#tumblr local gets invited outside!

[murderousphoenix]

not a lancepost but a georgepost 🤟🤟

[airxn]

the realization i gave students my discord on friday to contact me ( im in the club i founded’s discord ) and now they’re messaging me about professional stuff, and im like ah shit i cant make ‘splorgo spleenus eat my weenus’ my status– fuck!

[chocolatepot]

Twitter is rapidly sinking as people are only allowed to look at it for about ten minutes a day, so I thought I would put together a post explaining the best way to get started on Mastodon! It can be an intimidating prospect as it's not as immediately user-friendly as Twitter or other corporate social media sites.

Selecting a server

The main difference between Mastodon and Twitter is that you don't just "sign up for Mastodon". Mastodon is effectively made up of hundreds of small sites (called "instances") that are all interconnected ("federated") and use the same interface. The instance you choose has only a minor effect on your experience. The main one to be aware of is that if an instance is known to be poorly moderated and have users who cause a lot of trouble, other instances may unlink from it ("defederate") and make it more difficult for people on it to interact with you. This is rare. The very big, unthemed instances like mastodon.social are more likely to have this problem than any fannish one, in my experience. (You can also make a personal choice to block an entire instance if you have an issue with it.)

The other effect is that each instance has its own universal feed of all users on it.

The sidebar looks almost exactly like Twitter's, except for "local" and "federated". Your home feed is just the people you follow. "Local" is everyone on your instance, and "federated" is everyone on any instance yours is federated with. The local feed is why it's worthwhile to choose an instance that has some sort of theme you're interested in, like fandom, tech, queer issues, history, etc.

The two main fannish instances I'm aware of are fandom.ink and federatedfandom.net. There's also wandering.shop but that seems to be more for writers, in my experience. If you want a different sort of instance, just google "[topic] mastodon instance" and you should find it.

Applying to your instance

Because instances are more tightly moderated than the rest of social media, you can't always immediately get into the one you want. (Though I suspect that many have opened up slightly as Twitter flails.) You may need to submit some kind of application and wait a few days.

If you know someone on the instance you want to join, they may be able to get you an invite code so you can skip the queue. I have unlimited invites for fandom.ink, hit me up if you want to join.

You can also join an instance that's currently taking new accounts and then transfer into the one you want later. For the impatient souls.

Posting

The mechanics of posting are just like Twitter's.

You type in the box, you hit "toot" (I know), and out it goes. You may notice that you get a 500 character limit! This is nice.

If you add an image, make sure to add alt text. Not including alt text may get you flamed or shamed. You can also make a poll, set privacy levels, and add a content/spoiler/trigger warning that will require people to click through to see the text.

Use of hashtags is strongly encouraged on Mastodon. I've seen some talk praising Tumblr's style of having a separate field for tags and suggesting Mastodon add that, but I don't know if it'll happen. But unlike Twitter, there's an earnest culture of incorporating tags into your text (eg "I just bought a new #fountainpen") and following tags to get posts about different topics. This is the main way to find people with similar interests to follow, outside of your local feed.

It's also Mastodon culture to write an introductory post with your interests, including hashtags, so that people can find you.

Something else to be aware of is that you can edit your posts! If anyone has already rt'd ("boosted") them - they will just get a notification of your edit.

You cannot qrt on Mastodon at this time. It's a hotly debated topic. You will have to settle for boosting and then replying, or making your own post with context and linking to the post you want to qrt.

Following other people

If the person you want to follow is on your instance, that's all well and good. Click on their name, go to their profile, click the "follow" button.

If they are not on your instance, you need to make sure that you're accessing them through your instance. Clicking on their name from your federated feed, or if someone has boosted them onto your home feed, will automatically take you to the version of their profile on your instance. Also all well and good.

If you get to their profile from somewhere else, such as a direct link from another social media platform, that's a problem. If you try to follow, their instance will bleat at you that you don't have an account. There are two ways to get around this.

One is to paste their entire username (eg "@chocolatepot@fandom.ink") into the search bar on your instance, from your home feed. The other is to navigate to "http://[your server address]/[their whole username]" in your address bar. Both will take you to the same place.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

okay. i'm the anon with the normal story that ended up getting to an "i don't care i'm not the asshole" because of the other person turning out to be part of an odd otherkin cult but it genuinely doesn't matter. am i the asshole for killing off a player's character after they said they would leave the game if their character died? this happened a few years ago (2019-2020).

i (19NB) was the DM for a d&d game. i had made a friend who we'll call Max (20F) at college who liked d&d, and i had wanted to run a game for my friends of several years, so i wanted to invite her. Max got along pretty well with my friends during D&D for the most part, but there were some slight disagreements, but regardless, Max and my friends of several years did not talk much outside of D&D and scheduling D&D, and I wasn't going to force them to.

Covid starts, so we all sort of switch to discord and continue playing because the easiest place for us to play at (local library) is closed. One session, we have to end early because Max and another player started fighting about a rule, and wouldn't give me (as the DM) the space to come up with a compromise. Another session, we had an issue where she (after being given the floor to describe a kill she made) got way more graphic than any of us were expecting. I quickly wrapped up the session after and had to let Max know that she had went too far in her description. I spoke to everyone outside of Max after these occasions, and they had all admitted they were very uncomfortable with her behavior, but were willing to keep playing with her if she stopped. So, we play a few more sessions. After we started a boss fight and her character had taken a good bit of damage due to some unlucky rolls, she made a comment to me that was along the lines of "if [x] dies i think i'm just gonna step out of the game"

I had my out, and by the end of the boss fight (about 2 sessions[they were short]), I killed her character. Obviously, I made it seem like it was just a really unlucky day by fudging some rolls, but whatever.

But she changes her mind and doesn't leave the game, and rolls up a new character. She had no further major issues with anyone after her first character died.

The game finishes mid 2020, and before it ended, Max revealed she'd be moving by fall, so I would also never have to see her again in real life if I cut her off right as the game ended. Once it did, I acted as if my friends had just come clean to me about being uncomfortable with her behavior and I no longer wanted to speak to her because of it.

That's the AITA of it.

Anyway, early this year, after all of us have basically forgotten about this, I get an anonymous DM on twitter. It's a page run by Max actively detailing a spiritual cult that her and one of her friends and their boyfriend ran. They detailed several gods they worshiped, some of which were just characters I knew she or her friends liked, some were the more traditional witch gods and they spoke of a spiritual prison or something where her D&D character was now trapped in after I had cut her off. I look into it further. I found a tumblr blog of people claiming (with screenshots, photos, and videos) that Max financially, emotionally, and psychologically abused them. Anyway, does this addition change anything?

What are these acronyms?

[terriwriting]

(Crossposted from Dreamwidth)

Diane Duane is a vegetarian.

This is a harmless example of the sort of gossip I heard years ago, when I was more involved in volunteering at conventions than I am now. Other non-harmless bits of gossip include: Author A is a mean drunk; Author B and Author C use conventions to hook up away from their respective spouses; Author D hasn't written in years, and all their recent works are ghostwritten; Author E is a dimwit who can't manage their own household accounts.

Neil Gaiman can't be trusted around young women.

This rumour was told to me with the same tone of authority as the rumour about Diane Duane. She had health problems, you see. So if she was ever a guest at a con where I happened to be working, I should make sure to mention to the organizers that she really needed a vegetarian option.

As it turns out, the rumour about Diane Duane is half true. She has written about her IBS at least on Tumblr, possibly in a few other places. Which is why I'm willing to share the rumour. I don't know if the person I got the rumour from years ago had heard it from someone else, or if someone in the chain of rumour-mongering heard part of a slightly different rumour and decided that Diane Duane should be a vegetarian for her own good. Maybe she ate a salad and complained about her stomach in front of the wrong person. It's a harmless example of the sort of gossip you hear when you're an insider, or useful to insiders.

The rumour about Neil Gaiman turned out to be true. By his own statements on the matter, it's true. Neil Gaiman can't be trusted around young women.

I heard the rumour after about five years of work. I'd joined a writing group, volunteered at a couple of local conventions, volunteered at a couple of larger cons, worked my way up from moving tables and chairs to coordinating which room got what audiovisual equipment when. I went from being an outsider to being someone who was invited to hang out with authors and agents at after-parties. And after five years of work, I got to be somebody who could be warned that Neil Gaiman needed to be kept away from young women.

And that you had to provide a vegetarian option for Diane. Poor girl. Sensitive digestion and all.

The rumour about Neil Gaiman turned out to be not harmless. But it was told to me in the exact same tone as Diane Duane is a vegetarian. I heard the rumour about Diane Duane once, and it never came up again. I heard the rumour about Neil Gaiman once, and it never came up again. I heard lots of rumours once.

I don't hear rumours anymore. I haven't volunteered for a convention in decades. I still attend a few, but they're for different blocs of fandom than I used to be in, and I don't see many of the same people at them. I'm sure there are creeps and abusers and predators at these conventions, but I'm not one of the special people who gets to protect myself from them. I'm not an insider anymore.

It took over twenty years for the rumour about Neil Gaiman to turn into a bomb exploding under multiple fandoms and franchises. I can't stop wondering about the next bomb that con organizers are trying to hide.

But at least the next Diane Duane will get their vegetarian option, thanks to the whisper network. If the right person hears the rumour at the right time.

[traineecryptid]

DMBJ Web Films Project Plan

Synopsis of the web films in the works as posted by the official Jiezi Ghost City Weibo account.

Masterlist shared on tumblr by @pangzi in this post Synopsis for the web film "Reality Control Unit", presumably sequel to "Jiezi Ghost City" here Translated by @traineecryptid Edited by @thelaithlyworm

10/10/23 南洋异闻录 Record of Strange News in Nanyang (source)

Jiezi Ghost City Movie (+Follow) 23-10-10 Posted from Zhejiang From HUAWEI Mate 30 Daomu Biji Supertopic I specially present the synopsis for “Record of Strange News in Nanyang.” I hope you’ll like it! As for casting actors, I hope everyone could generously impart your knowledge. Every opinion is nourishment for our creativity! [face with heart emoji]

The Serial Cases of Strange Deaths in Malacca Record of Strange News in Nanyang Youngsters Zhang Hailou and Zhang Haixia arrive in Nanyang. Just as they are about to show their skills and establish themself locally, they are dragged into a case of boneless corpses. In order to rid themselves of suspicion, both of them have to investigate the truth while avoiding being caught. In the process, they trespass on an abandoned ship and find a secret text that they had seen in the old book of their adoptive mother, Zhang Haiqi, back in Xiamen. The overseas plans of the ancient family are set in motion as driven by fate. Could the young Zhang descendants figure out the inner workings of all these? Could they make a name for themselves in Malacca…? [word in circular stamp] Secret Web Films Project Plan

11/10/23 七指神匠 Seven-Fingered Mystical Craftsman (source)

Jiezi Ghost City Movie (+Follow) 23-10-11 Posted from Zhejiang From HUAWEI Mate 30 Daomu Biji Supertopic You’ve finally viewed my post! Here comes the synopsis for “Seven-Fingered Mystical Craftsman.” I’m inviting all my friends to have a look. [big smiling emoji] #Jiezi Ghost City Movie#

Genius Architect Vigorously Renovates Secret Imperial Tomb Seven-Fingered Mystical Craftsman Xie Yuchen finds some information about the descendants of the Qi family on an antique piece. He and Wu Xie arrive at a mysterious imperial tomb that had only existed in myths. There aren’t any signs of it being broken into from the outside. After they enter the tomb, to their surprise, they find that the tomb’s mechanisms have been modified into modern mechanisms. In the process of disarming these mechanisms, they realize that these mechanisms do not have the ability to kill or maim. Instead, they were filled with a sense of mockery. Also, they aren’t the only people alive in this tomb… [word in circular stamp] Secret Web Films Project Plan

12/10/23 鱼戾之宴 Banquet of the Evil Fish (source)

Jiezi Ghost City Movie (+Follow) 23-10-12 Posted from Zhejiang From HUAWEI Mate 30 Daomu Biji Supertopic The secret synopsis for “Banquet of the Evil Fish” is revealed! So the curse from hundreds of years ago has never been broken? [shocked emoji] #Jiezi Ghost City Movie#

A Fertility Temple's Method of Eating People in Exchange for Children Banquet of the Evil Fish  Legend has it that a few hundred years ago Wuzai Town was cursed to never have any descendants because they offended a Godly Child. After that a priest in the village found a mysterious ritual and built a temple for the Godly Child, worshiping and begging the Godly Child for forgiveness. Since then, the curse on Wuzai Town was broken.  Liang Yanyan and A’Tou are looking for somewhere to rest after getting in a car accident. Without meaning to, they arrive at the Temple of the Godly Child. There’s light flickering inside and a strange, bloody scent permeating the air. They check out the place quietly and find a family of four cooking human meat… [word in circular stamp] Secret Web Films Project Plan

13/10/23 南水怪谭 Strange Tales of the Southern Waters (source)

Jiezi Ghost City Movie (+Follow) 23-10-13 Posted from Zhejiang From HUAWEI Mate 30 Daomu Biji Supertopic Here comes “Strange Tales of the Southern Waters”~ Come see where Wu Laogou and Xie Jiu-ye went to? #Jiezi Ghost City Movie#

The Mystery of Exchanging Souls with the Water Ghost from An Underground River with No Source Strange Tales of the Southern Waters There is an underground river in the Southern Village that was deemed a forbidden ground by the villagers. Legend has it, a woman drowned herself in the river, turning into a water ghost who seeks the life of anyone who approaches the river. Incidentally, Wu Laogou and Xie Jiu-ye enter this village by mistake while investigating a shocking cold case in Changsha. They discover that the so-called water ghost killings are actually being done by the living. There is a group of strange looking fish people that seem to be living in an underwater temple… [word in circular stamp] Secret Web Films Project Plan

Google document with the translated masterlist and all the synopsis

Note: I've translated the text to match the source as closely as possible instead of doing it in a more localised way. Feel free to ask what certain terms mean, I will edit this post to include the explanation and add an explanation section to the gdocs for the answers.

