#or or or i told the story of how in korean class people turned to look when i said i was austrian

[navramanan]

white people just dont get meeee and i cant explain myself all the time

[bluwavez]

WAIT FOR IT: KIM DOWON IS THE FIRST K-POP IDOL TO TAKE ON BROADWAY WITH HAMILTON.

He Wants To Be In The Room Where It Happens. The Kpop Star's Second Debut Of 2016.

When Kim Dowon ranked 7th in The New Wave, his fans deemed it a miracle. While they never doubted his talents, they knew the judges didn't favor him for his age or appearance. Kim, turning twenty-one during the show's run, had been training for five years while focusing on singing, rapping, and dancing; he had begun developing a passion for musical theatre, learning the choreography to Newsies to impress the panel of judges during his trainee evaluations.

Growing up in lower-class New York City, Dowon, English name Dylan, would often sneak into numerous Broadway shows with his friends. "I still feel this way, but I always felt the ticket prices were way too high. I wanted to see Westside Story so bad, and my friend was like, "Why don't we just sneak in?" So that's exactly what we did." Ever since then, Kim's love for musicals has only grown.

When Dowon moved to Korea at age 15 to start his K-pop training, he got to do something he never thought he would ever get to do: Take an acting class. "My mom didn't make a lot of money, and the school I went to didn't have a good arts program. So, I really felt like the closest thing I could get to acting was either sneaking into shows or watching movies. When they told me I could take acting classes as a part of my training, I was like, "Really?!" my eyes got big, and I couldn't stop smiling. It was really exciting for me." Dowon would share during an interview with Cosmopolitan.

After DeepDive's lackluster debut, Dowon would be reached out to by none other than Alexander Hamilton himself — Well, his actor, Lin-Manuel Miranda. "I still have no idea how he got my email. Not my manager's, not my company's, no, my personal Gmail account," Dowon says, "He said he saw the video of me doing an In The Heights cover and wanted me to audition for a musical he was working on. I sent him back something like, "You know I'm in South Korea right now, right?" and he went, "It's nothing we can't work out. Send in an audition tape." and I mean...The rest is history."

Lin-Manuel Miranda would confess that he had watched every performance of Dowon on YouTube. "I don't know if it was his charming good looks or his crazy vocal ability, but I knew this was the guy I needed for Aaron Burr."

Kim Dowon, listed as Dylan Kim on Hamilton's Playbill, would be cast as Aaron Burr two weeks later and head off to New York to prepare for his Broadway debut.

Hamilton premiered on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in previews on July 13, 2016, and opened on August 6, 2016. 

Despite Dowon being the first and only K-pop idol to have a successful Broadway debut, his company was rather silent about it. They announced he would be joining the Hamilton cast and taking a hiatus from the group until the show's run ended, ending their comments on Dowon's Broadway debut despite his achievements during his time in New York. Dowon would open a personal Instagram account a week after the show's massively successful opening, making him the first member of DeepDive to do so. Still, it's not like the people following him knew him for his K-pop group — Oh no, that was Aaron Burr to them.

One of his achievements during his time in Hamilton was winning the 2017 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. He was the first and only artist under Angelico to win a Tony award. However, you wouldn't know this because his company did not acknowledge the achievement. During his acceptance speech, which he did in both English and Korean, he thanked his brothers Jisung, Noah, Woobin, Kiwoo, Woojin, and Finn for remaining by his side during this journey and the entire cast of Hamilton for taking him in during this time of his life.

Dowon gave his last performance in Hamilton on July 9, 2017. Tearfully, he told the crowd he wasn't sure when he would return to the stage, but he hoped they wouldn't forget him or the rest of the cast, whom he addressed as his family.

Dowon would return to Korea and DeepDive on August 17th, 2017. He has not performed in a musical since.

[lej222]

ASLFUA ending theory

I’ve recently re-read this webtoon, along with the Korean raws, so there will be SPOILERS for those who are not up-to-date with it. I will also compare it the the Korean drama, 25 21, so if someone hasn’t watched it, please skip those sections. Thank you. :)

So, let’s start off by clarifying that I love After School Lessons for Unripe Apples. I adore the relationship between Cheol and Miae, and I love them both as characters. I need to address this here, because otherwise some might think this is a hate post. It is not. What I will conclude at the end of my post is my interpretation of how the story will end, and it is an objective conclusion, not my subjective feelings. Please understand before accusing me of favoring certain characters over others. 

This webtoon is very similar to the Korean hit-drama, 25 21 in many ways. They are both set in the same time period, they are about youth and friendship, and are centered around a boy and a girl and their blossoming relationship. The girl is positive about life, full of energy with an eccentric personality, while the boy is more cautious because of his own bad experiences in the past, and he starts to see the beauty of life again and be more himself after meeting the girl. Of course, these similarities are coincidental as we know that Unripe Apples was published before 25 21. At the beginning of 25 21, we get to know that the main characters are no longer together in the future. Despite hoping that the narrative will keep them together, we have to resign to the fact that the show will be about their youth and they will eventually get separated. Let’s not talk about how that happened, because the execution was quite clumsy, but the main idea is the following: two young people meet when they need each other the most at a certain point in their lives - they develop a friendship which later becomes romantic love - life and circumstances force them apart, and the love they shared will only be a memory while they experience new things. Now, let’s look at what we know about Aslfua:

In the second chapter of the webtoon, we are told that Cheol is someone Miae will never forget. This message is reinforced again in chapter 4, when they end up being in the same class. This leaves the readers wondering: why is the wording like this? In fact, the meaning is the same in the original Korean text. If Miae and Cheol get married one day, why are we told that she would never forget him? Because, if the foreshadowing is intentional, Miae and Cheol will one day part ways. I know that it is hard to imagine for us readers, who watch their story unfold in front of our very eyes, but this is a very likely outcome. From the very beginning, Cheol is introduced in every way as Miae’s first love. Miae often compares their moments together to the comic she reads, My First Love Next Door Is Number One. The comic is a blatant symbol of their relationship- they live next door, the main character is like Cheol, and he is the first love of the girl. The narrative keeps emphasizing when something significant happens, that Cheol and Miae are 16 years old, with sentences like “this is the age when everything is embarrassing”. It’s not a coincidence in my opinion that the emphasis is always there. Because it keeps us not forgetting that this is a certain period in their lives, which will one day pass. But if they do not end up together, you may ask, what was the point?

Well, in my opinion, the story has always been about Miae and Cheol helping each other, while the romance has been secondary. Cheol meets Miae at the lowest point in his life. For him, meeting her is more than a romantic relationshp, meeting Miae is a start of a significant turn in his life. Cheol becomes friendlier, more expressive and acts more like a young boy. Miae, on the other hand, learns to be more responsible when she is with Cheol, and he helps her out many times. The time that they spend together might be short for all we know, but it is truly something they will never forget. Interesting that the author has drawn them together in high school, wouldn’t that be a spoiler at this point? Well, it wouldn’t if they do not go to the same high school, in this case it would be a what if scenario. There are also a lot of illustrations on her social media, but they are not strictly romantic. This leads me believe that while Cheol and Miae will indeed fall in love with each other, it will be just a short period of their lives. Yes, heartbreaking, but very realistic if you ask me (as an adult, I’m speaking from experience). 

So, here comes the more controversial part. If Cheol and Miae do not end up together, what about the other characters? It’s a very interesting question. Because, for a long time, the webtoon did not have a clear second male lead. Second male leads are usually introduced only for the sake of creating drama between the main characters. We know from the start that they will not end up with the main character, but they are usually fun people with an unrequited crush, who are introduced at the beginning as part of a love triangle.We could observe the same pattern in Cheese in the Trap, the author’s other work. In Ho was shortly introduced after the male lead,they had a personal grudge against each other, fell in love with the same girl, etc. He was included in promotional art, but it was obvious he was destined to lose.

Let’s look at Unripe Apples from the same perspective. Jinseop is shortly introduced after Cheol, he has a fun personality and personal connections to Cheol. Does he end up as the second ml? No.He seems like the perfect candidate, but he only becomes Miae’s friend without romantic feelings. What about Jungwook? He’s Cheol’s friend, goes to the same academy as Mae, he is handsome and kind, another perfect candidate. But no. He never has any romantic feelings towards Miae. So, here comes the strange part. We are introduced to a boy way long into the story, Seo Jisu. His apperance seems random at that point of the narrative until we realize: but he has been there all along. In fact, if Korean theories are true, he has been in the story since chapter 1. Miae gets back her pencil, but it wasn’t Cheol’s doing. Soemone drags Miae away from the crowd at the sports festival. She dances with a faceless guy who keeps saying random things. They are sent out to the corridor for not paying attention. He finds Miae’s nametag and wears it. And, if the theories are true from the Korean raws, he went to the same elementary school and confessed he liked her in front of the whole class before transferring. So, this guy was truly everywhere in the narrative even before we were aware of his existence. But why?

If he was truly destined to be the second ml, why wasn’t he introduced earlier? Why was this character needed when we already had at least two boys who could have fulfilled the same role? Jinseop already created tension between the main characters, so what was the reason? Also, Jisu is weirdly separated from certain parts of the story. He doesn’t go to the academy, in fact, we never see him outside school. Jinseop is tied to Cheol’s past, and we see him a lot outside of school with Miae. And how does Miae see Jisu? She thinks he’s weird, while others characters think the same of her. Even though they recently made connection, she looks at him a lot, while they are not even friends. Miae had already had a lot of male friends from the cast, why was one more added? And why don’t we know anything about him? 

Well, here comes the final conclusion. I think Jisu will be the one Miae will stay with at the end. Otherwise I do not see why the author chose to drop so many hints of him even before his introduction if it wasn’t going to be important. If Cheol and Miae get separated, which is supported by the narrative, the most likely outcome is that she introduced Jisu to be Miae’s final love interest. Again, I’m not saying this because I prefer him over Cheol. I love both characters. I relate a lot to Cheol. It is my objective conclusion based on the narrative, if the author wants to portay a realistic coming-of-age story. It would be pointless if she created Jisu’s character only to create drama at that late point of the story, and honestly, bad writing, especially with how she built up his character in the background. Obviously, I can be wrong. The story will still be good even I’m wrong. But it’s an interesting possibility to think about. 

[jisunghannie]

Under the Stars

PAIRING: Jeongin x fem!reader

WARNINGS: Lots of angst, angst to fluff, mentions of unrequited love, use of hand-holding, hugging, kissing, mentions of arguing, arguing (not with i.n), mentions/actions of crying, use of korean words

SUMMARY: You love Jeongin and just don’t understand why after so long of you two being friends, you guys didn’t fall at the same time. He had fallen so long ago, you didn’t feel the same way but for your best friend you tried your best to try and love him like he loved you. However, things don’t always work out. You guys had your fallout, and broke up with each other, choosing to be friends. As you got older, you regretted your decisions as you realized that Jeongin was the one who truly loved you. However, when you had fallen, you realized your feelings too late. It’s because, nobody ever talks about the tension between the two people who never finished their story together.

WORD COUNT: 4,671

A/N:

This is not proofread! I’m so sorry if there are grammar mistakes or anything, I hope you guys enjoy this piece!

eomma = mom

yeodongsaeng = younger sister

-ah is used to describe someone younger (Your older brother (Jae) uses this to address Jeongin)

`○°.• ✿ •.°○` = Timeskip

It was the summer of junior year, it was the hottest of the year and you were extremely irritated because it was messing up your makeup by how badly you were sweating. While you were complaining to Jeongin about your makeup you realized that he was staring at you with a different look in his eye. “What? Is there something on my face?” You asked, “I know my makeup is coming off but geez Innie-” He cut you off before you could finish your comment. “No, no! You look good! It’s just…” He sat in silence for a minute as you looked at him puzzled. “Yes?” You asked as he looked up at you, pink dusting his cheeks. “Listen y/nnie I-” You cut him off, “Oh my goodness Jeongin! It must be too hot, you’re turning red! No pink! Doesn’t matter!” You shouted as you grabbed his wrist and took him to the nurse.

As you two got there, you guys saw the nurses sign saying that she was out getting lunch as you puffed out your cheeks in frustration as he kept trying to tell you that he was fine. You ignored his comments and pulled him into the empty room and laid him down on the bed as you got a wet cloth and placed it on his head. “Thank you y/n but really, I’m okay.” He said as you shook your head, “No buts or okays.” You said as he chuckled. “What’s so funny?” You asked.

“Hey, y/n.” He said grabbing your hand as you looked at his hand holding yours. “Do you think we’ll still have moments like this if you get a boyfriend?” He asked as you turned red. “Why would you ask something like that?” You asked, bashful now. “I don’t want to get into a relationship yet and besides, I’m not that pretty for a guy anyway.” You said as you saw him shake his head. “Not at all, to me,” He said, giving your hand a light squeeze, “you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. You’re amazing y/n.”

You smiled as you gave him a small nod of thanks.

That’s when the bell rang. “I got to go, but stay here, I’ll come back.” You said as he nodded. Then as soon as the cleaning bell rang after class you went to the nurses office to see that Jeongin wasn't there. You were frustrated as you told him to stay there. However, as you walked out you saw Jeongin talking to a girl, looking like he was being confessed to. You weren’t surprised though, you knew that Jeongin was pretty popular with the ladies but it seemed like he rejected her because soon after, she ran away crying.

Just then he spotted you and walked over to you with a cheeky smile. “Watching me again from afar?” He asked as you shook your head no, “Why do you keep rejecting girls? That was probably your 4th one this month.” You replied as he shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t want them.” He said as you tilted your head. “Then who do you want?” You asked as he stood in silence for a moment. “Let’s go home.” He said, quickly changing the subject.

Not wanting to pry anymore, you let it be you agreed as he walked you home, as he gave your mom and older brother some of the food that he bought for you. After he left you sat down at the dinner table confused.

“What’s wrong yeodongsaeng?” Your older brother asked as you looked at him, “I just don’t get it.” You said finishing the food in your mouth, “Jeongin rejected another girl today and today at lunch he asked me ‘Do you think we’ll still have moments like this if you get a boyfriend?’ not to mention that, that girl was the 4th girl he rejected this month.” You said in one breath, taking another, “And! He also completely dodged my question about rejecting the girl. I asked him why he didn’t want her and soon followed up by asking him who does he want and he changed the subject.” You told your brother as he nodded. “Well for starters, you’re an idiot. And second, ask him directly.” He advised as you looked at him confused. “Ask him about his feelings.” He said differently. “Stop being vague Jae.” You said as he sighed, “Listen baby sis, take it from another guy. Jeongin-ah is… just trying to hint something important. If you don’t know what then you need to ask him yourself because if I’m guessing correctly, it’s something that he has to say to you. Not something that I can tell you.” Your older brother said as he drank his tea. “I’ll open the roof hatch and invite him tomorrow, you can ask him while you two watch the stars. I know you guys love doing that together.” He said as you nodded.

That night, you continued to toss and turn, still confused about the whole thing. You didn’t understand a thing your brother had said. The more you thought about it, the more scared you had gotten because you were thinking that Jeongin was tired of you and was trying to tell you in the nicest way possible but you were still horrified. However, you tried to ignore it.

