#not to mention 'sale' blogs im questioning you

[kstarlitchaotics]

I'm sorry but I really mean it if you don't have a simple pnp profile bio or a header to show me that you aren't a bot if not once again I'm deleting you on sight even if you have the most profound name within an fandom that doesn't count

[artharakka]

Are you okay with people using, reposting or editing your art with proper credits? :3

(I'm sorry if this has been asked, I can't find anything mentioning this!)

Thank you for asking 🧡

Hmmm I think it depends a bit of the case? I think you here have good intentions, but since "using" is very broad term I'm going to answer kind of broadly here and not just yes/no in case someone else would refer to this ask at another context.

So, all of my works are copyrighted under Finnish/EEA copyright laws. The copyright is created and valid automatically from the moment of creation of the art piece (and it also includes sketches I've posted on Patreon, for example). My answers are based on those copyright laws and on my personal preferences within those.

(under cut as this got long)

USING: I'm ok with most personal use. That is, for example, printing out a single image for personal use or using a picture on your blog header or as personal playlist (spotify etc) cover art AS LONG as it is not a piece commissioned by someone else.

If you own a print you have ordered from me, you have also right to display it publicly (i.e. posting a photo of it). Owning a print doesn't however mean that you get right to print more copies for sale.

I'm not ok with my art used in buyable products or copies of my art sold by others than those I've individually authorized. I have copyright even to commissioned pieces, so even those cannot be used in products without my consent. If you'd like to use my art on products/covers or otherwise do some kind of collaboration, send me an email at artharakka(at)gmail.com and we can discuss prices and royalties.

REPOSTING (public display): Usually I'd say I prefer people reblogging (through the little arrows at the bottom of the post) rather than reposting it (meaning making your own original post with it). If you'd like to post it on other social media sites besides tumblr, I do have Instagram (also @ artharakka) where I post my art and I'd prefer if no new art of mine ends up on twitter/x/whatever.

However, if you'd like to do a collab of my art or with my art, to do reference/shoutout post or a moodboard for your characters etc., I'm ok with reposting as long as I'm mentioned as the artist. Though here you are also bound by the laws' moral obligations which means no putting my art "in context that could be offensive to the artist" (very broad and case by case point but I bet mocking me is not your intention)

I'm also ok with using my art in noncommercial contexts i.e. as figures in articles or school projects.

EDITING: I'm ok with most edits, again, as long as it isn't offensive to me. (And offensive meaning mostly not aiming to mock me or use in contexts that would show me in bad light, but also don't draw smut of my characters without asking). Im ok with, for example, removing a background from some piece, but in that case you have to remember that I still own the copyright. If the edit / modification of the idea is original enough, it might become it's own piece with own copyrights (again, I don't own themes or ideas and sometimes I also borrow compositions/themes from older art).

TLDR: I'm ok with most things not offensive and that you don't aim to earn money with. Credit is welcome and I prefer as direct link as you can provide. Commissioned pieces are off limits without the commissioner's consent.

For individual case questions you can send me message, email or another ask!

[mindalpaeng-i]

not to sound like the biggest bitch on earth but i really do have to type this all out bc what else is this blog for but like twitter rmies specifically are so unfun to interact with. like obviously there are cool fun fans who don’t take things too seriously and are into the band in like a normal way where they can take a joke or like gently bully the members when occasion arises but the atmosphere on twitter that extends elsewhere just sucks all the oxygen and joy out of the room. i haven’t been a fan long but i can tell that it didn’t used to be like that, like you look at old blogs/tweets and it’s like. fun normal fandom stuff. jokes and memes and honest discussion. legitimate talk about the music. and obviously those fans still exist cause you see their content around but idk whether the fandom is just too big so that a certain subsection is big enough to dominate the conversation (especially given twitters algorithm) or whether the sensible people are staying quiet/have lost interest in engaging because it’s been so long since a ‘real’ release. anyway either way it’s exhausting because i just want to find normal people to talk to 😭 i guess mostly i feel sad bc it’s just not a healthy way to interact with an artist at all i wish these kids (and adults) could learn to think critically

oh that’s another thing that drives me insane i guess i’ve gotten so used to having a curated internet experience of people with (reasonably) good politics that it’s shocking to me to come across a group of people who are so terminally online and yet who swallow capitalist propaganda like water like i am shocked at the things that are taken for granted among fans. like the inability to distinguish between hybes business interests/the bands wishes, the lack of nuance (on both sides) of any political question the boys become involved in (see white house trip etc) even just a basic anti capitalist/im poor resistance to streaming/plays/sales it shocks me how well the fandoms been duped into serving the ends of businessmen.

and like i’m not naive when i first started listening i had to do the WORK to figure out how things really were like the reddit deep dives and wayback machine articles i had to access to get normal unbiased information… i do have a theory as to why this all is (hint: autism) but i wish i could like. find normal people to interact with. but i guess they’re all doing what i’m doing: vagueposting on anonymous side blogs without mentioning keywords so insane stans don’t doxx them and their normie mutuals don’t think they’ve lost all their brains for liking a kpop band 😭

[the-bjd-community-confess]

More Divaz confos

Mod: Round two of these, previously: link. There’s some interesting customer reviews in this batch (5 and 8) which may be useful to readers.

1.Vic3mage "the secret bjdivaz vip group is just pictures of boxes coming in and going out". Yeah, between the bitching about d0llshe, asking people to post on doa for them, dunking on ex-customers, posting pics of random doll parts that they can't identify which doll they're supposed to go with, whining about how little money they make, whining when ppl e-mail them, whining. Yeah, other than that it's just boxes, and alpacas u can buy off amazon anyway lol.

~Anonymous

2.The butthurt users crying and guilttripping under every Divaz confession who have never been seen before elsewhere on this blog are extremely unsuspicious and unproblematic and definitely unconnected to Divaz and unbiased in every possible way

/s

~Anonymous

3.idk shit abt bjd1vas but v1cemage i can absolutely tell you the shit about ch0o is 100% accurate, fucker's got a long, long history of being an awful little man that stretches well beyond his involvement in the doll community. between the two i'd still trust bjd1vas over ch00 ch00 the fool any day!

~Anonymous

4.The Z3st and Div4s thing is really silly and both entities were being shady but did they really have to take the DZ waiting room down with them? :( He had even made a separate thread about it......

~Anonymous 

5. RE: BJD Divaz

I’ve been a customer of BJD Divaz since they first started, when it was only run by Chart3rline. I even contacted other BJD companies trying to persuade them to work with Divaz as their US representative. Most declined because they didnt like D's commission fee, but I was able to persuade a few of them.

I asked them to purchase a doll off DOA because I couldnt afford the asking price, and while they did, I found out later that instead of agreeing to purchase the seller's price, they negotiated the price to be lower. This significantly cheaper price was not passed down to me. I paid the full price +the commission fee based on that full price. I am disappointed I was not told this. This is when I stopped viewing them as a "friend" and instead, as a business. I dont hold this against them, it’s context to what Im going to say later.

I’ve stopped purchasing from D after my recent order from them. This company usually takes 3 or less months to make a doll. I’ve ordered the doll from D and it took 11 months. They let me know it arrived to them in March and that it will be shipped soon, except it only shipped on July, and only after I sent them several "reminder" emails. Before people in the comments try to put the blame on me for not sending a reminder soon, please keep in mind that I acknowledged the email in March and confirmed everything and they keep stressing to not send them emails because they are busy, I’ve emailed once every month since. I’ve since switched to ACBJD and Ive been happy with communication and the dolls ordered. I imagine ACBJD gets the same amount of emails, but they dont berate their customers if they email more than once.

I regret when people wanted a D0llshe, but not deal with him, I always recommended D. I would warn people of ordering directly and instead go through D. They assured buyers they would be handling communication and all the efforts so they wouldnt worry, except they didn’t. A person that I’ve recommended D to, who surpassed 2 years, keeps messaging me for help because D wouldnt reply to their emails. She is respectful, sweet and a timid person, not a Karen. This person, emailed D without a reply so would email a week later, only to be told that their email would be pushed down to the bottom if emailed again. No response, so she goes to FB and IG, who both tell her to email because they arent the person running orders. Finally got a response that they would get their refund, after D0llshe sends D's payment, but minus the PP fees. 3 months later and theres no refund, only a promise of them getting it later. Why is the customer missing out on fees when they have no doll? Customer emails d0llshe and he says he cant offer refund, because they didn’t order through them, which is understandable, but when all options are out for a customer, do you blame them for chargebacks?

If anyone files a chargeback, D will be blacklisting them from every company they rep, as in blacklisting you from buying direct from those companies. I urge everyone who has negative experiences with D to email the companies they rep instead of venting on confession blogs, and writing your experiences on social media. Make it count and send letters to the companies they represent, and please provide proof because they will try to make you out to be a liar.

Speaking of, they made vague posts on cl0ver singing for charging paypal fees, and that they offer guarantees as an official dealer, except when offering refunds, to non delivered products I might add, they are keeping the fees, and offered no help with d0llshe, even before they ended their dealership with them. Someone on DOA was told to not email them unless the wait time surpassed 1.5 years. They are even so petty that they post screenshots with the full name and address (dox) of the customer on purpose and then delete it out a day later as if they just realized their "mistake".

Before you try to make excuses for them about the fires, keep in mind, I am dealing with a business. The lower price negotiation with the DOA sale, I am in no way obligated to give them a pass or treat them as a friend when they made it clear that our relationship is strictly business. Their issues, are not my issues. D0lk got dragged for not shipping in time, others, including artisans, got dragged for being so late with communication and sending back refunds for cancelled orders. Why does D get to be exempt?

The supporters are the worst part of this, because of instead of being honest so D can improve, they support them for being "real". For example, look how micemage words it, to make it seem like this criticism is from one person, when there are people on addicts who didn’t have good experience. Check the bjd dealers tag here, you will see the supporters in the comments going off on any and all criticism of D. Some have sane comments, but the majority are cult like and try to identify the person venting as if it’s one person. Addicts deletes threads with criticism asking people to instead direct it to their feedback group; which lets be honest, no one is going to do because its "not that bad", and most dont want to join a new group, which is mostly dead.

This is my first and last confession on D, I’ve emailed each company they rep and told them my experience as well as contacting the 3 month wait company, with screenshots of my order, how they handled it, and the excuse they used to put blame on the company for being so late (package arrived march to D, 4 months to be shipped is on D, not the company). I’m not using company or order details because I know they are petty enough to try to identify me and publicly shame me like they have to others. This and the threat of suing is why not many people like to go public with their experience. They just keep feedback neutral, move on and never deal with again.

~Anonymous

6. Listen, I can't take you seriously in regards to BJD!vas because you're posting on a confession blog. If you were serious, you would have posted in buyer beware groups, DoA reviews or the board to get things resolved, or you would have made a complaint to the BBB. And your language makes you come off more as someone with an agenda rather than someone who is trying to warn people. If shipping is the issue, stop buying with standard shipping and pay the extra price for express shipping. I saw one of you complain that it sat with them for 20 days; that's probably because you're not the only one and they more than likely have a queue to check and then ship out. Do mistakes happen? Yes, because we're human. I've been in this hobby for a few years now and it seems like most people know you're going to have to wait, sometimes even outside the expected wait time. And shipping something as big as a doll is a timely endeavor. I shouldn't have to say that.

My point is simply to stop complaining on an confession board and either take it to the places previously mentioned. Posting here behind the anonymous mask makes you sound like a petulant child who didn't get their way right away.

~Anonymous

7.My only issue with BJD Divaz is how I never get any updates. Every email, they tell me to join their facebook page for status updates. I dont have a FB and I dont want to create one. I bought my doll through their website, updates should be posted on their website, or they could send me an email. That isnt asking much.

~Anonymous

8. Since there seems to be a lot of either "completely negative everything sucks" or "everything was sunshine and rainbows" confessions about bjd!vaz I thought I'd chime in with a neutral review.

PROS

-They were always polite and professional in their emails, and gave me very detailed answers to my questions.

-I got exactly what I ordered, so no mix ups or missing parts or anything like that.

-I think them being forthcoming about personal issues (only one person on staff, illness, the flooding isue etc.) on social media is good, since it keeps customers updated as to why there might be delays.

-If you live in the US their shipping is very reasonable.

CONS

-Reply times were varied. Sometimes it could take over a week, sometimes a couple hours.

-My order took about 10mo which, when comparing to other people who ordered through the same company around the same time, was about 3x as long as if I bought it direct and 2x as long if I had gone through a different dealer. I get some of the waiting time is out of their control, but it was kind of ridiculous.

-They dont necessarily ship the same day they send you a tracking number. I wish they said something like, "Here's your tracking number, our pickup is Xday so it should start moving after that" just so I could be aware.

All in all no major complaints. I got my doll and all that. Their lone employee is clearly overwhelmed. I hope they hire another person, if only to give the one a break.

Truthfully, I most likely won't buy through them again. I'd rather pay the international shipping and go direct, than deal with the extensive wait time. I'd still recommend them to someone looking for a very long layaway, though. I paid in full, but if I had a 12mo layaway I would've never known they weren't ready to ship my doll until month 10.

~Anonymous

[wonderlustlucas]

four - hwang hyunjin

⇢ prompt They say good things come in fours. Who? Couldn’t tell you, but they especially do during Christmas. Maybe that’s just Saint Nick. ⇢ pairing hyunjin x female reader ⇢ word count 11.7k ⇢ genre fluff ⇢ warnings swearing. mentions of alcohol & s e x. teenagerz being teenagerz. insane amount of fluff & stupidity. kind of ends w a smutty cliffhanger. ⇢ summary After suppressing how you felt about Hyunjin back in high school, you thought you were done going back on your feelings. Turns out, a little time apart, the spirit of Christmas, and an accidental nap is the perfect cocktail for falling in love with your best friend.—friends to lovers!au ⇢ a/n hello & merry christmas! here is a gift for you all on this very merry day. also, thank you for 1,000 followers! that in itself is one of the best presents i could ask for. thank you for all your kindness & support on my blog & for following me in the first place! it truly means so much to me. i hope you enjoy reading! ♥︎

big tiddy jinny🍯🧸🌟🖇[now] Sorry! I just woke up

big tiddy jinny🍯🧸🌟🖇[now] Whats wrong fool

big tiddy jinny🍯🧸🌟🖇[now] Did u rlly think 12 texts were gonna wake me up?🤦🏻‍♂️ godt damn u on some WACK shit

You roll your eyes in time with each consecutive text that Hyunjin sends, waiting for the lock screen of your phone to blacken after reading them. He’s about as useless as pedals on a wheelchair, you think, ignoring the texts and forcing the device into the snug back pocket of your jeans before transferring the last two excessively packed grocery bags into the trunk of your car with an exhausted huff. Christ, if the bagging lady put one more item in those bags, she would be the one to blame for six cans of soup rolling about the parking lot.