[sassyfrassboss]

I feel like the fandom needs to hear this: royal gossip doesn’t really reach the majority of the British public (whose opinion is the only one that actively matters when it comes to the BRF). My boyfriend and his family come from south London and are upper middle class and they know the basic things about the royals: they love Kate, William is still Diana’s heir, Charles is OK and Camilla will forever be the mistress. Which explains why Camilla’s popularity never really changes in spite of her being the actual Queen because people don’t bother to learn more about her but they don’t care enough to protest against anymore. They’re just there. I thought moving to the UK meant I could casually mention something royal related sometimes and they’d get, but the second I said Prince George resembles Michael Middleton and they didn’t know what I was talking about because they’d never seen Kate’s dad made me realise they’re not paying attention.

And the Americans trying to rock the boat don’t do much specially because most people have accepted that they are in fact liars. The OW interview? I was scared. The BBC was reporting it on their front page. Now? Other than at the bottom of the DM only two days after the “big reveal” there’s not much talk outside the royal fandom. For God’s sake, I had to come to tumblr to figure out who the “racists” were because no one said it explicitly.

What I mean is: no, the “racist” is not gonna be Kate. No one is even aware they’re saying it was her and the King. Trust me. My in laws didn’t even know they hadn’t named the royal, they thought they’d told the name during the interview and because they’re liars no one cared.

Don’t @ me mentioning a coworker who occasionally is into the royal fandom and knows all about this. You’re lying to yourself and you know it. 90% of the brits don’t care about the royals that much and Kate will continue to be their darling. That’s why she’s not sweating. Her country’s got her back.

When I have traveled there in the past I have had some conversations with the locals about the BRF and most seem to be rather ambivalent about them, however...many did not like Meghan and thought Harry was an idiot.

I do think this will blow over for the most part but Harry and Meghan will probably not be invited back any time soon. If ever.

[capricciocreates]

I dont know where else I could put this all down, but maybe Tumblr can be that place for now...

I've been talking and hanging out with this cis guy who slid into my DMs a few months ago. We met at a pool party where I wore a woman's swimsuit for the first time. (A major confidence boost I must say!) He sent me a friend invite on Facebook and we would chat just here and there. He would throw little compliments in every time we would talk.

Cut to last week where he tells me he wants to ask me a question. He asks me if my wife and I are open/poly ,to which I tell him that I've been in an open relationship that just recently turned poly.

He explained that he'd like to get to know me more and I admit I was a weird mix of scared and super fucking excited. We wound up seeing each other again at a local LGBTQ event called "Transfest", where he had a booth promoting his personal training gym. He showed me some exercises that target areas that a lot of cis AND trans women/men can all do to help with wanting a certain physique.

From that day we chatted a lot at his booth, where he laid on some of the best rizz that made me melt. He complimented my outfit and said I look like the cute "girl next door" 😏 I think wearing cute shorty shorts helped with that. 🤭

He asks me if my wife and I would like to come to hang out at their place. Unfortunately, my wife wasn't able to make it, so I went alone. I had a lot of scary thoughts for my safety, so I made sure to tell my wife and another friend where I was going.

The night was fun with him and I being able to be more flirty and getting to find out what it's like to kiss a guy with a full beard. 10/10 would recommend. I love me a good bear of a guy. His wife was also super sweet and was awesome to see again. She and my wife would definitely hang out since they both have craft rooms. It would be wholesome omg!

The night came to an end, and after he walked me outside, he gave me a VERY nice goodbye that had me pushed up against my car. ☺️ (nothing too raunchy just yet)

I'm at home now, having smoked a bowl after taking 2 edibles at their place. I'm sorting through big feelings, so this felt like it should help. Maybe I'll keep doing this or forget. We'll see. I've been on HRT for a year now, and I'm feeling a lot of emotions about that too. Yay word vomit therapy!

[smolwritingchick]

The Bangtan Gal Chapter 47- Two Different Pages

Chapter Summary: Jen reveals she accidentally caught Rap Monster watching naughty videos in the studio and reveals another bombshell that shakes ARMY on Tumblr. Jen makes it known that it isn't wise to disrespect her.

Words: 11,000+

Genre: RM Fluff! And Jungkook fluff!

------- On a warm Saturday morning, Jennie invited Namjoon out to hang with her. He offered to go to a local café for breakfast and she agreed, wanting to spend more time with him. Namjoon would always be stuck in his studio or with his headphones in, on his phone, so she was glad she was able to go out with him for the time being.

The two found themselves sitting outside, on the balcony. With their plates of food in front of them, Namjoon watched her in amusement as she put syrup on her chocolate pancakes.

"All that sugar." He let out a low chuckle.

"I'm still a kid at heart, let me live." She replied and took a big bite.

"I intend to. Make sure you drink water so you won't get a sugar headache. You remember last time?"

"It was all for a good cause."

"The amount of complaining you did the last time said otherwise." He quipped, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Oh, hush."

"I made sure not to get the pineapple, so you won't have another allergic reaction, by the way." He informed, gesturing to the bowl of fruit for them to share.

Jen smiled gratefully and nodded. "Thanks, I appreciate it. Nice bare face, by the way. You look great without the makeup we wear on stage."

"Ah, I'm ugly, don't lie." He shook his head.

There he goes again. She wished he could see what she saw whenever she saw him. 

Jen shook her head and pointed at him. "You, my friend, need to stop calling yourself ugly. I want you to cut that out. Like right now. You're handsome. And I get to see your dimples, so hurray!"

Her enthusiasm for his dimples prompted him to smile, which showed them off. "I love those dimples. They're so cute." She went on.

"Ah, you're gonna make me flustered." He covered his face shyly for a moment.

She laughed softly. "I just want to see you smile."

She was aware that he got criticized often as of late. And she wished that he got credit where it was due.

"It sucks you get criticized but I love how you accept your mistakes and learn from them. We all mess up at times. But we learn from them. So, don't beat yourself up, 'ight? If you say anything out of line to me, I'll let you know, believe that. And I see that you're working harder. And I hope you know that you are appreciated and that I see how much you are improving. Your dancing gets better as we go through each comeback. I don't say this often but I always think about it and you deserve a lot of credit for what you do for us. When I get there, I want to be able to make meaningful lyrics like you. You enhance me, Namjoon." She praised. "You have some deep, meaningful lyrics. The music you make is fire. It's crazy that you're underappreciated. Having you as a leader is great."

Her statement made him smile brightly and he felt good about himself. Being a leader is tough. A lot of expectations. But her words influenced him greatly.

"And I'm not one of the most popular members of the group. Some don't even want to include me as being a part of the Maknae line, and just want to support 3 out of 4." She added. "But you know? I don't even care anymore about what these negative people say. Because they aren't real fans if they can't support each member. That's not a real fan. That's not a fan in general. A fan of a group should support everyone. Not exclude one, two, or three or more. Don't let anyone take away your happiness. Bangtan wouldn't be how it is today if it wasn't for you. We all bring something unique to the group and if one of us wasn't around, it just wouldn't be the same." 

She went on to ramble as she grabbed his hand. "You have no idea how precious you are to me, Namjoon. Thank you for being a great leader. No matter how tired you are, you are always there for us. And thank you for taking such good care of me since I came here. It was such a huge transition to move to Korea but speaking English with you and learning the ropes here, I know that I'm going to be all right. Although I'm the youngest and the girl of the group I want to be there for all of you guys. And I want to take care of you all. You guys take care of me, I want to do the same."

Namjoon squeezed her hand gently as he thanked her once more. "Wow, that certainly boosted my mood. What you said just made me feel good about myself. I'll continue to work hard for Bangtan. All of you guys are doing your best. I'm very proud of all of you. And don't forget that you are also precious to us, Jennie."

As Namjoon went to use his fork, somehow, some way, his fork bent, causing both members to gawk at it. 

A brief silence occurred before Jen exclaimed, "How?!" as she pointed at the bent fork.

Namjoon grinned sheepishly. "Uh, I can explain."

After the two shared a laugh, Jen asked, "Oh, by the way, where are my headphones I lend you?"

"Headphones?"

"The ones you needed to use in the studio."

"Oh! Those..."

"Yeah, those. You have them there? I wanted them back. You do have them, don't you?"

The rapper cleared his throat and let out a nervous chuckle. "Uh, I can explain."

"You lost them?" She asked with a hint of irritation.

"I'll buy you another pair!"

"They were Beats by Dre!" She shouted.

"Ah...don't yell at me." He covered his face with his hands

"I can't believe you." She groaned. "I need to write a list of things you lose, so you can repay me."

"I'll get you another pair, don't worry. By the way, how's your rapping lessons going with Yoongi?"

The topic of rapping made Jennie smile brightly as she confidently responded, "It's great! He says I'm learning faster than ever. I'm so proud of my progress. I've been researching some underground female rappers to learn more. He gives me a bunch of homework, which has been particularly helpful."

"I heard your progress to my verse of Tomorrow. I enjoyed listening to it because you put your own style into it. You're going to be just fine with the rapping." He grinned ear to ear. "Yoongi is teaching you well. And you're keeping up with the speed."

"Thank you! It's lit!" She high fived him.

"He's not giving you a hard time, is he?"

"I like his bluntness and how strict he can be to make sure I get everything down correctly. I don't want him to sugarcoat it. When I first started, he told me, 'What the hell was that shit? That was horrible. Do it again, you didn't even listen to a word I said for this verse. Do you even want to do this?' and that made me a bit upset but I got used to it. I want him to keep it real with me, and he has. But lately, he's been smiling a lot as I progress."

"Yoongi always had a soft spot for you."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, who else would he want to nap with?"

"Haha, he told me it's because I'm comfortable to nap with and I don't move around a lot or snore. But you, on the other hand, Namjoon..."

"L-look I can't help it okay?"

"I actually was close to strangling you with my pillow when I roomed with you in the hotel room."

"That's foul, Nie Nie. Really cold."

"I love you, too, Joon. So, still talking to Angelina?"

"Yeah, I am." He smiled at the thought of her.

"You're blushing." She pointed out.

"I'm not!"

"You like her?"

"I do. I found out she likes me too."

That made Jennie smile widely. "Aw! Are you dating now!? Wait a minute, why am I now finding this out? Y'all fake. My best friend and my leader, huh?"

He let out a short laugh. "We're not. We're both busy with our careers right now. But one day."

"I ship it. She kept telling me that she physically couldn't date since she was in the prime of her career. But she really likes you, though. She wanted me to teach her some basic Korean so she can communicate with you even though you're good with English."

"Glad to hear that. Looking forward to her progress. Hey, later, can you take a picture of me for my Kim Daily photo?"

"Yeah, sure. Question, are you guys considering having V in Cypher 4?"

"Aish, not this again!" He groaned, rubbing his temples.

"Please?"

"Nie Nie, that is not happening."

"But he's-"

"No."

"But Taehyung has been pra-"

"No."

"Listen-"

"No."

"I-'

"No."

"You didn't even let me finish!"

"What?"

"I believe Taeh-"

"No."

"Namjoon!"

"Yes?"

"He will be such a lit addiction for it!"

"I understand your support for him but no, Nie Nie."

"Weak!"

After their breakfast, they walked around and he found a spot to pose for his Kim Daily. Taking his phone, she watched him get into his pose and she let out a laugh.

"What kind of pose is this? And show off that Nike wristband. Nike is bae." She added as she got ready to take the picture.

"Would you shush?" He laughed and tried to get back into position. 

Once she took a couple of photos, he tweeted one of the pictures. Jen didn't see her photo credit and decided to call him out playfully on their shared account.

'UM, Where are my photo creds?! I took this bomb ass photo! #JEN'

Namjoon looked at the tweet and laughed. "Really?"

"Yes, really! I have great photography skills, I want them to know." She replied as they walked past a couple of stores.

Namjoon decided to tweet, 'Credit to our adorable Miss Bangtan, kekeke #RM'

"Really, adorable?"

"Well, you are our baby girl." He teased. 

The two of them go shopping together and they notice Ryan, Namjoon's favorite character, merchandise. Namjoon kept eyeballing one of the big plushes and contemplated if he should get it.

"You not going to buy it?" She asked as she stood near him.

"Nah...I shouldn't." He shook his head and made his way to another section of the store. 

"Well, I think you should." She said to herself and grabbed the plushie with a smile on her face.

Later that day, in the dorm, Jen changed into her basketball attire to join Yoongi on their planned basketball date. 

Meanwhile, the Maknae line was in the living room playing video games and was about to snack on some newly brought Oreos. But as soon as they take a bite, they spit it out because instead of a sweet taste, it was mint flavored.

"What the hell?" Jimin exclaimed in English and he separated his cookie to see toothpaste inside.

"Who put toothpaste in the Oreos!?" Taehyung demanded.

"Aw, are you serious!?" Jungkook yelled with annoyance.

Jennie smirked as she heard them complain. "Score." She mentally patted herself on the back at her successful prank in their prank war. 

She wasn't going to reveal she did it to anyone because the last time she did, Jungkook made her pay severely and she didn't want to go down that road again.

Walking out of her room, she saw Yoongi waiting for her in the living room.

"Hyung, did you do this!?" Jungkook accused him.

Yoongi looked up, bored, and ignored him and the rest of the Maknae line who were whining about their ruined Oreos. His eyes turned to Miss Bangtan who was geared up in all Nike with the headband, sneakers, basketball shorts and a tank top. 

"You ready, Smartie?"

"Are you ready to lose?" She tossed him the basketball that was in her hands and he caught it with ease as a smirk appeared on his face.

"You wish."

"Did you eat today?"

"I did a few hours ago."

"No, no, eat something now. I don't want your stomach to growl while we ball."

"Aish, so stubborn. Fine." He grabbed an apple from the fridge. "Happy?"

