#i did like a whole entire fricking essay on just the two first lines and how they fit him

[cringelordofchaos]

PAPER CUT BY LIANA FLORES IS DREW CODED SUDJJEJD IVE BEEN SAYING THIS SINCE THE END OF 2023

[shikai-the-storyteller]

WFC: Siege watch!

Part 1: Episodes 1, 2, and 3

[Part 2] (Linking because Tumblr isn’t even showing the post on my blog or on my dash 🙄)

As a side note: every single person in this fandom is horrible at tagging their spoilers, you guys really need to do a better job at that because I’ve got a bunch of blockers on and I was STILL almost spoiled multiple times. Come on you guys...it literally came out today, be better about this.

Alright going to try and keep expectations low because I feel like the target audience for this is G1 dudebros who take a series about transforming cars way too seriously, but I’m still cautiously optimistic because a friend vetted for the dudes working on this show so WE”LL SEE

Episode 1

Aw man there’s only 6 episodes??? Bummer, I wonder if they’re already working on Season 2 or if they’re going to see how this does and let it die in the water if it’s not popular enough.

Things I know going in: Skyfire / Jetfire is in this, Megatron has big lips, and Elita is in it. That’s literally it, I’ve managed to avoid spoilers thusfar (though a few of the promo images implied Skyfire’s a Decepticon, so you KNOW that’s gonna break bad eventually)

WHEELJACK Wednesday THURSDAY

OH MYG OSH IS THAT SKYWARP??? EXPECTATIONS ARE NOW SKY-HIGH

The transformation sequences look so reminiscent of those stop-motion videos people do of their Transformer toys transforming. This isn’t a dig at the animation style, I think that’s rather charming and I wonder if it’s intentional.

Wow Bumblebee sounds like a jerk. I’m instantly on-edge, please don’t make all the characters ~hyper-masculine mean guys who don’t know how to have fun or talk about their emotions~

“The Autobots aint paying you for attitude” YOU TELL HIM WHEELJACK

Yooo Velocitron exists!

Ahh so Bumblebee IS just a mercenary, not an Autobot

OHOHO HERE”S JETFIRE

Wow Jetfire you’re really going the bad dude route huh

Ayyyyyy there’s Starscream

YOOO THERE”S THUNDERCRACKER

Thundercracker I appreciate that you’re using fancy tech to identify wheeljack but his Autobot badge is literally Right There

WTF

WELL THAT DIDN”T LAST LONG HUH...that’s a bit disappointing

OH NVM THAT WASN”T A HEEL-TURN THAT WAS JUST A STRAIGHT UP “I”M THE BOSS” MOVE

huh so they’re making Skyfire the target of Starscream’s desire for power. hmm

WHY ARE YOU GUYS RUNNING JUST TRANSFORM INTO CARS unless they’re too low on energon to do it??

There he is...Mr. Big Lips

Well that’s a surprising take Megatron

Isn’t that Cybertron and Luna 1 in the sky though?? Are they on Cybertron rn or not??

Megatron’s voice is really throwing me off, if it weren’t for his helmet and color I’d really think that was Overlord

ITS TRUCK DAD

OHOHO HE SAID THE THING!!!!

Why does bumblebee have lips too

“What do you know of slavery?” Alright that line did make me go “OHHHH”

“Alpha Trion would be ashamed!” “Of us both, I think” ouch, but nice to see Alpha “Grandpa” Trion back in a series

Megatron PLEASE don’t say “I’m enjoying this, Prime” in that voice while I can hear Optimus groaning in the background

AYYY ELITAAAAAA

Why are the Seekers chasing these guys, who are running on foot, ON FOOT??? CHANGE INTO YOUR DANG ALT MODE

WHEELJACK SWORE

man I’m only like a few minutes in and I’m already bored. I’m going to watch the whole thing, but I feel like this is really lacking soul or personality so far. It very much feels like the script was written by people who aren’t familiar with these characters, so they’re writing them how they EXPECT them to sound, not writing them as they actually are. It’s more than a little disappointing, but this is only the first episode, so I’ll keep going and see if this is consistent throughout the series.

Oh man, just listening to Elita you can tell she was written by a dude. Oof.

There’s the Ark!

Dang everyone’s running low

Jeez Optimus and Elita wouldn’t just walk by all these injured Autobots!

And Optimus wouldn’t brush off his officers!! Agh!!!

YO Ultra Magnus!

Chromia!!!!!

oh my gosh is THAT Red Alert??

Hey where’s Ratchet though

Gosh the writing is so STIFF!!!! I can’t stand this, if I wasn’t a die-hard Transformers fan I would’ve bounced a few minutes ago

 It might also be the way the VAs pause between words, please speak normally, these constant pauses between words are frustrating

Ok but where the frick is Soundwave

“His arrogance I actually like” pfft

Annnnd here comes Ultra Magnus to accept the treaty on Prime’s behalf, where he’ll get held hostage and probably wind up beefing it.

Episode 2

SOUNDWAVE!!!! BABY

And Shockwave!!! 

YO SKYWARP ACTUALLY GOT A SPEAKING LINE

I want to know where Megatron got all this fabric for those stupid flags and where Ultra magnus got that cloak

Is. Is that Prowl with a weird paint job

Wow bad aim dude

Ultra Magnus you dummy....

Ok but if it was a battle then who were they fighting against???

Wow you’re really just gonna stand there and take that Magnus?

