#their variety (?) content is so fun and entertaining too

[enjakey]

HYBE-boy

Pairing: Niki x Solo-idol!Fem!Reader

(5k) Definitely the shittiest thing I’ve written but I needed to get it out of my head. I have a habit of starting fics off strong but loosing interest near the end. Gotta fix that. Anyways, enjoy! Also I just copy paste my tags and I’m way too lazy to change it like tags are so annoying and my spelling errors every time are insane.

Summary: you debuted as a solo idol in HYBE not long ago, quickly rising to fame. And soon, you’d started a variety show where many other idols joined as guests. On one episode, a few members of ENHYPEN join you, including Niki. And that, you suppose, is when everything started.

There were rumours being whispered in the halls of the HYBE building- rumours, these days, amongst all the idol groups that had debuted, became common. The staff assumed it was a way of entertainment. With everyone’s schedules being so busy, not being able to interact between groups and time being lost in either practice or sleep, gossip inevitably became the most interesting thing that idols could giggle about. 

It was like high school, really.

You debuted as a solo-artist in HYBE recently. It was a rare event, almost unheard of. But HYBE had been experimenting lately, with their international groups, various concepts for each group and even starting variety shows on Youtube. And when the other idols heard of your debut, a lot of them poured in support. The support was never direct though, as followed by the many rules and regulations placed by the company and staff. The support came through silent nods while passing each other in the hallways, during interviews when asked about the hot new singer and with the occasional like on an Instagram post.

You were young, really, but you weren’t the youngest debut in history or something. There were a lot more idols more capable than you, with a support system from their group member’s that you didn’t have access to. You were alone as a solo-artist and you had only your management and manager to lean on- always following you like a shadow, pointing cameras at you because they needed content to pump out.

You couldn’t remember the last time you had a break.

A few months into your debut, maybe close to a year, your management pitched an idea for a variety show on Youtube. It wasn’t very complicated- it was simple, cute and allowed you to interact with more people personally and that was something you’d been craving for a while. Every week, an idol or two would be invited as a guest. You would interview them for sometime before diving into the main event- they would pick out your outfit for whatever your next big event would be. And you had to wear it, without fail. And the clothes would come from all the brands that you’d signed brand deals with- it was safe to say that, by then, you'd become quite famous and desired by the industry.

Sometimes, the outfits were perfect, fitting to your tastes and the event. Other times, they were deliberately picked out to be embarrassing- and it wasn’t like these idols meant harm, it was all just fun and games. Some people did it out of love, showing the little friendship you shared and others did it just to get a laugh out of it.

But where had these rumours come from, the ones about Y/N that were being spread for the first time since her debut? She’d heard a bunch of rumours before, that some idol was mad at another idol from another group or that someone had stolen something that wasn’t there. But these were… petty rumours, really. Something people could laugh about because they weren’t even true most of the time.

But this rumor? If it reached the ears of tabloids and netizens? It could lead to scandals and idols being cancelled on the internet. And that wasn’t doing anyone’s career good. 

Every idol has had a dating rumour about them at least once. It was something their management would prepare for- disaster control of some sorts. And your manager had once joked about how it was surprising you’d never gotten a dating scandal yet, already so far into your debut.  It was the fact that you were always so shy and meek, so polite with everyone you met, always within boundaries and keeping your eyes to yourself.

Your manager’s joke would come back to bite everyone in the ass.

It started when ENHYPEN’s Niki, Jay and Sunghoon came onto your variety show. 

You’d filmed it on a rainy Thursday afternoon, squeezed between rehearsals and a sponsorship shoot. The energy had been light. Familiar. You’d run into ENHYPEN plenty of times before- award shows, shared green rooms, occasional company dinners- and though you weren’t close, there was a mutual comfort. Enough for laughs. Enough for easy conversation.

You talked about their recent comeback, their tour schedule, and the way the internet never seemed to stop talking about them. Standard questions, standard reactions. You joked about age, how Jay and Sunghoon were basically old men next to you and Niki. You asked about movies, and the answers were chaotic in the way that only idols with too little sleep and too much media training could be.

And then came the main event: the outfit.

Jay and Sunghoon had been on a mission to ruin you- stylistically, at least. Loud prints, absurd layering, glitter where glitter didn’t belong. All in good fun. The kind of bit that played well on camera and made the editors' jobs easier.

But Niki? He surprised everyone.

“No, no,” Niki said, voice firm but light as Jay waved around the feather blazer and Sunghoon insisted on pairing it with glitter boots. “She has a fansigning. Don’t you think she should feel confident?”

Jay blinked at him. “Since when do you care about confidence? Didn’t you make Jungwon wear socks with sandals once?”

“That was different,” Niki replied. “She’s alone. No group to back her up. She needs to own the room.”

The same Niki known for his pranks and deadpan sarcasm stood there calmly, adjusting hangers and suggesting neutral tones, subtle accessories, respectful silhouettes. It was odd. Not uncomfortable- just… unexpected. The usual culprit of chaos, the youngest prankster, was suddenly... sweet? Respectful? Calm?

No one laughed. Because no one quite knew what to make of it.

The management noticed first. Not just yours, others as well. The ones who stood behind the cameras and barely blinked, the ones who didn’t say much but noticed everything. And they didn’t miss the way Niki had looked at you- not flirtatiously, not overtly. Just… differently, focused, controlled; his tone low and even, his words deliberate.

And then, the whispering began.

It wasn’t malicious, at first. Just hallway noise- the kind that filled the space between rehearsals and late-night meal breaks. Idle speculation that came out of boredom more than belief. But it was enough to shift something. A few too many glances exchanged backstage. A few too many questions buried inside jokes.

The rumour was that maybe the youngest of ENHYPEN had taken a liking to you. That maybe something had sparked. That maybe, quietly, the two of you had started… something.

You hadn’t.

You hadn’t even seen him since the filming ended. There had been no texts, no run-ins. Just silence, like every other guest once the cameras stopped rolling.

But it didn’t matter.

The story had already formed. Not outside, not online- yet. But within, inside the walls of the building, passed between stylists and choreographers, echoed in shared elevators and passed notes. It was a story being crafted where there wasn’t one to begin with.

And if it ever left the building? If someone from the inside decided to push it forward?

It wouldn’t just be a rumor anymore. It would be damage control. For you. For him. For everyone in between.

But for now, it was still just noise. High school gossip in expensive clothing. Quiet enough to ignore. Loud enough to linger.

Nothing really changed.

No one treated you differently. No warnings from management. No tense meetings. No cryptic text from your label. The world kept spinning. You went to work. Filmed another pilot. Ate cafeteria tteokbokki with your team and nodded along in meetings where no one really listened. The rumour, whatever it was, stayed tucked behind other, louder things.

You almost forgot about it.

Almost.

Until you ran into Yuna from ITZY in the hallway one evening, both of you ducking out of practice rooms for water, bowing politely at each other. You’d known her a while- similar schedules, adjacent debut timelines. She was a kid, a familiar, older face.

“Hey Y/N,” she said lightly. “Didn’t know you and Niki were close.”

You blinked. “We’re not.”

“Oh.” She blinked back, all wide eyes and casual curiosity. “Oh, it’s just people were saying... never mind.”

She waved it off, already turning toward the self-checkout, but the question stayed with you like static. You barely remembered what you'd bought. You just kept replaying that moment over and over. Didn’t know you and Niki were close. Like it was a fact. Like you were the last person to hear it.

It didn’t mean anything. Not really.

But then came the elevator.

It was a rainy Monday, and you were late. Wet hair, damp hoodie, earbuds half-falling out as you rushed through the HYBE lobby. You hit the elevator button without thinking, checking your phone, trying to remember if you’d missed any rehearsals.

The doors opened.

Niki was already inside. His hair was damp, likely from practice, skin dewy and flushed. He wore a zip-up jacket with the ENHYPEN logo barely visible on the sleeve and headphones dangling around his neck. He blinked at you once, like even he hadn’t expected this timing. Then he nodded, quiet, and stepped in.

The elevator doors sealed shut.

Silence.

You were both good at this. Being quiet. Being still. The kind of stillness that idols learned to perfect in packed rooms, in interviews where every word was potential headline bait. You focused on the glowing numbers overhead. B3. B2. B1.

He pulled out one earbud. “You’ve been busy.”

You shrugged. “Kind of. You too?”

“Yeah.”

More silence. More air between you than the square footage allowed.

Then, he looked over.

“Did someone say something to you?”

You turned, slowly. “What?”

“About me,” he said. “Or... about us.”

Your stomach dropped, just slightly. “Someone mentioned it.”

He nodded like he already knew. “Yuna?”

You exhaled. “Yeah.”

Another beat. The elevator dinged. Floor 6.

Neither of you moved.

Niki leaned in slightly, hands in his pockets. “It’s weird,” he said, voice low. “People talk like they know things. Like eye contact means something.”

You didn’t respond. Because what could you say?

And then, as the doors opened again, he added, “For the record, I haven’t seen you since that episode because of my schedule. Not because of the rumour.”

You didn’t reply, and he didn’t wait for one. He stepped out and the doors started to close. He stared at you, the way your expression shifted at his words- that maybe you weren’t overthinking this. And you stared back, the way his hair fell over his face, the way his lips stretched into something mischievous, that sparkle in his eyes.

But just before the elevator shut completely, he chuckled again. “And maybe I did want you to notice.”

A week had passed. Rehearsals, fansigns, photoshoots- the usual blur of idol life. Everything was routine. But somewhere in between, your mind kept returning to that brief elevator conversation. The way he looked at you, the way his words hung in the air. You tried to push it aside, but it lingered, like an unfinished song.

Today, you were running late again. A tight schedule, another packed day. As you hurried through the halls of HYBE, eyes on the clock, you found yourself almost at the elevator before you realized- Niki was already inside.

The doors were halfway shut when you spotted him. You paused for just a second.

He looked... different. Not in a big way, but enough to make you notice. His usual headphones were absent, and his hoodie was replaced by a simple black jacket. No flashy logos or branding, just the unbothered, effortless cool he seemed to exude.

He looked up when he heard your footsteps. The second your eyes met, something shifted. It was subtle, but it was there- a shift in the air between you, something unspoken, but not unfamiliar.

You stepped forward, the doors now fully open.

"Running late?" Niki asked, his voice casual, but with a certain warmth you couldn’t quite place.

You nodded. "Yeah, it’s been a long day."

He gave a small, understanding smile. "Yeah, same. Can’t catch a break."

For a moment, there was that comfortable, almost too familiar silence. You stood beside him, both of you staring ahead as the elevator descended. The usual routine, except this time... it felt different.

Then, without warning, Niki glanced over. “You know,” he began, his voice quieter now, “I meant what I said the other day. About noticing you.”

Your heart skipped just a little. He said it so nonchalantly, but it was loaded with a kind of intent that made your breath catch in your throat.

You didn’t know how to respond. So you didn’t. Instead, you met his gaze again, searching for something.

Another moment of silence.

He didn’t seem to mind it, though. Instead, his lips curved slightly, and he leaned back against the elevator wall, giving you a relaxed, almost teasing look.

"You seem like you’re always in a hurry," he said after a beat, his eyes narrowing in thought. "Maybe we should slow down sometime. Talk outside of elevators."

The suggestion was casual, light, but there was an undeniable weight to it.

The elevator doors dinged open to the next floor, but neither of you moved.

Niki took a small step back, clearly ready to leave, but before he could turn, he shot you one last look- something warm, something more than just a glance.

"Think about it," he said, voice a little lower now, a little more sincere.

And then, with a nod, he was gone- his footsteps fading down the hallway, leaving you standing there, the air between you still heavy with something unspoken.

You didn’t expect to see him again so soon.

It was another hectic afternoon, and you were grabbing a quick snack before heading to your next rehearsal. As you walked through the cafeteria, scanning the crowded tables for an empty spot, you saw him. Niki, sitting alone, his usual relaxed air about him. He was playing with his phone, earbuds in, but the second he caught sight of you, his eyes lit up, and he lifted a hand in acknowledgment.

“Hey,” he said, his voice casual, but there was an edge to it- an eagerness you hadn’t expected. “You came.”

You hesitated for just a moment. It wasn’t that you’d forgotten about his suggestion, but something about being here, actually sitting across from him, made it all feel more real. You nodded, making your way over to his table.

You sat down slowly, feeling the weight of the moment, like it was one of those rare, unspoken decisions in life that changed things, even if you couldn’t quite put your finger on it.

“I didn’t think you’d actually show up,” Niki said, grinning. "But I’m glad you did."

You chuckled softly, adjusting your drink in front of you. “I wasn’t sure myself. But you seemed... serious.”

“I am.” His smile softened, and for a moment, he looked more... himself. The mask of idol life was gone, replaced by the guy who liked to play games, listen to music, and maybe- just maybe- wanted to see you more than as just a colleague.

You both took a few moments to settle into a quiet, but comfortable rhythm. The usual banter started up, but it was different this time- less forced. There was a strange kind of honesty in his words that made you wonder if he was starting to let his guard down, too.

“So,” Niki said, breaking the silence between bites of his food, “what’s the real reason you agreed to come sit with me?”

You raised an eyebrow. “You think I need a reason?”

He shrugged, looking like he was trying to figure you out. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just wondering what you’re thinking. You’re not exactly the type to go for small talk.”

You set your cup down, choosing your words carefully. “Maybe I’m just tired of running into you in elevators.”

His eyes twinkled at that. “So you came here to escape the elevators?”

“Maybe,” you replied, your lips curving into a smile. “Or maybe just to see if you’re as good at talking outside of them.”

His expression shifted for a moment, something unreadable crossing his face. Then, he chuckled softly. “I think you’ll find I’m better in person.”

You didn’t know why, but the way he said it felt... different. As if he wasn’t just making a joke, but giving you a glimpse of something beneath the surface.