The license plate rattles when you slam the trunk lid closed before hurrying around to the driver’s side and anxiously hopping inside to start blasting the heat. It is obnoxiously chilly for the first of September. Well, not really. Your body is just beginning to get used to the ungodly wrath of summer’s sweltering heat leaving you in a constant state of sweat and nausea for the past three months. Not that you’re complaining, of course. You nearly did somersaults of joy when the morning news reported a temperature of sixty-one degrees with some wind gusts and welcomed the beginning signs of autumn with open arms.

You would never admit to Mom who told yo uon the way out to change out of a tank top or at least wear a jacket, but yes— you are, in fact, cold. But now you have godsent warmth blowing from the vents and the seat warmer on its highest setting beginning to thaw away the goosebumps painted on your skin. Giving your arms one last rub, you lean up enough to retrieve your phone and open the conversation with Hyunjin.

[2:37 PM] YN: please. smell my balls

[2:37 PM] YN: nothings wrong btw. i was GOING to ask if u wanted any specific snacks for tn buttttt someone didn’t answer

[2:37 PM] YN: and excuse u i called too. i may be an idiot but im not stupid

[2:38 PM] YN: ik u would never hear a text when ur having wet dreams of yeji

You stop there with a smug smirk when the three dots on his side appear, knowing you’ve hit his funny bone with this one.

[2:38 PM] big tiddy jinny🍯🧸🌟🖇: Bruh

[2:38 PM] big tiddy jinny🍯🧸🌟🖇 :I’ve literally never have had a wet dream ab Yeji pls stop

You cannot fight your shit-eating grin, thumbs circling over the keyboard in thought as he apparently deletes whatever other text he was going to send when the three dots disappear.

[2:38 PM] YN: mmhmmmm

[2:38 PM] YN: because last time you slept over you weren’t whimpering her name in ur sleep

[2:38 PM] YN: sureeeee

You decide to end your teasing there and continue once you’re home. It is starting to get late, after all, and Mom will begin to worry that the creepy employee always in aisle sixteen has abducted you. Plus, you’re cruel and like to watch Hyunjin suffer. Switching the ringer off, you throw your phone into the cupholder and drastically lower the heat and turn off the seat warmer. It’s starting to feel like a sauna in here, and not in a fun way. Can’t understand how anyone enjoys hanging out in a sauna to begin with anyway, but to each their own, you guess.

In the five-minute drive it takes until you are pulling into the driveway, Hyunjin calls three times. He is incredibly peeved at your lack of a response to his distressed texts and still wound up from your text about Yeji. As if! You’re already a clown not realizing his ever-growing affections for you, but to think he had a crush on Yeji? You’re the whole damn circus!

By the time he calls a fifth time, now sat up on his elbow in bed and strumming an annoyed beat of his fingers at his thigh because he really just wants to yell at you for being the most annoying person alive (and maybe to hear your voice, too), you have brought in the last of the bags and look to Mom who has started to put the groceries away and expects you to half-heartedly do the same.

“It’s Hyunjin. He’s having an existential crisis because I haven’t answered his texts,” you explain to her, unenthusiastically holding your phone as it vibrates against your palm. Half of you wants her to ask to finish putting everything away first just so you can torture him even longer. Alas, such extravagant wishes are denied, because when it comes to Hyunjin, your parents would undoubtedly throw you under the bus just to keep that boy happy. And so, just like any other time, Mom’s undying love for Hyunjin has her dismissing you from the kitchen with a hearty laugh.

“Jesus Christ! What?” You hiss, halfway up the stairs when you tap to answer his call on the last ring.

“Wow! Look who finally decided to answer!” Hyunjin shouts back, the swoosh of his sheets once he finally falls back against his pillow again rustling all too loudly through the phone. “I was driving,” you spit, marching into your bedroom and collapsing against your bed, the same rustle of your blankets sounding loudly into his ear. “There’s a thing called the speaker, ___. Ever heard of it?” He retorts, evidently shutting you up and he knows he won this round if your silence is anything to go by.

“Whatever,” you groan, using all your toe strength to kick the sneakers off your feet by their soles, “what was so important that you couldn’t wait and had to call me five billion times?”

“I had a question. And you hurt my feelings.” Well, shit. You can practically hear and see his pout through the phone and your heart positively swells in your chest at how undeniably, unjustifiably cute he is. You sigh.

“I’m sorry for making fun of you about Yeji. I’m going to do it again but next time I promise I won’t pull the wet dream card,” you apologize frankly; because, in all honesty, it would be worse to say you are not going to do it again when you most certainly will. Bullying Hyunjin is fun, what can you say?

Hyunjin heaves an exasperated breath from his lungs because he knows there is no point in arguing with quite possibly the most sarcastic human he knows and that’s the best form of an apology he’s going to get. Whatever. He’ll make sure to wipe his morning snot and droll on your shirt in the morning. “Anyway,” he grumbles, in the background you hear Kkami bark from a few rooms over, “I was going to ask if you wanted to come over my place instead? I know your parents probably want to see me and stuff but mine are out of town for the night so we can sleep in my bed until like three without Mom waking us up to force feed breakfast.” You roll your eyes. Of course your parents want to see him.

“Plus, Mom just put that grey comforter I know you really like on my bed so we can cuddle all night and watch stuff on YouTube,” he quickly adds as a convincing afterthought. He’s really got his sales pitch going on this one. Truth is, you have only slept in his bed with that stupidly soft blanket twice last winter break, but it’s still sweet that he remembers how much you loved it (aka how quickly you fell asleep and how grumpy you were being woken up because it’s just that darn cozy). Either way, you would never pass up an opportunity to snuggle up with Hyunjin in the comfort of his own bed with his citrusy, floral scent on the pillows luring you to sleep.

“My Mom is going to be heartbroken, Hyunjin,” you tease, “but who cares. You had me sold at sleeping until three. Do you still want me to bring the snacks I got?”

“Oh, thank God. I love your Mom’s cooking but I haven’t left bed all day and I really want to keep it that way. And yes, please. I’ve been eating dry cereal for the past two hours.”

“Hyunjin, have you brushed your teeth yet?”

“No. Didn’t you just hear me? I said I’ve been in bed all day. Eating cereal. When would I have brushed my teeth?”

“You’ve officially taken breakfast in bed to a whole new level, Jin. I’ll see you in a few hours. Oh, and please, you have no concept of personal space so make sure you brush your teeth before I come over.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Love ya, bye,” Hyunjin promptly hangs up, probably eager to get back to binging whatever drama he’s watching before you lecture him about his hygiene again. Not that it matters, anyway; chances are, it went in one ear and right out the other and you’re going to drag him out of bed later to brush his teeth.

Damn. You didn’t even get the chance to say love you back. Not that it matters.

It doesn’t, you quickly shut down the pesky thought that keeps you up at night and force it back into the storage part of your brain labeled ‘Deal with Later,’ because, really, you’ll have to think about that later. It’s not that you don’t want to think about it yet… you just don’t have the time to stop and really figure out what your feelings toward Hyunjin actually are. Yeah. That’s it.

And now isn’t the time, you tell yourself, scooting up the mattress in order to bury your face in the pillows to suffocate the pounding throb in your head. Hyunjin is nothing special.

Well, no. That’s a lie. Everything about Hyunjin is special. Anyone with eyes, ears, even a nose can sense that. You had quickly found out just how wonderful he is when you met him freshman year of high school. At the time, he was everyone’s sweetheart by the first day, but it just so happened his eyes were all on you.

He was obviously adorable, and every class you had together he always made a point to talk to you and returned your sarcasm with an impressive level of expertise. So, when it came to him asking you to the first homecoming, the answer was yes without a second thought. But during the last slow dance of the night, with his hands gently holding your waist, he at last listened to his conscience and revealed that as much as he liked you, he truly did not want to date in high school. Or right then, at least. And honestly, you were glad; Hyunjin was quite possibly your favorite person you had met thus far, and you would have rather kept him as a friend than commit to a relationship the second month of school and risk losing him later down the road.

And boy, keep him as a friend you did. As it turned out, Hyunjin grew to be your truest, best friend in high school. Sure, you each had your own friend groups, but the two of you were the iconic pair everybody knew. But strictly platonic, despite the rumors and wishes that went around for the next four years. You like to think that neither of you ever developed feelings past what everyone feels toward their best friend— an innocent, wholesome sort of love.

But when had things changed? Hormones, as always, were definitely a big part of it. Hyunjin was always a cutie, but it wasn’t until he grew into his own skin and developed a newfound confidence did you start to see him differently. Until everyone saw him differently. Neither of you missed the way people stared him down, pupils dilating every time he ran his fingers through the black tufts of his hair, hearts aching for some sort of interaction. Or when you started attending parties, groups of girls would fling themselves at him in a blundering disarray, most of which he would turn down with a gentle dismissal that flew over their heads, too drunk to actually care.

But then there were times his dick made the decision for him, desperation and deprivation weighing in on him and you’d watch with a tight jaw as he’d leave the room with the pretty girl of the night skipping after him. You never realized it was only on those nights did you wind up in the back seat of Han Jisung’s car.

But even after the physical attraction sizzled out over time, things were not the same. Hyunjin wasn’t your hidden little treasure anymore. All eyes were set on him and it took more than a glass of water to swallow your jealousy. But why? Why were you so resentful all of a sudden?

It’s hard to share Hwang Hyunjin, you decided. Once established that you were his main hoe and he was yours, it became a significant burden watching others try and get in between. Not that they did it with a malicious attempt to separate you, but it still hurt. You’re selfish, and you admit it— Hyunjin, quite frankly, is the love of your life. Romantic or not, nothing could change your feelings toward him. It goes beyond his unfathomable beauty and spunky personality. Everything about him from his nose to his hands, to his distaste for onions and the way his face scrunches up when he lets out that giggle of his and even to the way he prefers to sleep against the wall but will force you to when you’re over so he can “protect you in case there’s a monster” all mount into this big, giant section of your heart set aside for Hyunjin.

So despite your efforts to ignore the pang of jealousy each time he would find a potential someone or the joy whenever he’d find his way back because “they kept wanting to hang out in the morning even though I said I don’t wake up before noon,” this Hyunjin-shaped hole in your heart seems to only grow the longer you ignore it. Kind of like every medical condition out there: the longer you ignore it, the worse it gets. So, basically Hyunjin is your heart disease.

Yikes. Sounds a lot worse when you try putting it into words.

Well, he won’t be your heart defect for long if he keeps ruining those pearly whites of his by only brushing once just before bed, you chuckle to yourself, rolling to your side at the sudden lack of oxygen between your face and the pillow. There’s a fleeting moment without thought when you unconsciously reach for your phone to check for any notifications before the fattest revelation of them all falls from the ceiling and smacks you right upside the face.

Shit. Looks like you’ve gone right ahead and totally dissected each and every fiber of your feelings for Hyunjin.

Blinking up at the ceiling, the weight of your emotions isn’t as heavy as you expected them to be. Instead, it’s more of a breath of fresh air, as if you have finally accepted the way things fell instead of ignoring them. Your feelings for Hyunjin have always been there. It just took a little effort to get them out.

Nevertheless, it is going to be difficult hanging out with him in a few hours with your exposed emotions still needing to be processed. Especially when he will pull you to his side and keep you nestled there the entire night. Rubbing your temples, you realize it will take some serious self-control to put everything on the back burner and just enjoy the time spent with Hyunjin.

Sighing, you check the time on your phone again. 3:21 and a text from Hyunjin asking if you could bring green tea.

“Mom!” You yell, defeated. “You were right!”

You used to think Hyunjin lived far away. Truthfully, he’s only fifteen minutes away if you go ten over the speed limit. But the only way to get to his house entails driving through the chaos of the mall and town center, which adds an extra ten minutes sitting through traffic no matter the time of day.

Now, Hyunjin’s college campus is two hours away. Well, technically five from you, since you’re almost three hours away in the opposite direction. So you’re lucky if you get to see him once a month with how hectic school becomes and how difficult it is trying to plan to come home the same weekend. Fortunately, it has worked out this semester. And while you should spend this time with your families, they know how much you crave one another’s company as the weeks drag on. The twenty-two minutes it takes getting to each other’s homes is totally worth it.

You expect Hyunjin to tell you to use the key hidden underneath the resin meditating frog statue in the front garden to unlock the front door when you text him you have arrived, but to your utmost surprise, he’s there, awake, to open the door for you.

“Stinky!” You yell, dropping your things on the floor to burry yourself in his embrace, standing on your tippy toes to wrap your arms around his neck in order to really get the full experience of hugging your favorite giant. “Poopy!” He shouts in return, long arms winding tightly around your waist and even going so far as to lift you up a few inches. God. Hate when he does that.

“Why are you up? I thought I’d have to let myself in with you sleeping all your problems away,” you ask, smiling gratefully when he bends down to pick up your bag. “I realized Kkami hadn’t been out all day, so I came down to let him out and find actual food,” Hyunjin explains as he makes way into the kitchen, opening the back door to let said dog back inside. “Aw, poor thing,” you pout, squatting to scratch at Kkami’s neck when he zooms faster than the speed of light to you, “does that mean you brushed your teeth?”

“I did, actually,” Hyunjin snorts right back, scrunching his nose at you before turning away to open the fridge. Sitting on the floor with Kkami in your lap, you take the opportunity to finally get a good look at Hyunjin now that he’s distracted. And of course, he looks good. Really good. Last time you saw him he still was a brunette, a look he rocked during the spring and summer months. This is the first time you’ve seen the freshly dyed black hair in person. Even though he always looks handsome, something about Hyunjin with black hair completely changes his aura. Brings back memories of how badly you wanted him in high school. You shiver at the thought.

And, to top it all off, how he manages to stay in such disgustingly good shape despite his atrocious eating habits never ceases to amaze you. Like, come on. The boy eats worse than a raccoon seven days out of the week, lives off boba, works out maybe five times a month, dances in his free time and still keeps his body in tiptop shape. God, you hate him. His pediatrician probably hates him, too. You even go as far as to sniff the fries in your dining hall and you gain five pounds.

Even now, he looks unnecessarily regal in the baggy material of his sweatpants and flannel. And the warmth of his kitchen’s ambient lighting does nothing to suppress the heavy thumping of your heart. So casual is his dress, yet how immaculate he looks rummaging the cabinets for a snack.

“Are you hungry?” He asks, the familiar softness of his voice shaking you from your daze as he closes the refrigerator door after his unsuccessful search. Here’s the thing: you really aren’t hungry, but Hyunjin clearly is, so if you say no then all he will be thinking about is food until you decide that you are hungry. “Yeah,” is what you say, nudging Kkami off your crossed legs to stand, “I brought green tea and a few snacks, but we could order Chinese food or something. The place near Dunkin’ and the gas station makes bubble tea now, too.”

Hyunjin’s brows shoot up, flashing his boxy smile. “Is it good?”

