#more dispatches from twitter

[irenydraws]

early attempt to teach myself how to use comic draw....scene from terra nova by ted tally, the stage play about the british polar party feat. roald amundsen as an avatar of death that only robert falcon scott can see. i simply think everyone should read it (and you can! here!)

[mostlysignssomeportents]

How lock-in hurts design

Berliners: Otherland has added a second date (Jan 28) for my book-talk after the first one sold out - book now!

If you've ever read about design, you've probably encountered the idea of "paving the desire path." A "desire path" is an erosion path created by people departing from the official walkway and taking their own route. The story goes that smart campus planners don't fight the desire paths laid down by students; they pave them, formalizing the route that their constituents have voted for with their feet.

Desire paths aren't always great (Wikipedia notes that "desire paths sometimes cut through sensitive habitats and exclusion zones, threatening wildlife and park security"), but in the context of design, a desire path is a way that users communicate with designers, creating a feedback loop between those two groups. The designers make a product, the users use it in ways that surprise the designer, and the designer integrates all that into a new revision of the product.

This method is widely heralded as a means of "co-innovating" between users and companies. Designers who practice the method are lauded for their humility, their willingness to learn from their users. Tech history is strewn with examples of successful paved desire-paths.

Take John Deere. While today the company is notorious for its war on its customers (via its opposition to right to repair), Deere was once a leader in co-innovation, dispatching roving field engineers to visit farms and learn how farmers had modified their tractors. The best of these modifications would then be worked into the next round of tractor designs, in a virtuous cycle:

https://securityledger.com/2019/03/opinion-my-grandfathers-john-deere-would-support-our-right-to-repair/

But this pattern is even more pronounced in the digital world, because it's much easier to update a digital service than it is to update all the tractors in the field, especially if that service is cloud-based, meaning you can modify the back-end everyone is instantly updated. The most celebrated example of this co-creation is Twitter, whose users created a host of its core features.

Retweets, for example, were a user creation. Users who saw something they liked on the service would type "RT" and paste the text and the link into a new tweet composition window. Same for quote-tweets: users copied the URL for a tweet and pasted it in below their own commentary. Twitter designers observed this user innovation and formalized it, turning it into part of Twitter's core feature-set.

Companies are obsessed with discovering digital desire paths. They pay fortunes for analytics software to produce maps of how their users interact with their services, run focus groups, even embed sneaky screen-recording software into their web-pages:

https://www.wired.com/story/the-dark-side-of-replay-sessions-that-record-your-every-move-online/

This relentless surveillance of users is pursued in the name of making things better for them: let us spy on you and we'll figure out where your pain-points and friction are coming from, and remove those. We all win!

But this impulse is a world apart from the humility and respect implied by co-innovation. The constant, nonconsensual observation of users has more to do with controlling users than learning from them.

That is, after all, the ethos of modern technology: the more control a company can exert over its users ,the more value it can transfer from those users to its shareholders. That's the key to enshittification, the ubiquitous platform decay that has degraded virtually all the technology we use, making it worse every day:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/19/twiddler/

When you are seeking to control users, the desire paths they create are all too frequently a means to wrestling control back from you. Take advertising: every time a service makes its ads more obnoxious and invasive, it creates an incentive for its users to search for "how do I install an ad-blocker":

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/adblocking-how-about-nah

More than half of all web-users have installed ad-blockers. It's the largest consumer boycott in human history:

https://doc.searls.com/2023/11/11/how-is-the-worlds-biggest-boycott-doing/

But zero app users have installed ad-blockers, because reverse-engineering an app requires that you bypass its encryption, triggering liability under Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This law provides for a $500,000 fine and a 5-year prison sentence for "circumvention" of access controls:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/12/youre-holding-it-wrong/#if-dishwashers-were-iphones

Beyond that, modifying an app creates liability under copyright, trademark, patent, trade secrets, noncompete, nondisclosure and so on. It's what Jay Freeman calls "felony contempt of business model":

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

This is why services are so horny to drive you to install their app rather using their websites: they are trying to get you to do something that, given your druthers, you would prefer not to do. They want to force you to exit through the gift shop, you want to carve a desire path straight to the parking lot. Apps let them mobilize the law to literally criminalize those desire paths.

An app is just a web-page wrapped in enough IP to make it a felony to block ads in it (or do anything else that wrestles value back from a company). Apps are web-pages where everything not forbidden is mandatory.

Seen in this light, an app is a way to wage war on desire paths, to abandon the cooperative model for co-innovation in favor of the adversarial model of user control and extraction.

Corporate apologists like to claim that the proliferation of apps proves that users like them. Neoliberal economists love the idea that business as usual represents a "revealed preference." This is an intellectually unserious tautology: "you do this, so you must like it":

https://boingboing.net/2024/01/22/hp-ceo-says-customers-are-a-bad-investment-unless-they-can-be-made-to-buy-companys-drm-ink-cartridges.html

Calling an action where no alternatives are permissible a "preference" or a "choice" is a cheap trick – especially when considered against the "preferences" that reveal themselves when a real choice is possible. Take commercial surveillance: when Apple gave Ios users a choice about being spied on – a one-click opt of of app-based surveillance – 96% of users choice no spying:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/05/96-of-us-users-opt-out-of-app-tracking-in-ios-14-5-analytics-find/

But then Apple started spying on those very same users that had opted out of spying by Facebook and other Apple competitors:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

Neoclassical economists aren't just obsessed with revealed preferences – they also love to bandy about the idea of "moral hazard": economic arrangements that tempt people to be dishonest. This is typically applied to the public ("consumers" in the contemptuous parlance of econospeak). But apps are pure moral hazard – for corporations. The ability to prohibit desire paths – and literally imprison rivals who help your users thwart those prohibitions – is too tempting for companies to resist.

The fact that the majority of web users block ads reveals a strong preference for not being spied on ("users just want relevant ads" is such an obvious lie that doesn't merit any serious discussion):

https://www.iccl.ie/news/82-of-the-irish-public-wants-big-techs-toxic-algorithms-switched-off/

Giant companies attained their scale by learning from their users, not by thwarting them. The person using technology always knows something about what they need to do and how they want to do it that the designers can never anticipate. This is especially true of people who are unlike those designers – people who live on the other side of the world, or the other side of the economic divide, or whose bodies don't work the way that the designers' bodies do:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/20/benevolent-dictators/#felony-contempt-of-business-model

Apps – and other technologies that are locked down so their users can be locked in – are the height of technological arrogance. They embody a belief that users are to be told, not heard. If a user wants to do something that the designer didn't anticipate, that's the user's fault:

https://www.wired.com/2010/06/iphone-4-holding-it-wrong/

Corporate enthusiasm for prohibiting you from reconfiguring the tools you use to suit your needs is a declaration of the end of history. "Sure," John Deere execs say, "we once learned from farmers by observing how they modified their tractors. But today's farmers are so much stupider and we are so much smarter that we have nothing to learn from them anymore."

Spying on your users to control them is a poor substitute asking your users their permission to learn from them. Without technological self-determination, preferences can't be revealed. Without the right to seize the means of computation, the desire paths never emerge, leaving designers in the dark about what users really want.

Our policymakers swear loyalty to "innovation" but when corporations ask for the right to decide who can innovate and how, they fall all over themselves to create laws that let companies punish users for the crime of contempt of business-model.

I'm Kickstarting the audiobook for The Bezzle, the sequel to Red Team Blues, narrated by @wilwheaton! You can pre-order the audiobook and ebook, DRM free, as well as the hardcover, signed or unsigned. There's also bundles with Red Team Blues in ebook, audio or paperback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/24/everything-not-mandatory/#is-prohibited

Image: Belem (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Desire_path_%2819811581366%29.jpg

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

[etherealrin]

⋆.˚ call it what you want

in which proplayer!sae could care less about what the media was calling you two, if it means being with you again

warnings: none // wc: 647

note: fem reader! badly proofread

the star midfielder of re al, itoshi sae, has a spotless reputation. there wasn't a single stain on his image, not one rumor or dating scandal. it was a matter of heated debate online; there were multiple twitter threads regarding sae's love life. was he truly single? perhaps not into women at all? did he have a secret relationship with another celebrity? if he did, he was remarkably good at never being caught.

so when a photograph of sae leading a girl to a secluded room, shot at an angle where one could only see a flash of glimmering hair, goes viral, the entire internet was wholly appalled.

sae scoffs as you read another article from your phone's news feed to him. "hey, look at this!" your tone is joking as you point towards the device's screen. "they're questioning if i'm some top hollywood celeb. is it because i dyed my hair recently?"

"love, that's stupid. you know dispatch reports more lies than truths." he replies, nose wrinkling at the thought. sure, you were beautiful, more so than any actress, but he really didn't enjoy all of the media speculation he received. was it so wrong of him to want something normal, to have a private relationship?

you'd known sae since before he went to spain, when you were just two simple kids trying to go through life the right way. when he had left, it'd caused a huge buzz in your town, japan finally receiving international attention for football. and you'd long since been regarded as sae's closest friend, so everyone was clamoring to ask you: would he ever come back? the drama queens threw their fits (sae had no shortage of admirers even then), many people called you a liar when you said that you didn't know, the pressure caused you to isolate yourself—done with how nosy the world was being. and of course, you missed sae more than anything. you'd mindlessly twist your fingers through the silver necklace he gifted you right before his flight, the 冴 character shining in the pale moonlight. no one else knew the words he'd suddenly whispered into your ears before he boarded without sparing a glance back; "i love you, i'll swear i'll see you again."

you'd kept that necklace for years, until itoshi sae appeared in japan once more, to play for a mysterious soccer match; and a front row ticket was mysteriously sent to your email. which you had never changed from before he left. nervous anticipation floods you, you were about to see your best friend who you hadn't heard from in years. when you finally spot him on the field, he looked nothing less than a daydream, dark pink locks impossibly perfect even against the wind and sweat. as he's being introduced, sae's gaze somehow found you amongst the crowd—you might have died. though he knew you would show up, he couldn't help but look for extra assurance. and you couldn't have predicted the whirl of events that happened after. his manager pulling you aside, saying that "itoshi sae needs to meet you," sae walking towards you with his head down, evidently trying to avoid the paparazzi, grabbing your hands and guiding you into an empty interviewing room; teal eyes glimmering with unsaid words.

your lips inevitably crashed into each other, you both had heard the cameras click and seen the flash of brilliant white, but none of you cared. "at least i did one thing right," is what sae had murmured after a few minutes, deft fingers tracing across your cheeks. his eyes flickered over the chain he gave you, one you'd never taken off. the media could call it what they wanted, because in that moment it was only you and sae. though perhaps it had always been that way—all it took was for one of you to see it.

a/n: dude i'm so obsessed w this song rn. also i finally stopped slandering sae who would've thought this day would come so soon!

masterlist.

[ellipsus-writes]

Each week (or so), we'll highlight the relevant (and sometimes rage-inducing) news adjacent to writing and freedom of expression. This week:

Inkitt’s AI-powered fiction factory

Inkitt started in the mid-2010s as a cozy platform where anyone could share their writing. Fast forward twenty twenty-fuckkkkk, and like most startups, it’s pivoted hard into AI-fueled content production with the soul of an algorithm.

Pictured: Inkitt preparing human-generated work for an AI-powered flume ride to The Unknown.

Here’s how it works: Inkitt monitors reader engagement with tracking software, then picks popular stories to publish on its premium app, Galatea. From there, stories can get spun into sequels, spinoffs, or adapted for GalateaTV… often with minimal author involvement. Authors get an undisclosed cut of revenue, but for most, it’s a fraction of what they’d earn with a traditional publisher (let alone self-publishing).

“'They prey on new writers who have no idea what they’re doing,' said the writer of one popular Galatea series."

Many, many authors have side-eyed or outright decried the platform as inherently predatory for years, due to nebulous payout promises. And much of the concern centers on contracts that don’t require authors’ consent for editorial changes or AI-generated “additions” to the original text.

Now, Inkitt has gone full DiSrUpTiOn, leaning heavily on generative AI to ghostwrite, edit, generate audiobook narration, and design covers, under the banner of “democratizing storytelling.” (AI? In my democratized storytelling platform? It’s more likely than you think.)

Pictured: Inkitt’s CEO looking at the most-read stories.

But Inkitt’s CEO doesn’t seem too concerned about what authors think: “His business model doesn’t need them.”

The company recently raised $37 million, with backers including former CEOs of Sony, Penguin, and HarperCollins, proving once again that publishing loves a disruptor… as long as it disrupts creatives, not capital. And more AI companies are mushrooming up to chase the same vision: “a vision of human-created art becoming the raw material for AI-powered, corporate-owned content-production machines—a scenario in which humans would play an ever-shrinking role.”

(Not to say we predicted this, but…)

Welcome to the creator-industrial complex.

Publishers to AI: Stop stealing our stuff (please?)

Major publishers—including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and Vox Media—have launched a "Support Responsible AI" campaign, urging the U.S. government to regulate AI's use of copyrighted content.

Like last month's campaigns by the Authors Guild and the UK's Society of Authors, there's a website where where you can (and should!) contact your representatives to say, “Hey, maybe stop letting billion-dollar tech giants strip-mine journalism.”

The campaign’s ads carry slogans like “Stop AI Theft” and “AI Steals From You Too” and call for legislation that would force AI companies to pay for the content they train on and clearly label AI-generated content with attribution. This follows lobbying by OpenAI and Google to make it legal to scrape and train on copyrighted material without consent.

