the hotel room she shared with Angelina. She was lying on her back in bed, looking at the ceiling as her stomach continued to growl mercilessly.

"I'm so hungry." She grumbled and clutched her stomach.

She managed to buy a couple of bags of chips in a vending machine with the paper money she had on her but she craved food to satisfy her hunger.

Suddenly she sees Angelina with a bright smile on her face and a large box of pizza in hand, walking inside the room.

"Let's eat biatch~!" she cheerfully said and placed the pizza on the bed before parking herself on the bed as well.

"I thought you were at dinner!" Jen stammered, looking wide-eyed at the pizza on the bed.

"I can't stand those girls, I'm not hanging out with them." She responded with a shrug.

"But I'm supposed to go on that dumb diet..." Jen grumbled.

"Bitch eat. I don't give a crap what they say, you are eating to your heart's content. Don't starve yourself because they want you to look a certain way. You know what they're trying to do is wrong. I see it, you see it. You have to stand your ground and speak up."

"But if it gets me fired then what?"

"I would rather be fired. I'm eating all the pizza I want. They can't stop me. And they won't stop you. Sit. Eat. Chill. I gotta vent to you about Hailey."

Jen happily sits back on the bed and bites into the hot, cheesy pepperoni pizza that was fresh from Pizza Hut. "What happened with you and Hailey?"

"Oh my gosh...I don't think I can take much more of this. She keeps talking crap about you. She thinks the world revolves around her. And it's like the others are followers, I swear. They always wanna just back up what she says. Or just stand there and agree with everything she says. Like are you blind?" She retorted as she started to get angry thinking about the situation.

"Well, she does have power over us because of her father..." Jen grumbled.

"And that shouldn't be the case. She should work hard and not get an easy route just because of some connection with family. I always see that these days. I mean I know it is great to have connections but still endure the hard work that others dealt with who started from the bottom."

"Yeah, but that's not how the world seems to work." Jennie trailed off, thinking about the future.

"Enough about her. I have another serious question to ask."

"What is it?"

"You thinking of leaving?" Angelina assumed. From the shocked look on Jennie's face, she gets her answer, mumbling "I thought so."

"I have to, I just can't do this anymore." Jen pointed out with a sad smile. "I talked to my agent and let her know everything."

"I understand. But are you still going to sing?"

"Yes. I still want to perform."

The redheaded girl nodded in approval. "Good. Whenever you leave, it'll be worth it. So don't worry. Just stay in touch with me. I'm gonna miss you. Whatever the future holds for you, I'll be supporting you."

Jen smiled. "Thank you, Angie. I'll be supporting you too!"

"Now let's watch some Spongebob." She grabbed the remote off the nightstand.

Jennie giggled at her. "Aren't you too old for that?"

"Ha! You're NEVER too old for Spongebob."

-------

November 10th 2012. Jennie was finally 15 years old. She went to the studio in a bright mood, happily thanking everyone for the birthday wishes. She received birthday phone calls from her family and tweets from fans.

The day starts like always. Dance practice and then recording in the studio. But she couldn't help but wonder if she'd get a surprise party just like all the other girls have on their birthdays. But as the day went on, she didn't receive anything after she left the studio. She tried not to feel too disappointed as she got herself ready for the 1st annual Singing Exhibit she created. It was called, "Avid Vocals" that was in a small lounge with a stage.

When she arrived, she was grateful for the turnout. There were over 120 people in the place. A good start for a nice little event, to meet people who are passionate about singing and dancing like herself.

She makes her way up the stage and gives her welcoming speech.

"What's up, everybody!?" She grinned at the crowd and waved. "Thank you so much for coming tonight to the first annual Avid Vocals where we all come together to sing and dance to our heart's content and meet and greet with each other. I've been wanting to do this for a while now, bringing people together who enjoy performing for fun, and I'm very happy with the turnout so far. At this time, let's get started with the first performance! And if anyone else wants to perform, there's a sign-in sheet by the table. So just write your name and the song, and sing out! Enjoy the show!" 

Once she left the stage, she made her way to mingle and talk with fans, signing autographs and taking photos. The performances so far were all very unique and fun to watch. There were goofy performances, singing songs like YMCA, We Will Rock You and Party Rock Anthem. Then there were performances that slayed with Single Ladies, TiK ToK, and So What by Pink.

After watching some performances, it was time for her to get on stage. She sat on a stool with her guitar in her hands. 

"I've written a little song and wanted to share it with you guys." She looked around to find any members of Amity but didn't. "I hope you guys enjoy!"

They applaud her as she begins to strum along on her guitar. While she sang, she tried to search for any members of Amity in the crowd but couldn't find anyone. After she finished her song, she received a huge positive feedback from the crowd as she went backstage.

She looked at her phone while thinking that any members would find her backstage to see her but sees a text message sent 30 minutes before she went on stage from Angelina.

'You are SO not gonna believe this...the assholes kept me back and forced me to work on my raps...the rest went out somewhere to the movies. I'm so sorry I couldn't make it to support you...I'll see you back at the hotel and we'll hang :'('

Jennie lets out a sigh. She knew Angelina was telling the truth. She had a feeling Hailey would try to do something after asking her if the manager knew about it. She wasn't mad at anyone. It'd be a waste of energy.

As soon as Jennie goes back into her hotel room, she sees Angelina waiting for her anxiously. Once she heard the door close, her head shot up and she quickly got off the bed.

"They kept me on purpose, I tried everything, I'm so sorry I wasn't there." Angelina had tears in her eyes and hugged her tightly.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it." Jen responded with a sigh.

"No, it's not."

"Don't worry about it, I still had a nice birthday." She reassured. "I'm just glad I got to meet some nice fans and perform today."

"I'm sure it was a fun event. Hey, I got you something to make up for it. I hope you like it."

Hearing that, Jen's eyes light up. "Really!?"