That night you got 3 hours of sleep.

You then woke up and put on your makeup and met up with Jeongin at your guys’ usual spot to meet halfway to walk to school as you kept fidgeting. He noticed and held your hand. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He asked you as you shrugged your shoulders. “Nothing much I guess.” You told him as he looked worried and touched your forehead. “You look so tired… I haven’t seen you fidget so much since grade school.” He said worryingly as you shook your head. “I’m okay, yes I’m tired but I’m okay.” You said as he nodded, continuing to walk to school, not realizing you were holding hands with him.

As you guys got to school, nothing in your routine changed. And at the end of the day you told him to come over for dinner as he agreed. Once you guys had arrived at your house, your mother hugged him and got him a pair of slippers and sat him down. Your mother was telling you to help cook a meal for him as you blushed. “I’m not good at cooking eomma!” You said as she hushed you and forced you to cook as Jeongin smiled walking over to help you. As he helped you, the dish you guys had made was actually pretty good. But that was to be expected as Jeongin was pretty good at cooking. Nonetheless, you guys had enjoyed your meal to the fullest and after, you washed the dishes. Jeongin waited for you to finish and when you did, he told you he was going to head home. “Wait!” You said, and just at that moment you grabbed his wrist. He turned back startled and looked at you as you let go of his wrist. “Sorry… but, it’s Friday. Just stay, it’s late. Not to mention we still have your clothes from the last time you slept over.” You told him as he gave you his usual closed mouthed smile and nodded.

After you both showered, you caught him looking outside, looking at the stars as you remembered your older brother’s words.

“Hey,” You called out to him as he turned to face you, “You wanna go watch the stars on the roof? Like we used to when you always came over?” You asked him. “Of course, I missed those times.” He said as you smiled, taking him to the roof as you guys laid down, watching the stars.

You two were talking about small things that soon got deep and just then you noticed.

“A shooting star! Quick! Make a wish!” You said as you closed your eyes and he followed your lead. You had thought to yourself, ‘I wish for Jeongin to be happy and find someone important to him.’ As you finished you looked at Jeongin who still had his eyes closed. He had closed his eyes for a while and you almost thought he fell asleep until he opened his eyes and looked at you.

“Why are you looking at me?” He asked as you giggled. “That was one long wish. What did you wish for?” You asked as he sighed and sat up. You sat up with him, “Hey, I’m sorry if that was out of line-” He cut you off. “It’s not that y/n.” He said as you looked at him puzzled. “Then what is it?” You asked as he turned to you.

“Remember yesterday when you asked me ‘Then who do I want?’ or something along those lines?” He asked you as you nodded. “Well, I want a girl who makes me feel loved and accepted without saying it directly. I want to love someone because they deserve it and don't crave it. I want someone who gives me butterflies in my stomach every time that I hear their voice or their name or just whenever they call or text me or just when I think about them. I want someone who can comfort me because they want to and I want someone who can match my vibe naturally. And…” He said, grabbing your hands gently. “That girl in my heart, eyes and mind, is you y/n…” He confessed as you looked at him totally confused and unsure what to do. You didn’t feel the same way for him. But you didn’t want to break his heart. You wanted to have Jeongin be happy, even if it meant sacrificing your own happiness. You wrapped your arms around him. “I feel the same way Innie…” You lied.

He began to tear up and sob silently into your shoulder. You felt horrible lying to him but as long as he was happy. You thought you could put up with it.

As the first week went by, he was more affectionate with you. Subtle hand holding, more hugs, he stayed longer at your house, and more. It was all sweet and you should’ve felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Well, you didn't, you felt like a waste of time. Not saying he was a waste of your time. Rather you were a waste of his. Despite him loving you and showing his affection for you. You didn’t feel any different. You appreciated his affection but it was no different from when you guys were friends, it was completely different labels and titles. You felt bad but kept going.

And going, and going.

Until the lie reached to your guys’ one year anniversary. You couldn’t do it anymore and even though it was a horrible idea. You were going to break up with him on your guys’ one year anniversary.

He had told you to come to his house and when you did he looked all cozy and gave you a closed mouthed smile as he covered your eyes and led you to his room. As he uncovered your eyes, he unveiled the most beautiful rose bouquet, gift basket, and a letter that went from his bed that reached the door. He smiled and hugged you from behind and whispered in your ear. “Happy one year anniversary.” Just then, you fell to the floor and started to cry. He was shocked, he didn’t know if it was happy tears or sad tears. Nonetheless, he wiped your tears and lifted your chin. “Hey… if something is wrong, you can tell me…” He said softly as you stood up and walked a little bit, wiping your tears. “I can’t do this anymore Jeongin…” You told him as he looked at you horrified. “What happened..? Was it me..? Let me know what I can do to make it better-” You cut him off as he looked at you, tears brimming his eyes. “It’s not your fault… it’s mine…” You told him as he looked at you confused, “It’s not your fault, I promise, whatever this is we can work it out.” He told you, grabbing your hands. “Please…” He said, sounding more like a plea. “No, because, Jeongin… for the past year…” You took a deep breath, “I’ve been lying about my feelings… that day, under the stars, I wanted you to be happy and if that was with me I thought I could put up with it but after this past year. I knew I couldn’t keep lying to you and that’s why…” You took another deep breath, “I’m ending things here before I make another wrong mistake…” You said as his tears finally rolled down his face.

“I’m sorry…” You said as you left the room, not wanting to see his heartbroken face. That boy didn’t only lose his best friend, but his first love, his first girlfriend, and the person that he cherished the most.

You went home and cried, feeling awful as your older brother consoled you. “I know you feel horrible for what you did, which you should, I’ll admit. But, what you did tonight took courage. It was definitely something that not a lot of people would’ve done or admitted. I’m proud of you yeodongsaeng.” Your older brother said as you continued to cry, until you fell asleep.

The next morning, you woke up to a text from Jeongin.

Innie: Good morning y/n! I know we broke up yesterday. But I’d still like to be friends with you if that’s okay. Best friend, friend, girlfriend, or none at all. You are amazing and I would love to keep you nearby y/n. Please take the gifts as well. I have no reason to keep them and it would be my last, selfish request. Text me when you wake up.

You wanted to cry reading that text but you took a deep breath and typed a reply to him.

y/nnie: Good morning Innie! Yeah, I’m okay with that. Do you wanna come over and drop it off? We can also hang out.

Almost immediately after you sent that text he read it and started typing a reply.

Innie: Yeah, actually I was getting ready since Jae invited me over to talk. I’ll bring the things with me.

y/nnie: Sounds good! See you then!

That was odd. Jae wanted to talk to him. Jae was usually reserved. Your older brother was a mystery sometimes.

You got ready and when you finished you caught your older brother introducing Jeongin to one of his female friends. You were confused but paid no mind to it. As Jeongin saw you, his eyes shined. “Are you ready to go?” You asked him as your older brother butt in. “Actually Jeongin was gonna take Su-jin out.” Your older brother said as Jeongin cleared his throat. “That’s fine, I can come-’' You were cut off as your older brother patted Jeongin’s back. “Man, you certainly don’t wanna miss the cafe, lines get long at this time. Now off you go.” He said as he pushed the two out of the door.

“Dude! What is your problem!?” You shouted at him. “Relax. When he asked me what to text you and showed me the thing he got for you. I felt bad. So I introduced him to Su-jin so that he could move on in peace.” Your older brother said as you scoffed. “Dude, I literally just broke up with him yesterday? You think he’ll get over me that quickly?” You spat as your older brother rubbed his temples. “Whether he gets with Su-jin or not, it’s just so that way he’s occupied and crying his eyes out about you because knowing him, he probably sent that text about staying friends with you even though I told him not to.” He remarked as you glared daggers into him. “Oh relax Jae! You were the one consoling me last night and praising me for doing ‘such a good job’ at telling him the truth.” You replied as he laughed, “You must’ve forgotten the part where you led him on for a good year.” He said as you yelled at him. “So what! You act as if you’re better than me. Try being in my position. Only wanting the best for one of the most important people in your life and what they want is you! When you wish that for someone and you think they deserve it you would do anything, and I mean anything, for them. Even if it meant sacrificing your own happiness. Yet that doesn’t seem to process through for you does it Jae!?”

Your older brother was taken aback by how serious you had gotten. “God, you’re even more stupid than I expected! You are so selfish! You know that!?” You didn’t care anymore. Jae then wiped a tear that rolled down your cheek. “If it meant sacrificing your happiness and putting up with it, not to mention, you claim not to have feelings for him. Then why are you crying baby sis?” He asked as you realized.

You were crying.

But for what reason? You wondered. You wiped your teary eyes and tear-stained face as you shook your head. “Listen baby sis. I think, somewhere along the way. You did end up falling for Jeongin, but you forced yourself to think you didn’t because you thought he was too good for you and felt as if he could do better. You knew deep down, somewhere, that you loved him. Yet you just couldn’t seem to find it at the time that Jeongin had found his feelings.” Your older brother said as you shook your head. “Listen to me.” He said as you looked at him. “Do you miss him?” He asked as you nodded, “Of course, I do, I miss the boy that I had by my side that would constantly bug me and everything.”

“Then maybe, you do love him still. Maybe you always have and just realized it now.” He said as you realized how bad your heart ached for Jeongin. You tried denying it for so long and that’s what brought you so much pain.

After, you fell to the floor and started crying like you were a little girl.

“What do I do Jae… I practically lied to myself and got rid of the only boy who cared about me and now I probably lost him forever…” You sobbed out as your brother hugged you close. “Su-jin and him won’t get far. I doubt it. So he comes back home. You can talk to him about it, okay?” He said as you nodded.

Yet, it was something you weren’t ready for.

You waited as Jeongin came home with Su-jin wrapped around his arm. They were both smiling, together. That’s what hurt the most.

“Hey, Su-jin, come here I need to talk to you.” Your brother called out as Su-jin left with him. Leaving you and Jeongin.

“Hey, we need to talk-” You both said at the same time. “Sorry you first.” He said as you shook your head, “I insist.” He looked hesitant at first and then took a deep breath. “I think Su-jin might be the one for me.” He said as your smile faltered for a second. “I mean, we were awkward at first but the minute we stepped into the cafe together and ordered the same drink and not to mention the cafe had played the same song that we love. Not to mention, we also have the same interests and hobbies.” He said as he continued going on and on about his ‘date’ with her. You tuned out half-way through the rambling Jeongin was doing. Heartbroken and hurt.

“That’s great Jeongin… I’m… truly happy for you…” You barely managed to choke out. He smiled and hugged you as if you guys hadn’t shared hugs like that before. This time, it was different. You wanted time to stand still and wanted to cherish this hug as if it was your last, because deep down you knew that this would be the last time he would hug you this dearly again before he gave it to someone else.

“Sorry, what did you want to say?” He asked as you laughed lightly, “Forget it, I forgot.” You said lying. He looked worried. “Hey, were you crying?” He asked, touching your puffy eyes lightly. Something about his touch was different and you didn’t know what. “I’m okay, really.” You lied as he nodded reluctantly.

Su-jin and Jae were arguing as Jeongin and you turned to face them. Su-jin was yelling at Jae, her words, muffled. You were confused, but Su-jin walking away and putting her shoes on and walking out of the house, stopped your train of thought as Jeongin chased after her. Something told you to grab Jeongin before he fully ran out but your brother grabbed your wrist to stop you before you could grab him.

“Let him go.” He said, as the open door brought in the cold air. The breeze touching your face. It was the realization that you needed. The realization that he was gone. That he had chosen someone else.

`○°.• ✿ •.°○`

You guys were finally graduating. You smiled for pictures alongside your best friend but soon enough, you were asked to move as it was time for him and his new girlfriend’s turn. You took their photos as you realized how beautiful she was. Her long black hair, masking her figure, her pale skin, making her look like a porcelain doll, and that mole under her left eye, creating an illusion of her eyes looking bigger. You were jealous. That she was the one that got to stand by Jeongin’s side. Seeing how he looked at her made tears well up in your eyes. Happy for him yet sad that he wasn’t with you.

“I’m so lucky to have you.” He told her, kissing her hand which wore their anniversary ring. A similar ring that sat on the shelf. She giggled and smiled at him. You understood why he was given Su-jin. Deep down you knew somewhere, that the wish you made was true. Except, that person wasn’t you.

That same night, you came home and went to watch the stars. Remembering the night that occurred years ago. Then you saw another shooting star as you made yet another wish. It was foolish yet you had your hopes high.

You had hoped and hoped that he would be happy no matter what and that happiness would find its way to him, because out of everyone he deserved to be happy.

Jae decided to go to the military and Jeongin wanted to study in Seoul while you stayed in Busan. And soon you forgot about him.

One day while you were working at the usual cafe. The one that your mother had owned. You were constantly busy. So you never really interacted with the customers. Then there was one customer in particular that caught your attention. He seemed odd and rather interesting. He wore a hat, a mask, a big hoodie and baggy pants. Along with his blonde hair. It definitely was either a foreigner or a Korean who wanted a new look.

“Hey, what can I get for you today?” You asked as the man looked at you. You noticed he was wearing contacts, gray contacts to be precise. And in the most perfect English you heard the man ask, “Can I get a cheesecake to go? My friend doesn’t want to order from such a pretty girl like you.” You blushed lightly as you nervously giggled. “Thank you.” You said politely. Something about his presence made you lighten up around him.

“The cheesecake might take a minute. If you want I can keep you company.” You said as he nodded. You guys stood in silence for a minute. “So do you have a boyfriend?” He asked abruptly as you choked on your saliva causing him to chuckle lightly. “No, actually I uh… messed things up with my first boyfriend.” You admitted to the random stranger as he hummed in response. “What do you mean?” He asked as you sighed. “I still to this day don’t understand it myself. I really didn’t deserve him. He was so good to me and treated me right. Yet when I realized it, it was already too late. He had fallen for someone else, and, deep down I think I did love him. I was just too slow and realized my feelings too late.” You said as he stood quiet. “I would do anything to see him again but he went to study in Seoul, while I’m stuck in Busan. Not that it’s a bad thing!” You said waving your arms, relaxing again, “But it’s been a while and still no texts or calls from him.” You said as you sighed heavily, “I hope he’s happy with his girlfriend. She looked so pretty from the last time I saw her. She brought out the best in him. I really saw it, I mean you should’ve heard how he talked about her…” You admitted. “It pains me to admit that I was jealous.” You said as you guys stood in silence.

“I’m sorry, I meant to keep you company and I rambled about my love life.” You said apologetically as he chuckled. “I don’t mind, keep talking.” You blushed, feeling a similar warm feeling inside your stomach. “Do you have a girlfriend?” You asked as he shook his head. “Not anymore, I stopped dating her for 2 reasons. One is because I couldn’t be with her because of the agency I’m in-” You cut him off, “Sorry, but are you famous? Is that why you are dressed like this in public?” You asked as he chuckled and nodded. “Sorry, and the other reason?” You asked. “The other, because-” Your mother brought out the cheesecake and he paid.