Before you could reply, the sound of footsteps approached the table. Neither of you looked up immediately, but you both knew who it was. Someone from the team- probably coming to pull you back into the chaos of schedules and rehearsals.

But as they came closer, Niki glanced at you with a small grin, his eyes lingering for just a moment longer than necessary.

"Next time," he said, standing up as the person reached the table, “we can skip the cafeteria. Just you and me. Somewhere quieter.”

You watched him walk away, his words echoing in your head. You hadn’t expected this meeting to be anything more than casual, but now... you weren’t so sure.

A lot of people on the internet loved speculating about the idol life and you liked reading it as entertainment. There were netizens that were convinced that no way some of the most attractive people in the country are single, obviously they’re all dating, we just don’t know it. You laughed at it because, well… you didn’t exactly know the answer to it. And perhaps it was due to your introversion. 

You didn’t know if some of your friends were dating. And even if they were, it was definitely in secret because if the company found out, they were pretty much dead meat. And you yourself had never really experienced it. No one had ever approached you for a date or for any romantic interest.

Well, that is, not until Niki came along.

Nishimura Riki, he told you to call him that- Riki. Because Niki felt too fake, felt too impersonal. Behind closed doors, even his members called him Riki. 

“Is Niki meant to be a persona?” You’d asked him.

“What do you mean?” He asked with puzzled eyes. 

“Niki as in… the fake ass emo kid. And then there’s Riki with all the embarrassing pictures from pre-debut,” you couldn't help but laugh.

Niki rolled his eyes, hanging head low as he tutted. Then he looked at you, kicking your feet from under the table. “I forget how much you know about me… being a host for your own variety show and all.”

“I saw the interview with DOPE CLUB, by the way,” you continued laughing but Niki was annoyed that he couldn’t see your mouth behind the mask you wore. It was just your eyes he had access to. “The strawberry underwear…” you choked on your laughter.

Niki grinned but you probably couldn’t see. He was wearing a mask too. But the glint in his eyes didn’t go unnoticed. “Keeping tabs on me already, huh?”

And you looked to your side, gaze shying away from him.

This was the third time the pair of you met outside of the HYBE building, disguising yourselves in layers of clothes just to sit in a cafe somewhere and talk. And for the most part, you liked it- you liked the pace, the slowness and steadiness of it all. You liked that both of you knew exactly where this was going but chose to take it a day at a time, anyway. He said it was important for him to know you, and that it was important that you got to know him. 

And you did- for the most part, you did. You learnt about his hopes, his dreams, his worries and everything in between. And in his stories, you learnt more about the rest of his members. But a part of you hoped for more- it was a naive, childish wish. You wanted to be able to see his face, his expressions, his teeth when he smiled or the weight in his brows. But you could only see his eyes which were sometimes covered by his hat or his bangs. It was almost frustrating, that during work, all you could offer each other was a nod of acknowledgement and a glint of yearning and when you were alone, you could barely see him.

But you would never admit that to him. You were too scared, too shy and too wary of the predicament of it all.

Niki, on the other hand, was basking in the light of your company. And perhaps people around him noticed it- well, his members did, at least. They saw the way he’d sneak off to restaurants without telling them (which as unusual because he was always pestering one of them to buy him food), and they saw the way he was on his phone more often than usual, and the saw the way his eyes lit up when Sunoo would play one of your songs in the car.

It was obvious, too obvious. And it wasn’t that his Hyungs were against love… it was just that it was too risky.

“You’ve gotta be careful, Riki,” Jay said to him one night over dinner while everyones chopsticks moved awkwardly, hovering over the topic they all wanted to talk about.

“I am being careful,” he grumbled, hanging his head low and rolling his eyes.

“Do you realise what will happen if you get caught?” Jungwon said, voice almost threatening- he was the leader, afterall. It was his job to keep his members in check.

“This is dangerous. You’re so young… young love can be reckless,” Sunghoon chimed in as though he had all the experience on earth about love.

“Are you sure this is worth it?” Jake continued, pointing his chopsticks at him.

“Guys,” Heeseung sighed, clapping his hand over Niki’s back. “Cut him some slack. If you think about it, he’s really lucky he’s even found someone to feel this way over.”

Niki was surprised by the way his oldest Hyung was defending him- but he didn’t react. He simply fell quiet.

“It’s a bit harsh to say love isn’t worth it,” Sunoo said to Jake. “You’re gonna hurt his feelings.”

“It’s better than getting in trouble,” Jake defended.

And as his Hyungs found their way into an argument, Niki couldn’t help the anger and annoyance that bubbled in him. He knew they were just looking out for him and they knew they were only saying all this because they cared about him. And to be honest, if another member was in the same situation as him, Niki would probably tell them to be careful as well. But most of his Hyungs didn’t care much about feelings- it was always about the rules and logic and the best thing to do. 

It seemed criminal to Niki, to look at you like you were a decision to be made over logic

He simply wanted to follow his heart.

“But I really like her,” he whispered and his voice was almost inaudible, easily drowning in the others’ voices. 

But they all heard him. And the table ceased into silence.

It started with a joke.

A joke about how the two of you were basically spies- cloaked and masked, passing coded messages, scheduling rendezvous in tucked-away cafés and back entrances. You’d laughed about it, brushing the idea off like it wasn’t starting to wear on you. The secrecy was necessary, but exhausting. And somehow, the more time you spent with Niki, the more suffocating the masks felt.

So when he said, half-joking, “Let’s get a hotel room next time. Somewhere we can actually breathe,” you’d rolled your eyes and flicked his forehead- but you didn’t say no.

And that’s how you ended up here, hours later, in a dimly lit hotel room in the quiet part of town- no cameras, no curious eyes, no managers on call. Just you, Niki, and the slow humming silence between you.

You stood by the window first, arms crossed loosely over your chest as the city glowed outside. From this far up, it all looked gentle- like the world had quieted just for the two of you.

Behind you, he was taking off his hoodie, shaking out his hair.

You turned when you heard the soft thud of fabric hitting the floor, and for the first time, you saw him- really saw him. No cap tugged low, no mask, no layers of fabric hiding the sharp lines of his jaw or the soft curve of his mouth.

It was Niki. Just Riki.

And he was beautiful in a way that felt almost fragile in the quiet.

He blinked at you, unsure for a second, like maybe he was waiting for your reaction. You swallowed.

“Seeing you like this feels so different,” you said, voice almost a whisper.

He laughed, low and quiet, rubbing the back of his neck. “Do I look disappointing?”

You shook your head, stepping closer. “You look… like you.”

A beat. Then he looked up at you- really looked- and for a long moment, neither of you said anything. You just stared, like this was a kind of discovery. Like you’d uncovered something sacred.

“Your turn,” he said gently.

You hesitated, then peeled off your cap and tugged the mask down from your face. You suddenly felt bare, like being seen would split you open.

But Niki stepped closer.

He didn’t say anything dramatic or poetic. He just said, softly, “Hi.”

And you smiled. “Hi.”

You didn’t remember who leaned in first- maybe it was him, maybe it was you- but soon your foreheads were pressed together, breath mingling between you. There was no urgency, no rush. Just warmth.

His hand found yours.

“You make me nervous,” he murmured.

You looked up at him. “Why?”

He shrugged, thumb brushing your knuckles. “Because… this feels real. And I’m not used to real things lasting.”

You opened your mouth to respond but couldn’t find the right words. So instead, you stepped forward and hugged him.

He held you back like he’d been waiting to do it forever.

It was the kind of embrace that said everything your mouths were too shy to admit. The kind of closeness that made time stall. You could feel his heartbeat against your chest. 

And then he pulled back just enough to look at you again- and he kissed you.

It was soft at first, really gentle. A question more than a declaration. But when you didn’t pull away, his fingers found the side of your face, and he kissed you again- deeper this time.

It wasn’t just physical. It felt like trust.

Your hands moved on their own- sliding up to his shoulders, burying into the fabric of his shirt. He smiled against your mouth and leaned into you like gravity was tugging him forward.

And then you both started laughing. Quiet, breathless laughter against each other’s mouths.

“This is crazy,” you whispered.

“I know.”

“But I don’t want to stop.”

He looked at you like you’d given him permission to breathe.

“Neither do I.”

“We kissed,” Niki shut the door behind him faster than he’d pushed Jay into his room.

“What?” Jay blinked, struggling to comprehend.

“We kissed- like, solid, made out,” Niki breathed and carded his hands through his hair. Suddenly he couldn’t look at his Hyung anymore, a bit embarrassed. His cheeks turned red.

“You kissed?” Jay blinked again, mouth hanging agape. His thin lips curled into surprise, then disbelief, followed by confusion. “What?”

“We booked out a hotel room-”

“You what?”

Niki immediately regretted the way he phrased it, immediately letting his hands fly in front of him in defense. “No, no, it’s not like that-”

“Do you have absolutely any idea how inappropriate this is Nishimura Riki?” Jay started- and his scolding didn’t stop. He pointed his finger at Niki in a warning- he was actually scary this time. “Do you have any idea what will happen if the management finds out? Fuck that, when your parents find out this siw ho you’ve become, booking out hotel rooms for girls, they’re gonna whoop your ass-”

“It’s not like that!” Niki yelled, almost whined. “I’m not taking advantage of her here- I’m being serious, Hyung. I really like this girl.”

At that, Jay closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a ragged breath. “What’s your plan, Niki?”

Niki’s eyes lit up, hope building in his chest. Because, even if it was one Hyung, it meant there was some sort of support he was receiving right? And perhaps Jay could convince the rest of the members to help him out- take pity on him, the youngest, to maybe get the girl and keep her in secret.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But I’m gonna do everything in my power to make this work.”

“Alright,” Jay sighed again.

Just then, Jake entered the room, unbeknownst to the conversation happening. He was holding a sweater in his hand, one that belonged to Niki. “You left this in my room- oh,” he looked between the two, wide eyed and surprised. “Am I disturbing something?”

Niki shook his head violently. “No-”

“It’s about Y/N, don’t worry,” Jay rolled his eyes. 

Niki groaned.

Jake’s eyes widened further. “What now?”

“They kissed,” Jay said.

“Hyung-”

“And he’s whipped.”

Jake chuckled. “You’re sure about this?” He asked, gaze fixed on Niki. Jake Hyung was usually the funny one, always light hearted but he had his moments where he took charge- made the decisions, weighed the pros and cons.

“Yes,” Niki raised his chin firmly.

“Alright.”

“Guess what?” Niki came running to you in excitement, finally catching sight of you near the cafe you agreed to visit. 

You google at his enthusiasm. “What?”

“I told my members.”

You froze, staring at the boy in front of you- the boy who was towering over you, bending his neck to hear you better, a smile spread behind his mask. “What?”

“I told them,” he said. “About us.”

You blinked. “What… what did they say?”

“A lot,” Niki nodded. “All their MBTI is type T except for Sunoo Hyung. They were all scared and concerned-”

“Very valid.”

“But I want you, Y/N,” he sighed, almost like it was prayer. “I want this- I think… I think this- you and I- it means something bigger.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

[babieken]

congrats on being a caratbebe!! 🩷 ive loved seeing your posts on your blog about seventeen bc weirdly coincidentally i started getting back into seventeen at the same time you started posting about them. like. i had a dream about them (one member in particular lmao 🫣) and the next day i saw your post and i was like ?????????? so i decided to look up some songs id missed after id drifted away from them for a couple years and BOOM im a carat again asjdddhdsshsvzgs but anyway since you said you were looking for carat friends i thought id say hi 🫶 (plus us kpop hags gotta stick together lmao)

im @everybodysaycbx btw 💓 i hope youre having a good day 💞

Omg hiiii🥹💞💞💞 please kdjdkd i was so happy when i saw ur interacting with my seventeen rbs <3 like WHEW im not alone!!!!

But thats kinda crazy!!! It was DESTINY!!!! 👀👀👀 who did u dream about?????

GOD seventeen's music is SO GOOD????? I have their entire (i think? Hopefully?) Korean discography on shuffle everyday while doing a 1000 pieces puzzle and i never skip ANY SONG... that has not been the case for any group ive stanned since... exo, maybe. Even with exo there were like 2 songs i didnt like and would usually skip odjdkdjd

[venus-haze]

Power Play (Soldier Boy x Reader)

Summary: So, you lost focus and had a consensual workplace relationship. It happens all the time. Maybe not quite like this.

Note: Female reader, but no other descriptors are used. Crazy ass 80s Vought debauchery. I might be a little rusty, but it was fun getting back into writing readerfics after two months🖤 Do not interact if you’re under 18, terf or radfem, or post thinspo/ED content.

Word count: 1.5k

Warnings: Power imbalance, cheating (Soldier Boy’s with Crimson Countess). Mentions of drug use. Soldier Boy is his own warning. Sexually explicit content involving elements of forced intox, semi-public sex, breeding kink.

You were dizzy. With Vought’s investor gala rapidly approaching, you spent the better part of your day camped out in your office, flipping back and forth through your rolodex to call and confirm catering, entertainment—you still couldn’t believe the board of directors actually approved Duran Duran’s booking fee—and transportation, off the top of your head. You already told Stan Edgar you were taking the following week off, which he had no qualms about—so long as the gala went off without a hitch.

You nearly jumped out of your skin when you were interrupted by a knock at your office door, which you’d left open in an effort to be available in the lead up to the event.

“Don’t tell me Edgar’s got you working tonight,” Soldier Boy said, walking in when he saw he had your attention.

“The most important night of the year is less than a week away and I still have a to-do list as long as your dick, so, yeah.”

He huffed out a laugh. “Must be pretty busy then.”

“How about you? Where’s Countess?” you asked.