I know they’re on a time-crunch because they only have 6 episodes, but they have to do more to make me care about the characters. I’m inclined to care about them already because I’m familiar with the series and because as a stand-alone, even I’m like “Ok. So?” whenever new problems come up for them. I’m not invested!

Not to compare the two, because I feel like this entire liveblog will turn into a comparative essay, but Cyberverse got me invested in characters within the first episode! They were on an even TIGHTER time-crunch because their episodes were only 10 minutes, and yet they did a great job weaving a tight narrative and making good use of their time to tell a story and have characters charm the audience.

Optimus: Til All Are One Rodimus, coming out of nowhere: TIL ALL ARE ONE

WELL THAT”S NOT THE VOICE I WAS EXPECTING FOR SHOCKWAVE he sounds a bit reminiscent of his TFA version

What does de-rez mean

Ok but that’s assuming that this thing will automatically reprogram them?? Reformatting doesn’t automatically mean someone will turn into a Decepticon!

You know, there’s a lot of talking in the show but the dialogue doesn’t actually say a lot. It doesn’t reveal much about the characters or tell me who they are.

YOOO THERE”S SOUNDWAVE

AUDIO BOOB

It really annoys me that characters always pause after saying “I”. It’s always “I.........[long pause] rest of their sentence.”

what do you mean “Teams” Optimus there’s like 5 of you guys

I love you Soundwave!!!

Whoa wait was that Impactor in the background?

ughHHHHHH I HATE THAT MY BIGGEST PET PEEVE IS “what have you done?” SAID UTTERLY MONOTONE WHEN IT’S NOT EVEN A BIG DEAL!!! YOU CAN”T FLIP THAT LINE OUT WITHOUT ACTUALLY PUTTING IN THE FOOTWORK TO EARN IT!!! AGH!!!

Again, it feels very much like the writers read the wikipedia page for Transformers and maybe the first sentence of each character’s bio page and then wrote the entire script from there. It’s frustrating. I hate being so severe in my reviews because I hate dunking on my fellow writers because they don’t always have final say in what happens, but this is astonishingly poor writing.

Like, I can see what they’re TRYING to accomplish, but it feels like they whiff so badly.

YO IT IS IMPACTOR

oh thats Barricade that’s why I thought that was Prowl

Chromia!!!! My darling!!!! I can’t believe there’s only two girls in this show so far

Oh that’s Cog, I wasn’t sure if that was Beachcomber or what

Nice one Chromia

Oh is that Mirage?

Ugh ANOTHER WRITING PET PEEVE: Constantly having characters start to say something but then then their dialogue gets cut off. It’s fine if it’s once in a while but over and over it’s annoying

I also feel like a lot of the VAs lack...emotion. They don’t emphasize the lines. Like, “Get him into the repair bay” is one example. Depending on how you emphasize certain words in that sentence, you can infer a lot! Emotion, the state of mind of the character, etc. But when it’s delivered in such a bland way, it’s a bit like “ok whatever”, which is how I’m starting to feel about this whole show. This doesn’t go for all the VAs or all lines, but it’s consistent enough that my mind’s wandering.

RAVAGE??? RAVAGE???? RAVAGE?!?!?!??!?!

It was probably Bumblebee.

Not to be nitpicky but it should be “Neither we nor the Autobots”

The idea of reformatting is so stupid!!! It implies that Autobots and Decepticons are inherently different, which is stupid!! It’s so dumb WHY DO YOU GOTTA GO THAT ROUTE IT”S SO STUPID (ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY”RE TACKLING THE TOPIC OF OPPRESSION??? THEY”RE SAYING THEY”RE LITERALLY DIFFERENT SPECIES AND USING IT AS A PLATFORM TO SAY ONE GROUP IS INHERENTLY BETTER THAN THE OTHER. THAT SUCKS)

Episode 3

RATCHET!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lmao love your lipgloss Megatron

Ohh is Ratchet going to fix Impactor??

PROWL??? HE”S SO SHORT

Gosh please, please don’t have humans in this show

lmao Skyfire called Starscream a tool

RATCHET!!! :D

I’d like to see who was on the writing team of this show

Isn’t that Mirage?

YEAH THAT IS MIRAGE

Again with the sentences consistently being cut off....

Is that Sunstorm?

Points to Chromia and Mirage for showing the first bitof personality in this show.

Yooo Ratchet! Oof he’s not chummy with Prime huh

YOO CAMINUS EXISTS TOO

LMAO FEISTY GRANDPA

Oh Mirage come on

Actually no, don’t shut Impactor up he’s right

“I didn’t patch you up just so you could blow a valve here” *snorts*

Wouldn’t it be frickin hilarious if Magnus just popped open a panel and Minimus came out and just dipped outta there

lmao nice lightsaber Jetfire

LMAO “PULL THE TRIGGER MAGNUS”

JEEZ JUST PUNCH HIM RIGHT IN THE FACE WHY DON”T YOU 

Ratchet is the ONLY character they’ve given personality in this show so far.