“Sorry, what was the other reason?” You asked as he took off his hat and mask to reveal a blonde, makeup faced, gray contact wearer, Jeongin. Your eyes widened in shock as he hugged you close to him. “It’s because I forced myself to love her, I was truly trying to understand how you did that for me, but then I realized that I couldn’t keep leading her on and had to go with my heart, and my heart told me to find you again.” He said as you cried into his hoodie as he rubbed your back. “It’s not that I was ignoring you, I promise, I didn’t mean to lose contact with you but it was a part of my contract. I’m training to become an idol. I’m actually with one of my members right now. He’s the one who wanted the cheesecake. We were in Busan and I knew you guys have the best cheesecake so we came to get some, so surprise.” He said as you giggled and pinched his nose.

“I’m glad you came to me Jeongin…” You said as he shook his head and clicked his tongue. “It’s I.N now.” He said as you giggled again as the car honked. Jeongin looked at the car to reveal his member waiting impatiently. You both laughed as he fixed his hat and before he put on his mask.

He finally kissed you.

You smiled and kissed him back. That was both of your first kisses, and through the long journey you guys had found your way back to each other.

“I’ll see you soon y/nnie, and here, my new number. Maybe we can meet up again and hang out?” He asked as you nodded. “It’s a date.” You said as he blushed. “See you until then.” He said, leaving as you smiled, watching him leave. Happy to know that in the end.

It was you, he chose.

[tiedyeflannels]

Adventure of a Lifetime

Kim Taehyung x reader

Chapter 1 | Masterlist

A/N: HI!!!! Welcome to my new Tae series! I'm so excited to start this because it's something that I've been sitting on for a while now, so I'm really happy I got around to writing it and get to share it with you! Also, any dialog in italics is said in English and (Y/s/n) will be your sister's name. I didn't want to name her in case someone has the name I chose, so I'll let you decide the name. Anyway, I hope you come along for the adventure and I hope you enjoy the story!

“Y/n, pack your bags! We’re going on a trip,” Jeong-Gyu exclaimed as he barged into my room in our shared apartment.

We had met in our first year of college during an art class and the rest is history, we’ve been best friends ever since. I furrowed my brows as I looked at him from my place on my bed. 

“What are you talking about? We haven’t planned a trip.”

He smirked.

“On the contrary,” he pulled out three slips of paper from his back pocket, “I seem to have three tickets to Korea that have my, your, and your sister’s name on them.”

He fanned them out and handed one to me. 

I took it and read the name on it, Y/n L/n.

I looked at him in disbelief, “Why and when did you do this?”

He flopped down at the foot of my bed and sighed, “Well you and Y/s/n are always talking about wanting to take a trip to Korea and I’m going back to see my family during break starting next week so I thought that I would take you two with me!”  

“Dude, how do you know that I’m not busy that week,” I asked, raising my eyebrows in defiance.

“Are you,” he challenged back.

I stared at him for a while before looking away with a pout, “No…”

He clapped his hands, “Aha! I knew it!”

“Listen, it doesn’t matter because I haven’t cleared it with my parents and you don’t know if Y/s/n can go.”

He got up and started for the door, “Done and she can go.”

He walked out and I hurriedly got up and followed him to the kitchen.

“What- when did that happen,” I asked, putting my hands on the kitchen island as he rounded it.

“I called your parents to ask if it was ok to take you two before I bought the tickets. As for Y/s/n, I asked her if she had anything planned for that week and she said “No. I never do” so all of the loose knots have been tightened,” he finished, popping a grape into his mouth.

I looked at him incredulously, “You. Are. Unbelievable.”

He smiled and shrugged, “I know! But make sure you start packing because we leave first thing Saturday morning!”

He happily ran off to his room as I processed what he said.

“Wait- You gave me a two day notice?! Jeong-Gyu!”

~

“This is crazy,” I mumbled as we watched Jeong-Gyu talk with one of the people at the car rental place in the Incheon Airport.

“It’s cool and it’s a free trip! I’m pretty excited,” Y/s/n said, turning to me.

I turned back to her, “You are?”

She nodded.

“Even with the language barrier? You’re not worried?”

She shook her head.

“Nah, I’ve got you,” she gently bumped my shoulder with her own, “And him.”

She pointed over to Jeong-Gyu, who was now filling out paperwork.

“So the way I see it, I’ve got two free translators at the ready whenever I need!”

I lightly pushed her as I playfully rolled my eyes at her.

“That’s why I told you to learn some Korean! I’m gonna let you fend for yourself,” I laughed.

“You’re kidding. You would never do that to me,” she stated.

I looked at her with a smirk, “Watch me.”

She scoffed and pushed my shoulder. I glared at her before we both bursted out laughing. At that time, Jeong-Gyu walked up to us with papers and car keys in hand. 

“Y'all ready to head out? It’s about a three hour drive to Daegu,” he stated, looking between the both of us.

We looked at each other before nodding.

“Yep,” we said in unison.

We all grabbed our bags and followed Jeong-Gyu to the lot where we were to pick up our rental.

We got to the lot and searched for the license plate that matched the number on the paper. Once we finally found it, we placed our bags in the trunk and got in. Jeong-Gyu started the car and fiddled with the radio until he found something that we all liked.

“Alright, are you guys ready for the adventure of a lifetime?”

We cheered as he pulled out of the parking lot.

~

“In my opinion, that drive was entirely too short,” I exclaimed as we arrived at his house and got out of the car.

Looking around, it was beautiful. There were trees scattered around the front yard that were in the process of growing out all of their leaves. A few bushes lined the front of the house and the left side of the stone driveway.

Jeong-Gyu scoffed, “What do you mean ‘too short’? That was the longest drive in my life.”

We walked to the back and he opened the trunk.

“We’ve had longer drives than that in the States,” Y/s/n deadpanned and I nodded in agreement.

“That’s true, but I was talking about the scenery. It was so pretty,” I gushed, taking out my bag and placing it on the ground.

Taking out the rest of the bags, he closed the trunk and looked at us, “It was nothing, really.”

Y/s/n and I scoffed.

“That’s because you lived here for the majority of your life. This is the first time we,” I pointed between us, “have seen this in real life.”

“Ugh, imagine it in the fall,” Y/s/n dreamily sighed. 

I sighed along with her at the image as Jeong-Gyu rolled his eyes and started for the front door. We quickly got out of our daydream and followed him up the stairs to the porch. As we were standing in front of his parents' house, I was starting to get nervous as he rang the doorbell.

“Are you sure it’s okay for us to stay here? We’ve never met your parents in person and I wouldn’t want to inconvenience them with us staying here,” I said, looking at Jeong-Gyu.

Before I could get an answer, the door opened.

“Nonsense! We’re more than happy to have Jeong-Gyu’s friends here!”

Chapter 2

Taglist:

@maple-leaves-in-the-wind

[darth-mortem]

Finally the next fic!

I didn’t plan to combine these lil fics into one story, but this one will be about König’s daughter, whom I wrote about in this fic. Ghost and König’s relationship has a bro vibe in my headcanons. And I think that ‘König’ could be his surname.

Lil Margaret gets a bad grade at school, and she’s afraid to tell her dad about it. 1758 words.

König left his house as usual to meet Margaret, who was returning home on the school bus. Now it was his turn to take care of the little girl, while her mother, who lived nearby, went to another city on a business trip. This time the Austrian wasn’t alone; Horangi also took a leave, and they spent time together. Margaret loved Hong Jin, and the Korean seemed to like taking care of her. He was currently at the store buying food for the week, so König met his daughter by himself.

Usually the girl ran to her dad from the bus, but today something was wrong. She walked slowly with her head down, so König himself went to meet her, crouched down, and gently hugged Margaret to his chest.

“What happened, meine kleine Blume?” He asked. “Did someone offend you?”

“No, daddy,” the girl answered, looking into his eyes. “You won’t be angry if I tell you?”

“Of course I won’t!” König said it firmly. “But first, let’s go inside, okay?”

Margaret nodded and wrapped her little arms around the Austrian’s neck. He lifted the girl in his arms and went into the house.

König had a lot of mental problems, including anger management. His comrades-in-arms tried not to annoy him once more, and on the field, he often turned into a real berserker, sweeping away everyone and everything in his path. There were unpleasant incidents with both Horangi and Ghost, until these two people close to König learned to cope with his explosive nature. But he never snapped at his little daughter, even when she really did something bad or wrong.

“Well,” the Austrian said when Margaret had washed her hands and changed from her school uniform into home shorts and a T-shirt with kittens. “Now tell me, what happened.”

“I got ‘2’ in maths class,” the girl answered quietly, lowering her eyes. “It was a very difficult task!”

“What task?” König asked in surprise, because he knew that his daughter was a good pupil.

“There are three people and two apples,” Margaret started to explain. “You have a knife, and you have to divide the apples equally.”

“Do you know these people?” The Austrian asked, and the girl shook her head. “So you can slaughter one of them, and the others will get one apple each!”

“I said so,” Margaret sighed, “and got ‘2’. And then Ms. Hamilton took me to Mrs. Tailor, and she was asking stupid questions!” 

König knew that Emma Hamilton was his daughter’s teacher, but he heard about Mrs. Tailor for the first time. As for the task, he couldn’t think of any other solution and decided to call Ghost while Margaret was having dinner. König warmed up some soup for his daughter, then left the kitchen and dialed his friend’s number.

TF 141 was on the mission. Ghost and Soap were sitting in the ambush as a sniper couple, while Price and Gaz were making their way through the enemy base to get the necessary information. However, seeing who was calling him, Lieutenant Riley answered it, turning the speakerphone so that the phone in his hands wouldn’t interfere him observing the events through binoculars.

“What’s up, bro?” Ghost asked. “We’re working. Don’t have much time.”

“It’s about Margaret,” König answered. “She had a weird task in school and got ‘2’. I have no idea how to solve it.”

He told about three people, two apples, and a knife. Ghost was silent for a few seconds and then said:

“If these guys are not your friends, you can slaughter one of them and give one apple to each of the others.”

“I said so, and she did too.” The Austrian sighed. "It's the wrong answer.”

“Ye both are sick bastards,” Soap intervened, not taking his eye off the eyepiece of his sniper rifle’s scope. “And th’ child got this shit from ye. By th’ way, hi König.”

“Hi, Soap.” The Austrian smiled involuntarily.

“You must cut each apple into three equal parts and give two parts to each guy.” MacTavish said quickly.

“This is bullshit,” Ghost snorted. “How can you cut an apple into three equal parts?”

Soap didn’t have time to answer. The lieutenant noticed the enemies and aborted the call because he and Johnny had to start working. König stared at his phone for a minute, then sighed and went to the kitchen. Margaret had just finished her soup, so the Austrian started to heat vegetables with a cutlet and telling about the phone conversation.

“I told Uncle Ghost and Uncle John about your task,” he said. “And Uncle Ghost thinks that our solution is right.”

At first, Margaret called both of her dad’s friends by their names, but Riley always reacted strangely to it. When he first heard ‘Uncle Simon’ from the girl, he froze, and then abruptly and without explanation, he walked out into the backyard to smoke. At first, König didn’t understand, but then he remembered that Ghost once had a nephew who was brutally killed. After that, he taught his daughter to call his friend Ghost, not Simon, and it seemed to have no longer caused negative reactions.

“And what did Uncle John say?" Margaret asked, looking at König.

“Well, he had an idea,” he said, placing a plate in front of his daughter, “but it has to be checked. You’d better tell me who Mrs. Taylor is and what she asked you about.”

From his daughter's story, the Austrian understood that this woman is a school psychologist. She asked Margaret if everything was fine at home, if her father was insulting her, and how he coped with household duties when she was with him. The girl also said that Ms. Hamilton wanted to talk to König or his partner and will be waiting for one of them tomorrow.

Soon, Horangi returned with large bags of food. Margaret was already doing her homework in her room at this time, so König told about today’s incident at school without holding back his anger and his language. After listening to all this mixture of English and German, Hong Jin crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes.

“Soap was right, babe,” he said. “You’re a sick bastard. Of course, you need to cut the apples into three parts, not kill one of the people!”

“Oh, really?” König frowned. “You bought apples, so come on, show me how to cut them into three equal parts!”

It seemed like an easy task for Horangi. However, when he cut open one apple and König weighed the pieces on kitchen scales, it turned out that they were completely different.

“Hmm,” Hong Jin said thoughtfully, “this is a coincidence. Take these slices of apple to Margaret, and then I’ll try again, and everything will work.”

It didn’t work the second, third, and fifth time. After that, König took the knife from Horangi, tried it himself, and also failed. In the end, they managed to cut two apples out of twenty into almost equal parts with a difference of one-tenth of an ounce.

“Well,” the Korean said, taking a cigarette from his pack, "it's a really weird and difficult task.”

At this moment, Margaret ran into the kitchen to say that she had already finished her homework and was surprised to see the pile of sliced apples on the table.

“Daddy, Hong Jin, what are you doing?” The girl asked, blinking her clear blue eyes.

“We’ll cook… hmm…” Horangi coughed.

“An apple strudel with cinnamon!” König found the answer. “Do you want to help us, meine kleine Blume?”

“Yeah!” the girl exclaimed happily.

Hong Jin sighed heavily, but remained silent and started helping the Austrian together with the girl.

The next day, König came to pick up his daughter, and Margaret, who was playing in the school yard, reported that the teacher was already waiting for him. Emma Hamilton was a young, fragile woman of only five feet tall, and when the Austrian appeared in the doorway of the classroom, she dropped the notebooks she was holding in her hands.

“Oh, sheisse!” König said and tried to help, but hit his head on the doorway and pouted.

“Are you okay?” The teacher asked, a little scared, looking at him.

“Yes,” the Austrian answered, lowered his head, and entered the classroom. “Margaret said you want to speak with me.”

“That’s true.” Ms. Hamilton smiled in confusion. “It’s about the maths lesson’s task.”

“Yeah, the task!” König frowned. “The solution is impossible! My partner and I cut twenty apples yesterday, and none of them could be divided into equal parts! By the way, this is for you.”

The Austrian’s irritation instantly changed to a friendly smile, and he placed a lunchbox with a large piece of strudel inside on the teacher’s table. Emma looked at it even more confused and carefully asked:

“What’s this?”

“We had to use up all those sliced apples, so we baked a strudel,” König explained unperturbed.

The teacher imagined how this huge man was engaged in baking with his partner and little daughter, and her smile became wider.

“Thank you, Mr. König; that’s very kind of you.” Emma said. “But let’s talk about the task. It’s for little children, and it’s designed for logical thinking, not for accuracy. No one divides food by ruler or weight, right?”

The Austrian through for the first time that, indeed, dividing apples is not the same as designing bombs or equipping ammos, where it’s important to calculate everything with absolute precision. He felt like a fool, and he nodded grimly in response to the teacher’s question.

“Fine,” she said, gently touching König’s hand. “I understand that you’re in the military, and this leaves an impression on your whole life, but please try not to joke about murder or death in the presence of a child. Alright?”

