#the samsung one sucks so much

[nyannibalism]

jealous of the apple pinyin keyboard for being so good

[arcadequeerz]

Little camera update: Got it fully charged and Turned on. Took a couple of random photos and it keeps freezing on menus and looking through photos. Only way to unfreeze it is pulling the battery out enough that'll shut down. Is fixed on restart.

[gender-euphowrya]

oh god i found what model my very first mp3 player from back when i was like 8 was and i'm looking at pictures of this thing and just. fuuuuck i wish i could buy one again just for old times' sake

[gamblersdoll]

cw: riding, 18+.

both you and hakari hated memorial day, because no one knew how to fucking drive nor park. so you both stayed home, watching whatever was on the flat curved samsung television.

hakari had his head resting on his palm, the other clicking the buttons on the remote. you, on the other hand, had one thing in mind.

they way he sits, his lap looking wide and his jeans made it no better. he always looked good in black or blue jeans, and if he had his legs spread a bit? you wanted to taste him.

hakari flicks his eyes over to you, your own staring at his lap. he chuckles, “if you try’na do something then do it.” he says, absentmindedly. his eyes go back to the television, watching gordon yell at a bunch of idiots on the blue team who was losing to women.

your hands fly to his zipper, making quick work of it. his eyes flicker to you, slowly bring his lip to his teeth. both you and him make eye contact, him nodding upwards telling you to go ahead.

your soft delicate hands pull his hardened cock out, giving slow pumps and you taking him into your mouth. hakari pulls your hair back, low eyes watching your head bob on his cock. fuck, did you know how to suck a man off.

he rolls his eyes back, biting his lip as he remains the back of his head rested against the palm of his hand. “suck that shit, baby.” he whispered, biting his lip harder. “fuck.”

this is what you wanted, to taste the salt that lightly coated his cock. and he watched how well you could take him.

you pull back up, looking at him as you give your award winning pleading look. the sound of hell’s kitchen dimmed, pure lust coming from the both of you. hakari brings your head closer to his, kissing you like his life depended on it.

because in a way, it did.

“ride that dick like you want it.” he orders, biting your lip softly. his hands curve around your waist as you straddle him, sucking in a breath as you slide down on his cock. “there you go, thats my girl.”

he watches the way your tits bounced softly, every now and then moving back and forth in your hips to find that deep, grinding feeling. his hands gripped harder, looking only at your face.

“so fuckin’ pretty when you make ‘yerself feel good.” he praises, taking a nipple into your mouth as he flicks his tongue against it. he knows your knees are getting tired, hand’s curving around your ass. “need papa to do it for you, creamy girl?”

you nodded, because he was so much to take, and his scent was intoxicating.

his hips snap up, but somewhat soft. both you and him hold each other, knowing once you were holding each other you both were like otters and their soulmates.

you had long had already came around him, but he was growing near himself. he took his right hand and placed a smack against your ass, groaning once he felt that tight squeeze in his balls.

“ho fuck! shit!” he growls deep, slamming himself into your cervix. his face buries itself into your breasts, hands tightly gripping on your ass. his nails dig into you, half crescent moons in your skin.

after about five minutes of deep breaths and chuckles, he pulls away and lays you down. “sorry ‘fer gettin’ rough wit cha.” he says, a nervous smile on his face.

“i love it when you get rough—“

“dont fuckin’ tempt me, lil’ girl.”

[sirfrogsworth]

No one hates Apple correctly.

This is a ridiculous accusation because I guess they are expecting Apple to... violate the laws of physics?

We have achieved very good energy density. And that allows for the miniaturization involved in creating something like wireless earbuds. But there is no such thing as an infinite battery. And any longer lasting design would have to use more expensive parts or be much bigger.

Also the current lifespan of pretty much all earbuds of this size is about 3 years. This has been mapped out. It isn't a secret. You can google it and it pops up in big bold letters.

The better statistic is actually charge cycles. Years is really dicey because it depends on usage.

If you want something that lasts longer, get headphones. But a short lifespan is the price you pay for such a small product. Perhaps Apple should be more upfront about the limitations of miniaturization, but they aren't actually trying to scam you or hide this information. It's not like they can make a cold fusion battery and are choosing not to.

Apple is actually one of the best at making technology products that last a long time... with one big caveat... as long as they don't need repairs. (Which is why they *actually* suck.)

They keep getting accused of planned obsolescence when they have been supporting their smartphones for pretty much as long as the hardware can run the software. Only last year have companies like Samsung and Google made similar promises.

But Apple refuses to do even the simplest things to make their devices more repairable. And in many cases they actually create hurdles for repairs like pairing parts together so you can't replace them from a donor device.

They have also been very bad at transparency. There is the classic story of Apple slowing down phones. And everybody thought they were trying to force people to buy new ones. In reality, they were actually trying to keep those devices from bricking. The batteries in the phones were too degraded to handle some of the newer software. And since they didn't want the bad press of phones suddenly dying, they slowed down phones. They were actually making the phones last *longer* but for some reason this gets used to make the opposite point.

All that was required was a battery swap. And they could have just told people, "Hey, we can either slow down your phone or you can get a new battery." But they tried to keep it quiet and so everyone drew the wrong conclusions.

They got rightfully sued for this, but it started this idea that they don't make long lasting products when they absolutely do—just within the limitations of physics.

So their sin was never planned obsolescence. It was repairability and transparency. Their closed ecosystem is also an issue, but that is a much more complicated discussion.

[wolfjackle-creates]

Answer My Call Chapter 2 Part 2

Happy WIP Wednesday! So last week, we had a tie between Bring Me Home and Answer My Call. The tie breaker didn't come in until Monday after I'd already finished the entire Bring Me Home chapter and half the Answer My Call one.

So y'all will be getting two fic upates today then I'm going to sleep. I'm tired after a full day of work with a call out. XP

If you want a say in next week's update, vote in the poll!

Story Summary: Jazz, Sam, and Tucker manage to help Danny escape the GIW, but they can't follow him and are under too much surveillance to communicate with each other. Sam snuck Danny a phone as he ran and Jazz sends him a text every day, hoping to hear he is all right. But he's not the one getting the texts.

Jason was away for several months on a mission with the Outlaws. When he finally returns home, he is surprised to find dozens of messages from an unknown number begging a Danny to tell her he's okay. Looks like there's not going to be a break between missions this time around.

Chapter 1: AO3 (user locked), Tumblr

Chapter 2: Part 1

Word Count: 1.3k

-----

After the performances—an odd mix where the main band yielded the stage to a poet or an accordionist when they needed a break—Jazz and Todd continued to mingle.

Jazz waited until about fifteen minutes had passed before reaching into her bag to search for her phone. “Todd!” she cried.

“Jazz? What’s wrong?”

“I can’t find my phone! Shit, what time is it?”

Todd pulled out his. “Eleven fifty. Did you have it when we arrived?”

“I don’t know! I haven’t checked it. Where could it have gone?”

One of the other attendees broke into the conversation. “Lost your phone? What does it look like? We can help you look.” She was a woman in her forties or fifties. Next to her was another woman who nodded her agreement.

“Thank you, that’d be great.” It didn’t take much effort to bring tears to her eyes—all she had to do was remember that Danny was still missing. “It’s a Samsung in an unfortunately standard black case. The lock screen has picture of and my brother. My name’s Jazz, by the way. And this is Todd.”

“I’m Mel and this is my wife Jayden. I’m sure we’ll find your phone soon enough.” Then, in a voice loud enough to cut through the chatter, “Oi! Anyone see an unattended phone lying around? Jazz here misplaced hers?”

Even Mel, though, had to admit defeat after half an hour of searching through the entire apartment yielded nothing.

Jazz sat down on the floor and let herself cry. “And by now we’ve missed the last train. I’m sorry, Todd. What a disaster.”

“Hey, no. None of that, now. Tonight’s been a blast. This sucks for sure, but I can get us an uber or something—”

“How far are you kids going?” asked Jayden.

“Too far,” cried Jazz. “I live out of the city. Parked at Alewife and took the red line in.”

Jayden winced. “Well, we parked nearby. Is there somewhere close we can drive you?”

Jazz blinked up at them. “You’d do that?” She turned to Todd. “I just want to go to sleep. Is there a motel nearby we could stay at?”

Todd pulled out his phone and searched. “Looks like there’s a Holiday inn just down the street or a La Quinta that’s a little cheaper just a bit further out.” He smiled ruefully at the women who’d been helping them. “If you could get us to either place, we’d be more than grateful.”

One of the residents, an older man named Rob, took a seat next to them. “Hey, kiddo. What’s your email? We can contact you if anyone finds it.”

Jazz smiled at him gratefully and gave it. If it wasn’t so necessary, she’d feel bad for lying to and worrying all these people. But they were in so much danger. To the women, she said, “Would the La Quinta be too far out of the way? If I end up having to get a new phone, I’d like to save as much money as possible. Thank God I still have my wallet.”

“Sweetie, it’s totally fine,” assured Mel. “We’d take you all the way home if we didn’t live on the opposite side of the city.”

“Thank you, but that’s really okay. I just want to go to bed and worry about it tomorrow.”

“Come on, dear.” Mel reached out a hand to help Jazz up. “Let’s get you cleaned up then we’ll be on our way.”

Jazz thanked Rob for his help before Mel led her towards the bathroom with an arm around her shoulder.

Less than forty minutes later, Todd and Jazz were alone in a hotel room together. She pulled the blinds shut and finally let herself relax.

When she turned back to the room, Todd was looking at her with one eyebrow raised. “Want to explain to me what all of”—he threw out his hands—“that was about?”

Jazz glared back at him. “You didn’t tell me you died! Damn it, if I’d known in advance—!” she cut herself off and took a deep breath. “Never mind. What’s done is done.”

Todd was deadly still. “How do you know that?”

Jazz threw her hands in the air. “It’s obvious to anyone who knows how to tell. Including the Guys in White who I told you are dangerous to ghosts and liminals! I had plans for what I’d say when they found us, but those won’t work if you’re dead!”

“Wait.” Todd held up his hands. “You’re saying I can be persecuted under those Anti-Ecto acts?”

“Yes! You’re more ghostly than me, and I am watched every minute of every day.”

Todd narrowed his eyes and stared at her for a moment before asking, “Have you heard of Lazarus Water or had any dealings with the League of Assassins?”

“No! I have no idea what you’re talking about. Quit changing the subject. My brother is the only thing that matters and you and Red Robin promised to help me find him.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do!” Jason’s eyes flashed green, and Jazz glared right back at him. “The League of Assassins are the ones who brought me back to life with Lazarus Water. I need to know if you and your brother are mixed up with them because that would change our approach. If it’s a rogue government agency, that’s one thing. If it’s also the league, we’ve got a whole set of other problems.”

Jazz sat down heavily on one of the bed. “Oh. Sorry, I didn’t— It’s been a long few months. After a long few years.”

Todd sat down across from her and nodded for her to continue. “Tell me what happened.”

“It started three years ago. My parents, they’re ghost hunters. Been building weapons to detect and hunt ghosts since before I was born. But three years ago is when they finally finished their life’s work: the ghost portal. Only it didn’t work at first. Then my brother Danny and his friends decided to be stupid. They went to check it out. I wasn’t there and the three of them don’t talk about it, but something happened down there that day.

“My brother died and the portal was working. Only, he didn’t die all the way. He became half-ghost, half-human. And that would have been bad enough, but with the portal open, ghosts came through from the Infinite Realms, sometimes called the Ghost Zone by humans. Some were benign, but many of them came to cause problems or hurt people. Danny stopped them.”