Jeez Mirage cool your jets

Oh for frick’s sake Optimus be cool

Megatron please stop torturing your ex boyfriend

Ok but who did they rise against??? Were there Quintessons in this universe too?

oh come on you guys

Oh boy something tells me Skywarp isn’t going to survive the rest of this episode

Oh jk, Skyfire just let him go. Well alrighty then

I’m not sure how they found the Autobot base, they implied that it was because of Impactor but that doesn’t make sense

This post is getting long so I’m going to spit it between two posts

[jungnoir]

college boyfriend!rocky

you know... this was going to happen one day.... don’t look at me like that

WHOO HERE WE GO IT’S ROCKSTER’S FIRST YEAR AT COLLEGE

WAIT

OH GOD

WHY DID HE ENROLL

THIS WAS A BAD IDEA

FRICK ABORT ABOR

unlike his classmates from grade school up until his high school graduation, minhyuk had never,,, thought about college

like of course he knew it was a thing and it’s a thing people do usually if they don’t immediately get a job

but tbh, minhyuk just kinda doesn’t feel like he’s really into the whole 4 years or more wasting away with 20 page essays and eight powerpoint presentations on his computer clouding up his space for music

(all ppt’s are named something like “seifheoihfosh” or “huughsksl” because he did the research, professor. why must he be forced to title things appropriately too)

he didn’t like watching his friends stress over the stupid entrance exams and he didn’t want to spend thousands of dollars on studying for another good part of his life, but his parents had done a lot to give him that opportunity

and honestly? it sucks knowing how much his parents have slaved away time at work hoping that if he did aspire to go toward higher education, he wouldn’t have to cut half his studying time in half to work part time jobs just to eat and get by

he’d never admit it to their faces but... he really doesn’t want to study business

and yet here he is, seated in the back of a small classroom with a large air conditioner blowing behind him and making the entire room drop to 60 degrees or lower, learning about that very thing

honestly, when his dad asked him what he planned to major at the nearby university (he had never even been asked if he wanted to go to university, it was just an assumption that he would which made the situation even worse), he had lost what little peace he’d had in the moment and started to panic

there were so many professions, none of which minhyuk had ever considered studying at all, and yet here his parents were smiling at him expectantly like minhyuk had had university merch hanging on his bedroom walls since he was 10

and the first thing he spits out is “business” because that’s a mature thing to study right? that’s something successful people study

except it’s definitely not what minhyuk is interested in and that is made heavily apparent here and now, listening to his professor drone on and on at the head of the classroom

thankfully (not), the loud ass air conditioner behind him is blocking out everything that’s even being discussed, to the point where minhyuk thinks if he had his fancy studio headphones on high volume, he’d still be able to hear better than with the roaring machine in his ear

this detail ends up leaving minhyuk bored and irritated all the time, and he usually either snoozes on the desk until the next class comes in and he’s awoken or tries to focus his time on his phone, mindlessly scrolling as the hours pass and he remains just as unhappy as he had been the minute he’d entered the retched classroom

in fact, the only thing giving him any kind of joy right now was the fact that he had dance practice with the dance club on campus right after this, and he couldn’t be happier to work the cold air out of his bones through cracking out some new moves

since minhyuk’s seat is pretty undesirable, you can imagine no one sits in the three other chairs at that very table....... ever

like he’s never once seen anyone go near that table his whole time in that class

now you,,, you know just how undesirable that table is

even sitting all the way up front with your friends, you often had to bring a hoodie just to block out the cool air that your bumbling professor didn’t seem disturbed by

it didn’t help that you abhor the class as well

you honestly were just taking it for some credit you couldn’t get from the class you wanted to take, the roster having filled up within the first ten minutes of class enrollment opening

when you’d heard this class had an open spot, you had jumped at the chance

boy were you in for it

had you not been as polite as you were, you might not have even attempted to keep eye contact with the professor while he talked about god knows what all the time

but you have your friend, and you two are suffering together so that’s all that matters!!!

until!!!

she gets a boyfriend!!!

you had no problem with her having a boyfriend, rather the opposite really

you were v happy for her!! but since he was in ur class.... and they were always together...... that meant that they always wanted to be close no matter what

the other two people at the table were also a couple, so it seemed you were the one to boot when her boyfriend decided he wanted to sit next to his girlfriend from now on

they had apologized profusely to you as you quietly scooped up your things and tried to keep a calm smile on your face but,, that was your seat

if you didn’t love your friend and her happiness so much, you might’ve threatened the boy to fight you for the seat like a man

but u were nice and civil and it was just a seat

u could manage with a change of scenery in that boring class, couldn’t you?

well, turns out loverboy’s old seat is right next to a gamer who perpetually smells like monster energy drinks and hot cheetos

plus,,, he never covers his mouth when he burps

needless to say, one class of sitting next to him had you desperate to find another seat

until you spotted the back one day

from what you could see, there was no one there yet as you had arrived early, so thinking you had no other choice, you sat yourself in the seat next to the end seat and set your stuff up

even the a/c was off!! this was your lucky day!!

you busy yourself with writing some of your english paper as students pile into the classroom one by one, but you’re not interested enough to people watch today

you’re about nine hundred words longer into your essay and feeling satisfied when you decide to give your hands and eyes a lil break

you smile to yourself and look up, only to nearly jump out of your skin

because there is a boy there, curly hair a mess on his head like he’d just awoken and a hoodie far too big for his lean frame hanging off his body. his backpack is just as huge, practically hanging off his shoulder had it not been for his hand clasped around the strap

and he’s just. staring

he’s staring at you like you’ve killed his mother in cold blood

you stare right back with just as much surprise, wondering if he’ll say anything in particular, but he stays silent

