#Car LED Ming

[captainhopefulcatcollection]

生命力

生命在自然的風雨洗禮中展現強韌，適應者方能存活，這是自然法則。

人類的生存也離不開這種堅韌與適應力。

唯有敬畏自然，才能在變化中找到生存之道。

#生命力 #適者生存 #自然法則

[lutawolf]

Hi Luta, if you don't mind answering, what do you think attracted Joe to Ming? And how much does their D/s vibe play into it? I'd love to hear your perspective.

Hey nonnie!!!

Let's go back to episode one and examine this together. I will be utilizing excerpts from the book to showcase inner thoughts, but I will refrain from divulging any spoilers from the book.

I will skip the entire part about awakening from a coma. Instead, let's start where Joe first encountered Ming's poster. I am beginning here in order to provide quotation from the book and provide a comprehension of Joe's inner thoughts.

I wanted to share this because I think it shows how Joe feels about Ming and also reminds us that for him, this is still fresh. Everyone else's world kept revolving, but for Joe, he was just on the phone with Ming. Those emotions have yet to be addressed, and we are currently adding additional complications to the situation.

Now to the elevator scene where Ming and Joe meet.

“The elevator door opened completely. The man standing in front of him is the man on the LED commercial that day. He is only 23 years old and is already well known to half of the world. He is the mighty movie star that no one dared to approach, YanMingXiu. YanMingXiu had gotten older. ZhouXiang's memory of him is still a person who is in the teenager phase, one who likes to wear sportswear and jeans. His entire person exuded youthfulness and a flamboyant aura. The YanMingXiu of today is wearing a casual suit, looking calm and restrained. His expression seems to have solidified on his face but looking icy.

ZhouXiang had been in the entertainment industry for nearly ten years. He had seen all kind of beauties, but no matter whether it was three years ago or now, he always felt that YanMingXiu's appearance is most perfect. He doesn't know how God crafted him out so finely and superbly that it's not a surprise that millions of spectators would be awed by him. Even he, who believes that he had encountered many beautiful people, is also fascinated by YanMingXiu.

In his mind, there was no way he could suppress the memories between him and YanMingXiu. From the time when he and YanMingXiu met to the last phone call they had, it was merely a years' time from beginning to end. However, to him, those memories were too recent. This feeling is very strange. It was like he only saw the person last week, and he was still a teenager, but this week, he had become a man. To him, the two years in between were completely blank. The two years had changed everyone and changed many things. Except for him, he not only lost two years of time, but he was forced to accept the changes that occurred in the past two years.”

For fun, I'll give you Ming's thoughts.

Both of their inner thoughts have now been seen. We are aware that both individuals are in love with each other. Now from when? From the show, we know that Ming fell in love with Joe's back right away. But what about Joe?

The show did an impressive job of capturing the book here, but the show changes from the book when Ming simply walks away.

I, personally, feel they still captured the fact that Joe was smitten, but in the book, we see Joe being unable to take his eyes off Ming. From the book, I know that he even wanted to go over and talk to him. So from the beginning, Ming captivated Joe. He is immediately drawn to his beauty. Which is fair considering we all know that Ming loves Joe's back. He is hostile initially to Joe for the reason that he can't understand why he is drawn to Joe when he is clearly in love with Tong.

I thoroughly enjoy the car scene. Joe is accustomed to being able to charm people, but this beautiful boy is not paying him any attention. Regardless of the efforts made by him. Yet, just when he is starting to get discouraged, Ming surprises him. Inviting himself to Joe's home.

“Zhou Xiang felt a bit bored seeing Yan Mingxiu's cold and detached attitude. Although he was itching to sound Yan Mingxiu out, he could tell Yan Mingxiu was completely uninterested in him. Even if Yan Mingxiu was gay, what did it matter? Being homosexual wasn't anything special. If two men liked the look of each other, both would have realized already. Who had the patience to unearth if the other person was beautiful inside? Even though Zhou Xiang felt that it was a pity, he wasn't a petty person. Being able to accompany such an unrivalled beauty on the way home in a traffic jam under the heavy rain was already very wonderful. He'll just make do with sexually fantasizing about him in his head. He should tightly zip his mouth, behave, and drive the car to avoid annoying him.”

Okay, so from everything I've shown you. You can clearly see that Joe has a submissive personality.

The sexual scene in the show effectively showcases their mutual sexual attraction. However, the scene itself doesn't match up with what is in the book. Having said that, I believe that the show aligns more closely with their individual traits, and I found that I liked it more than the book.

Okay, back to the show. Ming being aggressive is a turn on for Joe. It allows him the opportunity to not think. He has been making his own choices for a long time, so this is a chance for him to relax. That however doesn't extend to letting Ming top without first mentally preparing for it.

Joe immediately rejects Ming, going home. Why? Because he is tired of being alone. So Joe cooks and feeds Ming. As Joe begins to care and charm Ming, the attraction between the two builds. Both individuals experiencing a diminished sense of loneliness. Please keep in mind that Ming has lived abroad for years, with only the occasional visits from his family. He is just as lonely as Joe.

“After the meal, YanMingXiu continued to watch TV while ZhouXiang went to clean up the kitchen.

After cleaning up, ZhouXiang brought out the dessert and tea. He had not entertained anyone in his home for a long time. He rarely had people over. Even if he brought back anyone; they certainly wouldn't sit down to have tea and chat.

Although it is a pity that he and YanMingXiu couldn't achieve the goal (sex), sitting and chatting with him on this rainy night is quite romantic, so ZhouXiang's mood has been good.”

Moving on to the scene of the one on the floor and the other on the bed. Notice the threat that gets Joe on the bed with Ming. Joe had just pointed out that a man like him cannot sleep on the floor, so Ming told him to get up here, or he would get on the floor. Joe immediately gives in to the pressure.

The thought of being Joe's first means something to Ming, but he warns Joe. Ming isn't a nice person, but he can be unexpectedly kind, but Joe wants Ming. Take a look at his face after he has tucked Ming in. He is content because he is not sleeping alone. He has a beautiful boy beside him, that seems to need him as much as he needs to care for someone.

So why do they like each other? They are both physically attracted to each other, and one prefers to be commanded, while the other enjoys commanding. One needs to be able to take care of someone, and the other expects others to take care of him. Add in the fact that they're both lonely, and somehow Joe was able to sneak past Ming's intimidating walls of mistrust to ease his loneliness.

