#tell me what changed

[foxymoxynoona]

Tell Me What Changed Drabble #1: Couple Costumes

I'm sorry, no one asked for this but it just happened. Very first TMWC drabble ever, more to come eventually. Enjoy!

Story: Tell Me What Changed Characters: Alex & Jungkook Words: 1800 CW: Language, references to sex, their conversation may give you a headache

“Ok, hear me out, I have our Halloween costumes planned for this year,” Jungkook said, collapsing onto the bed beside her to interrupt her doom-scrolling. He showed her the picture on his phone and said, “This is me. This is totally me.”

“You and every other guy this year,” she scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Seriously? Ken? It’s not even a little bit creative.”

“Alex, I can’t not be Ken. The public will expect it. I’m perfect for it. I’ve got the abs, I’ve got the tan–”

“And the hair?”

“I’ll go blond for it. That’s how serious I am. And you, baby girl, will be the hottest Barbie–”

Alex pushed up to her knees and interrupted, “Let me stop you right there. There is a Barbie in this relationship, and it is not me. I will be wearing that for Halloween,” she said, pointing to his phone. “For I am the Ken, and you shall be the beautiful Barbie.”

“Huh?” His face screwed up, adorably confused, and Alex felt her certainty grow that this was the way better idea. “But… you’re Barbie and I’m just Ken.”

“No, you are Barbie. You go through every day with main character energy, you’ve got great hair, great skin, and the balance to walk on your tip-toes everywhere.”

“No, babe, it’s a feminist thing,” he said, reaching for her hand. “It’s all about the reversal of the patriarchy and how Kens are defined by the female gaze and their association with a woman and the Barbies are the like, brains and power and–”

“Your summary of this movie is… incredible,” she snickered. She’d gone down many a rabbit hole reading all the think pieces after seeing the movie in theaters…. Twice. And she’d sent some of them to Jungkook but was not sure he’d read them. “It’s not really an inversion because there is no historic oppression of Kens, no dowries, no rape, no skewed physical demand placed on the Kens to have children–” 

“You get the idea. You’re putting me on the spot! But it’s proof I’m the Ken! You’re the one who read that big New Yorker article out loud to me while I cooked you dinner and pretended to listen,” he pointed out. “I’m the abs, you’re the brains! There’s not really anything more to me than my relationship–”

“Hence why you must now have your journey to discover your worth and identity, Barbie,” she insisted, shoving his shoulder. He didn’t budge, of course. 

“I can’t, I’m too busy taking selfies at the gym, Barbie. Everyone will expect me to be Ken –it doesn’t matter how many other guys do a shitty job at it, I want to go all in. For the ‘gram.”

“So you admit you think you’re hotter than me,” Alex said, crossing her arms under her boobs as a distraction tactic. 

“Uh… what? No, I–”

“So you recognize that by demanding I be a Barbie with some kind of remarkable trait or inherent counter-culture statement because I couldn’t look less like Barbie, while you get to be just a Ken so you can show off your abs, you are feeding into the concept that women must be all that and a bag of chips while men get to just be hot and walk through the world like someone else will figure it out for them.” Alex tried her damndest to keep a straight face. She thought she had just made some excellent points… somewhere in there. Honestly she wasn’t too sure about her own execution of a point but she appreciated the blank look on Jungkook’s face as he tried to trace her reasoning.

“Wait no, the whole point is that you’re the main character. Of my life. I love you,” he said, the corners of his mouth twitching as he tried to commit to the bit. Alex’s chest bounced as she tried to suppress the laughter. “You’d sell out. It would be like Taylor Swift tickets if they made an Alex Barbie.”

“Oh my god.”

“That’s why I’m saying I am your Ken and you, the sunshine of my life, are Barbie.”

“But that’s so narrow-minded of you. I want to be ogled and you should be allowed to be thoughtful and achieve something,” she insisted. “Unless you’re saying I’m not hot enough to be Ken? You don’t think people want to see me in a little vest?” She pouted her lips at him and sank back on her heels because her knees were tired, but also because she tasted victory. She could see it in the nervous way he was fumbling, trying to make sure he didn’t accidentally say something offensive. She thought it was hysterical.

“So… you think Barbie can’t be hot?” he clarified. And narrowed his eyes. “Babe, it’s the twenty-first century. Barbie can be anyone and anything.”

“So you’re saying I should go as Bimbo Barbie, reduced to nothing but my boobs, just an object to be looked at. How forward-thinking of you!”