"Yep! Close them eyes girl. And no peeking." She addressed, going back to the bed. After a few moments, she hands her a small bag. "You can open them."

Jen quickly opens her eyes and sees a pink bag in front of her. She grins widely and digs right inside to see all the CDs so far from Wonder Girls and 2NE1. "GAH! MY GIRLS~" She wrapped her arms around her for a big hug, earning a loud laugh from the redhead.

"I knew you'd react like that." Angelina chuckled and was released. "I'm not really into KPOP, never really heard of it, but I went on YouTube, listened to it and they sound pretty damn good. Both groups."

"Thank you, for this. Really. This is awesome."

"Of course. Oh, and this one group...Bang bang-wait no, it's called Big Bang." She corrected herself as Jen nodded at the correct name of the group. 

"Why are they all so hot?" Angelina questioned, making Jen laugh out loud. "No, I'm serious. That is too much sexiness. That's not nice!" She crossed her arms, shaking her head.

"You'll never get used to it, trust me." The birthday girl sits on the bed. "My favorite is T.O.P. I have a big crush on him. He's so cool. I would love to meet him one day. Along with Wonder Girls and 2NE1."

"Hey, you never know. Maybe you'll get some VIP Tickets to a concert if they're in America."

"Yeah...but I wouldn't mind performing like them."

"What do you mean?"

"I wouldn't mind performing KPOP. Easier said than done right? But I love how they perform and their awesome dances."

"KPOP? That'll be interesting to see. Whatever your heart desires, I say go for it. Work hard, do research, and go for it. Anything is possible as long as you work hard for it. I would talk to your agent about that."

Jen nodded. "That's not a bad idea."

"So we're renewing our contracts tomorrow. Are you going to renew it?"

Jennie shakes her head. "I was talking to my family and agent about it. I think it's time for me to close this chapter in my life and move on."

Angelina nodded. "Do what's best for you."

----

Today was the most difficult day for Jennie as she made her way to SongStress' office to meet in the boardroom. She walked with her agent, who has been a family friend of hers since she started in Amity. Her name was Diana Parker.

Jen's parents made sure to do their research when finding someone to really aid and be there for her while she was in the entertainment business. And Diana wasn't going to let SongStress make Jennie feel obligated to resign with them after all the crap she's dealt with.

Once they walked in, they sat in front of the manager, the President of SongStress, the Vice President, HR, the Supervisor, and the executive.

"All right Jen, here, you can sign right here." The Vice President handed her the pen. 

"I won't be needing that." She replied in a low voice.

"Oh? Did you bring your own? Came here prepared, I admire that." He chuckled.

"No, I mean I'm not signing that."

The room goes silent as everyone but Diana stares at her, trying to comprehend what she just said.

"...What do you mean you're not signing?" The President slowly asked.

"I don't want to renew my contract." She firmly said as they looked at her in shock.

"How about we put more money in for you? Then you'll sign?" The President suggested.

"You heard the girl. She's not signing." Her agent spoke up.

"I wasn't talking to you." He snapped at Diana and turned back to Jen in a panic. "How much do you want for the next few years?"

"No sir, I think my time is up here." Jen declared.

"What do you want to have your solo? Is that what this is about? Okay fine. We'll have your solo for the next album." The Vice President exclaimed.

Diana managed to keep her laughs to herself at how panicked SongStress was. "This is too funny." She murmured. "You feel obligated to do this, right?"

SongStress continued to ignore her as their full attention was on Jen. Jen felt like this was the most attention they had given her since she first started in the group. 

"You want to be in TV Shows? We got you covered." The manager pointed out.

"Why are you doing all this now and not when I was patiently waiting and asking when it would be my turn?" Jen questioned.

"Look we have been busy and-"

"Very busy with Hailey, that's for sure." She pointed out.

"Look we need you-" The President looked at her in despair.

"No, you don't. You need me to have Hailey be the spotlight. I said no, so please just let me leave this company." She pleaded, earning harsh glares from them as they gave up.

"Fine. Then leave." The President waved her away.

"Thank you for this experience." She stood up and headed to the door with Diana.

"Oh and Jen?" The President spoke up as she stopped and turned. "I hope you realize how much of a mistake you're making." He warned, narrowing his eyes.

She smiled and turned back around. "I hope you realize how much of a blessing this decision was for me."

After packing her things, and saying goodbye to Angelina, Jen decides to unfollow Amity on Instagram and Twitter but Angelina as fans started questioning it. After a couple of hours, she was fed up with the constant notifications of Amity and decided to just deactivate her Twitter and delete her Instagram to get away from it all.

------

After leaving and going back home, Jennie went back to high school, while continuing to learn Korean and training for singing and dancing. Things were how they used to be. Going to school, still singing and dancing for fun. But she felt like something was missing. She still wanted to perform. But she didn't want to be in another situation like she was with SongStress. As a result, she researched different companies. The K-Pop itch came back as she decided to check out what SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment were offering.

She managed to go to an SM Entertainment audition but they told her she was not what they were looking for and she didn't look like a K-Pop star. She was upset at the unsuccessful attempt but she was glad they didn't take her. She didn't want to get any plastic surgery if they wanted her to.

As much as she wanted to be a part of SM Entertainment, she felt like their style wasn't for her and she wanted to be a part of a company that wasn't one of the huge companies if possible. Start from the bottom and work her way up. Win awards and break records that aren't from the Big 3 companies.

As 2013 rolls around, she suddenly gets a phone call out of the blue from Diana in mid-January.

"This is rare!" Jen beamed, happy to hear her voice.

"Very, it's been a while! How you been?"

"I'm doing all right. But I'm getting that itch again."

"Well, you're in luck because it's about to be scratched."

"What do you mean?"

"I was just curious, you still want to sing and dance, right?"

"Right!"

"You still studying Korean?"

"You betcha!"