“Aye, ma’am.” The Austrian answered automatically. “That’s all?”

“Yes,” Ms. Hamilton answered. “I was glad finally to meet Margaret’s father.”

“I was glad to meet you too,” König said.

He said goodbye and went to pick up his daughter. After putting her in the car, the Austrian got behind the wheel and drove home, explaining to Margaret how to solve the task about apples. Later, while the girl was having lunch, Horangi asked König how everything went. He told about the conversation with the teacher, the meaning, and the solution of the task. Then he added:

“It’s fine, but next time you have to come with me.” Hong Jin snorted cheerfully, and they also went to eat.

[simplysedusa]

Can you share a few more headcanons about the reliable figures of Townsville? Like the professor, Ms. Keane and Ms. Bellum but only if you want to ofc

It's kinda funny how they're all known by their surnames.

Anyway...

Ms. Keane's the only white person in this trio. I haven't decided on specifics yet but Professor Utonium is either half Korean or half Chinese (2nd gen), which explains why his last name is Utonium and his brother is white-passing. Ms. Bellum is either half black or fully.

Utonium's first name is Edmund.

After Utonium mostly grew out of his rebellious phase, he was on an acquaintance-based relationship with both Keane and Bellum. He wasn't exactly friends with these two but they were the preferred, ideal team in any group project (and Sedusa if the group required four people).

While Utonium has stopped terrorizing his peers, he was something akin to a mad scientist. He'd break into school late at night or on weekends for specific chemicals to test out his hypotheses. When it was his turn to watch the class gerbil, he'd run animal safe experiments on them (and it was thanks to him that they discovered the class gerbil wasn't the same gerbil the class started off with in the beginning of the year). He was also known for creating false student IDs to sneak into college and university libraries for resources.

Keane didn't approve of his antics. Bellum was torn, a part of her thought he was crazy but something about Utonium told her that he'd create something that'd change the world (whether or not it'd be a positive thing was debatable).

Utonium (and Keane) had a small crush on Bellum. And to be honest, who didn't?

Keane and Bellum, however, became close friends in their high school years. Keane was the smart, bookish girl that was nice to everyone. Bellum was that one pretty, popular girl that everyone called a bitch for various, misogynistic reasons. Bellum appreciated how Keane looked past her looks and treated her like a person, and Keane admired Bellum's ambition to change Townsville for the better (and her clever tongue when some boy tried to harass either of them).

Sedusa had made Keane and Bellum's duo a trio. But the trio split once the three went to different colleges. Keane and Bellum had only reunited in their young adulthood, after the news of Sedusa's first robbery and the scandal behind it.

Bellum attended the same school as Dick and Utonium. Dick harassed Utonium to get him a date with her when he learned that Utonium knew her. There was a date, and it ended with Bellum throwing her drink in Dick's face. She didn't talk to Utonium for a week.

Keane always knew she wanted to be a teacher. Various people around her looked down on her for it and believed it to be a waste of her intelligence, but she believed she could impact the future which would in turn, change Townsville for the better.

Bellum always had an interest in politics, thanks to her aunt, who had run for mayor but settled for a desk job after she lost. Listening to her stories and what her policies would have been, inspired Bellum at a young age.

Bellum would go to school for political science AND law, earning a law degree and passing the bar in flying colors. Gotta learn the law if she wants to change it.

These three were the top three students in their high school class. Keane was the valedictorian and Bellum was the salutatorian (Utonium could've gotten better grades if half of his science projects didn't literally blow up in his face).

Bellum decided to wait to run for mayor, and work as the Mayor's secretary (and assistant) as a way to shadow him. She'd later run once he retired and win Townsville over unanimously once the Puffs were about 13 years old.

Once Bellum learned that her niece, Princess, was attending Pokey Oaks, she often checked in on Keane to see how she was doing. Keane figured out the connection on her own, but stayed silent and obliged.

Neither Bellum or Keane were surprised or worried when Utonium created the Powerpuff Girls. Both bought the girls gifts on the day of their creation, and were willing to give the talk to them if Professor Utonium couldn't hack it.

TBH, these three could take over the world if they wanted.

In another life/fic-verse, these three and Sedusa would be the smartest polycule ever.

[starredfishing]

Tell me more about the way the new superman show portrays Lois and her heritage, Starry.

thank u for sending me this ask so i can go insane. also disclaimer: i am korean american but i was raised by white ppl so i cant be an entirely accurate source! slappin a read more on this bc oh boy. i say words

so just in the first 4 episodes i think they do a spectacular job of making her heritage subtle yet noticable. in the first episode she does the lil heart hands thing, which is the way i've seen kpop idols do it but my brother told me its just kinda the korean equiv of heart hands

and then in the 4th episode she wears a jeogori, which is the top of a hanbok (korean traditional wear)

(image taken from the 'jeogori' wikipedia page)

i also wanna note the little top shes wearing under her jacket looks like a traditional viet top (source: my friend who is viet) so double slay

and then beyond that, i really like the way she's designed visually. she doesn't fall under the classic tropes and stereotypes that most animation companies do when designing east asians. she isn't pale (which is a colorism issue, i actually have the same skin color as her), she doesn't have long flowing black hair or on the flip side she doesn't have a purple streak or anything, and she isn't drawn with stereotypical slits for eyes. she's just a normal korean-american woman!!! she's also voiced by a korean, which is super nice to see! i know people joke about her looking and sounding like luz but, yknow.

and then in episode 4 she goes to this fancy high-rise party where she isn't taken seriously and is even insulted on her mannerisms and looks. she's the only woman there wearing something that isn't 1. a dress and 2. western-styled. so they're ostrasizing her based on her heritage as well as her class, though it's interesting that all the women ivo points to as 'classy women' are woc so it is more abt classism. jimmy, a black man, gets disrespected as a photographer and people ignore lois entirely even though some people are willing to speak to clark, who is white. its subtle but like ive been there. she also strays away from the model minority myth--she refuses to take the safe route.i think its a rlly nice and subtle way to show classism and racism without it like, just telling you. i could go on forever abt clark being a jewish immigrant adoptee too he's part of the group even tho he's white (passing). i like the way the show kinda plays around with "but hes not like us/hes dangerous!" no matter how nice he is-- its the same model minority stuff nimona touched on with no matter how nice you are people will still see your worst. but i digress

and just generally abt how they portray lois: i really like her!!! bc it's a younger version of her (superman origin story), it makes sense that she's super spunky and peppy since she's an intern rn. but she's still the kind of woman who runs headfirst into danger without thinking. i like that her character is 'i hate being lied to' because of her past with her dad which then in turn makes her a super nosy reporter who wants the truth. cant wait 2 see what happens next week now that she figured out clark is superman

[pinkkop]

It's been 2 weeks since Love Class 2 ended and I can't stop thinking about it. So I am here to tell you why I liked it soooo much in the hopes that maybe more people will give it a chance.

First off: You don't need to watch the first season before you watch Love Class 2.

The full main cast consists of new characters that weren't in the first season and the main connecting point between the two seasons is the Love Class which is a university course called "Marriage and Family". The class is used in both seasons as a tool to push two characters together and make them spend time together. The way the class works is by pairing the students up and then have them pretend to "date" while writing assignments related to their "dating" (whether this is a real class I am unsure but the same concept is used in the Korean GL "Girlfriend Project Day 1" so it might be a Korean thing *shrugs*). I already really liked how this concept was used in the first season and the second season utilizes it just as well and actually takes a different approach to this so it doesn't feel like the show is just repeating itself.

The basics:

Love Class 2 is a Korean BL with 10 episodes of 30 min-ish each. It has three couples and even if it's short compared to Thai BLs it made good use of the time it was given.

The three couples are all connected but have very different plot lines and dynamics. The couples are as follow:

1. Reunion/mystery past (goes a little dark but no-one gets hurt). Kim An was Lee Hyun's tutor while Lee Hyun was in high school but one day Kim An dissappeared. Two years later they are reunited at university but they've both changed a lot in those two years, Kim An more so. Finally meeting Kim An again, Lee Hyun re-inserts himself in Kim An's life through the Love Class. This turns out to be easier said than done since Kim An's past keeps a tight hold off him.

2. Friends to Lovers /Unrequited Love but not really

Minwoo has liked Maru for so long and has finally resigned himself to his feelings never being returned which makes it so much more frustrating when Maru is always there in his life.

3. Meet-cute / Strangers to Lovers

TA Kim Sungmin and senior student Yoo Joohyuk meet in the most awkward situation (for Sungmin that is 😅). In the aftermath Joohyuk makes it his mission to get Sungmin's attention.

Things I really like about the show:

Great chemistry with all three couples

Interesting plot and good storytelling

Some amazing kisses and believable physical intimacy

Interesting and funny dynamics between the characters, both inside and outside their pairings

Satisfying confessions and resolution for the couples (let's be real, I've watched one of the confession scenes an embarrassing number of times)

The story isn't told 100% chronologically and you aren't told all the facts from the beginning. I'm personally a big fan of this kinda storytelling and I think they do a really good job of unveiling the mystery and developing the relationships.

Final thoughts:

This show manages to both be wholesome, funny, dark, soft and sensual, and with a great ensemble of characters and couples. I really liked all three couples and even if the couples had very different plot lines this still felt like one show.

I've already watched it twice and I think it's definitely a show I'll come back to again which is a testament to how much I like this show.

If you aren't convinces yet here are some GIFS to set the mood!

(also @save-the-data is a God sent gift with all the amazing GIFs of the show. Hope it's okay that I basically plastered my post with your GIFs)

[katierosefun]

Hello! I finished The Glory not too long ago and let me tell you i’ve been going BANANAS over this show it’S SO GOOOOOD!! Anywho, I was wondering if you had any recs for shows/movies like it? I’ve seen you’ve had the excellent taste to watch this BRILLIANT show too jaaksklsajahas

oh hello anon! i'm glad you enjoyed the glory (it's sooo good and i need part two to come out like i need air).

if we're talking shows/movies that have a similar "revenge" vibe, then i would recommend maybe some of the shows/movies that i've recced here.

i'd also rec revenge of others, which, while i haven't watched, i've heard has some similarities to the glory in that it digs deep into bullying in the korean school system, as well as a protagonist who takes revenge on those same bullies. (also, i think the child actress for park yeon jin in the glory actually plays the protagonist in revenge of others, which is fascinating + i've been told that watching these two dramas back to back is insane + a real testament to how shin ye eun is a fine actress)

i also haven't watched taxi driver, but i've heard that it's also revenge related (a taxi driver who performs some kind of revenge service on behalf of clients). i believe season two is coming out feb 17, so it's probably even doubly worth the watch if you're especially looking for something to look forward to!

there's also the korean drama penthouse, which . . . honestly, kind of derails at season two, but it's about a bunch of rich people's lives getting awry when a dead girl is found at their party. heavy revenge-focused stuff, but again: i would stop at the end of season two, because season three is . . . mm . . . not great? (there was this cultural appropriation moment, for one, antiblackness is still unfortunately a thing in korea, and ofc, there's just so many twists and turns and convoluted plots you can chuck in a korean drama before it gets a little insane . . . so fair warning for that! again, though: the first season is pretty fun.)

if you're looking for just slightly darker, sadder pieces of media overall that deal with bullying: i would recommend weak hero class 1, which is basically about a trio of boys whose friendship takes a turn for the worse because of some bullies. i'd also recommend dp, which is about two soldiers who basically find deserters . . . and once again, there's heavy themes around bullying, but this time in the military.

still somewhat related to bullying, but less grim korean dramas probably include flower boy next door, which is about a young woman who stays shut up in her apartment due to a pretty traumatic experience from her high school years. genuinely really healing, and while the plot is mostly about her learning how to step outside again, there's a genuinely touching and rather real message about just how much that one (1) terrible bullying incident in our teen years can really fuck us over. school 2013 is also a series that deals with bullying, although at a much, much more different scale and a different angle, mostly by dealing with why certain students bully and what makes a child actually "troubled".

soooo those are just some stories that are kind of all over the map that might tangentially resonate with the glory, albeit mostly dealing with bullying and revenge. happy watching!

[boysplanetrecaps]

The Great Produce 48 Rewatch: Ep 4, Mamma Mia (Kara) Challenge

Welcome back to the Great Produce48 Rewatch Recap Project of 2023-2024! I have run into difficulties, in that the original site I was watching it on went down for a day or two, but I fought back with the help of a different site that still houses the P48 episodes, just with Spanish subtitles. My Spanish is pretty good so it’s not that big a deal, plus I have google translate on my side when I need it (which is surprisingly not that often -- thanks, Spanish department of my high school!). And YOU CAN’T STOP ME from doing this. No one wants or needs me to do it, and yet, I must. So, I continue. Also, when I was almost done with this particular post, the original website came back! What a journey. Let’s go on that journey together, my dear ones!

In the previous post, Jo Yuri and friends performed Short Hair by AOA. It’s time for the Mamma Mia teams to perform! Check it out.

Lee Seungki calls the two teams up to perform the song, noting that the choreography was done by Dance Bae herself back in the day.  Backstage, the girls say that they are really looking forward to this performance. 

The teams come up -- Team 1 in black, and Team 2 in white. 

Murase Sae, Nakanishi Chiyori,  Park Minji, Park Jieun, Kim Hyunah

Miyazaki Miho, Cho Sarang, Bibian, Choi Soeun, Shinozaki Ayana, Shin Suhyun

Team 1 introduces themselves as “The Eyeshadows” (in English) --and add, first in Korean and then in Japanese, “We’ll paint your hearts lots of different colors!” -- and Team 2 introduces themselves as “OMG, what are we going to do?” Like, that’s their name. I have a lot to say about team 2’s outfits, but we’ll get there. 

Seungki asks Park Minji how she’s feeling, considering that she did this once before in a previous season. She answers that she thought she’d feel less nervous, but  if anything, she might be even more anxious! But, she adds, they’ve worked really hard so that they can do their best.

Seungki asks each team to give a statement. Chiyori says her team will never lose! Souen says that her team really wants to win! Hwighting! 

Seungki says it’s Showtime! But it is not Showtime! It is… FLASHBACK TIME!

The members:

Kim Hyunah, age 23, who I call husky voiced Hyunah, from B class, ranked a sad 72. 😣

Murase Sae, 21, who auditioned with Funny People, rose from D to C and is currently ranked 43. 

Nakanishi Chiyori, 23,  Wacky Chiyori, who auditioned with What's Your Name?, rose from D to C, and is ranked 37. 

Park Jieun, 20,  future ex-Purple Kiss, who fell from C to F and was ranked 70th. 

Park Minji, age 19, PD101 trainee and future Secret Number member, from B class, ranked 56. 

When we left off, we were learning that Wacky Chiyori is the master of hilarious facial expressions, but that plotline has been abandoned for this next segment. It’s also helpful to recall that Hyunah is the center. 

Minji, left; Hyunah, central, and I’m not sure who is to the right since we never see their faces. That’s ok, they’re apparently not important to the story and get 0 camera time.