There you have it, this is what my opinion any ways. Sorry it got so long, nonnie. It just kind of happened. 💜💜💜

[clairedaring]

more my stand-in thoughts and other ramblings about joe/zhou xiang best boi

!!!!!!!!!!! POSSIBLE NOVEL SPOILERS WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!

as my stand-in begins to air, even though we're only two episodes in, the series itself has already established very clearly and explicitly that ming is a HUGE RED FLAG and he's not... the nicest guy.

and as we are told by the narration of joe, this time he had with ming was not a dream as he had though but rather a nightmare and that it was ming who led joe to his death (literal translation of his last line in ep 1, iqiyi engsub you lack accuracy i hate you).

and while i am just one among the joe's protection squad, i feel like i don't share this overwhelming opinion i've been seeing of people thinking joe 2.0 should pull a 180 change or to be as bad as ming or to become some kind of monster and take his revenge on everyone who's ever hurt him as if this is some makjang kdrama.

i once wrote a bit about my thoughts on why joe/zhou xiang is such a compelling protagonist and what separates him from other 188 novels' main characters. but since that piece was written before my stand-in had aired and i think the characterization of joe has been slightly changed in comparison to the novel, so i want to take this chance to elaborate a bit more on my point in that post as well as update it to fit with the series version of zhou xiang.

so, like i've mentioned,one of the traits i love most about joe/zx is this inherent kind-hearted nature of his and i think the series has not only just done well in this aspect, but also greatly amped up this quality in the series portrayal of zhou xiang.

you can seeeeee it through joe's acts of services for this STRANGER he had just met. be it offering ming a ride to the BTS station or cooking for ming even though they didn't fuck.

however, i do agree with my friend @dragonsandphoenix's observation that with the series, since they're trying to speed through joe 1.0 and ming's relationship, the series has joe falling much quicker (literally him using the L word on ep 2 pls joe) than zhou xiang did, considering it took mingjoe only 2 ep before they started their period of domestic life and yanzhou 17 chapters to do the same thing.

i feel like this specific adaptation change in regards to characterization can cause audience to be even more protective of joe than novel readers already were of zhou xiang. one of my biggest fears for this adaptation (i say one of bc novel readers would already know my biggest fear of one specific scene) has always been the doormat allegations against joe. but like i've also said before, it's that specific trait that 'joe has the ability to fight back but he simply won't because he refuses to hurt others and his soft heart has him in pain whenever he sees others hurt' about him that i hold so dear. even in the series, we know joe has the physical capability of taking sol down... and the man did give sol a deck to his neck making him passed out.

... but it's also the same joe who would take care of sol after accidentally decking him.

did anyone watch ep 2 started counting how many times JOE apologizes in this episode... literally in the car scene, he said sorry to ming TWICE because he was scared he had hurt ming's feelings for his assumptions (right ones at that). or when the hot water dripped from the lid of the pot, joe immediately said sorry and checked to see if ming was hurt.

whether it is in the novel or the series, joe/zhou xiang is just really the type to sacrifice himself for the sake of others, he's never been able to put himself first and puts others' feelings above his (⁠っ⁠˘̩⁠╭⁠╮⁠˘̩⁠)⁠っ

which is why i was pleasantly surprised reading professional body double. because one would generally assume that after all the miseries thrown his way, he would become a bitter person, full of grudge and resentment against people who had hurt him, but he doesn't. that just isn't who joe is.

while joe's bad experience in his 1.0 life does change how he navigates his social life and the relations he has around him, it doesn't change the inherent kind hearted nature nor the optimistic outlook on life he once had. i love that for joe in his 2.0 life because his first and foremost goal was to restart a life happily and we gradually got this journey of self-respect and joe 2.0 finally being able to put himself first and fight for the things/people he love.

while there are obviously bad consequences to the "antagonists", i like that it has never been the direct result of joe 2.0 actions but it's more karmic. although i'm very open and would glad to see the antagonists getting even worse consequences than what happened in the novel (which i think was pretty mild) i think i'd rather be interested to see more of series!joe being happy and successful (big emphasis on successful because if i don't see joe with his 20+ blockbusters he deserve i'm suing for emotional damage)

in regards to the wife chasing arc in the second half of the series, i think this part will be rather controversial since there are diverse opinions on how audience want the wife chasing arc to be executed, or from joe 2.0's perspective: his responses/actions to being chased by ming again. and trust me, i do want to see ming grovelling in pain and suffer just as much as the next joe's protector. but at the same time for me it'd just be... ooc of joe to intentionally and/or maliciously inflict pain on ming. granted i do have some qualms as to ming's chasing method that i hope the series will adjust, i do think that zhou xiang's approach to being chased by yan ming xiu was rather sufficient without the need to give zhou xiang a 180 personality change, so i really hope that doesn't change.

all in all, while it's probably quite early to tell how the second half will progress and whether it does/doesn't diverge from his journey in the second half, i just think it was very in character for zhou xiang to make the decisions he does in the novel in his second life (except for one noble idiocy move that lasted like a day) and hopefully joe 2.0 also does in my stand-in for his new life. *sighs* joe is just truly best boi... i love him... look at he... that's my baby angel （づ￣3￣）づ╭❤️～

[gojosoath]

the world underneath your skin — toji fic

pairing: toji fushiguro x fem!reader (uses she/her pronouns)

tags: romance x ANGST x like a SHIT TON OF ANGST x AU (no sorcerer stuff in this au) x action x violence x soft!toji x

warnings: alcoholism x self harm (Y/N self harms, i do NOT mean this in any way implying that the reader (you) do this. and that if you have struggled/or are struggling with self harm, this is a major trigger warning. as someone who personally has struggled with self harm, i know how sensitive the topic is) x death (only characters' death from manga is toji's wife and megumi)

summary: After spending most of his life as an underground hitman for desperate means to support himself financially — Toji Fushiguro gets recruited to work as an assassin for the government due to his his mastered skills. Through his new occupation, Toji struggles with muscle pains and is recommended to see a massage therapist. Toji meets Y/N, who becomes Toji’s massage therapist, and the two realize they both have toxic addictions they hide from daylight; Toji’s alcoholism and Y/N’s self-harm. Along the way, Toji and Y/N can’t seem to stay away from each other despite the darkness that threatens to keep them apart. 

Table of Contents // my ao3 // taglist form

taglist: @sakinotfound ;@nanamingojo; @bubs-world ; @saskamo ; @wo-ming-bai

a/n: soft!toji makes me feral. despite his aloof exterior, this man def craves cuddles . (he won't admit it, but he's totally into being the little spoon too). reblogs are encouraged!

WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER: slight SA at the end of this chapter done to y/n

Part 7: I Need You (wc: 5.8k)

Toji always gets his assignments done simply; go in and get out. As an assassin, you were never supposed to get stuck in the labyrinth of the humane side of your targets. Toji stripped his targets down in his mind as the key to his transactions — that’s all they were. Sometimes the dawning feeling would creep in on him if he did this so all the people he had killed wouldn’t suffocate him. 

Shiu asked Toji, “Why are your clothes wet?”

Toji deadpans, “I went for a swim.”

Shiu didn’t push it any further than that. The silencer was set on the handgun he was going to use to kill his target — the woman with whom he had slept only hours before. When Shiu and Toji arrived, as always, Shiu stayed in the car. Toji entered the mansion by using an instrument that could cut through glass. He climbed through a window — the one that led to the woman, Jess’s, bedroom.

The woman, Jess, entered the bedroom in a bathrobe and damp hair. In a split second, Toji lifted his arm and shot the woman. She fell to the ground with a thud, blood beginning to pool around the bullet wound. It was a perfect headshot. Toji never looked at his targets long enough after killing them — he turned around to get out the same way he entered. 

“Mom?”

Toji froze and slowly turned his head back and at the doorway of the bedroom, stood a trembling child. The child stared at their mother who lay on the floor. The child then looked over at Toji, the two of them locking gazes. The child’s facial expression matched his mother’s state — lifeless.

Something stung in Toji, it crippled his insides and screamed at him how much of a nasty monster he was. But that’s the thing about being an assassin, no matter what comes up, you have to move forward to finish the assignment. And that’s exactly what Toji did — jumping back down from the window and running over to the car where he and Shiu drove off. 

Toji was silent throughout the entire car ride. Shiu didn’t say anything either. There was no radio playing, just complete silence. Toji asked Shiu for a cigarette and was handed one. As Toji took his first drag, he thought about how you first reacted when you found out he smoked. Even though Toji had just killed someone, he felt the corners of his lips turn upwards. He wondered, would you still kiss him after witnessing him killing someone’s mother in front of them? 

Toji followed the usual precautions after a complete assignment — tossing the weapons into the river. If it were any other night, Toji would stroll to his usual bar and get himself drunk. Instead, he went back to his place which greeted him with silence as it always did. Toji peeled his clothes that stuck to his skin and took a cold shower. 

┅

The day of Toji’s appointment with you comes around again — and he is excited to see you. He wonders if you’ll still be mad at him, considering how he left abruptly the last time you two saw one another. Whenever Toji looked down at his hands, his wrists had light pink markings from the handcuffs. The sight always made Toji smile along with blood rushing to his dick. 

To Toji’s surprise, when he arrived at your clinic, he saw you locking up the front door. He had taken a cab to your clinic. You didn’t acknowledge him. Toji walked up to you, “Ignoring me, sweetheart?” He called out. 

You still didn’t acknowledge him and began walking over to your parked car in the lot. Toji went over to your car by the passenger side, setting his arms over the hood of the car. 

“This is not professional of you,” He remarks with a smile, and this earns him a glare from you.

You huff out in exasperation, “Sorry, forgot to tell you that something came up tonight.”

“I’m your customer,” Toji defended, “I’m going to leave a very bad review on your website.”

You continue to glare at him and snap, “Are you threatening me?” 

Toji chuckles, “By leaving a bad review? Yes,” He confirms. 

Your nostrils flare, scowling, “I can’t give you a massage tonight. We’ll have to do it next week.” 

“You’re mad that I left quickly last time,” Toji blurts, “right?” 

You only say, “Goodnight, Toji,” your keys jingling as you unlock your car door. Toji leans off of your car and takes out a cigarette, placing it between his lips. He lights it up, exhaling the smoke. The passenger window is rolled down, followed by your grim tone, “What are you doing?”

Toji crouches so he can see you, he holds out his cigarette between his fingers, “Smoking,” He states smugly. 

“Well, it’s disgusting,” You comment harshly. 

Toji chuckles again, this time leaning against the open window, his arms dangling inside your car, “Wanna go for a ride?” 

“So you can just use me for sex and then leave?” You snap. 

Toji watches you silently as smoke surrounds him, the glowing at the end of the cigarette illuminates against his features; making him appear captivating. His eyes scan your face, he takes one last drag and then flicks the cigarette to the side, “There,” He nods his head to the side where the cigarette lies on the ground, “just for you.” 

You scoff, “Real romantic of you.” 

“Well?” He asks, “Wanna go for a drive or not?” 

You lean over the center console and stare at him sternly, “I understand that we’ve fucked each other a couple of times but that doesn’t mean I’ll let myself be objectified to just that — some kind of sex doll.” 

“We don’t have to have sex,” Toji responds with a leveled tone, “I genuinely want to see you.” 

“I can drive,” You mumble, “get in.” Toji stands up straight and opens the door, getting into the passenger side. “Buckle up,” You tell him. 

“You a reckless driver?” Toji jokes.

“No, but if I end up not being able to stand you then I’ll step on the brakes and send you flying out the window,” You snide with a smile planted on your lips. 

Toji puts his hands up as if he’s surrendering, “I promise to not get on your nerves tonight, Miss L/N.” 

You start the car, rolling your eyes, “Whatever.” 

You drive out of the clinic parking lot, not even knowing where you’re going. So you end up deciding to drive around aimlessly, with no set destination. 

When you come to a stop light, Toji speaks up, “I like your hair up like this,” He nods at you, referencing your hair being put up in a ponytail. 

“Really?” Your hand reaches back and pulls it out from its grasp, your hair falling. You and Toji stare at each other for a moment and both of you break out into small laughter. You place the back of your hand to your lips and look out the window, hating that you allowed yourself to get comfortable around him. The light turns green and you’re driving again. You find yourself driving into an empty parking lot of a closed grocery store.

“Are your wrists okay?” You ask quietly, looking down at your hands in your lap. 

“They’re a little sore,” Toji grins, “they could use some massaging.” 

You look at him through your eyelashes, not wanting to make full-on eye contact with him. You answer by putting your palm out and he places his wrist on top of it. His hands are so large compared to yours — they’re calloused, scarred, and strong. His nails are cut short, there’s a wristwatch he’s got on. You gently turn it the other way so you can unclasp the watch that looks very expensive. Your eyebrows furrow as you struggle in trying to figure out how to unclasp it. Toji places his fingers over yours, pressing down and the watch clicks as it extends open. 