The publishers assert they are not explicitly anti-AI, but advocate for a “fair” system that respects intellectual property and supports journalism.

But… awkward, The Washington Post—now owned by Jeff Bezos—has reportedly already struck a deal with OpenAI to license and summarize its content. So, mixed signals.

Still, as the campaign reminds us: “Stealing is un-American.”

(Unless it’s profitable.)

#WarForever

We at Ellipsus love a good meme-turned-megaproject. Back in January, the-app-formerly-known-as-Twitter user @lolt64 tweeted a cryptic line about "the frozen wastes of europa,” the earliest reference to the never-ending war on Jupiter’s icy moon.

A slew of bleak dispatches from weary, doomed soldiers entrenched on Europa’s ice fields snowballed (iceberged?) into a sprawling saga, yes-and-ing with fan art, vignettes, and memes under the hashtag #WarForever.

It’s not quite X’s answer to Goncharov: It turns out WarForever is some flavor of viral marketing for a tabletop RPG zine. But the internet ran with it anyway, with NASA playing the Scorcese of the stars.

In a digital hellworld increasingly dominated by AI slopification, data harvesting, and “content at scale,” projects like WarForever are a blessed reminder that creativity—actual, human creativity—perseveres.

Even on a frozen moon. Even here.

Let us know if you find something other writers should know about, (or join our Discord and share it there!)

- The Ellipsus Team xo

[wonryllis]

ENHYPEN REVEALING THEIR NON!IDOL S/O.

────────𝖺𝗅𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗇𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗏𝖾𝗅𝗒, 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝖽𝖾𝖼𝗅𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗂𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗅𝖽.

CONTAINS. idol!enhypen showing you GENRE. fluff, fem!reader, requested WORDCOUNT. 727 LIB?

𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘀𝗲𝘂𝗻𝗴 everyone knows okay everyone just does. it's in his eyes, it's in the way he speaks, it's in his body language, it's in the way he dresses, it's in the little advice and messages he leaves on weverse, it's in the pictures he posts. just everything exudes that he's a taken man desperately in love. his reveal is normal, an official announcement from the company the day after their contractual dating ban is over. appearing on a talk show after all excited to tell everyone about you to be hit by the realization that people actually did have idea just not that you are non celeb.

𝗷𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗴 he does not give a fuck about anyone but you. would reveal it so nonchalantly like he's on a live and fans accidentally spot you moving around in the background and he's like,"oh yeah that's my girl, would y'all like to say hi?" he'd call you over and have you sit on his lap the entire time, though not showing your face he doesn't want your privacy getting taken away. you both would laugh and interact with the comments and answer fan questions like you've been public for years. talking about first impressions, who's more clingy, why you chose him yk.

𝗷𝗮𝗲𝘆𝘂𝗻 he's scared, not for himself but for you. baby doesn't want his baby getting those hates and threats. he takes a little safer side, writing a personal note addressing the love of his life and asking to be respected and given privacy. monitors the response and as soon as everyone seems accepting he's showing you off everywhere he can, from talking about you on lives and interviews and shows to posting little tmis on social media. fans even grow to tease him with your name challenging him to things he wouldn't otherwise do. cutesy and hot alike.

𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗻 he has no intentions of revealing it like until he has a baby with you or something. but poor guy is so bad at concealing his feelings like he's on a show to give advice on fans queries and there's this specific question about how do you know you love someone and hoon is just K.O. ed rambles on about how there's this internal feeling and you just know it when you look at them, they're the best in the entire world and everything. then later on panics when articles surface about it, "oh my god baby they know! they know!" and he ends up confirming the rumours.

𝘀𝘂𝗻𝘄𝗼𝗼 this guy can't wait to let the world know about you, his special person, his home. takes every chance he gets to reveal y'all but the manager jumps in every single time telling him it's not the 'right time' yet. he's so annoyed now, he's taking it the dispatch way. sneakily going places without cover, not necessarily to you and then when the articles are out jumping at the first opportunity to introduce his lovely partner through a message to his fans. talking about how long he's been waiting to let them know this important person and how much he loves you.

𝗷𝘂𝗻𝗴𝘄𝗼𝗻 my boy is soft launching it. he's posting these random ass pictures of succulents and cardigans and hairpins and lipgloss and everyone is so confused until he starts with pictures of hands that are too pretty to be his, skirts with thighs that couldn't be him and lastly a picture of him twirling around someone with the caption,"everyone meet my baby! :))" and after that he's making everyone sick with lovey dovey pictures of you everyday everywhere, twitter, instagram, weverse you name it, everywhere! fans be getting every little update of your love life.

𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗶 leaves little hints and tricks here and there to get the fans crazy with suspicions but at the same time not enough to expose y'all. plays at it for about a year before he gets impatient and unsatisfied with just little bits and pieces wants to upload full on vlogs about his days with you. wanting to post things like 'dance challenge with my beloved' literally has it on the tip of his mouth "i love my girlfriend," begs the company to let him reveal it and they're like we never stopped you?? so he does talking about it with fans- my girlfriend does that too! my girlfriend would love that!

taglist ( open. ) @kangseulgithegreat @s00buwu @luvyev @pockyyasii @nctislifue @ashtxrie @miniature-tragedy @jayujus @nanabbg @thoughtsmeander2tumblingblindly

[christopherisfoive]

hellooo! for the prompt list, i was wondering if you could do bang chan x idol reader with prompts:

7. "you can't flirt your way out of this one." and

9. secret relationship reveal

can be fluffy, crack or a bit angsty (happy ending tho lol). thank you so much!!🙆🖤

Request complete 💌 Thank you so much for trusting me with this one. I had such a lovely time writing it—hope it brings a little something special to your day 🤍 Feel free to send more anytime!

૮₍´˶• . • ⑅ ₎ა

There were a lot of unspoken rules in the industry.

Smile. Be polite. Say thank you. Stay out of scandals.

And definitely—definitely—don’t get caught dating another idol.

Which made what just happened on stage a complete disaster.

The moment you stepped off the award show stage, your hands were still trembling. Maybe it was adrenaline. Maybe it was panic. Or maybe it was because Bang Chan, the leader of Stray Kids and the man you’d been secretly dating for nearly a year, had just placed a hand on your waist—on live camera.

You’d both tried to play it cool. Smile. Bow. Wave. But even you couldn’t ignore the shift in energy backstage as you re-entered the holding area. The staff had gone quiet. A monitor replayed the clip in an endless loop. And in the footage? Chan, clearly grinning, clearly touching you. And you? Clearly leaning into it.

Your group’s youngest member, Yuna, was frozen in place near the monitor, blinking at the screen like it was glitching. Then she slowly turned to look at you, jaw dropping.

“Y/N… they know.”

You whipped around, dread forming in the pit of your stomach—only to see Chan striding toward you, cool as ever in his tailored black suit, like he hadn’t just blown your carefully constructed secret sky-high.

He looked… unfairly good. Confident. Dangerous. Like he had no regrets.

“Chan,” you warned under your breath the moment he reached you. "Congrats, baby girl. Always so gorgeous on the stage monitors." “You can’t flirt your way out of this one.”

He leaned in, voice low, eyes sparkling. “Did I flirt? I thought I was just congratulating my girlfriend on her win.”

“Christopher,” you hissed.

He chuckled, the sound low and infuriatingly soft. “Relax. We didn’t kiss on stage or anything.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose, trying to will your heart rate into submission.

He nudged your arm gently. “Hey,” he said, softer now. “You okay?”

You looked up at him, and for just a second, the frustration faltered. Underneath all the chaos, all the tension, there was still that stupid warmth he always gave you—like no matter what the world threw at you, he’d be there.

“I don’t know,” you said honestly.

Chan exhaled, long and slow. Then, without another word, he reached for your hand and laced his fingers through yours.

The gesture was quiet. Intentional.

Comforting.

And that’s when it happened.

“Y/N AND BANG CHAN?!” your leader screamed from the other end of the hallway, practically throwing herself out of the dressing room. “I knew it!”

You closed your eyes. “We’re dead.”

Chan grinned, squeezing your hand. “Nah. We’re just getting started.”

It didn’t take long.

By the time you were back in your dressing room, the clip had gone viral. Twitter was flooded with theories, fancams, and unedited screenshots. Dispatch was probably sharpening their lenses. Your manager was hyperventilating in the corner.

And you? You were sitting on the makeup counter, still holding Chan’s jacket like it could shield you from the world.

Your members kept stealing glances. Some looked amused. Others looked like they were trying to figure out how to kill him without leaving evidence.

“You have to talk to him,” your leader said finally, arms crossed. “Like… really talk. This can’t just blow over.”

You nodded, already slipping off the counter. “Yeah. I know.”

Chan was waiting near the staff hallway, bouncing slightly on his heels like he wasn’t the reason half the fandom had gone into cardiac arrest.

The moment he saw you, he straightened. “Come with me.”

You didn’t argue.

He led you to one of the quieter stairwells, tucked between two storage areas. It was empty, dimly lit, and blessedly silent.

He stopped, turned to face you, and the light teasing expression on his face faded into something raw.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

You blinked. “What?”

“I should’ve been more careful,” he continued. “You didn’t sign up for this kind of reveal. I got caught up in the moment, and I didn’t think about what it might cost you.”

Your breath hitched. Because… he meant it. All of it.

You stepped closer. “I’m scared,” you admitted. “Not because I don’t care. But because I do. So much it makes me stupid.”

Chan smiled faintly. “We’re already stupid. May as well be in love too.”

You let out a choked laugh and finally—finally—wrapped your arms around his neck. He held you tight, no cameras this time. No pretense.

Just you and him.

It took less than a week for the internet to go wild.

#YNNIECHAN trended. Memes were made. Your agency made a statement, carefully vague but not denying anything.

And through it all, Chan didn’t let go of your hand.

Not in the car. Not in the practice rooms. Not even when fans screamed both your names during the encore stage.

When one reporter finally got brave enough to ask during an interview, Chan just grinned.

“She's someone I care about a lot,” he said simply. “And I’m not going to pretend otherwise.”

Your group teased you relentlessly afterward, but it didn’t matter. You’d spent so long hiding, guarding your heart like it was breakable glass.

Now it felt steady.

Held.

Loved.

And when Chan kissed your temple backstage that night, whispering, “Still not flirting, by the way,” you rolled your eyes and kissed him back.

“Yeah, yeah. Tell it to the fancams.”

[dokyumms]

only you know the way that i break

pairing: dk x fem!reader

genre: angst, fluff?

word count: 1.4k

cw: insults are made towards reader, self hate, food/eating mentioned, dispatch are lowkey stalkers

a/n: a request done for 💌 anon! it legit took me 2 hours to find photos omg... this probably wasn’t enough fluff but oh well 😔

you know you shouldn't be on social media right now, but you can't help it.

somehow, dispatch caught you and seokmin on a date. you were sure you took all the precautions- wearing a mask and cap, seokmin posted on weverse that he was staying at home, and just about everything to make sure no one was suspicious of him going on a date.

but alas, the second you and him take off your masks to take a bite of pizza at a park, you hear a loud shutter noise followed by a lot more of them.

it wasn't really the fact seokmin was on a date itself- he'd mentioned months before he had a girlfriend- it was more so the fact no one had seen your face before, till now.

only hours later, “DK GIRLFRIEND REVEALED” is trending on twitter. you’ve been fearing the public’s opinion for a long time, and even after all the years of preparing for it, you’re still not ready for the immense amount of comments that are made about you.

it's not that you're severely insecure, your boyfriend definitely made sure of it, it's just that fans are crazy and will say anything just to get their idol to break up with anyone that's not them.

you know what they say are probably projections of all sorts and reading the comments will only hurt you for no reason, but something's pulling you, a sudden need to know if they approve of you anyway. are you objectively good enough for seokmin?

so now you're in the bathroom, sitting against the cold tile wall, and scrolling through an endless sea of posts about you. some people love you. they say you're pretty, beautiful, totally dk's type, but it's quickly overshadowed by waves of hate.

people are quick to analyze and dissect everything about you. from the way you dress to how you walk, they have something negative to point out. you didn’t even know someone could see this much just from a couple photos.

you already sense the familiar tightening of your throat, but you keep reading. one post catches your eye in particular.

“doesn’t everyone notice how ugly dk’s gf is compared to him?? LMAO… must’ve bribed him or smth 💀 but seriously, this girl is a nobody. no wonder it took so long to get a look at her, i wouldn’t show my face in public if i looked like that.”

the post has 10.5k likes, and you don’t have to look at the replies to know if others agree or not. there’s another post right after.

“OMG DOKYEOM WHY ARE YOU DATING THIS THING…???? PLS WHAT HAPPENED TO STANDARDS 💔”

for some reason, you can’t look away. you forget everything seokmin’s ever told you about haters and start to really consider what they say. who were you anyway? why did it take so long to let yourself be revealed? why was seokmin dating you?

you put a hand over your mouth in an attempt to muffle the sobs that come out. your boyfriend’s probably on the couch, looking through these same posts. maybe he’s realizing the same things you are.

more cries come out. they’re heavier, filled with disgust and agony. you’re disgusted by yourself, not even willing to get up, afraid of what you might see in the mirror.

you start to spiral, and suddenly, you’re making up comments about yourself as well.

it’s not long before someone knocks on the bathroom door.