"There's an audition coming up, for a South Korean Company called BigHit Entertainment. They're looking for some trainees. Now, I know it's not like SM Entertainment or YG Entertainment, and BigHit seems like they're not big on foreigners at the moment but you never know what'll happen. Don't let that discourage you. You up for it?"

"It's worth a shot. I want to try."

"Okay, I'll set you up so you can go to the audition in New York. Start preparing. I'll email you what they're looking for so you can practice."

"Thank you so much!"

After a week of training, Jen and her parents arrive at the private audition. She heads inside to sit in the waiting room, while she sees others, older and even younger people preparing for their audition. One by one their names were called as they went inside.

"Jennifer Walker." A woman called her name, standing in the doorway with a clipboard in hand.

Hearing her name get called caused her stomach to drop. Jennie attempts to ignore the nervousness as she stands up and is led inside by the woman.

'Everything is going to be OK. You worked hard, things will be fine.' She tries to reassure herself as she goes into a dance practice room where she sees the panel of three males, staring at her as soon as she walks in.

The three males look up at her. Before they were checking out her headshots and information.

Age 15

5 foot 5

Her experience with singing and dancing since elementary school and being a part of SongStress Entertainment with Amity for over a year. She also has four years of experience playing the guitar. Her heart began to race as she remembered to bow and politely greet them.

"So you have experience with music videos and performing live?" She was asked.

"Yes. Amity has done several music videos and a tour around the US."

"Why did you leave?"

Jennie swallowed as she, unfortunately, remembered bad memories. "New opportunities. I felt like SongStress wasn't the place for me. I still want to perform. I love performing." 

"Sing an English song for us." 

She decides to sing Rihanna's California King Bed with an instrumental from her phone. She starts nervously, but after a few lines, she gains more confidence and sings out, before they stop her after the chorus. Afterward, she had to sing a Korean song, and she chose Wonder Girls' Me In as she found an instrumental on her phone.

"Hey beautiful boy, let me love you, right now~" The nervousness was gone from her singing and filled with more power and confidence as she sang until after the chorus. She began to feel her face heat up after they told her to stop while she was getting too into it.

After the singing, they told her to dance, so she put on 2NE1's I Am The Best, nailing the dance moves on beat, and almost forgetting that this was an audition because she felt like she was in her room again, dancing happily to the song like she always does.

Finally, they take photos of her for headshots and to see how she'll look on camera. 

After the photos, the audition was over and she went back to the panel and was told by the men at the table, "We're developing a boy group and were thinking of having one girl in it too. We'll get back to you. That's all for today."

"Thank you so much for taking the time to see me." She bowed again.

----

A week later, Jen was on her laptop with her headphones in, listening to 2NE1's I Am The Best while checking her email. She suddenly sees an email from BigHit a couple of hours ago. Her eyes widen and her stomach drops.

Was this the result of the audition?

She slowly clicks it open and her throat tightens, making hot tears fill up her eyes. She read the email a couple of times to comprehend what was happening. She passed and they wanted her to become a trainee at their company. She wipes the tears of joy from her eyes and screams in her pillow. Afterwards, she tries to collect herself. 

"Let's not get too ahead of myself. Let's take it one day at a time, Jennie. Things are going to be just fine. Oh my God, I can't believe this is happening!" She said excitedly and then ran downstairs to tell her parents. "Guys, I got great news!"

------

After telling her agent and her parents about the shocking news, they all made their way to Seoul, South Korea. Jen's nerves got to her as she wished the flight was quicker. She was so excited to be able to get an opportunity to work in the K-Pop industry. She hopes to break down the barriers of being a foreigner and an African American in the K-Pop industry. Although she still was not aware of how different their work ethic is from America, she believed that she would be ready for the challenge.

After the plane lands, safely, the party finds someone that had Jen's name on a sign and they are escorted to Big Hit's building. Jen was in awe, gazing out the window as the car went past various streets in Seoul. She never knew how beautiful the area looked until she saw it up close and personal. She was looking forward to doing everything here. Eating, shopping, school, taking walks around, everything. So many things went through her head that before she knew it, the car stopped and they were in front of Big Hit's building. 

Jen's stomach drops at the sight.

She was here.

The agency that wanted to take a chance on her.

The place who thought she had what it takes.

Big Hit Entertainment.

Her mom puts a hand on Jen's thick curly hair. "Sweetie, are you ready?" She smiled. 

Jen nods twice and they all get out of the car. As they head inside, they go to the receptionist to let them know about their reason for being there and they make their way to Bang Shi-Hyuk's office with a translator.

"Music and Artist for Healing, huh?" Jen's dad read the slogan and nodded in approval. "I like it."

"Sweetie, you haven't said a word. Are you okay?" Jen's mom looked concerned at her daughter's silence.

Jen looked up and smiled nervously. "I'm excited just nervous."

"Everything is going to be fine. Don't worry, honey."

"You can come in." A staff member said in English as he opened the door for them.

As soon as they all walk in, they see the man himself, Bang Shi-Hyuk. 

"You must be Jennifer Walker." He speaks in Korean. 

The sound of his voice made her timid as she bowed politely. She'll have to get in a habit of bowing in South Korea. As she looks at him, she starts to remember his face. He was the one sitting in the middle during her audition.

"Yes, I am." Her voice affirmed in a shaky tone in Korean.

He let out a chuckle. "I'm not that scary, am I?"

"No, sorry, just nervous."

He nodded and smiled. "Don't be. I want this to be a happy environment." 

"Thank you. These are my parents." She introduced herself as her parents continued to look at her in surprise at how well her Korean was. "And my agent." She pointed to Diana

"What is he saying? And what did you say?" Jen's mom eagerly asks.

"I just introduced you guys," Jen responded in English and the translator took over to help Diana and her parents understand.

"Your daughter did very well during the audition. I believe she'll do great things for my company. She's in good hands here." Bang PD noted 

"Thank you for allowing our daughter to chase her dreams here." Her father spoke.