“I mean, I’ve only had their pork dumplings and mango tea before, and it was pretty good. I don’t know about their noodles or anything, though,” you shrug, moving to stand beside him at the kitchen island. Distracted by Kkami trying to jump onto the sofa in the living room, you don’t look to Hyunjin until the poor dog is successful in doing so. Startled to find him already gazing down at you, your heart truly is not prepared for him to go right ahead and wrap his arms around your waist, resting his chin on your shoulder. Totally not freaking out or trying to overthink his need to constantly cling, you justify his actions by quickly recalling the time he said, “My head is too godtdamn big for my godtdamn body.” More like his head is too heavy because instead of a brain it’s just a chunk of cement up there. He just needs to rest his head sometimes.

Yeah.

“Mm, I don’t know,” Hyunjin hums, swaying your body with his to an unheard tune. By now, any coherent thought has dissipated into thin air and all you can do is melt against him. “Why?” You manage.

“’Cus if we order anything that means I’ll have to get up and get it.”

“Oh my God, Hyunjin, really?” You laugh. Your hands naturally glide to where his are linked at your stomach, pressing to interlock your fingers overtop his. “If that’s the only reason for your uncertainty than I could always come get it, idiot.”

“No! It’s okay,” Hyunjin says, jumping back before you can even process it, “I’m not that hungry anyway.”

“Ohhh ‘kay,” you laugh breathlessly, whiplashed by the whole thing. Good thing you aren’t hungry, because when was the last time Hyunjin turned down food? Blinking at him precariously, he doesn’t seem to notice until one too many seconds of silence pass by.

“C’mon,” he demands excitedly, jumping back into reality, “my roommate told me to watch this anime called Soul Eater but I wanted to watch it with you.” Once again, before anything can even register past every single That Was Cute™ alarm ringing in your brain, Hyunjin is grabbing your bag and reaching for your hand, leading you out of the kitchen and upstairs.

You and Hyunjin binge aforementioned anime until he falls asleep first around 2 AM, only stopping to order food an hour in (he’s an indecisive man indeed), to get up to retrieve it, and to actually eat while catching up. For most of the night, you are able to forget the way his heartbeat against your back mirrored your own in the kitchen. But then, a little while after you fall asleep yourself, Hyunjin unconsciously shifts closer and you spend another hour blinking at his relaxed hand twitching against your abdomen, trying to keep the hurricane inside your heart at bay.

You can’t make it home October. Hyunjin texted you to let you know he was going to be the third weekend in, and you tried desperately to manage your time in order to make it work. But one group project in chem lead to another paper in psych and before you knew it, your roommate was listening to you sob over a boy and curse out your classes.

September left you emotionally wrecked, to be totally honest. You hate Hyunjin and you hate the way he makes you feel and you especially hate how realizing you have a crush on him makes you unsure if everything he does is his way of hinting he feels the same or if he’s always been this touchy and you are just now recognizing it. So, missing a month of seeing your favorite human being essentially means missing another day of trying to decipher which actions of his go in the Friend list, and which go in the Questionable list. And that, my friend, is unacceptable.

You absolutely cannot not go home this month. November is the calm before the storm (the storm being exams looming the second week of December), and while it would be beneficial maybe staying on campus to continue preparing, you tell yourself going home will be just as helpful. Mental breaks, and stuff. Totally not just to see Hyunjin.

Either way, Hyunjin asks you if you would join him on the seventeenth to go to his second cousin’s christening and you absolutely cannot say no when you know how bored Hyunjin gets at family events when they aren’t for him. And so, fast forward to the third Sunday of November and you are ready to pass out ten minutes after entering the church.

“I’m so happy for you two! I always knew you would last into college,” one of Hyunjin’s aunts exclaims, pinching your cheeks but the only pinch you feel is that of your heart.

Clearly she is misinformed, or just prone to jumping to conclusions but yet again, you can’t really blame her with how couple-y you and Hyunjin are. Past the single tunnel vision of your gaze, you watch her smile falter when Hyunjin goes rigid beside you and oh my God this is the most embarrassing moment of my life, his whole family thinks we’re dating and here we are still stuck in each other’s friendz—

“I’m glad you think so, imo,” Hyunjin suddenly picks up, sneaking an arm around to rest his hand on your hip, tugging you close, “I don’t know what I’ll do if she ever decides to leave me.”

It’s nice to think that he means it, to imagine that you are here not as a tag-along but to join him in a family ceremony because you are part of the family. The thought turns your blood to sugar and everything surrounding you falls apart; you listen to the rest of their conversation without processing it, the precise detailing in the marble pillars blurs into a mass of white, and you still feel his strong hold on the curve of your waist yet you are lost in the swam of possibilities.

How lovely it would be to live up to her assumption. To ‘last into college’ as a couple, not as best friends. To be able to call him yours even when you’re not together, to come home and kiss his lips, to sleep in his bed and it mean more than the laziness of blowing up the air mattress. At some point, he leads you into the third pew to sit beside his parents, and when you greet them with a hug all you can think about is them viewing you as more than their son’s friend.

God, you hate it.

You’re not as religious as Hyunjin and his family. But for the first time in years, you find yourself looking to the crucifix during the service and praying to whoever is up there to give you some strength and patience, because Lord do you need it.

Hyunjin is a funny guy.

Or so he thinks.

It’s not that he isn’t funny. It’s just— compared to your friends Minho or Changbin, he isn’t at the top of the list. When you think of Hyunjin, the first words that pop up are soft, loud, and dramatic.

It’s not that he isn’t funny. He’s just weird.

Insanely, ridiculously weird. For example, the time he called Jeongin a vitamin. Or the time he slapped half a bottle of sunscreen on his face. Or his random bouts of dancing at inappropriate moments. Just to name a few.

After the Baptism, Hyunjin acted like nothing happened. Didn’t even bring it up. Not even a joke. After the ceremony, you joined his family for a luncheon, which just involved the two of you being weird and making peculiar dancing videos on SnapChat with the swirly filter and complaining about school for a few hours until he drove you home. Obviously you stopped for food again on the way.

But that was it. Things went on as normal, and you returned to campus later that night and forced the whole experience to the back of your brain. It was officially grind season, and grind season meant studying for exams. No parties. No boys. And certainly no Hyunjin.

You both were home for winter break in the blink of an eye. And in normal Hyunjin style, he sort of vanished for the first week. Probably catching up on his strict sleeping schedule, you presumed, and accepted the fact that it was going to be a few days before you saw or even heard from him. The only anticipation you felt was wanting to give him his Christmas gift.

After what seems like an eternity away from Hyunjin, you get out of the shower on this fine Saturday before Christmas to find a slew of texts from him.

[5:52 PM] big tiddy jinny🍯🧸🌟🖇: Aloha mamacita

[5:52 PM] big tiddy jinny🍯🧸🌟🖇: How do u feel about getting froyo tn

[5:52 PM] big tiddy jinny🍯🧸🌟🖇: We can get fat and then u can sleepover aaaand

[5:52 PM] big tiddy jinny🍯🧸🌟🖇: We can stare at the wall for a few hours

[5:52 PM] big tiddy jinny🍯🧸🌟🖇: And

[5:53 PM] big tiddy jinny🍯🧸🌟🖇: *cough*

[5:53 PM] big tiddy jinny🍯🧸🌟🖇: Exchange Jesus gifts

See? Weird. Who wants froyo when it’s thirty degrees out?

[5:53 PM] YN: “aloha mamacita”

[5:53 PM] YN: uHmmmMMM

[5:53 PM] YN: im down mr president

[5:54 PM] YN: why do u want ice cream in winter tho. don’t u want like

[5:54 PM] YN: hot chocolate or seomthing

Obviously not. Two hours later, Hyunjin arrives to pick you up for froyo despite all your efforts in convincing him maybe you could take the train to the city and watch a light show, or simply drive around and swoon over the rich people houses and their Christmas decorations. He didn’t budge. This leads you to your second question of the day: why is it that when you threw on sweats for the occasion you called yourself a hag, but upon entering Hyunjin’s car you make a mental note of how hot he looks when he’s wearing the same exact thing? You groan at the thought. It’s because it’s Hyunjin, of course.

“Bonjour, mademoiselle,” he greets, flicking your forehead once you settle into the seat of his Subaru WRX because he’s a hotshot and likes to flex that he can drive a manual. Not really— the car is absolute garbage by now, having been his Dad’s old car (his Dad likes to flex too, apparently). However, Hyunjin takes care of it enough for it to seem five years old instead of ten, and, either way, watching him work the stick shift is unexplainably hot.

You swat his hand away. “Drive, bitch,” you huff, twisting to buckle yourself in. Once he’s reversed out of your driveway, you glance back to find him fighting against a devilish smirk.

“So,” you start once he has navigated out of your neighborhood. His brow twitches up. “Are you taking Hawaiian and French at school? You’ve been throwing quite a lot of languages at me recently.” Hyunjin shoots you an unamused look. You return it with a wrinkle of your nose.

“Anyway,” he ignores your teasing, pausing to switch gears for whatever reason so he can make it through a yellow light, “how did your exams go?”

“Well, you know…” You trail off, looking to your window. It feels a lot later than eight o’clock. With it getting dark so early in the evening nowadays, it feels as if nighttime is always following you.

“You know… what?” Hyunjin interrupts your daze, concern laced in his voice. “They were fine. I passed everything, I’m just worried about my major,” you explain sadly, barely glancing at him before you are turning back to the window to stare at the moon. Must be nice being a moon. Just get to hang out in the sky watching everyone and being watched.

“I mean, if you want to switch, now’s the time. Better do it now before the second semester,” Hyunjin advises, wise as always. Not really, but he’s right. “What are you thinking of going into?”

Yikes. He’s going to kill you.

“Nursing,” you blurt.

“Oh my Lanta, ___, are you serious?” He groans, stopping at a convenient red light presenting the perfect opportunity for him to smack his forehead on the wheel. Dramatic. “How are you gonna manage that? You’ll practically be two years behind everyone else!”

“I know,” you sigh, throwing your head back on the headrest, “that’s the problem. Bio just isn’t doing it for me. I don’t think I can spend the rest of my life in a lab watching mitosis. I need something more rewarding, so theoretically nursing is a perfect start. I don’t know, though.”

“Why don’t you switch to interior design or something? We could get our own HGTV show, ___,” he says, but you don’t meet his gaze when he glances over because beneath his words, you can sense some serious hopefulness. Interior design would be cool, but you’ve never considered that as a career choice. You once helped your parents pick out everything when they redid a bathroom at home and that turned out great, but as a major?

“I don’t know, man. I’ll have to talk to my counselor about it, I guess,” you shrug, pulling the hood of your sweatshirt over your head and tightening the drawstrings until the material covers your eyes, “why can’t you audition to be a K-pop star or something? I could be your manager. Heck, even your makeup artist. I’ve done your makeup before, remember?”

Hyunjin laughs, loud, and the sound sinks deep into your heart and makes you feel warm all over. Stress? Gone.

For the next few minutes or so, the ride is comfortably quiet. At some point, he turns on the radio and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” floods your brain and reminds you to look forward to exchanging Christmas gifts later. God, you hope he likes it. You really went out on the sentimental gifts this year.

Hood shielding your vision, you jump when his large hand suddenly comes to grab the top of your head, squeezing hard and you imagine he’s trying to press some hopefulness into your brain. “Hand on the penis stick, Hwang,” you bark, blindly reaching for his own head across the way and pulling his ear when you do so. Good Lord, you hope no one can see into the car because… what.

Hyunjin lets out a giggle this time, reaching to pull you into a headlock and even though he’s got your head shoved up against his sturdy chest and goes on to give you a noogie, you’re stuck being all high and loopy on the sound of his happiness. And hey, it’s nice to know you’re the cause of it.

“We’re literally parked, idiot. If you had your hood down you would’ve realized,” Hyunjin snickers, releasing you after watching you struggle for a few seconds. Jerking away from him, you swiftly pull back your hood. “Oh,” you laugh, reading the flashy Yogo Factory sign above the building in front of you, “you could’ve just told me instead of watching me bask in misery.”

Hyunjin suitably ignores your moaning and groaning by getting out of the car and standing in front of the car, illuminated by the headlights. Why? Why must he look so scrumptious in his black hoodie and grey sweatpants and four-year-old white Nike sneakers? He has no gosh darn right!

After fixing the mess he made of your hair, you at last join him outside the car, shooting him another glare and moving ahead of him to open the shop’s door without waiting for him. “From now on, we have to start texting each other what we’re wearing before we go out, ‘cus this looks a little ri-donk-ulous,” Hyunjin whispers in your ear as you make your way to the cup selection, trying to ignore all the stares you— no, he is getting along the way.

“What do you mean?” You ask, plucking two medium sized cups up before turning to look at him. Then you look down at yourself. Oh. Looks like you’re both wearing the hoodie from junior spirit week. “Nice.” Just Couple Things™!

Back to Hyunjin being weird— why did he drag you all the way out here just to get a cup of chocolate frozen yogurt and maybe half a scoop of peanut butter chips?

Meanwhile, he watches in absolute disgust as you blow through your own dessert. Vanilla yogurt with probably every topping offered because you physically cannot make a decision, especially when they have chunks of cookie dough up there.

“So,” Hyunjin starts, trying not to look you in the eye considering you look like a goblin shoveling globs of diabetes down your throat, “have you talked to Jisung recently?”

You choke on a Fruity Pebble at his inquiry, prompting him to reach across the table and slap your back a few times until your esophagus is cleared. “Ugh,” clearing your throat one last time, you take a few sips of water while shooting him a glare. Jisung? Really? “How dense are you?” You hiss unintentionally.

Hyunjin raises his hands in defense. “Just a question.”

Yeah, just a question. Dumbass. “I mean,” you laugh awkwardly, “not really. We have a streak on Snap and sometimes we’ll talk occasionally but I don’t text him every day or anything. How about you?”

He shrugs, concentrating instead on stirring his yogurt into a goopy mess. “Eh. We still use our group chat a lot but that’s it. He’s too busy making music in Malaysia.”

You chuckle at this, picking out the boba from your own cup and leaving the rest now that it has started to look like something sold at the Chum Bucket. “That sucks,” you offer, not the best at giving him consolidation, you opt for linking your feet around his own in some weird act of intimacy, “isn’t he coming home for the holidays, though? I’m sure you can all have a reunion soon.”

“Yeah, he is,” Hyunjin hums, suddenly too focused on trying to escape your trap under the table. Annoyed Hyunjin is cute. “Stoooop,” he whines, kicking at your shins before breaking into boisterous laughter at your relentlessness, “I will not hesitate to throw this cup at your face.”

“Yeah, right,” you scoff, “I’d like to see you try.”

At this, Hyunjin drops his stupidly long arms beneath the table and easily captures your foot by the ankle, pulling hard enough for you to slip down your side of the booth. “Hyunjin!” You shriek, panicking slightly at your sweaty hand’s insecure grip against the leather. You’re going to fall. You’re going to fall flat on your ass underneath a table at a frozen yogurt place because the boy you like pulled your foot too hard. Fantastic. Ignoring you, he starts to wiggle your shoe off your foot no matter how hard you try to squirm out of his relentless grip. “Stop trying to eat my toes in the middle of Yogo!”

Finally, he releases your foot, letting it fall limp against his thigh.