"When you eat it." She remarked.

The two of them head to one of their local basketball courts. They stretched before preparing for a one on one match.

"First one to 10 points, wins. Each basket is one point."

"Gotcha." She checked the ball. Once she received it back, she began to dribble, walking around the court with Yoongi watching her every move, following her. 

Quickly moving her feet, she started running up to the basket, jumping high to shoot before Yoongi could block it. The ball went right in the basket and she fist pumped.

"Beginner's luck," Yoongi grumbled.

"Beginner? That's an insult Yoongi." She taunted.

Focused, Yoongi had the ball this time, with Jennie right up on him as he swiftly escaped her arms trying to block his way. 

"Shit!" He let out a curse when she stole the ball from him and made another successful shot.

"Aw, yeah! Two to zero!" She celebrated.

"Like I said...beginner's luck."

"I'm no beginner though." She stuck her tongue out. Having the ball again, she attempted to shoot an airball but Yoongi caught it just in time and shot it instead. "Really?"

"What's the matter, smartie?" He smirked as she shot him an annoyed glance.

"That was luck right there."

"Beginner's luck? I'm no beginner though." He imitated.

"Shut up." She rolled her eyes as he laughed.

Meanwhile, back at the dorm, Namjoon went to his room and saw the Ryan plushie on his bed.

"You got to be kidding." He smiled instantly and checked out the small note in front of it.

'Ta-da! You know you wanted it. I love you, Namjoon! Please continue to stay healthy and I hope to hang out together with you again very soon. <3 Jennie.'

Back to Jennie and Yoongi, as their game goes back and forth, with Jen's defense and Yoongi's offense on point, they were tied at 7 points. Dribbling the ball, Jen let out a squeal when he grabbed her from behind, picking her up to spin her around a few times as she dropped the ball.

"Hey! You can't do that! That's a foul!" She yelled after getting set down. She watched in disbelief when he took the ball and shot it in the basket. "FOUL!"

"Not in this game." He shrugged with an amused expression.

"So, you making your own rules now?" She grabbed the ball and started to dribble. "Boi if you don't-hey! Cheater!" She yelled when he effortlessly stole the ball and shot for another point.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Not my fault you're slow." He shrugged.

"You know what...I'm gonna hurt you." She pointed to him. 

Jennie had managed to catch up to Yoongi, evading his defense both times. Tied at 9, focused on getting that winning point, Jen watched closely as he dribbled the ball. He had lost his footing and tripped, dropping the ball as he cursed loudly in surprise.

"Yes!" Her adrenaline pumped as she managed to grab the ball, dribbling it as she ran down the court. 

She jumped high to shoot but it hit the rim instead, causing her to yell out of surprise. Before she knew it, Yoongi had caught the ball and jumped up to try to shoot it. She tried to jump and use her arms to block his shot but to no avail as he won the game. 

Jen let out a sigh and took a seat on the ground. Both players were drenched in sweat and breathing heavily from their intense game. 

"Good game, smartie."

"I almost had you." She groaned.

He let out a deep chuckle and helped her up as they walked over to their bags and water bottles. Sitting on the bench, Jen took a big gulp of her water. Once she set it down, Yoongi put an arm over her shoulder as she let out a laugh. 

"You almost beat me today. You're pretty damn good for your defense. I'll teach you some more offensive skills, the next time we play B-Ball." He said with a small smile.

"That'll be great." She beamed as he placed his snapback on her head.

When they both went back to the dorm, Jen went to her room to see a small bag of Smarties on her bed and a note. 

"Ooh, who gave me these?" She eagerly approached her bed.

'I love you too, Nie Nie. Thank you for caring. And I know just where to put the plushie. In my studio. I'll think of you every time I see it. ;) '

She laughed at the winky face that he drew and went on to shower. 

After showering, she helped herself to the Smarties and decided to Facetime Bam Bam. She had a feeling he would probably be busy with dance practice but surprisingly he answered immediately and greeted her with a big smile.

"Jennie! Hey!"

"Hey!" She waved. "I'm surprised you answered, aren't you in dance practice? Sorry if I interrupted."

"Don't worry about it, we're taking a break, right now. I can always make time for you." He smiled softly.

Ever since they met, they've been face timing each other and gotten closer. Jen noticed that he was shy and nervous when they first started talking but as they continued to chat with each other, Bam Bam felt at ease thanks to her down to earth personality. Seeing her smile gave him further confidence and whenever he made her laugh, he felt prouder.

"Who is that?" She heard Jackson in the background

"Shush, I'm trying to have a conversation here!" Bam Bam tried to get away from him. Jennie laughed at the disturbance. "So, how you been? Getting enough rest? Eating well? Are you fully supplied with smarties?"

She let out another laugh and nodded. "Yep, I'm stocked up. We'll see how long they last. I just got back from playing basketball with Yoongi, so that was fun. How's everything with you and the guys?"

"Nothing's changed, we're all still goofing around, working hard. I actually wanted to ask you something."

"What's up?"

"The guys and I are planning to go bowling in a few weeks. Would you like to join us? I would love for you to come see me-us. Us. The group." He cleared his throat.

"JOIN US!" They hear Jackson yell loudly in the background

"JOIN US! The more the merrier!" Youngjae shouted

"Haha, sure, I'll join you guys." She answered.

"What did she say!?" Jackson shouted.

"She said yes!" Bam Bam cheered.

"WOO HOO! Miss you, Jennie!" Jackson appeared on camera with a huge grin.

"Why are you all up in my conversation!?" Bam Bam tried to push him away from the screen.

"Y'all are a piece of work." Jen giggled at their bickering.

-----

On June 22nd, BTS had finally gained one million followers on their Twitter account and J-Hope had tweeted about it, making an edit of himself on their page.

To add to the celebration, Jennie tweets, 'A milli, A milli, A milli, A milli! Thank you!'

'Yaman TV'

'BTS has entered the container box'

"BTS, the ones our crew devoted much effort to!" Janghoon announced while the members applauded enthusiastically with cheers. 

Jennie, wearing an oversized pink hoodie with jean shorts, sat in between Jimin and J-Hope. The hoodie went over her shorts, making it look like a dress instead.

Janghoon had reminded the members about what goes on in the show and that he was the judge for today, giving out eggs whenever he liked and taking away eggs that he didn't like. The hosts began to discuss how Bangtan has unique names, like V, Rap Monster, J-Hope and Suga. 

"Jennie, what about you?" Haha pointed out

"My name isn't anything special. It's just my name but a nickname. I don't prefer people calling me by my full name, Jennifer. It sounds like a mouthful and too much for a stage name for me, so I decided to call myself Jennie and it worked out pretty well. And it's nice to see you again, Haha."

"Likewise!" Haha smiled. "We're still waiting on the next time you'll join Running Man. You are missed. The Monday couple want their revenge." He let out a laugh.

"Oh dear." She giggled

"Her and Jungkookie were so aggressive during the tag game!" Jimin added. "They make a great team though. Don't you agree?"

The studio agreed immediately, causing the 97 Liners to feel good about themselves. 

"Her defense and his offense are a dangerous combination. I can see the both of them back on Running Man." Rapmon replied.

"I definitely want to come back on Running Man," Jen said. "I'm happy that viewers want me back on the show. And I wouldn't mind being on a couple's episode this time. Maybe Jungkook and I can team up and take on the Monday Couple. You down, Kook?"

"Absolutely." The Golden Maknae accepted the challenge, giving her an air five across the room as everyone smiled at their competitiveness.

"Those sound like fighting words. Monday Couple, beware." Janghoon said as everyone laughed. 

Haha had asked the other members about their names. Jimin pointed out that he chose to use his real name and that Baby G was another choice he could choose from. Jungkook stated that he had other choices too, one of them being Seagull.

The members split up into two teams, switching spots. Jen teamed with J-Hope, Rapmon and Jungkook for Haha's team while the rest of the members were on Mino's team.

"You have both of the Maknaes on the team!? No, there must be a mistake!" Jimin exclaimed.

"We're gonna win!" Haha happily celebrated.

After getting situated, Janghoon sat in the middle, between the two teams with the box of eggs. 

"Seemed like they were celebrating." He gestured to the orange team. He turned to the blue team who didn't look enthusiastic. "You four aren't happy?"

"Suga, aren't you being too obvious?" Haha called him out

"I actually wanted to be on Haha Hyung's team." The Dageu rapper explained.

"There's a chance to switch teams. Just raise your hand and I'll slap you." Mino spoke with a straight face as another chorus of laughter occurred. Jen clapped her hands, throwing her head back while laughing. 

When asked why he wanted to be on Haha's team, Suga answered, "Haha hyung is funnier."

Jennie, remaining quiet, sat at her seat, occasionally smiling from amusement or chuckling as she watched the banter. While Janghoon was talking, V had tried to kill a mosquito by clapping his hands. All of the orange team stood up to protest.

"Uh, uh! Take an egg away!" Jen shouted, pointing to the box while V laughed sheepishly.

"Don't interrupt others!" Rapmon shouted

"The mosquito was flying towards the judge's neck to bite him!" Mino tried to defend V

"Oh bullsh-crap!" Jen immediately covered her mouth, before the bad word slipped out, prompting the guys to laugh and the blue team to start shouting.

"Ahhhhh! Let us receive an egg because she almost cursed on TV!" The blue team yelled

"BRUH!" Jen shouted, throwing her arms up in the air. "I said crap!"

"S, word! She said the S, word! Give us an egg!" Jimin demanded.

"I'm giving you both a yellow card. No eggs for now." Janghoon let them off the hook.

"Although I respect Haha's team, I really don't like this attitude."

"What is my attitude like?" Haha exclaimed, letting out a curse, as the members cackled in response.

The blue team got an egg as V jumped and placed it in Team Blue's box. Haha had rolled his eyes and Janghoon gave Team Blue another one.

"You know what..." Jennie grumbled, feeling frustrated with Jungkook. Haha had left the studio and Janghoon gave Team Blue yet another egg. "COME ON! Why!? She exclaimed.

The first segment is the favorability test while the two teams do the body wave. The VCR for the first segment was about which of the members' arms were the most appealing to citizens.

Gathering the results:

V- 8 votes

Jin- 7 votes

Suga- 7 votes

Jimin- 10 votes

J-Hope- 6 votes

Jennie- 5 votes

Rap Monster- 9 votes

"If the orange team can get more than 18 votes, then they will win," Janghoon said as he revealed Jungkook's result, which had a bunch of stickers. Team Orange had a total of 37 stickers and was declared the winner.

"YEAHHHHH!" Team Orange celebrated, getting out of their seats. Jungkook received three eggs and placed them in Team Orange's box.

"Mosquito! Mosquito!" V stomped on the floor, causing everyone to laugh again. Suddenly, Janghoon stuck his hand back in the egg box. "No! No!" V dropped down to his feet in protest while Team Orange got another egg.

Janghoon requested an arm wrestling match between Jimin and Jungkook for one egg, and while everyone was focused on Janghoon giving another egg to Team Orange, V stole an egg from Team Orange's box. He sat back down, smiling hard.

"Let's go best friend!" Jennie shouted, clapping her hands as Jungkook faced off with Jimin, preparing for arm wrestling. "You got this!"

Jungkook smiled back at Jennie. "I'll do my best."

"Come on, you brat!" Jimin said.

The two of them sit across from each other, while their teams hype them up. Jimin and Jungkook held hands and once Janghoon let their hands go, Jungkook quickly put Jimin's arm down.

"Ayeee! Atta boy!" Jen celebrated with her team. 

Team Orange got two eggs in return. Next, Jungkook went up against team blue leader, Mino, and the Golden Maknae won yet again, in two seconds. Jennie stared at Jungkook in disbelief as Team Orange got 4 more eggs.

The next segment was the Bokbulbok test, betting for three eggs. An Aegyo battle commenced as the winner would be able to get the first choice on one of the cards Janghoon held.

"Oh Lord..." Jennie pressed her lips together. 

She was not a cute acting type of person and she got embarrassed easily when doing cute dances and actions.

"Ah, is Miss Bangtan worried?" Jimin teased.

"Shut your face." She tried to ignore him as he laughed.

Team Blue wanted to go last and as a result, had an egg taken from them. Sitting in between Haha and J-Hope, Jen watched Haha take the camera, to perform his Aegyo. He made a weird face, causing everyone to laugh. He ended up getting scolded by the judge, which caused Janghoon to allow Team Blue to take an egg from Team Orange. Haha stood up, letting out another loud curse as Jennie almost fell out of her seat from laughing so hard.

Jennie went first. She exhaled and looked at the camera. She was already cringing, and she might as well act more cringe as she thought of something random and cringeworthy to say. 

Her expression changed into an innocent one as she smiled sweetly, batting her eyes rapidly. "Can you buy me some smarties? Pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top?" She spoke in a higher pitched voice.

Everyone started laughing at her as she quickly passed the camera to J-Hope, covering her face in embarrassment. 

"That was so cute." Haha said.

"Very out of character, but adorable." Jin teased as Jen felt her body warm up from mortification.

"I cannot!" She groaned over their laughter.

"Jennie, what is your next choice? You're not done." J-hope gave her back the camera.

"I gotta do this again?" She exclaimed as everyone cracked up again. She sighed and looked back at the camera. Clearing her throat, she continued to speak in a high pitched voice, smiling cutely.

"Oppa~!" She started, feeling her face heat up even more. She never used that word, and didn't even call any of the members that, but will use it for this occasion. But as soon as she said it, the guys cracked up again, causing her to lose focus and laugh too. "Stop! I'm trying to do this!"

"Oppa~!" Jimin, Suga, V and Jin mocked her Aegyo.

After everyone calmed down, Jennie continued her Aegyo, "Oppa~! Have you eaten today? Don't miss your meals!" She tilted her head to the side, winking at the camera. Then she decided to blow a kiss. "I love you, oppa~!"

"Ahhhhh~!" The members yelled.