We start off with a few of the girls in one of those tiny practice rooms, working on their singing together. Park Minji interviews, “this year, I want to be recognized for my singing ability and show everybody what I have to offer.” 

We cut to the girls rehearsing with Soyou. She’s having them sing while they dance, which honestly is a good sign -- I’m sure she starts off just listening to them sing, and if they did terribly at that I don’t think she’d ask them to dance at the same time. 

She’s making this face.

I dare you to determine, based on her facial expression, what she thinks of them. 

Turns out she has nothing but praise for Kim Hyunah, who is my favorite for a reason, and that reason is that she’s great. Soyou even praises her dancing. 

Minji (far right) is ready for her critique. 

But to Minji, Soyou says, “I’ve told you before, but you shouldn’t sing this all “pretty.” We get a flashback that we’ve never seen before. The MNET editors go pretty ham with this scene, adding in a lovely sepia tone to things so we know that this is a flashback. 

In it, Soyou is telling Minji, “You have a lovely voice, but you have to focus in on it alone. You keep trying to look pretty while you sing, and you focus a lot on your mouth.” 

Back in… the main timeline, I guess I’ll call it…. she has Minji try again, but interrupts her almost immediately. “Not like that. Don’t drag the sound. Just sing like this:” -- and she demonstrates. Minji imitates her and it sounds great. Soyou nods, adding, “The sound has to grow gradually stronger.” I like seeing this really specific voice work, because the change that Soyou was making to Minji’s voice was really subtle and specific and good. 

Minji

Then she has all of the girls sing the high “la pa padi” part, and though they’re all a bit pitchy without accompaniment, they’re basically hitting the notes, and more comfortably than Minji.

Minji interviews that her voice is her best attribute, and even so, she hasn’t been able to establish herself as a main vocalist. She thinks her anxiety is getting the best of her because she doesn’t want to get eliminated again. 

Time passes and it’s their dress rehearsal. Minji sounds awful. Just awful. She’s obviously been over rehearsing and she blew out her voice. It’s much worse than Jang Gyuri’s from Peekaboo. 

The trainers are just like…

Jeremy asks what’s wrong, but not in a way that seems to demand an answer. Soyou is like, but you’re the main vocalist, if you sound bad you make the whole team sound bad. Minji says that she originally a part in falsetto, and had been trying to sing it full voice, and that was the problem. She asks if it’s ok to change it now. She tries again, but falters, about to cry. Chiyori and the other girls try to comfort her. 

Why does Chiyori’s top fit so weird on her? She’s a cute girl -- stylist unnie, wtf? 

Jeremy kindly acknowledges the pressure that vocalists face, but it isn’t just that -- Minji is still thinking about getting eliminated last time and how she doesn’t want it to happen again now. It’s so sad how scarred she seems to be from her first elimination. She talks about it for a while in an interview but it comes down to that it sucked to be eliminated before, and she is terrified it will happen again.  I think it’s really interfering with her mental health. Poor girl. This show is such a mess.

Backstage, she’s starting to cry again.

LTRL Sae, Jieun, Minji, Hyunah, Chiyori

Hyunah says, “It’s ok, don’t cry. Don’t feel so pressured.”

Minji says, “I feel like it will be really bad if I don't do well.”

Jieun, bless her heart, says “It’s ok if you don’t do well, too. Who cares?” 

Minji voice overs, “I want to cry tears of joy when we win. I want to hear people say that al our efforts weren’t in vain.”

And now, it really is performance time! The judges are ready…

I love this shot of the trainer’s room. They’re just in some corner with some big wooden blocks and a few bottles of water. They at least have moderately comfortable looking chairs, but they have to hold their clipboards in their laps. Jeremy is just using his phone to take notes. IDK, the whole thing is so budget. It cracks me up. 

As the lights go down, you hear a few shouts from the audience, encouraging Minji and Chiyori by name. 

Unfortunately, there are no blessed edits of either group this time, so we’ll just have to make do with the MNET edit and try not to die.  Or you could just watch Kim Hyunah’s fancam -- she’s the center, and for whatever reason the camera isn’t as focused on her face as fancams sometimes are, so it’s almost like a full cam. 

My thoughts: 

It wasn’t terrible or anything, but the vocals weren’t great. When all five of them are singing in the chorus it’s ok, but each of them has kind of thing vocals and when they sing once at a time, it doesn’t sound great overall.

Minji pulls off the high notes -- of course MNET has to drag it out and all that, sigh -- but it doesn’t sound particularly lovely. She also continues to do that thing where she uses her whole  body to hit a note. 

She sort of sticks out her neck and thickens her throat and just basically does everything in her power to look awkward and hurt her throat. I know that Soyou and Jeremy are doing what they can to help teach the girls how to sing properly, but my god does she need more lessons. I hope that by now, 5 or 6 years later, she has. 

Everyone else is a mixed bag. I think Hyunah is an alto, and her part was a little too high for her so she had a hard time. You can actually hear a bit of Park Jieun’s talent leading into the bridge -- you can understand how she would have been in Purple Kiss -- but her voice sounds pretty hoarse in a lot of the song. Slippery elm tea, you dum-dums! Sigh. And as much as I love Chiyori’s personality, neither she nor Sae has a voice that I would like to listen to. 

LTR: Minji, Hyunah, Jieun, Chiyori, Sae

Dancewise, it’s the same problem as ever - the camera work hides everything. From what I can see, they look good -- they’re throwing themselves into it and they look pretty synchronized. It’s fun to watch them overall.

Stage presence is also pretty good overall. Sae is good at a smoldering look -- a wink, a lip bite, that kind of thing --  and Chiyori just looks happy to be on stage. Jieun looks down at the ground a lot, and Minji telegraphs every note she sings, neither of which is ideal.

I really don’t know which of these five I would have voted for, but it would have been one of Hyunah or Minji, I think. Hyunah does a great job as center, but her vocals were a little off. Minji looked great when she wasn’t singing, and did a decent job singing, but she was also a little lacking. 

I can’t quite give her a vote because of her not-great vocals, but I will say that Sae came into her own in this performance. She’s much more suited to this sexy concept than she was to the silly “Funny People” performance she did as her audition. 

LTR: Sae, Jieun, Hyunah, Chiyori, Minji

The MNET edit is nearly intolerable, as per ujh. They make a big deal out of Sae’s wink. If I went on a show like this, I’d wink constantly. I’d basically never stop. It would be hard to see but it would be worth it. 

When we come to Minji’s high notes, they do a flashback and a few annoying instant replays, and then they make a big deal out of her doing an ok job. The judges praise the group as a whole, and everyone freaks out about Sae biting her lip sexily in the ending fairy. Ok, I revise my previous statement. I’d alternate between winking and lip biting. It would be hard to see and my lips would hurt, but it would be worth it. Add in the headache I’d get from all the hair tossing and I’d basically be incapacitated, but I’d win the voters’ hearts!

Backstage, the girls hug each other and tell each other that they did a good job. Minji voices over that she’s gotten her confidence back about singing. Well, that’s nice. 

Team 2

Team 2 comes up to the stage, accompanied by intense orchestral music. Suhyun voice overs that they worked hard, and she doesn’t want this to be her last stage.  Let’s remember who the members of this team are: 

Cho Sarang, 14, who sang Tomorrow at the audition, fell from B to F (ouch!) and is currently ranked 90th (ouch again!). She has an eye patch on for some of the rehearsals.

Choi Soeun, 16, who did Question Mark at the audition, fell from B to C and is currently ranked 92 (oh no!)

Miyazaki Miho, 24, our multilingual queen, who has stayed in D and is currently ranked 16th place

Murakawa Bibian, 18 but looks like a baby doll, firmly stationed in F class and ranked 31st

Shin Suhyun, 22, the show’s favorite punching bag, who fell from D to F and is ranked 57th 

Shinozaki Ayana, 22, one of the What's Your Name? group, with the beauty mark under her lip, firmly stationed in F class and ranked 87th

When we left off, we had found out that this team did not want to do this song at all, since they didn’t know it. Also, there’s a bit of a rivalry between Miho on this team and Chiyori on the other team, since they’re old friends from AKB48. Bibian was the chooser of this group, Miho is the leader, and Seoun is the center. Sarang is the main vocal and seems to be doing great at it in rehearsals. 

We cut to their dance rehearsal. They are anxious and awkward at the start, not sure if Dance Bae wants to see their nametags or wants them to get into formation. They run through their performance, with Dance Bae occasionally shouting at them to change formation. It seems that Seoun is not in the right spot. When they’re done, Dance Bae tells them, “This is beyond belief. You’d get zero votes. I have nothing to say.” But don’t worry, fam, she has plenty to say.

She asks who the leader is, despite it being obvious that Miho is wearing the L sticker.

LTR: Punching bag Suhyun, Boss-babe Miho, and Center Seoun

Dance Bae asks Miho what they were even doing with their time. It looks like they haven’t practiced at all, and they’re going to be humiliated on stage if they keep going like this. Suhyun wipes away a tear quietly. She voice overs, “Our group practiced together, but…” and we head into a flashback-within-a-flashback. Suhyun  is asking the team to wait, to confirm certain parts of the choreo for her, to start over, but it seems like everyone just wants to keep going. Suhyun is worried that they won’t get any of the details down that way, but Miho is worried they won’t learn the routine as a whole if they’re worried about details.  

Oh no! Miho is worried! 

We’ve seen this issue come up before, and I don’t know enough about dancing to really know what’s the right approach. Getting the details right from the start prevents you from establishing bad habits. Working on the routine as a whole allows you to have the big picture so you can keep refining from there. I read a few articles on the topic and it does seem like the general consensus is big picture first, details later, but maybe there’s room for disagreement on this. It can make for some serious discord in a group, though. 

Since their styles are so different, they stopped rehearsing together as much and started rehearsing on their own. Some of them notice the other group rehearsing all together and look on with sad jealousy.

It seems like they’re all worried that rehearsing the way they are will make it hard for them to beat the other team, but none of them seem to be doing anything about it.

Finally, they have a meeting in one of those tiny practice rooms. 

Miho has written down her thoughts. She tells her team, in Japanese from what I can hear, that she thinks that if they keep going this way, they could end up losing. They’re all charismatic and talented on their own, but no one seems confident or energetic. And, she says, if they lose to Team 1, it’ll be all over. That’s not true, of course, but whatever. She wants them to come together as a team. 

Cho Sarang says, “I don’t think we knew that we all felt like that until now. But the thing is, you three already debuted in Japan and have fans waiting for you. But for us, if we’re eliminated, we have nowhere to go.” 

Miho says, “But we risked everything to come to Korea. We also don’t really have anywhere to go if we get eliminated.”

They’re all kind of crying now. 

Suhyun says, “It’s like Sarang said -- I also have nowhere to go back to.” 

They’re all realizing that they are all desperate to win the challenge, and that powers up their teamwork! It’s time for a montage -- suddenly, they can do it! Yeah! Miho voice-overs that her team hopes that all their hard work will come across to the National Producers and win their hearts. 

It’s time for the performance! Dance Bae says, “I really hope they do well.”

The performance (MNET Edit link)

It is at this point that I discovered that the original site, kshow123, is back up! And I am proud to report that my understanding of the subtitles in Spanish was spot on. Also, I might keep that Spanish website around because they have better resolution, so it might help me take better screenshots. Ok! Back to the recap. 

My thoughts: 

Ok, first off, I have to talk about their outfits. They’re obviously based on a particular set of outfits that Kara actually wore while performing:

But this wasn’t really that cute a look even on Kara. 

I mean, if you look really closely you can tell that it is some kind of fishnet shorts under their white shorts, but it just gives “control top pantyhose” to me. Also, I caught little Sarang pulling her shorts down a little during the performance. Just.. not great outfits overall. If one group is wearing white and one group is wearing black, the team in black tends to win. I wonder if that’s always true? I’ll have to do some research sometime. Black is slimming and makes skin look paler, which is the Korean standard, and white is the opposite.  

That said, let’s talk about the performance. 

The biggest problem I have with this performance is the vocals. Shin Suhyun actually does kind of ok as sub-vocal 1, but most of the other vocals sound kind of nasal or shrieky or off key. Even main vocal Sarang doesn’t do that well - the key high notes are edited as if they’re great…

Everyone reacting to something, possibly Sarang’s high notes. By the way, we see Wonyoung, Na Goeun, and Ahn Yujin constantly the whole episode, reacting to everyone else’s performance. 

… but she’s definitely flat. Even when she’s on key it doesn’t sound too great because her voice sounds so child-like. That’s fine if you’re singing Baby Shark, but not if you’re singing “Look at nobody but me with that passionate gaze” and “With that skill of yours, lock me up tonight.” Vocally, I think the very worst was Miho, which is such a bummer because she’s such a fun human being. She just… isn’t a very good singer. Sorry, Miho! You still seem really cool! 

Dance wise, I think they do fine…? IDK. Thanks, camera man! Thameraman. Some of the moves look really awkward but that might just be the choreo. 

Stage presence was a bit better. Choi Soeun does a great job as center, actually. 

I think her very low ranking is just because no one knows who the heck she is. Sarang and Vivian look comically out of place to me -- I think they’d both do much better in cute concepts. 

Shin Suhyun tries to look sexy but she just kind of looks…. 

… sleepy? Confused? … it’s not working.

Overall, just kind of amateur. 

It’s hard to even say which was better between the two teams since neither was particular great. Sorry, girls! I know you all worked hard. I think this song is just kind of hard to pull off.

The MNET edit tries to make it seem like it was better than it was, but I don’t think the judges were that into it.  Dance Bae says to the others, “The thing is, though, they did get a lot better.” That might be the translation, so I checked the Spanish version, which essentially the same. I really get the feeling that Dance Bae was letting the others know that even though this wasn’t great, it was better than it used to be. 

Backstage, Choi Soeun says, “I was really worried because we were going up on stage without ever hearing a single word of praise. But I’m thankful now because everyone did so well.”

Shin Suhyun says, “I wish we could’ve done better, but it was really fun. Now I can see why people want to keep performing.”  Now you see? You never saw before? Sigh. 

It’s time for… the results!

Park Minji from team one is already crying. Girl! I mean, I would be too. I would cry from the second I arrived until about a month after I’d been eliminated. 

The voting results are:

Black team (win) Kim Hyun Ah 138 Murase Sae 138 Nakanishi Chiyori 48 Park Jieun 32 Park Minji 66 Average: 84.4

White team (lose) Cho Sarang 18 Choi Soeun 56 Miyazaki Miho   92 Murakawa Bibian 86 Shin Suhyun 88 Shinozaki Ayana 28

Average: 61.3 

Neither Sae nor Hyunah can quite believe how many votes they got. 

But I’m actually not surprised at all that Kim Hyunah and Murase Sae got so many votes. Both seemed perfectly suited for the song, in both look and attitude. I am a bit surprised about Miho’s 92 votes -- you guys, her vocals were really bad --  but she must have fans as a well-established member of AKB48. Poor Sarang got one of the worst vote tallies of the night, poor kid. This was just the wrong song for her. 