Soldier Boy probably would have sought you out even if Crimson Countess were around, but from what you’d been hearing through Vought’s extensive grapevine, they were in yet another rough patch. Though, it seemed to you like their relationship was one long, extremely rough patch with some calm once in a blue moon. You weren’t afraid to admit to yourself that you ate up the gossip of their relationship like candy, especially when the other members of Payback—including Countess herself—would rant to Edgar about it. Since your office was right next to his, and most supes had little to no sense of subtlety, you could hear just about everything.

“She’s at one of those wildlife charity things, pandas or some bullshit.” He rolled his eyes. “Bitched at me because I wouldn’t go. She won’t be back until Friday.”

“Soldier Boy, I can’t just—“

“Sure you can. I mean, I’m technically your boss too, aren’t I?” he asked. “So, I say there’s no harm in taking a ten, fifteen minute break. Relieve some stress.”

You sighed. It had been a while since you actually got up from your desk. “Alright. Fifteen minutes, tops.”

He grinned. “Now we’re talking. You keep that minibar stocked?”

“Pick your poison.”

“Whiskey?”

“Sure.”

At least, you were pretty sure. The minibar in your office served as a nice gesture for the variety of people who’d come into your office for meetings related to all of the aspects of event planning you were in charge of. Over the past few weeks, though, you’d been reaching for bottles of whatever you could find to relieve the stress. Powdered your nose every so often, but tried not to make that a habit—not that you blamed your coworkers who did. Working at Vought was brutal and demanding, but hell, who else got to work with superheroes? Especially handsome, smarmy assholes who knew just how to fuck the lingering thoughts of any deadline or event planning out of your mind if you played your cards right. 

He handed you a shot glass. “What should we toast to?”

“To taking next week off.”

“Yeah? What’ve you got planned?”

You threw back your shot. “Nothing.”

“That’s no fun. How does a few days in Miami sound?”

You nearly scoffed. Of course he could make something like that happen on such short notice. For forty years running he was America’s superhero and Vought’s cash cow. After a night of schmoozing at the investor gala, he could very well clear out his schedule and fuck off for a week of sun, sand, and sex, too.

“I might need some convincing.”

“Then make yourself comfortable,” he said, walking back to the minibar to pour another shot for each of you. Almost comical, he’d have to drink the whole bottle and then some to feel the same way you did after two shots.

You glanced at the open door. “Someone might see.”

“Are you gonna make me repeat myself?”

Sparing the door one more glance, you worked at unbuttoning your blouse, tossing it aside. You shimmied out of your skirt and let it fall to the floor. 

“Heels stay on,” he said, his back to you. “Everything else off. Everything.”

With a hesitant huff, you unhooked your bra and pulled off your panties, throwing them in his direction when he turned around with the shot glasses. You made yourself comfortable on top of your desk, pushing some of your belongings aside to accommodate you.

He whistled lowly as you quickly finished off the second shot he gave you. “Look at you sitting pretty for me.” His green eyes burned a hole through you, though your gaze was fixed on the prominent bulge in his pants. He brought his shot glass to your lips. “Drink up, sweetheart.”

And you did, forcing the alcohol down as your vision blurred with tears at the unrelenting burning in the back of your throat. Felt some whiskey dripping from the corners of your mouth when you drained the shot glass. He collected the excess from your lips with his thumb, sucking it clean as he kept his eyes locked with yours.

“See how much fun we have together?” he asked, leaning over you until you laid back on top of your desk. “Could do that all next week.”

He kissed you, hard and mean like you needed him to. Perfect teeth that caught your bottom lip between them for a moment before releasing. Whiskey on his tongue that went to your head even though you knew he could hardly feel it. Rough hands feeling up your breasts, giving your nipples a harsh tug that made you moan in his mouth.

“You’re soaked,” he said, his voice husky as he rubbed his fingers between your slick folds with tantalizingly slow strokes. “If you wanted it, all you had to do was ask.”

“Fuck,” you whispered.

“What was that?” 

You groaned in frustration. “Just fuck me already.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” 

His mouth was on yours again, nearly distracting you from the sound of a zipper, the your gut clenching in anticipation as he pulled his cock from his pants.

It’d been a while since you had to brace yourself to take him, but you were wet, and maybe a little more than tipsy, so your body gave little resistance when he slid his cock inside you. Though, if Soldier Boy were anything, it was a guy who took what he wanted anyway, giving you hardly a second to get used to the feeling of how his cock stretched your pussy before he was pounding into you with harsh, unforgiving thrusts that made you grip the edge of your desk. 

Sometimes you forgot how strong he was. Hell, so did he, and there was little else you could do but lay there and take what he gave you. In all honesty, it was nice letting someone else take charge after having to hold it together all day. Let him fuck the stress out of you and replace it with all the aches and bruises that came with having sex with the strongest man on earth. 

“Harder,” you forced out, pushing that damn rolodex onto the floor.

“I go any harder, I’m gonna break you in half, and I don’t wanna do that until I’ve got you locked away in a hotel room for a week.”

“What are you gonna do to me?”

“Whatever the fuck I want. Not like I don’t already.”

You moaned. “Soldier Boy—”

“I’m not pulling out, so you better be on the pill or say your damn prayers,” he growled, his hot breath kissing your skin. You were on the pill, but nevertheless your hips bucked at his words, pussy clenching around his cock. “Oh shit, you want that, don’t you?”

“Yes—oh my god!” you cried out, muscles cramping as your orgasm pulsed through you, pleasure stealing your breath, choking you gently enough to leave you dizzy. “Yesyesyes—fuck!” Your heart was beating so fast you thought it was going to explode in your chest, especially as he kept mercilessly pounding into you, chasing his own release. 

He soon came with a groan, his cock twitching inside you as he bottomed out, practically knocking the wind out of you with a particularly hard thrust. 

You felt empty and sticky when he pulled out, and you didn’t want to think about the poor soul who was gonna be cleaning the mess you and him left behind the following morning, because you sure as hell weren’t in any shape to clean up the cum that was leaking out of you and onto the floor.

You put your hands on your chest, trying to catch your breath as he stood over you. The guy hardly broke a sweat, and you felt like you just ran the New York City Marathon. Super stamina. God fucking bless America.

“Hey,” he said, waving his hand in front of your face. “You good?”

“Sure,” you managed to answer. “Except now I don’t know how I’m gonna walk out of here, let alone get home later.”

“The ride up to the 99th is quicker. And if you need more convincing about Miami—“

You pursed your lips, considering the work you still had left to do before you could reasonably call it a night. But you were tired, and admittedly drunk, and Soldier Boy was already hard again. “I might.”

[yuurivoice]

Hello, Mr. Yuurivoice!! I was wondering, since Echoes of Evalas is coming (hopefully soon), I was wondering which Finn Variant is your favorite to write/voice? There's a lot of Finns in your world and love how they somehow intertwined within a timeline subtly in the background like how Auron was mentioned in one of Finn's audios where he bought roses for Mark's package.

I think Evalas Finn is the most complete character who is in the midst of a large plot with a ton of room to grow, and that inherently makes him more fun for me.

The unfortunate truth is, Garden Variety doesn't have a whole lot to do outside of very standard boyfriend experience, info dumping, soft boy stuff. Which is lovely to consume, but not really a ton of fun to make because I'm not inspired or driven to make purely wish fulfilment driven content. I like plot. I like characters. I like that sort of thing. Bunny Finn is a similar situation, but is at least so different that I can cook up some fun spicy things for him. Yandere Finn is also different, so that wasn't too difficult either.

Withered Finn specifically is very different and interesting to me, so he's probably going to be a strong second once all is up and running.

The reason there are little nods in otherwise disconnected audios is because I'm trying to entertain myself lol

That being said, I'm working to solve the problem of Garden Variety Finn not being particularly interesting to me. He needs something to do, something to care about, some sort of character other than "soft, likes flowers, likes listener, practices magic" and I think I have a solution. It'll just take a while to see that full picture.

But Evalas Finn, he's a whole ass person. I enjoy that. I have a lot to work with there, and a lot of things for him to do. That's what I'm itching for.

[tomorrowxtogether]

BEOMGYU: “I realized just how much love I have for performing onstage”

TOMORROW X TOGETHER The Star Chapter: SANCTUARY comeback interview

2024.11.12

BEOMGYU says he spent the time he was out with an injury falling even deeper in love with the stage. Clearly, the idol draws on hardship to propel himself forward: Even as he talks about the hard times, a humble smile flashes across his face as he adds, “but it’s okay.” BEOMGYU—who knows that “sometimes you stumble, it’s fine”—knows what it takes to get back on his feet.

Season two of Workout ZZANG is really entertaining, just like season one. You seem really comfortable doing variety shows now. You’re really in your element! (laughs)  But you’ve also said that you’re not usually so energetic. BEOMGYU: Workout ZZANG is a physically demanding show. I figured out during the first season that people find it funnier when I’m really struggling. You can just tell by looking at the view count—the episodes where I have the hardest time always got the most views. (laughs) I realized not to play it safe and that I need to put in as much effort as possible. And I think my genuine love of the show makes that possible. I mean, it’s got my name on it. I really love how you’re always quick to make your guests feel welcomed, too. BEOMGYU: Because I’m playing host to them on my own show. (laughs) I thought a lot about how to approach them without making it awkward. I couldn’t do a total deep dive on them, but I tried to be plenty familiar with them. I even watched other variety shows they’d been on to see what kind of things they like to do. HUENINGKAI made a surprise appearance, too. BEOMGYU: It was great to have someone I have perfect back-and-forth with on. He was great at coming up with these quips, probably from filming so much content, like TO DO X TXT. He was a lot of fun. Oh, and the aerobics episode was exhausting, and even though it was really hot and Huening gets hot easily, he was really active during it, which I was grateful for. I was laughing, watching that episode by myself when we were in the US and I showed it to him and said, “Hey, this one’s really funny.” (laughs)

You talked before about the pressure you feel to be good on variety shows. Do you find you’re able to enjoy it a bit more now? BEOMGYU: I was worried right from when we first debuted about what special thing I could do or role I could play to contribute to the group. Thanks to doing Workout ZZANG, I think I’ve established myself as the one who’s good at doing variety shows. I was really grateful they called me back to make a second season, and I could feel that I’ve grown a lot from it. My friends I hadn’t heard from in ages suddenly contacted me to say, “Hey, this is really funny,” and the rest of the group said the same thing and wished me the best with it. I felt really proud—like I was being acknowledged.

In contrast to your overflowing energy when you’re on variety shows, the very calmest side of you comes out when you do BEOMEDIO. BEOMGYU: Part of it’s about showing what I’m like at three in the morning, but the best part is getting to read what MOA sends in. Reading their stories let me visualize and indirectly experience things I haven’t experienced myself. I read them all through quickly and thoroughly before going live. There’s a whole lot of people who write really beautifully. (laughs) A lot of times I feel like I understand them so well that I get choked up reading them. And I’m always thankful for the ones that end with, “I love you, BEOMGYU.”

You said on BEOMEDIO, “When it comes to sharing happiness, the person doing the sharing doesn’t end up with less, and it fills the hearts of the people who receive it, too.” If you could share one thing that made you happy recently, what would it be? BEOMGYU: Honestly, this year’s been filled with a lot of good experiences. I’m making an effort to find happiness even in the smallest things now. There were minor things, like when we had our “Deja Vu” comeback, I felt great because the outfits were beautiful. I helped write the lyrics for two tracks on the latest album, and that made me extremely happy. (laughs) And I’ve been incredibly happy going to my favorite artists’ concerts and doing our own. I’d say there was more happiness than sadness this year.

Even though it’s been a year full of happiness, there was also a painful period for you because of an injury. I can guess how tough that was for you considering you were crying at the end of the concert. BEOMGYU: It was really hard for me mentally. That was right when I was deep into my work. We had this great schedule lined up, and as things started to fall apart, it felt like my mental state fell apart with it. And when we were at the Tokyo Dome, I thought, We’re at this place with this huge audience and I can’t even perform? It killed me. On the other hand, though, it also had a positive impact on me in a way. That was my first time watching the other members perform from offstage, and I could see how amazing and impressive they were. The place was packed, and hearing them cheer, I was like, I’m doing something really amazing—I’m working with some really amazing people. I found it really motivating.

Didn’t it also make you think about how you’re just as amazing when you’re up on that stage? (laughs) BEOMGYU: I thought, I can absolutely slay when I’m onstage, too! (laughs) I think the others were amazing and put on an absolutely flawless performance as just the four of them, but I have certain ways of expressing myself and there’s some breathtaking parts that only I can do, you know? I thought, I don’t even care if my foot gets more broken—I just wanna be onstage. I took performing onstage for granted, but as soon as I wasn’t able to, I realized just how much love I have for it. All the rest of them carried you around when you got hurt at the Tokyo Dome. BEOMGYU: It was really reassuring to me and I was so grateful to them, but in a way I also felt really sorry. When a concert’s coming towards the end, we’ve already used up so much energy that just standing by itself can be hard by that point. I realize how hard it was for them to carry me around under those circumstances.