“babe? are you okay in there?” seokmin calls out in concern. you can imagine his face, brows slightly furrowed and lips pulled into a tight line as he impatiently waits for your answer.

you try to answer, but it only comes out as another sob. seokmin doesn’t wait again, opening the door hastily.

“what’s wrong, baby?” he asks, embracing you, still on the floor. it’s warm, full of love, and it almost makes you sob more. why you? what did you do to deserve him?

“don’t call me that,” you mumble quietly as if it hurts to say. he almost pulls away, “what? why?”

you can’t get out a single word, but your mind fills up with every reason possible, making you sob more. the only thing you can do is hand him your phone, twitter still opened.

he doesn’t let go of you, keeping an arm wrapped around you as he takes your phone. based on his reaction, it seems like he somehow hadn’t seen these posts. he gasps, gripping you tighter.

“what… why would people say things like this?” he asks in frustration, putting the phone down. “please don’t tell me that you believe them.”

“seok,” you manage to get out. “they’re right, i don’t understand why you’re dating-”

“don’t finish that,” he cuts you off, sounding the most serious he has in a while. “y/n, i love you. i’ve loved you before this whole idol thing, okay? you’re not a nobody, you’re so much more than that. i promise,” he starts.

“you’re perfect for me, these people don’t know anything about you. they don’t see everything you do for me, your beauty, all the memories we share, but i do, okay? i see you and all the things i love about you.” he holds your face, forcing you to look at him.

“i don’t want you to listen to these people because they’re blind, y/n.”

you look at him, searching for the lie behind his eyes, but you don’t find it.

“you promise?” you sniffle.

“with my whole heart.” he promises, leaning his forehead against yours and giving you a chaste kiss.

and maybe just for a bit, your mind is quiet, absent of the comments from before, only full of love for the man who’s in front of you.

[jeremywhitley]

Now, let's talk about the rest of the stories from the Aces and Aros anthology that tumblr wouldn't let me put in the same post

Genre: Modern Fantasy

Writer: Lore

Lore (they/she/him) is a freelance writer and literary media enthusiast based in North Carolina. They utilize words to build sanctuaries for those whose voices are silenced, and teach empathy to those who're unknowing. Their philosophy is that all words, no matter how small, are powerful.

Bluesky | Instagram

Artist: India Boeckh

India Boeckh is a LA artist who works in animation, she loves DnD, comics and collaborations with other artists. They enjoy all types of media from traditional painting to making 3D figurines.

Website | Bluesky

Genre: Fairytale

Writer: Jenn K. Tidwell

Jenn K. Tidwell is a producer, writer and director working in animation. When she’s not working on spreadsheets or schedules, you’ll probably find her relaxing at the movies or curled up with a cat and a comic.

Twitter | Bluesky

Artist: Yury Guzman

Yury Guzman is a Guatemalan-American illustrator and comic artist. She loves drawing characters being silly and emotional in fantastical situations while drinking too much coffee. When not drawing, she loves gaming and reading manga. 

Instagram | Bluesky | Portfolio

Genre: Kink

Writer: Te Belak

Te (They/Them) is a comic writer living in Colorado. Coming from a prose background as a dyslexic, they found comics gave them a lot more freedom in their writing. They have had works published in ales from the Cloakroom vol 1, Containment Breach Volume 3, Tales From the Dispatch Vol. 05, Vengeance Comics New Year New Comics 2025 anthology and unSEEN/unHEARD: Disability & Neurodivergence Comic Anthology.

Instagram

Artist: Fiammetta De Innocentis

Fiammetta De Innocentis, aka Fidi, is an art teacher by day, a deranged artist by night and a singer on even days. She specializes in illustration and comics with a focus on LGBTQ+ stories and erotica.

Instagram | Twitter | Bluesky

Genre: Mecha

Writer: Tomi Trembath

Tomi Trembath is a comic writer, podcaster, and art producer with a passion for color changing artwork and stories that explore identity and sexuality. Her first comic, When We Transform, was successfully funded on Kickstarter last year, featuring the same artistic team as her story in Ace and Aros. Tomi is also the host of Transcending Comics as well as Giant Sized Violence: A Toku-Comics Podcast, where she interviews fellow creators about her two biggest interests: trans comic books and transforming superheroes!

Website | Bluesky | Instagram

Artist: Gabriel Fassina

Gabriel Fassina, a freelance manga-style illustrator and comic book artist based in Brazil.

ArtStation | Instagram

Colorist: Carlos Amorim

Carlos (he/him) is a proud trans colorist for more than 6 years, loves interesting stories in any media, is a fan of politics, games and Gundam.

ArtStation | Bluesky

Genre: Romance

Writer: Day Irwin

Day Irwin (they/she) is a queer and neurodivergent writer, narrator, and all-around storyteller based in Toronto. Day's comics have been previously published in Transphoria, The City We Chose, Wayward Kindred, and Shout Out. They enjoy games, comics, and animation.

Linktree

Artist: Emilia Strilchuk

Emilia Strilchuk is a queer Ukrainian comic artist and writer based in Canada, nominated for The Doug Wright Award for Best Small- or Micro-Press Book for her graphic novel debut, Be Yourself! Oh, Not Like That, which offers a deeply personal look at growing up undiagnosed autistic. Her fantasy comic Oriana: The Forgotten Deities reimagines Slavic mythology. She creates autobiographical, fantasy, and horror stories that explore neurodiversity, mental health, and resilience. Through her work, Emilia sparks connection, conversation, and comfort for those who see themselves in her stories.

Website | Instagram | Bluesky | Facebook

Genre: Fantasy

Writer/Artist: Tess Eneli Reid

Tess Eneli Reid is a Canadian cartoonist working in animation. They’ve contributed to award-winning anthologies and love to self publish their own zines.

Instagram | Twitter | Bluesky

Genre: Historical

Writer: J. L. Osaka

J. L. Osaka (she/they) is an asexual writer and somewhere on the aromantic spectrum (they are still learning more about this element of their being), who also happens to be an avid enjoyer of romance novels. She enjoys exploring ways to intersect aro and ace identities with the romance genre, and hopes to someday write and publish a book. Correspondence is their first published work!

Instagram | Bluesky

Artist: Michela Cacciatore (My Little Ponies)

Michela Cacciatore is a comic book author who has collaborated with IDW, Lorcana, Disney and Soleil among others. Author of Hades - I'm the end. Voracious reader and lover of buying too many books without any hope of reading them all.

Linktree

Genre: Spiritual 

Writer: Abigail Guerrero

Abigail Guerrero (she/her) is an aroace, ND, and ESL/EFL author based in Mexico. When she's not reading or writing speculative fiction, she can be found watching anime, playing video games, or petting her cats. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Bloodless, Drabbledark Vol. III, Bitter Become the Fields, Short Fantasy Stories, The Skull & Laurel, Simultaneous Times, and Radon Journal, and it's been nominated for two BSFA awards.

Twitter | Bluesky

Artist: Matt Salisbury (Bi Visibility: Still Bi)

Matt Salisbury is an illustrator from Mississauga who lives in Toronto with his amazing partner and their three chaotic but lovable cats. He has a Bachelors of Illustration degree from Sheridan college. He identifies as being bisexual and demisexual and looks to tell more stories for members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Instagram | Bluesky

Genre: Sci-Fi

Writer/Artist: Rani Sisavath

Rani Sisavath (she/they) is a Lao American author and illustrator making funny, heart-filled YA comics that explore themes of love, grief, culture, and friendship. Creator of the webcomic KAI.

Website | Instagram | Bluesky

Genre: Slice of Life

Writer: Kat Calamia

One of the Editors of Aces & Aros. Find full bio in "Creative Team" Section of the Kickstarter page.

Artist: Paree Pourmand

Paree Pourmand is a Persian illustrator and comic artist who enjoys doing queer art and telling stories inspired by her Persian heritage. In her free time she enjoys playing video games and watching action movies!

Bluesky | Instagram

Be sure to check out the previous post with all of the other stories included! https://www.tumblr.com/jeremywhitley/784711343129477120/aces-and-aros-an-asexual-and-aromantic-comic-book

And go support the anthology on kickstarter now! We're so excited for you to help us bring to life comics for, by, and about asexual and aromantic people!

[scoupsakakitty]

heyy, can you do an angst mingi x idol reader who are in a relationship and are exposed to the public?

Unspoken From the Stage | idol!Mingi x idol!Reader | angst,fluff

Y/N had always known that dating an idol wasn’t going to be easy—especially when she was one too. A rookie, barely a year into the industry, with eyes constantly watching and cameras always flashing. But with Mingi, things had felt different. Real. Quiet in the way love should be when it’s honest.

They met during a backstage encounter at a joint music show, a shared laugh over a tangled mic cable, a conversation that lingered too long after the stylists had left. Mingi, with his unpredictable energy and surprising softness, had slowly woven himself into her off-stage life.

For months, their relationship was private, protected in shadows. They’d meet after rehearsals, eat ramen in his dorm parking lot, share voice notes that became lullabies. She wore his hoodie when no one was watching, he memorized the color of her lip tint just from the edge of her coffee cup.

And then Dispatch happened.

The photos were undeniable—Y/N slipping into a black van at dawn, Mingi’s figure blurred but recognizable just steps behind her. The headlines screamed it before they could even react: “ATEEZ’s Mingi and Rookie Idol Y/N Caught in Secret Relationship.”

What followed was chaos.

Her label panicked. His agency went into crisis mode. Comments flooded in like poison—some in support, most not. Accusations, threats, harsh edits made their way into Twitter threads. Y/N's group lost brand deals overnight. The fandom war started instantly. She was “clout-chasing,” “ruining his image,” “irrelevant.”

At first, they tried to weather it.

Late-night calls with shaky voices.

Mingi whispering, “I’m not going anywhere.” Y/N replying, “Promise?”

He did. He meant it.

But time chipped away at them. The pressure wasn't just online—it bled into their professional lives. Staff became distant. Her members grew quiet. Even fans at events stopped cheering as loudly. She smiled less during schedules, laughed too quickly, blinked too much to hide the sting.

Mingi noticed. Of course he did.

They met secretly in a quiet parking garage after her comeback stage. She was still in full makeup, but her eyes were red beneath the glitter.

“Why didn’t you tell me you cried after rehearsal yesterday?” he asked.

She looked away. “You had your live. I didn’t want to ruin your energy.”

“You’re never ruining anything,” he said firmly, stepping closer. “I want to be there.”

Y/N’s lips quivered. “I know you do. But being with me is hurting you.”

“That’s not true.”

“Mingi.” Her voice broke on his name. “You haven’t written a lyric in weeks. You’ve lost weight. You flinched when I called you in front of your manager. You’re scared. Don’t lie to me about that.”

His mouth opened, but the words died.

He hated that she was right. Hated that her presence—so comforting in private—had become a battlefield in public.

“But I love you,” he whispered, like it was his final argument. “Isn’t that supposed to be enough?”

She wiped her cheek. “Not when it turns you into someone afraid.”

They stood in silence for too long.

Finally, she said it.

“Let’s... take a step back. Just for now.”

Mingi’s hands dropped from where they had hovered near her arms. The distance between them became more than physical.

“Is this what you want?” he asked, voice hoarse.

“No,” she whispered. “It’s what you need.”

She turned before he could respond. Her footsteps echoed in the empty garage. She didn’t look back.

Days turned into weeks.

There were no updates from her end. No photos. No rumors. No messages.

Mingi tried to distract himself—writing, rehearsing, preparing for the tour. But every lyric he penned started sounding like her voice. Every stage felt off-balance without her watching from the wings.

He texted once.

“Still wearing your necklace.”

No reply.

She watched his comeback through a cracked phone screen and cried into her pillow.

One of her members hugged her in silence. The others didn’t ask.

The world thought the fire had burned out. But it hadn’t. It was just quiet now—smoldering under the surface, waiting.

And it waited all the way until the night of the awards.

Where everything would speak—

—without saying a word.

The lights were dizzying. Dozens of idols filled the massive stage, shoulder to shoulder, dressed in sleek black and silver tones. The MCs had just finished announcing the nominees for “Best Performance of the Year,” and all nominated groups stood in place under the sweeping camera cranes.

Y/N stood near the center with her members, their hands folded politely in front of them, expressions poised. But her heart pounded hard enough that she could hear the blood in her ears. Somewhere, just three bodies to her left, was him.

Mingi.

She hadn’t seen him in person since the night of their last conversation. But she had heard his voice, over and over—on broadcasts, radio interviews, award speeches. Never once directed at her. Never once where she could answer.

Until tonight.

Her eyes flicked sideways, unthinking. The camera was far enough away. She caught a glimpse of his profile: jaw clenched, lips set in that unreadable line he wore when he was trying to keep it together. He wasn’t smiling. He never smiled in moments like this, even before her.

The MC’s voice rang out again:

"And the winner for Best Performance is..."

Pause. Drumroll.

"ATEEZ!"

Cheers exploded from the audience. Mingi’s members clapped, exchanged quick hugs. He smiled now—briefly, automatically—as he stepped forward with his group. But as they moved, something happened.

He passed by her.

She hadn’t meant to look. But her head turned instinctively. And just as he walked past her right shoulder, his hand brushed against hers.

It was so subtle she might have imagined it. Just the faintest brush of skin. But her fingers tingled. Burned.

He didn’t stop. Didn’t say a word. But as he passed, his eyes met hers.