Then they have to wait for their averages to pop up on screen, which is so funny to me.

Like, Sarang still seems optimistic that they’ll win, I think? But come on, the math is pretty obvious. Black team’s sum is higher even though they have fewer members. It seems clear that they won, and they did. 

When the win is revealed, Minji just begins absolutely wailing. 

The girls on the white team applaud lightly, and don’t seem to cry, but Minji is crying so hard her whole team has to try to calm her down. She’s crying with relief, of course, but it really shows how deep her emotional trauma is. 

They really should have therapists on hand on this show, you know? Either that, or maybe try traumatizing them a little less. IDK. 

We don’t really get a reaction from the white team. Guess they just disappeared from this plane of existence. 

And with that, we’re at the end of this post! In the next one, we’ll cover the High Tension teams -- and see a girl named Huh Yunjin! See you then. 

[overflowers]

MANIFESTING METHODS IN 'NIGHTMARE TEACHER'

NIGHTMARE TEACHER

... is a south korean drama about a teacher called bonggu who seems to know everything about his students, including their desires. he invites students who seem to long for something into his consultation room where he helps them get their desires, but the students have to sign his contract ( with their own blood lol )

a slightly eerie show :D

watching the show I realized that the methods bonggu gives his students can be used as manifestation methods ! well actually some of them are already popular in this community, so this will be more like an explanation post !!

here you'll find my top 3 methods from that series <3

KIM SEULGI'S METHOD

seulgi was the invisible student in her class. people either bullied or didn't notice her. when she went to the consultation room, bonggu gave her a piece of paper where the sitting arrangement of her class was drawn. he told her to draw a line from her table to the table of the student she wants to be friends with. she did that and the people she connected her table with immediately befriended + became nice to her !!

BUT...she regretted it in the end. her classmates became obsessed with her & argued with whom seulgi should meet up with etc. & simply annoyed her. so, be careful with your intention + whom you want to be connected with !

HOW TO DO IT :

take a piece of paper and either draw the sitting arrangement of your class if you want to enhance the relationship with your classmates. if not, write down the names of other people who you want to be closer with and put your name in the middle. draw a line from your name to theirs and imagine them being very close to you !

AHN SIYEON'S METHOD :

siyeon would lie about her imaginary boyfriend, seok pilho, who apparently lived in the states. her classmates wanted to get to know more about her boyfriend, wanting siyeon to video call him so that they truly know that he actually exists. siyeon always dodged their request, but the girls persisted. also, siyeon is very good at writing stories and received the best grade in one of her exams. bonggu noticed that and invited her to the consultation room. he gave her a notebook & told her to write down the scenarios she wanted to happen in there. she did & all of them came true !

take care with what you write down though !!!

HOW TO DO IT :

grab a random notebook & script your ideal scenarios in there as if they already happened ! it's basically the wish book method.

example :

i'm the top student & I always receive the highest and best grades effortlessly ! today my teachers praised me for being so intelligent

DO DOHEE'S METHOD

dohee was seen as the queen of the high school, being very pretty and having a popular boyfriend, jongsuk, as well.

both of them were the faces of the high school until another girl - yoona - came in between.

dohee was more focused on her beauty than on her relationship, resulting in jongsuk feeling lonely, but yoona would give him the attention he needed.

one day yoona was the new face of the school, replacing dohee from the school's poster. dohee got jealous as yoona seemed to steal her title, reputation and her boyfriend.

dohee received a message from an anonymous person ( aka bonggu ) advertising her to download a specific beauty app. dohee tried it out, took a selfie and edited her face with the given make up tools in that app.

when she looked in the mirror, her edited face became real !

meaning if she edited her lips to a pretty red shade in the app, her lips instantly turned red in real life as well !!

HOW TO DO IT

you can use any editing or beauty app. take a selfie and edit it to your liking. then imagine that you look exactly like how you edited your face ! you can save that picture and use it as your desired face reference.

[chaeryybomb]

BRUTAL

pairings: female reader x best friend!jungwon

summary: they told you that these were the golden years, but to you "golden" was a rusting metal spray painted yellow. the story of a seventeen year old trying to survive high school when all you do is try your best. but your best friend jungwon makes it worth the while. 

genre: high school au, friends to lovers, fluff, tiny bits of angst if you squint, attempt at humour

featuring: jang wonyoung, kim sunoo & nishimura riki 

word count: 4.5k 

warnings: reader having a existential crisis most of the time, strong language, mentions of insecurity

the sour series masterlist

You slumped forward the moment the bell rang, letting your head hit the table. You could care less if a bruise would form on your forehead, you had much bigger things to worry about. Your teacher left the class wordlessly as the class was busy doing their own thing. And by that, everyone was buried nose deep in studying. You lifted your head to see the different books of the same topic scattered on your desk, a yellow highlighter balancing on the edge of your table.

Reaching over to grab the highlighter, you turned your head over to the side to look at your desk mate. Wonyoung sat there looking straight out from a k-drama, with her hair flowing down her back perfectly and her slender nimble fingers moving as she continuously wrote in her notebook. She was smart too, fluent in English and Korean, great at maths and science. And on top of that she was kind and friendly, everyone loved her. You did too, you had the honour of calling her your best friend. But sometimes you felt insecure around her, everything she did looked flawless and there you were just trying your best.

"Ack!" You yelped as you sat up straight, holding your forehead. Wonyoung rolled her eyes at you with a small smile on her lips, she had flicked your forehead to get you out of your thoughts.

Without taking her eyes off the textbook, she tapped your own workbook with her pen. Silently telling you to stop procrastinating. You pouted at her and looked at the clock, 10 minutes before lunch. Maybe a walk to the girl's bathroom would do you some good.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," you whispered to Wonyoung. She nodded and smiled at you before you walked out.

As you strolled towards the girl's bathroom, you passed by the bulletin board outside your class. A bright blue poster stood out with the words "ENJOY YOUR YOUTH" in white. Scoffing at the message, you continued on your way.

"I'm seventeen now, where's my fucking teenage dream?" You muttered to yourself. You were tired of waiting for your life to end up like a coming of age movie. Everyone told you that these were the golden years and you should enjoy your youth, but you swear to god if you hear another one of those cheesy sayings, you might just cry on the spot.

Reaching over to open the stall door, you halt in your actions when you heard familiar voices talking.

"I'm so worried for finals, my parents are gonna kill me if I fail English again," a girl complained. You hear the sound of tap water running. "How are you so calm during this time, Mirae?'

"What's the use of studying hard anyways," the second girl, Mirae, said. "We all know the top spots are gonna be taken by Jang Wonyoung and Yang Jungwon, I just study enough to pass."

The other girl snorted at her reply. "Imagine if those two got together, the power couple of the year," she suddenly said.

"Poor Y/N then, she's gonna be over shadowed by them."

"As if she already isn't. I almost forgot they were a trio until you mentioned Y/N," the girl laughed.

"What can I say? They're out of her league," Mirae joined in with her laughter.

The two voices faded away as you heard the door closed. Finally pushing the door open, you looked at your reflection. Your eyebrows knitted in annoyance and your face was morphed in a scowl. You washed your hands aggressively and poked the inside of your cheek. What bugged you was that they were right. You were the black sheep between Wonyoung and Jungwon. Both of them were smart and amazing, and you're just…you.

You love your best friends, you truly do. But you were constantly compared to them and you hated it. Everyone wanted them, you watched as guys tripped over to confess to Wonyoung and girls squealing when Jungwon smiled at them. The two of them always reassured you that you weren't beneath them but you were sick of their sympathy. You're so caught up in the news of who likes you and who hates them. You just wished people liked you more.

Storming out of the bathroom, someone accidentally ran into you and caused you to fell onto your butt. The student immediately stood up and scurried off, not bothering to even a mutter an apology. All I did was try my best and this is the thanks I get, you thought bitterly.

They said that these were the golden years, but you wished you could just disappear. God, it's brutal out here.

"Y/N, wait up!" Jungwon called after you.

You stopped in your tracks as you watched Jungwon waved goodbye to some students before jogging towards you.

"You heading to cram school today?" He asked you as the both of you fell into the same walking rhythm.

You shook your head, clasping your hands behind. "I moved it to Thursday instead, Wonyoung said I had to many things on Tuesday," you told him. Originally, you would be heading to the library to study before heading over to the cram school. But Wonyoung took one look at your schedule and decided that you did not had enough breaks, so she managed to convince you to take the Thursday slot instead. Thursdays are one of the days where you would not go to the library.

Jungwon seemed to be disappointed to find out that you had switched slots. Maybe he should changed slots too, but does he have any empty spots open for Thursday though? He'd have to check later. Instead, he coughed and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Do you wanna come over later? The new Demon Slayer movie is out," he offered, hoping that you'd accept.

Unfortunately, you once again shook your head. "Sorry Jungwon, I'd want to cram even more later. Finals are really creeping in and I can't afford to waste any time," you told him with a sad smile. As much as you would like to ditch the books and watch Demon Slayer, the glaring C on your last history paper was telling you otherwise.

You stopped walking when you had reached your doorstep. "Thanks for walking me home, Jungwon. See you tomorrow!" and with that you disappeared behind the door.

Jungwon waved goodbye as he watched the door closed. The smile on his face dropped and his shoulder sagged. Jungwon you idiot, of course she would want to study, he scolded himself. With disappointment on his face, he trudged home with a heavy heart.

"Change of plans, guys," he announced as he swung the front door open, unfazed by the fact that Riki and Sunoo were lounging on his coach. He accepted the fact that Sunoo had somehow gotten the keys to his house (suspecting that his mother probably gave it to him due to favouritism or maybe Riki had sneakily made a copy).

Riki's head poked out from the couch. "She rejected you, didn't she," the younger boy said with a smirk.

Jungwon's face ears turned red as he glared at the boy. "No she did not!" He immediately told him. "She rejected the offer to watch the movie, that's different!"

"That's basically rejection, hyung," Riki laughed.

The other boy just glared at him. "Shut up!" he sputtered out before hiking up the stairs.

Sunoo gave Riki a look, to which the Japanese boy just shrugged his shoulders innocently.

Jungwon walked out from the shower, a towel around his neck with one hand running through his damp hair. Sunoo and Riki had left earlier, finally giving him some peace and quiet. His phone screen was flashing from his study table, initiating that someone was spamming him (quite aggressively) with text message. With a raised eyebrow, he picked up his phone

[7:09 pm] wonyoung: JUNGWON

[7:09 pm] wonyoung: JUNGWON

[7:09 pm] wonyoung: JUNGWON

[7:10 pm] wonyoung: WHY DID Y/N JUST MESSAGED ME ABOUT HOMEWORK

[7:10 pm] wonyoung: ISNT SHE WITH YOU

[7:11 pm] wonyoung: I THOUGHT YOU SAID U WERE GONNA WATCH A MOVIE

[7:11 pm] wonyoung: DEMON HUNTER OR SMTG

[7:12 pm] wonyoung: WHY IS SHE ASKING ME FOR HW

[7:12 pm] wonyoung: DID U CHICKEN OUT???

[7:13 pm] wonyoung: omg u chickened out didnt u

[7:14 pm] jungwon: jfc wonyoung

[7:15 pm] jungwon: and no i did not chicken out okay

[7:15 pm] jungwon: she declined

[7:16 pm] jungwon: she said she had to study ;-;

[7:17 pm] wonyoung: omg u suck

[7:17 pm] wonyoung: i told u the movie idea was dumb

[7:18 pm] wonyoung: but do u ever listen to me

[7:18 pm] wonyoung: no

[7:19 pm] wonyoung: and now u suffer the consequences

[7:20 pm] jungwon: yea yea i get it im dumb

[7:20 pm] jungwon: now what's ur solution the great jang wonyoung

[7:21 pm] wonyoung: i am so glad u asked :)

[7:21 pm] jungwon: oh no

[7:21 pm] wonyoung: stfu im giving u a better idea

[7:22 pm] wonyoung: a n y w a y s

[7:22 pm] wonyoung: my ynradar is going off and she's s a d

[7:23 pm] jungwon: how would u know

[7:23 pm] jungwon: she seemed fine today

[7:23 pm] wonyoung: stfu jungwon its best friend things u wont understand

[7:24 pm] jungwon: i-

[7:25 pm] wonyoung: and as her future bf u SHOULD start to train ur ynradar

[7:25 pm] wonyoung: anw its exam season stoopid

[7:26 pm] wonyoung: and its when those kids start to talk abt how the both of us are gonna get top scores

[7:26 pm] wonyoung: and they talk down on y/n while doing so

[7:26 pm] wonyoung: assholes

[7:27 pm] wonyoung: so i propose to u

[7:27 pm] wonyoung: a ✨ study date ✨

[7:28 pm] jungwon: i

[7:29 pm] jungwon: that's

[7:29 pm] jungwon: actually not a bad idea

[7:30 pm] wonyoung: obv i came up with it

[7:31 pm] jungwon: can u not

[7:31 pm] wonyoung: anw a study date

[7:32 pm] wonyoung: she's struggling in maths

[7:33 pm] wonyoung: specifically taxes because she said and i quote

[7:34 pm] wonyoung: "why do we have to do taxes when we pay people to do it for us"

[7:34 pm] wonyoung: so pls help her and try to cheer her up

[7:35 pm] wonyoung: and confess coward

[7:36 pm] jungwon: i make no promises for the last one

[7:36 pm] wonyoung: aFTER EVERYTHING I JUST SAID

[7:37 pm] jungwon: what if she rejects me wonyoung

[7:38 pm] wonyoung: WE'VE HAD THIS CONVERSATION A LOT OF TIMES JUNGWON

[7:38 pm] wonyoung: SHE LIKES U BUT SHES TOO DUMB TO REALISE

[7:39 pm] jungwon: sigh

[7:40 pm] jungwon: fine i'll try thanks wonyoung

[7:41 pm] wonyoung: np i expect y'all to be a couple by next monday <3

[7:41 pm] jungwon: i-

Sighing for the nth time of the night, Jungwon sat on his bed. He allowed the towel to slipped off his shoulders as his thumb hovered over your chat icon. Truth be told, he always thought his crush on you was unrequited love. You never showed any signs of returning of feelings so he thought he would just ignore the feeling until it was gone.

But oh boy was he wrong, because he didn't knew that he would be spending his high school years by your side. And now you occupy his mind 24/7. Wonyoung could literally tell that he was in love with you, but somehow you never caught on. He allowed Sunoo and Riki to convince him to do the whole "movie date idea", but that failed. So Wonyoung's suggestion was his only option left.

He typed out the message, ready to send it out. If only he could just press the button. Come on Yang Jungwon, you can do this. Just press the damn button Jungwon. Suddenly his phone pinged loudly, scaring the lights out of the poor boy as he yelped and his phone landed with a thud on the ground. He peered over his bed, as if his phone was a ticking bomb.

Oh, it was a message from you.

[8:01 pm] y/n: hey do u know where wonyoung is

[8:01 pm] y/n: she isn't answering my texts

Oh no. He realised that your chat was open, the two ticks indicated that he had (unintentionally) read the message. He couldn't just leave you on read. That's just evil. Scrambling to get his phone, he immediately typed a reply to cover for the other girl.