“uh” you finally utter, frowning as he seems to snap back to reality

he points at a chair and mumbles “my... um.... that’s my seat”

it happens to be the seat directly to your left, the aisle seat

you stare at the seat for a few seconds and then slowly scoot your chair over a bit, moving your mess of notes from the space that would intrude his and mutter a quiet apology, suddenly not as pepped as you were before about your new seat

the boy slides into the seat and stays to the very edge of the seat like you have a disease, and you start to feel a little upset at that

even though you don’t know him and he doesn’t know you and is therefore in no way obliged to be friendly with you, it still makes you feel bad

after all, this was his seat

for all you knew, it had been his seat damn near all semester and here you were just intruding on his space out of nowhere

you mutter another apology and type away at your computer much more quietly, wondering if maybe you should just move to the other end of the table to give him space, but you feel it’d be too awkward

plus, the professor just walked in

you watch as the wiry old man flips a switch next to the light

almost immediately, you feel a sudden freezing cold on your back and you wince, realizing that you’d forgotten a very important item despite your preparedness this morning as you strolled to class

your freaking jacket

you left your freaking jacket at your dorm

the mystery boy beside you notices your wince and frowns, feeling suddenly v hot in his large warm jacket that moonbin had given him

here you were, in a tank top with almost all your arms’ expanse exposed to the cold air and your poor body was beginning to shiver as ten minutes of class turned into twenty, which turned into half an hour and you were starting to feel your blood completely turn to ice

“are... are you cold?” mystery boy leans over to ask, spooking you from your trance of squinting at your professor

“huh??? oh... uh... yeah. i was kinda dumb and forgot to bring my jacket this morning. i’m usually on top of that” you explain, turning back to the professor in an attempt to decipher what he’s saying over the loud blowing in your ears

“i would give up if i were you... it’s super hard to hear back here”

you frown and look over at him but he just shrugs, “have you not been able to hear him all semester?”

again, he shrugs

you kinda wonder how he hasn’t failed this class already, but even you can’t talk

even without the a/c, you don’t know what the professor is blabbing about anyway

you sigh in defeat and lean back in your chair, cursing the cold air that’s slowly starting to chill your bones when you feel something warm brush your arm

you’re about to attack the boy next to you, thinking he might be trying to overstep some boundaries, but your face softens when you see he’s shrugged out of his hoodie and is now holding it to you, avoiding eye contact

he shakes it when you don’t immediately accept it, “you need it more than i do” is all he says

you decide that you’re too cold to act courteous and instead you accept said jacket, nearly shuddering when you feel his warmth still lingering on the warm cotton lining inside

you slip it on and are suddenly barricaded in not only warmth, but the mystery boy’s scent

it smells of fruity shampoo and “boy smell”, but it’s not a bad smell

it’s actually kinda........ nice

you find yourself snuggling into the thing so much that by the time the class ends, you sincerely don’t want to part with it, but it seems the mystery boy has somewhere to go and you don’t want to hold his clothes captive

you would retreat to your bedroom soon enough and relish in the warmth of the covers, so you didn’t need it

as you pass it back to him, he gratefully bows his head at you and begins to make his way out of class

until you suddenly call “what’s your name!”

him, and a few of the other students trailing out turn to look, but you’ve got eyes locked right on his

he seems to blush and says in a just loud enough voice, “minhyuk... and you?”

you say your name back, much louder than him, and grin when he smiles back a little before skittering out of the class

and so, you find yourself subconsciously waiting for the next day of class???

every monday, wednesday, and friday, you see him

you start your week with minhyuk and you end your week with minhyuk

for the first few classes after your first meeting, he stays quiet and doesn’t say more than he has to

you remember to bring your jacket of course, but part of you really wants to leave it behind just so you have the excuse of borrowing his again

because damn that thing smelled nice- i mean, ,,, felt nice

slowly, you learn the rules of the back of the classroom that minhyuk cutely calls “the void of room 203″

because of the loud a/c, nothing said back there can be heard for several tables in front of you both

so no matter how loudly you’re dissing people, the rest of the class could be none the wiser

and yes, while it is terribly cold, minhyuk manages to take your mind off it the more you get him to open up

he goes from blushing and going wide-eyed every time you’d talk to greeting you with a shy smile in the hallway when you’d pass each other on the way to different classes

sometimes you’d find him surrounded by a group of five other boys on campus, some you recognized as members of the infamous dance club headed by kwon soonyoung, the dance genius himself

when you asked minhyuk the following day of class about it, he had practically lit up

he seemed all too eager to tell you about his dancing, about how long he’s been interested in it and how kind the older boys in his dance club are

he tells you how one of the boys, moonbin, had given him the jacket he was so fond of and wore to class all the time

you made a mental note to track down this moonbin kid and ask where he got that thing

though you doubted it would feel as nice as minhyuk’s what huh i didn’t say anything

he was v passionate about dance, even blurting out that he thought you should come see him at the dance competition they were having next weekend

of course, right after he’d said that, he had shrunk in on himself and tacked on a “only if you want...” at the end

and sure enough, you had requested he point you in the direction of acquiring tickets to see him

at first he’s all like no!!! i was kidding!!!!

but you’re so insistent and you seem to genuinely want to see him dance so i mean

who is he to stop you?