Todd held up a hand to stop her. “Your brother became a supehero? How didn’t the Justice League hear about this? How old was he?”

Jazz shrugged. “I don’t know about the Justice League. It could be that no one ever contacted them. It could be they didn’t believe us. And it could be that no one cared. Danny felt responsible though, since it was his fault the portal turned on. And he was the only one with the ability to stop the ghosts, so…” She held up her hands in a what-can-you-do gesture.

Todd closed his eyes and let out a careful breath. “I can guarantee you the JL didn’t know about your town. A fourteen-year-old would never have been left alone to monitor an interdimensional portal if we had.”

Jazz had no idea what she thought of that. Danny had done it all alone. So finding out he could have had help? She shook her head. What-ifs were a waste of time. “Well, he did. But the government didn’t like that a ghost was the main defense against ghosts. So the Ghost Investigation Ward, more commonly called the Guys in White or GIW was formed. At first, they were as incompetent as any other ghost hunter. But they didn’t stay that way.”

“What happened to your brother, Jazz?” asked Todd.

-----

Next

Sorry to end it there. But it's the right length and I need to go to bed. XP

Hope you enjoy!

I no longer do tag lists, but please check out the Subscription Post if you want notifications when I update.

Not much to say about this one. When I went to the event at this location, my friend and I very nearly missed the last train. It was pulling into the station as we entered. If we'd been 2 or 3 minutes later, we would've been stranded so far from my car, I don't even want to know what that uber or cab would've cost.

Luckily Jazz and Jason had a few good Samaritans nearby.

Next up: We learn more about what happened to Danny!

[shigure]

we've gone a decade without any major technological revolutions. we've had big changes, lots of refinement, fancier cartridges, newer programs. but the most impactful changes have been big companies deciding to switch to subscription service, with all of us powerless to stop them.

in the meantime, every day is the newest tech revolution. someone's started a new a.i. program. someone's designed an app to communicate with your team called teekup. it doesn't work. samsung has released a new phone, apple has released a new statement that they will be further taking away user privacy protections. we're oversaturated with ideas. not thinking ideas, just desperate vying for marketability. and the sick part is, even though all these people being interviewed about their new revolutionary product may as well have been built in a lab, they probably will starve if it doesn't go viral. they don't even have the creative freedom to give up on their idea. their best bet is delusion that they're offering a public service.

it's really not a surprise that nfts have taken off on the more corporate side of social media. techies need a new messiah. crypto saps need to believe some new shiny thing will somehow resuscitate their wallets. facebook's marketing team can't help but pray that they'll be able to sell something with the equivalent pull of bitmojis but for people under 40. and it's so easy to make them. you can just make a bunch of them. maybe one of them will sell, maybe not, but then you can give them away for free and lie to your boss that this counts as engagement. after the past few decades of the tech sector loudly trying to find a way to euthanize artists on the whole, this could be their big break.

everyone knows art doesn't pay. did you know law doesn't either? it used to be that companies would just hire hundreds of lawyers just in case, and you wouldn't have to do much of anything to get a fat paycheck. after the 2008 crash, these companies started downsizing, and asked if they really needed all these lawyers. so they fired them. haha! sucks to be them, these corporate lawyers leeching, now without a job and nobody is hiring. serves them right for hating art. for looking down on everyone else. if you were in law school in 2008, going in because your parents wanted you to make something of yourself, you left with no prospects. you worked at the apple store for a year, with a law degree. maybe someone came in that said all lawyers are liars, and maybe he's right, and maybe you would have looked down on him if you'd graduated five years earlier. but right now you're replacing his charging cable.

the crash didn't un-crash. nothing fixed itself. moderately well off people found new ways of not working, poor people got sick and died. uber started up, telling everyone they could be trendy and make money. airbnb started up, and the demand for housing just increased - not to live in, just to sell again and make money off of. we're still in the pit, and companies are starting to ask if they really need that many programmers. you went into tech because it would make money, and your parents wanted you to make something of yourself, and you're grappling with the despair of being a perfectly normal person in a world where only sterile talent seems to matter. of course you need ai art. of course you need nfts. tech was your path to literally just living comfortably. in 8 months you're going to be out of a job.

the apple store is still hiring.

[umeoniii]

Hey can we have some modern hange sfw head cannons (and a lil nsfw also if your ok with that😏 )-📚

modern hange hcs sfw & nsfw!

|(￣3￣)|

sfw:

♡ casual redditor like she’s one of the ppl who answers the questions in the forum

♡ definitely has been a tutor, not even for quick cash, but bcs she likes being helpful

~

im trying so hard not to laugh and say she’s one of the ppl to be like “erm that’s akshually not the right answer 🤓”

♡ she owns animals, not a dog or cat but like a reptile.

an iguana specifically, she’d give it a cute name like pip, that’s adorable ain’t it?

♡ she takes picture and stuff, very nice photos, her backup option was to be a photographer and travel around the world

♡ she was forced to play an instrument as a kid, so she can play both cello and viola!

♡ i think hange would actually be fun to hang around, regarding her ‘nerdy’ appearance

♡ she gets the party going and probably ends up getting the absolute drunkest and blacks out in a trash can…

♡ has a good amount of $$

♡ she’s a decent chef, i feel like since she’s smart she wouldn’t suck at cooking, unlike me…

♡ nic fiend… (im playing but at the same time im lowkey serious)

she’ll go 0-100 rq for her banana strawberry pen :3

♡ like i said she’s SUPER loud. she’s the type to take your insta photos and be like “YES! GIVE IT TO EM’ “NOT TOO MUCH NOW” and u end up asking someone else bcs it’s too much

♡ has an emotional attachment to a bunch of things she owns, that’s why she has a lot of things

♡ she likes to be updated on technology, she has two phones (one for the plug and one for the load 😈) the newest iphone and then some fancy samsung

♡ regarding some of this stuff she has morals and knows when to calm down and be chill

♡ likes loud music, like hard metal and rock and stuff. but she likes soft chill music too.

♡ she also just takes a bunch of pictures of everything, her friends, food, her pets, angel numbers, stuff like that

she appreciates the minor things

~

nsfw

★ chronic masturbator

maybe twice a week, three times if it’s a bad week

★ rides her pillow when she’s at home alone

★ like i said she’s a casual redditor… that’s where she watchers her prn

★ hange’s a soft dom

★ eats pussy to live

★ very loud in bed as well. moans groans whines whimpers

★ doesn’t shave often, she only shaves in the summer IF she’s going swimming and wearing something revealing. but she does trim maybe once a month.

★ c cup, they’re perky n’ soft

★ fat lips (O_O)

★ her nipples are brown along with her outer lips

★ squirter

★ this is crazy to say but her head game is UNMATCHED, i stand by this statement

(y’all remember that one keke palmer meme?)

★ sweet talks during sex

★ strap game unmatched as well ;)

彡

[anonnie-in-wonderland]

Call Me Crazy...

Rating: T

 Word Count:11.8k 

 Warning(s): anxiety/anxious thoughts, near panic attacks, injury, but also beware the fluff for it is potent

 Summary: When Y/N gets her hands on the newest Samsung phone, she thinks at most she’ll get a little clout with her friends and fewer dropped calls. A direct portal to BTS? Not so much.

 Genre(s): Strangers to Friends to Lovers| Crack Treated Seriously| Fluff| Comedy| Romance| Magical Realism

 Tags: bts x reader | ot7 x reader | poly| FM!POC!reader

 Ch.3:  Don’t Hold Your Breath for a Break

A/N: Hiiii, sorry I’ve been away for so long. 🥺 Life has been pretty stressful. But, I’m back now, new chapter, whoo! I have had this on my mind for a while now, and finally got the chance to incorporate it into this chapter~ I really do hope you enjoy the arrival of the next BTS member to show up, whose dynamics with Y/N are already among my favorites. Also, always feel free to chat with me about this fic if you’d like, I don’t bite and thrive on the engagement! 🤗 I wanna know if anyone wants to guess what is going on or has figured it out yet. This chapter is especially dedicated to the blog who had a super easy tutorial on how to keep your formatting from google docs to tumblr!! Saved me a lot of time. Hehe *PLEASE do not ask about the taglist in this story’s comments*

In the days that followed, Y/N completely fell down a rabbit hole. It felt prudent to look more into BTS, or more specifically, Park Jimin. From a strictly legal perspective and nothing more.

 After all, she was sure his attorneys would be sending a court summons any day now just as soon as they managed to find out her identity and track her down. It was something she lived in fear of.

 Binna was none-the-wiser that the reason she suddenly seemed so attentive about the band’s recent lives was because she wanted to know if they’d mentioned anything. Any clues that would tell Y/N when her days as a free person were coming to an end. 

Honestly, she hadn’t found much. Nothing that would be helpful in allowing her to participate in her own legal defense. Speaking of that, could she even afford an attorney that would be able to stand up against Park Jimin’s? She was sure a global superstar would have the best in the country.

Y/N listlessly scrolled through yet more photos of Jimin—looking for hidden meanings in the recent videos the group had posted was starting to make her feel like she was overreacting at best and paranoid at worst. 

There were pictures of him with a variety of hair colors and outfits, taken over time, and he was flawless in all of them. Even ones she came across where he wasn’t glammed out in full makeup made it obvious he was just one of the lucky ones, naturally born attractive. 

“How many wardrobe malfunctions can one person have throughout their career?” Y/N found herself muttering, spying yet another photo where Jimin’s fancy jacket was sliding down his arm. “Is he allergic to keeping his shirt on his shoulders?”

Though, given how many fan compilations existed that compiled every single moment where Jimin’s shirt or jacket hadn’t quite managed to stay all the way on, it didn’t seem like there were many complaints. Army was swooning and swooning hard if anything. 

But really, being sued within an inch of her life wasn’t even the worst part about it all. If someone saw the “notes” section of her phone, they’d have her committed first, and ask questions later. She’d have her committed, under normal circumstances.

 Because what she had experienced not once, but twice? It went against everything she stood for. Logical, grounded, a firm believer in science and fact. Facts didn’t support phenomena like getting sucked through a mirror and ending up in an idol’s dance studio. 

Facts didn’t support seeing the face of another idol—because she now knew the reason the man in the mirror looked vaguely familiar was because he was another BTS member, Seokjin—instead of her own reflection when she went to brush her teeth. It just…didn’t make sense. 

Science couldn’t support it. It was nuts. Yet it happened to her. And that was the only reason she believed it. Too bad no one else would. Or worse, if and when Jimin announced he’d be pressing charges for assault, and she had confessed beforehand to someone…it would probably be taken as evidence the attack was premeditated.

 Sure, they’d have to prove how she got in. But…but still! She couldn’t risk it. Wouldn’t. Which meant her phone was her only safe secret-keeper. They were co-conspirators in it all. 

Speaking of the damned cursed thing… trying to outright return it hadn’t worked, even though she had the receipt and everything! She still remembered the bizarre events that day.

Y/N was almost out of breath by the time she entered the phone store, embarrassingly worked up in front of the few strangers milling around inside. She got a few curious, side-long glances, and then they went back to perusing the inventory.

“Welcome!” Called an employee already speaking to other customers. “Someone will assist you shortly.”

Y/N gave a short, affirmative nod, trying not to come off anxious as she glanced around. Everything looked…the same as the night she had bought the phone. Shiny new models on display, the monitor above their heads playing a loop of advertisements for different Samsung products, and everything neatly put away and organized. Absently, she began to think over the store’s layout, and the fact that it could have a strong subconscious effect on the consumer. Organization of inventory could actually play a role in whether or not someone wanted to buy something.