You brush off the way your whole body heats up with elation at such a simple touch from him. You take off the watch and set it in the middle of your car console. You examine his wrist, turning it so it hits the light that illuminates from the light pole you two are parked under. Sure enough, there’s a light pink imprint from where the handcuffs were clasped around. You try not to let your mind become flooded with the memories of how Toji looked, sounded, and felt as you edged him on. 

“Are you gonna massage it?” Toji’s voice breaks you out of your lost thoughts. 

You look up from his wrist to meet an amused look on his face. You drop his wrist and cross your arms over your chest, “I already told you I’m not giving you a massage tonight.”

Toji clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth, “How can I make it up to you?” He offers, and his tone is surprisingly gentle. 

You retort, “I don’t know what you want from me.”

“I want to keep seeing you,” He tells you, you can feel his eyes on you.

You inhale sharply through your nose, “So what you said last time wasn’t just pillow talk?” 

“I said a lot of things last time,” Toji remarks, unbuckling himself and shifting so he can sit more comfortably — spreading his legs as far as they can go in the seat and turning slightly so he’s facing you more. 

“You promised me that you’d fuck me for the rest of my life,” You recall out loud. 

Toji leans his head back against the car window, looking at you through half-lidded eyes, a full-on boyish smile on his scarred lips. “Of course, I meant that — when I make a promise, I keep it. Always.” 

You look out the window to hide the way your face burns at his words, “How do I know you’re not just using me for sex?” 

“Because I want to see you,” Toji reiterates. 

You ask sheepishly, “Do you want to cuddle then?” 

Toji opens the passenger side of the car, surprising you. He closes it and then opens the back passenger door, getting into the back. You turn around in your seat, lips parted in confusion. 

Toji pats the empty spot next to him, “You coming?” 

You turn off the car and climb over into the back, where Toji helps you by holding your hand. You sit in the spot next to him with a huff. His arm immediately goes around you, pulling you in so your two bodies are pressed. His other arm pushes your legs over so they’re laid out over his lap. Your ankles dangle off the edge of the car seat. 

“There we go,” Toji notes, looking down at you. You’re silent for a moment, then hesitantly, set the side of your face against his chest. Your arm wraps around his small waist, and you hold your breath, waiting for his reaction. 

Toji brings his lips to the crown of your head, making you feel like you’re melting. You finally relax against him, closing your eyes. You can hear his heartbeat against your ear, and it surprises you, his heart is racing.

You find this the perfect moment to tease him, “What’s wrong? Are you shy?”

His chest vibrates underneath you as he chuckles, “What can I say? You make me excited.” 

His words have you charmed and feeling warm on the inside. You two sit there in silence, You’re not sure how much time has passed, all you know is Toji’s embrace. The world outside of your car slips away. Your eyes slowly close, in a state of almost falling asleep. Your head rises up and down to the rhythm of Toji’s steady breathing from his chest. You feel his hand in your hair, brushing it back with his fingers, followed by a chaste kiss on your forehead. 

“I didn’t take you to be a cuddler,” You remark softly. 

Toji continues to gently touch you, his hand stroking the back of your head, “Who doesn’t like cuddling?”

A smile creeps onto your lips as you lightly goad, “Men like you.” 

Toji brings his lips back to your forehead, but instead of kissing you, he speaks against your skin, “Well, I guess I have to show you the man I am then, huh?”

You open your eyes and look up at him through your eyelashes, “Yeah,” You agree, giving him a light squeeze with your arms, “you’ll have to show me.” 

You notice that he doesn’t have the stubble from last time. Your hand comes up to the side of his face and he leans into it, a small smile on his lips. Your thumb traces over his cheek, taking your time to remember how his skin feels smooth without the facial hair. Gradually, your fingers move down to the corner of his lips, finding their way to his pretty scar. 

“Can I guess how you got this?” You propose. 

Toji hums, flashing you a smile, “How about if you guess wrong, you have to give these bad boys the massage they deserve?” He lifts his hand, wiggling his wrist side to side. 

Your hand goes to his, palm resting against his, initiating to hold it. Both of your fingers lace with one another, his calloused skin in contrast to your soft ones. “It must have been a fight,” You begin, waiting for his reaction, “Is that correct?’

Toji’s eyes scan your face before answering, “It was through violence, yes.” 

You giggle happily, slightly kicking your feet, “So, I got it correct?” 

“Well, that’s too broad,” Toji objects, “you need to be more specific.” 

You pout, “Come on,” slouching against him. Your intertwined hands stay that way, in deep thought about how he got the scar that you don’t even realize his thumb rubbing small circles on your hand. “If it was through violence, and it’s a scar like that,” Your eyes flicker up to his lips, “it looks like it was done by a knife.”

Toji leans down, his nose bumping in with yours. The movement was unexpected so it has your face flushed with heat. His lips brush against your cheek, and in a whisper, he says, “You’re correct.”

The two of you stay close that way for a brief moment, your heart trying to leap out of your ribcage. God, he’s irresistible. All you want to do is ride him right then and there. You change the atmosphere by directing your attention to his hand, more specifically, your intertwined hands. 

“Let me take a closer look at them,” You have to take your fingers out from his grasp and bring his wrist closer to you. Toji watches you with an amused look on his face, fully aware of your flustered state. 

“You got it right, you know,” Toji says, “you only needed to massage my wrists if you got it wrong.” 

“I know,” You state, your fingers already working at massaging his tense wrists. You can feel him relax, a sigh of contentment leaving his lips. 

“You’re really good, you know,” Toji comments, “at what you do.” 

You try to act laid back, shrugging your shoulders, “It’s my job.” 

“Still,” Toji adds, “you’re good at it.” 

You massage his wrist in silence, using your thumbs to create upward motions underneath his wrist. Once you’re done, you bring his wrist up to your lips and give it a peck. Toji flinches at the movement in surprise but eventually rests against the backseat of your car as you move onto his next wrist. You do the same routine and then finish it off with another kiss to it once you’re done. 

Your hands move to his chest, turning more to your side so that you can lean up and press your lips against yours. Toji grunts in surprise, and you pull an inch back, already feeling the heat that builds up between your bodies. 

“I want you,” You whisper, “can I?” Your fingers have already moved to the collar of his white dress shirt, tugging at it.

“Miss L/N,” His voice is slightly shaky, “are you sure you want to do this?”