You said “We’ll Never Change” is the TOMORROW X TOGETHER song that made you cry the most. The practice period for it overlapped with when you were injured. BEOMGYU: It was when we had already learned all the choreo for Japan and were about to start practicing for “We’ll Never Change.” I couldn’t learn any of it because of my injury and was just staying in my room. But I said, “I really want to go to Japan. I want to sing, even if I have to sit,” and I sat in for lessons for the live performance. I felt sort of insignificant sitting at the back just singing while all the other members were dancing, and I felt terrible. I shed a tear or two at the back, but I doubt they would know that. (laughs)

I remember you said you were disappointed that your injury kept you from making the people who came to your concerts into total MOA. It’s really admirable how passionate you’ve always been about converting people into fans. BEOMGYU: I’m in it for the long run. There’s still so much I want to accomplish. Celebrities like BTS, IU, or DAY6 feel like celebs’ celebs. I feel like you have to see them in concert at least once in your life, and I want to receive recognition from my fellow artists and be the kind of person that they want to see in concert, too. I take pride in the quality of our concerts. (laughs) I used to think accomplishments didn’t matter all that much. I thought, as long as MOA’s happy and I’m happy, that’s enough, and that it’s better just to be nice and happy, but lately I feel driven to do even better anyway. (laughs) You showed off your guitar skills at this year’s Weverse Con Festival, which you practiced for until you got blisters on your fingers. Did that come from the same drive? BEOMGYU: It was no easy task. (laughs) I kept up my lessons online when we were in the US and even gave up my vacation to keep learning and practice. I love playing guitar, but it isn’t my specialty. Lots of people are pros at it so I was worried about the thought of me going up onstage and playing it, but I decided to just go for it. It’s difficult to master anything, and practice was the only way for me to make it happen. MOA loved it in the end, so I was proud. (laugh)

You’ve been going to see a lot of other artists perform lately. How does it feel being in the audience after being the one onstage? BEOMGYU: Watching things purely from a fan perspective showed me how joyful the concertgoing experience can be. One time I went to IU’s concert, and sitting in the audience at that huge venue and watching her, I felt how amazing a thing it is to be a fan of somebody and show them your love. I became determined to give MOA not just 100% but 150 or 200% at our concerts. (laughs)

The last track on your new album, The Star Chapter: SANCTUARY, is called “Higher Than Heaven,” and it feels like it perfectly captures TOMORROW X TOGETHER and MOA’s connection, especially the part where you go, “I’ll hold onto eternity, our names / Let’s dream of an endless tomorrow together.” BEOMGYU: I thought those lyrics were absolutely wonderful. “Let’s dream of tomorrow together” sounds so romantic. Since we’re in our sixth year now, I think it’s time we focus on the future more than the past. What I want now is to keep looking toward the future with the other members and with MOA—to see them there tomorrow.

The part where you go, “What you doin’ to me?” in ‘Danger’ is a real standout. It felt like you were using a voice we haven’t heard from you before. BEOMGYU: I practically insisted that the producer give that part to me. (laughs) I said, “I promise I’ll kill this part,” and that clinched it for me. When I was recording it, I had to get the pronunciation and nuance to work together, and do it all in a really deep voice, so it was kind of hard. I couldn’t get the tone right when I looked alert and ready, so I tried making a pose like someone who’s about to start a fight—stuffing my hands in my pockets, tilting my head slightly—and sang it that way. And then I was able to really bring out the right feeling. (laughs) You’ve said before that sometimes a song doesn’t feel quite right until you’ve heard the group singing it, and then it sounds better. Are there any songs on this album that were like that? BEOMGYU: “Forty One Winks.” It’s actually my top pick—I loved it right from the start, in fact. (laughs) I always connect more with the songs after I hear them with the group’s vocals. The demo versions are good, but it really feels like a TOMORROW X TOGETHER song when you hear it with our vocals. You mentioned you were happy to write lyrics for two of the new songs. What was that process like? BEOMGYU: It wasn’t anything special. (laughs) I find it’s best to write lyrics as the thoughts naturally come to you and not overthink it. I worked on “Resist (Not Gonna Run Away)” while we were touring. I was writing like crazy on a three-hour trip to a ryokan in Japan and I think the lyrics came out well.

You said before that you tend to have an ear for what people generally like. How did you feel when you first heard the single “Over The Moon”? BEOMGYU: At first I thought it was good but not lead-single good, but I fell in love with it once I heard it with the group’s vocals. It’s got a feeling that can’t be described in just one word.��It’s not just, This one’s upbeat! Or, What a tough image! It’s got a little bit of this and that and everything in it. It feels like “one of our songs” or “TOMORROW X TOGETHER-ish.” (laughs)

You truly have a deep affection for the group. During YEONJUN’s first solo promotions, all the other members sent him a coffee truck and repeatedly visited in person to support him. BEOMGYU: It was the first solo work for any TOMORROW X TOGETHER member, and I knew how hard he worked on it. While the rest of us took it easy, YEONJUN had to be getting ready for it. I really empathize with how much pressure he must’ve felt. As a member of the group, I thought about what I could do and decided all I could do was go support him in person, buy him a little something, and go cheer him on. You truly have a deep affection for the group. During YEONJUN’s first solo promotions, all the other members sent him a coffee truck and repeatedly visited in person to support him. BEOMGYU: It was the first solo work for any TOMORROW X TOGETHER member, and I knew how hard he worked on it. While the rest of us took it easy, YEONJUN had to be getting ready for it. I really empathize with how much pressure he must’ve felt. As a member of the group, I thought about what I could do and decided all I could do was go support him in person, buy him a little something, and go cheer him on.

You recently wished on a sky lantern in Taiwan for the people you know to be happy, not for yourself. BEOMGYU: I really just hope that everyone I love and everyone who loves me is healthy and happy. I think it’s always like that. I’m more concerned with others being happy because of me than I am for my own happiness. You can sacrifice or give up things and still feel like, Okay, as long as you’re happy, I’m fine. It doesn’t mean I’m not happy. (laughs) I can take care of my own happiness, honestly. That’s why I wrote that. You have to be happy yourself in order to share that happiness with others.

If you were going to write down a wish not for the people close to you but just for yourself, what would it be? BEOMGYU: There isn’t really anything I wish for. I’m content with who I am right now. (laughs)

[yesimwriting]

Hi there!

If you accept requests, could you write a Halloween themed fic about y/n, Billy and Stu?

Like them going out to choose their costumes and decorating Stu’s house for a party, stuff like that

Hope you are doing well! Thank you very much ☺️

A/n omg i loveee holiday fics and halloween <3

----

You're staring down an aisle of plastic faces etched into neon bases. The differences between them are superficial, just a variety of colors and two or three alternainge expressions. Nothing distinct enough to warrant this level of analysis and yet...

You decide on one from the top shelf. Orange with simple triangle eyes and a double toothed smile. A classic.

You place your chosen plastic pumpkin into the cart that's slowly but surely being filled up by Halloween decor that's only somewhat cheesy. Okay, to be fair, the contents of your pile range in their levels of cheesiness...but still, mostly non-cheesy and perfectly fitting for a classic Halloween, high school rager.

"Really?"

There's nothing about Billy's voice that's worth getting. No soft lilt to indicate teasing or harshness to imply actual judgement. It's the factualness of the statement that leaves you doubting your choice, even though nothing about this is that deep. "What?"

Billy lets out a partial sigh, irritated by the way that fondness pinches his chest. There's something soft about your question, like his opinion on your choice of decorations could actually crush you. It soothes that part of him that's always searching for a reason to believe that those around him are flighty. "You just--you spent so much time looking and then you picked the orange one."

Shrugging, you place a hand on the side of the cart. "I was deciding."

"You picked the poster child of pumpkins." A pointless stance for a pointless argument. You beam at him and Billy starts to feel a little less ridiculous for entertaining this.

Still smiling, you start, "Pumpkins have poster children?"

"Hey, sweetheart." Stu appears halfway down the aisle.

You blink, instinctually squeezing the side of the cart tighter in your shock. For someone so larger than life, Stu can move quietly when he wants to. "Stu." Carefully, and only somewhat halfheartedly, you try to shrug him off. "Did you at least find the cups?"

Stu lifts his free arm, showing you the plastic covered set of solo cups. "You give me a job, babe, I get it done."

Billy rolls his eyes, "Since when?"

Stu scoffs, fingers pressing into your upper arm a little more firmly. "Since Y/n asked." His hand shifts up and down your arm. "Maybe if you looked like her, I'd listen to you."

There's nothing inherently wrong with the gesture, but there's an undertone of stiffness in his touch. That paired with the way Stu's attention remains on Billy makes you feel a little more like a prop than equal participant in the conversation. Deciding to shake off the feeling, you poke Stu's side.

"Ouch." A sound that's forced out much too harshly. Stu retracts immediately, like he's in agony. "What? I was complimenting you."

You roll your eyes. "I barely touched you."

"I'm wounded." He makes a show of clutching his side. "Kiss it better?"

Billy sighs, shifting his attention towards you, "We can't take him anywhere."

You nod understandingly, "We really can't."

Stu scoffs, offended, "Fuck you guys."

"We're kidding." Your concession comes quicker than usual, but you really don' mind giving in to keep the peace right now.

Today has been fun in that simple way that people forget about around middle school. Stu had called last night and mentioned something about wanting to up his party game for Halloween and a few things about decorations. He insisted that he couldn't go with just Billy because Billy has the decorative taste of someone that's color blind. Even though that's the strangest insult you've ever heard, it made you laugh and you agreed to tag along to cancel out any potential color vision deficiency.

They picked you up the next morning, swinging by your usual coffee place before stopping by a grocery store and then finally, the Halloween pop up store.

"You can't be mad," you mumble, "I need your held defending my pumpkin." Stu blinks, a little too surprised and confused to know how he wants to react. You gesture towards the cart as if that should answer everything. "Billy called it basic."

"I said you spent a long time looking at different pumpkins just to pick the orange one."

Stu turns his head, giving you a look that makes it clear that he has no idea how you've been putting up with this. "It's a classic."

"Thank you."

Billy's eyebrows pinch together. He's aware that there are few things you could say that Stu would publicly disagree with, but there's nothing to oppose. "I didn't--" He sighs again, giving in, "You should get a friend."

You tilt your head slightly in a way that's hard to read. "I'm not eight." Even though your tone leans towards argumentative, you walk towards the shelf and grab another orange pumpkin. This one's eyes are ovals, not triangles, and its dark smile is more lopsided and smaller. A variant that sticks close to the source material. "Two does look better, though."

With the pumpkin debacle settled, Billy begins to push the cart forward. You and Stu remain about two steps ahead of it, pointing out different decorations from time to time, most of them unserious suggestions.

"What do I have to do to get you in this?"

That sentence, coming from Stu, is enough to make you scared to turn around. The only reason you eventually do is because you can't justify staring at the wall that's stocked with costume add ons--fangs of both the glow in the dark and regular variety, cellophane wings, horn and halo headbands. You're also painfully aware of the fact that the more you resist and fluster, the more Stu will commit to his bit.

So you force yourself to remain casual as you look behind you. He's holding up a prepackaged angel costume that makes you feel like you're offending some religion by just looking at it. A corset top, small, frilly skirt, and white fishnets. It's not so much that makes the costume feel like something that belongs on stage at a failing Vegas show, it's the material and the styling.

"Uh..." In a way, you're glad that he decided to make the joke about something so blatantly not an option, because there's no way he's serious. It makes joking back easier, a little safer. "...Have a roll of one's ready?"

He doesn't miss a beat, "Deal."

Now that sounded a lot more genuine. You blink, struggling to hold your ground. Instinctually, your attention flits towards Billy.

"You should've known what he'd do with a stripper joke."

It's only a partial out, but you appreciate it greatly, "I have no one to blame but myself."

Stu scoffs. "I'm not that predictable."

You and Billy exchange a look. Stu pouts, turning enough to hang the plastic packaging back on its metal hook.

Instead of reminding him that if anyone should be offended about that last joke it should be you, you decide to shift focus. Your attention falls on the consistently growing contents of the cart. It might be a little much, but Stu's house is large. You'd need this many things to make the whole space feel decorated.

"You think we're good or are we missing something?"

Billy tilts his head downwards, taking an unofficial inventory of the cart's contents. It's more for your sake than actual interest. "You didn't get the lights. The twinkly ones."

There's something about hearing Billy say the word twinkly that's more entertaining than it should be. You smile despite yourself. "Say twinkly again."

He glowers, "No."

Billy starts pushing the cart, nearly running over your toes. You bounce back quickly, holding onto the side of the cart like a little kid as you follow him forward. "Why not?"

"The way you asked."

Rude. "He's no fun."

Stu turns his head just enough to look back at the two of you, "Billy?" His hand latches onto the front of the cart. Now, all three of you are clinging to the shopping cart like pre-schoolers that use those plastic rings to stick together. "He's moody."

The comment is meant to dig at you. "I didn't say that."

You'd never say that. If anything, oversimplifying Billy like that is one of your pet peeves. He likes to come off as a little closed off, but it's not such a basic teenage boy thing on him. You've never said anything explaining your defensiveness...you don't even think you'd be able to put it into words, but with Billy, any pretext of angst feels like a type of shield.

"He's just above entertaining me now."

Billy's eyebrows draw together sharply. "Now?"

Reaching the end of the aisle, Billy starts to turn the cart. It's a little awkward to make it around the corner without anyone releasing the cart, but you manage. "We all have to out grow our friends at some point."

"Mhm," he hums dryly, "Especially the dramatic ones."

Eyes widening, you turn on your heels to glare at him. He keeps his head angled downwards, a few strands of hair falling forward to hide the brunt of his reaction. That doesn't stop you from seeing part of his smug smile. If Billy's casualness wasn't always welcomed, you'd likely be a little more annoyed.

"The you that corrected the barista that misheard my coffee order before I could would have never spoken to me like that."

"That was this morning."

You shrug off his response, deciding that a comment about simpler times would over extend the bit. You're in the right aisle now, anyway, shelves full of decorations that require hooks or nails or something else to keep them attached to the wall.

Stu wanders away from the cart, picking up a cardboard box that displays a picture of purple lightbulbs strung up on a suburban house. "These?"

You shake your head. "Too bright, I think they're meant for outside." Stepping towards the shelves, you pick up a rolled up cord of smaller, darker purple lights and another set of boxed lights. "You need... mood lighting."

The cord for the boxed ones are way too long for a living room or kitchen and the bulbs seem way too bright and project a harsh, unflattering orange in their picture. The label on the other set says that they alternate between dark blue and purple and the bulbs are shaped like stars. Definitely a winner.

You look up, ready to say as much, but the words cram their way back down your throat before you can. Stu's closer than you realized, a lot closer than you ever expected him to be.