(someone who thinks ur hella cute that’s who)

he ends up taking you with him after class for the first time, and you note with a little giddiness that you’ve never really been anywhere else with minhyuk outside of classes... purposefully

like you’ve seen each other and struck up conversations in line at the caf but you’ve never actually went somewhere with him, planning to anyway

so it’s kind of funny how you two linger near each other as he leads you to the arts building where the dancers reside

the top floor is for the ballet dancers, while the bottom floor is where all the hip hop dancers hang

he shows you one of the open practice rooms where a few of his dance crew are, and you can’t believe your eyes when minhyuk suddenly just.... changes

right before your eyes is no longer the shy boy you’d grown fond of

now he was all kinds of excitable, greeting his fellow members with big smiles and laughter and suddenly you feel like the shy one out of you two

he doesn’t even really seem to notice, talking to the boys about this and that

but then one of them spots you and coughs rather loudly, making gestures at you when minhyuk gives him a puzzled look

a glimpse of the shy boy comes back when he rushes over to you and places his hands on your shoulders, guiding you over to the group of boys

you’re honestly too stunned by the sudden touch he’s initiated that you pretty much blank out on him introducing you to everyone

it’s only when the boy who had initially noticed you walks up and holds out his hand, sweat dripping down his neck and chest but looking otherwise unbothered by it

“hi, i’m moonbin! i’m minhyuk’s friend,,, he talks a lot about you ya know”

you flush just as minhyuk drops his hands from your shoulders and whines back “i do not!!” indignantly, all the while the others simply refute his claim with a chorus of “yeah you do”‘s

you find it more endearing than you probably should when minhyuk stutters over a response to you, looking absolutely mortified and regretting bringing you here after all

but then moonbin takes control as if he hadn’t just utterly destroyed his friend’s confidence in seconds “so! what brings you here?”

“minhyuk said he’d sell me tickets to your dance competition?”

moonbin widens his eyes at you and then looks at minhyuk, “you’re making your friend pay?”

minhyuk seems to snap out of his pity party long enough to form a reply, looking a little pouty, “well, of course... y- we need it”

moonbin stares at him for a solid minute before he bursts into laughter, shooting you a smile as if to say he’s sorry for you being friends with the younger boy

then he goes over to his duffle and pulls out a ticket and hands it to you, shoving his hands into his pockets despite your confusion

“don’t worry, you’re minhyuk’s friend. you’re free to come. hell, you could sell the ticket for all i care”

you’re v thankful, telling him that you’ll definitely come and that you’ll definitely scold minhyuk for being so stingy, and then the both of you are walking out of the building with much less haste

as you’re walking, you turn to minhyuk to see he looks a lil deflated

“did it bother you that much the way they joked with you?” you ask quietly, watching his expression for any telling signs

but he shakes his head quickly, smiling reassuringly if only for a moment

he seems to be debating over what to say before he finally does, “it’s... moonbin.... he doesn’t have a lot of money to come to the school to begin with. we try to split up enough money from the dance competitions we win to go toward his tuition. since we also help sell tickets and advertise the venues we dance at, we send that money his way as well. he’s usually humble about the whole thing, which is why i was hoping i’d get tickets from soonyoung or something...”

you feel bad all of a sudden, wanting to go back and demand you pay to moonbin, but you know that would just make him uncomfortable

so instead, you slip more than enough cash into minhyuk’s hand and watch as his comically large eyes find yours

“don’t tell him i gave that to you, alright? i’ll beat you up right after he does”

all minhyuk does is nod, shoving the money in his pocket

and he lingers

until he throws his arms around your neck and you’re caught into a hug

and god.... this is the first time you’ve been so close to minhyuk.... you can feel his rapid heart beat and his breaths rustling the hair at your ear

“i’m sorry, it’s just... when people... are kind to the people i love, i tend to really like those people a lot”

you practically melt as you hug him back, despite your nervous movements that he doesn’t seem to notice

“I thought you already liked me” you joke, squeezing the fabric of his shirt in your hands

he pulls back, half a foot from your face

and those mesmerizing angel eyes catch yours

“...maybe i already did. maybe... this just sealed the deal for me” he mutters, though it’s loud and clear for you

from that moment forward, you can’t help but admit.... you’ve fallen for park minhyuk

suddenly when you’re sitting next to him in class, all you can think about is his quiet squeaky laugh as he makes you watch funny videos on his phone

suddenly you’re wanting to be in that jacket of his more

and even when he scolds you for forgetting your jacket again, you snuggle unabashedly into the warmth of his clothes and he can’t pretend he doesn’t like seeing you wearing his clothes often

he’s sneaking glances of you when you come to watch him practice, always showing off in the subtlest of ways just to impress you

schooling his expression into something he’d think is sexy, and what moonbin would call “constipated”

but shhhh moonbin u think it is kinda sexy,,, in a constipated way

plus, it’s not like you don’t just end up completely entranced by his moves when he’s really into it

you often imagine yourself, and you’d never admit this aloud, dancing with him

sometimes a particularly beautiful song will come on and you’d find yourself zoning out, imaging him holding you, moving with you, dancing as if you’re made to mold together

it’s the night before the competition when minhyuk calls you

he’s asked you to come to his practice this time instead of having you come without invitation because he wants to be sure you’ll be there

he tells you that he’d bought you dinner, and that he just wanted you to tell him if he needed to fix any part of his dance

even though he had perfected it weeks ago, he still agonized over it

you really just want to bop him upside the head and tell him that no, there was nothing to fix. there was never anything to fix because he was perfect

still, you do as told, sitting up against the mirror that he faces when he dances

it feels so different compared to sitting against one of the walls like you usually do, because you can see all of his expressions clear as day

you watch as he stops in the middle of his routine, taking in a few deep breaths as he tries to regain his energy