You nod your head, “I do. You?”

Toji curses under his breath, his hips beginning to grind against your thighs that are against his lap. “Of course I do,” He answers, his large hand coming to the side of your face, “I told you, I keep my promises.” 

The two of you kiss, it’s passionate and filled with yearning. It’s evident both of you at this point miss one another whenever you two are apart. Your hands anchor onto the collar of his white button-up while one of his arms is wrapped around your back and the other on the side of your face. Your noses bump with one another as the two of you angle your faces for more access to one another. His tongue brushes against your bottom lip, pushing it into your mouth where you obediently open it for him to have more room. He sighs into your mouth from your actions, the sound of your tongues swirling around one another filling up the car. 

You two go at it for a while that way, sloppy tongue kissing with both of you being handsy with one another. You feel his firm chest with your hand that then moves to his large biceps, feeling him up shamelessly through the fabric. One of his hands palms your ass, squeezing it to his desire while the other one has moved up to the back of your neck. The two of you find yourselves shifting, where you’re laid further back until your back is against the seat and he’s hovering over you. You’re hazy at this point, out of breath, your thighs squeezing against one another. His fingers lace themselves into your hair, his tongue practically touching the back of your throat. He’s moaning and groaning, continuing to rub his hardened crotch against you. 

He gives you a break, his forehead resting against yours as both of you catch your breaths. Despite it being dark, you catch the way his lips shimmer from your saliva. You catch the way his eyes soften as he traces his thumb alongside your face, making you shiver. You can feel it, there’s something different between the two of you tonight. You can’t pinpoint what it exactly is, but it’s the way he’s looking at you and touching you. His thumb moves to the corner of your mouth, and you open it without him having to say anything. He places it in and you suckle on it, eyes fluttering shut from how good it feels. 

“Good girl,” You hear him say, voice low, “How are you always so good to me?” 

You swirl your tongue around his thumb, prompting him to shove it further into your mouth until you gag. He pulls out at that point, leaving you to feel empty. You frown, a whimper coming from somewhere in you that surprises you. Toji chuckles, making up for it as he leans down to kiss you on the mouth again. Something brushes up against your chest, hitting the bare skin of your collarbone. When you break the kiss to look, it glints underneath the street lights; he’s wearing a necklace. That’s new. Instinctively, your fingers take hold of the necklace, specifically the pendant at the end of it. Toji above you freezes, his green eyes attentively watching you. 

You ask softly, “What’s this?”

Toji swallows, clearing his throat, “Sorry,” He’s leaning off of you and sitting up, the necklace slipping from your fingers. You follow by sitting up as well, straightening out your shirt. He’s running a hand through his hair and saying again, “Sorry.” 

“It’s okay,” You reassure him, “this is the first time you’re wearing it.” 

He responds curtly, “I know.”

You’ve struck a chord, so you don’t push it. You look out the window, “I can drive you back to your place if you want.”

To your surprise, you hear Toji confess, “It’s my wife’s.” 

Your eyes widen, your head snapping to look at him, “You’re married?” A knot forms in your stomach. Have you been fucking a married man?! 

This time, Toji is the one to appear panicked, “No!” His voice raises regret to appear on his face from the stiffness of his tone. “No,” He says again, calmer. He pinches the bridge of his nose, “Shit, Miss L/N.” 

You find yourself saying, “Toji, I can’t be doing this if you have someone—”

Toji doesn’t let you finish, “She’s dead.”

A heavy silence falls over the both of you. You weren’t expecting to hear those words from him. Questions flooded your head; How long was he married? When did she die? How did they meet? If he hadn’t worn the necklace tonight, would he have ever told you he was married? 

You settle by saying, “I’m sorry, Toji.” He’s looking down in his lap, at his hands. You’ve never seen him look like he was shutting down. Again, you say, in hopes that you’ll be able to get him out of the anchor that’s holding him down; “Toji.” 

He looks at you, almost like he’s afraid to do so. You’re not sure whether to hold his hand or just stay put. “Look,” You speak up, “if I’m some kind of rebound for your past marriage, let’s end it here. It’d be the best thing to do.” 

“Y/N,” Toji looks surprised by your choice of words, hurt, even. “That’s not what this is,” His tone is stern, his green eyes piercing into yours. 

“I just mean if you’re still mourning — which is completely fine. I can’t be some distraction,” You feel selfish for even jumping to this conclusion, but considering your history with men, this is usually how things ended up for you. 

There’s a dour look on Toji’s face, “I swear, Miss L/N, you’re not a fucking distraction.” 

Your lips clamp shut at his sternness. Both of you look as if the two of you crashed into a brick wall. There’s distance between you two, and not just physically. 

“I know this is a lot to take in,” Toji continues, “I never tell anyone I used to be married.”

Even you're shocked at the next words that come out of your mouth, “Let’s end it here.” 

Toji looks as if you’ve stabbed glass through his chest, outright pain in his features. “And what about my promise?” The way he says it, doesn’t seem to be implying to him fucking your brains out. It makes you wonder, when did the two of you get this close? Or were the two of you even close? 

Tears blur your vision, now you’re looking down at your lap, “What about it?” Your voice cracks. 

“Y/N,” Hearing your first name come from him makes you turn your head to look at him. You watch as his hand stops midair in touching you. He drops it, “It’s been eighteen years since she died,” he tells you. “Trust me, you’re not a rebound or distraction.” His hand comes up again, this time to your face, but it doesn’t touch your skin. He looks hesitant in his actions, almost as if he’ll touch you, and you will break. 

“I’m sorry about your wife,” You affirmed, hoping you weren’t being overbearing by this being your second or third time saying it. He clenches his jaw, his hand finally touching your cheek to wipe the tears before they reach your chin. You ask him, “Did you ever plan to tell me you were married?” He looks defeated by your question, dropping his head and letting out a sigh. 

As if he’s gathering his courage, he looks back up to you, cupping your face with both of his hands. “Listen to me,” He looks you dead in the eye, “you can’t know too much about me and my past.” 

Your eyebrows furrow, “Why?” You inquire, “Why do you act so mysterious?” 

“I’m not trying to be,” He conveys desperately, “it’s just…” he’s struggling like he’s searching for the right articulation. He finally clarifies, “It’s not going to do you any good, sweetheart.” 

Your fingers come up to his wrist, wrapping around it, “You can tell me,” You assure him, “there’s no one I would tell.” 

He shakes his head, “It’s not that.”