A second. Maybe less.

And in that second, he said everything he hadn’t in weeks.

I still see you. I still want you. I still love you.

Her breath caught. She looked straight ahead, camera-trained, but her hands trembled slightly. No one around her reacted. Only the fans with hyper-zoom lenses would ever catch it. But in that moment, she wasn’t Y/N the rookie idol.

She was just the girl who used to sit in his lap and steal fries from his plate.

ATEEZ accepted the award with practiced charisma. Seonghwa gave the thank-you speech. The members bowed, the music cued. But her eyes stayed on one person.

Mingi stood on the far right as the music played them off stage. Just before turning, he looked back over his shoulder.

He didn’t smile. Didn’t wave. But the look lingered.

And Y/N looked back.

No one else noticed.

But the fancams did.

Later that night, clips were already circulating online.

“Did anyone see that look between Mingi and Y/N??” “I swear their hands touched on stage.” “She watched him the whole time during the speech.” “That wasn’t acting. That was heartbreak.”

Y/N sat on the dressing room bench, scrolling without reacting. Her phone buzzed once. A message preview lit up the screen.

Mingi [00:43]: If the whole world’s watching… I’d still look at you like that.

She didn’t cry. She didn’t smile.

She just stared at the words, thumb hovering over the screen.

And for the first time in weeks—

She wanted to answer.

Y/N stood in front of the glass doors of the hotel lobby, heart in her throat. The email with her agency's flight itinerary was still open on her phone, but her mind was stuck on one thing.

Mingi [00:43]: If the whole world’s watching… I’d still look at you like that.

She had read it a dozen times. And now, she was here.

The staff at the front desk recognized her immediately but said nothing—professional discretion. One of the coordinators guided her upstairs without a word. Her palms were sweating. Every step toward that room felt like walking through memories: his voice in her ear, his arm around her waist, the warmth of him beside her in silence.

She stopped outside Room 1705. Raised her hand. Knocked.

The door opened in seconds.

Mingi. Wearing a loose black shirt, hair damp like he’d just showered, eyes wide and vulnerable like he couldn’t believe she was real.

Neither of them said anything.

Then he stepped aside, wordlessly, and she walked in.

The door closed. Silence stretched. Her fingers twisted in the hem of her hoodie.

He spoke first.

“I didn’t think you’d come.”

“I almost didn’t.”

A beat passed.

“Why did you?”

She met his eyes finally.

“Because I still love you. And I’m tired of pretending I don’t.”

Mingi inhaled like he hadn’t breathed in weeks. He walked slowly toward her, careful, like she might vanish.

“I never stopped looking for you in every room,” he whispered. “Even when you weren’t there.”

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn’t blink them away this time.

“I thought I was protecting you by leaving,” she said. “I thought I was giving you space to breathe, to not be hated because of me.”

“I thought I was respecting you by staying away,” he said quietly. “But I think I was just scared you’d moved on.”

Her brows furrowed. “You think I could forget you?”

“You walked away,” he said, voice cracking. “I told myself you had to. But it still broke me.”

Y/N stepped closer, close enough to feel his breath.

“I cried every night. I didn’t sleep. I didn’t eat properly. And I watched every one of your stages like I was torturing myself on purpose.”

“I wrote you into every verse I couldn’t finish,” he whispered. “You were in every song that never got released.”

They stood in that silence, not empty—but thick with everything left unsaid.

“I needed you to come find me,” she said. “I didn’t think I was allowed to come back.”

“I thought chasing you would just make it worse,” he admitted. “I was waiting for a sign that you wanted me to try.”

“That text… the one after the award show…” she looked down. “That was the sign.”

He slowly reached for her hand. She didn’t pull away.

“I still wear the necklace you gave me,” he said softly. “It’s under every stage outfit. Even when I thought you hated me.”

She looked up at him, eyes wet. “I never hated you. I hated that the world made us doubt something that was real.”

He nodded, gently tugging her closer until their foreheads touched.

“I love you,” he said. “Not the idea of you. Not the version I made up to feel less lonely. You. All of you.”

She closed her eyes. “Then let’s stop running.”

He kissed her—finally. Not desperate. Not dramatic. Just soft. Long. Healing. Like an apology. Like a beginning.

They sank onto the couch, wrapped in each other, legs tangled and limbs tucked in like they were afraid to break the moment.

“I don’t want to do this in secret anymore,” she said after a while.

Mingi looked at her. “Even if it means more hate?”

“Even then,” she said. “Because the silence between us hurts more than anything strangers could ever say.”

He smiled, for real this time.

“Then let them talk,” he whispered. “But they don’t get a say in how this story ends.”

They spent the rest of the night talking. Really talking. About everything. The hurt. The pressure. The regret. The dreams. The fear of losing themselves and each other. And then—about what they wanted next.

“I want us to write our own rules,” she said. “Not the agency’s. Not the fans’. Ours.”

He nodded. “I’ll take whatever timeline you give me. As long as you’re in it.”

She curled closer to him.

“You’re it for me,” she whispered.

A week later, a blurry photo of them laughing in a ramen shop leaked online.

Comments exploded again. Some harsh. Some supportive. Most shocked.

But this time, Y/N didn’t read them.

Because her phone was face-down. And Mingi’s hand was in hers.

And this time, they were in the frame—together. Exactly where they belonged.

[sharkorok]

all eyes on you (enhypen)

or the moments that make everyone think you’re dating

cw/genre: idol!reader, reader doesnt have specified gender but implied to be a female, fluff, so cute bye, secret relationships, humor, u have delulu fans

requested: naurrr

a/n: ehe thx for 100 followers :) I hope my writing makes u happy because knowing people read my works makes me super duper happy! luv uuuu

•-•-•-•-•-•

heeseung

-at an awards show your outfits were matching, like very obviously matching

-matching bracelets, you had one on your left wrist and he had one on the right, the colors matched each other, same style and aesthetic…

-he gets v nervous but also you were in some dating rumors with another idol so…he wouldn’t be mad if he was next tbh….BUT THEN UR GROUP WAS ASSIGNED NEXT TO HIM??

-dawg was sweating the whole time trying not to admire you and how cute you two looked

-but no every one of those “enhypen mma reaction” or “heeseung reaction focus” showed him very clearly staring at you 😭, twt had a field day with you two

-he can’t help it, you looked so good and how can he keep his eyes off his lovely s/o when they’re all dressed up + matching?? seriously his management was insane for putting him so close to you

-and when all groups were leaving he was seen literally sprinting to be closer to you

-ya dispatch didn’t even need to confirm anything after that awards show

the others r below!

jay

-during a live he got his guitar out and started playing all your favorite songs

-and this was literally a day after you named your favorite songs

-then to make it worse he was like “yeah these are y/n’s favorite songs don’t they have good music taste?” and then he kept talking about you and staff was sweating while watching istg

-the way he talked about you tho,,he either had a massive crush on you or you two were dating

-the ship edits the next day were insane honestly some of your fans need to get into the editing business because you genuinely believed a photo of him holding your waist was taken at inkigayo

-he doesn’t even try to hide how much he likes you istg, he goes out of his way to talk to you at awards shows and always films challenges with you, he gives the shippers so much content

-then another time jay cooked your favorite food in a vlog and specifically said it was your favorite food, name dropping and everything

-literally no one is surprised that you two are confirmed dating after a while.

jake

-accidentally went on live while talking about you

-he fully believed he closed out of the app when he was talking to jay and saying stuff like, “I’m really excited to see her at the performance, I hope we have time to hang out…” and then he hears notifications and sees that he was streaming and he nearly faints

-plays it off like he fully intended for everyone to hear that and continues like he planned on going live

-he’s also trying to hide the way his eyes flickered up to your rapid texts being like, “JAKE WHY ARE WE TRENDING ON TWITTER??”

-jay is behind the camera just trying not to laugh becuz how do you even recover from this one, literally all the comments are talking about you and him

-“y/n…? yeah ahahah I know her uh huh mhm anyways moving on” and his horrible deflecting skills are making it even more obvious

-and when you go on live?? oh u bet the comments are “did you see jake’s recent live?? are u cheating on us y/n?”

-u desperately distract by spoiling your comeback but there’s already 14k Tik toks analyzing every interaction you had with Jake and why you two are cosmically intertwined

sunghoon

-describes you to a T when asked about his ideal type

-he meant to just mention the broad details but he gets excited talking about u ok :(

-“yeah a good heart and around (your exact height), with (the hex code of your eye color) eyes, born on (your birthday), hobbies include (every single one of your hobbies) and also…(literally all the information under your kprofiles page)”

-ur fans catch on and are like “isn’t this literally y/n” and he’s like “omg nooo coincidence”

-it is NOT a coincidence bro he was fully thinking of you and only you during that interview

-anyways you don’t help the situation by describing him too when asked about your ideal type, but ur at least a tad less obvious 😭

-“yea I love guys who ice skate and stuff”

-u two definitely get scolded by management

sunoo

-sometimes he forgets to care about keeping things secret (like that lipton tea thing he did)

-so he’s showing fans his camera roll and he shows selfies you never posted before…in his camera roll…never before seen by anyone but him and you to the camera and is like

-“y/n’s visual is so perfect, right?”

-and yeah duh ur stunning and gorgeous but fans are distracted by your beauty for a second before being like “hm…how did he get those selfies and why r they in his camera roll”

-ur fans r thankful for the content tho so he kinda did everyone a favor

-but it’s a LITTLE suspicious…but neither of you address anything so it just festers a little

-until you two do a tik tok challenge together and he captions it with a heart emoji like oh my god 😭

-you’re not innocent either when you said “sunoo’s visual is so amazing” like both of you get some media training I beg

-everyone loves how obviously whipped you two are for each other tho :,)

jungwon

-accidentally exposes your polaroid in his phone case

-thankfully he has photos of his members and maeum but why were you there??

-he completely ignores it tbh he shows the photos to the camera and is like “these r the polaroids in my phone case. anyways.” n he’s playing it cool but internally he’s PANICKING

-“hopefully they didn’t see the heart I drew on the Polaroid,” he thinks foolishly

-we did.

-so you try to do some damage control on your own live when asked about why he has ur photo in his phone and ur like “oh we’re really close friends!!”

-n honestly that’s a good and healthy response because everyone has the right to their platonic relationships

-but jungwon’s heart he drew on your Polaroid was just a little bit tooooo suspicious…anyways this leads to fans over-analyzing every single interaction to the point you two weren’t allowed to be seen in a ten foot proximity at events for a while

-but at least it reminded jungwon to be more careful lolol

niki

-accidentally rizzes you up on live television

-you’re an mc for smth and you’re interviewing enhypen and you’re like, “oooh, some burning questions, what is your ideal type?”

-and Niki, with no hesitation fully goes, “you lol” and you see ur career flash before your eyes

-ur co mc is nervously laughing and niki realizes like oh wait we’re being broadcasted so he’s like “oh just kidding haha!!!” even though you two are making awkward eye contact while you’re mentally scolding him

-he’s so used to teasing and flirting with you in private so it’s a little hard to shake off in public

-anyways fans notice he’s looking at you a little too lovingly and being a little too genuine when he responded so it’s not long before you see ship edits on Twitter and tik tok

-doesn’t help when you answer the ideal type question with “someone who is playful and funny” thinking it was broad enough but ‘twas not <3

-he doesn’t really care too much but thought it was funny, even if he had to take a media training class again afterwards >:T

[aetherl]

25/5/25 - If you received an email from Etsy saying your orders may have trouble being fulfilled it's because they accidentally suspended my account (without telling me)

They've restored it now so we're back on track. I will be able to dispatch orders all well and fine!!

⚙️Viktor & Jayce Foil Acrylic Charm Preorders are OPEN!✨

They’ll be up until May 14th 11:59pm (UTC+10)

A preorder bonus is included courtesy of @/baconplasm

☕️ Kofi: [LINK]

🔸 Etsy: [LINK]

I’ll include updates on photos and videos of the samples in the following days below ⬇️

14/04/2025: Video from manu showing off the foil!

24/04/25: photos in better lighting.

Video on twitter of them in the sun where the colours are more faithful [LINK]

15/05/2025: Preorders are closed! There will be leftover stock so stay tuned for that announcement if you missed out! Thank you to everyone who ordered ^_^!

22/05/25: PREORDERS ARE TEMPORARILY RE-OPENED. The were some delays in the samples getting to me so I will have this re-opened until they arrive (more info on my twitter!)

27/05/25: PREORDERS ARE CLOSED (FINAL) Updated samples can be found here

[love--and--venom]

I Make You (You Make Me): Chapter Five

Summary: Your day goes incredibly wrong after Dispatch posts a new article

Warnings: jungwon is MAD mad, assault, semi-graphic descriptions of violence and injuries, everyone is having a bad time (sorry y/n)

Series Masterlist

The schedule for today started early in the morning, meaning the boys were gone before the sun had risen. You could’ve gone to this one, but they weren’t about to wake you up at the crack of dawn just to drag you through their busy day. Time felt like it was going so fast but somehow so fucking slow at the same time. They were taking a break with everyone sprawled out on the floor of the studio, scrolling on their phones.

“Oh, fuck,” Jake cursed as he bolted upright, startling the other members. “Jungwon, you need to see this.” The young leader shuffled over to read the article pulled up on Jake’s phone.

“Shit.” 

“What? What happened?” Jay asked while sitting up. Jungwon sighed, the sound coming out closer to a growl.