"Never again. Never. Again." She asserted and passed the camera to J-Hope.

J-Hope started making adorable facial expressions, murmuring, "Hobie...I'm hungry~! Buy me some meat~!" He cutely stomped his feet as everyone laughed louder when Haha let out another curse. This was just too much fun, and Jennie's stomach started to hurt from laughing so much. J-Hope continued his Aegyo, yelling, "I pooped! I took a dump!"

Rap Monster was next, "Ah hing~! I had a dream~, I dreamed of ghosts!" He said in a weird voice, over everyone's laughter. "I...pooped...I took a dump~ wahhhh~" He started fake crying.

When it was Jungkook's turn, he hesitated. 

"This isn't hard. Just read it." Janghoon pointed out before everyone laughed again while Haha cursed. Jennie started stomping her feet as she laughed. Because he cursed yet again, V took another egg.

"I had a dream. I dreamed of ghosts." Jungkook started off, not as cute as everyone thought. "Ha...I pooped!"

Next was Jin, who blinked at the camera, speaking in a cute voice, "I had a dream. I dreamed about ghosts~." He let out a yell. "I popped~, I took a dump."

"What is this?" Jennie shook her head, watching this aegyo fiasco. 

This was so erratic and weird to her. Meanwhile, Rap Monster had fallen off his seat from laughing. When it was V's turn, he effortlessly said the statement in aegyo, as everyone praised him for being so good. 

"Yo...I cannot..." She cringed.

When it was Suga's turn, he explained he was not great at these things. And once he said the statement, Rap Monster let out a yell. "I pooped, I took a dump," Suga whined while Jennie stared at him like he was crazy.

Lastly, was Jimin as he looked up at the camera. "I...I...I had a dream.." He started, trying not to laugh at everyone's laughter. Jimin had started over but ended up laughing while Jungkook and Rapmon mocked his aegyo.

After the segment, the Orange team chose the front card while the blue team chose the back card. As they catch the VCR they see which was the better choice for toilet paper. If it should be front or back. In the end, the correct way was the front as Team Orange was in another celebratory mood.

But then the VCR shows BTS' bathroom and Jennie's bathroom to see how their toilet paper was hung. J-Hope brought up that BTS has three bathrooms.

When they checked out the VCR, they looked at how their toilet paper was hanging and it's to the front.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Team Orange jumped up and down.

"YASSSSS! WOO!" Jennie clapped. 

Team Orange gathered in a group hug, jumping up and down happily for another victory. Team Orange wins 3 more eggs.

The next segment is 5 seconds, 5 keywords. Jin went first, revealing 5'10, nipples and pink folder. The oldest member explained that it's hard to wake up Jungkook, so he pinches his nipples to wake him up. 

"Touch his nipples when you want Jungkook to wake up," Jin advised

"Pfff!" Jen let out a chuckle. They had Jungkook lay on the floor for Jin to demonstrate. "I cannot." She covered her mouth. 

When Jin demonstrated, Jungkook instantly started laughing, trying to stop him.

Next up was J-Hope who mentioned 27CM and Freesia. "The 27cm isn't what you're thinking..." J-Hope let out a nervous chuckle

"What were we thinking?" Haha asked, as everyone laughed.

"Since debut, I always hear people saying my face is very long. We measured it on a program. It was 27cm." J-Hope explained. 

Haha brought a ruler to measure his face and ended up getting 20cm.

Following that was Suga who said Seo Janghoon, surgery, and lesson. He explained that his mom's friend liked the team Seo Janghoon hyung-nim was on and brought him to the games since he plays basketball. As Jennie watched the banter, she was in shock that Janghoon allowed V to take another egg, but he decided to take two instead. Jungkook, with his hawk eyes, caught him and called him out but V quickly denied the accusations.

Eventually, Suga explained why he chose the word surgery. BTS had a schedule in Japan and he had stomach pains but it was actually his appendix bursting and he flew back to Korea to get the surgery. 

"Jennie noticed right away there was something wrong." Suga pointed out. "She always has been observant. She kept asking me if I was okay while I was in distress. She wanted to fly with me back to Korea, too. She didn't want me to go alone but she had to stay, for the schedule. Jennie was so worried about me. I appreciated her concern."

"You're very welcome. I'm glad you're okay." She replied

Janghoon was impressed by Suga's patience and allowed V to take another egg. Next up was Jimin who said the words, pervert, which sparked everyone's interest. 

"This is about the members." He revealed

"Who's the pervert?" Janghoon questioned

"Our members are sort of perverts. There are three types of perverts."

"When was it three types!? It was one!" Rap Monster exclaimed, getting defensive

"You're surely sensitive, tonight." Jen pointed out.

Jimin had explained J-Hope's weird sleeping habit when he randomly stroked himself. "Then...Secondly, it's the golden maknae." Jimin peered at Jungkook. "He's still a minor but he's really sensitive to scent. So, he collects a lot of cosmetics."

"I'm very sensitive to scents. I tend to collect a lot of things like perfumes, candles, and cosmetics." Jungkook explained as he also added that he enjoys women's cosmetics.

"So, do you take Miss Bangtan's cosmetics?" Haha asked.

"Of course, he does," Jen replied with a hint of annoyance. "He tends to take a lot of my stuff without asking me. I dunno why or how you keep barging into my room when I'm not around. I still haven't gotten my new grapefruit perfume back. Where's that?" She turned to the Golden Maknae.

"I used it all." He grinned sheepishly as she threw her arms up in the air while everyone laughed.

"The stuff she uses smells really, really good. She has great taste in scents. It's hard not to resist. I can't help myself." He murmured, feeling his face warm up.

"Ah, I'm sure that's not all you can't help yourself to, Golden Pervert, Jungkookie." Jimin teased him, wiggling his eyebrows as he glanced at Jennie and then Jungkook.

Jungkook shot him a warning glance while Jimin smiled innocently, giggling in delight, watching him get annoyed by his words. He was going to kill his hyung for this.

"What scents do you usually get Jennie?" Janghoon asked with interest.

"Depends on what I like at the moment. Vanilla, fruity flavored. Just something pleasing to the nose." She answered. "But I mean, that's not weird what he does. It's good to have a good smell around you."

"The last type of perverts are the older hyungs," Jimin revealed. 

He went on the explain that he knows all the names of the girl groups.

"We have a studio. Because we're rappers. We have a studio but there are so many viruses." J-Hope explained as everyone caught on that Rap Monster watched naughty videos in his spare time.

Janghoon mentioned that Rap Monster is at the peak of his age to be seeing a lot of those types of videos. He even offered Rap Monster an egg because of that, and that there's nothing to be embarrassed about.

"If I download it, the rest of the guys watch it." Rap Monster put all the male members on blast. 

Jangnoon was asked how many videos he watches per week but then someone brought up that he's at the age to film them, causing everybody to laugh. 

"And Jennie, I'm sorry for bringing this up again, but she caught me one time." Rap Monster revealed

Jennie let out a sigh, rubbing her temples. "I saw everything when I caught him. All I wanted was to ask if he wanted me to bring something back when I went out to get lunch. And I got waaaay more than I bargained for..."

------

"Hey, do you want anything to eat, I'm head-OH MY GOD!" Jennie screamed, widening her eyes and covering them

Namjoon immediately jumped up from his seat.

"Shit! I didn't know you were here!" He started tripping around, trying to pull up his pants hastily, and tried to turn off the naughty video that was being shown. He ended up making some of his equipment fall on the floor.

"I was here the whole time!" She shouted

"WHERE!?" He yelled

"I was with Yoongi!" She began making crying sounds, running her hands over her head as she tried to unsee what she saw, turning her back to him. "I just saw his dick, Lord...please let me unsee this! Why you gotta do this to me, man!?" She whined, quickly running out of the studio.

Things were awkward between them for the rest of the day, until Namjoon had spoken to her the next day to clear things up in Jen's room. He had sat on her bed with her, discussing the situation.

"So you mean to tell me you watch that stuff in the studio?"

"I mean, the rest of the members watch it too." He shrugged

"Gross...I don't need to know all that information. For crying out loud, just...just don't-ugh give me a warning or something next time. Like you'll be in the studio for a while or something like that. So, I won't interrupt you or see something I wasn't supposed to. Sorry for barging in on you. You guys gotta do what you gotta do, so I mean..." She trailed off, shrugging her shoulders.

-----

"No sister wants to catch their brother in that situation. It was not a pleasant sight to see..." She tried to shake away the unpleasant memories. "But I mean, it's normal. No big deal. And I did feel bad barging in, interrupting him. 'Cause I know if I was in that position, I wouldn't want to be interrupted. Girls watch it too. And speaking of those viruses, I told him to get some computer virus software for the computers but he didn't want to listen. Now, look what happened."

"I'll start listening to your good judgment." Rapmon chuckled.

Rap Monster was next and his words were Straggler, early death and world peace. He goes on about his nickname, God of Destruction because he keeps breaking things, so he thinks he might die early. With the word straggler, he talks about how the members were bad to him. He went to go to the bathroom and the car left without him and he stood there for 30 minutes. His cell phone was in the car.

Next up was Jennie as she says volleyball, Tumblr and DJ. 

"What's this about Tumblr?" Haha asked.

"Well, I have a Tumblr. A secret Tumblr that I use almost every day." She announced, already mentally preparing for how ARMY was going to freak out on the website. 

She's seen everything, but what caught her eye was how some fans were always disappointed that she hadn't shown much of her body or acted sexy like some of K-Pop idols. She was still a minor and would rather wait until she was of age.

"What's your Tumblr name?"

"I've had my Tumblr before I came to Korea. I made a new one and I don't plan on revealing it at all. My Tumblr name is nothing about me, and I enjoy remaining unnoticed. Some things I enjoy reblogging are gaming, fashion, memes, American sports, positive posts about being black and UFC."

"UFC!?"

"Yep." She smiled.

"The fighting? Brawling, kicking and all that?"

"Yep, yep."

"The blood and punching?"

"Yep, yep, yep."

"Why that?"

"What can I say? I like to watch people beat each other up professionally." She shrugged and everyone laughed. "I'm a big fan. My dad enjoys it. I'd like to attend a show one day."

"So, on Tumblr, you see a lot about BTS?"

"BTS is very loved on Tumblr, I'll tell you that. I blacklist a bunch of things so I'm totally safe for work." She stared directly at the camera. 

She tended to stay away from any fanfics or intense stuff but appreciated the artwork, gifs and appreciation posts about her and the other members.

"But yeah, those on Tumblr, you know who you are, some of y'all need to tone it down on some comments, I'm still a minor FYI." She shot a thumbs up. "But yeah, seriously, I'm deadass. Respect that. You need to tone it down a notch. It's creepy. But I will add that one thing I love is the appreciation I get from the fans and that I inspire them." 

She could see the fan comments now on Tumblr about what she had just said,

'Guys! SHE KNOWS! SHE FRIGGIN KNOWS!'

'ABORT MISSION!

'Time to delete my blog!'

'Oh shiiiiit'

'Spread the word! Time to delete our blogs!'

'SHE'S SMART AF!'

'RED ALERT'

'I'm dying!'

'RIP every smut writer!'

'Time to shut down my blog!'

'We are NOT safe'

'EXPOSED'

'Uhhhhhhhh I can explain'

When it was Jungkook's turn, he mentioned hair, butt and scissors. He revealed that when he gets nervous before going on stage, so he tends to touch the member's butts a lot. 

Everyone laughed when Haha and Jungkook demonstrated how they touch butts. When Jungkook gave his butt a gentle squeeze, Haha mentioned that he was still a beginner.

"When we film an opening, or when we film the opening for Running Man, I grab both cheeks and-" Haha kneeled down and tightly grabbed Jungkook's butt.

"What is this...?" Jennie chuckled, shaking her head.

When it was V's turn, he mentioned elephant and eyelashes. He shows off his trademark elephant on his arm, causing Jennie to giggle. 

"Whoa! It's an elephant!" Haha looked on in disbelief and ended up waving at it while everyone laughed out loud. V also mentioned that he has long eyelashes, longer than anyone else.

The next segment was 'We want to know Bangtan'

'Who is the most influential in BTS?'

"It's Suga. That drunk way of talking, that charisma that overwhelms everyone." Rap Monster answered. "It doesn't go through no matter what people say. Last place is Jimin in the back who called me a pervert."

"Jimin, do you acknowledge this?" Mino asked

"Yes, I do." Jimin giggled

'The member who lost their original intentions? The member who is most different since debut?'

"The member who lost his original intentions is V," Jin answered. "This friend, distinctly, before debuting, he used to follow me well, saying "hyung, hyung." But now when I say, "V, I don't think you should do that.", he says "What are you to say that hyung?"

"I really said that?" V asked

"No, I'm just exaggerating." Jin teased.

Janghoon made Jin and V stand in front to play the of course game, bringing Rookie King flashbacks. They let J-Hope take Jin's place for now, while V began to speak to him informally.

"Yah, Hoseok! You don't take me seriously in dance. You keep criticizing me. You know you make several mistakes, right?" V spoke.

"Of course," J-Hope responded. "I'll talk a little bit about our dorm. You don't air out the bathroom, huh?"

"We agreed not to." V giggled and he lost the game. J-Hope received two eggs for Team Orange.

'Is there a member who has the celebrity disease.'

"Can I answer? It's Jungkook." V pointed them out.

"What's the reason?" Jungkook asked.

"These days when any of the hyungs say something, he says, 'Why? I do it, so why?." He answered, causing Janghoon to make him and Jungkook place the of course game

"Hey, punk!" Jungkook spoke as everyone laughed. "These days, you don't say your greetings often, right?"

"Of course," V answered. "These days, when hoobae singers come to greet us, you ignore them all, right?"

"Of course."

Haha had whispered something in the Golden Maknae's ear and Jungkook asked, "You don't air out the bathroom, right?" 

Everyone erupted into laughter again.