“minhyuk-” “i don’t think it’s good enough yet”

you frown, “it’s perfect, minhyuk!”

he just looks at you with a dejected look, “you have to say that.... you’re my friend”

you frown and set your orange chicken to the side, crawling across the floor to where he’s now crouched and taking a swig of water

when you’re within inches of him, you hold out a hand “you wanna see not good enough? put on a song and dance with me”

he looks at you for a moment and laughs, “what?”

you shrug at him and head over to the stereo, putting his playlist on shuffle and laughing when a particularly cheesy 2000′s r&b song comes on

you watch as minhyuk cringes, trying to muffle his laughs as you start to dance over to him, looking extremely awkward yet managing to lift his spirit in seconds

he’s so attracted to your personality,,, you just have a light that makes him look twice

so he takes you up on your offer and decides to dance with you, knowing he looks super goofy and knowing if any of the boys walked in he���d be roasted within an inch of his life but he still,,,, has fun

anyone would argue it’s simply because it’s you and when is he not willing to make a fool of himself just to make you laugh i mean

the kid is just...... gone... for u

you two are just dancing like this, acting like a pair of dummies to like,,, sexy can i or somethin

and then the music ends as a softer song plays and you and minhyuk fall to the floor in a fit of breathless giggles

you land first and he lands across your tummy, effectively weighing you down to the wooden floor and making you swat at him just so he’ll let you breathe

he slowly slides off of you, laying down on his side beside you instead

“thank you” he says softly, smiling so big that you think it might tear his face in two

you just reach up a hand to his face and comb his hair from his sweaty forehead, smiling back just a little smaller bc you’ve only been this close to him once before and your heart wasn’t beating as fast as that time

there’s a calmness over you, a burst of confidence that you’re not sure where it comes from and you’re a little scared to see what it’ll drive you to do

but you rest your hand on his cheek, his eyes never leaving yours

“can i kiss you?” you both ask at the same time

and then burst into another fit of giggles

minhyuk looks both totally embarrassed and totally flattered, knowing that he wasn’t the only one feeling anything right then

“yeah... uh... let’s just...” minhyuk starts, trying to find the right words

(of which he doesn’t get to finish doing because you’ve already cut him off with a kiss..... it’s ok bud)

(if moonbin was here, he’d probably scream)

(if soonyoung was here, he would probably take pictures like a proud mother) (that’s weird, soonyoung) (don’t do that)

from this moment on, you could say you and minhyuk begin to engage in some,,, sor t of courting

i say “some sort” because if you thought minhyuk would get any better at being around you after kissing you then,, heh

the poor bean is just a bundle of nerves every time he’s around you!!! like even more so!!! bc he hasn’t dated much in his young life and he likes you a heck of a lot

most dates he went on back in high school were with ppl his friends would set him up with, which usually either ended in him being turned down or the other way around

but you? he’d be crushed if this didn’t work out

he takes most of his dating tips from the older boys which is a Bad idea but he also doesn’t have many reliable sources to begin with i mean

his mom suggested a good date idea would be bringing you home for scrabble night

so, needless to say, your first couple of dates are just some awkward mixture of candlelight dinners in stuffy clothes and movie dates where he’s spent half an hour debating if he should put his arm around you or not

but one day, you’ve had enough

and you suggest a date at the arcade

and jesus christ you never knew minhyuk was this competitive asufheoihfi

he loosens up so much playing around with you, whether shooting baskets at the basketball game or trying to slice off the other’s fingers during a game of air hockey

you actually end up winning the most tickets tho, much to his pouting dismay

that is, up until you combine all your tickets and buy him a giant stuffed panda

“i’m the luckiest guy in this arcade tonight :)” “you’re on a date with me, of course you are”

you and minhyuk just have this natural best friend kind of relationship?? like if no one ever told jinjin that you two were together, he’d be none the wiser

you and minhyuk: *eskimo kissing while snuggled against each other*

jinjin: aw i love friendship :)

but it’s just expected that you two are mostly distant pda wise, unless you two are alone

if you are alone, you have to kind of ease minhyuk into initiating skinship with you

but from there? u don’t have to ask

he’s got a hand on you always

he just likes having u close. it’s a pisces thing

sometimes he jokes that after a few years into your relationship, he would be comfortable enough to hold hands with you in public (at least most of you hopes he’s joking)

he doesn’t take nearly as long to get comfortable with you, though he often felt bad when he’d see a couple in public hugging or one with their arm around the other, and he just wasn’t sure he was ready for that

but you had assured him countless times that you’d wait. that you would never go so far that he could not follow

and minhyuk likes that you don’t try to force him. he likes that he can comfortably mold with you

often times, you feel as if you need to guide him along,,, which can be a bit tricky

bc while you do want to be there for him, there are times you wished he would be more assertive

when you guys fight, it’s only after days of bubbling tension that boils over

minhyuk would often brush you off if he was annoyed with something you did, while you were one to confront him

his passiveness would start to crumble after a while of this

when minhyuk gets into arguments with you, it’s one of the few other times you see him get so passionate

he comes at you full of emotion like a hurricane of upset that you had no idea you’d let loose

and at first, it really kind of throws you off

but you notice that minhyuk is the type to try and pretend everything is okay, even if he knows it’s not

if only to keep from facing reality for a little bit

it’s something he hates about himself and he promises he’s working on it

that’s why when you finish fighting, he habitually takes your hands in his and kisses them both, never breaking eye contact with you as he asks “are we okay?”