"Sit down, please. I want to discuss the contract." Bang PD motioned them to sit and they complied. 

As he started going over the contract, Jen's butterflies came back in her stomach. Would her family let her be out of the country for so many years to become a K-Pop star? She'll miss birthdays, weddings, graduations, births, even funerals.

"What is he saying?" Diana asked as the translator explained that they need Jen and her parents to sign and it's for a lot of years. 

"A-a lot of years?" Her mom asked as she bit her lip. "We're not going to see you that often, are we?"

"If I am in a group and our schedules are fully packed, most likely not, Mom." The teen could see the tears developing in her mother's eyes. 

Her mom grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "My little girl...in South Korea...chasing her dream to perform." 

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Her father asked in a serious tone, keeping his emotions together. "Is this truly what you want, Jennifer?"

"I really want to do this. I'll call, I'll text, I'll Skype you, anything, I will keep in touch. If I can visit I will, I promise. I want this. I love K-Pop, and I truly believe this company is the best for me. I'm going to train hard to achieve my dream. Please. Let me do this."

"We're not going to be able to see you that often. We're not going to watch you grow up into a beautiful young lady." Her mom smiled sadly.

"If any boys give you trouble...I'm a phone call away, sweetheart," Her father placed a hand on her shoulder as he tried to hold back the tears. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you. I love you guys." Tears raced down Jen's cheeks as she tried to wipe them away.

Her father turned to Bang PD and nodded. "We'll sign it."

Bang PD nodded and handed them the contract. After they read over everything with Diana, Jen's father signs it first, and shortly afterward, her mom does the same and hands the pen to Jen. She lets out a breath and signs her name before handing it to Bang PD with two hands. 

"Thank you. I will work hard." Jen bowed with a bright smile.

"As of today, you'll be a trainee. I'll be watching you, kid." Bang PD smiled.

After receiving a new iPhone and keys to the dorm to stay with the other chosen female trainees, Jen spends a few more hours with her family before a heartfelt goodbye as they go back to America. Her agent, Diana, stays with her in Seoul as she works with Big Hit as well. Once she heads to the dorm, she is greeted by the rest of the female trainees and quickly opens up to all of them. They welcomed her with open arms and she was grateful that she could communicate with them, with the Korean that she knew without any language barriers.

One thing she did wish she learned before she got to Seoul was how to eat with chopsticks. It took her forever to learn how to use chopsticks when eating and how different Korean eating habits were from America's. She had a lot to learn about South Korea's culture and was looking forward to it.

The next day was Jen's first day of training. Learning various dances and getting singing lessons. She also met other dancers and trainees. The training was so much different than in America, it was insane. She admired how passionate and hard the dances were.

A few weeks went by and on a certain Thursday night, after dancing was over, she decided to stay a little longer to clean up the choreography that she learned for hours.

With her curly hair in a puffball after all the perspiration, she groans at how she is going to be doing her hair while in South Korea. Maybe she should get a weave. But she'll probably have to order weaves to have it shipped to her. And order American products for her. She should've thought things through. 

As she packed up after spending another hour practicing, she heard a happy English voice behind her. 

"Hello~" The cheerful voice filled her ears. 

She stands up and turns around to see a guy with curly blond hair and a boxy grin on his face.

"H-hi! Are you talking to me?" She responded in English with a smile.

"Y-yes. You...Am-erica? America?" He questioned in broken English.

She chuckled and nods. He sounded really cute while trying to speak English. It sounded like he was asking her if she was American. 

"Yes, I am. And I speak Korean. I'm still learning but I should be fluent soon." She answered in Korean as his eyes widened. 

His happy vibes were getting to her because she couldn't stop smiling at him. His positivity was off the charts. She needed that.

"Really? That's great!" He goes back to his native tongue. "My name is Taehyung."

"Nice to meet you! I'm Jennifer. You can call me Jennie, Jen, any nickname you can think of. How long have you been training?"

"I've been training a while, I'm working with BTS, right now. My stage name is V. But don't tell anyone, I'm a secret member for now. I haven't been revealed yet." He playfully grinned.

Jen couldn't help but drop her jaw. "You're a part of the upcoming new group? Gosh, I want to try to get that spot as the Bangtan Girl. I've been hearing everyone talking about how they want a girl in the group."

"Ah, the girls are training quite hard for that spot. I wish you luck! How do you like it here so far?"

"I love it here. Everyone is so welcoming. I still need to learn how to eat properly with chopsticks. I was a bit too excited to come here." She sheepishly grinned and rubbed the back of her neck.

"I don't mind teaching you!" He eagerly offered.

"Sounds like fun! You're really nice. Can I call you Tae?"

"Anything you like! Can I call you Ennie?"

"Haha, sure."

"I gotta go. I wanted to stop by and say hi. I hope to see you, again! Let's exchange numbers! Have you tried Korean beef yet?"

"No, I haven't. Is it good?" 

"You'll love it! Hopefully, when we're both free, I'll take you so you can try some."

"O-okay!" She exchanged numbers with him. 

She was still in awe of how friendly he was. She had a strong feeling they were going to be best friends very soon.

...And boy was she ever correct.

Whenever they were free, he would hang out with her and show her different sights in Seoul. She even fell in love with Korean beef. Taehyung was right when he said that she would love it. As the weeks went by, Jen continued to train while remaining best friends with Taehyung. She had gotten used to his goofiness and he made her less homesick whenever she thought about America.

It was March 1st. Jen just got off the phone with her parents and her two older sisters who were 18 and seniors in high school. Her sisters, Alani and Vienna were preparing to apply to colleges and improving their SAT and ACT scores.

Alani wanted to major in Journalism, to get into interviewing. Jen could see her being an anchor, interviewing celebs and hosting shows. While Vienna wants to major in Theater, getting into plays and other acting gigs. She was proud of them, and they were proud of her too. They told her how much they missed messing with her and it feels weird without her home. One thing that got to her was the fact that she would be missing their graduation. She informed her family about the upcoming practice for the Bangtan Girl audition. It was tomorrow.