But, putting that aside, the store didn’t look like the kind of place that would sell someone a phone that would ruin their life. Looks could be deceiving, though. Who knew what was actually afoot?

“Oh, can I help you, miss?” A middle-aged woman wearing the store’s polo top came over with a tag that said her name was Hayoung asked in an attentive tone.

Y/N was quick to nod. “I’m here to make a return, actually. I bought a phone from your store not long ago.”

“Was the item not to your liking?” Hayoung asked, guiding her over to an available station.

The university student glanced down at the phone in question, which she’d placed back in the original purchase box. “You could…say that.” She mumbled. “I’ve thought about it, and I really don’t need anything even half this fancy.” Telling the woman she thought the phone might have it in for her was out of the question. “So I’d like to exchange it for something simpler.”

Hayoung dutifully accepted the box, scanning the barcode and then lifting up the lid. Y/N had anticipated a smooth return in which she’d flash her receipt, maybe some ID, and have the exchange completed in no time. But when Hayoung’s brow furrowed, she knew she wouldn’t like whatever the saleswoman was going to say.

“Is…is something wrong?”

“Well,” she paused, “Are you sure you purchased your phone here? From this store? I know we’ve had models similar to this in stock before, but this one’s just not ringing up.”

“Really?” Y/N shook her head, rummaging around in her purse. “I don’t see how that could be. I have the receipt if that helps…” 

She then proceeded to go through her small purse, searching the exact spot she knew she had folded and placed the receipt. “Um, hold on a minute please,” Hayoung waited expectantly as Y/N kept looking, growing increasingly more frustrated as she turned the contents of her purse inside out hunting for the receipt. 

No, no way was she ever that careless. She had made sure she put it into her purse before leaving the apartment, and she didn’t exactly care that much in it to begin with! It was all zipped up tight, so how could it have fallen out?!

It took several more long, awkward moments of searching futilely in vein for her to realize it was true. The receipt was no where to be found. Trying to fight down the flush of defeat crossing her cheeks, Y/N cleared her throat, speaking diplomatically, “I’m sorry, I don’t seem to have my receipt on hand after all. I guess I’ll just…try to search it out and return when I do.”

“Oh, there’s no need. Our system can search for and find the purchase if you happen to have the card on hand.”

Y/N wanted to slump over in defeat, “Actually my friend bought it…”

“Oh,” Hayoung tilted her head, “Do you happen to know the account number used?”

Y/N mentally wondered if Binna was free. She shouldn’t be in class right now, right? So it would be okay to quickly give her a call and get this sorted out. She had to leave the store without this phone. That was a must!

 “H-Hold on please!” It was a little embarrassing, snatching the phone she had been trying to return from its box and powering it on. In anticipation of making the return, Y/N had thought to wipe it and remove the SIM card chip, but then recalled hearing it was best to do that at the store when the transaction was complete, in case there was something forgotten on the phone that still needed to be retrieved.

Hastily scrolling down the admittedly short contacts’ list, Y/N located Binna’s number and pressed the button to dial. The phone rang three times, and she anxiously tapped her foot as she waited to see if her friend would pick up. ‘Please, Bin. Come on. Please.’

Of course, as it always was when she needed something to work out, it didn’t quite go smoothly. Binna hadn’t picked up, and she had ended up ending the call right before it switched to voice mail. Typing out a text message asking for the information she needed, Y/N had glared spitefully down at the phone.

“Do you recall the name of the clerk who sold you the phone?” Hayoung asked gently. 

Y/N thought it over, the sales associate’s face floating to mind. “Yes, his name was Suk-kyu.”

“Hmm, that name doesn’t sound familiar.” Hayoung shook her head. “I’ve been employed here three years and never heard anyone go by that name,”

It was unlike her, but Y/N felt she was entitled to a bit of out of character behavior when her jaw actually dropped. “You’re kidding…”

But, Hayoung assured her, she was not. She didn’t think they had ever carried the exclusive Army Edition of the phone. She didn’t know who Suk-kyu was, and Y/N couldn’t find her receipt, the only bit of evidence that might have been able to successfully lift the burden of the phone from her person. She had left the store, apologizing for wasting the patient woman’s time, and feeling like she was at least partially going crazy. 

Needless to say, Y/N had been…anxious about the phone since then. A bit scared, even. A fear she had no choice but to shoulder in silence for the time being. There wasn’t much she could do but continue searching high and low for the receipt and hope it turned up soon.

 In the meantime, she didn’t let on that anything was wrong, using the phone like before, though limiting that to when it was really necessary. No more playing around with it or downloading apps. Nope, she didn’t want to risk getting too attached to the thing. 

The only thing she did besides make calls was research. Things she never would have thought about looking up before. Like, unexplained phenomena with electronics, most of which led to completely wild conspiracy theories or dead ends.

Y/N had been so engrossed in breaking her brain over what to do, she jumped when the apartment door swung open, turning around on the coach to see Binna march in, a few grocery bags in her hands. Keys in her mouth, she gently kicked the door closed, humming to herself until she happened to look up and spot Y/N.

“Oh!” Binna hustled into the small kitchen to set her bags down, then her keys. “Y/N, didn’t expect to see you here right now. You’ve got class today, right?”

“It was canceled…” she sighed, sliding down the couch cushions and placing her phone on the coffee table. “The professor’s out sick with the flu.”

Binna winced in sympathy. “Yikes, poor guy…”

“Yeah,” Y/N took great care not to get sick, so she hadn’t so much as had a cold in years, but she still remembered times when she was a child in bed with chills, body aches and a fever. Once she had even had pneumonia, her mother forced to call out from work and nurse her back to health. “He just wanted us to go over the assignment we’ve been working on since the start of the semester. You know, take this as independent study time basically. But…”

“Buuut, knowing you,” Binna smiled, “You’ve already taken the initiative and gotten a head start a long time ago, so you’re ahead of everyone else.”

“Done, actually,” Y/N confirmed, not afraid to admit to her efficiency. 

Her roommate made a noise of encouragement as she began to put the groceries away. It didn’t look like much. A loaf of bread, some bottles of sauce they’d been running low on, some eggs and a carton of milk.

 “That’s great, since it actually kind of works out. Chin-Mae and Min Su invited me to check out this new steak house that just opened up. I heard reservations are booked out for weeks already, but thanks to Min Su’s connections, we can go this evening. What do you say?” Binna wiggled her eyebrows, trying to entice Y/N. 

“Alright, I’m in,” she agreed.

“Because I’m sure they won’t mind adding just one more to our party, especially if that person is you…” Binna continued to ramble.

“Bin, did you hear me?” Y/N clucked, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I said I’m in.”

Eyes round as the eggs she had put away, Binna blinked, nodded, and finally broke out into an ear to ear grin. “Oh, wow, that’s new. I m-mean not that it isn’t great you wanna join us, but…”

“What?” Y/N felt a little defensiveness creeping up on her, and she probably didn’t do the best job completely hiding it from her tone. “You made the invite, and you said Min Su and Chin-Mae would be fine with it. Did you not…really want me to come along?”

They thought she would kill the mood, the nasty little whisper entered her head unbidden. They thought she was so stuffy and boring.

“What, Y/N, no!” Binna immediately denied, “I’m really glad you can make it,” she shot over to the couch, wrapping her arms around her friend’s neck from behind as she bent over for the hug. “It’s true you normally put up a little more resistance when we ask you to come somewhere. You stay so busy, so I was a little surprised is all. But I’m glad you’re agreeing.”

Y/N’s tense shoulders relaxed, and she mentally sighed to herself, feeling silly. Of course, of course her friends wanted her there. And this was Binna, who struggled to have a bad thought about anybody. Secretly resentful definitely wasn’t her style. 

But with the stress she had been under, and the dread she’d done her best not to give into, Y/N could admit her nerves had been on edge. “Yeah, sorry about that…” she laughed weakly, reaching up and patting one of the arms looped around her neck. “I don’t know where that came from, but I’m happy to eat a little steak if Min Su’s recommending it.” The man had the best luck finding good places to eat, or stores that sold exactly what you were looking for but probably overlooked. 

“Good girl,” Binna uncoiled her arms and leaned back against the couch itself. “That’s the spirit. And hey, I heard from some of the girls in the campus’ BTS fan club that one of the guys on campus might be related to one of the waiters who might have catered the food on the set of a music video for Taehyung!”

She said it in a breathy squeal, and Y/N couldn’t help but smile indulgently. She was almost sure she knew which one Taehyung was, but she still wouldn’t put money on it. It might just as soon be someone else. Maybe Namjoon? 

She’d gotten more familiar with their names but as most of her time perusing videos and photos had been spent investigating Jimin, she wasn’t entirely sure on the others’ faces. Well, besides Jin and J-Hope. 

“Nice,” she said, letting Binna get all her gushing out as she texted Chin-Mae just to make sure it really was okay if she tagged along. Stupid to be anxious about feeling unsure if everyone really wanted her to come, but better to be safe than sorry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was impressed the minute they walked through the door. Min Su stopped trying to sneak an arm around Chin-Mae’s waist and immediately went over to talk to the maître d. The two men spoke cordially, the head waiter confirmed their reservation, and then they were led to their table with a flourish. 

Binna was practically bouncing on her heels, squealing under her breath. “Can you believe this place?” she whispered excitedly, “I feel like a movie star, coming here.”

The restaurant was definitely lavish, so she understood where her friend was coming from. The tables were polished stained oak, and lit by a candle to provide ambiance, and the floors were a gorgeous brown tile that Y/N suspected to be marble. 

The restaurant was done in a mixture of black, gold with high beam wood ceilings and low atmospheric lighting. They walked past a bar, long and oval, with shimmering glasses the team of bartender would pull down as they did impressive tricks to wow the gathered guests. 

“It’s one of the hottest spots in Gangnam right now,” Chin-Mae commented as they sat down. The table comfortably fit the four of them, and everyone got settled as a young woman hurried over, handing them menus and introducing herself. 

“This is so cool,” Binna exclaimed, still wiggling in place. She shook Y/N’s arm. She was all done up with some icy blue eye shadow that matched her aqua dress, and a more subtle plum shade of lipstick. 

Her hair was secured in a complicated twist by a pin she recognized from the last time they had gone shopping together. Y/N adjusted the shawl draped over her shoulders, pulling down her own strapless dress. Binna had helped her pick accessories, which were mostly shades of amber or gold, and apply some light makeup. 

Y/N chuckled, nodding as she scanned the menu, trying her best to ignore the listed prices. She had come fully prepared to pay her own way, but Min Su insisted the meal was going to be on him. It must have been nice.

 The perks of being from an affluent family, she supposed. The guy was already well on his way to being a successful lawyer, following the family tradition. He had moved all the way from his hometown in China to come and work on his master’s degree at one of the top universities in Korea, just for a change of pace. “Thanks again for letting us crash your date night, guys.” Binna beamed.

“Please,” Chin-Mae scoffed lightly, not looking up from his menu. “What was I supposed to do all evening? Talk to him?”

Min Su pouted, but it didn’t diminish the fond glow in his eyes as he leaned over his boyfriend’s shoulder and whispered something in his ear that gave Chin-Mae pause.

 Their friend cut a sharp look at his partner, smacking his thigh and then proceeding to ignore the man who was happily leaning into him and commenting on the menu. Yeah, nothing new there. Min Su was totally gone on Chin-Mae, as always.