when you nod, he knows he can survive another day

because you’re both young and you’re both trying to figure this whole thing out, and he’ll figure it out with you because he doesn’t want to lose you. he won’t let himself sabotage one of the best things that has happened to him. not ever

minhyuk tells you about switching majors a few weeks after you get together

he explains that while he had initially intended to stay in school as a business major and land a stable job so that his parents’ work wouldn’t be in vain, the dance club was the most fun he ever had at school

moonbin, being a dance major, had also tried to encourage minhyuk to pursue his dream

every sign was pointing toward switching, but minhyuk didn’t want to let his parents down

so you decided you’d go with him to talk to his parents

you’d met them once before, so they already had a positive view of you, but from the way minhyuk talked about disappointing them, you were legitimately worried they’d be mad or something

it’s only when minhyuk sits them down and tells them that..... well.....

“oh? is that all?”

minhyuk is O.O

his parents look completely unbothered, “if that’s what you wanna do, do it honey” “you mean.... you’re not upset? being a dance major doesn’t promise a stable career” “we didn’t spend our lives working to send you to school to do the safe thing, we did it so you could do what makes you happy”

you just smile brightly next to minhyuk, rubbing his shoulders as he lets the info sink in, and then he just can’t stop thanking them for loving and caring for him so much

you can tell changing his major just makes minhyuk become so much brighter, literally

every time you see him, he’s sparkling and so happy

he loves that he’s dancing for more than just a side hobby and that he can focus on what he wants, and while you miss him in your boring business class, you can bet he’s waiting outside in the hall for you after class each day

...even though he only has fifteen minutes to book it to his next class

you love him but he really is quite a romantic dolt sometimes

you love seeing your dancing machine so happy, and if he’s happy, so are you

enjoy him!!! he will love you to the moon (bin) and back

[hermanwatts]

Sensor Sweep: Genre Magazines, Mort Kunstler, Vampire Queen, Boris Dolgov

Publishing (Forbes): Today, the number of science fiction and fantasy magazine titles is higher than at any other point in history. That’s more than 25 pro-level magazines, according to a count from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, amid a larger pool of “70 magazines, 14 audio sites, and nine critical magazines,” according to Locus Magazine.

Publishing (Jason Sanford): For the last few months I’ve been working on #SFF2020: The State of Genre Magazines, a detailed look at science fiction and fantasy magazine publishing in this day and age.This report is available below and can also be downloaded in the following formats:  Mobi file for Kindle,     Epub file for E-book Readers, PDF file. For this report I interviewed the editors, publishers, and staff of the following genre magazines. Many thanks to each of these people. The individual interviews are linked below and also contained in the downloadable Kindle, Epub, and PDF versions of the report.

Science Fiction (New Yorker): In her heyday, Russ was known as a raging man-hater. This reputation was not entirely unearned, though it was sometimes overstated. Of one of her short stories, “When It Changed,” which mourns a lost female utopia, the science-fiction novelist Michael Coney wrote, “The hatred, the destructiveness that comes out in the story makes me sick for humanity. . . . I’ve just come from the West Indies, where I spent three years being hated merely because my skin was white. . . . [Now I] find that I am hated for another reason—because Joanna Russ hasn’t got a prick.”

Comic Books (ICV2): Blaze Publishing has reached an agreement with Conan Properties International that will allow it to publish U.S. editions of the Glénat bande dessinée series The Cimmerian, ICv2 has learned.  The Glenat series adapts Robert E. Howard Conan stories originally published in Weird Tales into comic stories that Ablaze describes as “the true Conan… unrestrained, violent, and sexual… just as Robert E. Howard intended.”

Fantasy (DMR Books): To cut straight to the one-line review: Jamie Williamson’s The Evolution of Modern Fantasy (Palgrave McMillan, 2015) is a must-read if you’re at all interested in how the popular genre now known as “fantasy” came about. Even if it’s a little difficult to obtain and get into. Williamson is both an academic and “one of us.” A senior lecturer in English at the University of Vermont, he’s taught a number of classes that I’d love to audit (Tolkien’s Middle Earth, Science Fiction & Fantasy Literature, King Arthur).

Historical Fiction (Jess Nevins): Hereward the Wake was written by the Rev. Charles Kingsley and first appeared in as a magazine serial in 1865 before publication as a novel in 1869. It is a fictionalization of the life of the historical Hereward the Wake (circa 1035-circa 1072), a rebel against the eleventh century Norman invasion and occupation of England. Although he became a national hero to the English and the subject of many legends and songs, little is known for certain about Hereward, and it is theorized that he was actually half-Danish rather than of Saxon descent.

Art (Mens Pulp Magazines): During the summer and fall of 2019, we worked with the great illustration artist Mort Künstler, his daughter Jane Künstler, President of Kunstler Enterprises, and Mort’s archivist Linda Swanson on an art book featuring classic men’s adventure magazine cover and interior paintings Mort did during the first major phase of his long career. That book, titled MORT KÜNSTLER: THE GODFATHER OF PULP FICTION ILLUSTRATORS, is now available on Amazon in the US and worldwide. It’s also available on the Barnes & Noble website and via the Book Depository site, which offers free shipping to anywhere in the world.