“God,” you huff, breathless as you squirm back up your seat, cheeks burning ferociously, “you are such an ass.”

Behind the playful smirk he fails to hide, something darker glints in Hyunjin’s eyes and it makes your heart skip a beat. Then, “We should go.” The suggestion makes the heat of your blush scorch even hotter down your neck and you instinctively turn away, only to find the customers on the other side of the shop watching you with just as perturbed looks. Fantastic, part two.

“Okie,” you squeak out, blinking after him in complete and total bewilderment as to what just happened when he gets up to throw his trash away. Whatever. Following after him, you too toss your cup out before quickly finding your hand engulfed by his larger one as he leads you back outside, the sudden sharpness of the cold air bringing tears to your eyes. You desperately want to ask him what that was about, or why he’s acting so sneaky, but you stay silent, too afraid your voice will come out shaky and vulnerable. Instead, you let him tug you into his side and try to keep up with him no matter how badly your knees threaten to buckle with each glance you sneak up at him.

It’s silent when you enter the car, watching warily as he reverses out of the parking spot and maneuvers through the lot. Your heart rate seemingly cannot slow itself down, adrenaline taking the place of oxygen the longer you stare at him, at the concentrated scrunch to his face, at the cute tip of his button nose and at the swell of his lips and you distantly wonder what would happen if you pulled him into a kiss at the next red light.

In the midst of your daydream Hyunjin clears his throat, bringing you back to reality and you realize with a startle that he has caught you. Jesus Christ! What has gotten into you? You mentally smack yourself upside the head, instantly turning away from his cocky little gaze and staring straight ahead in search of something else to focus on. “___,” he sing-songs, slow and sensual and entirely demolishing the walls you have built around yourself. It is at this red light you wish to simply open the door and run.

“Yes?” You manage, wincing at how small your voice sounds and while looking out his window instead of into his eyes, you notice him grip the steering wheel hard enough to turn his knuckles white. The tension is insurmountable, weighing in heavily on your chest and you desperately wish to arrive home, even though that means having to survive the next twelve hours with him. Anything is better than the small confines of his car.

“What do you want to do when we get home?” He asks, cool as a cucumber. You pale. It is a dangerous question and you do not know if he realizes that. “Um,” you cough, scooting to sit up straight, “whatever you want.” You whisper the last part, genuinely petrified because you have absolutely no idea if your brain is twisting everything to make it seem like Hyunjin is flirting or if things are totally normal. No idea.

“Hm,” he offers, tilting his head in thought, “we shall see.”

Yeah. We shall.

The rest of the ride is quiet, comfortably or uncomfortably you cannot say because you are too busy trying to calm the Spongebob burning office scene occurring inside your own head, hopelessly telling yourself that everything is fine, Hyunjin’s fine, you’re fine. Just pretend like nothing happened, you tell yourself when Hyunjin pulls into his driveway with practiced ease. “Ugh,” he groans after retrieving your bag from the back seat, and you watch with a raised brow as he skips up to his porch, yelling, “I have to pee!”

“Begone with you, piss boy,” you tease, holding the screen door open for him as he struggles to unlock the storm door and pulling on one of his hoodie’s drawstrings just to annoy him. “Stop,” he growls, low and playful but nevertheless sending a swarm of butterflies to your tummy. You ignore him. Finally unlocking the door, Hyunjin shoves the keys into his pocket and seizes your wrist, yanking your arm down with enough force to nearly topple you into him. “Why are you being so annoying tonight?” He frowns at you, nose and brows scrunched in irritation and it is only because of his proximity do you finally soften up.

“Sorry,” you pout back, bringing your other hand up to boop his nose, “I just missed ya.”

“Ew,” he snorts, stepping past the threshold and kicking off his shoes. You follow suit, closing the door behind you and clicking the lock into place as Kkami comes sprinting over. “B-R-B,” Hyunjin announces, presumably bouncing away to the bathroom.

“Oh, boy,” you huff, squatting to pick up the fluffy little dog and hugging him close to your chest, “your dad is making my life very difficult.” Pressing a quick kiss to the top of his head, you put Kkami back down and grab your bag before heading upstairs, knowing Hyunjin is going to take his grand old time and probably take a shit while he’s at it. Plus, you’re impatient and dying to take your bra off.

Aside from what light his Gudetama nightlight offers, Hyunjin’s room is ultimately left dark. Here’s the thing: he used to have a lamp on his dresser, but then he took it with him to college and only brings it home for summer because he’s lazy and sleeps the majority of the time he’s home, anyway. Instead, he put up his little remote-controlled Christmas tree in addition to the lava lamp he has beside his bed. Perfect. For Hyunjin, at least.

Switching both of these on, their subtle glow offers just enough to keep you from banging your toe against something. It’s happened one too many times. Hyunjin’s room isn’t messy— he really isn’t a messy person to begin with, but he will reorganize the furniture in his room fifty times a year and you never know where the crooked leg to his bedside table will be to ambush your pinky toe.

Setting your bag onto his bed, you excitedly fumble past all your layers and unclasp your bra, maneuvering out of it with a delighted exhale just as Hyunjin begins his ascent up the stairs, steps creaking loudly under his heavy trudging. “I’m an idiot,” he grumbles, leaning against the doorframe to catch his breath.

You don’t bother to look at him, opting to quickly retort instead, “We been knew.”

“Ugh,” Hyunjin groans, exasperated, and you finally turn to him after successfully jamming aforementioned undergarment into your bag, “anyways. I don’t know why I didn’t just come up here, because I have to wash my face anyway and you do too and now we’re both going to have to share a sink.”

“Aw,” you coo, tone dripping with sarcasm as you pat his arm, “poor baby has to share the bathroom.”

“I’m actually going to strangle you,” he sighs, nevertheless following after you into the bathroom.

“Kinky.”

Hyunjin glares, unamused as he opens a drawer for his pink bow hairband and your striped pink and blue one that he bought for you, but keeps here for sleepovers. Yeah. He throws it to your face. “Sorry,” you offer, pulling the soft headband up to hold your hair back, “I’ll try to stop. I’m just so used to annoying you.”

“Clearly,” he scoffs, flashing his stupidly cute teasing smile and in your head, you imagine raising a white flag in surrender— he’s got you, he’s won, it’s over. Time to call it quits and head home. Evidently shut up (for now), you offer him a roll of your eyes before turning on the sink to wet your hands before pumping out some of his scrumptious watermelon face wash. Maybe if you scrub hard enough, you’ll manage to rinse away all the overwhelming thoughts of the night, too.

Barefaced Hyunjin is immaculate. Well, Hyunjin is immaculate twenty-four hours out of the day, but barefaced, freshly washed, hair messy, ready for bed Hyunjin is immaculate, and you are one of the few people lucky enough to see this eighth wonder of the world as often as you do.

Now, maybe it has something to do with the unexpected ambiance the light from his laptop, Christmas lights, and lava lamp have created together that makes him look so unfairly beautiful at this given moment. Or, you’re just insanely pussywhipped and looking for an excuse. You try not to think about it.

“Why are you so squirmy tonight?” He asks, frustrated enough to interrupt Kermit singing ‘Shawty I don’t mind’ playing from his laptop. “I’m not,” you defend, a weak argument indeed, given that you have just finished adjusting your position beside him for the umpteenth time.

“I mean, four female Ghostbusters? The feminists are taking over! I’m an ad—”

“___, you’ve touched my dick like four times. Don’t try and tell me you’re not squirmy. What’s wrong?” Hyunjin interrupts a second Vine, and even goes on to talk over ‘I have the power of God and anime on my side!’ like a lunatic. Oh Christ, you have? Surely you would have noticed. “Sorry,” you mumble, embarrassed as you bury your face into the curve of his pectoral and instinctively move your leg settled between his away, “I’m just hot, to be honest.” Technically, it is not a lie. Hyunjin’s family definitely keeps their thermostat at a higher temperature than yours and you always manage to sweat your ass off every time you come over. This time, however, you are certain it has more to do with the assault your heart is facing rather than your sweat glands.

At the sound of his tap against the spacebar to pause the video, you wordlessly and reluctantly sit up from your comfortable spot beside him in order to rid yourself of your heavy sweatshirt. Now, here lies the problem. Sweatshirt: off. Nipples: out. Realistically, Hyunjin has seen your boobs a number of times over the past few years, and even if he hadn’t, he probably wouldn’t even bat an eye. But right now, your heart is on the line, you’re embarrassed and you’re trying to play it extremely safe.

You toss the hoodie to the floor and nestle right back where you were anyway, slinging your right arm over his torso and ignoring his sharp intake of breath when you snuggle closer. “Better?” He asks, voice strained and it literally makes you nauseous. “Yep.”

He resumes the video. You had started early in the night watching Pom Poko, which unsurprisingly ended with the two of you crying at the bittersweet ending, then moved to TikTok compilations on YouTube to cheer up before moving on from them and onto the classic Vine compilations. You paid good attention for the most part, chuckling along with him to ‘What up, I’m Jared, I’m nineteen and I never fucking learned how to read,’ ‘Bruh chill, I don’t know why you in a big time rush,’ and all the other absolute comedic masterpieces. But after the fourth or fifth video of the same six second clips with an occasional rare one, you began to grow bored and decided to do what you do best: admire Hyunjin.

Sure, ‘Come get yo juice!’ followed by the loud smash of the oven made you smile, but you found the flashing lights casting shadows beneath Hyunjin’s eyes and lips much more fascinating. Of course, this is not the first time you have been held so close to him. But it is, however, all too easy to get lost in the sight of him and you’ve noticed recently that you are in desperate need of a map. Whether it’s due to your time away from him or simply an appreciation for untouched beauty you do not know.

Even now, your gaze flickers to his laptop once you hear ‘Get to Del Taco,’ but having already watched it five thousand times you tilt your head upward to catch Hyunjin’s silent giggle at ‘free-sha-voca-do.’ It’s a vicious cycle, really, going back and forth between wanting to simply enjoy the night and realizing enjoying the night lies totally in Hyunjin’s presence. And so, you continue to fall into this trap each time until you pay no mind to the videos at all, basking in the brilliance of Hyunjin’s joyous smile and the warmth his happiness makes you feel. It is this thought that slowly tugs you to sleep, a fight to keep your heavy eyelids open lost until finally, you give in to the comfort and allow yourself to drift off to the sound of ‘Step the fuck up, Kyle.’

You think you are dreaming.

You think.

“___,” the softness of Hyunjin’s voice at the crown of your head eases you from the clutches of sleep and you stretch your locked limbs before curling further into his side. “We didn’t open presents.” Even though you can’t see him, you can hear his pout, and you realize you must be awake to hear the disappointed words caught sluggishly between his lips so vividly. You hum, hesitant to open your eyes because you really want to go back to sleep. Just for a little while. And so, you ask, “What time is it?”

“Just past two,” he whispers.

You hum again, trying to formulate a sensible sentence in the parts of your brain still asleep, “We can… wake up at four. And open gifts. Okay?”

“Okay, weirdo,” Hyunjin chuckles to himself, sliding lower down the mattress after shutting his laptop.

You think you are dreaming.

You think.

You can’t remember ever falling asleep facing each other. But yet again, your brain is clouded beyond capability and now, you know for certain you are dreaming. Hyunjin never faces you.

Blinking slowly, it takes a few seconds for your eyes to adjust to the impenetrable darkness and you struggle to make out the features of Hyunjin’s face. You know you are dreaming, and so you tug him closer, throwing a leg over his thigh and an arm over his waist. Even in your sleep, you feel the sadness pricking at your heart, for even it knows this is only what dreams are made of. You like to make the best of it.

“You know I love you, Jinnie, right?” Your voice comes out funny, drawn out and mumbled like your tongue is numb and you fight the urge to feel for yourself.

“Of course I do. I love you too.” His reply surprises you. You thought he was asleep and, either way, hearing such fond words from him puts your heart at ease. He must be misunderstood.

“No. I mean like… I like you, love you. Like I want to kiss you… kiss you good morning and before bed love you. Send you hearts and take stupid couple pics and… go on dumb dates love you. You know?” Your words feel garbled and incomprehensible the longer you go on, trying to express how you feel when nothing is real proving to be increasingly difficult. God, if only you could do it when things are real.

You start to feel yourself slipping as he mutters a reply, mind in free fall and fuck, fuck, fuck, he’s whispering and you can’t hear him but you are too tired and helpless to wake yourself up to hear it. No, too lost in the next dream to go back. You can’t tell what is real and what isn’t. Christ, were you awake? You can’t tell. All you know is that you are warm, so, so warm and letting sleep take over you once more is the best answer to all your questions.

Hyunjin always says he hates waking people up. Because he’s normally the one needing to be awoken, whenever the roles are swapped he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do.

This time, however, he takes it upon himself to repeatedly smack your face with his pillow. Not a fun experience when it’s coming from someone who fails to recognize his own strength. “Jesus, fuck! Okay!” You hiss, the cloud of sleep abruptly ripped away from you with the slap of his pillow against your skin. Arms raised defensively in front of you, you catch his next swing and tear the pillow out of his grasp to shield yourself all before you have even opened your eyes. When you do so, with the blatant intention just to find where he is and hurl the pillow at him, you are met with the harsh light from his ceiling fan and have to squint past the stinging white light to see his shit-eating grin.

“Was that necessary?” You groan, undeniably annoyed and wanting to glare at him more but needing to rub the ache out of your eyes. “Yes,” is all he says, reaching for your bag and catapulting it to you. He is incredibly lucky you are quick enough to catch it before it thumps against your head. What has gotten into him? Did he eat an entire bag of Pixy Stix while you were asleep? You watch, still dazed from sleep and reeling from the whole pillow smacking attack, as he flings open his closet door and turns back around with two neatly wrapped boxes. You squint to make out the dancing Santa T-rex wrapping paper.

“Oh,” you chirp, understanding, and you unzip your bag to retrieve the large box taking up the majority of space, “thanks for waking me up. I’m surprised you remembered. Did you stay up?”

A rosy blush burns its way across his cheekbones. Odd. “I, um— yeah. No, actually,” he stutters, really odd, given he was bouncing off the walls not even thirty seconds ago, “I set an alarm. You made me sleepy.” Hyunjin sits beside you once you have scooted over, leaning against the wall and crossing his long ass legs. He keeps his eyes trained on the boxes in his hands. “Oh,” you hum, looking to your own gift and suddenly wishing for the mattress to swallow you up, “sorry. I haven’t gotten as much sleep as you on break so far.”

“I don’t think anyone ever has,” he jokes and you finally look to him, sharing a cheeky smile before he gets all shy again, tongue darting out to wet his lips, “um, Merry Christmas, ___.”

It’s a simple phrase, but it makes your heart swell. “Merry Christmas to you too, Hyunjin.” Leaning over, you wrap your arms around his shoulders in an awkward side hug, but still end up feeling all drunk and loopy on love when he eagerly returns the gesture, arms curling around you.