 There was nothing about Chin-Mae’s bluntness or dismissive attitude in public that ever put him off. If anything, the mean behavior only served to make Min Su try harder. Though, she and Binna both knew Chin-Mae wouldn’t be with someone this long if he wasn’t just as serious about them.

 He was just a straight shooter, raised in a family that wasn’t completely accepting of who he was, and unfortunately awkward and out of his depth about how to handle someone as affectionate and doting as the man he happened to fall in love with.

 They were well suited in that regard. Min Su was patient and persistent enough to shower Chin-Mae in all the attention he needed to overcome the lingering doubts about being worthy of such deep love and devotion. 

Y/N was perfectly fine, pursuing the path she was. Career goals first, everything else second. But sometimes, watching them, a little envy did ignite.

 It must have been nice to find something like that, and she was truly happy for them. It didn’t seem likely she’d have time in the near future to go out and chase it for herself, of course. And she wasn’t really worried about it. 

“So, what’ll it be for you guys?” Y/N cleared her throat, interrupting the warm and cozy silence they’d all been existing in.

“Ohh, I think I’m gonna have the smoked chicken and spinach salad, and a side of the fried mushrooms,” Binna announced, tongue poking out in concentration as her finger followed where the items she wanted were on the menu.

“You’re going so easy on him.” Chin-Mae remarked. “I’m getting the iron skillet trout,” he squinted, leaning further into the menu. Min Su only smiled, plucking the reading glasses from Chin Mae’s breast pocket that he had forgotten to put on and placing them on his face for him.

 The absent-minded pat he got on the hand for it made the law student’s whole face light up. “And the chicken fried steak. That okay, babe?” He might not have looked it, exactly, but Chin-Mae had a healthy appetite. And if they were coming to such an exclusive restaurant for the first time, it wasn’t surprising he wouldn’t be keen to hold back.

Min Su was nodding encouragingly before Chin-Mae had even fully gotten the question out of his mouth. “And what about you, Y/N?”

She clammed up slightly, having been looking at the menu, mentally ruling out what seemed too expensive, or wasn’t quite her taste. “Uh, the pot roast sounds like a filling entree.”

“And?” Chin-Mae prodded, interlocking his hands together and leaning on them.

“And nothing,” Y/N shook her head. “It comes with two sides, that’s more than enough.”

“Boo,” Her friend hissed dramatically. “Fine. If neither one of you is going to take advantage of this, then I guess it’s up to me.”

Their waitress returned with a tray of drinks at precisely that moment, and as she set them down in front of the correct person, everyone began telling her their orders, which she jotted down without missing a beat.

 Only Min Su had actually ordered any steak, but, given the price of a 24 oz there was just no way she felt comfortable doing that to the poor guy, even if he was a good sport about it and more than capable of handling a large bill. 

As they sat, sipping their champagne and waiting on the food, something Y/N had been putting off thinking about started floating through her mind. Ever since the whole Jimin fiasco, despite her deep diving and frantic searching, nothing had turned up that indicated anyone was coming after her. 

But she just wasn’t willing to believe she’d gotten away that easily. She almost killed a celebrity. And, due to that, she’d really wanted to seek legal advice from Min Su, under the guise of some far-fetched hypothetical, of course. Her friends weren’t onto her, and she couldn’t give them a reason to be. 

She just had to find a way to casually broach the topic…

“Oh,” Binna gasped from her side, drawing the whole table’s attention to herself. She was carefully scrolling her phone with a freshly manicured nail, scowling slightly. It was so rare that Binna displayed any actual disdain, it had Y/N a bit curious. 

“What’s wrong, Bin?”

“It’s nothing,” she replied immediately, then paused. “Well it’s not nothing but, it’s just…I really wished we lived in a world that respected idols as people, you know? Some people call themselves fans and act like famous people aren’t allowed to have any boundaries.” She then went on to describe how there’d been another sasaeng incident reported on a news site she followed to keep up with celebrity gossip. 

Apparently, it was a pretty serious one, and crazed ‘fans’ had attacked an actress a well-known idol was reported to be dating. Her bodyguard had fended them off, but the actress still went to the hospital with some injuries. 

Y/N perked up slightly, but Min Su and Chin-Mae were thankfully too engrossed in listening to Binna rant to notice. It would be much easier to bring up her question using the information Binna had just provided them as a pretext.

 It was about time she had a stroke of good luck. Stopping to think it over, Y/N cringed. Not that she wasn’t sympathetic to the poor woman who had been harmed because of someone’s delusions. But it just…presented an opportunity she had to take, and….

‘Oh, why am I trying to rationalize it to myself?! I should just ask the question before the subject changes.’

 That decided, she opened her mouth and spoke, doing her best to make it seem as casual as possible. “So Min Su, you’re practically a lawyer. What kind of charges could that person face? Attacking a celebrity and inflicting bodily harm isn’t the same as harassing them for a photo.”

 Y/N silently patted herself on the back, sitting from her glass with an expression carefully schooled to look only mildly interested. Inside was another matter. She was rocking back in forth, heart hammering and eyes wide, waiting for an answer with baited breath.

“Hmm, well, I’ve mostly studied corporate law.” He admitted, playing with a ring on his index finger, “But I do know that given the severity, it’s likely both the actress and the company she’s represented under will press charges. Things are also moving faster these days, prosecuting people who do things like that.” 

Y/N swallowed, eyes fixated on Min Su’s thoughtful expression. “There were also witnesses, so it’s very likely to result in a conviction.” Yes, there had been a witness in her case too. Well, J-Hope had only seen her fleetingly. Maybe. Hopefully not. But if she was on any camera then…it was most definitely over for her.

 “The court could go light on them if it was a first offense…they might be sentenced to a large fine and community service…” Okay, Y/N thought. It would probably drain her savings, but it was still possible to bounce back and have a future, right? She could still put it in the past and become a CEO one day, right?! “Then again, it was a premeditated attack. Jail time is also a strong possibility.”

Her heart sank back down to her feet. Jail. What successful CEO in Korea had been to jail before graduating, and for assaulting an idol no less. 

‘I. Am. Done.’

“What’s the matter, Y/N?” Binna giggled, “You look like you smelled a rotten egg. But I guess hearing about how far some crazy people will go is pretty disgusting, isn’t it? I don’t think I’ll have much sympathy for them, whatever happens.”

“…Yeah…” Y/N said once her words came unstuck. That was another thing. Her sweet friend was going to think she was a criminal. She had known Binna since high school, having shared a homeroom class with her. They were vague acquaintances then, friendly enough to speak from time to time but by no means close enough to hang out between classes or after school. 

In fact, admittedly, Y/N used to wonder if Binna’s perky personality was just an act. It had to be, in her cynical rationalizing, because who was really that upbeat, in high school? 

Later on, she would realize she was just projecting, and once she stopped doing that was when she truly came to appreciate Binna for all that she was, steadfast and supportive. Although they didn’t become close, didn’t become friends, until meeting at orientation when arriving at Korea University. 

“They knew the consequences before they did it.” Chin-Mae joined in, swishing the last of his champagne around before drinking it down. “It’s stupid to think your life won’t be impacted when you run wild like that.”

Except, Y/N wanted to wail. She hadn’t known. She wasn’t a sasaeng, and she knew she had assaulted someone but at the same time she hadn’t really done anything wrong. Except maybe buy a cursed magical phone, that somehow was behind all this.

…Yeah, she’d just keep that thought to herself. 

“Well,” Y/N smiled, “Thanks for giving your input.” She told Min Su, who nodded, humming with a cheerful ‘no problem’.

A cartoony chime went off, and Binna groaned as she stared down at her phone, “Nooo,” she sighed, sounding truly remorseful. “Right now?”

“What’s happening?” Chin-Mae raised a brow.

“Jimin is going live!” She whined, “And normally I’d watch but I’m having such a great time with all of you, and I don’t want to be rude…”

“It’s fine, go ahead.” Y/N said, forcing a smile. “We know how addicted to that stuff you are.” Really, she wanted the floor to swallow her into the abyss. She knew the minute she heard that sound what was going on. If her phone had been turned on, they would have heard the same noise coming from her purse too.

She had made an account on several apps BTS often broadcasted their lives to, and set an alert for just that occasion. There were a couple of false alarms she hadn’t tuned into once she saw they weren’t from the person she was basically stalking at this point. But this was it. The big moment. 

He hadn’t done a solo live since the accident…but Binna said his members had mentioned that he had a small accident while practicing and was recovering well. 

All of Army was behind him, sending him tons of well wishes from all over the world. It was sweet, but she wondered how fast they would turn if they knew she was behind their beloved idol’s injuries. 

“Yeah, what Y/N said,” Chin-Mae rolled his eyes. “Check on your man,” he joked.

Binna giggled, flashing them a cute heart. “He’s not my man,” she replied playfully, “I’d have to get in line for that. Plus, I’m really more of an OT7, you know? It’s really hard to stick with one bias.”

 Nonetheless, when she began to watch, since Y/N couldn’t exactly whip out her phone and do the same without raising suspicion, she subtly leaned closer to at least listen.

Of course, Binna was always more astute than she let on. “Oh, did you wanna see too?” She angled the screen so they could both see before Y/N even had the chance to protest. 

And the live was just starting, the exact same idol she had seen what felt like a lifetime ago was sitting in a room by himself. It looked like he was on a couch, legs crossed, looking small in his soft oversized sweater and giving the camera a cute wave. “Hi, everyone,” his sweet voice said. “Thank you for waiting on me!”

Gushing comments poured in, cheering him and welcoming him back, asking him what he’d been up to, and telling him he looked good. Jimin tilted his head, a coy, secretive smile appearing on his shiny lips. Y/N couldn’t tell if he was wearing gloss or if they always looked like that.

 She had been a bit too preoccupied the one and only time she had the opportunity to see them in person. He had dyed his hair a different color, though. It was now a shade of strawberry blonde that complimented his angelic features well.

 “Well, I haven’t been up to much. Just resting, really.” he explained. “Even on days when I felt better and tried to join practices, the members just shooed me away.” He laughed. “Oh, but look at this!” He reached down, his head dipping out of screen for a minute, popping up seconds later holding a little pot. “Taehyung got me this ‘get well’ plant!” He showed them a cute little sapling.

Binna cooed, Y/N glancing at her then refocusing on his words. Who knew when a hidden meaning would pop up.

“I don’t know how well I’ll be able to take care of it; I’m not sure if I have a green thumb. But I’ll try my best!”

Comments came pouring in again, people saying he was going to enter his plant dad era, because collecting succulents could be addicting.

 Other people gushed at the sweetness of the VMin friendship, whatever that was, and yet more people reminded Jimin that he looked really good. Yet one comment in particular seemed to catch his eye, and he squinted, seemingly intrigued. 

“Hmm? You wish you were a plant so I could take care of you?” He repeated. “You don’t have to be a plant for me to want to take care of you.” The statement was very matter-of-fact, “You’re Army. I’ll always watch over Army.”

Binna sounded like she released a tiny sniffle. “Is he not just the sweetest?” She asked, nudging Y/N a bit. “Since you’re new to BTS, have you chosen a bias yet?”

Y/N wished she could tell her the real reason behind her sudden interest, but that was kind of out of the question. “No, not yet…”

“Y/N’s a BTS fan now?” Chin-Mae asked, “Since when?”

“Pretty recent.” Binna replied.