You insist, “Then what?” 

He exhales through his nose, his eyes scanning your face attentively. He informs, “I’ll tell you two things…” 

Again, you promise him, “I won’t tell anyone, I swear.” 

“I used to be married,” He tells you, “and I used to have a son as well. They’re both dead. I can’t tell you how they died. I can’t tell you anything else. I’m telling you this so you know I’m not using you just to forget about my past.” 

You're heartbroken at the information he just shared with you. You’re shaking your head lightly, “I’m so sorry,” You say, leaning in and kissing him on the mouth, and in between saying, “I’m sorry, Toji. Sorry, this happened to you.” 

Toji kisses you back, more feverishly than before. He’s kissing you almost like if he doesn’t, you’ll evaporate before his eyes. When your hands begin roaming his body, his fingers wrap around your wrists, bringing you to a stop. You two pull back, breathless. His eyebrows are furrowed, looking like he’s about to regret what he’s about to say next. 

“Not tonight, princess,” He rasps, referring to anything escalating further. “I want to give you time to process this information.” 

“I’m sorry that I said I wanted to end things here,” You acknowledged, feeling embarrassed that you had even said that earlier. “I shouldn’t have.”

“I don’t blame you,” He responded softly, “let it go.” 

The two of you sit in silence, remaining in that position, his fingers still clasped around your wrists. It’s peaceful, just sitting there without feeling this urgency to fill it up with words. He puts his forehead against yours, bringing your hands up to his lips. He gives your knuckles light kisses. Everything about him was different tonight, he had this ambiance of vulnerability. He had just shared something so intimate. You weren’t used to it, but you had always craved it; that raw closeness. You chased after it in strictly physical relationships with all the men in your past. 

Toji pulled you into him, your face in the crook of his neck. Your body craned into him, arms going around his figure. He reminded you of a tall, strong tree that had been around for hundreds of years. Strong, mighty, and resistant; despite the cracks that were evident inside him. 

His palm cradles the back of your head, his eyes fluttering close as he inhales your scent. You feel so small in his arms, it only makes the aching inside of him grow bigger in wanting to protect you. You were a woman that had brought him to tears, and it was then that he realized how priceless submission was. His body couldn’t help it, the blood rushed down to his groin, where he was hard all over again. That was the other thing about you, he felt like a horny youngster who couldn’t get enough of lovemaking. As badly as he wanted to have you sprawled underneath him at the moment and fuck you until you were sobbing – that mature part of him knew that tonight wasn’t the night for that. 

Your phone ringing startles both of you. Toji’s body stiffens and you jump at it. It makes you want to groan out in frustration. Toji gives you space and you apologize for the sudden interruption. You scoot to the edge of the seat and reach over to grab where your phone was sitting in the console. Your phone screen flashes with Naoya’s name. It makes a knot form in your stomach. 

“This shouldn’t take long,” You tell Toji, and bring the phone to your ear. “Hey,” You greet, trying to make yourself appear as relaxed as possible. 

“There you are,” Naoya’s smug voice rings through the phone, “I’ve been texting you.”

“You have?” You ask, quickly bringing the phone down to take a look, and sure enough, he had texted you five times in a row. You bring the phone back up to your ear, “Sorry, it was on silent.”

“Let me see you tonight,” He notes, “at your place. Wear the cat headband and lingerie.” 

You bite your bottom lip, you can’t say no, not here, in front of Toji. You don’t want Toji to be aware that you could be hooking up with someone tonight. Besides, the last time you saw Naoya was at the club – which was also the night you saw Toji and that led you two into that one room…

You also hadn’t hooked up with anyone ever since you started having sex with Toji. You two haven’t had that conversation yet but it just sort of happened. Ever since you’ve begun having sex with Toji, you realize that all the sex you have had up until that point was nothing compared to how he fucked you. Now you know what a true man was…

You give in, “Sure,” Your voice sounds so quiet that it surprises you, “I’ll be home a little bit here.” You end the call and force a smile onto your face, “Do you want a ride back?” You ask Toji.

Toji surprises you as he cups the side of your face with his calloused hand. Goosebumps appear across your skin, and he leans in to kiss you. It’s a farewell type of kiss; soft, passionate, and filled with yearning. Before he pulls away, he teases you with his tongue swiping against your bottom lips. He pulls back, his thumb tracing small circles against your cheek. 

“You okay?” He asks you.

“Yeah!” You squeak at him, “Yeah, why?” 

His green eyes scan your face, “Just want to make sure my girl is okay before we part ways.” 

You lean into his palm, closing your eyes, wanting to remember how he feels against you like this. A shaky sigh falls from your lips, “Yeah, I’m fine.” 

“I’ll take a cab back,” Toji tells you, “you head on home. Get some good sleep.”

Guilt thrusts at you upon hearing his words. You wanted to cry, jump back into his arms and tell him how uncomfortable you are going back to your place. You didn’t want to see Naoya. Not anymore. Not after meeting Toji. You didn’t care or desire to see anyone else. You just wanted Toji. What was scarier, you felt like you needed him.

Instead, you hear yourself say, “Get some sleep yourself.”

Toji chuckles deeply and presses one last kiss, this time to your forehead, “Make sure to dream about me, sweets.” 

┅

You’re on the verge of throwing up. A heavy lump sits in your throat as you get dressed up. Your breathing trembles and your limbs feel like pins and needles. Naoya was supposed to show up any minute now. You slipped the lace sleeves over your arms to hide the scars. You had already done your makeup and hair. You had fucked Naoya plenty of times. But again, that was before Toji. Something creeps up on you like a shadow trying to embrace you. 

Naoya was rough with you. But not like Toji. Naoya was rough with you in a way that felt like he was throwing around a rag doll to his liking. Whereas with Toji, he was rough with you which made you feel good. Toji cared for your pleasure. Naoya did not. You had known this from the beginning but felt like that was the best you could get. That was until you met Toji… 

There was a knock at your door, making you drop your lipstick. Some of it smeared on your fingertips as you tried to grab it. You cursed under your breath and finished applying it. When you opened the door for Naoya, his lips crashed into yours. It caught your breath in your mouth. He kicked the door behind him, caging you in his arms. You made a muffled noise against his lips. 

He kept going, pushing you back until eventually, your legs met the couch. His hands were all over you, groping your breasts, hips, ass and anywhere else he could. You felt like you were fragmented, unable to push him away. His body against yours was suffocating. Your knees bent and you fell back against the cushions of the couch. 