“Okay,” you huff, sitting back, “me first.” You dramatically hold your gift out to him, jittery and nervous all over. Buying for Hyunjin is always hard. He’s just so easy to please, but when you want to do more than just please him it’s a constant battle trying to decide how far out you are going to go for him each year.

You watch impatiently as he tears the wrapping paper open first, and then finally lifts the flaps of the box up. “Aw,” he whimpers, pulling out the quokka plushie and attached certificate, “you adopted a quokka for me?”

You grin when he hugs the soft stuffed animal to his chest, the weight on your shoulders partly lifted from his positive reaction. He reaches back into the box, brow scrunched in thought as he regards the framed picture. “The First Day…?” Hyunjin asks, perplexed as he reads the title above the constellation poster. You scoot closer, leaning over to look it over once more. “This was the constellation of stars on our first day of freshman year. The day we first met.”

“Oh,” Hyunjin sniffs, “that’s really awesome, ___. Thank you. This is coming with me to school.” At this, he hugs you again, probably to hide the tears you know are threatening to spill because Hyunjin is Baby and cries every year. “Anything for my favorite fake Aussie,” you smile, leaning your head on his shoulder as he reads through the quokka adoption letter.

“Okay! Your turn!” He exclaims, setting his gifts back into the box and passing you the smaller one of his. He catches your curious glance to the second one he keeps by his side. “We have to open this one together.”

“Christ, okay. Looks like I’m gonna be crying tonight, too,” you sigh sadly. “Ooh,” jumping ahead of yourself, you wiggle your eyebrows at the white box before you, “Hyunjin if you bought me a Fitbit… I swear to God. How many times have I said I am not working out with you?” However, once you finish tearing open the wrapping paper you find it is not, in fact, a Fitbit.

“It’s not a Fitbit, idiot,” Hyunjin scoffs a second too late, waiting for you to slip the lid off the box. “They’re bond touch bracelets.”

“Explain,” you murmur, enamored but confused at the two little house arrest looking bracelets.

“So basically, we each wear one,” Hyunjin starts, taking one of the bracelets out and a burst of color blooms across its small screen at the motion, “and if you touch it, mine vibrates and I ‘feel’ your touch.” As he explains, he buckles it around your wrist, twisting it so it lies correctly. You silently take the second one and help it on him, brain too caught up to actually say anything.

“Try it,” Hyunjin whispers, suppressing his excitement.

You gingerly bring a finger to the little screen, tapping it once, twice. Nothing happens. Frowning, you try again, tapping and holding, then a second time, and finally— a strip of pink light appears and the bracelet gently vibrates as you tap and hold a random pattern. In response, the bracelet on Hyunjin’s wrist lights up blue, buzzing in the same pattern.

“Oh, Hyunjin,” you sniffle, fighting back your own tears because you refuse to let yourself ugly cry in front of him, “this is amazing. Now I can annoy you year-round. Thank you so, so much. I love you so much.” He hums, pulling you close when you turn to give him a proper hug. To your utmost surprise, however, instead of letting go he curls one fist into your side and helps swing your legs over to straddle his lap. “Oh.”

“___,” Hyunjin sighs thoughtfully, fingers playing with the sleeves of your tee, “I love you, too.”

You nearly spit up your coffee. If you were drinking coffee. Instead, you’re left with a dry mouth and a slack jaw at his words. Huh?

Glancing to the constellation picture peeking out of his box, and then to the matching bracelets you both wear, you find your mind reeling trying to make sense of it all. Yeah, you say the forbidden L-word to each another all the time, but most certainly not with you on his on lap and his lips mere centimeters away. The answer is so obviously clear as day you have trouble believing it.

“Fuck,” you laugh all of a sudden, as soon as the realization hits you, “I wasn’t dreaming, was I?”

Hyunjin lets out a joyous giggle, hands linking behind your back. Unable to hide his smile any longer, he clarifies, “You were not, madam. We literally just finished talking about when we were going to open gifts and then I got ready to sleep. Two seconds later you dumped your heart out to me, but when I answered, you were asleep.”

“Bruh,” you wince, hiding your face with your hands, “I am so sorry you had to deal with that.”

“No, don’t be,” Hyunjin comforts, reaching to tug your hands away. Your gut does somersaults when he intertwines his fingers with yours. “I was actually, uh, planning on doing some sort of confession to you anyway, but then you went right ahead and did it for me. So thanks for that.”

“Wow,” you chuckle, trying to wrap your mind around it all, “does that mean you, ahem, perhaps like me too?”

“No, I just got us really couple-y long distance relationship bracelets, pulled you onto my lap, and kissed you because I just want to be friends.”

“You didn’t kiss m—”

The sly little fucker interrupts your retort by quickly dipping down to press a fat smooch to your lips, missing miserably and you don’t know if he did it on purpose but you quickly fix the problem, releasing his hands to cradle his jaw and tilt his head the right angle. Finally, finally you kiss him, breathing in the smell of him like some sort of aromatherapy and whimpering into his mouth when his tongue swipes against your own. It is like nothing you have ever experienced, the taste and feel of him making you tremble and igniting a burst of electricity through your veins. You could kiss him forever, you think, sucking on his plump bottom lip greedily until he finally pulls back, desperate for air or trying to reel himself in you can’t say.

“You have to open your other gift,” Hyunjin reminds, chest heaving, and your gaze follows his long fingers as they comb his hair away from his forehead. Automatically, as if kissing Hyunjin once grants you some kind of free pass to do the same, you brush a few stray strands away from his face before leaning back to admire him. “Stoooop. You can’t do that and not expect me to kiss you again. Open. Your. Gift.” Hyunjin whines, squishing your cheeks and turning your head away.

“Okay, don’t blame this on me,” you huff, reaching for the second box before jabbing a finger into his chest, “you, sir, need to stop being so beautiful for like, two seconds.”

He scoffs, helping you rip off the wrapping paper, “You’re the beautiful one here.”

“Ew,” you wrinkle your nose, most certainly not used to Hyunjin dishing out such compliments, “this is too Hallmark Christmas movie for me. Let me open my gift in peace, ugly.” This box, unlike the bracelets’, is simple cardboard and when you lift open the lid, a brown leather book looks back at you. “You remember Up?” He asks.

On the leather, it reads Our Adventure Book in mismatched colors. “Yeah,” you whisper, flipping open the cover to find two baby pictures glued on the paper, one of Hyunjin, and one of you. At the top, it’s labeled ‘Before Shit Went Down.’ You laugh.

On the next page, there are random photographs from middle school, and then finally each other’s eighth grade graduation portraits. Then, written at the top is ‘Here It Begins,’ followed by a selfie he randomly took with you a few weeks into school freshman year, and then some from homecoming. Silently flipping through the rest of the book, your tears flow freely now, touched beyond comparison at all the photographs and all the memories accompanying them. Some are from large events like prom, others from random moments you don’t even remember, but each and every one comes together to form a special mold fitting perfectly into that Hyunjin-shaped hole in your heart.

The last picture is from the christening last month. Of course, it isn’t one of the nicer photos his mom took of the two of you, but a SnapChat selfie with the flaming sunglasses filter. He’s mid-laugh and you’re pressing a kiss to his cheek. Funny thing is, you don’t even remember taking it.

The page next to it is blank, aside from what’s written at the top of the page. “Togetha Foreva,” you read aloud, voice choked up and God, you cannot fathom how gross you look right now. “What the fuck, man!” You sob, punching Hyunjin’s shoulder before wiping your nose and cheeks with the back of your hands. “I didn’t sign up for this cock and ball torture.”

Hyunjin laughs loudly at this, pulling you into a hug and giving you a few seconds to recover. “Hyunjin, this is like… seriously the best thing anyone has ever done for me, holy shit. God, you Pinterest son of a bitch, this is such a good idea,” you groan, flipping back through the pages and getting teary-eyed all over again, “I can’t express how much this means to me, Jinnie. Thank you, really.”

Flashing that toothy grin of his, Hyunjin tugs you to lie back down with him and tilts your head up to press a much more accurate kiss to your lips. “I meant what I said before, ___,” he murmurs, “I don’t know what to do without you, and I know we only get to see each other once a month but I can’t keep living as just friends. You’re so much more than that. And I hope all the pictures we add from now on will show this new chapter of our lives. If not, well, then I guess I’ll just burn the book.”

“Are you asking me to be Kkami’s official poop-picker-upper?”

“Yes. Wait— what? No!”

You break into a fit of laughter, only to be interrupted with him pinching your side and causing you to let out a yelp. “Hey!” You bark, jumping closer to him and away from his hand until, finally, you give in to your self-indulgence and go right on ahead in swinging a leg over his hips and pinning him beneath you.

“You ruined my serious love speech, ___,” Hyunjin pouts, face scrunched up at you.

“I’m sorry, baby, go on.”

You pause, blinking slowly at him. He blinks back, the silence in the air weighing in heavily as both of your two brain cells bounce around trying to figure out what did you just call him?

“Never mind,” Hyunjin says, voice a low rumble of thunder as he reaches for your hips and easily flips positions, “I think you’re on the same boat.”

You laugh, tilting your head back and eyeing him indignantly. Fuck, he looks unfairly delectable hovering above you.

“Okay, how many more times do I have to tell you I love you for you to formally ask me to be your girlfriend, stupid?” You scowl, bringing your hands to cradle his neck, thumbs brushing delicately against his jaw.

“Call me baby again and we’ll see about making that happen.”

You raise a brow, tugging his face closer by the chain of his necklace. “You’re lucky it’s Christmas, baby.”

[faorism]

fuck my highly distractable brain that just hears one offhand mention of a multi level marketing scheme in the context of fandom (beyond the blink-and-you-miss-it mention in the latest hot oil chapter) and... my brain is just firing off on somber/cutting AUs about how exploitative mlms are while somehow also sneaking in a romance plot??

like what if you fall in love with your upline, who is financially dependent of your exploitation (YIKES)? what if you meet during a seller party they are hosting, and you keep showing up and you get to talking because you always stay behind to help clean up,, and y'all get to talking and they confess they have no idea why you are the only person not to abandon them? what if you feel like an idiot after you get super sick off the essential oils you are swindled into buying from an insistent cousin to treat your [something oils obv does SHIT for], and when you tell a coworker they treat you compassionately unlike everyone else in your life, and your heart opens up to them??

(or if, say, if i want to get specific in one fandom... what if the shimadas aren't yakuza but instead the early adopters of two winds, a health drink/lifestyle mlm. sojiro gets his sons on board. the brothers have pretty big downlines but genji starts questioning the mlm. he is forced out by the company just as his face is fucked up by a facial cleanser (that might have been tampered with on purpose?). jesse runs an anti-mlm podcast/blog as joel morricone, started after he lost so much of his life to blkwtch aka a now-defunct fitness & gym equipment company. he finds out about two winds and he tries to infiltrate it to expose how destructive it is on 99% of the associates,, and he comes across hanzo who is towards the top but, god, he's pouring his whole life into it because of Honor or some shit; he is sucked into it in the worst of ways and he has no real capital because as a ~super special diamond level~ he is forced to invest all the money he makes back into the company as p much everyone does. he's trapped but has no way out and idk how mchanzo happens exactly but likely jesse wants to hate hanzo but mostly he feels sorry for him and sees himself in hanzo,, and hanzo has been so trapped in this world he is shocked by having a breath of fresh air, esp after his grief at his estrangement from genji. maybe jesse plants the idea of something else is possible, but initially walks away from hanzo because hanzo wasn't ready. but genji shows up to give his big ass speech, and small time skip, hanzo messaged jesse that he's left the mlm and wants to be an informant. and jesse is like... how about i hook you up with my friend because i... i feel... i dont wanna be improper. and hanzo does not scream YES PLEASE LOVE ME AS I LOVE YOU but only barely.)

all scenarios end with the characters out of the mlm, and they won't totally screw over their downlines, obviously. and theres absolutely no romanticization of direct sales. and there will be explicit talk about how fucked up mlms in the authors notes. and idk this is such a huge part of so many ppl's lives and im surprised that there's pretty much no (tagged) fic about it??

[an0nymousghost]

simblr asks v2

here are my answers! find the questions here.

i wrote soo much ahaha. like however much you think i wrote, i wrote more than that. imo everything i write is gold though

1. are you going to buy the new pack (cottage living) when it comes out? no, it looks really nice but i legit never ever buy packs at launch, especially cause this one is a expansion and it will probably go on sale at some point

2. do you p*rate your dlc or buy it legitimately? buy it legitimately 👌

3. what’s your favorite world? brindleton bay, it gives like seaside cottage vibes. willow creek is good but it’s boring. 

4. if you use a queue, how many posts per day do you set it as? 3 or 4. i used to do like 12 lmaoo what even was wrong with me

5. do you watch sims on youtube? yes, i watch mainly malixa, oshinsims, and msgryphi

6. what are your thoughts on the most recent pack? (dream home decorator) those sectional couches look good! but honestly im kinda annoyed because now it’s even harder to have all the items filled in when i place lots from the gallery. like i’m just saying like a lot of builds will use that pack probably and if i don’t get it then i can’t really use builds/save files 

7. how many packs/kits do you own? lemme count

expansion: all - 10/10 game: 5/10 stuff: 9/18 kits: none xo

24/38 - 63%

8. what’s your origin id? is it the same as your url? 🤗 it’s in my title, it’s celeschul. it doesn’t look that nice in my title but i use celeschul in my package files and i’m guessing people search things like, “celeschul penny hair” or something like that in order to find my cc- so i keep it in there so the search results are easier. i do want to change it though..

but no it’s also not the same! well i mean it’s the username i use for cc. my origin id used to be an0nymousghost but i changed it. i wonder if anyone’s taken that one?

9. is your simblr your sideblog or main blog? main blog ✌️ my old blog @stardze​ is a main blog as well.

my old old simblr was a sideblog but it had like 1 follower and it literally a bot so i don’t think that counts. i have a multifandom sideblog though 

10. do you have a cc finds blog? i wish. i was thinking bout it earlier and that would be sooo neat but sometimes i download stuff that doesn’t have a tumblr post attached to it, and also it’s stressful to keep up with so nah

11. are you wcif friendly? yes sir. in fact i bring the trouble of wcifs onto myself but doing them even when nobody asked.

12. what’s your favorite sized household to play with? (ex. 1 sim, 4 sims) gonna have to think on this one, honestly 1 sim is really fun and stuff goes by so fast. doing stuff with astrid when she was on her own, it was much more efficient. 

for families, i haven’t done that in a while actually. 5, 2 parents and 3 kids is cute tho. why did i write this this is honestly such a hard question

13. if you have c&d, do you play with pets? i feel like i haven’t played with cats and dogs in forever. honestly i just have no paitence. noelle fae was supposed to get a cat (there’s a food bowl + cat bed in her house) but when summer vacation started, the amount of time i spent playing ts4 decreased a lot. (this doesn’t really make sense, i have a lot more time. honestly it just has to do with my recent obsession with a certain anime/manga and some other personal thing)

i did random nightmares in may though and i had pets frequently. g5 didn’t because sofia scarlett lived in an apartment, but g2/3/4 had cici, and g1 had all the cats. but that was back in march so it’s been a while.