[8:02 pm] jungwon: sorry i don't :/

[8:02 pm] jungwon: what do u need her for

[8:03 pm] y/n: mf was supposed to teach me a maths question but she left me on rEAD

This was his chance! It was the perfect opportunity for him to score a date with you. Okay, breathe in breath out Jungwon. Don't mess it up and just ask her, he mentally prepared himself.

[8:04 pm] jungwon: oh i could help you if you want

[8:04 pm] jungwon: yk with finals coming up and everything, i can help you study

[8:05 pm] jungwon: if you want of course

[8:05 pm] y/n: omg srsly??

[8:06 pm] jungwon: pls help me study my braincells are literally dying

[8:07 pm] jungwon: jdsjkda okay how about this saturday at your place?

[8:08 pm] y/n: yeah sure

[8:08 pm] jungwon: cool its a date then!

You blinked at Jungwon's message. A date? Wait, did Yang Jungwon just indirectly asked you out? Nah, nah. You were overthinking it. Yes, definitely overthinking. Don't kid yourself, why would Jungwon ask you out on a date? Jungwon is just a friend, you tried to convince yourself.

Keyword: tried.

If he really was just a friend, then why did it felt like butterflies were in your stomach when he said "it was a date"? Then why did you frowned when those girls said that Wonyoung and Jungwon would make a good couple?

Oh god, do you have feelings for your best friend?

Saturday came faster than you would have liked it to. Ever since that last chat with Jungwon, it gave you the sudden realisation that you did in fact had feelings for your best friend. You tried so hard to avoid him in school because you don't want the butterflies back in your stomach. It was basically confirming the fact that you like him. Well, avoiding him also confirmed the fact but you choose to be in denial about it.

You didn't tell Wonyoung about your study date but lately she's been sending you outfit ideas on Pinterest. Specifically, date outftis. And whenever you tried to ask her a question about school, she brushed you off with a random excuse. So it left you no choice but to save those questions for Jungwon.

Speaking of Jungwon, he had texted you 10 minutes ago that he was on the way. You were standing in the middle of your room with your hands on your hips. Both of your parents were out for the day, which left you alone at home. You had taken out the low table to be used later and it was currently in front of you. Colourful workbooks were neatly stacked on top of it.

You did a 360 turn around your room. Was it messy? You cleaned it this morning when you woke up. Did you had any clothes out? No, doesn't look like it. For some reason, you were a nervous wreck. You blamed Jungwon. He just had to call this a date, didn't he.

Should you change? Maybe you should finally look through all those pins Wonyoung sent. Wait, no, why would you have to change into something nice. Jungwon was here to help you study, just that.

Yeah, a study date, your mind emphasised on the word.

The sound of the doorbell pulled you out from your thoughts. You immediately went to open the door. Yang Jungwon stood there on the other side, with his signature smile. Had he always resembled a sheep? He just looked so fluffy.

"Hey!" You greeted him with a smile, internally wincing at your way-too-enthusiastic voice.

But Jungwon didn't seem to mind it. "Hey!" he greeted back.

You moved to the side to let him in. "Thank you for having me," he said as he bowed then proceeded to remove his shoes.

"Uh, do you want anything? Water?" You asked him.

He shook his head.

"Ah, cool. Let's head to my room," you started to walk back to your room.

"Where are your parents?" He asked.

"Out," you simply replied.

That was when it dawned upon you, that your parents were not home. Leaving you and Jungwon, alone. Together. In your room. Alone. With the boy you potentially have a crush on.

"Y/N?" Jungwon tapped on your shoulder. You had stopped walking when you were suddenly washed over by your thoughts. Snapping out of it, you sent him a small smile before opening the room to your door.

The both of you shuffled into your bedroom, you sat down in front of the low table while Jungwon settled down next to you. He moved to take out his books then turned to you. "How about we do some studying and if you have any questions, you can ask me okay?" He said.

You nodded and flipped your own workbook open, immediately starting to work on the first question. Jungwon copied your action and a comfortable silence engulfed the both of you. As the time passed, you found yourself stuck on a certain maths question.

You slightly turned your head to the side to look at Jungwon. He was concentrated at doing his work, you felt a sense of deja vu while looking at him. He resembled Wonyoung when she was studying. At the thought of Wonyoung, you suddenly thought of what those girls said at the bathroom.

They would make a good couple, wouldn't they, you thought. The power couple of the year.

The butterflies in your stomach faded away into an uncomfortable feeling. Just the idea of them getting together already made you sick. You bit the inside of your cheek, you really did had feelings for him. And now it scared you because what if he doesn't feel the same. You made a mental note to consult with Wonyoung later, at least you hope that you'll allow yourself to tell her.

Jungwon must've noticed you staring and gently tapped your head with his pencil. A contrast to when Wonyoung painfully flicked your forehead.

"What's wrong? Are you stuck on a question?" He asked.

You leaned back a bit at the sudden action. You were so deep in your insecurities that you had totally forgotten about the literal problem sitting in front of you. Yet you couldn't even bother to ask him so you just shook your head. "I'm gonna get something to drink," you said instead.

Jungwon watched as you stood up, then decided to follow you as well. "I'll come along."

The boy joined you in the kitchen, perched on one of the island stools as you grabbed a can of soda from the fridge. He studied your movement as you worked around the kitchen. Your features were neutral, you weren't smiling nor frowning. But he could tell that your shoulders were tensed. Wonyoung was right, you did seem down. And he cursed himself for not noticing earlier.

"You okay?" His question made you stopped in a mid-pour stance, the can of soda was tilted but not enough for the contents to be poured out.

You brushed his question off and poured the drink into the cup. "Yeah," you hummed.

Unconvinced by your answer, he pried more. "You know you shouldn't care about what they say, right?"

You furrowed your eyebrows at him, pretending like you didn't understand where he was coming from.

"You're not below us, you know that right?"

You couldn't help but scoffed at his words. Jungwon's lips tugged downwards "I'm being serious here, Y/N," his tone was stern. "You shouldn't listen to what they say. You're more than just-"

The sound of the can being slammed down shuts him up. Your fingers tightened around the can as you looked at him. You didn't had the energy to hear him preach the same old "Don't Listen To Them" speech. You don't need his pity.

"I don't want to hear it, Yang Jungwon," you said through gritted teeth. Not sparing him another glance, you threw the empty can into the trash as you grabbed your glass.

As you walked past Jungwon, he suddenly reached out and held onto your forearm. "Y/N," he said softly. "Please tell me what's wrong."

You sighed and slowly turn around to face him, placing the glass back on the counter. You took in a deep breath before you opened your mouth. "I feel like I'm not enough," you finally said. "Everything I do just doesn't seem enough. All I'm doing is my best but it's just crushing my ego because everyone is telling me that you're better than me."

"I feel like no one wants me and I hate the way I'm perceived. It's always poor Y/N this and poor Y/N that's because everyone just sees me as your shadow and I fucking hate it. I only have two real friends," you gestured wildly. "And lately I'm a nervous wreck cause I keep comparing myself to the two of you. I'm not cool and I'm not smart, and I can't even parallel park!" You threw your hands up in frustration, the feelings you kept inside were pouring out like a waterfall.

Jungwon just stood there as he listened tentatively to every word. He didn't knew that you felt this way, bottling up all your emotions like that.

"And I'm so tired of people telling me to enjoy my youth and that these are the golden years. I might just fucking cry if I hear those words again," you finished ranting. It felt good, it felt like a weight on your heart has been lifted. Then you remembered that you just dumped all of it on Jungwon.

You opened your mouth to apologise to him but he surprised you by pulling him into his arms. At first you were standing stiffly at the sudden contact, but it took a millisecond for you to melt in his embrace. His arms were gently around your back and you returned the hug by wrapping your arms around his torso. The two of you stay in that position for awhile, relishing in each other's embrace. You definitely needed this hug.

Tightening your hold on Jungwon, you realised how important he was to you. He was your best friend and he was always there for you. It was stupid of you to compare yourself to him, when all he did was tried his best for you. The taller boy chuckled when he felt you rubbed your face into his shoulder, he involuntarily released a contented sigh. You felt one of his hands stroked your hair, it felt comforting. That action itself was enough for the butterflies to slowly settled back in you.

After a while, both of you finally (unwillingly) released each other. He pushed a strand of hair behind your ears and said, "You're wrong by the way." Which made you tilt your head in genuine confusion.

"You are cool and you are smart. You're like the coolest person I know. And no one thinks of you as our shadow, you don't hear it but I've always hear the juniors praising you for helping them and how enthusiastic you are," the way he delivered his words was filled with pure awe for you.

"And who cares if you can't parallel park. You didn't hear it from but Jay hyung failed his drivers test three times just because he couldn't parallel park," and that got a laugh out from you. Jungwon smiled proudly that he managed to make you laugh. "And you're wrong when you said no one wants you. I want you."

You blinked once, twice and thrice. He wanted you? "You're just saying that cause you're my best friend," you replied.

"No," he firmly said. "I like you, Y/N."

(Jungwon doesn't know where he got this sudden surge of confidence, but the mood was the perfect time for him to confess. It was a one time chance and he had to take it.)

You chuckled. "I like you too, Jungwon. We are friends aren't we?"

"No, Y/N. I like you. More than friends."

"Oh." Oh.

"Yeah," he scratched the back of neck awkwardly. Oh no, did you not feel the same way?

While you on the other hand, were malfunctioning on the inside. Your best friend just confessed to you and you were frozen on the spot. Why couldn't he had done it over text instead. If he had done it over text, then you could've left the message unread and you could've spammed Wonyoung for help. But the thing is that it wasn't over text and you couldn't just tell him to wait here while you panicked to Wonyoung in your bathroom.

Yang Jungwon likes you. And you like him too, right? Because if you didn't, your cheeks won't be heating up right now and your heart would have not be beating rapidly like it was going to break your rib cage any second. If you didn't like him, there would have never been butterflies in your stomach. Yeah. You like Yang Jungwon, you like him a lot.

"Me too," you whispered, it was soft but it was enough for him to pick it up. Jungwon eyes snapped to you, doe eyed filled with hope. "I like you, too," you said, this time louder. And you made sure you looked him in the eye when you confessed.

You watched as Jungwon's mouth morphed into a big grin. He let out a sigh of relief and dropped to his knees, surprising you. "Jungwon!" you squeaked, bending down to help him.

"I'm fine! I'm fine," he assured you as he stood up with your help. The grin on his face was still there. "It's just that … you like me," he breathed out. "You like me back, wow. I-I can't believe it."

Your face was definitely burning with embarrassment. You punched him lightly on the shoulder, turning away to hide your face. "Believe it, you dork. I like you, okay!" Somehow his grin was able to grew wider at your words, Gently, he took your hand in his.

"How about we stop this study date, and I'll take you out on real date?"

© chaeryybomb 2021

a/n: thank you so much for reading this <3

[revenge-of-the-shit]

Writing Chinese characters set within Western worlds

If you don’t want to read it on tumblr, go check this out on medium or go follow me on instagram at @annessarose_writes!

Alright. You know what. I’ve seen plenty of stereotypes in fiction (and in social media) that are so incredibly pervasive I’ve seen many Chinese people within the western world internalize it themselves. So here’s a rough guide on writing Chinese characters in an English-speaking Western setting, written by me, a Chinese Canadian woman.

If you’re here to say something racist fuck off. Otherwise, welcome! This is not a comprehensive guide by any means. This is merely a brief overview based on my own experiences. My experience (as someone in North America) will differ from someone living in, say, Europe or South America. I’m not representative of every Chinese person because everyone’s experience is unique. So here were are.

1. Our names

Chinese names are usually written as follows: [family name] [name]. Let’s take a Canadian historical figure as an example: 黃寬先. In Chinese, it’s pronounced “Wong Foon Sien.” On Canadian documents — which are written [First name] [Last name], he’d be called “Foon Sien Wong.” He went by “Foon Sien” for most of his life. That’s his full “first name.” Nobody would call him Foon because that’s just half of his name (unless given permission). It’d be like meeting a stranger called Alex and calling them “Al” right off the bat. Sure, they could go by Al, but you don’t know that.

For those of us living in the Western world, some of us have both a Chinese name and an English name. In these cases, our Chinese name becomes our middle name in English (e.g. a character could be called John Heen-Gwong Lee).

For some people who immigrated to the Western world but were born in China, their legal name would be their Chinese name. Some choose to keep that name. Some choose an English name as their “preferred” name but keep their Chinese name on legal documents. It varies.

2. Parents & Stereotypes

There’s two stereotypes which are so pervasive I see it being used over and over in jokes even within Chinese (and, to a larger extent, asian) communities:

The [abusive] tiger mom and the meek/absent dad

Both parents are unreasonably strict/abusive and they suck

I have yet to see any fiction stories with Chinese parents where they’re depicted as kind/loving/supportive/understanding (if you have recommendations — please do send them my way). Not all Chinese parents are tiger parents. Chinese parents — like all parents — are human. Good god. YES, they’re human! YES, they have flaws! YES, they are influenced by the culture they grew up in!

That isn’t to say there aren’t parents like those tropes. There are. I know this because I grew up in a predominantly Chinese community where I had many a friend’s parent who was like this. Parents who compare their kids to the best kid in class. Parents who force kids into private lessons and competitions that the kid despises because the parents think it’s for the best. Parents who have literally called their kid a disappointment because they didn’t get 100%.

But please, also consider: there’s parents who support their child’s goals and who listen. Not all parents force their kid into the stereotypical trifecta of lawyer/doctor/engineer — I know of a good number who support their child in choosing the path they want. There’s parents who make mistakes and learn and try their best to support their child. So please, for the love of god, if you write a Chinese character, don’t reduce their parents to stereotypes.

3. Language & Learning

When I first read The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan, I was so excited to see a Chinese Canadian character in Frank Zhang. Finally, there was someone like me. Finally, there was representation in well-known western media.

While I do appreciate that RR added in Frank Zhang, it’s pretty obvious that he didn’t really know how to write a Chinese Canadian character. One of the most glaring examples: in The Son of Neptune, Frank reveals he can’t really read Chinese. In like, the next book (I think — it’s been a while since I read it), Frank is suddenly able to read Chinese because he “learned” it in two week’s time.

Nope. Nuh-uh. Learning Chinese is a pain, let me tell you. There’s thousands of different characters and it is something you need to devote a lot of time to learning (especially if you’re progressed past the best childhood years for learning a language). So if you’re writing about a Chinese character living in the western world, here’s what you need to know:

A character who was born and raised in the western world does not necessarily know how to read/write in Chinese.

If they were raised by their own family, the character would very likely know how to speak their own dialect. They’d be able to understand the language used in movies/TV and they sound like a native speaker, but they may not know how to use language outside of certain contexts (the term for this is heritage speaker).

They probably went to Chinese school. They probably hated it. Chinese school is usually universally hated and does not teach you jack shit other than a hatred for the place and a vague memory of learning how to read the language without actually retaining knowledge of what you learned.