Gaming (Tim Brannon): Palace of the Vampire Queen. In the beginning, there was a belief that all DMs would naturally create all their own adventures and there was no market for pre-written ones.  The only printed adventure out at this time was “Temple of the Frog” in Blackmoor.  Seeing a need, the Palace of the Vampire Queen was written by Pete and Judy Kerestan. Yes, the very first adventure was co-written by a woman. The first edition was self-published, followed by a second and third edition by Wee Warriors (1976 and 1977) and distributed exclusively by TSR.

Fiction (DMR Books): Last summer, I was fortunate enough to acquire the copyrights to Merritt’s material from the previous owners.  Along with the rights, I received a few boxes of papers, which I’ve enjoyed going through during the past few months, and which I anticipate will provide me with many more enjoyable evenings perusing them.  Among these were papers relating to Merritt and the Avon reprints.  Some of this takes the form of correspondence between Merritt’s widow, Eleanor, and the literary agent she’d engaged for Merritt’s work, Brandt & Brandt.  Others are contracts with Avon, as well as Avon royalty statements.

Pournelle (Tip the Wink): Here, all of Pournelle’s best short work has been collected in a single volume. There are over a dozen short stories, each with a new introduction by editor and longtime Pournelle assistant John F. Carr, as well as essays and remembrances by Pournelle collaborators and admirers.” My take: I enjoyed this a lot. It had been a while since I read any Pournelle (and then almost always with Niven). I’m now tempted to reread The Mote In God’s Eye.

Gaming (Reviews From R’lyeh): Ruins of the North is an anthology of scenarios for The One Ring: Adventures over the Edge of the Wild Roleplaying Game, the recently cancelled roleplaying game published by Cubicle Seven Entertainment which remains the most highly regarded, certainly most nuanced of the four roleplaying games to explore Tolkien’s Middle Earth. It is a companion to Rivendell, the supplement which shifted the roleplaying game’s focus from its starting point to the east of the Misty Mountains, upon Mirkwood and its surrounds with Tales from Wilderland and The Heart of the Wild to the west of the Misty Mountains.

Art (Dark Worlds Quarterly): Being an artist for Weird Tales was not a fast track to fame and fortune. It is only in retrospect that names like Hugh Rankin, A. R. Tilburne, Hannes Bok, Lee Brown Coye and Vincent Napoli take on a luster of grandeur. At the time, the gig of producing illos for Weird Tales was low-paying and largely obscure. Some, like Lee Brown Coye, were able to establish their reputations in the art world after a long apprenticeship in the Pulps. Most are the select favorites of fans. Boris Dolgov was one of these truly brilliant illustrators who time has not been as kind to as should be.

Tolkien (Karavansara): But what really struck me in the whole thing was something that emerged from the debate: some fans said the novel should have been translated by a Tolkien fan, and by someone with a familiarity with fantasy. But other have pointed out that The Lord of the Rings is not fantasy. And my first reaction was, what the heck, with all those elves and orcs, wizards and a fricking magical ring and all the rest, you could have fooled me.

Tolkien (Sacnoth’s Scriptorium): So, I’ve been thinking back over Christopher Tolkien’s extraordinary achievements and wondering which was the most exceptional. A strong case can be made for the 1977 SILMARILLION. In retrospect, now that all the component pieces of that work have seen the light in the HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH series we can see just how difficult his task was, and how comprehensively he mastered it. Special mention shd be made of one of the few passages of that work which we know Christopher himself wrote, rather than extracted from some manuscript of his father: the death of Thingol down in the dark beneath Menegroth, looking at the light of the Silmaril.

Art (Illustrator Spotlight): Many of you have seen some of the pulp covers he created; most likely those for The Spider, Terror Tales, Dime Mystery or Dime Detective. I was recently reading a blog post about David Saunder’s book on DeSoto (I can’t find the link to the blog anymore), and one of the comments was about how the commenter didn’t believe that DeSoto deserved a book, having painted only garish, violent covers. My reaction was immediate; I felt like telling the commenter to go forth and multiply, in slightly different words of course.

Martial Arts (Rawle Nyanzi): Yesterday, I put up a blog post where I showed videos discussing Andrew Klavan’s comments regarding women and swordfighting (namely, that women are utterly useless at it.) As one would expect, this has been discussed all around the internet, but much of it involves virtue signalling. To cut through a lot of that fog, I will show you a video by medieval swordsmanship YouTuber Skallagrim, in which he discusses the comments with two female HEMA practitioners — one old, one young.

Fiction (Black Gate): Changa’s Safari began in 1986 as a concept inspired by Robert E. Howard’s Conan. I wanted to create a heroic character with all the power and action of the brooding Cimmerian but based on African history, culture and tradition. Although the idea came early, the actual execution didn’t begin until 2005, when I decided to take the plunge into writing and publishing. During its creation I had the great fortune to meet and become friends with Charles R. Saunders, whose similar inspiration by Howard led to the creation of the iconic Imaro. What was planned to be a short story became a five-volume collection of tales that ended a few years ago with Son of Mfumu.

Gaming (Sorcerer’s Skull): The Arimites have the gloomy environment of Robert E. Howard’s Cimmerians and elements of a number of hill or mountain folk. They’ve got a thing for knives like the Afghans of pulp tradition with their Khyber knives, though the Arimites mostly use throwing knives. They’re miners, and prone to feuding and substance abuse, traits often associated with Appalachian folk. I say play up that stuff and add a bit from the Khors of Vance’s Tshcai–see the quote at the start, and here’s another: “they consider garrulity a crime against nature.”

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