14. what lifespan do you use? i really want to do aging off but then i feel like it drags on. but aging legit stresses me out, sometimes i just want to sit down and do some cas stuff but i only have 2 hours in real time and there’s like 4 days left till one of my sims’ birthdays. 

15. if you own a lot of packs, how many of them have you actually played through? just so everyone is aware this question was made for me

i feel like eps require a specific save made for testing them out, but the only save i’ve ever made for an ep is noelle fae’s get famous save. 

that is literally a lie - i made a save for island living with one of my 100bc kids, maisie acapella. i did actually post it on tumblr BUT then i deleted all the posts BUT i reblogged them on my alt account BUT i privated my alt account so i honestly forgot about it

i have never played through discover university or watched anyone do it on youtube, i’ve read gerbits’ story about it so i think i’m pretty qualified. i’ve always wanted to do one with periwinkle acapella but i never got around to it

another ep i know nothing about is get to work

i tried doing a eco life playthrough but i hadn’t watched any videos and i was like..what is going on. so i quit lolx d ;;;;; i mentioned it but the whimsy stories legacy was the first time i had played with the eco lifestyle features so technically i think i know what im doing

i got outdoor retreat literally on monday of this week so i haven’t played through it yet. 

jungle adventure i still don’t know what’s going on. i remember last year before i bought the pack i was brainstorming, and wanted to do a ja playthrough with luna and cedar, who are a couple who i did a random legacy with and it was all queued to post when i deleted everything (if you’re wondering why, it’s because my queue was literally 200+ posts). except this time i didn’t save them to my sideblog so i lost them. 

i still havent had a restaurant in dine out 

also never did the vet thing from cats and dogs

i have no idea what that rock climbing thing is from snowy escape but i did most of the other stuff because rn g5

city living i did through psc stage 5 and also it was the first pack i bought anyways

the rest of them are either stuff packs or i ended up playing them through casual gameplay (seasons, parenthood)

16. what do you do as you play sims? (ex. listen to music) i listen to music most of the time, or listen to commentary youtube videos because i am an alpha chad. i also used to talk with my friends on voice call but i don’t do that anymore 🥲

17. which sims challenges have you tried? random legacy, whimsy stories, perfect sim challenge, 100 baby, legacy (just the plain get-to-10-gens one), random nightmares, berry zodiac, astrology legacy, apocalypse

i feel like im forgetting some.. honestly most of the stuff i did before simblr was either 100 baby (i love that challenge) or random saves that lasted for 2 seconds. 

18. do you like the new(ish) hair swatches? nah. 

i do appreciate that most cc hairs have a true (ish) black, thank god! and the fact that the hair update is what inspired me to update and fix a bunch of hairs with different issues is pretty nice. but will i use them? no. 

plus it takes up like 5 gb? depending on how many packs you have.

19. post the latest screenshot you took 📸

i live in cas

20. what is the cc/ingame hair that looks the most like your own? i think that dream home decorator side part hair looks a lot like my hair. honestly i havent see much like my hair but that one is kinda-? close

21. who is your favorite sim of yours and what is their story? noelle and alari fae i think! 

link to post

noelle is blonde and has blue-grey eyes. she wears purple contacts pretty often though (because she wants to 😌)

alari has light brown hair that is kinda curly, and she’s got pretty vibrant blue eyes. 

they’re sisters, alari is 3 years older than noelle. noelle was 19 and alari was 22 when they got spotted

they worked as models when they were young adults. their jobs involved dyeing their hair blue/pink, and they would model like clothes and stuff. anyways, they were pretty successful. like not ultra famous but they had enough money to not work for the rest of their lives. 

their modeling group was made of 4 girls, the others were named paisley autumn and they were green and red, respectively. some things are: 

paisley and alari started dating during this 

autumn was a single mother to a little girl named destiny

noelle dated many people during this but never ended up finding the one <3

when their contract ended after like 6 years, paisley and alari went to go live together and noelle decided to get into acting. so thats when get famous playthrough started!

there’s more but basically they’re like oc’s with sims on the side. xoxo

22. if you use cc, are there any cc creators that you have like ALL of their items? this is such a good question! i hoard hair very heavily (my folder is 11gb) i so i have like 97% from most of the popular hair creators. 

i think i had legitimately EVERYTHING from simstrouble though, i went through multiple times to check and i also have all of her retired stuff. 

i have everything from ridgeport i think-? because of the fact that she uploaded all her stuff in one big zip. 

i think that’s it.. for a long time i also had everything by clumsyalienn, but then i ended up deleting it and only keeping my faves. 

and looking at my collection, maybe ah00b? i might be missing a couple but i at least have like 99%.

23. what’s one pack you think is underrated? dine out, it’s laggy af yes but it’s such a nice thing for my sims to do. 

24. what are your favorite sims stories/legacies? melons by gerbits always and forever

this question was inspired by this ask anyways so 

25. if you could change one small thing about ts4, what would it be? most of my suggestions are pretty complex but literally just - when you add tray files, they appear at the top. my life would be so much easier

this took me literal hours to answer

[jayankles]

Regardless of Gender

Pairing: Jensen x Daughter!Reader

Word Count: 1024

Summary: Y/N has a secret that she needs to tell her father.

Warnings: Angst, Feelings of shame, mentions of disowning. - I promise it get better!

Written for: @spnfluffbingo | @spngenrebingo | @sdavid09 | @spndeanbingo | @goodthingshappenbingo

Square Filled: Coming Out | Heartbreak | Non Romance | free space | coming out

Eyes wide, puffy and red, you wiped away the tears that wouldn’t stop falling, no matter how hard you tried to stop them from spilling over.  You sat there on the couch in your dad’s trailer, waiting for him to finish shooting today’s scenes.

You were running out of time to hide away.  If it meant that you didn’t have to talk to your dad, to postpone your conversation with him, then you would walk out of there and in to the snow. The Vancouver snow. Bit time was ticking by and you knew that you had to tell him your little secret. Huffing, you leaned forward, putting your head between your legs to keep yourself calm.

Not hearing the door open, you missed the look of concern on Jensen’s face before he scrambled to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and rushing to your side.

“Hey, kiddo .” Jensen rubbed a hand over your head and down your back. “Here just drink some water and we’ll just sit and I’ll wait. You don’t even have to talk, I’ll be here to be your cuddle bud.”

Taking a deep breath, you sat up and thanked your dad for the water. When you gulped half of it down, you knew that it wouldn’t be long before your dad knew the truth about you.

You put the bottle on the coffee table and sat back, almost immediately falling into your father’s arms. Jensen sat there with you, just holding you tightly to his side, afraid to let you go too soon. He had witnessed many of your panic attacks before, standing by you through most of them. He knew better than to force you to talk, knew that if he forced you it would only make it worse- make your chest tighten and constrict your breathing further - so he left you until you were ready to talk.

You could sit there for hours, hugging yourself closer to your dad’s body, and damn it you wanted to, so you sat there for another ten minutes , building up the courage and finding the right words to say.

It was now or never.

“Dad, I have something to tell you.” Biting your lip, you looked up at him, taking a breath. You shook out the rest of the rest of your nerves, nothing bad was going to come of this, you had to tell yourself repeatedly. “I like girls and I think I have a crush on Kara.”

Jensen didn’t say anything, didn’t even make a sound and at this point it was worse than him shouting.

“I’m sorry,” you coughed out, your bottom lip wobbling as you tried to hold in the tears but the tingling sensation in your nose told you that it was too late, they were already flowing. A fat tear hit the back of your hand, you couldn’t stay in the same room as your dad, not when he was disappointed in you, so you ran.

The panic started to build up again and you couldn’t breathe but it hurt that you told your dad something huge about your life and he said nothing.

Sniffling, you found a hiding spot and just sat down, soaking in the setting sun, the last bit of hope you had for your dad accepting you for what you are - who you are - sinking into the horizon.

“Is it okay if I sit here, kiddo?”

“Sure,” you waited for Jensen to sit down next to you. He huffed when his butt perched on the floor. “If you want to disown me I’ll find somewhere to crash. It’s fine.”

“Y/N, what are you talking about? Why on earth would I disown my daughter for liking the same gender?”

“Because I told you my deepest, darkest secret and you left me hanging, you said nothing and made me feel that way; like I was nothing because I wasn’t into guys.”

Jensen shook his head along with his hands, “that was never my intention, baby girl. I was just processing and I went about it the wrong way, of course I should have said something - anything - but I didn’t and I knew that as soon as I saw that crinkle in your brow and took off in a rush that I fucked up.

“Baby, I don’t care if you like guys, girls, whatever. You are my daughter and I will support you no matter what because it’s my job but I don’t care who you love as long as you don’t fall for those bad girls who will get you into trouble because I don’t think my heart can take it.”

You giggled at your father as he placed a hand over his heart.

“Do you still love me?” You asked with a furrowed brow, it couldn’t hurt to ask.

“What kind of stupid question is that? Of course, I still love you. There is nothing in the whole world that would make me stop loving you.” Jensen kissed the crown of your head and encircled his arms around your shoulders. “And if you ever start dating someone, even if it’s Kara and I know her, I still need to do the ‘be back by midnight dad thing’ because we both know that it has to be done. Regardless of gender, I’ll be the one to decide whether or not another person is good enough to deserve my daughter’s love and affection.”

You stood and your dad did too, after the conversation you had you felt better, lighter that you told him that you were a lesbian but just because you were into girl didn’t mean that you were off the hook with late night talks or even sneaking out of the house if you secretly wanted to meet with anyone. Now that you had told him, you expected your father to question every girl that ever came close to your ‘personal bubble,’ he called it. Just like he did with all the boys that even smiled at you when you were on set or at a restaurant.

Father’s were mysterious creatures but when they loved you they were fiercely protective.

Please let me know what you think?

Feedback is gold and very much appreciated

Forevers: @super100012 @lupine-princess @plaid-lover-bay25 @atc74 @growningupgeek @sophiebobzz @docharleythegeekqueen @poukothenerd @grace-for-sale @mrswhozeewhatsis @jesspfly @supernaturallymarvellous @sammysgirl1997 @roxyspearing @mogaruke @be-amaziing @deanandsamsbitch @frankiea1998 @hennessy0274-blog @spn-dean-and-sam-winchester @iwantthedean @capsheadquaters @emoryhemsworth @notmoose45 @essie1876 @cassieraider @brewsthespirit-blog @its-my-perky-nipples @riversong-sam @jotink78 @captainradicalpassion @jadalecki-jackles @spnbaby-67 @holyfuckloueh @gh0stgurl @alyssa6marie @esoltis280 @bumber-car-s @alexwinchester23 @x-waywardaf-x @thisismysecrethappyplace @randomparanoid @kellianz​

jensen: @im-turnip​ @deans-baby-momma​  @ericaprice2008​ @shamelesslydean​ @thing-you-do-with-that-thing​ @wingedcatninja​ @mayasmedberg​ @beckawinchester​ @superseejay721517​ @valerieshubin  @sandlee44​ @ruprecht0420​ @akshi8278​ @smoothdogsgirl​ @dslocum89​ @plaidstiel-wormstache​ @ria132love​ @iamabeautifulperson18​ 

[ghost-hyunjin]

Ghost!Hyunjin Chat Bot

“Yes I’m a ghost. No I’m not Casper.”

A Stray Kids AU Chatbot and Ask blog based on Ghost!Hyunjin from the one-shot Roommate?. (It is not mandatory to read this one-shot before interacting, but it does help set-up the AU if you’re interesting in writing with him.)

Original Ghost Chatbot

Storyline

Hwang Hyunjin, better known as Sam to his college classmates, was on track to graduate with high marks and honors. When a friend leaves a party with the girlfriend of a fraternity president, the latter mistakenly assumes Hyunjin is the guy and storms over to Hyunjin’s dorm room. In the scuffle, the fourth year student is shoved too hard and hits his head, dying from the impact. The school was quick to sell the land that the dorm was built on for new housing developments, eager to put the tragedy behind them. But Hyunjin discovered that he couldn’t move on from this site and sought to communicate with someone, anyone, who would listen to him.

Options

Former Classmate: You shared a class or two with the young man (high school or university) and heard about his passing. Maybe you remembered him, maybe you talked to him when he was alive, but the news was shocking as you never dreamed someone you saw in class would die so young. While trying to focus on the new year, you can’t ignore the stories about the unfortunate death and discover that your former classmate might not be gone after all...

New tenant in the housing development: The university struck a deal with an outside development company to buy the land for whatever purposes they wanted. Turns out the company saw promise in revamping the building, turning it into a modern complex of townhouses/condominiums for tenants to own. With fresh coats of paint, slightly adjusted layouts, and competitive pricing to match rival buildings in the area, the company was blissfully unaware of their long-term tenant who came with the sale of the building. You were buying your first place and were in for a rude awakening when you learned you weren’t alone in the new townhouse/condominium.

Paranormal sensitive person: Student dies in dorm building! Newspapers, social media, and the local news channel covered the tragic accident for weeks. Eventually the focus on the trial of the accused took over the feeds, but if you search a little deeper on the Internet, one might find whispers and rumors about the student still hanging around the condemned building. You’ve always been drawn to the paranormal for some reason and were curious to find out if the rumors were true or smoke and mirrors.

You may also consider combining plots if you wish. If you have other storylines in mind, please come chat with us about this!

Basics

DISCLAIMER: This is an alternate universe version of Hwang Hyunjin of Stray Kids and does not represent the actual idol or his group mates. The admin only owns the original storyline and concept!

SFW. [As of 9/25, all chats are SFW. Asks and memes can be a little suggestive, but we ask that you be 18+ to send those!]

Warnings: Mention of death, ghost hauntings, light pranks

Admin does have a life outside of the chatbot – please understand that I will try to respond in a timely manner. If it has been 48 hours since our last exchange, go ahead and send me a reminder.

In addition to taking private chats, anyone may send Hyunjin Asks.

Please note this is a sideblog – I am unable to follow from this account.

Off Limits

18+ for any NSFW implied content. (Ex. Suggestive or fade to black) No exceptions. Admin is 21+. If I find anyone has lied about their age, I will not hesitate to block you.

Blood play, degradation, knife play, waste play (urine and scat), cheating, manipulation (using Hyunjin to make someone jealous or vice versa), dub con, non con, yandere themes, and dom/little play are not permitted. Part of these do not fit with the AU I’ve created for Hyunjin and the Admin is not comfortable writing these topics. 

Repeat spam messages will result in the thread being dropped and the user blocked.

Do not suggest or discuss the possibility of dying before it’s time or suicide. The nature of Hyunjin’s death was tragic and he does not wish to see anyone joining him as a ghost on purpose. (Suicide and purposely doing something reckless to die quickly included.) Anyone who suggests this will automatically have their chat deactivated and I reserve the right to block you.