The next day, Jennie made sure to get to the practice room early, wearing grey sweatpants, and a black tank top with a black sports bra. She made sure to put her curly thick hair in a messy bun and began to stretch. She saw there were 8 other girls in the room, that also wanted a spot to be the Bangtan Girl. She lets out a breath. This was going to be a tough competition. She prayed that things would go smoothly and that everyone would do well.

After everyone stretches, Son Seongdeuk, the choreographer for BTS arrives. He looks at every girl in the room as he stands before them. "All right, so the group I'm looking at now, is the group that wants to be that special young lady to be the Bangtan Girl of BTS."

"Currently BTS is working on two songs and we have the instrumental for them. I'm going to teach you the dances for both songs. No More Dream, and Bulletproof. I want to see how your flow is and your unique style of dance. After a few weeks, we'll have the audition." Mr. Son continued as he walked around.

"Now let me inform you of what we are looking for. The Bangtan Girl is fierce, tough, has attitude, beauty, and as the song says, bulletproof. What we are looking for is someone who can fit that persona." he informed. "And you nine ladies believe you have what it takes. And I want you to show me. I'm going to show you the dance for Bulletproof. Have a seat and watch."

The girls comply and sit down while he puts on 'We Are Bulletproof Pt 2. The first few beats made Jennie nod her head to the song. The beat was sick...but as soon as he started dancing, her eyes were about to pop out at the fierce dancing the choreographer was showing. Her jaw couldn't be shut as she watched how quick and strong the dance moves were.

'I...I have to LEARN THAT!? I can't do that! Is it too late to back out?! Wait no. No backing out. You gotta show them how much you want this. Things are going to be OK.'

'Yooooo. How am I supposed to whip my head back and forth that quick?'

'How can I move my chest like that?'

'BRUH...Those fluid movements and smooth footwork! I never did that!'

'I'm screwed.'

'H-how do you do that!?'

'Is that even HUMAN!?'

'The human body can do that?!'

There were all the thoughts in her head as she continued to watch his dancing. After he was done, the girls applauded and he told them to stand up so they could begin learning the choreography. The dance was hard and intense. Extremely intense. Nothing that she had ever danced before. It was more fluent and harder than any dance she danced in America but she was determined. 

After practice, she was exhausted and stayed one more hour to try to work on the dance before her body just couldn't take any more for the day.

A week went by after learning the Bulletproof dance and they went to the No More Dream dance. Jennie still was mind-boggled at how she managed to do a hip thrust after some difficulty. Guys make it look so easy. She wasn't used to moving that part of her body yet. It must've been a hilarious sight to see her practicing hip thrusting back at the dorm while the other trainees were there. A week went by after that and it was now Friday. Mr. Son just finished the final practice day for the No More Dream dance with Bang PD watching the progress closely.

Jen lays her back on the floor, panting heavily. "So. Much. Dancing. I need a hot bath." She murmured in English before forcing herself to sit up. She looked around at the other girls who were just as exhausted if not even more than her.

Bang PD stands up from his seat after watching the whole dance practice. "You ladies have homework. The audition for the Bangtan Girl is on Monday. You have the weekend to practice. The homework is to create a verse for Bulletproof. Mr. Son gave you the instrumental when you first started learning the dance, so you can practice during your free time. The Bangtan Girl always sings with the Bangtan Boys. I want to see what you can come up with for the song and bring in your attitude and style to it."

"Just one verse?" Jen asked earning a nod from him as they got dismissed.

How was she going to create a verse? It's been a while since she wrote a song. The last song was during her Singing Exhibit for her birthday last year.

During the weekend, Jennie could not think of anything. When she tried to, it went well but she ended up scrapping it and throwing it in the recycle bin because it wasn't what she thought it would be. It was tough to admit that she started to get a writer's block. Saturday night she tried again, listening to the instrumental a couple of times.

"I have no fear so don't try to stop me..." she wrote and looked at it. "Eh...something needs to go in the middle of that..." 

'Tellin' me your doubts won't change my mind'

'Staying up all night dancing'

"Ugh, I don't like it." She threw it away and sighed, running her hands through her messy curls. "I hope to learn more about lyric writing while I'm in this company. Right now this is terrible." 

She groaned and tried again.

'Unlike you partying all night while I focused on my dreams'

'Everywhere I go, everything I do, I will show you and all the people who looked down on me'

'I'm in my own lane'

"Ah...this is so corny!" She exclaimed and frowned. "They're not gonna accept this. I'll just put down what I can. I can't stress over it."

----

Monday came by quickly as the girls, Bang PD, Namjoon, Mr. Son, and Taehyung were in the practice room. Jennie wore white sweatpants, a white jacket, white Nikes, and a white tank top for the occasion. She even put a black bandana as a crown over her curly hair that was put down.

First, all the girls were to perform the Bulletproof dance. Jen's efforts were successful, thankfully remembering the dance. She tried to put more flavor into it with thuggish facial expressions that didn't seem too forced, and it went well, showing more attitude to fit the instrumental.

After that, one by one the girls presented their custom verses while doing random dance moves to go with the verse and beat of the song. Namjoon had his black shades on and his head down, deep in thought as he listened to each girl's verse. Jen had a hard time trying to figure out what he was thinking when each girl auditioned. Meanwhile, V kept dancing and nodding his head to their verses. Each girl did so well, but she hoped that she could stand out from them.

"Next." Mr. Son turned to Jennie. 

She swallows hard as she lets out a shaky breath. Standing up, she received a mic.

'I got this...remember what you practiced, girl. Time to slay them all.' Jen gave herself some last words of encouragement as she stood in the middle of the practice room. 