“It’s been a while,” Naoya’s hands worked at the buckle of his belt, “put your legs up.” 

You looked up at the ceiling, finding your body moving for you as you stuck your legs up in the air for him. Your mind was screaming at you to make this stop. And like a pathetic damsel in distress, you wished for your knight in shining armor to come and make all of this stop. Your knight was rough in all the right places. Rough to still make you feel good, fuck, even loved. 

You heard the tearing of a condom packet get undone, as he muttered, “Good kitty.” 

The pet name from him made you wince, physically. That pet name only sounded good from Toji. The bells on your cat's headband rang as Naoya shoved your thighs against your thigh from the sudden action. It made you gasp, pain shooting up your legs from just how painfully rough he was being with you. He tapped his hard dick against your clit, your body twitching from the sensation. You closed your eyes and held your breath, praying that it’d all be over soon…

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The loud knocks coming from your door put a pause on Naoya’s actions. His dick was sitting at your entrance. He looked down at you, an impatient look on his face. 

“Who is that?” He practically spits the question at you.

Your arms tremble as you push yourself to sit up. “I don’t know,” You tell him, your mind racing with who it could be. “The only person who would show up at this time would be my dad.” 

Naoya lets out an exasperated breath, “Why the fuck is your dad here?”

You’re getting off the couch, your body feeling like jelly. Your heart is pounding, and you’re not sure if it’s because of the knocking on the door or that you are finally out of Naoya’s python grip. 

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Jesus Christ!” Naoya seethes, shoving his dick back into his pants, “Just answer the damn door.” 

“I-I need to put something on,” You stumble over your words. 

Naoya doesn’t listen nor give you a chance to do so. He strides over to the door, and opens it… 

[reelreviewing]

Yi Yi (2000) - Editors Pick

Director: Edward Yang | 2h 53mins | Drama | Language: Mandarin

Multiple generations of a Taipei family reflect on past mistakes and the present relationships of their daily lives. 

Edward Yang’s modern masterpiece is over 20 years old. Many films have come and gone in that time but what separates Yi Yi and keeps it continuously relevant in the cinematic landscape, is the purity and honesty in which it portrays humanity. Just like the work of legendary director Yashiro Ozu, Yang’s static and absorbing style allows every human emotion to play out on the surface. Across the wide span of its nearly three hour runtime, Yi Yi explores the lost potential of our lives we reflect on as we get older as well as the blossoming feelings and fractured situations we face in our youth. 

In one of the more confrontational scenes early in the film, the father of the family NJ runs into his first love, Sherry, while at his brother-in-law’s wedding. After a couple of seconds of pleasantries she begins yelling at him about their past and what follows is a long and reflective journey for NJ, as he reconnects and ponders the question, what if I’d married her? Although not necessarily the main character, NJ’s story is explored more than any, acting as the anchor for the gentle nostalgia and regret this film projects. His situation is amplified when his current wife, Min-Min, delivers one of the most heartbreaking monologues of the film, explaining that she has nothing to say to her comatose mother because her life is, in essence, blank. 

While the parents suffer with their own damaging reflections on life their two children also battle against the hardships of youth. Their daughter, Ting-Ting, becomes embroiled in her friend’s drama more than she would like and also experiences love and heartbreak for the first time. Yang-Yang, their 8-year-old son, isn’t plagued by the realities of being a teenager or an adult but rather navigates his own adolescent curiosity. He has a mild crush on a girl at school, he deals with bullies in creative ways and he also becomes fascinated with taking pictures of the back of people’s heads – something that actually plays a big part in one of the films biggest themes.

As he gets into his dad’s car Ying-Yang innocently asks his father whether it’s possible for us to know the whole truth. As we look forward we can’t see behind us, and therefore we can’t see the whole picture. A slightly muddled sentiment when coming from a child but there is a deeper truth to it that unites wonderfully with the film’s big questions of remembering the past and how it has led to the current position these characters are in. Not just that, but as we look forward in our lives the memories we have become obscured and muddled – remembering only what we want too. We even get a flavour of the lives of neighbours and extended family, and while these are at risk of feeling unessential, what they do is help to punctuate the overarching themes as they are all delicately woven together by a wonderful script.  

Your first initial praise will be for the static and often dreamlike cinematography that effortlessly captures both beauty and pain in their most destructive forms. But Yang’s script is much more complex than you might think. Balancing narratives is something that many films have tried to accomplish but rarely perfect, but what Yang does is give us multiple threads and characters in which to intrigue us with, but beautifully showcases them under one collective story. It’s a balancing act that pays off, as they all reach their crescendo at the same pivotal point – giving us a soft and extremely moving ending. 

Despite all of the characters being at an unhappy place in their lives, this does end on a somewhat optimistic note. Unlike a lot of the work by fellow Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-Liang, whose films are often drenched in a pessimistic tone, Yi Yi  offers us a sense of reprieve. This is by no means a happy ending, but as some of the characters choose to look forward instead of hanging on to the past, the film shows a sense of positivity that is greatly needed.

Even though the film is over 20 years old this film hasn’t lost any of its poignancy. Edward Yang is truly a master of his craft and Yi Yi will continue to have a place in cinematic history because of its unique understanding of relationships and the human condition. No matter what stage of life you’re at there will be something to connect to or reflect on and that’s because of its universal themes. The script is complex and packs a punch, and Yang offers a delicate touch to every single scene – this is a wonderful achievement that is one of the greatest examples of how cinema can so honestly portray reality.

5/5

[bestepisode]

The top 8 episodes from each season will move on to the next round.

Vote on the second half of the season here!

Episode descriptions are under the cut.

A Breath of Fresh Air

Two weeks after Harmonic Convergence, portions of Republic City have become covered in spirit vines and after Korra cannot remove them, President Raiko expels her from the city. Around the world, people begin to spontaneously develop the ability to airbend, including Bumi. Tenzin, Korra, and her friends embark on an airship trip to attempt to recruit these people into a new Air Nomad nation. Meanwhile, the dangerous criminal Zaheer escapes from a remote prison thanks to his own new airbending skills.

Rebirth

Traveling across the Earth Kingdom with Team Avatar and Jinora, Tenzin finds that most of the new airbenders are not willing to uproot their lives to join the new Air Nation, although they find a first recruit in Kai, a sly young thief trying to escape Earth Kingdom authorities. Meanwhile, Zaheer liberates the earthbender Ghazan and the armless waterbender Ming-Hua from their respective prisons and is apparently intent on abducting or killing the Avatar. An elderly Zuko travels to the North Pole, where the last member of Zaheer's band is being kept.