Y/N was only half listening to her friends, mostly focusing on Jimin’s chatter. Someone was still insisting they wanted to be his plant, and he looked nothing short of amused. 

“Okay, if you insist. Should I start a garden then?” He asked his fans. Y/N watched, stunned, as his bright eyes narrowed into a practiced and very effective smolder. She had seen it in pictures before, but in real time it was really something else, “It’ll be full of so many pretty flowers, and you’ll all bloom just for me, right?” The heady purr of his words sent a shocked shiver right down her spine. 

Binna swooned, while Y/N felt her breath hitch. ‘What… the…hell…was that?!’ A flirty throwaway line like that had never had that effect on her before.

 But then, thinking back, he had flirted with her in the dance studio too. She’d just been too worried to pay attention. Clearly, the man was an old hand at the art of duality, going from wholesome to heathen in five seconds flat. That was…dangerous. 

Binna seemed to already know how she felt, leaning into her with a sigh. “That, Y/N, is what happens when Jimin turns from angel to demon.” Her friend explained. “I’d say you’ll get used to it, but odds are you probably won’t.”

Jimin then went back to amicably speaking to everyone, as if he hadn’t just teased fans within an inch of their lives. The conversation moved on, and he was speaking about upcoming projects he was excited about or a funny habit that he had noticed in his band member. All normal, non-threatening stuff. Y/N was almost thinking she could relax. Almost. 

“What? You want to tell me a secret?” Jimin was reading another comment. “Okay, I’m listening…”

Y/N quirked a brow at the comment. “Sometimes I dream about you.” it read.

The idol grinned, replying casually. “Sometimes I miss Army so much I end up thinking about all of you in the middle of the day.” Y/N’s blood ran cold as he looked intensely at the screen. “It’s almost like you’re there…”

That was it. The sign she was waiting for! He was talking to her. 

“I…” Y/N stumbled to her feet, startling Binna. “Need the bathroom, I’ll be back.”

“Oh, okay.” Her friend said slowly, setting down her phone. “Is anything wrong? You don’t…look so good suddenly.”

‘You wouldn’t either in my shoes,’ she thought miserably. ‘Park Jimin is going to sue me within an inch of my life.’

“It’s alright,” she held a hand to her stomach, selling the illusion of sudden nausea. “Just…lady problems.” She said lamely.

Poor Binna didn’t even question it; she nodded, eyes full of sympathy. “Well text if you need anything.” She squeezed Y/N’s hand. “I’ve got a few extra tampons in my purse.” she whispered discreetly. Really, Binna was too good of a friend for her. 

Y/N rounded the corner in a hurry, blindly guessing where the bathrooms might be located. She passed their waitress, rolling out a cart that she was pretty sure contained their meals. Everything looked delicious, and of course she couldn’t even enjoy the great evening Min Su had generously provided. All because she was screwed. 

She hustled into a bathroom as fancy as the rest of the steak house, and so spacious there would probably be an echo. She hustled over to the sink, activating the handless system by shoving her trembling fingers under it. As she splashed her face with warm water, the dread twisting up her stomach gave way to deja vu. 

‘This is just like…the event at the internship.’ The wild day that would be the beginning of the end of her life. Removing her hands from the water, she gently pressed the pad of her thumb up to her eye, tapping it a few times.

 Her makeup was well done, but it still felt like she could see bags. ‘At least it can’t get worse.’ She assumed. After all, what was worse than this? The dumb phone was put away in her clutch, turned off, and back at the table.

 The very least she could do was fake a smile so she didn’t ruin everyone’s meal, and enjoy what might be her last chance to experience this. They probably didn’t serve many steakhouse dinners where she was going. 

That thought firmly in mind, Y/N squared her shoulders and prepared to march back out, tightly gripping her clutch at her side. Wait, her clutch?!

Binna must have handed it over to her, assuming she might need it. She had said to text if she needed anything, and Y/N couldn’t exactly do that without a phone. Well, at least it was off. Y/N wasn’t totally sure what kind of phenomenon had disrupted her life, but it all started with that phone. 

No sooner had she backed away from the mirror than a wave of dizziness overtook her, sending her keeling forward. Instinctively, she clutched the sink to maintain her balance, almost screaming out when she looked up as the dizzy feeling passed. 

The mirror in front of her was the same as always, a reflection of her wide, mortified eyes. But the long glossy mirror that made up the entire wall of the bathroom at the entrance of the restroom? 

A reflection of another room, just like before. “No…” she whispered, not ready to admit that it was happening again. What was worse? All of it being real, or her losing her mind? “Not again…!”

She clenched her eyes shut, then attempted to get her feet moving. She would keep her head down and hurry right on past, to the exit. That was the plan at least. And she was making good progress to move without falling over in her modest heels, but the minute she actually got closer to the mirrors, a strange feeling overwhelmed her. 

Almost like a compulsion to stop. Y/N felt like she was watching a scene in a movie, watching a victim wander down the hall of a haunted house, towards the homicidal attacker lying in wait.

 Her feet were making her move on her own! Her fingertips reached out, and yet she had no control. She had to touch the mirror, see if that room on the other side was real. But deep down, she knew the answer before her fingers made contact.

It was a strange emotion somewhere between surprise resignation when she wobbled onto a floor that was not marble and found her eyes darting around a room that was not the steak house. 

Pressing against the mirror desperately, she confirmed what a large part of her had assumed. There was no give to the mirror, apparently no way back from the time being. Was she even still in Gangnam?

Her senses were feeding her all kinds of information, and frankly, it was starting to overwhelm her. The raw scents of sweat, male musk, and ammonia could only mean one thing, and it was further proven when she peered around the blind corner of a painted brick wall, only to see two people exercising. 

Well, one was doing stretches, and with the way he hopped up, he had just finished. An older man in a tank top and sweats had pads strapped to his hands, and Y/N watched closely, not even daring to breathe, as the younger man sat down and laced boxing gloves onto his taped hands. 

He stood up, and who she assumed was his trainer got into a defensive stance while the younger man hopped around nimbly. Y/N watched, wide-eyed as they began to train, the guy in the black hoodie practicing blocking, jabbing and dodging.

 It was clear he had put a lot of dedication into this. Y/N was never much of a sports person, but she knew the result of hard-work when she saw it. His moves were fluid, and instead of slowing down, they got quicker the more he went at it. 

Somehow, it never felt like a good time to draw their attention to herself, go wobbling over in her dinner attire, and ask for directions back to the High Tower SteakHouse. She had a few other options, of course, like calling Binna. Or maybe Chin-Mae…but how did she explain it? 

She had gone to the restroom for a few minutes and wound up in a completely different location without leaving the restaurant?! Then again, it meant they would really have no choice but to believe her. 

It was impossible for her to have gone anywhere far when they all saw her leave for the bathroom. Maybe she could sneak out while they were distracted and then call when she was outside the gym, not standing around all conspicuous.

Y/N was weighing the merits of her plan when she heard an excited yell, whipping her head around and watching the trainer give his client a few congratulatory pats on the back, apparently satisfied with the work he’d put in for the day. 

They began speaking lowly to themselves, and Y/N paled when she noticed the only door out of the room she could spot was behind them…. The corner she was standing behind seemed to be where the water fountains and locker rooms were located. 

Hiding out in there was another option, but it didn’t exactly appeal when she would have to keep checking to see when the gym was empty. Right now it was just the two of them, but what if more people came in? 

They’d have questions about someone being dressed like she was, right? Then again she could also be found out just staying put where she was. Ugh…it was beyond frustrating. 

Her luck was completely shot, huh?

A little hope returned when the trainer waved at the young man and then began heading for the exit. She assumed they were done for the day, and the second guy would be done soon too. But not so, because then she’d actually be lucky. 

As soon as his trainer had cleared the room, he gave a loud sigh, beginning to shimmy out of his hoodie. Y/N didn’t think she was close enough to make the door in the small moment he had his vision obstructed, but she was close enough to get an eyeful.

 If his training earlier hadn’t tipped her off that he was dedicated, his physique would have. He was all hard lines, though the minuscule glimpse of a thin waist when his shirt rode up with his hoodie was impressive too.

 She could see a full sleeve of tattoos decorating one arm, and coupled with his longish two-toned hair, a deep brown that gave way to a raging red, he was kind of…hard to look at. Distracting in a way she didn’t anticipate. She didn’t get distracted, not usually.  

He, on the other hand, got straight to business. Oblivious of her presence, he walked right over to the large, hanging punching bag and began to hit it. But he wasn’t just hitting it. Again, Y/N was no boxing aficionado, but she knew he knew what he was doing. 

His strikes were always controlled, his breathing never ragged the way she could guess hers would be. He pivoted on his back foot, and she knew that the small movement put more power into his strikes.

 He was hitting the bag like it owed him money, grunting occasionally, the muscles in his arms and shoulders flexing in his t-shirt. At some point, Y/N figured he would stop. He would either head out the door, or into the locker room, and that was when she would flee. 

Hopefully, wherever the cruel cosmic entity that thought her life was a joke had dumped her, it wasn’t very far from the restaurant. Then again, shouldn’t she have gotten a worried text by now? 

She’d been gone for a while. Or, maybe Binna had actually come to check on her and seen that she had disappeared entirely. Y/N could imagine the freak out as Binna flailed her way back to the table and informed Min Su and Chin-Mae that somehow, someway, she’d been kidnapped. 

What was her life lately, she thought miserably. With nothing to really do but scroll her phone or continue to watch the mystery man go at it, she turned to checking what news was trending for the day. Normally, she at least kept up with news involving the business world, if nothing else.

 The celebrity gossip blogs she left to Binna, BTS investment notwithstanding. Stocks were up at several companies she had an interest in working at after graduation—assuming she made it with her life in chaos lately—so that was good.

 A CEO had resigned from his post at a company she had almost interned at but decided not to at the last minute off a strange feeling. Some scandal involving embezzlement. So she dodged a bullet there.

 And, lastly, BTS’ Jungkook had endorsed some new sports brand, and now merchandise was selling out faster than it could be restocked. The article included a picture of Jungkook, posing in shorts and a t-shirt next to a mountain of different athletic gear for various sports. 

Wait. Y/N could have swallowed her tongue. Wait. That man, the man in the picture and the one boxing…were the same person?!

Feeling like she may just be sick, Y/N did a quick check, and really took in the boxer. That was undoubtedly the idol pictured in the article. 

Not only was she going to jail for assaulting one BTS member (albeit on accident) a fact that she had managed to forget up until that moment, she got pulled back into the same thing that got her in trouble before, and ended up crossing paths with another one?! 

Once it came out what happened between her and Park Jimin, there was no possible way people would believe she wasn’t a sasaeng. The circumstantial evidence just kept getting more and more damning. 

Jungkook. Jungkook. What did she know about Jungkook? Admittedly not much, considering all her focus had really been on Jimin for obvious reasons. She knew…that Binna said he was the youngest in the boy group. He was multitalented, and here her friend swore she wasn’t exaggerating or anything.

 According to her, he was like some kind of Barbie of idols, he could do it all. Those weren’t her exact words, but it was the gist. Jungkook also had a habit of being a little shy around members of the opposite sex, or so it was claimed. 

Y/N personally had always thought all idols had to be manufacturing some parts of their personalities for public consumption. Who knew which parts? None of the scraps of information she had been fed told her anything about whether he was liable to press charges for stalking him or not.

Then again, he was an idol, and knowing that, Y/N had to assume he had gone out of his way to book private gym time, hence why the spacious work out room was empty save for him. Which meant him catching her was going to lead to a world of trouble. 