"Mood lighting?" You know that dropping your head and backing away would only make this worse. Stu likes to know when he's getting something. "What's the exact mood?"

He's grasping at straws in an attempt to fluster you. While mood lighting may hint at something suggestive, it's obvious that you meant the kind of chill, dim lighting that makes people comfortable yet energized. Party lighting. You should say that, laugh off his proximity and his energy. But for whatever reason, you can't quite think.

You press your lips together. "Exact mood," you repeat, still a little unsure, "I had more of a general mood idea."

Stu takes a partial step forward before extending his hand. He takes the wound cord, gently pulling it from your fingers. Slowly, he undoes the thick twist tie holding the cord together. You watch, more curious than you'd like to admit as he unravels it. With no warning, Stu pulls the string of lights over your shoulders.

He takes his time adjusting the string of lights over your shoulders. "I get what you mean."

Warmth you don't get crawls up your neck. It has to be about looking weird in a secluded, but still public, aisle. You tilt your head, trying to ignore that feeling you can't name. "You're tangling them."

"They're fine," he dismisses easily, twisting a part of the cord between his fingers. "We'll get Billy to untangle them later."

You laugh at that. Stu frees you from the confines of the string lights. Billy throws a look at Stu as he halfheartedly rolls up the lights before dropping them in the cart.

"So I'm un-fun and the light de-tangler."

You walk towards him before Billy can fully start pushing the cart again. "I take it back." You reach forward and squeeze his forearm without thinking twice about it. "You're fun." Billy briefly stiffens, gaze trained on what's directly in front of him. "Sometimes."

Billy hates the wave of fondness that that's trying to crawl its way out of his chest. "Like when I'm untangling string lights?" It's meant to be sarcastic in that biting, casually detached way.

If the shift in tone bugs you, you give no indication of it as you smile at him. "And some other times."

[biblicadorable]

⚉ Info Post:

Wiggles my fingers at you. Hey. Howdy. If you've made it this far, you're probably wondering:

What the fuck is up with this dude?

Why is he like that?

How far and how fast should I be running right now?

So glad you asked.

We are the Aphelion Collective, a group of some forty-odd fictives in the body of a 22 year old FTM chubby trans dude, a large majority of which are just different versions of Striders. Crazy right. Not really. Many such cases. We are morally dubious and gay. Don't act surprised if you see shit you don't wanna, just move on or block us, we won't entertain hate or whatever.

Pansexual, They/Then, and polyam in an open sort of way with our fiance. We both have boyfriends. Would love to have more 👍 We just have a lot of love and attention to spare and share, and boy do we love to. We aren't perfect, but we try.

Our current hyperfixations are:

Liminal/Backrooms content.

Extreme weather like tornados, hurricanes, waterspouts.

Early 2000s aesthetics/toys/web design/internet culture (ex: frutiger aero, early online MMOs/websites, Pokemon, Polygon Donut videos)

But we are also interested in a huge variety of topics, games, and philosophies. Huge fan of anything having to do with insects, plants, or the intersection of the divine, flesh, and mechanical. Others in the system have other interests.

DNIs:

⚉ Shotacon lovers, bigots, trump-ets, Israel-supporters, Bro Strider haters fr, and yknow what just because I can, straight dudes that only watch Dragon Ball Z. Your passion is admirable, but your stench is not.

Thin Ice:

⚉ People under 17 (I don't care if you like, reblog, or comment on anything I post but I personally do not want to be friends as I feel the life experience gap is too large), junebuggers (we have cis Johns in here and we will be drawing him. if you harass us or try to call us transphobic I will block you.), aaannndd honestly that's about all I can think of.

Fun facts for the road:

* Our favorite pokemon are ✨️Togekiss✨️, Typhlosion, Reshiram, Numel, Surkit, and Mismagius.

* Collective classpect is Seer of Blood.

* We write poetry. If you can't think of a conversation starter but you wanna talk, ask about that. Or pokemon. Whatever works.

[aquariumpacific]

Does the aquarium have a youtube channel where videos are uploaded too? I love watching the short videos here but is there a place with more longer videos to watch?

Yes! I have some recommendations too.

We do these really fun livestreams on TikTok periodically where we interact with an animal and their expert. I (Madeline, the Aquarium's social media squid, hi hello how are ya) host them! They are 40ish minutes long and I do repeat myself often since the audience is constantly coming and going, but I think they're really entertaining. They are unedited glimpses into animal care so expect the unexpected!

Speaking of live streams, we have several live cams around the Aquarium powered by @exploreorg!

Meet the Pacific Pals, the Aquarium's wacky ambassadors. They have their own YouTube channel, check it out for catchy songs and silly storytelling.

We launched our first podcast last year, Aquarium of the Podcific, and you can listen to all episodes on YouTube or anywhere you get your podcasts. If silly but educational conversations about animals are your thing, I think you'll like it! (I'm a cohost so plz like it)

We host monthly lectures about a variety of topics and stream them on YouTube. If you're local, check them out in person!

Otherwise, our YouTube channel is an expansive library of educational content. Enjoy clicking around, and don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!

[storkmuffin]

for @iriswashername, A write up of Mingi's live on  June 10, 2023.

It's dark. Why is it dark? Are you having a breakout? What is going on? Dude I'm slowly going blind in one eye - can we not do this?

There are 10,000 people (holy shit) in this chat.

We're in his work room.

He explains that he's drinking water, not anything else (i.e. it's not alcohol). I suspect that this is another flirtation or teasing attempt by the Mingi-biased, who strike me as very valiant in continuing to try to do engage him in this way, given that he just won't play. Wooyoung has drunk alcohol on lives and the 영부인 and he had a lot of fun teasing back and forth about it. But Mingi says, flatly, in monotone, It's water. The end.

He explains why he won't turn on the light. It looks too unaesthetic if he turns on the light. 어두운건 어쩔수 없어. You'll just have to deal with the dark. He doesn't apologize. He explains - he needs to buy a lamp, and this task has been on his to-do list for five months but he just hasn't done it. The overhead light is installed, yes, but it's so unacceptable that his volume goes up several decibels when describing the unacceptability: 하얀색으로 쨍~~ 해서! (it's such a braaassyyy white!). So we the viewers are just going to have to sit in the dark and understand.

There's a discussion about whether he's eating, and what he ate, and exercise. Idols are supposed to be model-thin, wraith-thin, just very slender lines. It's also a Korean cultural thing, to ask people if they ate instead of asking how they are. Long history of famines, invasions, etc, contributed to that, I'm sure.

Mingi delivers the message that he and the others have been on a variety of content shows and says looking them up should be a good time for the fans. I feel like this was on his to do list, to tell people this.

Then comes attempts by the Valiant Mingi-Biased to engage him in small talk, each of which fails so completely it starts to be comical. What games do you ilke? I don't play games. What animations do you like? I don't watch animation. Hahaha. No dice! He does politely respond with a game he's heard is popular, and an animation he's heard someone he works with likes.

He says, 이제 다들 잘 시간이죠? Why is he always sending people off to sleep, when he's the one that turned on the chat? I think this may be his way of being caring. It doesn't feel like it because it's not warm nor appeals to the emotions, but I think he really is like, I hope your fandom participation doesn't encroach on priorities in your actual life.

The World Ep 2: Outlaw is about to come out at this point in time. He says about the title song, Bouncy, that it's easy to follow, easy to do challenges with. Then he says, It fits well with the current trends in the music market. This is very striking. I haven't heard Wooyoung or Seonghwa mention this sort of business assessment of their songs.

I have recently noticed that Mingi's rap portions tend to use very, to use an American colloquialism, Four dollar words, you now, SAT Vocab prep words, that pop out at me. Turns out that he actually just talks like this. When describing how much he likes his own rap-making in This World, he says, 긴 문장은 아니지만 그 문장안에 담아있는 함축적 의미가 표현한 것. 함축적 (implication) is not a word I've ever heard an entertainer say in any interview.

He tells a little joke about the lyrics of Bouncy - he says Song Mingi is in the song itself. Bouncy has him shouting s-o-n-g-m-i-n-g-i in the lyrics, of course. That's very funny but like, it's a very long distance joke, and it isn't actually delivered like a joke.

He says that he does get recognized in the streets (of Seoul?) now (in 2023) and that it makes him happy.

Mingi says again that Bouncy is fun and easy to learn. This is his indirect way of encouraging social media engagement, perhaps.

The Valiant Mingi-Biased try again to engage in flirty, naughty talk. They ask if 청량고추 is a double entendre. Mingi again doesn't bite. This is not what he wants to talk about. 이중적이라기 보다 따라하기 쉬운, 쉽게 들을수 있는 노래. He says, Rather than a double meaning, you should know that it's easy to sing along to, and easy to listen to. It's clear by this point that Mingi thought that their songs before Bouncy were difficult for the average listener.

Mingi launches into serious mode, and again I'm struck by how literary his utterances are. He says that he didn't reveal his works in progress because he was spending the time doing this: 자신을 가꿔 왔다. Cultivating himself. He says that because he received so many expressions of love from fans, he has experienced this: 편협한 생각과 편견들이 깨지기 시작. The shattering of prejudices and narrow minded thoughts (but 편협 is elevated language. You can say 좁다, 작다, 소극적이다 which is in more common usage). He says 결과론적으로 보여줄 수 없더라도. He says 지난과 지금이 부딪혔던 순간들이 있었는데 생각의 전환점이 되어 춤 라이브를 시작했다. He says, 노력을 해서 여러 발자취를 남기면 원하는 결과를 만들어 낼수 있지 않을까. 뭔가 성대하게 보여줄 수 있다는 건 아니지만. What does this guy read or watch that gives him this vocabulary and penchant for complex sentence structures in Korean speech? SO INTERESTING. He speaks in poetic language, and it doesn't seem like's reading from a script.

Mingi does fan service talk about how his fans have helped him grown, how their love has healed him and matured him as an artist, and how apologetic he feels at not giving them 'more' and 'better' art back in return for their love. Except the way he doesn't it doesn't feel like fan service. He's taken off his hat to give this speech. It feels so genuine.

Then he puts his hat back on to say, I've been talking too seriously for too long, haven't I?

Once again, the Mingi Fans try to flirt: "Don't cry about it," and he doesn't smile or anything. I think this might be annoying actually, because he reiterates the bit about being apologetic to his loving fans because of his inability until recently to give them more content.

HongJoong calls and they are so formal with each other. HJ actually calls him 선생님. They just compliment each other, like businessmen who've launched an IPO, in a very professional way. Mingi invites HJ to visit this work room sometime, and HJ leaves by wishing (very very formally) Mingi and his fans a happy rest of chat.

Mingi-Fans strike again: Do you have a name for your workroom? No, he says. The end. HAHAHA. Wooyoung would go, What should I call it? Seonghwa would try to come up with one, something very cute. But Mingi is like, NOPE.

Then comes the song reveal. I don't think it has a title. (Later confirmed that it's actually called 무제 - Untitled). When you ask former 연습생- now Idols to write songs, they seem to come out with stuff like this. Bangchan's lyrics are often in this vein too actually. It's always from the POV of a very uncertain young person whose hopes and plans for the future frightens and hurts them because they want it so badly but the path forward is so strewn with obstacles. The world is harsh and rough and poisonous and cold. They're always alone, too - nobody to talk to, no one on their side. This song, because it's written by Mingi, says this literally: 날 도와줄 사람은 여긴 아무도 없나봐 (there's nobody here that would help me).

He hides his face the entire time this song is playing. When it's over, he doesn't solicit feedback. He just says, I made this for you, thank you for waiting, thank you and sorry.

There's only like, five things that an Idol is actually allowed to say: 감사합니다. 사랑합니다. 노력하겠습니다. 미안합니다. 사랑해주세요. Thank you. I love you. I'll try harder/ keep trying. I'm sorry. Please love us /me. He says all of these except the last one, except again, the awkwardly blunt delivery somehow makes it seem fresh and sincere.

Then he says, I came here to share the song, and since I've done that, I'm going.

Obligatory 애교 moves done in the most obligatory way, and he's gone.

Mingi Song is SO interesting.

[werecat1234]

Multiverse Madness Chapter Twelve

Fair warning, Killer flirts in this chapter and the content may be inappropriate to younger audiences. ** will indicate when the scene starts and ends.

Nightmare took the four of them to a variety of different AUs, the trio helping Cross find new items for his new room while secretly trying to get an idea of his clothe choices. Nightmare stayed off to the side, watching as Horror showed Cross different blankets while Killer held up different coats to Cross behind his back, Dust nodding or shaking his skull in response. When Cross would turn around, Killer and Dust would hide the clothes, acting as if they weren't doing anything before going back to it once Cross turned away again. It was honestly entertaining to watch in a way, seeing the three timelines that would usually kill each other on sight get along like they were.

Bill's proposition had been useful, considering the three were extremely powerful when they worked together, and otherwise them getting along was... unlikely. Dusttales and Something News don't get along, with Dusttales hating the Something News for their actions, and while Dusttales and Horrortales occasionally got along, they had their altercations. This dynamic though, the one Nightmare was carefully ensuring flourished and also included him... it was good. Nightmare didn't like positivity, nor did he like seeing others not suffering, but Nightmare also knew this was his means to an end.

By making them suffer before acting as the hero and by ensuring they had a near unbreakable bond, they would make others suffer for him, and they would do quite well in the process. Nightmare knew very well that Dream wouldn't anticipate his actions, as Nightmare wasn't controlling their minds and only really influenced Dust's to make him hate him, which was exactly what Nightmare was counting on. With Dream unaware of the manipulation taking place, and if he thought of it, he thought it ridiculous because he thought Nightmare would never lower himself to such actions. That was another fun thought.

Catching Dream off guard was always beyond entertaining, especially in this case. What's more, even if Dream discovered Nightmare's little game, his subordinates would never believe him. No, not after everything Nightmare had done for them. He'd saved them, given them a home, food, purposes, comfort, and each other.