“Dispatch,” Jake explained. “They have a new article, ‘more idol groups sharing a soulmate?! TXT, Xikers, and Enhypen confirmed’.” 

“Fuck, does it give their names?” Sunoo further questioned, rushing to pull up Twitter to check their tag.

“They posted more than just their names. They put in photos of them and their usernames,” Jake explained as he skimmed through the article.

“Sunghoon, call Beomgyu,” Jungwon ordered as he stood. “Does anyone have any of Xikers’ phone numbers?”

“I do,” Sunoo confirmed.

“Call him. They need to know, if they haven’t seen the article themselves. I’m getting Min–” Jungwon froze, growing paler as horror spread across his face.

“What’s wrong?” Heeseung’s eyebrows furrowed. He didn’t like the way the younger boy just… stopped. Jungwon’s eyes snapped over to the eldest.

“Call Y/N right fucking now. She’s hurt.” He turned and ran to find Minjun, ignoring the panicked shouts from his members.

“God dammit,” Heeseung swore under his breath. His foot tapped impatiently as he waited for you to pick up.

Your morning was incredibly uneventful. You gave up on applying to jobs, there were no new shows to watch, and you opened and closed tiktok at least four times. Simply put, you were bored. Which led you to where you were now: rifling through the kitchen cabinets to find something to bake. You had almost all of the ingredients for peanut butter cookies, you were just missing one thing. 

You hummed, tapping your fingers against your chin. All you needed was a bag of Hershey Kisses. Was it really worth it to order them on doordash when a convenience store was less than five minutes away? Yes, you were supposed to stay in the dorms. But seriously, you’d be there and back in fifteen minutes at most. You nodded to yourself, grabbing your keys and phone before heading out the door. What the boys didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. Plus there would be cookies!

You walked briskly down the street, going straight to the candy section once you reached the store. You really didn’t mean to buy more than the Kisses, but there was a new flavor of that soda you liked, and you needed more mints for your purse. Oh, and Sunghoon mentioned something about these chips, and– okay. This was definitely longer than fifteen minutes, but in your defense, you were left unsupervised. You thanked the cashier and left with a much fuller bag than anticipated. Whatever, you’d be back at the dorms soon and the boys would still be none the wiser. 

“What the f–!” You stumbled as a set of hands dragged you into an alley. You were shoved against the brick wall, blocked in by a group of three girls. 

“This is her?” The shortest girl scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “They are so out of her league.”

“Oh, definitely,” a girl with her hair in a long ponytail agreed. The last girl, one with short hair and glasses, watched in silence.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” You snapped.

“Us? You think we’re the issue here?” Ponytail retorted while rolling her eyes.

“You just pulled me into an alley! Obviously you’re the fucking issue,” you continued, throwing your hands up before letting them fall against your thighs.

“Shut up!” Short girl yelled. You rolled your eyes.

“Oh, fuck this,” you mumbled and tried to push past the three girls. Ponytail and Glasses stopped you with rough hands to each of your shoulders. 

“Don’t act like you don’t know!” Ponytail accused and harshly poked the center of your chest.

“I’m not acting!” You argued while swatting her hand away. “What the fuck is going on?!”

“Enhypen!” Glasses exploded. A sharp crack echoed down the alley as her palm made contact with your cheek. You stared at her in disbelief, brushing your fingers gingerly over the reddened skin.

“I don’t know how you did it, but I know you fucking lied about being their soulmate,” Ponytail spat. “You tricked them, you bitch!”

“What?!” You screeched. “You’re doing this cus you think I’m their soulmate?!”

“We don’t think, we know,” Glasses sneered. “It’s all over Dispatch.”

“And you really believe those assholes?!”

“Enough! Just do it, Seoah!” Short girl demanded. Your eyes widened and you flattened yourself against the wall as Ponytail invaded your space. Her foot swept into your ankle, knocking you to the ground with a yelp. You doubled over after she kicked your ribs, but that only gave her the opportunity to hit your nose. Tears blurred your vision as blood dripped down your chin.

“Stay away from Enhypen,” one of the girls, you couldn’t tell which one at that point, snarled as she stomped on your ankle. And just as quickly as they appeared, the three girls were gone. You coughed, pushing yourself to sit up against the wall. Your phone buzzed on the pavement where it had fallen out of your pocket. 

“Y/N, are you okay?” Heeseung asked the second the call connected. “Jungwon said you’re hurt, what happened?”

“U-Uh,” you whimpered when you gently poked the bruise forming on your ankle. “I was just walking back from the convenience store—”

“You left the dorms?!”

“It was down the street!” You pressed the sleeve of your hoodie to your nose. “It was only supposed to be fifteen minutes! I don’t know what’s happening, Hee.” 

“Turn on your location, I’m coming to you.” There was some arguing on his end while you did as he asked. “Okay, correction. Me, Jay, and Riki are on our way.”

“Stay on the call,” Jay cut in. 

“Okay.” You took deep, shaky breaths to fight off the wave of panic. They were still talking to you, but none of it registered in your mind. 

“Oh, fuck.” You turned to the mouth of the alley at the sound of Heeseung’s voice. They rushed to your side, dropping to their knees to assess the damage. 

“Her ankle is swollen,” Jay said as his thumb brushed over the bruise. “We need to get her to a doctor.”

“Y/N, baby,” Heeseung coaxed your hand away from your face, inhaling sharply at the blood smeared under your nose and on your chin. Your resolve crumbled, collapsing into his chest while sobs wracked your body. You clung to his shirt and Riki’s hand while the three of them quietly consoled you.

“Hey,” Jay spoke into his phone, keeping one hand on your back. “Yeah, we found her. No. She went to the CU on the corner. Jungwon—” you tuned out the rest of the one-sided conversation. 

“Come on, sweetheart.” Heeseung pulled back, swiping the tears from under your eyes before turning around. “Help her get on my back.” He stood once Riki got you situated, linking his hands under your butt to support your weight. Jay took the lead while Riki walked behind you with a hand on your back. People stared as you passed by, making you drop your forehead to Heeseung’s shoulder so you could hide behind your arms. At the ER, a nurse brought in a wheelchair to bring you to an exam room. She held up a hand when the three boys tried to follow after you.

“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to stay in the waiting room,” she stated firmly. 

“But–”

“It’s policy,” the nurse interrupted Jay when he started to protest. “We can’t have more people than necessary in the exam room.”

“Can one of them come?” You asked, looking up at her with wide, glassy eyes. “Please?”

“Alright,” she sighed. “But just one.”

“I’ll go with her,” Riki said as he grabbed your hand. “You guys need to call Jungwon and the cops.” The older boys reluctantly agreed, watching you and their youngest member disappear down the hall.

You barely had a chance to settle into the patient room before your six other soulmates rushed in, although you were too tired to react much to the outburst. You stayed slumped against Riki’s side while he gently scratched your scalp. You were certain they were talking about you, but you weren’t really listening as you drifted between being awake and sleeping.

“Ms. L/N,” Minjun’s stern voice cut through the others, shaking you from your stupor. “The police are here, can you tell them what happened?” You nodded, and a young female cop stepped forward with a notepad. She dutifully jotted down the details of your report, stopping to ask a few questions here and there. Most of the boys stayed close to the bed, but Jungwon sat in a chair against the wall, glaring at the linoleum floor tiles. He waited until Minjun and the cop left the room, then pulled up Weverse on his phone.

“Are you seriously doing a live right now?” Sunoo asked incredulously, rolling his eyes when the leader responded with a single nod. Even though it was an unannounced stream in the middle of the day, Engenes immediately joined. The comments flooded with worry, especially since Jungwon sat silently rather than making idle chit-chat like he normally would. Soon, several thousand viewers were on the stream.

“Engene,” he finally began, not bothering to hide his anger. “I’m sure you can tell that I’m not in a good mood right now. I’m also sure many of you saw the article on Dispatch.

I am only speaking for Enhypen, not for TXT or Xikers. They will talk to Moa and Roadys when they’re ready. Yes, all seven of us have the same soulmate.”

“Jungwon,” Heeseung warned and was met with an icy glare. He narrowed his eyes at the young leader. “Be careful with what you say.” Jungwon chose to ignore the eldest, turning back to the camera.

“I’m only telling you this now because our soulmate was just assaulted and belittled by three girls who claim to be Engene.” The comments ranged from sympathetic to outraged, but one thing was definite: those girls were not true Engenes. 

“I’m glad to see that so many of you are showing your support. Because,” Jungwon paused to take a deep breath, hastily swiping some stray tears away. “If those girls are watching right now, just know that I felt it. I felt every ounce of fear and pain you inflicted on my soulmate.”

“Take another breath,” Jay instructed while rubbing between Jungwon’s shoulder blades. “We’re right here.”

“Engene is asking what the girls look like,” Jake spoke up to give his leader a chance to compose himself. He had the stream pulled up on his phone and was reading the swiftly-moving chat. “They want to help us find these girls.”

“Y/N, can you describe them?” Jungwon tensed at the spike of fear that came from you. “I’m not going to put you on camera. If you don’t want them to hear you, tell Ni-Ki and he can relay it to Engene.”

“Alright, one of them was pretty short,” Riki announced as you tiredly mumbled to him. “She was definitely less than 160cm. She called another girl Seoah, who was the tallest and had really long hair and a mole under her right eye. The last girl had short hair and glasses. That’s all we have.”

“It’s not a lot to go off of, but if you do find them, tell us,” Jungwon insisted. “Don’t try to fix it yourselves. We have a police report going, so we can pass any information to them.”

“This was sudden, and none of us were ready to announce it yet,” Jay sighed and crouched so he was in frame. “So please don’t overwhelm her. You all respect us and let us have our privacy. Do the same for her.”

“Bye for now, Engene,” Jungwon saluted half-heartedly. “Good luck.”

Permanent Taglist: @furfoxsake22 @babygirlskz98 @miniverse-zen @holly-here @corgilover20 @eastjonowhere @bookswillfindyouaway

Enhypen Taglist: @cristy-101

Series Taglist: @wildtigerlili @jiyeons-closet @laylasbunbunny @channieismylove @tunafishyfishylike @fangirl125reader

[bellastay99]

STRAY KIDS: HOW WOULD THEY...

(fem!Reader x SKZ)

Dealing with you scared even to go outside after JYP release the note confirming the relationship with him...

(Is quite big, I write a lot...)

🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

Hyung Line

JYP ENTERTAINMENT CONFIRMS RUMORS OF DATING!

This last two months, Dispatch released a photo of an idol having regular dates with a unknown woman. Fans confirms that is a member of the group STRAY KIDS and they made up theories that she may be dating him for at least a year, she appeared in photos at the airport, waiting rooms at events, performance events and etc. Some others, said that she may be only a staff, but most of the fans confirms that no, a staff wouldn't go out in romantic date with the idol. Look at some knetizens positive comments:

"He's lucky...she's also lucky"

"People still thinking she's a staff? They're holding hands"

"At least she's pretty"

"I actually said hi to her once...I tought it was a staff, but she's super sweet!"

"SHE'S NOT A STAFF?!"

"Oh! My baby is growing up!"

After the rumors, JYP immediately responded to the case confirming the dating between a member of Stray Kids and this girl, who the name wasn't reveled:

"Hello, this is JYP Entertainment,

This note is a response to the dating rumors that is being on internet in those last two months.

We confirmed that, a stray kids member is officially dating a woman (non public person) for at least two years. The couple didn't want their private life exposed to soon, so we agreed to wait for the right moment.

We're very happy for them! We all wish good energies and lucky to the couple, this person has been helping the entertainment and the group in the last years. We trust our members, we trust the ones who follow and love them, so please, send happy messages! :)"

Of course that the attacks would be large, but worse then we expected. Threats, locations being exposed, dangerous mailboxes and photos of lethal weapons being posted on Twitter with the hashtag: #ComingForYou, has being alerting the fandom, the JYP Entertainment and the Stray Kids group that has already showed their disappointment toward the fans behave.

After the threats started, according to the fans, the group member hasn't being posting photos as usual and his bubble message to "try me first".

Stays are in shock and trying to help banning hate users and warning the police, but also, relived that no one knows the girl's identity, that way, she can stay more safe.

🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

BANGCHAN

Not happy....at all.

I mean, he's happier and more chilled after starting dating you

His sleeping is much better

He still working his ass off, but...well, he's a workaholic and you understands him

That's one of the reasons he loves and protects you so much

You know Chan from Australia, a year before he went to South Korea to be a trainee.

From all that time, both changed messages

And soon, you'll be also moving to Korea

Why?

Cause you loved him

And he send it to you a voice message confessing his love before a show

Yes, he got the adrenaline and confessed.

You immediately got your saved money and moved to Korea

You couldn't handle one more year without him.

You lived in a family house

Bangchan paid your collegue

You got a work inside of JYP administration area

Thanks to him

Bangchan PAID a apartment for you

Cause he really wants you to stay

Then...soon, very soon, both were dating

He talked to the CEO and yes, he accepted, cause he knew both of you

He never had being so happy after Stray Kids formation

The boys loves you

They protect you

They help you two hide your secrets

Bangchan is a little jealous, cause they're very touchy with you and treats you like a little sister

Well, they love you!

About the threats...

Oooh man...ooohohoho! He got so pissed off!

And you know how pissed off he's when he's pissed off!

We all can imagine!

How would he deal?