How good were her odds if she just booked it for the exit the minute he went back to the locker room? Or if he left, she’d wait a little bit to be sure he had cleared the building, then she’d leave too. Waiting…yep…that’s all she could do. If she wasn’t in a dress, and didn’t find the idea so dirty, she would slump over on the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jungkook caught the punching bag as it swung back from his last strike, finally feeling satisfied with his boxing for the time being. His limbs had that good burn that he liked, and his heart rate was up, despite his controlled breathing. But he wasn’t ready to leave just yet, so he decided to switch from boxing to something new. After a break.

Unlacing his boxing gloves, he found his gym bag and rummaged inside for his water bottle. Sitting down on a mat, he took a few sips, trying not to gulp it down too fast. His bottle was empty in no time, despite his attempts at moderation, and refilling before he resumed working out didn’t seem like a bad idea. 

His footsteps echoing in the big empty gym was probably his imagination, but the weird sight when he rounded the corner? That he was pretty sure was real. Leaning against the wall, a woman…no, a girl, dressed up like she had somewhere important to be was nodding off. He froze, staring, all kinds of thoughts flying through his head. 

Who was she? How’d she get in? When did she get in? Was she dangerous? Did he need to call for back up? Jungkook had purposely began training at this gym because it was exclusive. As his fame had grown, unfortunately he had to stop using more easy to find public gyms.

 The one at HYBE was an option, but sometimes he wanted something…quieter. Trainees who came in meant well, and they tried to be respectful besides giving him friendly greetings, but they couldn’t help but gawk, and that made it awkward when he was trying to get in the zone. Here, he had thought, was perfect.

But maybe he was rushing to conclusions. He didn’t know anything about the situation besides a girl in a nice dress was falling asleep by the water fountains while standing up. Her head slumped forward, then snapped up quickly as she jolted awake, eyes wide and alert. 

That was when they locked gazes, and his loose, sore muscles tensed right up. She, on the other hand, curled away like she was facing a thug in an alley. It was bemusing; yeah he’d bulked up a lot in the last several years after he got serious about training. Jungkook never considered himself all that intimidating, though. 

“Are you… staff?” he asked, since it didn’t seem like she was going to speak up first. Not with the way she kept looking like the guillotine was coming down on her head any moment. 

It took a reasonably long time for her to compose herself and answer, which was another pretty big tip off that something was not right. He was ready to whip out his phone and call security. Or at least he would be, if he hadn’t put it on do not disturb and left it in his bag. 

“This is all a misunderstanding, really,” she warbled, her hands slapped the wall behind her like she was trying to steady herself. “I didn’t…I didn’t mean to be here.”

“What?” Jungkook was definitely growing suspicious. No one who wasn’t up to something just answered like that.

“I was just going to wait until you left and I guess I started to nod off…” she ran a shaky hand through her hair, disturbing it a little. “But really, please, if you’ll pretend you never saw me, I promise, I’ll be on my way.”

He backed away quickly as she lurched forward, but before he could tell her not to do anything funny, she bowed very formally, and the idol watched, perplexed. When he didn’t respond in any way, she resumed her upright position, then tried to brush by him with her head down. 

Though, when he noticed the phone clenched tight in her fist, he acted without thinking. Something his hyungs had told him to be careful of doing in the past. At least they weren’t around to scold him.

“Hey,” he seized her wrist, and she stopped in her tracks, though he wasn’t expecting her reaction at all. Her eyes took in the hand on her like she could just flay it off with the intensity of her stare alone, and then she met his eyes head-on, hers surprisingly stony. “Your phone…”

“What about it?” she tried tugging her hand away, but he wasn’t ready to let go just yet. Not until he got some answers. He liked this gym. He wanted to keep using this gym, and at the thought that his privacy was being invaded yet again, and he would have to find somewhere else, yet again, he was getting a little worked up. 

“That’s an Army phone, a Galaxy Z Flip 4: Army Edition.”

Her eyes widened, and then she scoffed, shaking her head. “Yeah, I guess you would know. But to tell you the truth, though I can admire your band’s marketability, this phone itself has been nothing but problems. This is just the latest one. Now, please, let go.” There was some bite in her tone now, her voice surprisingly stern. 

When she tugged again, he acquiesced, something she probably didn’t expect, since she stumbled before catching herself. And when she felt her cellphone tugged right out of her hand? She rounded on him, scowling. “That belongs to me.” She held her hand out, clearly expecting it back.

“Why are you here? This is a private gym, and you don’t sound like you’re staff.”

She snatched for the phone, but he held it away, using his speed to his advantage. “Are you Army?”

“What? No,” she sounded offended by the notion, which in turn offended him. Then again, a true Army wouldn’t do this to him. Wouldn’t invade his space. “And what does that matter?”

“You’re not Army but you’ve got a phone that’s a rare exclusive. Only Army would want to own something like this. And if you’d go this far, you might be a sasaeng.” 

Here, she did pause in trying to retrieve her phone, a bit red in the face under her makeup. “Please, between my class schedule and internship, who would even have the time? The people who think stalking and harassing idols is worth jeopardizing their future for really need…” Surprisingly, the girl tried to jump for the phone like she wasn’t in heels, but he held it above his head, which meant it was way above hers, “…a hobby!”

“So I won’t find pictures you secretly took on this?” Jungkook squinted, not convinced. 

“No!” She hissed, jumping again, “Now who’s invading whose privacy, you…you muscle-headed, bunny-eyed brute!” 

He was so taken aback, he faltered, and with one last pounce, the mystery girl had snatched the phone, though not without a cost.

 Before she could even yell out in triumph, her heel wobbled and her foot rolled. Jungkook watched in slow motion, wincing in automatic sympathy as she went down. 

Time sped up as she cried out, on the ground and clutching her ankle in a dress too nice to be touching the bare gym floor. He stood over her, carefully watching her face at first. He could tell she was in pain, but attempting not to show the extent.

 Something about that alone…took him back to his early days. A wave of nostalgia he didn’t want to feel washed over him. He would hide his exhaustion, sometimes even hide injuries sustained while on stage until the end of a performance, until he couldn’t hide it anymore, just to avoid worrying his hyungs.

 And when they caught him, like they inevitably always did, he’d cry, apologize, worry they would resent him. It didn’t make sense to everyone, probably only to those who had experience firsthand with the feeling. Not wanting to let others down, wanting to live up to everyone’s expectations, struggling with the fact that they were still human.

The girl gingerly tried to shift her injured ankle, and that alone seemed to send a fresh wave of pain throbbing through it. With the way she bit her lip and clenched her eyes to stifle the cry he could just tell. 

And even though Jungkook had been concerned about a million things regarding her appearance, including that she might be another delusional ‘fan’, no one could fake pain that expertly. Plus, she’d have to be some actress to make her ankle swell on command.

 It was probably stupid of him to drop his guard, even for a second, but he found himself dropping to his knees, almost reaching out, and then hesitating. She stared up at him through her lashes, her own eyes as guarded as his had been, but wavering as she focused on ignoring her obvious injury. “I need…I need to call my friend.”

Making up his mind, Jungkook loosely grasped her foot by the heel, ignoring her half-hearted attempts to swat his hand away. He extended her leg, careful not to hurt her as he manipulated her foot to get a better idea of how bad it was. “You rolled it pretty hard.” He finally concluded.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Jungkook briefly met eyes with her again, but she stubbornly looked away. “I wonder how that happened.”

Guilt hit him pretty fast. Yeah. Even if he thought she was an intruder, he should have just called security and let them handle it. They were never far, and there was no way she could have stopped him. Not by physically overpowering at least. 

“Hang on,” he told her, setting her foot down and getting back on his feet. “I can help.”

“That’s a nice gesture,” she ground out, failing to hide a wince, “But really, I have my phone, so I can just call my fri—” she grabbed it and opened it, only for her face to fall. “Really? Now?” He heard her grumble irritably.

Noticing his quizzical face, turned a blank screen to him. “It’s dead.” She deadpanned. 

“Okay, then let me help.”

Jungkook didn’t know this stranger by any stretch of the imagination, but he had anticipated what her response would be. It probably sounded something like “no”, since she seemed disinclined to take his help.

 Was she always like this, so stubborn? Was it some kind of pride thing? He had been there, too; his hyungs really had their hands full with him over the years, didn’t they? 

Retrieving the first aid kit Jimin had gifted him some time back, he made a brisk return to find the girl in much the same position he had left her, staring sulkily at her injured ankle. She looked up when he approached, but didn’t say a word. 

“You might have to take off your shoe.” he informed her.

He waited to get a response, the big plastic kit held by his side. Jungkook wondered if she just planned to ignore him, and if he should take her silence as consent and proceed, but that didn’t feel right. Finally, she mumbled, “…This is really happening…isn’t it?”

Nodding slowly, he popped the kit open and examined its contents, locating the roll of compression wrap. While he did that, he noticed her leaning forward, trying to unstrap her heel without moving in a way that would hurt her foot even more. 

Jungkook had never worn heels, but he always thought anyone who did without falling over must have some hidden talent. Hers weren’t as tall as some, but she was still plucking at the strap with building frustration. 

Guessing she wanted it over and done with just as bad as he did, the idol seized the heel of her foot again, bringing her leg out and reaching for the buckle himself.

If he expected a beaming smile and a grateful attitude, he’d be sorely mistaken. She gave him the stink eye. “I can do at least this much.”

“Maybe, but I can do it faster.” He shrugged, already loosening the heel and sliding it off while holding her foot steady. From so close, and without the shoe in the way, he could really see just how fast the ankle had discolored and swollen. Again, he wrestled with the guilt, absently reaching for the wrap. “So,” he began by holding her ankle at a ninety-degree angle, “Who are you? Because this doesn’t mean I forgot…”

“Believe me, I’m someone who doesn’t want to be here anymore than you want me to be here. I didn’t have a choice, not that you’d ever believe me…” she huffed. “But, because legal repercussions are probably unavoidable, I’ll start by being cooperative. Maybe when they review all this, that’ll work in my favor.” It sounded like she was talking to herself, not him, but then she cleared her throat and extended her hand. “My name is L/N Y/N.”

Jungkook didn’t expect such a strange introduction, and the attempt at a handshake reminded him of Namjoon-hyung. He grasped her palm very briefly, barely holding on to it long enough for their hands to go up and down, but she didn’t seem inclined to want to hold onto him either.

“Y/N…” he repeated. 

“As for what I’m doing here…well, again, it’s not something any sane person would believe.” She switched her focus to watching him meticulously wrap her ankle. It was pretty careful care for someone that could have been stalking him, but he had already started, and if he was going to do it, his sense of perfectionism said he had to do it right. 

“Are you…insane?”

“Excuse me?” She didn’t look very amused, but he guessed it wasn’t exactly a polite question.

“You said a sane person wouldn’t believe you…” he explained. 

“I am not insane,” Y/N rubbed a hand to her forehead. “I just feel like I am lately,” she whispered. “I was dining out with some friends, in the restaurant bathroom and then…”

Jungkook waited while he secured the wrap with some bandage clips and closed his first aid kit. “And then?”

“It’s going to sound insane,” she finished matter-of-factly, “You’re going to call me a liar and accuse me of stalking you, then we’ll be right back where we started.”

Jungkook was torn between still wanting to contact security, but also experiencing some curiosity he couldn’t quite tamp down. “Do you have proof?” It didn’t sound like she did. 

“Proof?” Y/N repeated, arching a brow as if he had just said something strange.