Godmodding Ghost!Hyunjin and repeatedly assuming details about him, his life, or situation. I understand if it is a mistake one or two times and will let you know so you can rewrite your response, or I can write my reply to avoid the error. If this continues to happen in the thread, I will politely let you know that the thread has been dropped. You are allowed to send asks in or interact with his timeline posts, but the private chat option will not be available to you in the future.

Bio

Name: Hwang Hyunjin

English Name: Sam Hwang

Age: 21-22

Occupation: Former undergrad university student

Languages: Fluent in Korean and English

Family: Mom. Dad. Attended university with his cousin Hwang Yeji. The pair were not close, but were on friendly terms.

Notes: As a ghost, Hyunjin does not typically reveal himself until he trusts the individual he’s interacting with. He may play a few harmless pranks on you to see if you’re paying attention. Observant and caring, he will try to be supportive if you’re feeling down.

The admin has created a reference for how they play Hyunjin. Please check it out before you decide to interact with him: HERE

In an effort to not overdo it and allow a fair amount of attention to each person, I am only accepting 8-9 Y/N chats at a time. If all spots are taken, I will inform you that you are on the waitlist. Once a spot opens up, I’ll message you and check to make sure you are still interested.

If you’re a fellow chatbot, there is no limit in terms of spots – we are open to plots or little random exchanges where we send positive thoughts, things that remind us of you, etc.

Included

IM chat

Friendly hellos and random messages

Cheering up if you’re down

Playful banter

Offers cuddles and soft, affectionate behavior if you’re close

How to Interact

Reblog and message with the following information:

Name

Age

Gender

Preferred pronouns

How do you know Hyunjin/wish to be introduced to Hyunjin?

Literate or text message format

Additional information (Ex. You have a pet, you don’t believe in ghosts at first, etc.)

Admin will respond in 24-48 hours and the interaction will begin. Please write out of character messages with [ text ] so it’s clear who you are addressing. Admin may have questions and will ask before writing a starter. If the Admin has not heard back from you within 48 hours, the Admin is going to assume you are not interested and will delete the form from IM. You are welcome to resubmit the form if it was an accident you missed the initial messages, but if it happens again, the Admin will soft-block you from interacting with Hyunjin.

Deactivate

If you wish to stop the interactions, please send “I’m sorry, this whole ghost thing is too much for me to handle.” He will stop messaging you.

If you want him back, please tell him, “Can we try again?” Please note he might be miffed about the abrupt the end to the original exchange, unless there was good reason, and it will take time to mend the relationship.

Credit to the original accounts @yanderechrisbang and @yanlee​ for starting the chatbot wave!

Also thanks to accounts who inspired me to give this a try: @soft-hyunjin-chatbot, @aussieboilixismine, @skzforyou, @slytherinbangchanchatbot, @strayallure, @let-me-knowminhoe, @softboyjinnie, @freerentskz, @skzhybrids, @skzhybridz +many others!

Shout out to some talented mutual chatbots I’ve interacted with and who supported me:

@mafia-chaeyoung @android-hyunjin @street-racer-hyunjin @yunho-bot @kitten-yeji @soft-hyunjin-chatbot @switchwolfchannie @mermaid-dahyun @hanjisung-bot @sweetbbyboyhansungie @fluffyboifelix @dandyboyseungminie @ogwoodz-cb @yoonhana @foxy-seulgi @let-me-knowminhoe @twilightyeonjun @lil-2000-hybrids

[fuckyesdobiegillis]

I've never met another TMLODG fan before! How did you become a fan of the show? Do you like other old shows or just this one?

hey anon! thank you so much for this! i love getting asks on this blog and talking about dobie with yall! also wow i literally received this ask on the day i graduated college (end of may) and thought “wow this is the greatest graduation gift ever! then i waited a month and a half to actually reply, so....

anyways i first became a dobie fan in i think 2014? after russell johnson died (professor on gilligan’s island) tvland started playing gilligan’s island a lot. i became a huge fan of that show and of bob denver. i remember my stepdad mentioned dobie gillis being bob denver’s first show, but i didn’t really look into it at the time. 

i was in ninth grade, and i had this assignment for my english class that i procrastinated until literally the last minute lol. my master plan was to go to sleep early and then wake up at 4 am the day the assignment was due to work on it. i did wake up at 4 am, and i started working on the assignment. that lasted all of like 5 minutes, until i got curious about dobie gillis and decided to look it up on youtube. to my surprise, pretty much all the season 1 episodes were up on youtube. i started watching immediately. that morning i got all the way up to episode 5, when maynard gets drafted. needless to say, i did pretty poorly on my english assignment lol. 

i watched as much as i could until i opened up youtube and saw that all those dobie episodes had been deleted! that was the year that the shoutfactorytv dvd box set came out for sale, and i remember i asked my dad to get it for me and he did. literally what a guy!

that summer i watched the entire show. i was watching like 11 episodes a night in my mom’s basement haha. 

in january of 2015, i was home sick from school one day and started this blog! i think i only kept it up for about a year, but then during covid i started rediscovering a lot of things i loved as a teen, and dobie gillis was one of them.

this show seriously brings me a lot of comfort and joy. i think the humor is something that feels so shockingly modern, and the characters and the bonds between them are so incredible. i love the show’s self-aware moments. i love how subversive it is, and the special place that the cast has in tv history (thinking of bob denver going on to sitcom immortalization in gilligan’s island and sheila kuehl going on to being california’s first openly gay state legislator). also thinking about how this show gave such a rare opportunity for special actors to shine- mostly thinking about frank faylen and florida friebus. frank faylen started out in vaudeville and his only other really notable role was in it’s a wonderful life. and florida friebus was famous on the stage- none of that work was put to film. these two people easily could have been lost to history, but on this show they had second billing- they had a chance to shine. it’s something that is so special to see and im happy that we are able now to see their talent. this answer kind of got out of hand. i think the cast of this show truly makes it special.  

re: the second part of your question. generally i don’t think i prefer older shows? i of course love i love lucy and gilligan’s island. i also like mash but i think that’s kind of different from shows from the 50s and 60s. i like little house on the prairie and the waltons, and the golden girls. but as for “old” shows that’s about it. if any of yall have recommendations i’d love to check them out!

and anon, i hope you’re still around and can read this. im sorry it’s been awhile. this ask really brightened my spirits on my graduation day haha and i hope i was able to give an adequate answer. i’d love to hear your dobie story and what you find special about this show. any other questions you have, i would love to answer. sending so much love out to dobie nation <3

[sleekflowseo]

Beginner Tutorial: How To Get Started With WhatsApp Business

Reasons to Use WhatsApp BusinessWhatsApp VS WhatsApp BusinessAs of October 2020, WhatsApp hits 2 billion users around the globe and the number is still rising. The market penetration of WhatsApp is especially astonishing in some countries, for example, over 95% of Netherlands smartphones have this instant messaging app installed (Statista, 2020).

Obviously, WhatsApp is massive. The high number of WhatsApp users indicates there are enormous potential audiences ready to be reached. In 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business version, allowing companies to interact with customers via greeting messages, quick replies, and business profiles. From that moment on, many started scrambling over each other to explore this opportunity. However, jumping on the bandwagon is never easy. Let’s check out these helpful tips and tricks for getting the most out of the world's biggest messaging platform!

WhatsApp VS WhatsApp Business

Although the user interface of WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business is pretty similar, they serve very different purposes. Given that WhatsApp Business is specially designed for businesses to connect with their clients instantly in an official manner, there are a few exclusive features that are currently not available in WhatsApp:

Automated Messages

Quick Replies

Business Profile

Label Chat

Reasons to Use WhatsApp Business

In today’s instant messaging (IM) era, customers preferred having a real-time conversation rather than simply leaving a message. Responding quickly is crucial for customer satisfaction. According to the research published by HubSpot, 82% of customers expected an immediate response to a sales or marketing question, and 90% expected an immediate response to a customer service question. In such cases, automated messages are an extraordinary way to address this issue: it lets your customer feel heard. You can also make good use of the automated greeting message to gather more information from the customer, which will help you identify their particular needs easier and save some back-and-forth.

Of course you can use your personal WhatsApp account to communicate with both of your friends and customers, but it must be increasingly difficult to draw a fine line between private and business relationships. Not only can WhatsApp Business help you to stay organized, but they can also assist you in offering accessible customer service options, showcasing products and services and most vitally, creating superior brand connections with every customer.

With the WhatsApp Business, communicating with your customers is now easier than ever. Sometimes, customers’ inquiries are complex and hard to solve straight away. Instead of spending extra time trying to dig out all the information from customers, you can customize the WhatsApp pre-filled messages to reduce the number of these follow-ups to a minimum. Not to mention the predefined text can encourage your audience to engage with your company on certain topics. This can potentially contribute to your revenue growth, as well as improving customer satisfaction and streamlining your operations.

WhatsApp Business Tutorial

WhatsApp Business is a free app available on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

To get started, you have to create your business profile by entering details under Settings > Business Settings > Profile. Make sure you get these accurate since any misleading information can cause you trouble.

Followed by the most important step, setting up the messaging tools. You need to go to Settings > Business Settings and check the messaging options available there. There should be 3 options: Away message, Greeting message, and Quick replies, you can set each of these depending on your requirements.

Apart from 1:1 support, you can also remind your customers about the latest promotions at once. To create a WhatsApp broadcast message, you have to go to the WhatsApp > More options > New Broadcast. Search for or select the contacts you want to add, then tap the check mark. You can select all the contacts you wish to send a broadcast to and send it, or you can organize your contacts with labels and then send a broadcast to one or more than one set of labeled broadcast lists.

For more app features, you can refer to Sleekflow’s complete guide on using WhatsApp Business.

WhatsApp Business Audiences Management

Creating a WhatsApp Business account is definitely not the hardest, while establishing presence in customers’ minds is. How can you keep in touch with your audiences without annoying them?

The key is to continuously deliver great content on relevant topics. Thus, it is of utmost importance for you to label all contacts, or else it will be very tricky to find the right person to stimulate conversation. The default setting already has a couple of different labels, but you are always welcome to add your own as well.

After putting your customers into different categories, you can start interacting with them via either a group or a broadcast list.

A group is a place for your fans and customers to come bond around, they can learn about your product and get access to exclusive knowledge through chatting with other like-minded people. It is also a handy channel for you to tap into some real insights.

Another practice is to send out a broadcast message as mentioned above. It is very similar to a marketing email but with a much higher open rate - the text message on WhatsApp gets an average open rate of 98%. Unlike group chats, recipients will see the message as a standard one appearing in their WhatsApp. With this one-to-many conversation feature, you can keep the conversation private and personal, all the replies will be restricted to the broadcaster only and no one else will get the reply of the message except the one who has sent it.

6 Must-Know WhatsApp Marketing Strategies

1. Present an Attractive Brand Persona

It’s 2020. If you want your brand to rise above the digital noise, a cold and sterile approach is the last thing you should attempt. To make sure your customers must be able to identify your brand quickly, you need to develop a strong, memorable, warm-blooded brand. For instance, including jokes about your brand on the business profile or getting festive profile pictures on special occasions. Quick reminder: don’t be afraid to use casual language such as “btw” and “LOL”, speak to your customers like you’d speak to your friends.

2. Build a Contact Base

Due to WhatsApp's anti-ad philosophy, cold call messages are not accepted. Businesses can only send messages to customers under 2 scenarios - customers initiate the conversation or the company’ phone number is on their contact list. In exchange for the WhatsApp number, you therefore need to offer them something of value. An exclusive coupon, promotional code or a giveaway campaign can all be good motivations for the users to begin their relationship with you.

3. Offer Relatable Content to Customers

Customers may come to you for very distinct reasons, in other words, you can’t use only one type of content to keep every audience engaged. Don’t forget to make good use of the Label Chat feature. You can create labels with different colors or names, and add them to an entire chat, group, or certain messages within a chat. By targeting those who are interested in particular topics and feed them with relevant content, you can eventually increase your customer base.

4. Deliver Excellent Customer Service

A 24/7 customer service used to be very luxurious, but with WhatsApp, even small businesses can now provide real-time support within budget. No doubt, speed matters in customer service. Fortunately, WhatsApp Business has the ability to send quick replies. With quick replies, you can create keyboard shortcuts for the messages, which is especially useful when you have to answer the same question over and over. This provides a considerable benefit when it comes to time saving while still actively connecting with customers.

5. Conduct Customer Research

Imagine you were trying to ask a girl on a date, how could you succeed without knowing her interests? Same logic, you must first have a deep understanding of who your buyers are, your specific market, and what influences the purchase decisions and behavior of your target audience members. Customer research is conducted so as to clarify the aforementioned details. Generally, people react more positively to images than blocks of text, so do try using visual aids in your questionnaire. Polls are also fun as they can give the respondents a glimpse of how they compare to others. By integrating a poll midway through a survey, the respondent can be immediately presented with the overall polling results, rendering them a sense of wider engagement with other respondents.

6. Utilize WhatsApp Status

Like other social stories, with Status Feature you share an image or video with your contacts that lasts for 24 hours. You can create special promotional codes your customers can share to redeem at your business. Using the instant photo and location feature, Status can let everyone in your group know about the on-going promotions. If you want to drive in traffic and create buzz, you can even launch a two hour flash sale or a one day special.

Read More:

How to Run Instant Messaging Marketing?

Essential Guide: Whatsapp Business API

WhatsApp Business: Pricing in Hong Kong and Worldwide

Original Link: https://sleekflow.io/zh/blog/whatsapp-marketing/

[tiffgeorgina]

about the bastard babey!

hey y’all im getting kinda close to 100 followers so im just gonna make a quick abt so yall can like. know me and shit. adding a cut bc this is kinda long

-y’all can call me indigo or tiff idc lol. i do not kin tiff georgina, let me just put that out there. i just liked the url. any pronouns please. im lesbian and i reclaim dyke but not queer. call me queer and i will block you. nonlesbians don’t call me dyke or expect the same treatment.

-im 18 so keep that in mind if you’re like. 15 and want to message me. or if you’re +30 and want to msg me. just let me know how old you are if you’re drastically older/younger than me so i know how to interact with you appropriately yk?

-im the resident bootleg lady! yes im @indigo-boots and my list of bootlegs can be found here: https://encora.one/indigo +1000 recordings and counting! im currently closed to gifts and sales, but im open to trades so feel free to msg me to talk about boots or trade! respect NFT dates or die.

-i’ve been running this blog for a few months now, probably since the tail end of season 1 of black monday. i originally just wanted to claim the canon url, then i actually started posting my hot takes here and the rest is history. i will probably always be posting about black monday, the book of mormon, and falsettos here. yes i stan andrew what of it.

-im @tiffgeorgina on twitter and @socialjusticemage_ on reddit in case you see me over there. i literally just andrew post on my twitter so if you stan feel free to follow me uwu

-i think im like. the resident black monday stan. like if you go through that tag it’s all me babey! i track #black monday.