Nightmare made sure they were wrapped around his fingers before he had them terrorizing the multiverse for him. He made sure they knew their places and allegiances, and that any doubts Dream could give them about Nightmare's true intentions were immediately squashed due to his subordinates finding the accusations completely and utterly ridiculous and absurd. Killer would never turn against Nightmare, that wasn't even a sliver of a doubt. Nightmare had Killer so entirely wrapped around his finger that Killer would never even think about turning against him.

Dust wouldn't turn against him either, not with his hatred for Dream or with Nightmare's control over the hallucination of his brother. Horror wouldn't turn on him after Nightmare helped him get his revenge on the Undyne of his timeline, Horror oblivious Nightmare had made her kill Horror's sweet, naive little brother. Cross would be wrapped around his finger too, in due time, with how Nightmare saved him and how Ink had ulterior motives, and Nightmare didn't even have to lie about that part. Above all else, causing their intense nightmares and then comforting them afterwards was the true key, and while Nightmare was unsure if Chara could be trusted at the moment, Nightmare would ensure that changed.

Nightmare was drawn out of his thoughts by Killer and Dust snickering, Cross turning around to see Killer holding up a bright pink dress behind Cross, the monochrome skeleton exclaiming, "killer, what the hell?!"

Horror was snickering too, the taller skeleton currently holding a few different black and white fluffy blankets, along with pillows, sheets, and pillowcases. Killer and Dust exchanged a high five, a bit of laughter coming from between them as Killer threw the dress behind himself, slinging it over the rod of the clothes rack. Dust and Killer had a small pile of black and white clothes behind them, the pile slowly growing and being hidden from Cross's view. Killer grabbed some dark teal gloves from off of a shelf, putting them in his pocket when he thought Nightmare wasn't looking, and he looked over at Dust, who was trying to hide a pair of black and white shoes within the pile.

Nightmare walked over to Dust, asking quietly, "would you like me to teleport these to your room? keep them hidden from cross?"

Dust nodded thankfully, whispering, "yeah, killer's like a teenage girl when it comes to clothes."

Nightmare snorted, chuckling a bit, saying, "he's not that bad..."

"guys! i found a karaoke machine!! it's got britney spears on it!!" Killer called out from a distance away, and Dust smirked at Nightmare.

"does it have set it off?!" Cross asked, voice raised so Killer could hear him.

"nice taste." Dust mumbled, and Horror smirked a bit.

"uh... yeah, it does! you listen to them too?!" Killer responded.

"yeah, sometimes! ink would bring music by sometimes, and that was one of the bands!" Cross replied.

"they probably have some cds here, come on!" Killer yelled, running over, putting the karaoke machine in Dust's arms, grabbing Cross's hand, and running off again.

"they seem to be getting along well." Nightmare noted, and Dust nodded.

"yeah, i think he'll fit in. turns out dream isn't the only one playing hero while being a lying, backstabbing brat." Dust grumbled.

"it would seem so, but it's not unexpected. ink looks out for himself more than anything. he could care less about the lives and feelings of others." Nightmare said.

"then why's he work with dream?" Dust asked, "since dream 'cares' so much."

"that still illudes me. manipulating dream, perhaps. besides, he's probably bored after his truce with error." Nightmare shrugged.

"you've mentioned him before... what's his deal, anyways?" Dust asked.

"error is a... he's honestly a pest. he hates all aus and only likes the original universe that started the multiverse off, and he's basically a man child. he destroyed aus for a long time until his truce with ink. 'no more creation, no more destruction'. of course, this made ink my problem because error's currently not around to mess with. he spends all his time doing who knows what in the antivoid, probably waiting for ink to break or forget the truce so he can start destroying again." Nightmare explained.

"would he work with us? if ink is a common enemy?" Dust questioned.

"i don't believe so. he... doesn't exactly care for me either, and he also wants me destroyed, and all of you. even if we made an alliance, i highly doubt it would be reliable, muchless that he wouldn't backstab us." Nightmare replied, and Dust nodded a bit, "why do you ask?"

"just curious. figured maybe we could get some more allies on our side." Dust shrugged.

"that will happen overtime, don't worry. dream and his stupid friends won't stand a chance." Nightmare said, and Dust smirked.

Footsteps could be heard approaching them, and Dust and Nightmare looked over to see Killer and Cross coming back, their arms loaded with cds, a stereo, and a multitude of rolled up posters.

"find what you were looking for?" Horror asked teasingly, Dust and Nightmare seeing Horror walking over from a different direction with his arms loaded with snacks, a donut held between his teeth.

"where the hell did you go??" Dust asked, and even Nightmare had to admit he hadn't even noticed Horror had left.

Horror chuckled, saying, "found the dessert part aisle."

"oh wow, i couldn't tell!~" Killer smirked, and Horror responded by throwing a bag of chips at Killer's head, which the skeleton caught with a snicker. 

After a bit more time, they had everything they wanted so far, and they were about to leave, the group outside of the store. The street was covered in a thick layer of snow, snow still falling from magic clouds in the Underground and only adding to the area. Nightmare had grabbed and teleported the items back to the castle, when all of a sudden, a robotic voice cut across the area.

"AREN'T YOU GOING TO PAY FOR THOSE, DARLINGS?" This AU's Mettaton asked, walking over. 

The Mettaton was in Ex form, and looked similar to the original one in Undertale, though the outfit had more fluffy parts to it and was bright blue instead of pink, likely due to the fact the whole Underground of this timeline was basically Snowdin, trapped in an icy blizzard that the Mettaton here had turned into a snow resort. Nightmare and the four skeletons with him turned to look at the Mettaton, and a smirk formed on Killer's face as he walked over, Killer's hips swaying slightly as he did so.

"is killer gonna-" Horror started, Dust cutting him off.

"yup." Dust sighed.

"wait, what's he doing?" Cross asked, looking between the three of them curiously.

"you're about to find out." Dust replied.

**

"and if we don't?" Killer asked, and Nightmare could hear the smirk that was likely still growing on Killer's face.

"CONSIDERING THIS ESTABLISHMENT IS OWNED BY YOURS TRULY, I WOULD HAVE TO HIGHLY DISCOURAGE STEALING, SWEETHEART." Mettaton replied.

"oh, would you?~ well, unfortunately for you, sweetheart, we don't listen to you." Killer smirked.

"OH I'M SURE YOU WILL, DARLING. I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET EVER STEALING FROM ME." Mettaton said, tossing a snowball up and down in his hand, and Nightmare could see the explosive hidden inside it.

"trying to make me regret it won't get much done, i assure you. if anything, it'll only encourage me to do it again, considering you'd be generous enough to show me such a good time after i've been bad~" Killer responded.

"OHH, SO YOU'RE ONE OF THOSE, ARE YOU? I'LL DRAG YOU OVER TO THE REGISTER MYSELF AND MAKE YOU PAY RIGHT NOW." Mettaton told him.

"oh please do~" Killer replied, walking closer and standing on his tiptoes, getting closer to Mettaton's face, "but i gotta warn you, we might have to clear some stuff off to have enough room to get down to business."

"I DON'T TAKE THAT KIND OF PAYMENT, DEAR." Mettaton informed him, and Killer chuckled lowly.

"not yet you don't, but i think i could change that. maybe you could even open a tab for me. i'll swing by, grab some stuff, and i'll pay up later that night~ it's a good thing you don't need to sleep~" Killer smirked.

"I LIKELY WILL CONSIDERING HOW MUCH YOU'LL BORE ME~" Mettaton rolled his eye.

"oh you won't be bored. trust me, i'll keep you very entertained." Killer told him.

"OR PERHAPS YOU'D NEED THE TRUE SHOWMAN TO DO ALL THE ENTERTAINING." Mettaton challenged, leaning down to get closer to Killer's face.

"that won't be necessary, trust me~" Killer replied, "by the way, how come you aren't surprised to see a buncha lookalikes to someone you know?"

**

"OH I ALREADY MET SOME OF THOSE, DARLING. THEY EXPLAINED ALL THAT, AND LAST I SAW WERE GETTING SOME HOT COCOA." Mettaton replied, "THEY ALSO SAID THAT YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS OVER THERE WERE BAD NEWS, AND TO CALL THEM IF I SAW YOU, WHICH I DID."

Killer paused, and Nightmare cursed under his breath. Cross wasn't ready for a fight yet.

"killer! we're leaving!" Nightmare called out, gaining his attention.

"not so fast!" Ink yelled, him, Dream, and Blue running over to them, and Ink's eye sockets widened, turning into a yellow exclamation mark and red question mark, "c?!"

The Stars seemed to like the idea of an insignia, because each of them had three stars painted around their right eye sockets, circling it. Ink's were black, Dream's were bright yellow, and Blue's were, well, blue. 

"ink." Cross glared, crossing his arms.

"ink, you know him?" Dream questioned, looking at his teammate.

"it's a... long story." Ink replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

Killer looked back at Nightmare as his left hand went into his jacket pocket, a silent question to kill Mettaton, and Nightmare nodded. 

"HOW DID MY STALLING WORK, DARLI-?" Mettaton was cut off by Killer slashing his knife as he withdrew it from his pocket, the red slash cutting clean through Mettaton's body, and the robot exploded into shrapnel.

"mettaton!" Dream yelled.

"NO!" Blue gasped, looking at Killer in shock, "HOW COULD YOU?!"

"with a knife. duh." Killer smirked, summoning multiple sharp bones and firing them at the trio, forcing them to dodge.

Killer's theme started playing, Dream and Ink's themes mixing into it as Killer teleported to stand back by his teammates, the edge of his knife glowing red.

"killer, take swap! i got dream!" Dust yelled.

"i've got ink." Cross added, a knife as big as he was forming in his left hand.

Dust nodded, continuing, "horror, watch our backs!" 

"you got it!" Horror replied as the four split up, breaking the Stars off and fighting them individually.

Horror was sending attacks at the Stars to help Cross, Dust, and Killer gain any openings for attack, or to block any attacks from hitting them. He mainly helped Dust with Dream, blocking the arrows Dream would fire at him while occasionally blocking Blue's attacks from hitting Killer when they got too close for comfort, but Killer was fast enough to dodge most of them without issue.

"we got these guys, boss! don't worry!" Killer called out to Nightmare.

"just be careful not to get too hurt this time!" Nightmare responded. 

Actually, it would be beneficial for Killer to get hurt so that Nightmare could treat his wounds again and ensure Killer's attachment to him remained strong, but Nightmare didn't voice that.

"i will!" Killer nodded as he fought Blue, Dust fighting Dream with Horror while Cross and Ink wound up a distance away, a fight between them occurring that had Nightmare impressed. 

Cross was using his knife to slice through Ink's attacks with ease, summoning sharp bones and knives, along with an occasional Gaster Blaster to counter one of Ink's. Nightmare watched his movements carefully, seeing the anger evident in his attacks. They were focused and precise, his anger fueling him to keep up a constant assault that didn't permit Ink any breathing room. Killer was a bit more silent than normal, focusing on his fight with Blue, not really teasing as much as he usually did.

While there was less negativity from Blue getting annoyed, it also had Blue wary and on edge because of how focused Killer currently was. The fight continued for a while, Nightmare watching as his subordinates fought the Stars. Dream was keeping a close eye on Blue while trying to fend off Dust and Horror, with Dust using his multitude of attacks, especially Gaster Blasters, hitting piles of snow to block Dream's visibility. Nightmare could sense someone watching from the distance, but he didn't look into it, staying focused on the fight in front of him. He still didn't know how he hadn't noticed Dream or his teammates in this AU, but he might've been preoccupied with his subordinates.

He needed to keep his guard from lowering like that in the future; he couldn't let them distract him from being aware of his surroundings. Then again, Dream hadn't known that Nightmare was here either, so Nightmare wasn't too hard on himself for it. That didn't mean he would allow it to happen again, though, especially not when he was working on manipulating Cross to his side. After a few minutes of fighting, the Stars, seeming tired and running low on magic, retreated, leaving Nightmare and his recruits alone at the battlefield, the theme song ending.

"haha! that's right!! run away, cowards!" Killer yelled after them with a grin on his face, him and Dust exchanging a high five.

"is that how fights usually go?" Cross questioned.

"kinda. it's the second fight in a row we've won." Killer replied, smirking before looking back at Nightmare, asking, "where to now, boss?"

"i was thinking we could head back to the castle for now, perhaps go back and look for more things for cross's room tomorrow. they might be on higher alert and follow us, attempting an ambush." Nightmare answered, receiving nods before he teleported them back to the castle, them appearing in the cobblestone hallway where their bedrooms and Nightmare's office was located.

"that works, boss. we got something secret for crossy, anyways." Killer mentioned.

"like?" Cross asked.

"you'll see~" Killer smirked, leading Cross into Dust's room, saying, "tada!~"

"it's... a pile of black and white clothes." Cross said.

"yep! we figured you could make your own outfit, get that wardrobe update you wanted! ya said you didn't like the one you've got, right?~" Killer asked.

"i... thank you." Cross thanked him, and Nightmare heard him going further into the room and exiting with a large pile of black and white clothes.

"you're welcome! now come on, try them on!" Killer encouraged, grinning as he exited the room, slinging an arm around Cross's shoulders, looking excited.

"ok, ok, i'll look through them. thank you guys." Cross thanked them again, Dust giving him a thumbs up and Horror giving a small nod before Cross headed into his room.

At least Cross has manners. Unlike the human he's sharing his body and soul with...

While Cross was looking through the clothes, Killer started a conversation as he walked back and forth in the hallway, asking, "hey dust, horror, you ever think we could have a team name or something? like just the three of us?"

"kinda, yeah." Dust replied from where he was leaning against the cobblestone wall, on the opposite wall of the hallway from Nightmare.