"He can't catch a break! Hahah!" Jennie chuckled, while Jungkook got an egg.

'The truth about Jimin oppa's armpits. Do you remove it?'

"Does Jimin not have any armpit hair?" Janghoon asked

"No, I do." He replied.

"But he didn't when you promoted. Did you remove it?" Haha asked

"I didn't."

"Have you ever removed it?"

"No."

Mino took a quick look and responded, "There's a heap," making everyone laugh 

"At the beginning of our debut, Jimin didn't have any. It didn't grow." Jin answered.

'Did you not have any complaints about the length of the shorts while promoting Hwayangyeonhwa?'

"When I tell you I hated those shorts..." Jennie shook her head. "I almost ripped them because of my thighs."

"Hahaha, I remember that day." Rap Monster let out a laugh

"I think the shorts keep getting shorter," Suga added. "I think I can understand the problems women have. Jennie especially. She kept complaining about it for a while backstage. They keep shrinking."

"But the fans like it?" Haha asked

"The fans like it," Suga confirmed.

'Please mimic Bang Shi Hyuk who created BTS.'

"There's a motion that he always does. When he listens to a song. If the song is perfect, like he feels it's our song then he keeps doing this." V started dancing weirdly making everyone laugh

"He wears handcuffs and keeps dancing like this." Rap Monster demonstrated.

Jin spoke up, "I have a complaint. Last time, when I was in the recording studio, Bang PD came and asked me What do you think about the dance for this song? And I said that this choreo is more easier compared to before. Then he said, tell me your opinion truthfully. And I said, I wish the choreo would get a little easier. Then he told me, Ok, I'll take into account your opinion. And what came out is the Dope choreo. It's the most difficult! This is the fastest dance I've ever seen in my life!" He exclaimed

"Who gets hit on the most by girl group idols? The member who has the most numbers, things like that." Haha asked.

"But when we go to broadcasts, people really feel uncomfortable around us," Suga answered 

"Why?"

"I don't know. We are always locked inside our waiting room."

"Then are you saying that nobody here has the numbers of female idols?"

"Jennie does. And male idols. She tends to speak to most idols, getting to know them." Rap Monster pointed out. "I won't be surprised if a few years go by she'll know almost everyone in the industry."

"Never hurts to approach them and say hi." She replied. "I did that back at K-Con and I still speak with G-Dragon sunbaenim. I was so nervous to approach him but I was like, just go for it. He's extremely nice and helpful when I ask for any advice. I thank him for being so kind to me when I met him."

"And I'm still very jealous," Jungkook grumbled.

"We were so shocked to see a photo with them together. We kept asking her so many questions." Jin exclaimed as everyone laughed.

"Like she left the dressing room and we couldn't find her. And then we all see a notification on our Twitter with them together. I was shocked." Rap Monster added.

"Miss Bangtan, what about you? Getting hit on by any male group idols?" Haha asked

"Not really." She shrugged

"Lies! All lies! That is a lie!" Jimin objected.

"What? How?" She laughed.

"I'm pretty sure there are certain guys that admire you but haven't spoken up about it yet," He teased, earning another warning glance from Jungkook. 

The Golden Maknae briefly narrowed his eyes at his hyung until Jimin met his eyes and smiled innocently in response.

"I'll answer this," Jin said. "As you may know, we are very protective of our Bangtan girl, so we tend to be, in her words, a bit much when it comes to guys, but it is all within reason. There have been shady men going around her a few times."

"What you are doing is not a problem, make sure she is protected at all costs." Haha agreed.

"She's our baby girl, so we want to make sure that no one tries to take advantage of her, here. Moving from another country is hard and we made a promise to guide her and protect her. Make her feel welcomed and safe. She is truly special to us and we love her dearly." Jin genuinely went on.

"Aw...Jin..." Jennie said, touched, as she placed a hand over her heart

"Is there a girl group you want to become closer with?" Haha asked. 

Answers included Red Velvet and Girl's Generation

"IU!" Jungkook shouted loud and proud, raising his hand.

"AILEE!" Jen shouted, raising her hand. "Love her! She is astonishing. I would love to sing with her. She is a queen."

As time moved quickly, they transitioned to the last segment. J-Hope and Jimin collaborated on dancing for the show. Everyone started cracking up when they watched Jimin and J-Hope perform a comic dance. Next up was Jungkook who did imitations of idols. He started imitating AOA's Jimin from Unpretty Rap Star and then Jessi, causing everyone to laugh.

The laughter continued as they watched J-Hope dance to Red Velvet's Ice Cream cake, EXID's Ah Yeah and Sistar's touch my body. Afterward, Jin impressed Mino, Haha and Janghoon with his facial expressions and was requested to imitate Dragoon from Starcraft, which was his spider walk. 

"That's it?" Janghoon asked, which caused Jin to look so done, causing everyone to laugh.

Haha requested Jin to come in the door with water in his mouth. 

"CUE!" He shouted, watching the oldest member walk back inside. "Jin, they said you're going to be removed from BTS!"

Jin's eyes popped out as the water from his mouth fell, causing everyone to laugh. 

"That was so good, hahaha!" Jennie laughed.

Rap Monster was the next person and he decided to do an impression of Marge Simpson. When he began to imitate Spongebob's laugh while Jungkook pretended to be Squidward, Jennie was the one who laughed the most, almost falling out of her seat again.

"That's my childhood, right there. They did that perfectly." Jen complimented.

At the end of the show, they went over the eggs in each of the teams' boxes to see who had won. Team Orange seemed to be in the lead but in the end, once Janghoon revealed the last egg for Team Orange, which was 0.5 points, Team Orange yelled in protest while Jin spat out water once again in surprise.

Team Blue- 70

Team Orange- 60.5

Team Orange hugged each other, for a good time, while congratulating Team Blue. V was chosen as MVP by Mino and received a guitar. V had dramatically kneeled, receiving it proudly.

"I'm jealous!" Jungkook whined.

"Take this and increase your musicality." Mino handed him the guitar

"Thank you!" V shouted and bowed, while Team Blue got a massage coupon.

"Yay! Now Jennie can teach me, the guitar." V beamed

"Just let me know when." She spoke up as she looked at the big coupon Jin received for the massage. "Quality over quantity. Congrats to Team Blue. I'm mad but congrats."

------

Backstage during one of the music shows, BTS had finished performing. Jen decided to walk around backstage with her phone but was stopped when a familiar voice called her name. Turning around to see who the voice belonged to, it was Shin, the sound engineer guy that she met during the MAMA Awards. Ever since Namjoon and Jin tried to warn her about him because they believed he was sketchy, she decided to keep her distance. 

It's been a long time since she had seen him but something in her didn't believe he was a bad guy or sketchy as her members claimed him to be.

"Hey! Long time no see." She greeted him as he approached her. "You fell off the face of the earth for a while."

"Me? I think it was you. Haven't seen you in a while, and didn't even get the chance to get your number the last time we spoke." He responded with a smile

"Ah, well, the busy idol life." She shrugged and took a step back when she regarded him getting up in her personal space.

He seemed moderately irritated as he chose to let out a sigh. "All right, I need to be frank with you. I'm tired of this dragging along." He changed his tone, causing her to raise a brow.

"Honest with what exactly?" Her ears perked up with interest.

"I thought you of all people would catch on but I guess not."

"What was I supposed to catch on to?"

"I kind of just want to hook up with you. Know how it feels to be with a black girl. I heard they're really exotic. Most foreigners are. I mean, you're not the type of girl I would take home to my parents but I wouldn't mind having fun with you."

"Oh. I see we're on two completely different pages here." She shook her head, turned off immediately by his words. 

Irritation was distinct in her voice and it wouldn't be long before she would blow up at him for having the audacity to say that to her face. It also took a blow to her heart that he would assume she wouldn't be taken seriously and believe she was someone who gets around.

"I mean, you're hot and well, I was given the impression that girls like you are easy. I want to know if it's true that once you go black, you can't go back. I mean, you're pretty for a black girl-"

"You ever think before you speak?" She snapped. "Why do I have to be pretty for a black girl? We're all beautiful and I sure as hell don't hook up around here. Did you think I got here because of that? I know I was a trainee for a short amount of time but I would never in my life go the easy route to get things I want. I work hard and shed blood, sweat, and tears. Not sleep around."

"You look like the hooking up type, I just thought-"

"Well, you thought wrong and I am seconds away from slapping the living shit out of you for letting that come out your mouth." She retorted with a scowl. Shaking her head, she murmured, "Namjoon and Jin were right."

"Look, no need to get upset."

"Upset? So, what you just told me, I shouldn't be upset?"

"Hey, don't get so offended. I just think that dating someone...like you would be hard-"

"How so?" She cut him off. "What stereotype do you have on your mind? We're angry? Like to argue? Aggressive? Too independent? Is it because of our hair? We can wear whatever we want on our hair. Braids, weaves, all natural, anything. What is it because of my skin? Would you be ashamed of dating a person of color? Because of any judgment, you'll get? But you just want to have fun, right? Not actually take the time to see what great of a girl you have in front of you, am I right?"

She noticed him looking startled by her attitude, but she didn't care. She was irate and wasn't having any of his crap. She did not want this side of her to come out. But people kept trying her and she had no choice but to retaliate and defend herself.

"Don't you think you're being a bit of a prude?" He exclaimed.

Jennie let out a loud scoff and started laughing. "Woooooowww! Me? A prude? I'm a prude because I don't want to sleep with you? Oh, okay. I see how society works. So, let me get this straight. You decided to be all nice and buddy, buddy, only to try to sleep with me? Then what? Leave? Go on to try to go after another female idol?"

"L-"

"You've talked enough so shut your mouth and listen." She cut him off, earning an annoyed look from him. "How many girls have you been trying to talk to? And all of them rejected you, right? Right. And you just assumed since I'm a Westerner, I would just open my legs for you, right? That's just what we all do, correct? Just because of what you see on the media, or us shaking our asses and grinding up on guys, you just assume that we will do anything, huh? No questions asked, we'll sleep with just anybody, right? Well, let me remind you that we deserve respect and that you're wrong. Enough with the stereotypes. Enough with the fetishes of us. It's getting old and it's disgusting. You are problematic and you are a waste of time. So, why don't you stop bothering us females with your antics, grow a set because you clearly don't have any balls and stop treating us women like some piece of meat."

"Are you friggin' kidding me, right now-"

"I'm deadass. I am deadass. I am 100%, Ailee loving, Baekhyun adoring, Bangtan Girl deadass." She cut him off, talking over his words. Narrowing her eyes, she got closer to his face. "Don't try me because I am not the one. Now stay the hell away from me and I bet not catch you trying to go after any other female idol. And next time you try me, I won't hesitate to smack the shit out of you. Do I make myself clear?"

He was so flustered, that he couldn't even respond since he was humiliated by her sudden words.

"I said...do you understand me?" She repeated in a sterner tone.

"Yeah..." He muttered as she took a step back.

"Now apologize and educate yourself."

"I apologize..."

"For what?"

"For being an asshole..."

"And?"

"Everything I said..."

"And what did you say that made me upset?"

"Calling you a prude..."

"And?"

"Fetishing black women..."

"And? We can go all day. That's not all you've done."

"I apologize for saying that girls like you are easy and disrespecting you..."

"And?"

"Making assumptions that you are the hooking up type..."

"And?"

"Judging you based on stereotypes about black women and what I've seen in the media..."

"And what will do from now on?"

"Educate myself..."

"And?"

"Stop treating women like a piece of meat..."

"Good, now get the hell out of my face." She dismissed him. Shin scurried away in disgrace while she rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips. "Trifling ass..."

Little did Jennie know, Jungkook had heard their entire conversation. Jungkook knew right from the start that Shin was up to no good when he approached Jennie back at the MAMA Awards.

Despite his jealousy and occasional glares when he saw them together, Jungkook had suspicions that there was something behind Shin's nice guy persona. It takes a lot to get the Golden Maknae agitated. But once he heard all those repulsive remarks that Shin told the woman most precious to him, his temper got the best of him. And once you get Jeon Jungkook angry, by all means...

Run.

Furious, Jungkook stalked Shin after he quickly walked away from Jennie. She embarrassed the hell out of him and he deserved every second of it. Jungkook had wanted to intervene but she handled the situation well and shut Shin down to expose him for the fool that he is.

"Hey, you." Jungkook's voice called out bitterly.

Shin immediately spun around and bowed. "J-Jungkook. What is it?" His voice was still trembling from getting embarrassed by Jennie.

"Let's talk somewhere private. Right now," he demanded with his voice filled with aggravation. 

Shin noticed his harsh tone. It looked like Jungkook wasn't going to take no for an answer and he reluctantly followed the Golden Maknae.

Once they were in a private area, Shin asked, "What can I help you with?"

Jungkook crossed his arms, presenting an even further intimidating appearance as his muscles were visible under his shirt. He demanded aggressively, "You can help by staying away from Miss Bangtan."

Shin let out a sigh. He guessed that he saw everything. "Look, I said I was sorry-"

"Not good enough. I'm here to give you a warning myself after what I saw back there." He scowled at him, making Shin's stomach drop as he thought the 97 Liner looked scary when mad.

The Golden Maknae walked up to him, staring him down with a lethal stare while Shin averted his eyes.

Jungkook poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue, shaking his head. "Don't you ever disrespect her again. Jennie is not and never will be some girl you can hook up with. She is not an easy girl to sleep with. She is someone precious to BTS. To ARMY. To her family. To her friends. To me." The Golden Maknae responded sharply.

"Do you have any idea how great of a person she is? How caring she is, taking care of Hyungs and me? She works so hard in BTS and for you to disrespect her the way you did was uncalled for and I am not having it. How dare you claim she's an easy target to sleep with? How dare you claim she's a prude because she doesn't want to sleep with you? She isn't like that and will never be like that. She's beautiful, she's understanding, and she always encourages hyungs and me. She's more than what you think of her. Way more. She is someone incredibly special to me. Always has been. Always will be. And I won't let you disrespect her like that ever again. Do you understand me?" He growled as Shin took a step back, shaking with fear.