Make a song...for sure. Unreleased, but he made it.

Talk about that at lives, very mad. Not happy at all.

And the most...scary one...

Delete his bubble photo...

And send a message like: "Very disappointed..."

The boys would have to chill him sometimes

He abandoned internet for days because of the threats, also for him, but...specially about you.

You're afraid to go out...

He would make sure to where his armour and sword to protect you

On live...he would also "threat the threatners"

Bangchan: Also, before end the live...I wanted to say that, I'll go see the Wonka movie soon...and yes, she will be coming with me and she will be protected by me and bodyguards, and JYP and myself, the boys, will be dealing the threats with the best way possible: Law Suit. So, we already have a team for that and she got bodyguards everywhere. I had to convince my boss to protect and prove to him how bad it was. I'm done, she's done...Stray kids and JYP are done with this...bullshit, sorry the word, but this is all bullshit, is coward, is childish, dangerous and a criminal. If you're a criminal, you're not a Stay. If you're a murderer, you're not close to be a Stay. Not even close to be human. So...with this message, I say goodbye, sorry, no hugs today...I love you Stays, you know that...but, I'm fighting against this too, we're not in the best mood. Stays! The real ones! *smiles* She love you guys so so so soooooo much! She said that will thank you guys soon as possible! And I'm so grateful too! Love you guys so much...so much. I love so much at a point I want to marry her one day, and...have a family *laughs* . You guys are our guardians... our guard angels! *giggles* See you guys soon! Bye bye~

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

MINHO

He's angry, of course...very angry

But he's terrified as well

He was waiting for the hates

But not in that intensity

Fans can record him looking around all the time

He can barely focus on what's going on

The boys have to always call his attention

In the first week of threats

Minho let you stay at his mother's house

Cause he was so afraid...but so scared to lose you

By someone crazy enough to put their dirty hands on you

Do and say evil things to you

He couldn't handle that

Again... He was terrified

He would never give up on his girl

After years he finally got the chance to confess to you and talk to the CEO

That he fell deeply in love with his only girl friend...best friend

You used to be a colleague of him at the dance academy on his pre debut era

He fell in love very fast

And when he realized that they were debuting

He promised himself to write for you everyday

To not, never, lose contact

A man of word

You end up being friends with the whole Stray Kids

You're his princess, his treasure, shelter, everything

You're the only person that Minho can call: Mine

And he's jealous and protective

So... For that situation, he became a little paranoid

He let you stay in his mother's house and his dorm

Never your house, cause the crazy people were exposing location wherever you go

You're also terrified (of course) and he doesn't show what he's truly feeling about the situation

So he's always trying to calm you down and not letting you see the internet

Everyday he's ending up saying that he'll protect you and everything will be ok

And a kiss on your forehead

He would probably try to express himself on bubble app

First taking off his photo

And change the bio to: Over my dead body

And send a message in the first week, terrified

BUBBLE MESSAGES:

-Hi

-Is cute Lino here

-Of course it is me

-And I'm scared...

-I'm terrified...

-For her life...

-You guys are scaring me too

-A lot

-This is how you crazies show love?

-I don't want that...

-I really don't

-I will make a law suit for this, soon as possible

-I'm disappointed

-Afraid

-And disgusted

-Leave her alone...leave us alone

-If you're attacking her, you're attacking me!

-So I'll attack back...wait for your consequences

-JYP will soon release a note about this with a law suit

-For the innocent stays that had to read this, I'm sorry, I see you guys helping us😻

-Thank you so much, we love you and you guys deserve the world❤️

-I normally don't express myself like that, but for that situation...I'm really, really thankful...

-Rest well and SKZ love you❤️

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

CHANGBIN

You have a personal body guard

He's worried to death

Unfortunately, outside, he's not trusting no one...

He let you walk only in front of him

Not even by his side

Ready to fight 24/7

Won't make you go out by force, would wait the right moment

Probably would definitely let you stay at their dorm

If he's out for work, he would, or take you with him or spam messages asking if it is all alright with you alone

You would have to calm him down sometimes

If he sees something about you (a bad comment) anywhere, he would get very, very stressed out for the rest of his day

He wouldn't be afraid to talk in public about that

He would get so stressed out that maybe would start a discussion

He would be confused by how people could do things like that to you

He is not fighting with you, he's just...trying to understand why

And not understanding a situation, makes him mad

His voice is raised, he can't stop moving around, his breath is out of control

Then...starts to cry, looking at you with desperate eyes

Scared, confused, angry...mixed feelings

You know, he's trying his best too

He probably would be so done with this...

But would never give up

Changbin breaks down in tears at the fanmeeting...

On the last fanmeeting of Stray Kids, Changbin couldn't hold back his tears of fear anymore. Apparently, a "fan" screamed out many times asking for his girlfriend's location, asking if she was there. Changbin and the boys seemed to ignore her for the past 20 minutes, but Minho stepped forward to confront and protect his two friends. Changbin can be seen walking behind the curtain and kneeling starting to cry, Chan walks to him to give him support, and only a heartbroken question could be heard far away from the mic:

"Why are they doing this with us?!"

Stays felt the pain in Changbin's voice and everybody started to cheer for him saying that it will be alright soon, and of course.. Stays couldn't hold back the tears.

A video has been posted right at the exact moment of the girl screaming at the boys, but the user soon deleted it to respect Changbin privacy

Stays at the fanmeeting, said that the girl screaming was indeed a user of the hashtag #ComingForYou and she seemed out of her normal. She was banished from the place and some other Stays confront her outside the place before the securities take them back inside.

We all hope Changbin and especially his girlfriend are well... We wish them the best and good energies!

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

HYUNJIN

He's tired of injustice...

Him itself has tasted

Hide yourself because of bad people? Is it worth it?

Open more space for them to act like maniacs?

He won't hide you...

He'll show them that he loves and will protect you at all costs

He'll be at the coffee shop with you, none of you guys with masks, glasses or hats

No hiding...

No pretending that's ok

He'll post photos with you much more often

Post videos of you on the shorts of Instagram

Paint pictures of you

He'll prove to everybody that he won't give up

More hates? More reason to stay with you

He's not happy with those "Stays"

He doesn't let the paparazzi take too many photos of you

He would nicely ask to step back and put down the cameras

And if they don't hear me, he would get mad and walk away with you far away

He is a good man, golden heart and very gently

But don't mess with him

Don't make him angry... Don't provoke him

He will be taking legal actions if somebody cross the line

He will protect, he will prove his love to you and throw in their faces

He will not give up

The bubble bio is changed to: Try me first...

He is a gentleman and a warrior for his love

He'll throw his love for you on the haters faces...

"I've been feeling chased, my life is in dangerous together with my girlfriend. My feelings are mixed, angry and sad, disappointed. I'll handle that with her, we'll stay together until the end.

I really hope that changes... I'm disappointed with all of you that call yourself Stays while doing that..."

🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

Continue in part 2 - Maknae line

[ironworked]

911 season 8

Athena: other than a few moments in the premiere emergency, her story doesn't really kick off until Bobby's death, giving Angela Bassett material to shine and Athena a reset.

Bobby: so much wasted time in 8a especially, but his send-off was beautifully done and true to his character.

Maddie: Dispatch was pretty much a non-entity this season, and Maddie herself didn't have an arc, just a couple of episodes to showcase JLH's talents.

Buck: practically a season-long arc about him feeling/being alone... and no pay-off; even worse, he loses yet another thing. One has to believe this is also meant as a reboot for Buck, to move him from Little Sibling to Lead Male status, with my strong suspicion that the show agrees with Eddie's 'you make things about yourself'.

(Buck)Tommy: with that in mind, the lack of Tommy/reconciliation in late 8b makes some sense. I also wonder if renewal news or any bts negotiations with other cast member might have altered the timeline here. At any rate, a 4 month hiatus (ample time to check audience reaction to 8.06) and we had Tommy back; 1 month after 8.11 and he was back again, and again next episode. Every opportunity to close that door, and they didn't.

Chim: probably the Most Improved, in the sense that he's finally been given material to work with unrelated to Maddie.

Hen: what should've been her season-long arc (or at least until midseason) was deal with in 2 seconds, and after that they didn't give her, or Karen, much to do or set anything up for next season (unless she does rethink the captaincy) :/

Eddie: ...sigh. He could've spent the last couple seasons in a coma for all it would've changed things for him or the plot. Might have been better, even, because he wouldn't have lost the progress made wrt Shannon and his anger issues in previous seasons. Can't say I care to speculate where they're going with him, at this point.

Ravi: always glad to see him, and he's proved to be a good fit with the 118 and with Buck in particular. Hopefully he'll have more to do in s9.

Overall, lots of promise with a mostly poor execution and baffling time-management (BRAD??!!!), which isn't new but is especially egregious and hard to ignore when on top of that they go hard for the drama instead of the found family and/or lighter plots.

The actors were mostly on point, the couples were great, the Bravi friendship as well. Shout out to the new cinematographer too, because that has been unimpeachable. There's some good set-ups for s9, but who knows what'll happen with those *sigh*.

On the Bucktommy front, we're still in the will-they-won't-they until they say otherwise (we've recently had a front-row view to what it looks like when something is shot down). It's our choice whether and how we wait around for it to land on one or the other.

What I do reiterate is firstly that speculation isn't about being right, it's about having fun with the theories, and secondly and most important that I advise (WISH) that we enjoy what we have while it lasts because even beyond Minear's whims and faults, changeability and uncertainty are the nature of the beast (ongoing shows). So can we PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE stop bringing Twitter bullshit over here, paying attention to antis, and giving a platform to hateful/trolling asks?

Happy summer hiatus, everyone! and see you around for fic/art/events/etc!

[jagibee]

Call Me Luna

(Stray Kids x Reader)

Chapter 8

5,994 Words

A/N: A bit of a longer chapter as an apology for taking so long but also bc it was originally supposed to be two chapters and I just couldn’t find a good split point😭, and I did change the story title bc I got bored with Stray Pack but this is the same story and plot, and I’m sorry but my taglist is at its limit (which I didn’t even know existed?) so if I didn’t tag you on this post, it will be on the reblog!

Also, Happy Birthday to the love of my life who isn’t in this chapter nearly enough, but will be in the next chapter. Bang Chan, you have brought me a light and inspiration that I haven’t felt in a very long time and even if you have no idea who I am, you will always be the one for me🖤

Also

Nobody:

Me with the foreshadowing in this chap:

Let’s get started!

TW: references to sex, mentions of spanking (not necessarily sexual but could be interpreted that way)

…

You all settled down so that they could get through recording. Felix was sandwiched between you and Hyunjin, just as a small precaution in order to prevent any more growling. On your other side was Jisung and Seungmin sat on Hyunjin’s other side, providing extra padding against alphas. Chan and Changbin were both at the sound table and Minho was currently being recorded, so you didn’t have to worry much about them getting too close anyway, at least, not at this exact moment. Jeongin himself was settled at Felix’s feet like a trusty guard dog.

You, Chan, and Felix had all taken off your scent blockers as well, which helped to calm Innie down.

Minho was the last one recording, so everyone was a bit subdued. Changbin had paced around a bit while being sure to keep enough space between him and Jeongin. When the youngest alpha had recorded, everyone in the room held their collective breath, but he seemed to be doing fine.

Next to you, Jisung had leaned down so he was laying down on the couch with his feet splayed out in front of him, body posture indicating that he was zoning out, but one look at his eyes told you that he was paying rapt attention to what was happening in the recording box and at the table.

On your other side, Felix leaned his head against you and pulled out his phone instead of watching the older boys.

He pulled up Twitter and started scrolling through. You wanted to give him some privacy, but curiosity got the best of you. It’s not like he’s actively turning his phone away, you told yourself.

Once the word ‘caretaker’ caught your eye, you gave up the pretense and shifted even closer. The movement caused Felix to notice and he tilted his phone so you could see it more easily. “They’re sort of all over the place with the caretaker news.” He told you, deep voice soft as he tried to not interrupt the others. “Some people are really supportive of it but of course there are some people who think that either caretakers are sasaengs who manipulated the system so that you could be close to us, or that you’re going to steal our attention away from our fans.”

“Both of those statements are true, also, did I forget to mention I’m a spy from Dispatch meant to expose your secrets?”

Felix giggled and you let your eyes scan over the comments.

Maybe if y’all stanned TXT this wouldn’t have happened🤷‍♀️

tell this random weirdo to stay away from my lixie!!!!!!!

YALL IVE CONNECTED THE DOTS THE CARETAKER IS THE ONE IN FELIX’S BUBBLE POST

Reading over the last one, you bumped your shoulder lightly against Felix. “What exactly did your bubble post say?”

He frowned. “It just said ‘lunch with a new friend’ with a yellow heart emoji. It’s kind of impressive that they did actually connect the dots.”

You hummed thoughtfully. “Well, at least people probably won’t recognize me out on the street just from my hand.”

Felix smiled and went back to scrolling, giggling at a semi-professional debate about what Lee Know would give up for the rest of his life between pudding or butt hunting.

Said pudding lover and butt hunter then finished recording, striding out of the recording box as Chan spun his chair to face the rest of the room. Changbin rolled his own chair across the floor until it stopped in front of Minho, who grabbed it and spun it so he could sit in Changbin’s lap. Changbin squeaked in surprise but didn’t make any signs of protest when Minho brought the younger’s arms to wrap around his waist.