“You’re not even going to try to make me believe you?” he goaded. 

“Sure, help me up and I’ll hobble right over to the mirror. You’ll see exactly how I got here and this whole think’ll be cleared up just like that.” Her tone was so sugary the sarcasm was evident. 

Jungkook figured he had indulged this for this long…why not go all the way. Offering her a hand, he warned her to brace herself, and then pulled her up with ease. “Okay.”

“Okay?” She said warily, trying not to show him how much she was utilizing the wall for support. 

“Okay,” Jungkook nodded, “Show me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Idols were weird. Y/N wasn’t sure if it was just the fact that they lived in a completely ‘different world’ from normal people or what, but she hadn’t expected her first extended run-in with some world-famous celebrity to go like this. 

Park Jimin was one thing; he’d been concussed, so that was enough to make him loopy. She hadn’t expected anything out of his mouth to make sense. But this guy, Jean Jungkook? 

Totally different. He wasn’t suffering a head injury, for one. And he had seemed angry at first, but still handled her appearance in much the same way a mean boy on the playground would in elementary school. Playing keep away with her phone, really?

He’d even treated her with decency when she tripped and sprained her ankle. God, that was yet another thing she was going to have to deal with. Sprained her ankle! Sprained! How was she supposed to get around campus quickly? It was huge. Though she supposed that wasn’t a concern at present. 

The idol’s strange demand was at the forefront of her mind, seeing as he was right behind her while she hobbled slowly to the mirror, her heel in one hand and her phone in the other. 

She must have looked like a suffering pigeon, doing a funny little hop. But she refused to let him touch her after she got her bearings. It was humiliating enough to have someone see her make a fool of herself and get injured to boot, idol or no idol. Well actually, his status made it even worse. 

And he was watching her oh so closely as she made it to the mirror, taking a deep breath and turned around to look at him with some difficulty. “Here it is.” She said flatly. “How I got in, and how I probably would be able to get out, if life felt like cutting me a break.”

He stepped around her, staring at her incredulously like she knew he would. She would look at herself that way in his position. Jungkook pressed against the mirror with the flat of his hand, one good time, as if to confirm it was solid. “You used the mirror? What, like magic? Like a drama?”

“You’re the one who said you wanted proof; I never said it would satisfy you.” she retorted. “I barely understand it myself, but what I’m saying is the only truth I have to cling to.” Her chin dipped, “No matter how implausible it is…” 

She knew she would get the same result he had when she pushed on the mirror, but as if to confirm her fate was truly sealed, Y/N tried anyway. When her hand went right through, the cool glass giving way to cool nothingness, she yelled, pitching forward.

Jungkook made a noise, something startled, and she glanced at him to confirm he was seeing what was happening. His bulging eyes made it evident that he was. Yes! Y/N jerked her arm away too fast, and in doing so almost fell back on her ass, if not for the lightning reflexes of the idol who moved to extend an arm around her waist.

 Y/N got her bearings, smoothed a hand over her shirt and her racing heart, and tried to hold back her tears. He could see. He could really see. The weeks of going crazy in silence, holding it all in, and someone else…could see.

“Your arm went through the glass,” he breathed.

“More than my arm’s gone through.” Y/N spoke with more confidence, now that there was no way he could deny it. “That’s…how I got here.”

The idol once again moved forward, pressing both hands against the mirror. Nothing. “How?” He wondered.

“I don’t know.” Y/N replied, “It’s been happening since…since I got this phone. So that’s my only theory, that the events are connected.” She held up the dead device and wiggled it around. “Not that that’s a story anyone would believe if I got caught breaking and entering.” 

The idol appeared to be thinking, worrying his lip piercing with his tongue, “Unless they saw it.”

Y/N squared her shoulders, eyeing him up and down. He fidgeted, looking small somehow, despite being fairly tall with a healthy amount of muscle. From close up it was even easier to see than watching him from behind the wall. 

“It might come as a surprise for you to know, not everyone would be as cavalier as you about all this. In fact, I’d go as far as saying your reaction was a bit…strange. Has anyone told you that you’re odd?”

  ‘Nice going, Y/N.’ She thought bitterly, ‘That was over the top blunt. You’re not trying to make an enemy out of the very first person to be witnessing the crazy with you.’

Luckily, the idol didn’t look overly offended. Jungkook pursed his lips, big eyes sheepish as he rubbed his head. “Uh-huh, my hyung.” he said thoughtfully.

“Well…” Y/N gestured vaguely. “Now that you’ve seen what I’ve seen, you know about as much as I do. Would it be too much trouble to ask if I could…go?” Pointing a thumb toward the mirror like she was about to miss her cab would seem dumb if he didn’t know. 

“Oh, right,” Jungkook’s tapped the mirror again. “You’re going back to where you came from.”

“Ideally,” Y/N frowned, “I’ve been gone a long time. There’s no way my friends aren’t concerned about that. And when they can’t find me who knows what they’ll think.”

Somewhat afraid the give they had both witnessed was a one-off, Y/N pressed her hand to the mirror once again, happy when it rippled and went right through. It might have been too late to salvage the evening with her friends, but at least she could salvage her reputation.

[the-enzyme]

I modified my 3D artist OG-RE4 Leon S. Kennedy head sculpt. I also repainted him, for the gazillionth time, if that wasn't obvious. I have to say, modifying a tiny eyelid was pretty easy to do with the Vallejo Plastic Putty, the only issue is, it doesn't seem to sand all that well. It started to crumble when I tried to sand it. I let it cure for longer than 4-hours, when is supposed to take only one to two hours, according to Vallejo's own website. I had read mixed reviews about it sanding well, or not. I guess it doesn't? Kind of weird, considering it is meant to be filler for models, and then it goes without saying, meant to be sanded afterward for a perfectly smooth finish...?

Regardless, I feel it works well enough for me, for tiny modding projects. I am definitely going to use it again for my Leon, whom I feel happier about right now, but I still know that he's not accurate enough. He'll never be, because he wasn't sculpted accurately enough, and that's pretty sad. However, the only thing I can do is try to make mine as accurate as I can without having to pay someone else to 3D sculpt another one for me. I could try myself, but I live in the middle of nowhere and I don't want to have an adventure trying to figure out how to create a 3D sculp/mesh/file to then have it 3D printed somewhere. I haven't (3D) modeled anything in more than a decade. I feel like my old dusty 3D Max and Maya, are probably not it, for 3D printing and that's all I know. Since those were the programs, we were allowed to use in college, back in the dark ages. When I learned how to 3D model. I believe blender is the popular choice for 3D printing nowadays, but that wasn't allowed so I didn't even bother trying it. Of course, I am not going to be 3D modeling a head at this stage. I much rather mod this boulder of a 1:6 head sculpt. It's a huge head for what it is, and not accurate, but it's all I got! DX

I am happy that I found something that is less wasteful than a tiny .25 oz container of Aves Apoxie, and less expensive as well. I am probably going to try modding my Myou Bettina next, since I wanted to give him smaller eyes, but still don't want to waste money on Aves' clay, when I know I won't get even halfway through the tiny container. Now, I can actually try, without fear of wasting clay, money and possibly sanity. Modifying (relatively) tiny heads is a huge pain in the gut, but I still want my Leon to be more accurate, but not enough to pay anyone again for another failed likeness. I also want my Bettina to have much smaller eyes. He looks too baby faced for my taste. I do love my Leon so far, I feel he makes a gorgeous looking figure. However, I want my OG-RE4 Leon to be accurate and this is not it. I sanded his upper lid a lot, the 3D sculptor gave him te droopiest lids ever, I also sanded his jaw quite a bit -- Leon has a very roundish head. Not sure what the artist was thinking. I added an actual upper eyelid with the Vallejo putty, because the 3D-sculptor didn't give him any. Certainly not even close of an eye-shape as Leons, but I feel like I'm doing good progress. I wanted to see what the putty was like, before doing heavier eye mods. Now I kind of know, so I am comfortable moving on. I will try first on m Bettina, however, because that is an even larger head, with huger eyes to try plenty of times, without worrying too much about heavy damage (I hope!).

The 1st image and the last two were taken with my older than dust cellphone. I like the way those look, the "newer" phone adds a lot of noise/grain, for absolutely no reason, and also the colors are kind of gross, but they are all samsung phones, so I have no clue why the "newer" ones suck so badly -- I suck at taking photos as well, but I need all the help I can get. The "newer" phone, doesn't do me any favors. Sadly.

[pssy-wagn]

Day 26: Android/Cyborg

“...and that’s why you’re just better off without them. Are you listening to me?”

“Yes, Dean.”

Crossing his arms, he looks at Cas in the eyes from across the kitchen table, “Then what’d I say?”

“You went on and on about why this phone is better than that phone. For the umpteenth time.”

Looking at the bill in front of him, he points to the upgrade that Castiel can now have, “You have an upgrade, Cas. You can pick any phone you want. Why in the hell will you stick with an Apple phone? You’ve got your pick from Android, my personal favorite, Google Pixel-”

“It’s just a phone, Dean.”

Sighing, Dean stares kind of disheartened at his portion of the bill, “I still have about three months with mine.”

“And you want to trade it in so bad already. The only thing wrong with yours is the screen.”

“Protector. Screen protector. But I wanna get a new one too,” Dean whines.

“I don’t even want an upgrade. There’s nothing wrong with my phone.”

“No. Except it’s starting to drop calls, your pictures are blurry when you send shit to me, your Messenger sucks hardcore-”

“I thought it was just a software update I needed.”

“That’s Apple products for ya. They don’t give a shit. They’re just like that N’Sync song, buy, buy, buy but with a U, not like, goodbye. Anyways, that’s how they getcha.”

Looking at his phone, Cas makes a quick phone call.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Gabriel.”

“Hi, Cassie!”

Sighing, he ignores his dreaded nickname from his older brother, “Gabriel, you have an Android phone, right?”

“Talking to you on it right now. Why?”

“Time for an upgrade-”

“Oh, sweet. Yeah. There’s a reason why I ditched my iPhone. It was-”

Cas is listening to hear what’s next in his sentence but when he looks at his screen, it’s on his wallpaper of him and Dean kissing with fireworks going on in the background. Dean looks at him from his plate of eggs and bacon, “Did he hang up?”

“I think.”

Nodding, Dean tears a piece of bacon, “Or did it drop the call? Again.”

Sighing, Cas searches for Gabriel’s number in his cell. Before he even has time to hit Call, Gabriel is calling him.

“Gabriel?”

“Why did you hang up on me? I was talking for a good two minutes until I realized I was talking to nobody!”

“His phone sucks!” Dean hollers from the back as he retrieves his second mug of coffee, “Talk some sense into your brother!”

“Dean, quiet. I’m on the phone.”

“Not for long”, Dean mutters under his breath.

Cas throws him a frown, “I will spit in your coffee, Dean.”

“Oh, please. You say that so much, it’s lost all threat.”

Shaking his head, he goes back to his phone only to be shown his wallpaper again. Exhaling hard, he looks at Dean who has a smug smile on his face.

“Dropped again, huh?” Dean fishes out his phone from his hotdog pants, “Wanna use mine? I bet you can stay on the phone with Gabe’s little ass longer.”

Squinting his eyes at his husband, Cas grabs the phone from his outstretched hand, “I hate you so much right now.”

“Lost meaning too,” Dean laughs as he shoves a forkful of eggs in his mouth.

When Cas goes into the next room to make his phone call, Dean takes Cas’ phone to try to make a call.