"Y-yeah man. Yeah."

"Now stay away from her. And like my baby girl said...Educate yourself, yeah? Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-y-eah. I un-derstand."

"Good. Now get out here." He tilted his head to the side as Shin speed walked away.

With Jennie, still irritated about her unfortunate conversation with Shin, she went to BTS' dressing room, letting out a loud sigh of annoyance

"What happened?" Namjoon asked immediately, standing up from his seat as he placed his phone down. Jin was also in the room, and Jen had told them everything that had happened

"He dares to try to mess with my sweetheart? I am truly disappointed in that young man." Jin shook his head. "That is no way to speak to a lady."

"First of all, damn, I wish I was there to see you shut him down like that." Namjoon pointed out. "Second of all, I'm about to kill him."

"You and me both, Namjoon."

"His face was so red when I shut him down," Jen added. "Even some staff members were watching and laughing at him. But damn, I didn't think a guy like him would pull that card on me. He truly is a fuckboy. I'm sorry I didn't listen. I thought he was a nice guy with good intentions. I guess you can tell me that you told me so."

"Nah, it's all right." Namjoon smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Like he just ruined my whole mood. I can't believe he would say something like that to me." She shook her head, crossing her arms.

"Excuse me for a sec, he and I are gonna have a little talk." Namjoon made his way to the door.

"Oh yes, we are. A long talk. Let's find him." Jin added, his voice appeared lethal as he followed the leader.

"Um, what are you two gonna do?" She watched them.

"Set him straight. I won't have no man disrespect you. Always trust our judgment. I'm always looking out for you. We all are." Namjoon responded.

-----

The next day, in the afternoon, Jen had her small speaker connected to her phone and put her music on shuffle while she washed the dishes. Suit & Tie was playing softly in the background as she danced to the beat. Hobi had walked into the kitchen and started moonwalking with his socks on, making her laugh softly. After he had gestured for her to dance with him, she briefly stopped washing the dishes to slide around the kitchen with him, with their socks on. Afterwards, he had gone to get something the drink from the fridge and went back to his room as she continued to clean.

"Sweetie, I told you I could've washed the dishes," Jin said, walking out of his room.

"Eh, it's all right, I was tired of looking at them anyway." She shrugged.

"I'm going to the store. You want anything?"

"Nah but we're going to need more dishwashing liquid."

"I'll put that on the list." Jin made a mental note and left the dorm.

Almost done washing the dishes, Rocketeer by Far East Movement played softly in the background as Jennie continued to dance while scrubbing a dirty plate.

"Here we go, come with me." She sang along. "There's a world out there that we should see. Take my hand, close your eyes. With you right here, I'm a rocketeer. Let's fly~! Up, up here we go, go. Up, up here we go, go. Let's fly~!"

"Baby girl?"

She heard a familiar voice and turned around, answering immediately with a smile. "Yes?" 

There she saw Jungkook with their puppy, Tony by his feet. "Wanna walk Tony with me?"

"Yeah, sure! Let me finish this and I'll get ready."

"Take your time. I'm about to hop in the shower, first."

"Ditto." She turned around and finished the dishes.

After she was done, she changed into a simple white shirt, black jeans, and of course her black Nikes. Jungkook had already finished showering and was waiting for her in the living room while petting their small puppy. When she walked out of her room, Jungkook gazed at her outfit and then at his, noticing that they unintentionally matched.

Jen let out a soft laugh. "Ha! That's cute, we're matching. Copycat."

"Me?! I always wear white shirts. You're the copycat!" He teased and stood up, holding Tony by the leash as they stepped outside.

As they walked Tony, while casually talking to each other, Tony had stopped by a tree to do his business. 

"You're cleaning it!" Jennie called out.

"What!? Why me!?" Jungkook exclaimed

"It's your turn! I did it last time."

The Golden Maknae grumbled as he took out a small trash bag, picking up the mess. Once he threw out the mess, Jen walked past him and he caught a whiff of her smelling like vanilla.

"You smell good. Did you go to a bakery or eat something?"

"Oh, Angelina sent me some perfume. And it's a vanilla scented one. I love the smell but I also dislike it because I smell like a birthday cake. I mean, you wouldn't want to eat me, right?" She joked. "But the smell is so good, it makes me crave for vanilla flavored foods. I feel that way about cocoa butter, too. I'm kind of struggling. I should wear it when I'm around vanilla flavored pastries."

"It suits you nicely. You should keep wearing it."

"You think so?"

"I like it when girls wear vanilla sentenced things."

"Oh really?" She beamed. "All right then, I'll keep wearing it just for you. Just don't swipe it like you did with my grapefruit perfume."

"L-look."

"Ah-ah! I don't wanna hear it!"

When they made it to a dog park, they sat on the bench, while Jungkook took off the leash from Tony's collar.

"Gosh, you are such a meme." She snickered when she observed Jungkook taking silly selfies with the dog.

He picked Tony up, looking at him face to face. "She's mean, isn't she Tony?" He cooed as the dog barked cutely in response. "You like me better than mean Jennie, right boy? Ain't that right?"

Jen stared at the two of them, unamused before taking a group photo with them. Both idols were bare faced for today. Jen had some faint dark spots over her face and her skin was usually on the oily side.

'Bare faced! Gotta let the skin breathe! Hope you're enjoying your day! #JEN' She tweets.

The two friends remain seated while they watch Tony run around. "He is such a happy dog. How'd you even pick him out at the pet shop?" she asked.

"I am the Golden Maknae after all. I always have good taste." Jungkook announced proudly

"Who lied?" She raised a brow.

Jungkook placed a hand over his heart, pretending to be hurt. "Wow, that hurts, Jennie."

"You walked right into that one, ha!"

"Hahahaha-no." He deadpanned before they shared another laugh.

"I've been meaning to ask you this. Where'd you get that cheek scar?" She pointed out.

"Oh, this?" He pointed to his cheek. "Ah...I was fighting with my brother because we both wanted to play on the computer."

"Haha, once a gamer, always a gamer. I think it's cute. I have a scar from fighting with my sisters over the TV. I wanted to play video games but they wanted to watch one of their favorite TV shows that came on that night. It wasn't pretty. I was a rough child."

"Really? Where is it?"

She lifted her left leg and pointed to the faint long scar on her knee through the ripped jeans. "You can't really see it since it faded but once you get close, it's there. Gosh, they pissed me off that day."

"Did you get to play your video games?"

"Nope. Mom and Dad always took their side. You would think being the youngest would allow you to get your way but nope. Got grounded for starting the fight. Oh gosh, I remember smacking Alani in the face. The side of her face was so red. I grabbed Vienna by the hair and pulled her off the couch. I know, all that over video games. You probably think I'm a violent person, huh?"

"That's...actually pretty funny." He chuckled lightly. "Don't tell them I said that."

"I won't. I thought it was funny too. They were so shocked by my strength at a young age."

Jungkook laughed. "Ah, sibling fights. You're here in Korea with us so you can play all the video games you want without your sisters bothering you."

"True, very true." She responded as she got another whiff of her perfume. "Okay, can we please get some vanilla cake? This perfume is making me crave."

"It'll cost you." He teased.

"How much?"

"I'll think about it." He smirked.

"Ugh, why you so childish?" She complained as she grabbed a tennis ball out of her bag. 

Jungkook giggled as they headed over to play catch with Tony. Jennie tossed the ball first and Tony immediately caught it and ran back up to her. 

"Good boy!" She petted him. She tossed the ball to Jungkook and he threw it far, taking her off guard. "Dude! Really!?"

"What? Good endurance pays off!" He proudly looked at how far he threw the ball

"You are ridiculous!" She exclaimed, playfully shoving him. He playfully shoved her back and they ended up trying to push each other. "H-hey! Hey! Cut it out! Behave! I'm telling Jin-hahah-stop!"

She giggled when he tried to trip her down to the ground. When he did, she brought him down with her by grabbing onto his shirt and arm.

Jungkook rolled off of her, as they shared another laugh. 

"Ah, crap!" He exclaimed when Tony ran up to him with the ball, attacking him with licks all over his face.

Jennie watched him try to push him off and cheered, "Hahaha! Get him, Tony!"

[sparks-olivarpente]

Day 7: Free day

Here's my list of underrated fics for #BylerFicRecWeek2023, day 7: Free day!

A Happy Ending was Imperative by @waroftheposes : Will reads Maurice and pines. I read this fic today, on the bus, and it was so good I forgot to get car-sick. Thanks to whoever recommended it on tumblr ^-^

are there still beautiful things? by @aceoflanterns : Will attends an open mic poetry night at a local cafe, invitation courtesy of one Max Mayfield. This turns out the unexpected effect of seeing one Mike Wheeler again… and maybe also sparking a conversation long overdue.

feedback loop also by @aceoflanterns : Other words begin to enter the feedback loop. The world is still a hazy thought, just a distant memory, but new things enter your mind—it’s not, it’s not my fault, it’s not my fault you don’t like girls! or, the destruction of castle byers.

and if I get burned, at least we were electrified by @blackdeathmamba : He presses his lips together and tries to figure out a subtle, non-funny way to say it, but he comes up blank. Fuck, whatever: “I almost kissed Will. Again.” A fun fic full of byler tropes!

The Pact by @starsarefire824 (JustMyName) : A pact between Max and Mike gone wrong gets them both unanimously voted out of the Party and they find themselves stuck with each other the summer after Graduation.

Valentine's Day by Nymphadoragreenleaf : 5 Valentine's Days in Wills life + 1 perfect one.

7. träumerei by @tenderforgs (inblue) : In the Byers household they count the years, not in pencil marks, but by the height of the apple tree outside the house… On memories and growth and mirrors and separation.

I Don't Think I'm Faking Anymore by @existingonanotherplane : With no more super-natural evils left to fight what better else is there to do than to play a game of truth or dare? or, Byler fake dating AU

[pineapplerightsideupcake]

u do realize that the world isnt just americans and europeans right...not every anti american post is coming from a european lol

This website is over 85% North American/Australian/Western European

The chances I’m talking to someone outside that demographic is slim in the first place but I find that people from countries with actual grievances talk about their specific issues with America. You are invited to notice how I don’t police people bringing up American imperialism or our war crimes.

I think the American government and military are evil. I’m never looking to defend them.

But it toasts my ass cheeks that Europeans, grumpy that their empires are waning, write endless self pitying posts about how “America isn’t the whole world!” But they want our music and fashion and movies and TV and tech. Then they complain about how the ubiquity of American culture is oppressing them somehow. A Native Hawaiian can complain American culture was forced on them. I’d never dream of calling that out. I’d reblog them. We came with guns and worse and have done everything possible to erase their culture. But I’m sorry Pierre and Gustav, no American came and tied you to a chair Clockwork Orange style and made you watch “Iron Man VII”. If you hate that American culture is ubiquitous, feel free to go see a local film and skip Barbie! Vote to invest in entertainment. Koreans are killing it with producing TV and music the whole world wants to enjoy. Japan has had global anime fans for decades. I’m rooting for Indian and Thai movies to gain more popularity. Like stop bitching and make your own media and prioritize it.

And God forbid Americans on an American website use Fahrenheit instead of Celsius. Or don’t tag a legal tip with #sorryforbeingamerican

It’s the height of hypocrisy that Europeans frequently accuse Americans of always centering themselves while un-ironically demanding that 50% + of tumblr’s userbase cater to the preferences of its Euro users and not you know, their own.

And this isn’t even getting into Europeans using America’s problems and issues to deflect their own history of brutal imperialism. Let’s talk about their appalling treatment of Romani people. Let’s talk about “cultural purity” being a dog whistle for white supremacy and ugly Nationalism. Let’s talk about rampant anti semitism.

When Europeans rant about “hey American you’re not ackshully Italian/Irish/French/German because your great great grandfather came from there.” despite Americans explaining we know we aren’t literally from another country you can feel them dying to call you a mongrel race american that has no blood right to their country. Because if they didn’t care about cultural and racial purity they’d listen when Americans explain what our mixed heritages mean to us and how we express it as individuals, communities, and as national points of pride. They’d be excited that so many Americans do try and learn the language and do want to visit and do want to learn the culture.

Oh and by the way, let me know how Western Europe feels about the US military if Putin ever sets his sights further west than old soviet countries. Because I’d bet money suddenly they don’t have a problem with the American military-industrial complex. Most Europeans aren’t anti imperialist- they’re anti AMERICAN imperialism. They like us just fine when we enable their subjugation of their own empires. They love our money and our protection.

Anyway Tl;dr I’m aware not everyone criticizing the US is European, but the butthurt hypocritical posts they make are they only ones I’m talking about.

[lauradefendszeearth]

I just finished a wonderful fanfiction called There’s Comfort at the Bottom of a Swimming Pool and I can’t find if the author has a tumblr but uh here is the fic.

I got a little idea in my head and decided to try writing something for the first time uhm. Ever? I’ve just read like 200+ Steddie fanfictions so my head is full. So uh please be nice oh god this is terrifying. Tell me if there are typos though I wrote this directly into tumblr on my phone at work cause the idea wouldn’t leave me alone. Huge shout out to the author for an amazing story that literally made me laugh and cry and feel all the things oh my god.

Essentially steve didn’t know who he was or what he liked and he and Eddie were on a break figuring themselves out and Gareth wrote Steve a list of stuff to try. The author talked about art, guitar, bird watching etc etc. He likes guitar with its rules to follow even though he sucks at it. Visual art is too Freeform. Too much room for his self doubt to creep in and it makes him frustrated.

Steve decides he will try ballet. He liked physical activity even if he had hated sports.

Goes to a beginner class with mostly young girls but the teacher is nice. He even wears the tights. He knew he could’ve gone for ballroom or even swing but he didn’t want to dance with a partner he just wanted to dance for himself.