“Alright,” Chan began, “I think it’s pretty much a free day from here on. I know Jisung has a vocal lesson and Hyune wants to talk to Y/N, but other than that, I’ll be in the studio and Minho is going to be going over choreography so if anyone wants to join either of us, feel free.”

“But not too free, I need a break from you degenerates sometimes.” Minho retorted from where his head lay against Changbin’s shoulder.

You missed what Chan said in response as you leaned across the back of the couch behind Felix to consult Hyunjin. “You wanted to talk to me?”

His wide eyes met yours then quickly moved to Felix’s hair as Hyunjin started twirling it nervously between his fingers. “Yeah. Chan-hyung said we should talk about my h-heat. Especially since it comes so quick after Felix’s that we might not have enough time between our heats to properly talk.”

You could hear the other members join Chan and Minho’s discussion, but your focus remained on Hyunjin. “That’s a good idea,” you murmured, “But you don’t want Chan or another member to sit in with us?”

He shook his head, glancing back at you and biting his lip. You didn’t want to push him when he was so clearly nervous so you nodded and turned back to the others.

Right next to you, Jisung was declaring that “this group is not a democracy, hyung”.

“Sungie, you are the one person in this room that has a strict schedule today.”

“Don’t you start with me, Kim Seungmin-”

“Okay, okay!” Chan raised his hands. “I think that’s enough. So, Han will go to his lesson, Jinnie and Y/N will talk, Seungmin and Felix will come to the studio with me, and Bin and Iyen will go with Lino to the dance studio. Wait.” He paused and turned to you. “Is it okay to have Innie with the two members he’ll be aggressive towards?”

You considered it for a moment. “I think it should be fine. It might actually be better, hypothetically, since Innie won’t have to deal with either of them getting too close to Felix, so I think he’ll actually be less aggressive.”

“If my aegi-alpha gets too aggressive, I’ll just give him a good spanking.”

Chan turned to Minho and stared at him, narrowing his eyes while his knuckles turned white from his grip on his chair arms.

Instead of retracting his statement or apologizing for it, Minho simply basked in the attention, leaning back against Changbin and crossing his arms with a smirk on his face.

You glanced at Jeongin to see his reaction, but he was a bit preoccupied with Felix’s fingers running through his hair. Innie’s eyes were shut as he leaned his head back in between Felix’s knees.

You felt like you were intruding on a special moment, so you looked up and your gaze met Chan’s. He had a soft smile as he glanced from you to the two boys.

He blinked as if coming out of a trance and cleared his throat. “So, everyone know where they’re going?”

“Wait, hyung!” Jisung’s hand shot up in the air like he was a student eager to be called on. “I know you told us that we can be comfortable around Y/N-noona, but exactly how comfortable is that? Like, is it the same level as we are with our managers, or our makeup noonas or what?”

Chan smiled at him and swiveled his chair to face him more directly. “Since Y/N’s job actually involves a little more… familiarity with our group, especially when it comes to our emotional and physical health, I figured that we could be a little more open with her. She knows about our relationship and everything. The company did ridiculously thorough background checks and she’s signed several NDAs, so we can be as honest with her as we want.”

Han scooted forwards until he was barely on the couch and gestured with his hand for Chan to come closer. When Chan rolled his chair over, Jisung leaned to whisper in his ear. Whatever he said caused Chan to giggle. “Yes, we can kiss in front of her.”

“Oh.” Jisung blinked twice. “Well, in that case…” He grabbed Chan’s collar, pulled him close, and planted an obnoxious, cartoon-level, lip-smacking kiss right on the alpha’s lips.

Chan sputtered and his ears burned as he pulled away. “I meant- why did- you didn’t have to kiss me now!”

“Nope.” Jisung wiped his mouth with the back of his hand theatrically. “But I enjoyed it.”

…

Once everyone had reapplied their scent blockers and straightened themselves up, you followed Hyunjin out of the recording room.

Instead of going to the small meeting room like you did with Chan and Felix, Hyunjin led you in the opposite direction you had come from.

He fidgeted with his hands as he walked you rode down the elevator. First, they fiddled with his jacket buttons, then his rings, then tapped against his thighs.

It was obvious he was nervous, but you didn’t want to make him even more so by pointing it out.

The two of you made your way into a room and you realized that it was the same small dance studio you had met Hyunjin in.

He stopped in the middle of the room and frowned at the wooden crates you had all sat on last time. “I guess we could move them so we sit across from each other, that seems the most professional,” he murmured while rubbing his bottom lip with his thumb.

Your mind blanked for a second before you refocused. “Well, this doesn’t have to be super professional. No one is grading you,” you joked. “Here, we can even chill on the floor if you want.” You brought some cushions from a stack in the corner of the room and brought them to the middle of the crates.

Hyunjin smiled at you and adjusted one of the cushions before sitting down on it.

You placed your own cushion on the ground across from him and pulled one of the crates over so you could use it as a back rest.

You sank down and Hyunjin smiled at you politely. “Where should we start, noona?”

You pulled your bag over and pulled out the file on him and his bandmates. Handing it over, you told him, “What Felix and I started with was going over the information the company gave me so that you know what I know and you can tell me if there’s anything wrong or anything big that the company doesn’t know or didn’t share with me. I don’t want to be overly nosy or creepy or anything, but as a caretaker, it’s important that I know things that relate to both your physical and mental health. Also, client confidentiality applies in my job, so I couldn’t tell your company anything even if I wanted to, unless it involves you hurting yourself or others.”

Hyunjin blinked at you wide-eyed, the file bending slightly in his tight grip. Then, his eyes narrowed and his lips pouted slightly.

You felt your own fists clenching around the straps of your bag at the sight, but you collected yourself when he started to speak.

“I thought you were hired by the company. Doesn’t that make them your client?”

Your smile widened at him. “What a smart question!” At this, you could see the corners of his mouth flicker up. “The company is my employer, but they hired me to be a caretaker for you, not for the company. If I had to be a caretaker for everyone in this entire company, I would scream.” You raised your eyebrows playfully. “Could you imagine if I went up to JYP and asked him to tell me about his sex life?” You shuddered theatrically.

Hyunjin let out a startled exhale which quickly morphed into full-on cackling. He threw his head back and clapped, leaning backwards and almost falling over which only caused him to laugh harder. You giggled along with him, relieved that the slight tension was dissolving.

Once you two managed to mostly calm down, he looked at you with his hand hovering in front of his mouth. “Oh my god. “‘“Oh my god”’”. Eugh!” He scrunched up his face and stuck his tongue out in disgust, which just set off another round of laughter for both of you.

You took some deep breaths and noticed Hyunjin doing the same. You both smiled at each other and he ducked his head as he went to pick up the file he had dropped when he started clapping.

He flipped through it and got to the page with his information. As his eyes scanned the page, his smile slowly faded.

“Not particularly possessive of my nests? The only reason I’m not possessive is because they’re my pack! My m- my band! They’re always welcome in my nests! I may not be as protective as Felix but it’s not like I would let just anyone in!”

Noticing his distress, but most notably, the lack of a distressed scent, you realized that you both still had your scent blockers on. You took yours off and allowed your calming scent to sweep the room. It wouldn’t be as potent to Hyunjin while he had his own scent blockers on, but you hoped he could sense it nonetheless.

You didn’t want to touch him without his consent, so you gently pushed the file down, away from where it covered his face, gaining his attention and making it easier for him to see you.

You smiled at him. “Hey, Hyunjin. You want to take a deep breath for me?”

He blinked at you twice before nodding and inhaling. He held it for a second before his cheeks puffed out as he exhaled.

“Good job! Now, I know that you’re probably upset since the company is making these assumptions about you based on limited information. I would be, too. But, since you aren’t exactly inviting your managers into your nests, does it really matter what they think about you?”

His eyebrows furrowed as he considered it. After a minute, he shook his head.

“No, it doesn’t matter. And the ones whose opinions you do care about know that you keep the nest open to them because you trust them and love them. I promise you, they don’t think any lesser of you because of the way you keep your nests.”

Hyunjin’s tense eyes softened around the edges. “I guess… that makes sense.”

Your voice took on a more teasing tone. “Do you not believe me? I could call Chan right now, and I’m certain that he would march on down from his studio just to tell you how wonderful your nests are. And I’m certain that your other packmates would be right behind him.”

Hyunjin smiled shyly as he traced a shape on the ground that vaguely resembled a heart. “Yeah, they would.”

You tapped on the file still in his other hand. “Now that that’s settled, is there anything else you want to tell me?”

Hyunjin put the file down on the floor and rested his hands on top of it, like he was trying to press it into the ground. He turned his head to look at the wall of mirrors next to you and you could see him swallow. His eyes flickered back to meet yours and you could see the pure vulnerability in them. “Since you’ve been so upfront and honest with all of us, I figure I should return the favor. I… In Korea, male omegas- or, just, omegas in general, I guess, are sort of taught to hide their heats? Or, not hide them exactly, but it’s not something you really talk about? Not even with other omegas. We’re pretty much taught that heats are signs of weakness or that they’re gross to talk about, so you sort of pretend that they don’t exist, even when we would get a week off of school or work.”

He paused to look down at his hands and you waited while he took a second.

“When Felix first came over, obviously there were a lot of cultural differences between Australia and Korea. He would casually mention how he was nervous about spending his heats here. Channie-hyung and Minho-hyung helped him the most, not just because they’re the oldest, but because Chan could sympathize with the change in culture and Minho… had a lot of omegan friends back in Gimpo when he was growing up. Even when Felix got used to spending his heats here, he still never really stopped talking about them. Of course he didn’t say anything when we went out in public or anything like that, but he never tried to hide it around us.” Hyunjin’s mouth curled up at the corners. “There was this one time when we were in the dressing room and he was complaining about his pre-heat cramps loud enough for all of the staff to hear. Changbinnie-hyung’s face was so red,” he snickered.

Suddenly, his face sobered up. “I really wish I had been there for him more. As the other omega in our pack, it should have been me, but at that moment, I just felt… all I felt was shame. Shame for him, for letting other people know that he had heats, shame for me, for being the other omega and being afraid that people would think that I would talk about my heat in the same way, shame for the poor staff members who had to listen to that,” Hyunjin took a deep breath. “But then, one of the coordi-noonas came up and recommended a good painkiller brand, and one of our managers told Felix that they could buy some ice cream on the way home, and I… I was so amazed. Talking about anything related to heats was supposed to be this horrible, embarrassing thing, but instead, Felix just got sympathy and support.”

Hyunjin looked back up at you and stared deep into your eyes. “I know that I don’t like to talk about my heats, even after seeing that and being with Felix all this time, but I know that you’re here to help me and my pack, so I’m going to do my best to not be ashamed anymore.”

You took Hyunjin’s hands in yours. “Thank you so much for telling me. I really-”

You were suddenly interrupted by his stomach doing its best impression of a whale song. His eyes widened before he hid his face in his hands. “Talk about embarrassing and shameful. I guess we forgot to eat lunch.”

You cackled and stroked his shoulder in what you hoped was a soothing way. “Well,” you giggled, “should we get some now? I’m pretty hungry, too, now that you mention it.”

Hyunjin’s hands slid from his face as he looked back up at you. “Hmm. I’m kind of craving something sweet.” He turned until he was lying on the floor with his face turned towards the ceiling.

As you scooted over to lay down beside him, he sat up and stared at you with his eyes lit up. “I have a genius idea! Have you tried any good Korean snacks since you moved here, noona?”

You thought back to everything that happened since you got off the plane. “Uh… not really? There were some chips or something in the hotel room but I didn’t want to spend the company money on ridiculous stuff like that.”

Hyunjin waved his hand dismissively. “Even if you did eat them, it wouldn’t really count. Expensive places always overcharge for mediocre things.” He set his hand back on the floor and turned back to you. “Do you know what this means?”

“That I need to order more of my own snacks from home before I run out?”

“No!” Hyunjin rolled his eyes, but you could see a hint of mirth in them. “Well, yes, noona, you should definitely do that. And order some for us to try. But we should raid the vending machine and have a taste testing! I even stole Binnie-hyung’s credit card this morning, so we can use that!”

You giggled at his enthusiasm for both having a taste testing and using his member’s money to pay for it. “I’m up for it if you are, but if Changbin finds out, I’m pinning everything on you. He’ll probably go easy on you, anyway.”

Hyunjin shrugged, his expression somewhere between fond and smug. “Yeah, he’ll definitely go easy on me. Especially when I tell him our pretty noona coerced me into it. He’ll understand. How am I supposed to say no to that? Anyway, we could also get some snacks to drop off at the dance studio after we’re done with our taste test, I’m sure that Changbin-hyung and Innie would be glad for a snack break.”

“I- okay.” You stuttered, trying not to fixate on the phrase “our pretty noona”. “Let’s do a taste testing. Lead the way to the vending machines.”

After reapplying your scent blocker, you both made your way down two flights of stairs and down a long hallway before you came to the vending machine. Hyunjin explained that there was one closer to the room you were in, but that this one had better snacks.

You stopped in front of the vending machine, a little surprised at how high tech it looked. You were more used to ones with sticky buttons that refused to take your dollars more often than not and that you would occasionally have to shake to free your snack. This one had a whole mini snack elevator.