"like what?" Horror questioned from a few feet away from Dust, leaning against the wall on Dust's right.

"i have an idea~ dunno why, but since horror joined the team it's been in my head. you guys had that?" Killer asked, stopping in front of them, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"i mean kinda?" Dust shrugged.

"me too..." Horror added. 

"count of three to see if we were all thinking of the same thing?" Killer asked, receiving nods before he said, "one, two, three-"

"murder time trio." The three finished in sync, exchanging looks.

"well, looks like that answers that." Killer chuckled, leaning against the wall between Horror and Dust, slinging his arms around their shoulders, pulling Horror down a bit, "hey boss, can you get a picture of us? i need a wallpaper on my phone."

"a... what?" Nightmare questioned.

"like a background." Dust explained.

"i... suppose so. hand it here." Nightmare said, and Killer removed his arm from around Dust's shoulder, grabbing his phone out of his pocket before tossing it to Nightmare. Nightmare caught it, opening the camera after a moment and holding the phone up, pushing a button and saying, "now it's just showing my face. why is it showing me?"

"you probably hit the selfie button, boss." Killer informed, his arm slung around Dust's shoulders again.

Nightmare pressed a big red button, trying to exit the 'selfie camera' before seeing a miniature version of the screen appear under the red button.

"how am i supposed to exit? i pressed the red button and it didn't do anything but create another screen." Nightmare questioned.

Killer's shoulders shook a bit, restraining what Nightmare assumed was laughter, and Nightmare's tentacles unconsciously sharpened behind him in frustration.

"ok, ok, uh... you gotta push the same button you did to reverse the camera, and then push the red button." Killer explained, hands in fists except for his pointer and middle fingers, holding his hands away from his teammates, who looked like they were restraining themselves from laughing, but their smiles were evident. 

Nightmare did so, and the same thing happened as the first time, which Nightmare assumed meant it took a picture.

"did you get it?" Killer asked.

"yes, i got it. i'm not an imbecile." Nightmare replied, Killer removing his arms from around Dust and Horror's shoulders and grabbing the phone as Nightmare held it out to him.

Killer looked over the pictures, snorting and slapping a hand over his mouth, shoulders trembling with silent laughter.

"what?" Nightmare questioned in irritation.

"nothing, nothing, just horror was almost mid blink." Killer replied, voice shaky as he went back to his teammates, the two of them barely holding back from erupting in laughter.

Nightmare felt like he was about to snap, his composure difficult to keep, and the three were saved by Cross opening the door, wearing a different outfit than before.

Cross had a white sweater, a black coat with an extremely fluffy white hood, and his scarf was still present, so was the mouth cover attached to it. He was wearing black shorts with a large white 'x' on the outside of each leg, along with black shoes with a white 'x' on each side, along with white soles and laces.

"woah, looking good, cross!" Killer grinned over at him, looking him over.

"thanks. it's... better than my uniform was. why the hell did you only grab fluffy hoods?" Cross asked.

"oh come on, crossy~ we weren't gonna let ya lose your fluff!" Killer smirked, and Cross rolled his eyelights.

"it's because horror thought it was a creature eating me when he was drunk, isn't it?" Cross deadpanned.

"yep!" Killer smirked.

"that's absolutely why." Dust smirked, and Cross sighed, facepalming.

Dream, Blue, and Ink trudged their way back to the Grillby's in the universe, which was a 'Chilly's', the fire monster made of snowflakes and ice cold winds in this au. Dream opened the door, some snow trekking into the business with him, and the dusty skeleton looked up from his stool, stirring his cup of hot chocolate with a spoon. He looked back at them, three purple stars around the outside of his left eye socket, similar to Ink, Dream, and Blue's face paint.

"you see it?" Dream asked him, and Murder nodded.

"yeah, i watched from the distance. they're better than i thought they were. good job on getting them to show off their different techniques." Murder responded.

"i still don't get why you couldn't help." Ink muttered.

"i needed to know exactly how they fight in order to prepare counter attacks and defense tactics. i don't like going into a fight without knowing my opponents' moves." Murder explained.

"i... guess that makes sense." Ink admitted.

"SO WILL YOU HELP NEXT TIME?" Blue asked.

"yeah, probably. i'm... honestly still surprised you're not... you know... hating me or something. i have it coming." Murder said, looking off to the side.

"WELL, CORE FRISK EXPLAINED YOUR SITUATION, SO I UNDERSTAND WHY YOU DID WHAT YOU DID. I WON'T HOLD YOU WANTING THE PAIN AND SUFFERING TO STOP AGAINST YOU." Blue replied, giving Murder a compassionate smile, "BESIDES, I CAN'T POSSIBLY IMAGINE WHAT IT MUST HAVE FELT LIKE TO GO THROUGH ALL OF THAT, AND I WISH YOU HADN'T GONE THROUGH IT AT ALL. IT TAKES A LOT OF STRENGTH TO GET THROUGH WHAT YOU DID AND STILL KEEP GOING, AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS, BUT I'M VERY PROUD OF YOU, AND YOU'RE VERY STRONG!"

Murder hesitated for a moment before looking down, saying quietly, "thank you.."

"YOU'RE MOST WELCOME!" Blue smiled.

"your hot chocolate got cold, but chilly made more." Murder said, changing the subject, Dream sensing he didn't know how to handle Blue's words.

"THANK YOU, CHILLY!" Blue called out.

"thanks!" Ink thanked him.

"thank you, chilly." Dream thanked the snow monster, who nodded to the three of them.

"well, uh... i think i have some ideas for how you guys can counter them, if you're interested?" Murder said.

"we're all ears- well, we don't have ears, so uh... we're listening!" Ink said, him, Dream, and Blue sitting in their previous spots prior to leaving, their attention on Murder.

Discord server: https://discord.gg/wQfvxyEuvj

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[beautifulpersonpeach]

BPP, what do you think will happen to the fandom now that BTS has enlisted? Do you think things will get better or worse from here for the implosion. Me myself I’m not sure what I’m going to do. What else is there for me to do?

***

I think people will do one of three things people usually do when a group they stan enlists:

1. Step back from k-pop entirely. I think of this group of people as the stan ‘purists’. The reality is that for anybody active in fan spaces (basically anybody who has a fan account), k-pop (or that group specifically) is something that takes up space in their lives. The Stan purists generally step away from k-pop to find something unrelated to K-pop to serve as the ‘filler hobby’ for their group. The only successful ‘purist’ transition I’ve seen is someone who used cooking classes -> making restaurant reviews as her filler hobby for k-pop, and now does both now that her group is back together.

2. Migrate to another (or several other) group(s). This is where the majority of ARMYs will self-sort into I think and it’s been happening in noticeable volumes since mid-2021. Someone asked me last week what a group like ENHYPEN needs to take off and I gave an answer that picked out key elements but the thing I deliberately didn’t mention cause… well, is that any group that sees a rapid rise will have a good chunk of ARMYs in their fanbase. That’s the unspoken truth that’s behind the uptake of groups like Stray Kids and Ateez, specifically. Going by my guess, I’d say at least half of Stray Kids’ fandom is either multi-ARMYs or ex-ARMYs and that’s the same story with ATEEZ, TXT, and NewJeans. ENHYPEN, by contrast, hasn’t seen a lot of transfer from ARMYs to their fandom compared to the other mentioned groups. I think there’s a few reasons for that but I also don’t mind it too much seeing as it might have something to do with how much I enjoy myself in Engene spaces lol, but I do think the ‘success’ of a group like ENHYPEN could be limited by that point, relative to the other groups who do have bigger amounts of ARMYs in their fandoms. Anyway for this second point, people can move to other groups while still stanning BTS, they’ll just become multis.

3. Stay committed only to BTS. This is where a lot of people will aim to be but life will happen. Lol. That said, I do not doubt for one second that BigHit intends to keep up the milking, so we’ll be kept very occupied for much of 2024 and 2025. The boys have enlisted in such a way that the upcoming Festa celebrations will coincide with the release of at least one member from military service. We’ll have reality shows, albums, variety content, documentaries, soundtracks, maybe more games and webtoons, a tv-show adaptation… lots of ways to spend money and be entertained. People committed to keeping BTS’s records and making new ones will have their hands very busy because, every. Single. Group. and agency is counting down the clock with ARMYs for when BTS comes back. And they intend to exploit as much of this vacuum to realize massive success for their groups, as is possible. Plus given point #2, they’ll actually have the means (ARMYs) to achieve those targets. Lol. The infighting within the fandom post-implosion will be very nasty. It’s going to be a fun time.

All three options apply to everyone in the fandom: ARMYs, solo stans, shippers, antis, etc. That’s what I think will happen now that BTS has enlisted.

Personally, I intend to continue doing what I’ve been doing, which is stan BTS and support the groups I like however I feel like.

[rosesradio]

look i like lukabeth as a dark ship but i have my problems with how its handled in canon because i swear sometimes it feels like people blame annabeth for believing in luke more than blame luke for being a dick in the fandom and even in universe which considiring the whole age gap this is really bad but its kinda worse when you consider the fact that her believing in him paid off since it was her words that got through to him.

also i blame rick being a dumbass and not knowing timelines because look by making lukes last words like that and not acknowledging the age gap or confirming/denying anything a situation/ serious topic that should have been treated with care was not so i swear sometimes when i read it or look at the fandom im like is this not victim blaming.

like i swear sometimes it feels like "annabeth why do you believe in this guy that is using (possibly gr**ming) you dumbass and oh wait turns out he listened to you at the end wtf honestly idgaf i hc that annabeth got an apology from everyone after the war

• it is very much a grey space situation and i’d definitely say it’s not the best message to kids to have the whole “hey this dickhead older guy who was manipulating you really Did care for you the whole time” message all things considered…but at the same time i’m a very big advocate of “not everything you read needs to be a morality play, yes even content for kids, conversations on right and wrong can and should be held outside of entertaining media (though ofc entertaining media can also contain enriching messages on a variety of ideals and it’s not mutually exclusive).” is this anything 🧍

• rick very much is a dumbass who doesn’t look at timelines on a variety of levels lol. would i say that he’s problematic or owes the fandom an explanation on that front though? not really. i’m also a believer in coming up with your own interpretation for things sometimes, it’s part of the fun. i do think richard tends to ignore a lot of things, but at the same time when he does speak up he has rancid takes sometimes, so idk if i would even wanna hear what he has to say lmaoo

• i don’t think that annabeth is a dumbass for giving in to luke’s manipulation. people have fallen for similar tactics with less of a connection—manipulation and grooming are powerful tools, and it can be near impossible to understand unless you’ve been in a similar position

• there is sort of a whiplash feeling to annabeth being right. imo i don’t think she got an apology from anyone, i think no one talked about it (because i love repression and angst and richard’s favorite hobby is pretending luke never existed after he died 👍), but there were some adjustments in that no one really questions her again after tlo

• to be completely honest i think the lukabeth of it all is a “product of the times” type situation (2010 babey) in which things like grooming definitely did happen and if anything it was more normalized (“me and your grandpa met when i was 16 and he was 22 down at the diner 👵” or something…though that was definitely more prevalent earlier on obv, i like to joke) and it wasn’t something richard thought too deeply into. now 15 years later we’re looking at it through a lens of much more social awareness to the harms of these types of relationships, so obv it’s going to be spoken about differently

[icarianarts]

hi from another veryy shy person! was it hard to feel comfortable on vrchat/SL for you at first? i always get too timid to play with or meet others comfortably just bc im unsure how to participate … could i ask you for any tips to start for ppl like us and how to have more fun / break out of our shell on games like that?

With VR Chat and Second Life specifically, I always feel the need to emphasize the atmosphere in these games can be highly unpredictable and a good half of the time I run into a lot of unpleasant people. My method for this is to block as quickly as I can and not entertain these any further, so if you are curious about either of these just be aware that they can and will house really annoying and bad people a lot of the time….BUT with that being said, with VR Chat specifically I find a lot of folks on there are already in a similar boat. There is a ton of equally shy, but also curious people and I find that usually the quickest way of getting into a conversation with someone is finding someone with an avatar that is from a game/show/whatever you enjoy. It is much easier to figure out common interests off the bat and usually people there just love to talk about that type of stuff.

People on vr chat tend to also be stuck in goofy, usually light hearted pseudo roleplay improv type of stuff. I’ll go to the McDonald’s world and idle behind the cash register sometimes and people love to come up and pretend order random shit so sometimes you can establish banter right away LOL I think my best interactions have consistently been with people I stumble into that just want to get a good bit going. I am still thinking about this Skeletor avatar that clasped me by the shoulder and asked if I’d like to see a land where the receipts stretch for miles and he walked me over to a Walgreens.

For games like Second Life, voice chat is optional and texting is much more efficient. This is a much older game that also has been kind of closed off since its initial popularity has waned and generally speaking people take it much more seriously than VR Chat. It leans on the more older side, so usually I am the youngest player in a sim by over 10-20ish years if it is just me and my friends are not also with me. It’s one of these games where it is best explored with at least one other person until you fully get the hang of things, and also just a bit difficult to find active areas. Most the people here also kind of just are there to talk, avatars are much more personalized than how the general public of VR Chat’s tends to be and I find that asking questions or just simply going oh I love how you did xyz to your look! Usually can go a long way. They also have much more elaborate profiles and you can use that as a reference to go off of, you can tell who might not be interested in small talk very easily on there LOL

Second Life I would say might be a bit more difficult to comfortably socialize in for beginners just because of its history and how the userbase is known to act. I have a lot more content warnings to give about this game than I do VR Chat because of how much bigger it is

I always do my best to usually remain polite, I avoid a lot of humor that would be reserved for people who I would have known for ages—stuff like playful rudeness comes across as overfamiliar almost all the time and can also lead to misunderstandings especially if someone is a stranger. It’s a biiiit difficult to try and figure out a good starting point to offer advice for just because these games are so expansive and come with such crazy varieties. If you have any more questions let me know as I tend to kind of go off onto a ramble and don’t know if this. Fully answers things or not. 😅

[beautifulfriends]

PAOLO LABEAU

AGE: Early 20's

PRONOUNS: He/Him

SPECIES: Flower Fields Rabbit

Paolo makes video content, both prerecorded and livestreams, for a variety of entertainment types.