So he goes in the right clothes, and he bonds with the kids. Helps the boys know that dance doesn’t hurt their masculinity, tries to be a better example than he had.

He gets pretty good. Not professional or anything but good enough that he goes all the way up to intermediate level classes. They even ask him to help teach and he loves helping and playing with the kids.

He doesn’t tell anyone about it for a while. He’s not ashamed he just wants something for himself. He still prefers cooking and baking for the family but this is a close second. A hobby outside their little group where he can focus on himself a little.

When he and Eddie are gonna move to Indy he has to tell the tiny Hawkins studio he’s leaving. They’re all sad to see him go and even throw him a little going away dance party with mini performances from the kids. He brings Eddie and Robin who invites Nancy to come with (thru makes a special trip on a weekend even though the distance sucks), and the whole family. Joyce and Hopper, Will, El, Jonathan, Wayne, Dustin, Lucas, Max and even Mike asks if he can come. Mike has loosened up a bit more finally even though he’s still a little shit.

He didn’t tell them at first but Steve had put together a little farewell performance as well. Included all of the students he’s worked with over the past few months. Everyone is stunned into silence before the applause breaks out. Eddie is completely speechless. He almost looks like a cartoon with his jaw lax and eyes big. He finally snaps out of it and gets a huge proud grin on his face and Steve feels his heart swell and the nerves he didn’t know he had fade away.

He decides to open a small studio in Indy. He reaches out to other ballet studios and finds the kids who struggle to afford lessons and gives them lessons for free. Or if they insist on paying he asks them to donate resources to local charities. He doesn’t need the money, he has his government hush money after all. He doesn’t tell the parents that though, just tells them he makes enough to do this.

Eddie continues giving guitar lessons. He does get paid by the shop but he gives most of it back buying sheet music and accessories for himself and his students.

One day Eddie looks at Steve and asks him if he’s thought about getting a bigger studio space. Steve is confused and Eddie looks a little shy at first but mentions that he would love to combine their efforts and make a music studio/dance studio hybrid. Steve spins him around excitedly and they start looking for studio space immediately. They even start combining ballet and metal and do some select classes and performances where eddie plays and Steve and the kids dance. It’s not ground breaking but it’s fun and the kids laugh and jump and Steve’s never felt happier than when he glances over at Eddie to see his big manic grin while he plays for he kids.

Eddie’s niece April even tries a few classes. She doesn’t like dance but she likes to play bass. She gets good enough that she plays for performances and classes at the studio with Eddie sometimes.

Steve watches and thinks to himself that this is family. This is love and support. It took him a long time to get here. He’s still not perfect or fully healed. He’s not sure he ever will be. Will never like fireworks, will always jump when a light flickers unexpectedly, and will probably have nightmares for the rest of his life. But he’s here. He built himself from the ground up so that he could be his own person and made space in that life for more.

Oh and Eddie does convince him to go swing dancing on a special night at a gay bar.

[downwiththeficness]

Shadow and Veil-Chapter Four

Summary: Eva Moore’s life was a carefully constructed fiction. Every day, she did exactly what her mother in law, her husband, and his best friend expected of her. No mistakes. And, that was going pretty well for Eva right up until a huge complication literally tried to run her over. Now, she’s faced with trying to keep the pieces of her life from falling apart while attempting (and failing) to keep her feelings for her husband’s new business partner at bay.

A/N: This fic is a sister-fic to A Need So Great and A Need Unleashed. You do not need to have read ANSG or ANU to read this fic, but there are Easter eggs from those fics in Shadow and Veil for readers with keen eyes.  This fic is explicit for canon-compliant blood, gore, violence, and sex. As such, it is intended for an adult audience, only. A/B/O dynamics come with their own warning. Anyone under the age of 18 should not interact with this work. I do not consent to reposting this work to other platforms. Reblog only to Tumblr.  

Word Count: ~3600

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The SUV was cruising at speed down the interstate. It wouldn’t be long before the city fell away and everything around them would be either farmland or swamp. Eva sat in the back seat, staring out the window. Alexei was driving with one hand on the wheel and the other supporting his weight on the middle console. Josh was directly ahead of her. They were all listening to a local music station that occasionally cut out with dry static.

She was bored. Had been since they left the house. Neither Alexei nor Josh were saying anything to her and she didn’t know why they invited her along.

The destination—the lab—was remote, far away from Ardent Pharmaceuticals’ corporate offices. On paper, the building was mostly storage. And, from the outside looking in, that’s exactly what it was. Most people wouldn’t even notice the trap door to the right of the entrance. The stairs beneath led down to a smaller room with all of the most up to date technology for chemical engineering.

It was here that Josh’s real passion in life took place.

Eva might be good at math, but Josh was an absolute genius when it came to pharmaceutical innovation. All of his wealth stemmed from improving drugs that were popular with his clients, skimming past FDA approval by selling them under the table to every doctor and pharmacist in the surrounding area under the guise of ‘samples’. What most of their customer base didn’t know was that Josh’s improvements made what they thought was a standard formula pill into something more addictive with a high that couldn’t be matched by other brands.

It wasn’t as clean an operation as Eva liked. There were plenty of things that could get them caught and this new expansion was definitely one of them. Their distributor for the raw materials was consistent and she hadn’t noticed any shortages as of late. They didn’t need another resource for getting the raw chemicals needed to make Josh’s ‘special blend’. It made Josh’s decision to add another business partner into the mix that much more suspect.

She hadn’t seen him since that disastrous meeting, but every once in a while she would catch his scent as it faded from a room he’d been in. Eva took those opportunities to breathe deeply in an attempt to immunize herself against the feelings that scent evoked. She hoped that their next meeting would go better than the last, that her body wouldn’t betray her again.

Alexei made the turn onto the unnamed road leading to the lab with the comfort of someone who had made that turn over and over. The building rose up into view, looming darkly on the horizon. Eva watched it grow until Alexei pulled the car to a stop in the small parking lot.

Josh got out of the SUV and headed for the door, his keys jingling in his hand. Alexei cut the engine and followed wordlessly. Eva sighed as she opened the door and stepped out, as well. As she shut the door behind her, Eva was glad that she chose flats for the day instead of a pair of heels. There was no telling how long Josh would tinker around in his personal lab and places to sit were few and far between.

Eva was halfway to the door when the sound of tires rolling over asphalt got her attention. She turned and shielded her eyes with her hand as she peered out towards the main road. A sleek, black car hurtled towards them at a speed that was dangerously fast. It swung around in the parking lot, stopping cross ways over three spots not far from the SUV.

Who the fuck parks like that?

From behind her, Alexei approached. Towering over her, he followed Eva’s gaze as two people stood from the car.

“I thought they would have more trouble finding the place,” he murmured.

She almost asked him who they were, but her eyes adjusted to the distance and she no longer had to ask. Mr. Jimenez was sauntering towards them in a leather jacket, black t shirt and flared jeans. His booted feet took their time about crossing the lot, as if he had nowhere else to be.

Behind him, another man was following. He swiped at his mustache, fingers catching a cigarette and flicking it away. A plume of smoke wafted from a mouth that was set into a thin line.

Eva realized that she was staring and dropped her gaze. Blinking rapidly, she turned and went inside. They weren’t here for her, anyway. Glad for the air conditioning that kept their excess raw chemicals stable, she moved to stand a little ways away from the door to the basement. It was open, Josh waiting for no one to get to work.

Alexei’s body darkened the doorway. Their guests followed. None of them spared her a glance before they descended into Josh’s lab. Eva held her breath all the same. When they were gone, she let it out in a loud huff. She could not believe she was still attracted to him when he was dressed like such an asshole.

Now she understood why Bobbi Lynn’s husband referred to him as ‘new money’. Every piece of clothing on his body was designer, probably down to his socks. Add to it the obviously massive ego he carried in every step he took and Mr. Jimenez looked nothing short of gauche.

Underneath the clothes and the attitude and the way he looked down his nose at people was a man that Eva found wholly enthralling. The feeling made her hands clench with the need to curl into his hair. It made her mouth want to purse for a kiss.

Which was fucking ridiculous.

She was an adult. A married woman.

Maybe she got a bad batch from Bobbi Lynn—no, this started before she started taking the newer pills. Maybe she was sick. But, she didn’t feel sick. If anything, Eva felt entirely too healthy. Her body felt stronger. For the first time since she left her childhood home, she slept through the night without waking. Rose from her bed without the hangover of a restless night. Her mind was sharper, moved through decisions and equations effortlessly. And, more than anything, Eva was aware of her surroundings.

It was as if she put on glasses for the first time and the whole world suddenly came into focus. For years, she passed through life barely taking note of anything that wasn’t directly related to her survival. Now, she was doing things like lingering in the shower to feel the heat of the water. Or, putting on music while she cleaned. Just that morning, she actually leaned forward and smell the bouquet of flowers on the dining room table.

Fucking. Ridiculous.

“Eva!”

Josh’s voice startled her from the way she was pacing back and forth in thought. She gasped audibly, body freezing like she’d just been caught doing something she shouldn’t. Thankfully, Josh wasn’t climbing the stairs to look for her—probably too afraid Mr. Jimenez and his friend would touch one of his precious experiments.

“Eva!” he called again, this time with a touch of impatience.

Steeling herself, she hustled to the door and dropped down onto the stairs. Eva measured her step and let her mouth fall into a pleasant smile as she reached the landing. Folding her hands in front of her, she waited for his orders.

“Mr. Jimenez is making a delivery here in about half and hour,” Josh announced. “He’s brought us a sample to test as a matter of courtesy.”

She refused to look at him, but Eva could feel eyes on her. The room was small, much smaller than the warehouse above. There were two lab tables with various supplies on them sitting on either side of the room. Between the tables stood four men, none of which she trusted.

“I’d like you to do the honors,” Josh prompted, holding up a vial.

In it was a clear liquid that could have been water if it weren’t so thick. Josh held it out to her in offering.

One of the first things Josh allowed her to learn after taking the lead with their books was how to determine the purity of their raw materials. He drilled her over and over, applied pressure with a stopwatch and insults. Eva got it, though, could do it even in her sleep—as proven when he woke her at 2 am, dragged her to the kitchen and made her work in her nightdress.

Eva took the vial from him and pulled on a pair of latex gloves from where they sat on the table. Then, as she practiced, she measured out some of the unknown liquid into a test tube and began to run it through the process.

From her left, the man she didn’t know said something in Spanish. Mr. Jimenez replied, likewise. She guessed that English might be his second language, but hearing him speak in his native tongue made her hands shake. The glass of the tube clinked against a beaker of distilled water. She paused, and forced herself to reset.

All her practice with his scent was clearly not enough. It curled in her nose, nestled in the part of her brain that was tied to sex. In a stunning turn of irony, it occurred to her that she should feel grateful for the way she couldn’t get a handle on her hormones around him. Eva had never enjoyed sex with Josh and never once thought about striking up an affair in order to fulfill the need. All this time, Eva just thought she didn’t have a sex drive.

She was almost happy that she was wrong.

It coiled in her belly, this feeling. Warm and all too pleasant. Every shallow breath brought more heat, more...more. ‘More’ was the only word she could use to describe it. And, ‘more’ was what Eva wanted.

She wished that she could blame it on her status. Poor little omega can’t control her hormones around an alpha. It would be so much easier if that was the case. But, there were no shortages of alphas in Josh’s circle. Hell, Alexei was an alpha. Not a one of them had ever turned her head like the man watching her from his post near the stairs.

He was giving her space, she realized suddenly.

When she entered the basement, Mr. Jimenez was standing next to Josh. Eva’s husband hadn’t moved, was still looking over her shoulder from about three feet away. At some point while she was mixing chemicals at the table, Mr. Jimenez moved as far away as he could while remaining in the room.

Bless him.

Having finished her work, Eva capped the vial and handed it back to Josh, “Its pure enough to work with.”

Josh smiled. An outsider might think he was proud of her. Eva knew better. Josh was proud of himself. He’d found the new resource, he’d vetted them, and it worked out in his favor. Points for Josh.

Turning from Eva, Josh spoke to their new partners, “Looks like we have a deal.”

On cue came the sound of a truck rumbling to a stop in the parking lot. Mr. Jimenez glanced up, smirked, then climbed the stairs. Eva let the men go before her, taking her time getting to the top.

It took an hour to unload the delivery, another twenty minutes for Alexei to ensure that they got the full amount, followed by another five for Josh to quit staring at it. Eva supposed she should have been jealous. He rarely looked at her for half as long and never with that amount of intensity.

Her gaze flicked involuntarily to Mr. Jimenez and she was surprised to find him looking back. His expression was unguarded, the same as it had been on the sidewalk. She found herself caught in it, a heat creeping up her neck. Two, maybe three, seconds passed before he looked away and that stupid little smirk returned.

“Now that business is done, we will celebrate!”

Eva’s brows lifted as she looked to Josh for his response. Her husband tore his attention away from their new stock and fixed Mr. Jimenez with a smile, “Of course. I know just the place.”

She squinted at the back of Josh’s head as she followed him out to the car. Josh regularly went out with his partners, but most of them were fellow businessmen with good standing in the community. Their new partner was a stranger to their town, an unknown. Someone was going to notice that Josh was spending time with him and there would be questions.

Eva was going to say fuck all about it. She knew better than to contradict her husband in public. Or in private, for that matter. Keeping her head down, she walked right to the car, got inside, and waited for Alexei and Josh to join her.

When they did, Alexei looked at Josh and said, “What the fuck are you doing?”

Josh was all surprise, “What?”

Running a hand down his face, Alexei visibly calmed himself, “There is no reason we should be having drinks with that man.”

“Oh, please,” Josh drawled, “Its just a little get-together after a deal that went well.”

Alexei turned over the engine, “I don’t trust him. He’s shifty.”