“Let’s see, Innie likes these cheesy crackers, Changbin-hyung will cry if he finds out we used his credit card and didn’t get him anything, so let’s get him the barbecue chips, and this is Lino-hyung’s favorite pudding…”

You couldn’t help the smile on your face as you watched Hyunjin mutter to himself about his bandmates’ snack preferences. “You’re so considerate of your packmates,” you told him.

He blinked at you in surprise, like he had forgotten you were standing there with him. “Ah, well, it’s really more of a survival tactic. I have had one too many pudding lectures from hyung, so if I show up with the wrong one, who knows what he’ll do to me?”

Back in the studio, you spread your bounty around the two of you, like you were preparing for hibernation. The three snacks for the boys in the other dance studio were carefully set off to the side, so that neither of you would mistakenly eat them.

“So,” you started, “I know the nest thing sort of threw you off, but is there anything else you think I should know before your heat? It can be anything, things you like to avoid, your favorite things to nest with, things you like to eat,” you asked, shaking the bag of chips you were currently eating from. They were a bit different than what you were used to, but still pretty good.

Hyunjin hummed around a ring-shaped gummy. “Well, I like to do laundry before my heats and then get my members to scent my stuff. I just feel a bit icky when I’m not sure when the last time I washed something was. Felix likes to bake during his preheat, which is sort of perfect because I eat more than usual during my preheat, so I can just eat whatever he made and put in the fridge. But I don’t like eating during my actual heat. As for the stuff in my nest… I have this scarf that Seungminnie bought for me once when we visited Paris. And Lino-hyung gave me a scrunchie that he drew a bunch of Jureumis on that I like to wear on my wrist. Also, Jisungie got me a dumpling plushie that also has a hot water bag inside. I have some other things from the members, too, but those are the first things that come to mind. Most of the other stuff is pillows and blankets. Felix likes fluffier blankets in his nest, but I like the smoother, silkier ones. And I love having my members in my nests with me. Also, I have at least three fans going on at the same time because I hate how hot I get. I do react a bit… dramatically when my members accidentally move something in my nest, which sort of confuses me a bit because that really only happens during my heats.”

You quickly brought out your notebook and pen and scribbled down all the information Hyunjin had given you. As you wrote semi-legibly, you did your best to talk to him at the same time.

“Well, that’s definitely a heat-brain thing. Do you only feel anger or annoyance at your pack when they move your nest around or is it something else, too?”

Hyunjin stopped chewing and set down the bag of candy. “I guess… it does hurt a bit. At first. And then I growl or nip them or something like that.” He shrugged dismissively.

“And that hurt, could it be that your anger is sort of a way to get around it or cover it up?”

He looked up to meet your gaze and squeezed the plastic package so it crinkled. “That… it could definitely be that, I suppose. I think… my brain is sort of telling me that my packmates are changing my nest because they don’t like the way I arranged it.”

You nodded and set down your notebook. “Well, I know that no matter what I say, during your heat, your omega is still likely going to react like that because you don’t have the same level of brain processing power as you do when you aren’t in heat, but maybe, hopefully, you’ll feel less guilty about it afterwards. Hyunjin, you know that your members love your nests. They don’t want to move it or change it, and from what they’ve told me, they always try to move carefully so that they don’t offend you. They also understand that you’re protective of your nests and that you react, as you put it, dramatically. They know that that can be a risk to stepping into your nest, but I am sure that it’s worth it to them. Even if they get nipped or growled at, they made the choice to enter your nest and they obviously think that it was worth it if they come back again and again.”

Hyunjin watched you with wide eyes before his face broke out into a soft smile. “Yeah, I suppose that makes sense. Plus, Lino-hyung bites the others enough that they should be able to deal with me if I bite them once or twice during my heat, even if I bite them a bit harder than he does.” Hyunjin rolled his eyes and leaned backwards until he was lying down. “I can’t believe I’m in a relationship with those losers.”

You smiled at him, glad that he could go from serious topics to more light-hearted ones. You grabbed another candy bag and a question formed in your brain.

“What exactly does the company know about your relationship?” You asked, tearing open the packet, this one with cartoon purple lizards advertising how “de-liz-cious” the gummies were.

Hyunjin hummed, popping a chocolate-covered cracker into his mouth. Once he chewed and swallowed it, he passed the bag to you.

“The company knows that we help each other through our heats and ruts, that’s why they had you sign a bunch of NDAs,” he told you, “but they don’t exactly know about the actual relationship between us. They know Hannie and Lino-hyung go out together, but they don’t know they’re actually going out together. They know Binnie-hyung flirts with me, but they don’t know that I flirt back when the cameras are off. They know that Chan-hyung and Felix sleep together a lot but they don’t know that they sleep together a lot.” He paused. “And I mean a lot. Honestly, most of the time, sleeping seems to be the last thing on their minds. Horny losers.” He shook his head fondly before refocusing. “The company tells us to play things up for the camera a bit for fan service, but what they don’t know is that we’re actually toning it down.” He finished with a smirk.

You grinned. “Wow. So they don’t know you’re in a relationship at all?”

“Nope. Just our families and some of our friends know. And now you, noona.” Hyunjin rolled over and stretched his arms out. “I guess we are pretty affectionate towards each other around our staff, but I think the whole 8-members thing actually throws them off. Poly packs aren’t as common as they used to be, so it probably hasn’t even occurred to them. They likely assume that some of us are together, just in couples, but they’ve never asked us outright, I think they’re fine with acting ignorant as long as we don’t let them or the public know anything.”

You had collected all of the empty snack bags and were about to throw them away while Hyunjin stretched his arms above his head. “So, is there anything else you want to tell me? I feel like we covered a lot, but just let me know if there’s something else.”

Hyunjin had moved on to stretching his back but paused to smile at you and shake his head. “No, I think we talked about everything we needed to, noona.”

“Okay.” You collected your notebook and bag before shoving the extra snacks in there as well. “Do you think now is a good time to interrupt the dance practice?”

Hyunjin stood up gracefully and sighed. “It’s always a good time to interrupt dance practice. I think Changbin-hyung and Innie will be eternally grateful to you.”

“Not you?” You questioned. “You picked out the snacks and it was your idea.”

He waved his hand dismissively as you made your way out of the dance studio and into the elevator. “They’ll be grateful for about five minutes until they conveniently forget it. Or they’ll ask me why I didn’t come and save them earlier.”

The elevator ride was silent, but much more comfortable than when the two of you had been in the same elevator earlier. You stepped out into the hallway, following Hyunjin until he came to a door on the right.

He peeked in through the window and smiled before gently opening the door.

The song and dance they were doing weren’t as intense as some of their other tracks and routines, it was a B-side they recorded earlier that day, and were still dancing to the guide version, but you could see that they were putting in the exact same amount of effort, no matter what the tempo or sound quality was. Their moves were soft, almost floaty, but they were still very deliberate and precise.

You saw Minho’s eyes glance at you and Hyunjin in the mirror from where he was at the front of the formation, but he gave no other acknowledgment of your presence.

I.N and Changbin also noticed you, but they were less smooth about it. Changbin faltered in his movements and Innie fell behind rhythm.

“Yah, finish up the song, brats. Then we can take a break.”

At Lee Know’s words, the other two seemed to come alive, dancing with more energy than before. The song wasn’t much longer, and their positioning for the ending pose almost made you laugh out loud. Of course, the dance was meant to be for eight members, and there were quite a few missing, so there was Minho and Innie posed together on one side of the studio and Changbin all alone on the other side. Evidently Hyunjin shared the same thoughts as you, but didn’t keep quiet about laughing, even as you two clapped politely.

“Oh, my Binnie-hyung, are you lonely over there?” Hyunjin teased.

Changbin unfroze from his pose to flop down on the wood floor, all splayed out and breathing heavily, but focused on Hyunjin. In a high-pitched voice, he called out, “Yah, Hyunjin, I’m always lonely when I’m away from you!” He wriggled on the floor in a way that you guessed was supposed to be cute, but his obvious lack of energy made it seem more like a fish flopping around on land.

Hyunjin giggled and walked over to Changbin, squatting and grabbing the alpha’s outstretched hand as he murmured something you couldn’t hear.

Innie had flopped down as well, almost mirroring Changbin as he took deep breaths. Minho had walked over to turn the music off, and then sat on the couch with a water bottle.

Seeing that he was mostly okay, you turned back to I.N. “Hey, little alpha. Do you want me to bring you your water bottle?”

Jeongin let out a loud groan that echoed around the studio. “Oh my gosh, noona, you are seriously my new favorite person. Yes, please. It’s the green one.”

You walked over to the wooden counter and retrieved the green water bottle. You spotted a blue and pink water bottle next to it and, deducing that it was Changbin’s, you handed it to Hyunjin to give it to Changbin before you headed back over to I.N.

You squatted next to him just as a loud groan pierced the air. “Y/N! You are welcome to stay with our group for the rest of our lives! I’m going to produce a song about you and sing it at every single concert and award show!”

You smirked at Changbin’s words as Innie thanked you for his water. “Just for brining you your water bottle? At least wait until you see what Hyunjin and I brought in my bag for you.”

Changbin sat up like he was possessed. “What do you have?”

You walked over to your bag and unzipped it, pulling out the barbecue chips Hyunjin had picked out. You tossed them over to Changbin, whose eyes widened as he caught them and read the label. “Yah, Y/N, how did you know I liked these?”

You shrugged as you made your way over to Minho, pudding in hand. “A certain omega packmate of yours might have told me. It was actually his idea, so make sure to thank him.”

Hyunjin had fully sat down next to Changbin, but now, Changbin tackled him onto his back and wriggled the two of them around like happy earthworms.

Minho smiled and thanked you as you handed him the pudding before peeling it open and lying down on the couch. You weren’t entirely sure how safe it was to eat the pudding like that, but he seemed confident in his abilities, like he had done this before, so you left him to it and walked over to Jeongin with the cheese crackers in hand.

Innie had been staring at the other two members, his expression one of disgust, but you could see the fondness sparkling in his eyes. “Gross,” he stated, as Changbin started kissing all over Hyunjin’s face.

“Hopefully, you’ll find this a little less gross,” you told him as you handed him the crackers.

His eyes lit up as he took the packet from you. “Thanks, noona.”

You zipped up your bag and threw it to the other side of the room. “You should be thanking Hyunjin, he picked them out for you.”

Jeongin frowned as he ripped open the snack package. “I don’t need to thank him. If anything, this is what I deserve as compensation for dealing with him.” His eyes wrinkled with his smile as he stuffed a cracker in his mouth. “Oh, thank you, noona! I’ve been extra hungry all day for some reason.”

You smiled and were about to respond when you were interrupted by Hyunjin flopping down next to you, wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his head on your shoulder. “Yes, thank you, noona. I’m really glad that you’re our caretaker. We haven’t known you for long, but I can tell that we’re going to love you.”

…

Sorry for any mistakes, I edited this and posted it in my college’s parking lot😭

Taglist:

(Bold means I can’t tag you, sorry for the inconvenience!)

@eastleighsblog

@detectivedoodle

@niaalove

@scarletrosesposts

@royal-shinigami

@peachbokkie

@yuhjoeyuh

@im-sinking-in-mud

@lex-black

@amara-mars

@usercaiskz

@plutoneu

@queenmea604

@emithecharmer

@wrrmnrr

@anxious-fruity-basket

@thatgirlangelb

@haikyuuisposts

@midnightvictorysworld

@sirenthalia

@kaheizz

@jinniespuppy

@im-a-slut-for-this-man2

@freakinthesheets-excelexcel

@julciaqwerty

@linoboop

@hamburgers101

@stay-berry

@hannieshoney

@foliea

@trouble-in-space

@seungminsdreamwife

@jannesti

@katrodriguez99

@only4sunoo

@channiesstars

@vegas-pete69

@jeonginniie

@hydrawaterdragon

@naladdaeng

@popimagines

@impoeticbeauty

@satsuri3su

@yukichan67

@comicnerd557

@obeythemasters

@dreamingsmile

@boi-bi-ahaha

@j-onepostzz

@hehe-24-hehe

@bl00dysunsh1ne

@merryxoc

@seokjin-epiphanyy

@hxnnielk

@hyuneyeon

@queen-in-the-shadows

@hufflepuffanddurinsdaughter

@lostgirlinthewoodss

@zacsani-blog

@3rachasninja

@luminouskalopsia

@sunghoonieee

@urmomsgayforme5

@bonza-bear

@stayconnecteed

@enchantedgrunge

@jen176pink

@finestflora

[mirror-and-mind]

I picked up a delightful Hinezumi spoiler on Twitter (my own fault), but it's left me wondering...

(Spoiler hidden under the read more.)

... What's it going to be like at the end of Hebigami when the Medicine Seller has to leave and never come back? Because he keeps showing up among the same group of humans, and it seems that at the end of Hinezumi, he and Sakashita end up playing Shogi together. He's now spending free time with these humans and has formed at least one actual friendship.

Is this a done thing for a Medicine Seller? Is it a good idea? Because they can't stay in the human world in their present form for long, right? It seems like it would be wise to maintain detachment from humans, as standard procedure. Dispatch the mononoke and leave. Don't start developing ties to humans. Their world isn't your world.

Maybe it's different for Kon Kusu though. He seems to have a stronger affinity for the physical world than Ri Kusu does. Can Medicine Sellers choose to be in the human world if they want? Or, once their work is done, are they fated to vanish into the ether until needed again? Will Kon Kusu at least leave a note for those humans who, by the end of Hebigami, will have gotten used to seeing him around?