Calling Sam, he puts his phone to his ear.

“Hey, Cas. What did Dean do this time?”

“The fuck? That’s the reason he calls you all the time?”

“Oh. Hahaha, uh, hi Dean.”

“Uh-huh. He doesn’t call just to say hi and shit?”

“He does. About two days ago we were talking about fish tacos.”

“Fish tacos?”

“Yeah. If made just right, they are pretty good but nothing compare-”

“Compared to what? Beef? Steak? Hello? Sam?”

Looking at the screen, he knows the call dropped. Laughing out loud, “Cas! Your phone sucks more dick than you!”

When he comes back into the kitchen, he slides Dean’s phone to him.

“So what did you and your brother talk about? He agrees with me, huh? It’s time to switch, Babe.”

Dean slides him his phone back. Cas looks at it, sadly, “I’m sorry, ol’ gal. I think it’s time to let you go.”

“Get the new Samsung one, Cas. That one looks awesome.”

“I’m saying goodbye, Dean!”

Putting his hands up in surrender, Dean simply rolls his eyes, “I’m gonna go get dressed. We could hit up the AT&T store before we gotta go grocery shop.”

“Fine.”

When they get to the store, Sam calls Dean. As soon as he pulls his phone out of his pocket, he drops it just outside the store; having it smash onto the sidewalk curb grill and down its drain. Both Dean and Cas look at each other, mouths agape.

“What the fuck?! My phone!”

Going on his hands and knees, Dean tries to fish it out but his arms are too big. Leaving him, Cas goes inside the store. Coming back out, a woman shines her phone’s flashlight into the drain, “Let me help you, sir.”

“Thanks.”

When she pulls it out, the phone is completely cracked. Dean tries to turn it on but hears the water sloshing around inside.

“Good thing you’re at an AT&T store, right?” The woman nervously chuckles.

“I guess.”

Walking inside, he sees Cas eyeing the display phones, “Cas? I’m getting a new one too.”

“Perfect. I’ll get the newest Apple, my husband wants the newest Android.”

“What? We’ve been over this, Cas!”

[lofibeanie]

I have never been an Apple iDevice person but imma be honest, since Procreate put out the statement on anti-AI generated images and stuff, I have been looking into buying an iPad purely so I can start learning how to use Procreate (gdi for only being on iOS)

I have 3 pays until my birthday so HOPEFULLY I will be able to have enough saved to get it as a bday present to myself lol. I also have a con in a couple weeks so. Who knows how that will turn out. Artist Alleys make me wanna spend all of my money...I need to be careful :') I'm going both days so I need to be even more responsible LOL

Still umming and ahhing between the 11" and the 13" iPad Air M2 (I cannot justify the Pro, oof, I ain't made of money), and I definitely want the 256GB one. Obviously need the Apple Pencil too (Pro? Maybe?). Then there's the stuff like the case, need nib protectors too bc I want a paperlike screen protector bc I have a Samsung tablet atm and it's a glossy screen and it kinda sucks for drawing on. My Cintiq is a more matte screen which is SO MUCH NICER to draw on.

I have ideas and I want a portable option so I don't have to just sit at my desk, I can sit anywhere in the house or even bring it when I go out places, etc, etc...also Procreate has some really neat features (I love you CSP but I am not paying for 2 subscriptions) I was trying it out on my sister's iPad and it's pretty nice indeed, I could get used to this. Also the amount of user-made assets and tutorials for Procreate is so cool, I know I can definitely find something that's in the realm of what I'm wanting to do :3

Also I am one of those people who loves customising their devices and it's so much easier to do on an Apple device over an Android. I use a Samsung phone and I do have it to a point where I really like how I've customised it, but my tablet is another story - it's okay but ehhhh, I want it different. Yes I am going to change my icons when I get my iPad, this thing is gonna be so fun when I am done with it. Still thinking about if I should get a clear back folio case so I can stick prints and stuff in the back or if I should just go for a regular folio case, but that's a problem for idk, a few weeks from now.

Oh god my birthday is in just over a month-

Anyway yeah. Hoping to get the iPad and stuff around my birthday but knowing me it'll prooooobably be closer to Christmas but also I hate waiting so we'll see if my impatience is stronger than my impulsively spending on other stuff I don't need - place your bets now /hj

[heartattackmedication]

Here's how I use my phone to record guitar.

I am incredibly broke, and very lazy. That's why I have devised This Method to record my Bad Playing so I can show my friends and pals and rivals.

This is what you will need:

Your phone.

Any audio editing software. Even the free ones, they can all do this. I use Cakewalk, precisely because it's free.

Whatever your guitar setup is.

This is actually what I record with.

Stick your phone's mic in front of the amp. It will sound different depending on where you put it, too. Closer to the center of the speaker, you'll get more high end. Closer to the speaker itself, you'll get more low end (and volume, but that doesn't really matter). I just put my phone right in front of the center for this. Record with whatever your phone has i guess. I just have voice memo (samsung moment), so I use that and it works fine. Also you really don't need to turn the amp up loud at all, since the mic is right there. Everything I've done for this demonstration was lower than conversation volume.

Here's what the audio directly from your phone will sound like. Headphones ON for WORST experience.

So that sucks right. wtf is going on. Well, a lot of phones record in stereo for some reason. That's why the audio is so much clearer on the left than on the right, and why you can hear all the strumming happening on one side. But we can fix this easily !

Importing the audio into our editor of choice, we can see that it is Nasty Icky Stereo. Every DAW has a way of splitting stereo tracks into mono tracks, which is what we want to do. Cakewalk sucks so it's not very intuitive.

You can skip over this part if you are using a different software.

Select your track, go to the Tracks dropdown, and hit Bounce to Track(s). You'll get this popup. Change the Channel Format to Split Mono and the Source Category to Tracks. Hit OK and you'll get your left and right channels in mono.

You can just remove the track you don't need, and keep the one with your amp audio. Don't forget to pan it to center. You'll get something like this.

Which is better !! And it doesn't take that much effort. But if you do want to put in a little more effort (and I mean a Little more) you can EQ it to get rid of any buzzing or hissing, and to just make it sound better in general.

And that's pretty much all I do !! There is a big improvement from just raw phone audio, and it's honestly great if you don't have a fancy microphone (and don't want to spend money).

also if anyone with more experience than me in No Budget Recording is seeing this post and has any tips to make this process better or easier, tell me pleaaase :3 please :3 My thirst for learning is fully unquenchable and I will devour all.

[sirfrogsworth]

I got a screen calibrator thingie.

I'm starting to edit photos for actual clients and if they are going to be printing any of these images I have to make sure my display is as accurate as possible.

I went through and looked at all of my recent edits to see if any of them were egregiously out of whack except for that one weird photo of the red baby that seems to only be red on my Samsung phone. Thankfully everything else looked close to how I intended. So that is a relief.

Color accuracy used to be a much worse problem. In the old days you could look at identical displays from the same company and they would have completely different colors. But now with the exception of the cheapest of the cheap, every display in the last 5 years is calibrated at the factory. Though TVs are a mixed bag because the "standard" or "vivid" modes are usually set as default so they stand out in stores and most people don't know to change that to the cinema or movie mode to get the accurate colors.

Oh, and did you know the ambient light can affect color accuracy too? So if you aren't looking at my images in a darkened room then your eyeballs could be seeing them way different than my intentions.

Makes me want to pull my hair out.

From now on you all have to come over to my house when I publish an image. We'll have a little viewing party and I will bake everyone cookies and we'll head to the basement and turn out the lights and you can be all, "That baby is the perfect amount of red."

I think going forward I will adjust according to my calibrated screen and if my colors look funky on your device I can just say, "Not my fault, Datacolor Inc. says your screen sucks. Deal with it."

Actually, I would like to get an iPhone as a reference display.

Combined with my Samsung phone, I'd be able to see how my images look on ~80% of smartphones. And I could be reasonably sure my colors are decent for the majority of folks who see them.

But iPhones be spendy so that will have to wait, as my finances took a sudden infuriating turn recently. But hopefully I can keep getting clients to help me stave off homelessness. You'd think close family would be concerned about something like that. I think I'm just going to choose my family from here on out.

Wow, this post about colorimeters took a dark turn.

[subskz]

HANNIE DAYYYYYY

jisungs jussy (jisung pussy) deserves to be eaten so mf much today he deserves the most disrespectful head ever yes yes poor baby being forced to bend over while you tie his thighs to the wall behind him and his arms to the bedpost and he has to stay like that while you literally suck the SOUL. out of him that guwap gwap gwak gwak 6000 spin cycle samsung vacuum galaxy 8000

poor baby shaking like a leaf after he tried holding out on his first orgasm and being mf catapulted!!!! into the next one while he tries to bring his knees closer together wanting to take the classic anime girl position but the ropes are keeping his thighs and legs apart mmmm

tbh I think my jaw would hurt pretty quickly bc ouch but if he.... whimpers

I am gonna keep going until he screams and cries and thrashes and then passes out (bc he likes it too much obvs)

HANNIE DAY <3 nobody look at the date let's pretend like i'm not a month and half late in answering this

giving jisung the head of his life to celebrate so true!! he’s always begging and whining for your attention nothing is ever enough for him, you might as well drown him in pleasure until he physically can’t take it anymore in honor of the big day~ it doesn't take much to get him hard again even after he's cum so when you keep sucking after his first orgasm his gasps and whines from the overstimulation quickly morph right back into needy moans ♡

poor thing reflexively trying to close his legs and catch a break but being unable to…so cute 😭 what better gift could he ask for truly!!

[fracturedporcelaindoll]

Dear diary,

I cracked my phone screen it's pretty bad like spiderweb fracture overlay~

Its not the first time something like this has happened cause I am a klutz. But the timing is awful not to mention I checked and service provider no longer carries my particular phone model. I don't want to spend alot on a phone and I have considered totally going rogue and just not having one...~

But it does serve usefulness too, apps with games, reading books online and music etc.~

I'd like an apple phone because they are the ideal of aesthetic cuteness but wayyyy too expensive~

I could go with Samsung brand or maybe Google's phone model?~

The last time my screen was this damaged I picked apart the cracks of glass flecks that were loose and cut myself, somewhat unintentionally but also a little not~

The little bit of blood from scratches wasn't an issue but getting it embedded into skin accidentally and having to remove it like one would a splinter now thats painful. Not a process I want to repeat which means I may or should replace phone sometime this month~

Yay more indecisiveness to deal with!~

I feel fat, maybe am not chubby but I just don't feel skinny/thin or pretty. I want to lose some weight but stupid cravings for carbs and sweets are especially difficult lately~

The hot temperatures keep zapping my energy and slowly sucking the life or motivation to workout away semi effectively leaving the easy prey of napping to occur~

I realized something, it's almost that time of the month for me and while I do have certain longings that want in general in particular during that time of month certain ones get a boosted enhancement of desires for~

Like being taken care of, is it too much to daydream of wanting to wake up to someone picking out outfit to wear, helping style hair, keep me motivated on track with workout, keeping time of schedule while helping me find ways to relax by having me color or draw pictures, basically want to be little sometimes but I am so self conscious, shy and heightened senses of being responsible around others that am not sure could just let go and have fun~

I want to buy a stuffie/plushie or several to have to hug when feeling extra emotional and I've recently considered hand puppets because they look cute and could avoid talking using them to gesture for things but the reality is I doubt I'll ever get them because it's silly for me to want that and they could go to actually children that would benefit from them, ophranges, hospitals for ill patients, secret Santa programs etc.~