Now she’d lost him and he defended, “That’s what you said you wanted!”

“No, I want to be Bimbo Ken. It’s totally different!”

“How is it different? You think Barbie can’t be just a piece of ass?” Jungkook demanded. “Wait, no! Only if she wants to be! Obviously she’s so much more.”

“That sounds like a great caption for the photo you’ll post of your Barbie Halloween costume,” Alex beamed. 

Jungkook flopped forward, arms pressed to his side. He rolled onto his side and back, a re-enactment of Barbie’s crisis in the movie.

“But I want to wear a fuzzy white coat and headband and two pairs of sunglasses and have everything think I’m hot and socially aware,” he whined.

She reached out and patted his back with a stiff hand, “I’m sorry, baby. You’ll look great in a pink jumpsuit though.”

“I guess there’s only one thing to do,” he sighed dramatically. And avoided eye contact, which was suspicious.

“What’s that?” 

“I guess we just have to be one of those couples who break up because of the Barbie movie and then we can both be Kens for Halloween. Don’t be sad, sweetheart, we can get back together on November 1st.”

“Shut up,” she laughed and kicked his ass over and over until he rolled away, shielding his balls from accidental assault. “You’re an idiot if you think I’m letting you roam free for Halloween night. You think I don’t know how you used to spend those?”

“Same way I intend to spend this one,” he grinned. “Balls deep in a real doll–” She didn’t know if he was laughing too hard at his own audacity to continue or because she’d kicked him in the stomach a little bit.

“You’re so gross! And also aren’t those things crazy expensive?”

“I wouldn’t know, never needed one…”

“I can’t believe you’re joking about what a fuckboy you were and yet you want to be Ken? You dare tarnish the reputation of the man who has eyes for no one but Barbie?”

“And the other Kens,” Jungkook quickly corrected. “It’s not gay, it’s patriarchy!”

“I… don’t think we watched the same movie,” she giggled, and at this point just flopped across him. He wrapped his arms around her and wrestled her over to pin her down. 

“Alex,” he said. “Let me be Ken. Be my Barbie in sexy sparkly hot pants.”

“That’s… who you think Barbie is?”

“You said you want to be sexy lookin’ Barbie!”

“No, I specifically want to be Ken.”

“Barbie Ken?”

“Oh my god I am getting stupider every second of this conversation,” she laughed. 

He grinned and rubbed his nose against hers, taunting, “That’s right, baby, feel the power of a true Ken.”

“Jungkook!”

“JungKen,” he murmured and tried to kiss her. When she was laughing too hard, he kissed her jaw instead, and then tried to get to her neck to really make her squirm. 

She shoved at his face and gasped, “Oooh what if you’re Alan?! You’re just my buddy! And I’m Ken. Obviously.”

“Alan?! No way! And then who’s Barbie?” 

“I’m sure there will be dozens of Barbies.”

“And I’m supposed to just stand around with my hands on my hips in flipflops while you chase after women?!” he argued, rolling off her with a definite sulk.

“Which is different from most days how?”

“Aleeeeex.” He slid his hands up her arms, pinning her wrists over her head. “Please. What do I have to do to get to be Ken? Don’t you want to help me oil my abs?”

“That’s just a day at the pool.” He kissed her, succeeding only in a momentary silence, because hey, how else was a girl supposed to react as Jungkook slid over her, all hands and lips?

“I’ll convince you. I’ve got time.”

“I don’t know, it’s already August…” she teased.

“Oh shit your birthday is coming up,” he realized, pushing up into a plank.

“See? A true Ken would never forget Barbie’s birthday because what else do you have to think about?”

“Barbie in sparkly hot pants. I spend a lot of time thinking about you in sparkly hot pants… ah, I want it so bad…”

“Ok, give me some of that plastic and I’ll think about it.”

“Uh… you mean… by plastic do you mean… I mean, that’s not plastic. That’s all man muscle–”

“Oh god, you really are a Ken,” she sighed. 

“Thank you. You’re a Ken too sometimes,” he assured her. 

“Wait, is that a red flag? If we’re both Ken?”

“Ok, no more Buzzfeed listicles for you,” he snickered. “But look, I’ll spend the next two months convincing you, it’s fine, you can enjoy it. What about right now? Should I, uh… keep this going? Were you in the middle of something?” His hand slid up the side of her shirt, fingers a question at the band of her bra. “Why are you still wearing this? You’ve been home for hours! Let me help you get more comfortable.” He undid the hooks with one hand.