-i have a lot of black monday-specific tags. #open mic night is for asks, #men get pegged is blair, #women be shopping is tiff, #biggest set of nuts on ball street is dawn, #black moses is mo, #more flaming than fire island is keith, i had tags for the agent mills and agent fox but i forgot it :| #a million queue lawyers a million queue years to queue out is my queue tag duh, #slander is my tag for things i say outside the tags (it’s from episode 5 if you’re curious), #otp: partners. is my mo x dawn tag, and there’s probs more i don’t care to mention lmao

-my asks are always open, so feel free to yell about literally anything to me. black monday, fic prompts (since im starting to actually write), discourse, etc. anon is always on so idc what yall say uwu feel free to say things. on that note my msgs are also always open so if y’all need somebody to talk to about anything andrew-adjacent (especially black monday) feel free to msg me. also if you want to watch black monday msg me and i can get you a link (it’s SD but it’s better than nothing)

-this user does not tolerate: racism, homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia, transphobia, transmisogyny, or other forms of bigotry or freakazoidism. be normal and also do not ask me about ace discourse or i’ll lose all my followers lmfao

-this user is also of the opinion that blair’s last name is spelled phaff, blair is gay, dawn’s last name is towner but it should’ve been darcy, and nobody at showtime PR knows how to do fuckin anything. 

-i listen to a shitton of musicals, including but not limited to: the great comet, falsettos, the book of mormon, mean girls, heathers, hamilton, six, we are the tigers, hairspray, cabaret, moulin rouge!, &juliet, beetlejuice, the prom, legally blonde, 13, be more chill, hadestown, and next to normal. i’ll probably post about all of these over here from time to time.

-i listen to a bit of kpop too, so you might see some idol gifsets here too (probably just my wife heo solji from exid let’s be real)

-im half ashkenazi jewish, so if i use the k slur don’t decapitate me bc if i ever use it it’s reclaimed uwu

-im from northern california, but i live in southern california for school. i’ll almost always be on PST unless i specify otherwise.

-porn blogs DNI. switch to your fucking sideblog and put your fucking dick away. put your fucking dick away.

-if y’all have any questions about falsettos/black monday/the book of mormon feel free to ask or msg me! there are no dumb questions and i will jump at any chance to launch into a giant analysis post lmao

-i try to rb everything im tagged in and interact with y’all as much as possible bc ily so feel free to annoy me at like all hours

-my main is @ninetyfivepercentstress as seen in my desc. that’s where i send asks, replies, likes, and follow backs.

-i might update this some more later if i feel like it lol thanks for reading y’all and welcome to this shithole of a blog!

[jayankles]

That Snapback

Pairing: Jensen x Reader

Word Count: 441

Summary: Jensen decides to wear a hat on stage at a convention, it does nothing but kindle a spark inside of you.

Warnings:  mentions of late night rendezvous, mentions of a quickie, implied future public sex

Written for @spnkinkbingo

Square Filled: Public Sex

Also written for @iwantthedean ’s iwtd’s birthday challenge / iwtd’s jensen x hats challenge

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NSFW IMAGE IN AESTHETIC BELOW

You always appreciated Jensen’s natural beauty, the freckles that danced across his face and the expanse of his body. His striking green eyes were a feature of his that he couldn’t control yet they were what he was remembered for, apart from his amazing acting of course.

Watching from the sidelines, you smiled as his cast mates came out onto the stage in front of the people that went to the convention to meet the cast.

Once Jensen followed Jared and Misha through the curtains, you bit your lip, eyes widening at his choice of attire. Jensen knew what he was doing. He smiled and waved to his fans but when he made eye contact with you, he winked; you narrowed your eyes. Damn, he knew what to do to rile you up and get you feeling some type of way.

His navy blue button down shirt clung to his chest, and him rolling up the sleeves helped to showcase his toned forearms but that wasn’t what you were staring at, no. It was the matching snapback he put on backwards, that snapback was what caught your attention and made your heart speed up and heat rise to your cheeks. You couldn’t look at him any longer, you had to look away as the images from last night’s saucy activities.

The guys had answered practically four out of twenty of the questions that they received but the crowd didn’t care, nor were they complaining since they got their convention dose of J2M antics.

Jensen hadn’t stopped smiling - well apart from when he was pretending to be a grumpy grouch - but it was your favourite smile, the one where he stuck his tongue to the roof of his mouth and you could see it through his perfect, pearly white teeth. He was driving you insane, so much so that you glared at him when your eyes met, throwing daggers at him for good measure.

You couldn’t wait until the end of the convention so that you could repeat last nights actions and have your way with him, having him whimper under your ministrations with nothing but that snapback on.

Tonight, you would be the one who took control and made him feel the frustrations you felt throughout the day. Right now, though, all you could think about was a quickie in any secluded place that you could find.

That snapback. You had only bought it for him last weekend it already had enough memories within it to last a lifetime.

Ah, that snapback. It was going to be the death of you, no matter if Jensen wore it with clothes or not.

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[p-r]

hey hey panta rei

stop don’t read this just yet. put on outro by M83, have it repeat until you're done, but don't stop the song short even if you finish reading in the middle of a loop. just take a minute for me, please.

wowie, long time no see.

I'm sorry its been a minute, but here's the truth of things: life changes.

max, to whom this blog was once basically dedicated to, i doubt you will read this post. thank goodness. a part of me hopes you see it so that you can see my growth. 

regardless, ive fallen off of writing here and i plan to fully make up for it by posting once a day or whatever but we both know that I won't do that. ill try my best.

now im sitting in my semi-messy dorm and thinking about the username origin of this blog. p-r, for Heraclitus’ idea that everything flowed, in which he summed this up by the Greek phrase panta rei. he was a large believer that humans true essence was fire (have I mentioned this before on the blog? sorry if i have im really one dimensional), which is the predominant reason that I was so drawn to this little-known, pre-Socratic philosopher. I never was really drawn to his way of thinking that everything changed. I hate changes. like to an unhealthy degree.

now you might wonder why i gave this blog p-r to symbolize the phrase which encompasses something i used to truly hate. this is a good and valid question. i have no idea. fate i guess. 

i came to UC berkeley riding in on heartbreak and everything was something I knew he had seen and done before. the campus was a shop specializing in the sale of morose memories. this guy and i split up sitting on this golden bear statue in one of the busiest, most popular, cacophony filled places on campus. passing it for the last three weeks has been one of the hardest parts. 

tonight i was sitting down by that particular statue with a new friend. we were laughing and making noise and screaming about boys we liked and memes and inside jokes. i looked over at the statue and felt nothing but joy. i didn’t see him sitting there and pulling the plug anymore. i didn’t feel the harsh blinking of desperation as you try to shove down tears. i didn’t feel the dread in my stomach.

i saw kids riding skateboards and people dancing to trap music. i felt massive tears of joy well up during outbreaks of laughter so hard on the core p90x wants to know my regime. i felt warmth across my body contrasting with the cool wind. i felt the world change a little. 

everyone else kept moving, and instead of time stopping like they say it does, i felt like i was moving a little faster. the joy of going to a tuesday philosophy class, the joy of trying chipotle for the first time today, the joy of being present, the joy of being in control of an unknown but wildly fascinating tomorrow. 

the joy of being unable to step in the same river twice.

H-man, its taken me three years to understand how my human fire works within the world. Fire is volatile, it glows with power and radiates, it hums as it glows. 

Fire is ever-changing, no flame will ever look the same twice. Fire has the ability to destroy, kill, build and bring life. fire changes and creates change.

i am everchanging. i will never look the same twice. i have the ability to destroy, kill, build, and bring life. i change and create change.

[fipindustries]

third week at the book store

is like the universe realized i’m doing this and decided to increase the amounts of zanyness in my life just to give me material, for example:

there is a guy who sits to play the acordion at the entrance of the book store every day and today it was when the season hit it stride and the clients where are it’s most demanding, so my morning was basically me on a frantic haze in the middle of a crowd chasing book while a silly little acordion tune was playing in the background and i realized i suddenly was in the middle of a movie montage.

but anyway, let’s start.

on scatological happenstances:

i literally, no bullshit or embellishment, crapped my pants in the middle of my job (must have been something i ate). I cannot believe such a sitcom situation could have happened to me and yet it did. Luckly i live five minutes away of my house and one of my bosses was understanding enough to let me go and change my pant without having to really explain any embarassing details, i just had to mumble something about an emergency change of clothes and she allowed me to discreetly leave my position, though i did hear her mutter under her breath as i walked away “this is the first and last time this happens”

more about understanding bosses:

this is a nicer anecdote that could have ended much worse.

i usually have the bad impulse of getting in the middle of a sale that another employee is having with a client if i think i have pertinent information and i have done it with my manager in more than one ocassion. And he warned me that if i ever did that again then he was just going to dump the client on me regardless of if was already busy with something else.

so, one day he is talking with a client and the client mentions a book that i remembered seeing in the deposit room a few days ago, now my boss was just about to explain that the book wasnt on the store but i interrupted and said that we did have the book.

my manager gets understandably annoyed by this and, as he promised, he dumps in me the responsability to go find the book (which he is convinced it’s not there) just to set me up to fail and then having to explain the client that i had lied to him.

now this sounds like the typical story when the spunky and wide eyed young employee proves his worth to his old and stupid boss, right?

wrong, i was actually really ashamed of my self and worried i had angered my boss so i go look for the book (and find it) and then i check the database and i realized what happened was that the database showed the book as nonexistant even though we had it and that was why the boss thought it wasnt there. this doesnt change the fact that the boss is angry at me so, in a very contrite manneri go back and try to explain what happened, to which my boss answers that i had to explain the client that we couldnt sell the boo to them.

i take this as the boss trying to make a point on me so that i dont make the same mistake again, i have a quick debate of whether i should ignore my boss and sell the book anyway but i decide it was not worth risking making my boss angrier, so i put down the book, tell the client we dont have it and send them away.

then my boss starts to explain in a very condescending tone about how we should mind our own bussines and not interrupt in the middle of a situation we dont understand and then a thought cames to me, could it be that he still thought we didnt have the book?

so very timidly i explain i did found the book and he stops and looks at me confused, and then he looks at the book whichj i am holding in my hand and with the most doumbfounded of expressions he asks “then why didnt you tell me?” i explain that i did tell him and it turns out he misheard me saying the book wanst on the database.

and then the weirdest thing of all happens, he actually apologizes for his mistake, even though in a lot of ways it was my stupidity which ruined a sale that could have happened he still apologized to me. and it it was at that moment i realized i had been reading far too many stories about cartoonishly unreasonable bosses and that was what i had taken him for.

funny how life works out.

(the book was tales of earthsea 3 by ursula leguin, btw)

one more about me being a terrible employee:

my coworkers started noticing that i’m writing these notes down and when they asked me what they ere for i answered “for my blog”

so one particularly slow day where no clients where showing up my boss decides to kill time by asking him to show him my blog. this blog. on this blue hellsite. a danger everyone on the internet always jokes about and yet i never thought could actually happen for real.

cue the steamed hams sequence.

thankfully everything was in english and i hadnt rebbloged porn or any other weird pictures in weeks so everything my boss saw was a bunch of english posts he didnt understood.

dodged that fucking bullet.

some other anecdotes that had nothing to do with my job

part a, my grandfther:

there was a time, as a teenager, where i actually went every week to have lunch and my grandparent’s house after school. in many of these visits i would talk to my grandma (the more talkative and amenable of my grandpas) about what i had done at school.

so one day im talking about some programming that i had done, computer talk, i’m trying to talk in terms as generic as possible because i know she doesnt really follow the subject that well when suddenly, out of nowhere, my grandfather asks me “but... how does a computer store all those things inside? how does that work?”

now keep in mind a couple of things, first, my grandpa almost never talks, and never at all about computers, he doesnt even have a cellphone, not even an old model, he never did,so i dont know where this sudden interest comes from.

secondly, i have no idea where to even start explaining this shit to him, specially considering i dont really have that good a grasp on it my self.

so there i am, trying to juggle in my head things such as flip flop logic gates, binary data, adressing, memory allocation and etc when from out of the ether a moment of pure inspiration come to me and i say

“well, it like how a battery holds electricity inside, right?”

now i know this is not actually quite how it works but the things is that i tink i still did a pretty good job conveying the idea of how we can store huge amounts of abstract energy into a very small physical support, like you see a flashlight and you may wonder how is it possible that such a small recipent can contain so much continuous light?

anyway, my grandpa just nodded and made no further questions

part b, a D&D story:

now excuse me if this dont reach the hilarity levels of a mcelroy podcast but anyway.

this was the third time ever that i was playing D&D and i wanted to play an elf, but not just any elf, a 25 year old elf, esentially a little kid. and i really play to it, i acted naive, innocent, childlike, you get the gist.

so eventually got into the grimy bussiness of a combat encounter, as one does, my party got ambushed by a group of cultists and we started kicking and stabbing and killing and eventually we managed to whittle them down to one single guy. And in line with my young innocence i try to the very last moment to negotiate and talk things through, so when there is just one guy left i sort of stop and ask him desperate “stop! we’ve already killed all you comarades, we are more than you, what are you expecting to get out of this!?”

so the cultist just up and kills himself in front of my poor little character traumatizing him for life and the funny thing is that on some level it got to me, i honestly said that in the hopes that the DM would just stop and give us a chance to interrogate him and that move caught me completly by surprise.

so that was fun.

me being a revolutionary fighting against authority:

a lot of my job involves taking peoples credits cards and identity documents so that they can pay for the book without actual cash, i always have to remind the clients to give me their papers so that i cant actually perform the payment.

one time a cop came to buy some books and i had the rare chance to flip the tables and ask a cop for his documentation.

it was exhilarating

thoughts on books:

i believe that we (and by we i meant those with an actual brain on their heads), we all wish for a world where books are more beloved and respected by everyone, but we forget what happened last time a book became too loved and respected.

that’s right, that book is called, the bible.

(as i was trying to jot this silly little joke on a piece of paper i was interrupted by a client who came to buy a bible, this is not a coincidence because etc)

more on the good book:

these are very real mangas about the old and new testament that we sell in our book store, now im not surprised that these exists as much as i am surprised by the fact tha my very noirmal and serious book store sells these right next to real official bibles like it’s no big deal.

now some actual serious thoughts on religion:

two interesting and opposite situations in which christianity triumphed despite overwhelming odds against, told by someone with a very feeble grasp of history:

first with the roman empire, the romans were the undisputed supreme empire and the christians were a small nation of desert dwellers who existed only to be crucified or fed to the lions, yet eventually the whole empire turned into the chatolic apostolic roman church and were in fact the main reason it spread so far through the world.

on the other side there is the afro american communities taking into slavery on the emergent america. Even though slaves had every reason to hate and curse the god of their slavers the fact is they actually clinged on to christianity pretty hard, to the point that in the long run the black communities became a staple of american christianit, what with gospel and such.

christianity seems to be infectious regardless of it being the champion or the underdog.

thoughts on loosing weight, though it can be applied to other things:

there are two options:

either you dont do it because you can’t or because you won’t.

if you can’t then there is no shame to that becuase it would be unfair to ask the impossible.

if you wont, you can pretend you could if you only wanted to, and this is you choosing not to and there is no shame on that either.