“He’s Mexican,” Josh replied, “that’s how they all are. Besides, he’s got connections. Connections that we need.”

Eva stared at the backs of their heads, wondering what the fuck was going on. What didn’t she know about Mr. Jimenez that would make Josh so careless with his reputation?

“We can get it elsewhere,” Alexei said, with feeling.

Josh waved a hand, “I’m not paying the shipping all the way from Europe when I can get it right here in North America.”

Turning her attention to the window, Eva pretended not to listen. All the while, she wondered what it was that Josh was so intent on getting. They had plenty of money, if he needed it. Paying additional for shipping shouldn’t be a barrier.

“You don’t know that he’ll come through with those connections,” Alexei replied lowly.

Again, Josh dismissed his friend, “I had him checked out.”

“So did I,” Alexei retorted, heat in his tone, “The man didn’t exist before five years ago. His records just,” he flexed his hand between them, “poof...disappear.”

Eva held her breath, waiting for Josh to say something. The silence between the two men stretched on and on until she figured the conversation wasn’t going any further. The SUV carried them back into the city and down familiar streets to a jazz club that Josh was fond of. Alexei parked, but didn’t get out of the car.

“I’ll wait here.”

Josh sighed, “Don’t be like that. We’ve had a good day.”

Alexei remained stubbornly silent and Eva knew there would be no budging. She slid from the back seat and closed the door, waiting for Josh to move towards the entrance. He stared at his friend for long seconds, his brows drawn together. Then, with his lip curled, he slammed the door shut and spun on his heel.

The ire in his expression slipped away as Mr. Jimenez met them at the door. Eva kept her distance, saying nothing and drawing as little attention to herself as she could. She probably shouldn’t have bothered. Josh was in a gregarious mood, telling jokes and all of his little charming anecdotes that he used to endear himself to the people around him.

Mr. Jimenez smiled and laughed at all the appropriate times, drank the liquor he was given, remarked on the music and the other patrons. His friend, Javier, was more reserved, but no less engaged with her husband.

Eva was using almost all of her focus to keep her breathing even and her ass in the seat. Sipping the white wine Josh ordered for her was absolutely not helping her to relax. The muscles in her thighs shook beneath the table from where she was pressing her legs together. Heat settled low in her belly. Sweat beaded at her hairline.

Even over the other scents in the room—liquor, smoke, salt—she could smell him. Tobacco and vetiver. The cologne he favored had worn off, leaving behind a scent that was all delicious alpha.

Josh laughed loudly, breaking her away from the day dream of pressing her face into the gland behind his ear. Embarrassed, she drained her wine glass and looked around the room for something to focus on.

A waitress approached and leaned down to speak with Josh, “Sir, there is a call for you at the manager’s desk.”

For the first time in years, Eva wished to God that Josh would stay by her side. He didn’t. Rising, he told the table he would be back shortly and strolled away with the waitress in the lead. To Eva’s utter dismay, Javier muttered something about finding another pack of smokes and left the table, too.

And then they were alone—or, as alone as anyone could be in a room full of people.

She kept her eyes on the tablecloth, counted the threads and thinking that she might benefit from another glass of wine.

“So, you’re called Eva.”

Glancing up was a reflex. Having already begun to look at his face, Eva could not tear her eyes away from him. The mask of arrogance he wore like a second skin once again dissolved away.

“And, you’re called Mr. Jimenez.”

She wouldn’t allow herself to call him by his first name. That kind of familiarity would only lead to disaster. Better to keep him at a distance.

He flinched. Eva clenched her jaw to keep from apologizing for the sarcasm in her tone. She didn’t owe it to him.

Sipping from his glass, he ticked his head to the side, “I’m not going to tell him.”

The heat in her body cooled to razor sharp fear. Quickly, she calculated how much he would have been able to deduce from their limited interactions. Eventually, she concluded that he might know enough to make her life difficult, but it would be a small matter of telling Josh what he wanted to hear to assuage whatever hurt he might be feeling.

“There’s nothing to tell,” Eva replied carefully.

One side of his mouth lifted in a very different kind of smirk than he’d used before, “Of course not.” Then, “How long have you been married?”

Eva shrugged, “A little under seven years.”

His gaze turned assessing, “You’re very young to be married so long.”

She scoffed, “If I weren’t married by my age I’d be considered a spinster, Mr. Jimenez.”

Again, he flinched.

“And you?” Eva asked, her tone polite, “Is there a Mrs. Jimenez I should include in my invites to the ladies’ luncheon?”

She didn’t want to think about why she was asking this question—mostly because the reason was clear as day.

He shook his head, “No, I’m not married.”

To cover her own relief, Eva flagged down a waitress and asked for another glass of wine. When she turned her attention across the table again, Mr. Jimenez was openly staring at her. The air in her lungs got stuck in her windpipe under the intensity of his gaze.

The heat being directed at her felt like it might singe her skin. She took it in, meeting his stare with one of her own. Eva had never been so bold in her entire life and likely never would be again. She might as well enjoy it while she could.

In her periphery, Josh moved through the crowd. Quickly, she dropped her gaze to the tablecloth and tried to relax. He sat with a loud sigh, setting down the glasses he carried in each hand.

“Work never stops,” Josh announced, “Where’s your partner?”

Mr. Jimenez shrugged, “Getting cigarettes, I think. Or, he’s looking for a woman to take home.”

“Ah,” Josh breathed, “I remember those days. They’re all behind me now.” He put his arm around Eva’s shoulders, “Got the old ball and chain to weigh me down.”

Brows lifting, Mr. Jimenez replied, “You told me, yourself, that she does a remarkable job with your books. Where I come from, that’s an asset you don’t take lightly.”

Her husband was either too drunk or in too good a mood to notice the censure in Mr. Jimenez’s voice. Eva couldn’t so easily dismiss it. Two compliments. Both given with what appeared to be sincerity. And, in front of other people. It made her want to know what he would say to her in private.

They didn’t stay much longer after that. Josh had work in the morning and he didn’t like to miss his early appointments. Mr. Jimenez said his goodbyes and drove away with what seemed like little care for the fact that his partner hadn’t returned. Josh ignored the way Alexei stared him down as he headed for the car.

Eva, for her part, got in the car and leaned back in the seat with her eyes closed. The whole way home, she memorized the warmth in Mr. Jimenez’s eyes as he spoke with her. It was so different than the cool indifference he cloaked himself with in every other interaction. She didn’t like how intrigued she was by him. Didn’t like that she wanted to dig underneath his skin to find out who he really was.

After they parked in the driveway, Eva stepped out of the car and walked into the house. By the time she got to her bedroom, Eva made the decision that she shouldn’t talk with him anymore. By the time she lay her head on her pillow, she changed her mind.

[juniperiferous]

Jeebus, the dream I just had. 😳 Recording it here for later recall. Listening to other people's dreams can be v. boring, but this is Tumblr and no one cares.

Setting: A very-slightly-futuristic Earth, or possibly an alt-Earth. The biggest differences from normal times is that humans have figured out how to manipulate matter at the atomic level, giving people with the know-how and money the ability to create fantastical inventions. Also, there are whale-like megafauna that fly in the air instead of swimming in the sea...very rare, almost mythical, but occasionally seen.

I'm on a road trip with my husband* to see an old friend of his who lives in Arizona. Friend and his wife invite us to come along with them on a trip to his father's place. He explains the whole family clan is getting together at their father's request to celebrate both his birthday and Christmas. We agree to tag along - spending time with a wealthy family full of big personalities sounds interesting, and also my husband has met the fam before.

Once we arrive, we start off with dinner at a fancy restaurant. I'm introduced to everyone by Friend's Wife, who knows how bonkers this family is and has taken me under her wing for protection. Dinner drama does not disappoint: the Family Diva (2nd oldest daughter) arrives late and has a tantrum; two sisters-in-law let their ongoing feud escalate into open hostility; the black, gay best friend of another sister makes all the aunts and uncles slightly uncomfortable.

When we leave the restaurant I take a moment to geek out at the beautiful scenery just visible through the dusky evening. The restaurant is on a rise over a plain, and I can see the lights from a space-ship plant (??) off on the horizon, twinkling and beautiful.

We all retire to the father's big house, and I get my first chance to speak with him. He's an inventor, a tinkerer, who recently retired from a big aerospace firm (and is played by John Turturro in this dream). He's very friendly, and only the slightest bit creepy about the view from his office, where he can see the local Catholic school - and all its pretty girls in uniform skirts - let out every afternoon. He tells us he's been working on a new technology and will give the family a demonstration that evening.

After a few hours of milling around (trying not to overturn the simmering cauldron of sibling rivalry constantly at risk of flaring up) we all gather in the expansive living room. This room has giant windows and a gorgeous view of the evening vista, as well as the equipment for Father's latest venture. Once everyone is settled in, he switches the machines on, and vague clouds outside coalesce to form floating satellites of some kind. They seem to be related to climate control? Before I can find out, a giant shark-like leviathan comes SCREAMING through the air and smashes itself against the windows of the living room. Apparently it Does Not Like It when people change the vibration of the air it swims in, who'd have guessed?

There's a glitch in my perception, and for one moment the room around me changes - it's the same room, same people, but there's no massive shark trying to bash its way in. Then: glitch ends, and we're back to the chaos.

During my glitch the shark apparently swam off, so everyone is focusing on checking each other for injuries, etc. I've been sitting with some of the women in the family so I go to look for my husband. I ask one of the brothers if he's seen him, and he responds that my husband laid down for a nap earlier. He's happy to help comfort me, he says, and the sleeping pill he gave my husband should wear off shortly. I realize this man I barely know has drugged my husband to get some alone-time with me, and all my alarm bells go off.

Then the family matriarch decides it's time to do Christmas presents, and suddenly I'm in a totally different horror scenario: the one where near-strangers have bought you Christmas presents and you don't have anything to give back to them because You Didn't Know.

And then I woke up. 😳

Notes: I have never been to Arizona. I don't know why the father was John Turturro. I don't have a big family like this. I think the "fancy" restaurant high on a hill was a Chili's.

*Fictional, but similar in some respects to my ex-husband.

[gendercensus]

Wednesday 12th April 2023

Day 4, and it seems likely that we'll hit 20,000 responses well before midnight UK time! The pace is matching previous years quite closely:

Now that we're past the initial zooming rush for all the followers to take part ASAP, the priority becomes bubble-breaking.

The following groups are extremely well-represented in the survey:

People in the USA (currently 59%)

People aged 30 and younger (currently 83%)

People on Tumblr (currently 44%)

Sharing with young Americans via Tumblr is obviously still extremely welcome, there's basically no upper limit on any group, and more data is always better! In addition to that, I would love to get entries from anyone who is over 30 and anyone outside of the USA. That means sharing the survey outside of the most popular social networks, in innovative and unexpected ways, maybe even AFK. (Gasp??)

Some ideas:

Flyers on tables/counters. Print these flyers onto some A4 paper (plus I think letter paper would be fine too), cut them up, and put them in AFK places where queer people exist. Queer bookshops, zine libraries, LGBT groups in schools/colleges/unis, noticeboards in cafés, etc.

Flyers by post. Print the flyers, and include one in envelopes or parcels for stuff you sell on Etsy/eBay, or in zine swaps.

Facebook. Share the survey URL in LGBT-centric Facebook groups.

Forums and mailing lists are often a good option, they seem to have more diversity in terms of age and nationality. Do you know someone queer with a big TinyLetter/Substack following? Do you know of a local LGBT charity with a mailing list?

Instant messaging. I often reach a few people who aren't very social-networky via WhatsApp in particular, and messages are easy to forward so it can have a ripple effect. You could copy-paste this: Hey, have you seen this survey of people whose genders are outside of the M/F binary? It's been going for 10 years https://survey.gendercensus.com

Local fauna. Write the URL on strips of paper and attach to the collars of neighbourhood cats, provided it is not raining.

Here's the survey URL again: https://survey.gendercensus.com

Anywhere you can share it is good! You never know when someone is going to see it for the first time and take part, and maybe they'll sign up to the mailing list, or invite the one other queer black sheep in their family, or know exactly the right tag to use on Instagram...

A big thank you to everyone who does anything at all to spread the word, even if it's only to one friend. Every little bit makes a difference. <3

The 2023 Gender Census is now open!

[ Link to survey ]

The 10th annual international gender census, collecting information about the language we use to refer to ourselves and each other, is now open until 9th May 2023.

It’s short and easy, about 5 minutes probably.

After the survey is closed I’ll process the results and publish a spreadsheet of the data and a report summarising the main findings. Then anyone can use them for academic or business purposes, self-advocacy, tracking the popularity of language over time, and just feeling like we’re part of a huge and diverse community.

If you think you might have friends and followers who’d be interested, please do reblog this blog post, and share the survey URL by email or at AFK social groups or on other social networks. Every share is extremely helpful - it’s what helped us get 40,000 responses last year.

Survey URL: https://survey.gendercensus.com

The survey is open to anyone anywhere who speaks English and feels that the gender binary doesn’t fully describe their experience of themselves and their gender(s) or lack thereof.

For the curious, you can also spy on some graphs and demographic data for the incoming responses here.

Thank you so much!

[ Link to survey ]

Image credit: Avery at Tradescantia Hub

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Disclaimer:

We are an informal asset site and not related with the organization or any of it’s developer(s).

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Snaptube and HD video downloader both deal a large number of comparative elements. Nor is superior to the next, so it’s simply a question of individual inclination.

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Downloading recordings with HD video downloader is basically as straightforward as opening any video stage from the actual application, choosing a video, and picking one of the choices.

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Indeed, you can download music with HD video downloader. Among the download choices, you’ll track down the choice to download recordings in M4A and MP3 designs. Both of these are sound organizations.

End

Vidmate Apk is truly outstanding and most well known video applications. You can download limitless recordings and motion pictures free of charge and watch them in your spare energy in this application. We have made sense of every single element of in our Article. You can securely and free download this application from our site.