The girls watched behind her while she stood in front of the men watching her. She turns to Mr. Son and nods as he puts on the instrumental of Bulletproof. The instrumental comes on for the second verse of the song as she begins.

Badda bing badda boom

Jennie's here

I have no fear...so don't try to stop me

Hah!

Tellin' me your doubts...won't change my mind

With his ears perking up, Namjoon slowly looked up to watch her perform, fully engaged in how she sounded. 

You want me to party? I don't have time

I've been busy workin' (she slowly shimmies to the right with the beat)

I've been busy dancin' (she slowly shimmies to the left with the beat)

I'm never prancin'

Just enhancin' (She flips her hair)

I will persevere and you can't stop my flow (She stands tall, looking strong)

I'm in my own lane

I'm here to attain (She makes a fist up in the air)

I got people asking, Who's the girl?' (She looks both ways)

The one with the curls, representing the girls (She ruffles her curly hair while strutting forward)

"I'm the one with the swag and I don't mean to brag but I broke oppositions to get where I am at today!" she ended her verse just before the chorus came with a fierce expression on her face. 

The song stops and she lets out a breath as everyone applauds for her. A proud smile came across her features as she bowed to everyone, thanking them. The butterflies were no longer in her stomach and she was glad to get it over with. She hoped it was enough to please them to earn that spot.

The next day was the most nerve-racking because Jennie was called to Bang PD's office. She didn't know if she had done something wrong or if it was good news. She knocked on his door and he told her to come in. She walks him to see him turn around in his chair looking at her sternly.

"Y-you wanted to see me?" She asked softly, trying to ignore his stern look. 

Was he mad at her? If so what the heck did she do? She didn't do anything out of the ordinary.

"Do you know why you're here?" He questioned in a sharp tone as he crossed his arms.

"I-is it because of my audition?" She looked uncertain.

"How do you think you did? Do you think what you've done was what we were looking for?" His voice was serious as he narrowed his eyes.

'I'm about to get dropped aren't I?' She thought nervously.

"Y-yes I do." She quickly let out. "I think I've done well and tried my best."

After a few seconds of silence and staring, he speaks up again. "Well, you thought right, Bangtan Girl." He dropped his mean demeanor and smiled. "Welcome to BTS."

"Wh-what?" Her ears perked up as she widened her eyes. "What did you just say?"

"I had to keep myself from laughing." He chuckled. "I was trying to act as serious as possible. I hope I didn't scare you, too much. Congratulations, you are the Bangtan Girl. Your audition was great. You've done well."

"No way. No friggin way, are you serious right now!?" She started to form hot tears in her eyes as she started to get emotional.

"Your stage name is Jennie just like in your verse. I'm looking forward to watching you grow here. I'll be watching you closely. I have faith in you, kid." He said as she bowed

"Thank you so much." She wiped her tears. She had to urge to hug him but she wanted to try to stay professional.

"Your stuff is being moved to BTS' dorm. You'll be staying there from now on," He dismissed her.

She leaves the office and jumps up and down, running down the hallway with excitement. She quickly calls her parents. "Mom!"

"What?! What happened!? Is everything okay!?" She exclaimed in panic at Jen's sudden yelling.

"I'm the Bangtan Girl! I passed the audition! They picked me!" She yelled as her mom screamed and yelled to her husband to tell him the good news.

"I knew you could do it kiddo!" Jennie hears her father's voice.

After she finishes her conversation with her parents, she calls V and meets him in front of the Big Hit building. V runs and wraps his arms around her in a giant bear hug, spinning her around. 

"I knew you could do it Ennie!" He laughed.

"This is so surreal, Tae. I'm in BTS!" She shakes him as he continues to laugh at her excitement.

"Come on, let's head to the dorm."

"R-right now?"

"Yeah!" He grabbed her hand to walk with her. "Don't be nervous! They're all very eager to meet you!"

"Seriously?"

"We found out right after the audition and when you girls left."

"I still can't believe this is happening."

"Believe it Ennie!"

As they make their way to the dorm, Tae opens the door. "MEET THE NEWEST MEMBER OF BTS! THE BANGTAN GIRL! JENNIE IS HERE!" He happily yelled in the dorm.

Almost instantly she hears yells and happy screams of excitement as the guys rush up to her while V gently pushes her inside and shuts the door. She almost laughed at how eager everyone was to meet her. They were bursting with energy. She could get used to this warm welcome.

"There she is!" Hobi screeched out of excitement

"We've been waiting for you!" Jin grinned

"She's pretty!" Jimin yelled

"H-hi!" She nervously greeted them as they all started talking at once.

"Yah! Guys, don't smother her! Let her breathe! One at a time! One-at-a-time!" Tae protectively grabbed her hand and took her further into the dorm as the rest of the boys followed them, continuing to ask questions.

"You two are just in time for dinner! Let's eat!" Jin announced.

"Aren't you gonna introduce us to her, Tae?" Jimin pointed out as they got settled to eat

"Ladies first." Namjoon gestured as Jen smiled nervously.

"My name is Jennifer, you can call me Jennie, Jen, or whatever nickname you come up with for me. I'm from America. I'm 15. Bang PD told me my stage name in BTS will be Jennie. I have two sisters who are 18, and I'm looking forward to working with you guys."

"You have a pretty smile!" Hobi pointed out. "So adorable!"

Jennie starts to feel her face heat up at the constant compliments. She wasn't used to this at all. She buries her face in her hands.

"Ahhh she's shy!" Hobi yelled as the guys started getting wild but Namjoon.

"Yah! Pipe down!" Namjoon calmed them down and turned to her. "Hello, I'm Namjoon. Better known as Rap Monster. I'm the leader of the group. Looking forward to working with you. I was impressed by your performance."

"Nice to meet you. I noticed you watching me closely. I was a bit intimidated." She admitted.

"Haha, really?" He raised a brow. 

"Yeah like you and the glasses and everything. You scared me a bit." She chuckled.