He's cis, he just really likes being the prettiest thing in the room.

A lifelong attention-seeker and Pippin's twin brother

He's about to have a fun night of filming!

--------

Kendra: Paolo makes porn (also not-porn), and has for a while now. He actually makes most of the household's money doing so; He's quite popular, and he loves what he does. Marceau is his usual cameraman, but he's spoken for tonight, so it's a fixed-camera shoot tonight with Stream.

Paolo spends a lot of time crossdressing, because he thinks girls are pretty and he wants to be pretty too, but he's fully secure in his maleness.

[lieslab]

I have a conspiracy theory and its you work at the jyp building and you write skz personalities so well bc you regularly interact with them. I've been lurking on your page for the past two days. And I think you're in romantic relationship with someone special because the way you talk about love there is no way you can be single and never had a romantic relationship with anyone.

Godspeed girl

× 🖖🏻😌

If I was in Seoul, you'd get photos of drinks from cute cafes. If there's one thing I've seen from Seoul vlogs, it's that Seoul seems to have endless cafes. You can conspiracy theory all you want, but this is incredibly wrong and untrue.

I live in the mid-western United States. There are some cute cafes, but it's mainly agriculture driven. Lots and lots of cows, farmers, Walmarts, and fields. I don't live in a big city, but most big cities have the best things to do here. I can't speak or read Korean and nor do I have a passport, which means that I'm trapped in the United States for now.

It's not all bad. We have cows (road trips are full of cow pointing and mooing) We have gas stations and similar to Korea's convenience stores, they're full of snacks and drinks. There are some similarities, but a lot of cultural differences, too. I don't think you'd see many cows (if any at all) in Seoul. From my understanding, Seoul is a large city, so it'd probably have more in common with Chicago than where I live in a smaller town.

I write Skz personalities how I see them from their interviews and mainly their Skzoo Code content. Unless I'm writing a longer story, sometimes I change their personalities for those. If I knew them personality and constantly interacted with them, I don't think I'd continue writing fanfic about them. Knowing them on a deeper level, I'd feel awful continuing this. I write fanfic for my own personal entertainment and for yours, so I think knowing them authentically would take the fun out of it.

Should I be weary of your lurking? If I was in a romantic relationship, you'd definitely know. I'm pretty open about a lot of things and I'd certainly share that if that was the case. Everything I know about romantic relationships, I learn it from media and my own personal yearning and interest.

My parents were in a messy marriage for quite a while, so that also plays a huge role in how I write and my perceived takes on such relationships. I don't ever want anyone to fall into that sort of relationship where one personality dominates another and the submissive personality feels like they have to bow down to the more dominate personality or face wrath. I can't change the past, but I can certainly write, sway, and beg for people to pick what's best for themselves and do what makes them happy.

The way I grew up, I ended up very, very independent. The idea of having to rely on someone totally and completely for a romantic relationship, I'm still not comfortable with that. I still have parts of myself from past life issues that aren't healed. I know if I go into a romantic relationship still struggling with certain parts of myself, it will end in a mess.

I think the other thing that helps, I'm a total book worm. I love reading about a variety of different things. Sometimes that means writing books about why we are the way that we are. I'll log onto YouTube occasionally and watch video essays. I love knowledge and learning. I love learning about humans, brains, communities, and how we've evolved and changed over time.

I'm a sucker for deep topics. I always want to learn and evolve like a Pokemon. I like people. I like philosophy and psychology. Most importantly, I like history and words. There are thousands and thousands of stories in the world. It's such a shame that I don't have time to read them all and learn about every little niche topic. If I could be immortal, I think I would because I'd spend forever loving and learning

[jininmyspaceship]

From hiking Mt. Hallasan to j-hope’s prank, it’s all on Run Jin [Weverse Magazine]

With a title like Run Jin, it’s no surprise that BTS member Jin hits the ground running just five days after completing his military service.

Whether he’s hiking Mt. Hallasan or getting soaked in a remake of a classic variety show game, he’s running on all cylinders to make everyone laugh. As the star of the show, Jin not only plays host to a number of celebrity guests, but also interacts with a mix of bystanders like children at Internet and kids cafes. Amazingly, even with everything going on, Jin is consistently friendly, polite, and fun—in other words, the idol radiates his trademark entertaining and authentic self. We sat down with Ryu Songhui, head of HYBE Media Studio’s Original Content Planning Team who was behind season 1 of Run Jin released in 2024, and writer Yoo Jeong Min to get a behind-the-scenes peek, including some inspirations for the show.

Run Jin opens with Jin hiking up Mt. Hallasan. Jin eagerly took to a variety of hard but doable challenges and locations to keep things entertaining and fun.

Ryu Songhui: Jin was actually the one who came up with the title Run Jin. A lot of YouTube series these days use a talk show format, but he seemed to like variety shows, too. He was particularly keen to do Dangerous Invitation. So we followed along and leaned into the variety show concept, planned the episodes accordingly, and focused on taking the tried-and-true variety show format and updating it to fit with newer trends. Since Jin was the first one in BTS to complete his military service, we also looked at things from a production standpoint to carefully consider how we could use the show to express his gratitude toward ARMY. We wanted to show how determined Jin was to give his all for ARMY, which is how the Mt. Hallasan hike was born. Even Jin only found out he’d be going after seeing it in the teaser that came out right after his hug event. (laughs)

Yoo Jeong Min: As he’s said in interviews, Jin felt a strong sense of responsibility regarding the off period as the oldest member and the first to return from the army. He told us, “I can handle some tough stuff. Feel free to really put me through the grinder and make it hard on me.” He was more than willing to follow along and take on the hard stuff. I see Mt. Hallasan as a symbolic challenge demonstrating his determination to give people this much and more going forward. Behind the scenes, Jin had so much energy that he practically flew up the mountain. When the crew finally caught up, he even said, “Oh, I didn’t think you’d actually make it.” (laughs) Filming it brought everyone, staff included, closer together. Going up Mt. Hallasan with Jin has left us with so many stories that we’ll be telling each other for a long time to come.

You accurately recreated the set of the old variety show Dangerous Invitation and had a whole supporting cast in zombie makeup getting into their roles. With the sheer scale of the surprises in each episode, there must’ve been a lot of effort going on behind the scenes on the part of the crew.

Yoo Jeong Min: Honestly, as much as we thought doing an iconic classic variety show like Dangerous Invitation would be fun, it seemed too difficult to pull off. Being able to make it happen this time felt like a dream come true for the crew as well. In the “Freeze! Polliceping” episode, we didn’t think it’d actually be possible to enlist help from the Coast Guard, but to our surprise, they were quick to get on board. We had to calculate when the helicopter was in the air and when we arrived and delay the shoot for that, which was tense, as Songhui will probably agree.

Ryu Songhui: We used a backhoe to dig for that one, but we had to run through it the day before, so we actually went down to the beach with shovels and started digging. We were saying, How deep should we go to get the best shot? (laughs) We had no idea we were going to get an actual backhoe for the shoot. And getting 30 extras together in zombie makeup wasn’t easy either, but from a directing standpoint, it was really fun undertaking those kinds of creative challenges.

“Goodbye, Jin” felt like a super fun episode thanks to its perfect balance between showcasing Jin’s personality, clever planning by the crew, and having great guests. There must’ve been moments during the shoot when you could tell it was really “working.”

Ryu Songhui: Jin honestly worked incredibly hard shooting Run Jin, and naturally, so did the team behind the scenes. But with that episode, we took a bit of a more relaxed approach. (laughs) Dong Hyun Kim is such a natural when it comes to variety shows, and he’s showing off his personal expertise in the episode, so he even came up with an outline for the shoot right from the table read. It’s usually hard to make sports-related segments fun, but everything came together on set.

Yoo Jeong Min: The shoot was so much fun. Those of us in the crew got such a kick out of just watching everything unfold. (laughs) It was Jin’s second shoot with Dong Hyun Kim but his first time meeting Jonathan [Yiombi]. The chemistry between the three was great right from the instant the cameras were rolling, and I’m sure Songhui could probably tell how well it was working, too. Jonathan would crack a joke like, “I gotta get off Instagram,” and the way Dong Hyun would riff on it perfectly was hilarious. And we were all in amazement at how energetic and in shape Jin was. When he did the fitness test, we couldn’t believe it. We were like, I didn’t realize he was that fit.

You had a lineup of celebrity guests who were all different from Jin but had entertaining interactions with him. What did you go through to get them on the show?

Ryu Songhui: The first step was reaching out to people who had any kind of connection with Jin. Jee Seokjin was an obvious choice for the well-known combination of Seokjin and Seokjin. What happened with Lee Yi Kyung was that we were brainstorming ideas around tennis when we found out that he and Jin had gone to the same acting academy. And it turned out Yi Kyung had also done a tennis show before. Frankly, things can get a little awkward when there isn’t much existing overlap, but they saw each other as old friends and they had some unexpectedly funny moments together.

Yoo Jeong Min: When getting multiple guests, there needs to be things to bring them together or mutual connections between them, and we have to think about the chemistry they might have. And it wasn’t easy working between them to make sure all their schedules aligned. But almost every time we invited someone on, they came back with a positive response, so for us in the crew, we felt an overwhelming sense of pride over our superstar. (laughs) They were all so nice.

It’s safe to say the guest ARMY was most thrilled about was j-hope. Jin had previously warned that he was going to kidnap him, and Jin really did prank him the very next day after j-hope was discharged.

Yoo Jeong Min: j-hope had mentioned it on weverse LIVE, too, and ARMY was waiting for it for so long that I think they sort of saw it coming. What no one knew was that it’d play out on that day. (laughs) Since it’s common knowledge that j-hope is very much a type J [personality type that prefers to plan things out], it must’ve caught him off guard to be part of something he hadn’t planned. Jin really wanted to surprise him, so even his closest staff members kept the details under wraps. Jin said, “He just got out [of the army] yesterday, but let’s take him right back—if you go, I’ll go.” As for the crew, we designed things around the fact that they’re both scaredy-cats.

Ryu Songhui: Jin clearly loves pranking j-hope, but instead of doing what Jin wanted exactly, we planned it out so it would be a prank on him, too. (laughs) The main goal behind “It’s Me, Zombie” was to show the two working together. As seen in the show, Jin originally wanted to do drill training, and shooting guns felt similar enough. They were also both given the title of “elite soldier” but that had never been captured on camera, so it was a chance to show that. We went back and forth with the writers and ended up incorporating elements of zombie and thriller movies to make it fun for viewers. Since this was the day after j-hope’s discharge, we wanted to give him something, so we framed the ending as it all having been so they could have a party with the zombies. We spared nothing to make sure both of them enjoyed the experience.

Beyond just the celebrity guests Jin knew, he also had great chemistry with people like other hikers and kids he met. What was the production crew hoping to show by having him meet all these different people?

Ryu Songhui: We wanted to show how approachable Jin is. Teens today obviously know who BTS is, but they might feel like they’re sort of far away, so we wanted to show Jin mingling with them. Jin didn’t know ahead of time who would be on the show, and there was no way to know how anyone would react. It was something we had to navigate, too, since it was new for us as well. But Jin even took care of the things we weren’t able to. For example, even though the kids in the “Blood, Sweat & Peppers” episode could’ve felt awkward on camera since they’d never been on TV, Jin immediately made them feel comfortable by purposely joking around and breaking the ice. I really appreciate that he made it easy on everyone.

Yoo Jeong Min: Jin really shines in situations like those. When he visited his old school in the “Glorious Homecoming” episode, he came across as a kind big brother type to the kids there, and even though they were calling him a superstar, they felt comfortable around him. Jin’s laid-back but always sure to be respectful, and that part of his charm seemed to come across effortlessly. As producers, you’re always thinking about the chemistry between the people who appear onscreen, but the fact is that it’s not always easy to get everyone perfectly on the same page. And yet, no matter who comes on, Jin manages to make it fun. Run Jin is less about what the producers want and more about tailoring it to Jin, and he handled everything so well, it was like, He’s a natural now. (laughs) A professional, in short.

The core of what makes Run Jin so fun to watch seems to be how genuine Jin’s reactions are thanks to him only knowing the bare minimum about what’s happening. What really stands out to you from having taken that approach?

Ryu Songhui: There’s definitely different reactions when the people on a show don’t know what’s coming compared to when they do, and we wanted to lean into that. Jin thought the approach was more fun too. He was really fond of Run Jin, so even when he was hearing about a plan for the first time the day of, he worked with it and did a great job.

Yoo Jeong Min: Of course, there were times he’d say things like, “What kind of producers are you?” (laughs) But he also felt his reactions were more real when he didn’t know what’s coming, so he really wanted to keep himself in the dark. Sometimes he would suspect something was up, like in “Freeze! Polliceping,” but he never could’ve expected a ship or a helicopter. When he says things like, “No way, they actually booked the Coast Guard?”—that’s 100% authentic. (laughs) He really wanted to make it funny, and talked about what ARMY would like. He was deeply invested and was always giving us feedback. ARMY probably already knows that, but I hope they know that the crew felt the same way, too. Jin poured his heart and soul into everything with the utmost love for it.

Ryu Songhui: Jin has a unique ability to bring out something new and different with guests of all ages. I think he’s naturally suited to variety shows. His influence, coupled with the writing and the directing team’s efforts, helped make the collaborations with all the different guests and institutions fun. All we had to do was set the stage, and Jin ensured it turned into great content. For that, we’re incredibly grateful.

Source: Weverse Magazine