Most of my friends who know how to read/write in Chinese learned from tutors, parents, or were born in China.

There’s two main types of written Chinese: Traditional (used by Cantonese speakers) and Simplified (used by Mandarin speakers).

There are MANY other dialects (which I don’t know much about). The most common ones are Mandarin (usually spoken by people from the mainland), then Cantonese (usually spoken by people from Hong Kong).

4. Fitting into the community

Usually, the story is one of two things: they’re the only Asian kid in the entire school, or they grew up in a predominantly East Asian community. Things to consider for both of these when you’re writing:

Growing up the only Asian kid

They’re “that Asian kid.” They’re different. They walk into a class and feel weird and out of place.

They bring food from home (usually ethnic cuisine) to school. Other classmates stare at it, make fun of it, demand what that strange food is.

“Where are you from?” “Here.” “No, like, where are you really from?”

“Your name is funny.”

People literally never getting the character’s name right.

And that horrible, horrible feeling: wishing that they were white so they could avoid all of this.

Growing up in a predominantly East Asian community

It’s not uncommon for Chinese cuisine to mix with other east Asian cuisines. For special occasions (or just for a casual night out), your character could very well go out to get some sushi, or go for some KBBQ, or get some Vietnamese noodles.

Screaming “AIYAA” at/with their friends unironically if they’re annoyed (I’ve done this a lot with Cantonese friends. Less so with Mandarin friends).

Slipping into Chinese for like, two words, during a mostly-English conversation to talk about food or some other topic that can’t be adequately conveyed in English.

Reading books by white authors and learning about white history and growing up thinking white names, white books, and white history is the norm and standard even though the community is surrounded by East Asian people.

When the character leaves this community, there’s a brief culture shock when they realize how sheltered they’ve been.

Things in common for both of these:

The character has grown up on ethnic cuisine. Yes, Chinese people do eat rice with many of our meals. Yes, boba (bubble) tea is extremely popular. No, rice isn’t the only thing we eat. No, not all Chinese people love boba (though as a Chinese person I admit this sounds sacrilegious to say…)

The character likely grew up watching film/TVthat originates from East Asia. It’s not uncommon to watch Studio Ghibli films. It’s not uncommon to watch Japanese or Korean shows with canto/mando dub (examples: Ultraman, Kamen Rider). If you want to see a classic Chinese film from Hong Kong that’s fucking hilarious, watch Kung Fu Hustle.

The character has felt or been told that they’re “too westernized to be Chinese, but too Chinese to fit into the western world.” They’re torn between the two.

5. General portrayal

It’s quite simple, really. We’re human. We’re regular people. We have regular hobbies like all people do. We’re good at some subjects and bad at others. We have likes and dislikes like all people do. So here’s a list of stereotypes you can avoid.

STEREOTYPES TO AVOID BECAUSE WE’RE REGULAR HUMANS AND WE DON’T FIT INTO A SINGLE COOKIE CUTTER SHAPE, DAMMIT.

The character is a maths whiz and perfect at all things STEM.

The character is a straight-A+ gifted/IB/AP student.

The character is the next coming of Mozart and is amazing at piano/violin.

The character’s free time is spent only studying.

The character is insanely good at martial arts.

The character is either meek and submissive or an explosive, dangerous force.

I’m not going to mention the other stereotypes. You know, those ones. The really obvious ones that make fun of and demonize (sometimes through multiple untruths) how we look and how we live our lives. You should know.

Of course, there are people who fit into one or more of these. That’s not the point. The point is: molding all Chinese characters to these stereotypes (which white media tends to do) is harmful and reductionist. We’re more than stereotypes.

—

6. Conclusion

We need more diversity in portrayal of Chinese characters. Reducing us into one-dimensional caricatures has done nothing but harm us — look at what’s happening now. This guide is by no means comprehensive, but I hope it has helped you by providing a quick overview.

If you want to accurately portray Chinese characters, do your research. Read Chinese fiction. Watch Chinese films/TV. Initiate a conversation with the community. Portray us accurately. Quit turning us into caricatures.

[river-bottom-nightmare]

Gimme them “dick the master manipulator” hcs plz I love them

i love them too babe they may be a bit ooc but they are near and dear to my heart all the same

part of the reason wayne enterprises is doing so tremendously well is largely because of bruce’s kids. tim’s got a perfect mind for business, especially when he works with luke fox. but one of the things that turned the company from an generational, stiff business as forgettable as the hundreds of others just like it to a national giant was dick dick, who went to all of the fundraisers bruce asked him to go to with a skip in his step and a smile on his face. dick, who told stories in his most childlike voice about how good it was living in the manor, and how grateful he was, and how he wished every kid like him could have the same wonderful opportunities. dick, who went to functions outside of gotham with bruce and, with a couple bats of his eyes, was able to secure a whole new group of investors. dick, who remembered all of these high class men’s wives’ names, who flattered them the way only an earnest little kid could, until the wives were telling their husbands they simply had to partner with bruce, because any man with that splendid of a kid was worth knowing. dick, who doesn’t like business work and stays away from wayne enterprises and curls his lip when he thinks of the kinds of men bruce rubs elbows with every day, but was essential to the company all the same.

see, the thing was, wally’s parents weren’t very nice people. that’s not to say they weren’t cordial when wally invited dick over, excited that wally was bringing home a friend from school (though rudy’s dinner manners could use a little refinement). they were perfectly acceptable, up to a certain standard. past that, their biases and hesitation shone brightly, and spilled over into wally, too. dick almost threw up the first time wally asked him if dick could teach him how to pickpocket because he thought it would be useful as a vigilante, and his mom had said dick’s people were good at that sort of thing. his eyes were wide and guileless, unaware of the hurt festering in dick’s stomach, and that’s when dick decided that yeah, no, wally’s upbringing wasn’t going to cut it. (he was doing wally a favour, really, because roy would have just punched the poor guy in the face.) so he took wally to haleé’s the next time the circ rolled into town, and introduced him to all of his old friends, his old family, showing the speedster that they weren’t different or exotic or whatever the hell dick heard rudy spout off sometimes during dinner. and he quietly cheered the next time he was over at wally’s house for dinner, when his father made a comment and wally narrowed his eyes, telling rudy he was wrong. he went with wally to an ice cream parlour in the thick of central city, in the middle of june. he acted like nothing was amiss, ducking under a rainbow flag, while really watching wally out of the corner of his eye, the other boy taking in all the different couples sharing ice cream in the shop. positive reinforcement, he thought as he bought wally a giant ice cream cone after wally hesitantly told the worker behind the glass that he liked their pin. and he went with wally to all sorts of college campus tours, quietly steering him towards the bigger cities, thrusting pamphlets into his hands and pointing out all the different benefits a college far from little old keystone would have. there was a twinge in his heart when wally introduced him to linda, but it was easily ignorable in favour of the pride he felt when he found out wally had started to learn korean for her.

it made him sick sometimes, how far people were willing to go just for a smile. granted, dick’s smiles were usually laced with a dark look in his eyes and deceptively casual body language, light flirting spilling from his lips as easily as his target fell for it. he never liked doing this. being the bats’ chosen honeypot was a job he wouldn’t wish on anyone else, though, so he let himself fall into the role. he took note of every single one of his target’s responses: pupils widening, shoulders relaxing, tense grip on the drink falling slack. and he took that and ran with it. leaning forward to look his target straight in the eye and parting his lips the slightest bit until they were focused on nothing but him, casually bumping hips and touching toes until their body was lax in the chair.  it never failed, not even for the most experienced of people. a wink and maybe a kiss later, and he usually had what he needed: a usb drive or a cell phone or a tracker planted in a jacket pocket. his target usually never knew what hit them

dick was well aware of the soft spot clark held for him. it was sweet, a nice change from bruce’s high standards and even higher expectations. clark still saw him as a skinny little kid, swinging on bruce’s shoulders and launching himself at clark for hugs (not that he didn’t still do the latter, just rarely.) he never failed to take advantage of it either. clark kent had a whip-sharp mind and a built in bullshit detector, but uncle clark melted every time dick slumped his shoulders and swung his legs forlornly over the edge of a skyscraper.  bruce isn’t letting me pick up basic patrols even though my injury healed over two days ago, he would pout, munching on the doughnuts clark had bought him as the older man made sympathetic noises. in a couple days, bruce would mysteriously clear dick for active duty, citing a “new outlook,” and dick would hide his grin as he raved to clark about bruce’s sudden change of heart. it’s just so difficult getting recommendation letters these days, he’d groan to clark, sprawled over the sofa clark’s apartment, especially since everyone knows me as bruce wayne’s kid, so they’ll never be honest. only a week afterwards, dick knew he could expect a pristine letter of recommendation from pulitzer prize winning author lois lane. i just don’t have the time to deal with him on top of everything going on in bludhaven, he’d complain, suit on but mask off on the roof of the daily planet. i can’t just drop everything the minute slade decides he wants to fight with someone competent. after that, he knew slade wouldn’t be showing up in bludhaven or gotham anytime soon, because superman could be quite terrifying if he wanted to.

[youarejesting]

Sly like a… ? Part 8

[Master list] [Sly Master List] Beta: n/a (at the moment) Rating: All Pairing: Hybrid!BTS x FailedHybrid!Reader Genre: Hybrid au, fluff, action, adventure, angst, drama, slice of life. Some marked chapters will contain mature/smut scenes, BUT they will not have plot in those scenes and are 100% skippable without losing your place in the story. Words: 2.2k

Summary: Human’s strive to be better, faster and stronger looking to animal DNA. Thus Hybrids are born. As the rise for designer and Pedigree Hybrids increase, so do the failed attempts. There is one species scientists are unsuccessful in creating, but, folklore says they have been here all along, hiding and blending in with the humans for many millennia. How clever they are.

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With Yoongi hauled up in his room, you began speaking with each of the boys and discussing where their learning levels were, you started with Jungkook, Taehyung, and Hoseok, you sat them at the table and started to teach them the basics of the Korean language and Maths they were quick to learn as they weren’t children and by the end of the week, you had them at a mid highschool level.

You taught all of the Hybrids about internet and phone safety, not giving out their number to random people they didn’t know. They all agreed and after a long discussion on scammers and voice phishing, they all seemed to understand.

Learning how to use computer documents and the internet and more, you explained virus’ and online shopping and you explained that you wanted them to have free reign. So, if they had something they wanted to buy to go to you.

“Unless it is something you are not comfortable asking from Y/n then please feel free to ask me instead.” Jimin said, “I can also get you things you might want or need?”

“Okay, now onto the final topic of today is finding a degree, you don’t have to choose exactly what you want to do with your life right now,” You stressed, hoping they knew they had plenty of time to explore their options. “but, maybe think about jobs you might have seen in movies or read about or heard about and I will help you achieve that dream”

You placed down a few booklets of jobs and they looked at you, “Yoongi you are already halfway through your degree and you said you wished to continue it, so you start next week, please let me know if there is anything you need.”

“And afterward if you ever need a job, if this program gets approved, I will need someone like you in my team.” You smiled, ever since the outing to the shop, Yoongi has been quite cold towards you and it hurt but you knew he would understand soon.

Namjoon told you he wanted to be a businessman, you signed him up for a bachelor of commerce and he was speeding through the classes like they were a children's book. But though he knew everything he didn’t exactly understand the point of the essays and assignments.

You talked him through it and explained that they wanted him to show off what he learned so they knew he was smart enough to pass, he still had three more weeks before school started and you were worried he would have already finished all the essays and assignments.

You heard Taehyung saying he wanted to be an actor or maybe a photographer and you wanted his dreams to come true. “if you finish an acting course, maybe Jimin and I can put in good words in some agencies?”

That got you thinking where was the calico, he hadn’t left the house, maybe he was in his room listening to music or something. Your focus was taken up by the two young men in front of you both flicking through the booklets of perspective courses and careers.

“Ooh directing would be fun?” Jungkook pretended to film Taehyung who immediately started acting out a rather elaborate scene worthy of any K-drama, the two laughing at the silly monologue, “or maybe gaming?”

The cheeky grin on Jungkook's face made your heart flutter. He was almost twenty-four, his birthday nearing and if you remembered correctly so was Namjoon’s. They were all classified as adults but were they ever given the chance to just be giggly, playful boys?

It was almost dinner, you stood up and as you walked past the two hybrids you ran your fingers through their hair. Leaning between them, you held their shoulders.

“I will be back, keep thinking and mark any pages with these sticky notes, purple for Kookie and green for TaeTae,” it was strange but both young men turned their head into your neck and nuzzled you for a second a low purr from the feline and a rhythmic wag of the tail from the canine. You went to leave, your heart stuttering at their affection before anything awkward happened.

“Y/n smells nice, doesn’t she?” Taehyung’s voice was low and Jungkook’s answering purr left you feeling a little warm under the collar. The ghosts of their tiny breaths against your neck would not leave you, the skiing tingling under your touch.

Shaking your head trying to clear it of anything that could be deemed impure and strolling the hall until you reached Yoongi’s door. Knocking softly the door opened to reveal Jimin smiling.

“Hello love,” Jimin flashed the dangerous eye smile and you wondered if the boys were nearing their ruts, that would be a conversation after dinner. Yoongi was sitting on the bed looking at the unopened box of headphones, phone, and laptop.

“Am I interrupting something, I can come back later?” you rambled, gesturing down the hall, “I was just wanting to see where everyone was as I was thinking about starting dinner.”

“Yoongi and I were just talking, but I think we have both come to a comfortable conclusion of topics.” He smiled patting the older feline's shoulder, “Thanks for the talk, it's nice to finally have some brothers.”

“Yoongi, I-”

“I’m sorry,” Yoongi interrupted you and his cheeks were dusted pink, he didn’t look up from the bed where all the devices sat. His tail curled around onto his lap and his ears twitched listening intently for your reaction. “Jimin said you weren’t like that and you really just wanted to get us nice things,”

He opened the special hybrid headphones and grinned as they sat on his head like a headband and cupped his ears gently, you opened his phone and found his favorite song hoping to test the headphones.

“Tell me if they work okay, or if they need charge,” standing in front of him you turned the headphones on and attempted to Bluetooth them to the phone. Making sure to turn the volume down before playing the song. His eyes lit up and his tail gave a long elegant swish, he looked so cute and you had to suppress a laugh at how his hair was all bunched up in the headband.

You moved a little closer still and began running your fingers through his hair until it fell over the headband, Yoongi tensed and surprised you by clutching the hem of your overall shorts and nuzzled his face into your stomach, his neck bright red. You froze and gently finished with his hair and stepped back and smiled pausing the song.

“I fixed your hair, cause it was all caught in your headphones,” you explained and he looked down growing almost impossibly red. You reached out and carded your fingers through his hair affectionately. In a gesture that had often calmed Jimin as a child, you rubbed your bare wrist against his neck.

A purr almost ripped through Yoongi as his tail swished dangerously. You stepped away heading for the door, “I just wanted to ask if you wanted to help me make dinner?”

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