"Sorry if I scared you. I was so focused on your performance. You just caught my attention." he smiled, revealing his dimples. "They made a good choice. Looking forward to seeing what else you can do."

"He's not scary at all, trust me," Hobi reassured. "Hello~ I'm Hoseok. You can call me by my stage name is J-Hope or Hobi."

"I'm the oldest, Jin. Anything you need, just let me know." Jin smiled politely.

"I'm Jimin. The coolest member of the group." He boasted as the guys disagreed and started hitting him with pillows, making Jennie laugh out loud. She could get used to their shenanigans.

Jungkook was usually shy around girls but Jen's demeanor made him relax and less nervous. He smiled awkwardly and looked away, avoiding eye contact until he heard her warm voice which made him look into her eyes.

"Hi, I'm Jennie. Nice to meet you. Your name?" She greeted.

"I'm Jungkook." 

"I'm Min Yoongi. You can call me Suga." He greeted her as she nodded and smiled

"Eat up!" Jin gestured as they all began to eat. 

Jennie finally managed to use chopsticks the proper way and chowed away.

"Guess you'll be a part of the Maknae line," Namjoon confirmed, remembering she said she was 15. "Your birthday?"

"November 10th."

"Ahh she's younger than Jungkook! She'll be our baby girl!" Jimin announced. "So what is America like?"

"It's what you make of it. I hope one day we'll all be able to go together and you can experience it yourselves." She smiled. "I still need to get used to eating properly and bowing here. I'm still not adjusted to your culture yet but I will soon. Please be patient with me guys."

"You're fine, don't worry about it." Yoongi waved her doubts away.

"What are your passions," Hobi asked

"I really love performing and meeting fans. I just love to sing and dance for fun. Music is my life." She happily revealed.

"What do you like to eat? I can put it in future references." Jin chimed in.

"Some foods I like are pizza, white chocolate, fish and chicken."

"Once we get some Korean food in you, I'm sure that'll also be your favorite food, too."

"I bet they will."

"Hey, what's your favorite color?" Jungkook eagerly asked.

"I like purple." She responded

"Any hobbies?" Namjoon questioned

"I like to play the guitar. Play occasional video games and golf." Jen addressed.

"Golf?" Jin asked in amazement.

"I'm not that good but I like the sport. It's fascinating to check out." She pointed out.

The rest of the dinner went great as she started to feel less nervous and excited to be working with BTS. The boys were so nice and welcoming towards her.

"Oh yeah, let's show Jen her room!" Yoongi announced as he stood up. The boys escorted her to a small room in the dorm. "Since you're a girl, we're sure you wanted your privacy. It's smaller than the rest of ours. I hope it's all right."

"No, it's perfect." She turned to them, looking appreciative. "Thanks, guys."

Later that night, everyone got ready for bed. Jennie said goodnight to everyone and laid under the covers in her new home. On her back, she looked up at the ceiling with a huge smile on her face.

"I'm going to like it here...I'm so happy. Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity." She sighed in contentment and fell asleep.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

He put crack in this song.

Does anyone else sit with the fact that, besides the choir, every voice heard on Set Me Free Pt 2 belongs to Jimin?

(Jimin, the man you are...)

You know, I used to wonder why Yoongi chose Tony Montana as the song to have Jimin rap on. This was way back, when I didn't really pay attention to Jimin, and I felt Jimin should be the last person to feature on a track like that. Tony Montana is one of the most disgusting songs in Yoongi's discography. It's so nasty. I'm talking gutter trap, filthy distortion... not even Yankie (the original featuring artist) could do that beat justice, and that's the song Yoongi gave Jimin.

Yoongi knew...

(He's an animal)

Yoongi knew that Jimin would work magic on a track like Tony Montana, and be fully in his element. Jimin is very similar to Yoongi in that way, and this is even more clear after SMF Pt 2. Yoonmin both use autotune to represent the voices in their heads, to colour whole personalities, to exhibit their alter-egos, both benevolent and malicious. Yoongi's mastery of that tool has only enhanced his credibility as an MC, and if there's any member who can one day match Yoongi's proficiency in using that stylistic tool, it's Jimin. Because already, with his first ever song as a solo artist, Jimin has painted such an arresting picture using that tool.

When SMF Pt 2 first dropped, I thought there were only two voices in the song: the autotuned voice saying Jimin's inner thoughts, and the normal voice singing the topline of the song. Now, I hear four distinct voices:

The voice representing reckless ambition - “I never stop, I never stop / Ah yeah, ah yeah”

The voice representing impatience and anger - "Hey fool, just get out of my way / Shut up, fuck off / I’m on my way"

The voice representing the exponent - "Enemy / Better be"

The voice representing clarity, acceptance, and triumph - "날 비웃어도 멈추지 않아"

Even with the autotune, Jimin uses it in three very different ways to express three different voices in his head - all of which are wholly Jimin, but he closes off the whole affair in his own voice, the one that's least processed on the song, the voice that represents his triumph and determination to forge his own path.

(Called it)

It's been weeks and I'm still obsessed with Jimin's delivery of those voices. His voice is addicting. No member in BTS can sing "Fuck all your opps" the way Jimin does.

Speaking of opps...

I've seen your asks about our old friend, William, and I haven't responded because a big part of me doesn't care. I don't want to be dismissive of the people who are angry that William excluded ~100k units in sales for Jimin (and Jimin only, going by the placements of other k-artists on the chart) in the second week of tracking. I agree with you that it's annoying because as it always is with BTS, the rules have been selectively applied, Jimin's work and achievement has been made to look less legitimate, and this is happening while the same organization highlights and celebrates other k-artists who haven't just fallen off the chart, but also performed poorly in critics reviews, so a.k.a. mediaplay.

I feel the frustration too but at the same time, when has the playing field ever been equal for BTS? It feels like a rite of passage for new fans to experience at least one 'what the fuck just happened?' moment when it comes to how blatant the subversion is for BTS.