Alex let out a roar of a yawn and stretched her arms, hands behind her head, “I take it back, you’re Thoughtful Barbie. But yeah, keep it going.”

“Alex. Admit that’s a Barbie line. You’re my Barbie!”

She hated how much she actually liked to hear him say it. God, was something wrong with her?! Was it about being the mass-produced mainstream doll that she had never looked anything like? White, blond, and teeny, all the things she wasn’t. Even Curvy Barbie was still so thin, what the fuck? 

Or was it something about being Jungkook’s sex doll….?

“All right, Ken, you win, now keep going, this Barbie wants her–.”

“Yesssssss.”

“Don’t interrupt me again.”

“Sorry, sorry, Barbie.”

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Hey now, Let her cook!

[nothingbizzare]

You have a good heart

[hinamie]

I'll rip in hands and teeth and take a bite

[bellaciao-ciao-ciao]

[cozylittleartblog]

Columbo and the Knight (1984)

put me in the universe where Columbo ran through the 1980s and had a crossover episode with Knight Rider. I think they deserved it, and I am not just saying that because they're my two favorite Old Shows. @telebeast wrote a little fanfic blurb about it and I HAD to visualize it into a comic (which is also the longest comic I have finished thus far at five pages...), so writing credit goes to them.

Autism W!

[rbtlvr]

mirabelle chevalier the character of all time. she's dual type. she's the only confirmed cis character in the entire game. all her moves are named like magical girl attacks. she's not actually the chosen one. she went on a whole journey with the pressure of saving the entire country on her shoulders while also off her anxiety meds. she's taken 150+ classes. she's her god's favorite. she loves horror books. she's even aroace

[im-here-homie]

a happy audience is the key to the academy's heart

shadow milk design by @catxolotlquoise

[rjshope]

Life is like balancing act, much like walking on a tightrope. People who manage to maintain a good balance between things are most admirable to me. (x)

[foxymoxynoona]

That part of TMWC always gets me after reading it like 10 times "“I love you too,” Alex breathed into his ear. “ That way. The real way.”The words warmed through his body stronger than any alcohol in his blood could ever. He kissed her. He ignored someone who laughed, “You’re early!” No, they were late. They were so stupid and late, both of them. They should have figured this all out years ago. He’d wanted to hear this months ago."

That was one of those moments that just came to me in the moment of writing and just felt so perfect. Writing about friends to lovers, I was really interested in understanding what made the relationship change, but also this idea of regret or loss or missed time. The good news for them is that I don't think they feel overall like they "missed" much time because they're still young and had such a good relationship before their romantic one anyway, but had to leave a little thread in there of "we were late, how stupid". Glad you liked that moment :)

[xxplastic-cubexx]

graph

bonus:

[puppppppppy]

so a few things

my brother and i have our rooms facing each other he recently got a mood light installed and he can change the color his favorite color is purple

which would normally be. FINE but every time i walk to my room its just been this

[bixels]

As cameras becomes more normalized (Sarah Bernhardt encouraging it, grifters on the rise, young artists using it), I wanna express how I will never turn to it because it fundamentally bores me to my core. There is no reason for me to want to use cameras because I will never want to give up my autonomy in creating art. I never want to become reliant on an inhuman object for expression, least of all if that object is created and controlled by manufacturing companies. I paint not because I want a painting but because I love the process of painting. So even in a future where everyone’s accepted it, I’m never gonna sway on this.

if i have to explain to you that using a camera to take a picture is not the same as using generative ai to generate an image then you are a fucking moron.

[starscream-is-my-wife]

A bit ago I was looking through the g1 timeline wiki and I saw that Skyfire and Starscream now had a 5 million year old age gap and I was like oh? That makes their dynamic so much more interesting especially how innocent he was portrayed in fire in the sky, I also wanted to share my hc on why Skyfire never brought up Starscream again

[skunkes]

reunion

[slfcare]

the most difficult thing about growing as a person socially, as in getting out of your shell and noticing that you are, is that there will still be times when it doesn’t feel like you’ve grown at all! times when you can’t really connect with anyone around you, times when you fail to enter into an existing conversation, times when you say the wrong thing (or nothing at all when in hindsight you probably should’ve). but that’s also kind of the best thing, because that’s the thing that helps you realize that sometimes, it’s not you or your lack of skills or any shortcoming. sometimes certain environments just aren’t for you and certain people aren’t your people, and that’s okay. that’s human. it’s okay to not feel the progress you have made all the time.