But I don't care to harp on about it because (1) It's unproductive, (2) I'm neck-deep in FACE, (3) I just kinda believe Jimin.

He's not stopping. He plans to continue making music even if it hurts and even if people mock him. And I plan to keep listening to him for as long as he feels he has something to say. Jimin has already made his mark, and like everything else he does, he's done it in record time in spite of all the handicaps. He knows his fans love his work, he knows he's gotten critical acclaim for his efforts, and he knows the industry has never been a friend - he's not new to William's antics. Jimin is fine.

(...more than fine. Just look at that man. God. He was born to own the stage)

The fandom is another matter lol. ARMYs will need to figure out how to adapt, the way the fandom has always found ways to adapt, but I don't know if this will happen before the implosion or afterwards.

Either way it's only a matter of time before Jimin comes back with another project that ends k-pop and wins hearts, saves souls, and makes babies. The world can decide whether or not to make room for him to settle at the top and it wouldn't matter, because Jimin means it when he says he makes his own way. And I intend to support him as an artist his entire career. It's me and him. The rest of you can choose to join in or not.

(A performer)

Everything about Set Me Free Pt 2 feels extreme. Every single thing about it. The brass. The haunting, wailing, choral chants. The autotune... There are so many choices Jimin could have made on that song: he could've tempered the aggression with an intermission of his feather-light vocals the way he does on Face Off, he could have emphasized his points by having the instrumentals bottom out the way it does on Alone, he could have gone about SMF Pt 2 in a million other ways, but he chose the most audacious sound to declare that from here on out, he's playing by his own rules, making art on his own terms, and everyone else is just going to have to get used to the idea.

(*The performer)

*

For the Anon surprised that Jimin knows about Rilke, but went on to diss Joon in the same ask... what did you think Jimin was doing with Namjoon all those times they'd hang out and talk about life? Namjoon is the bonafide Rilke fanboy in BTS, has been sharing Rilke's works and poems with fans and the members for at least six years now, but it's suddenly surprising Jimin looked up poems to fit the theme of his song and went with Rilke? Y'all need to start paying attention to how your biases interact with every other member in BTS, not just the members you like.

[amberbeach]

'TEST DRIVE'

gif belongs to me

You leaned over the seat to pop the hood, and Billy propped the lid while you climbed out, closing the car door before standing next to him, placing your hands on your hips.

"What are we dealing with today, doctor?"

Billy turned his head, smiling down at you. You helped him so often with the car that you had bought overalls similar to his, in a different shade of blue, and the sight was adorable in his eyes.

"It appears to require routine adjustments. I'll know more when I strip it." You bit back a grin and he shook his head, raising his eyebrows. "I was referring to the car, not myself."

Immediately you pouted, eliciting a chuckle from him before taking your place by the toolbox. You had helped him achieve the vehicle's more unique aspects and remembered many of the tools when he asked for them, but sometimes, like today, you forgot.

"There are five wrenches." You held up a wrench and he shook his head. You took out another, and set the two down when he shook his head.

"Those are too small."

You closed your eyes, and Billy quickly moved the correct wrench near your hand, ensuring it was the wrench you chose. You grinned when he took it, tightening the bolts.

The other Rangers were watching a news report inside the garage while you and Billy worked outside. You faintly heard the Rangers being mentioned in the report and observed Billy as he worked on the car. If people knew who the Rangers were, they would assign Billy as the brains of the team, and they wouldn't be wrong, however, you knew how resilient he could be. He never gave up easily and while he was not the most confident of the group, he wasn't shy either and after watching his progress in Jason's classes, you knew he was a skilled martial artist. He was much more than his intellect.

He waved a hand in front of your eyes, and you blinked, focusing on his features that lit up because of the smile on his lips. "Earth, to Y/N. Where did you go just now?"

"Krypton."

Billy shook his head, kneeling beside you, "I will have to test the enhancements, but they should improve the overall functions. Do you want to go for a drive later?"

You nodded with a smile. "I'd love to." Your smile grew, a giggle leaving your lips when you saw the oil on his cheek. Picking up a rag, you attempted to clean his cheek, tilting his head up with a finger under his chin. "I think I'm making it worse. I'll go fetch some water."

You stood up, briefly resting a hand on his shoulder as you walked away, and Billy watched you head into the house, a smile on his lips. He continued to clean the oil off the tools he had used, and when you returned, he was closing the hood of the car.

He leaned against the car as you cleaned his cheek, a smile forming on his lips as he gazed at you while you focused on the task at hand. When you were satisfied, you stepped back with a smile, but before you could move too far, he caught your hand and brought you closer. Your hands instinctively rose to rest on the nape of his neck, your smile growing as his hands held your waist.

Your friends were forgotten as you leaned in, kissing tenderly, and when you pulled away moments later, they made their presence known. You blushed, burying your head in his chest as he chuckled, his cheeks darkening from the attention.

"Do you want to test the car now?" You asked quietly.

You hadn't spent a moment alone all day, and Billy knew taking the car for a test drive after his improvements was the greatest way to get some time alone. He nodded, and you tossed the blue rag next to the toolbox, following him into the car.

"Hey, where are you guys going?" Zack called out.

Billy rolled down his window, and you leaned over to answer, "We'll be back soon. Test drive."

As Billy drove off, you shuffled closer, smiling as you rested your head on his shoulder, admiring the clouds ahead, placing a hand on his chest as he drove. One hand steered the car while his free arm rested around your shoulders.

"The steering has improved." He remarked.

"Really? Maybe we should keep driving and find out. You know, in case you have to fight a monster in another country or something."

Billy knew it was an excuse for more alone time, and smiled as he looked down at you. "It could require further adjustments."

You lifted your head, returning his smile before pressing your lips to his tenderly, pulling away moments later to admire the view. There was nowhere he would rather be than with you.