The Earth Queen

Team Avatar arrive in Ba Sing Se as part of their search for new airbenders, and receive an ambivalent welcome from Hou-Ting, who is of the belief that Avatar Aang manipulated her father in his time on the throne. Korra reluctantly agrees to a tax collection effort on the Queen's behalf in order to gain her cooperation, fighting off bandits with Asami during the mission. But the queen claims that there are no airbenders in the city. Meanwhile, Kai absconds from the group to pickpocket, and while looking for him, Mako and Bolin meet the family of their late father. They learn that cities secret police, the Dai Li (who are now more firmly under the control of throne, but still sinister in nature) are capturing new airbenders, and indeed Kai is arrested and told he'll have to serve in the army. At the North Pole, Zuko, the new northern water tribe chiefs Desna and Eska, and Korra's father Tonraq visit Zaheer's last imprisoned comrade, his girlfriend P'Li, a dangerous firebender.

In Harm's Way

At the North Pole, Zaheer and his team free P'Li from her icy prison, and she is revealed to be a powerful combustion-bender. In Ba Sing Se, Lin Beifong arrives to warn Korra about the threat to her life. With Lin's aid, Team Avatar liberate the press-ganged airbenders. After escaping the Dai Li and the Earth Queen's wrath, Tenzin takes the airbenders to the Northern Air Temple, while Lin, Korra, and her friends search for more airbenders.

The Metal Clan

Team Avatar arrive in Zaofu, a metal city led by Suyin Beifong, Lin's estranged half-sister and the mother of Opal, a new airbender. Korra begins training Opal, but cannot convince Lin to mend the rift between herself and Suyin. In Republic City, Zaheer infiltrates Air Temple Island in an attempt to find Korra but escapes after he is identified and attacked by Kya.

Old Wounds

While Korra learns metalbending from Suyin, Lin confronts memories of her youth: as a young police officer, she was scarred by Suyin while apprehending her at a crime scene, and their mother Toph covered up the incident before sending Suyin away and resigning as police chief. After a violent confrontation, the sisters reconcile with one another. Meanwhile, Zaheer and his crew escape Republic City after a car chase with police and Zaheer, who proves capable of entering the spirit world, ascertains the Avatar's whereabouts.

[stormyoceans]

What do you think about Day feeling uncomfortable in his own house since the accident? His mother is at home very often but their relationship worsened. His brother is now more of a guardian. They try to spend as much time with him as they can, but he doesn't feel support, he feel control? After Mork started working for them, Day once asked him to take him to Mork's house (which I assume is connected to the workshop where he repairs cars) and they both knew Day's mother won't like the idea, so in the evening they just went for a walk and came to spend the night at Mork's place (even though Mork was against the idea, feeling responsibility and not wanting to worse relationship with Day's mother but. Day could ask anything and he would try to do it for him and this was basically nothing. So he called Day's mother and pretended they stopped at his place because it was late in the evening and Day was tired). Mork led him by the hand and put his palm on different objects, letting him feel. He sat Day down on his bed, gave him clothes to change into. Maybe they had sex their for the first time, because there was no one else here, just the two of them (insert image of Day lifting up Mork's tshirt and pressing it to his face and Mork standing there not knowing what to do, until Day decided that the next step should be him pressing his face against Mork's neck). Idk what that is, just stray headcanon

IN THIS HOUSE WE DEEPLY APPRECIATE EVERY KIND OF HEADCANONS, STRAY OR OTHERWISE, SO DON'T YOU WORRY ANON

i actually hope that you don't mind if i ramble a little here (she says as if that ever stopped her before), but you brought up something that i've been thinking about a lot these days, which is day's relationship with his family and his house. we're seeing this same topic being handled in heart's storyline in moonlight chicken and i think it's interesting how we can already infer some differences and similarities between the two (assuming that p'aof isn't gonna change things too drastically from the last twilight mock trailer): if heart's parents are neglecting and abandoning him in an empty house, day's mom and brother seem to be overprotective and reluctant to leave him alone. both families' attitudes are wrong because they fail to look past the disability itself and to still treat heart and day as whole, complete people with hopes and dreams, which only ends up alienating them from the world

heart and day, however, start the story in two very different places: heart's incident was three years ago and in this time he has come to consider the house almost like a prison, but day's incident only just happened and for him the house is the only safe place left. in the trailer, day's mom says that "day has been staying only in the house since the accident", which - unlike in heart's case - seems to be his own choice that his mom fully endorses. li ming and mork represent the outside world bursting inside and reaching out to them, but while heart readily accepts the hand he's being offered, day is more reluctant to do so, and i think it's gonna be incredibly interesting to see day slowly change, because eventually it WILL happen, eventually day is gonna want to go outside and experience new things, and i don't think his family will be very happy about it. that's when, like you said, the house is gonna turn from a place of safety to a place of confinement and his family will start to feel more like they are his keepers

and now excuse me for a second as I GO WANDER THE STREETS AT NIGHT TO HOWL AT THE MOON BECAUSE I'VE NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT BUT I LOVE LOVE LOVE THE IDEA OF DAY GOING TO MORK'S APARTMENT!!!!!! like.. idk there's something to be said about mork constantly being at day's house and filling the place with his own presence and finally allowing day to be in mork's own space too. and i also love the idea of mork being hesitant at first because like you said he knows mork's mom wouldn't be happy about it, but also because he thinks his apartment isn't much compared to day's house: it's small and kinda dusty and there's a mess everywhere, but i like to think that day would just smile and joke about it by saying "well, it's not like i will be able to tell anyway." so mork takes him there and it turns out that day LOVES the place because unlike his own house, which smells like cleaning products and air freshener and the only sounds you can hear come from the wind going through the branches and the chirping of the birds outside, mork's apartment is full of life. there are so many different scents he can pick up - the faint traces of motor oil coming from the garage below, the stir fry meat mork ate for lunch still lingering in the air, the fresh laundry coming from the bathroom, the cigarette smoke that seeped into the walls - and even with the windows closed he can hear people talking in the streets

and then mork guiding day's hands around the place (SCREAMING SHAKING CRYING THROWING UP BTW) so he can feel everything under his fingers while mork tells him stories about each item day touches: some ugly knick knack namtan's character gave to him as a joke for his birthday, his old DVD collection, a picture of his family.... AND OKAY I NEED TO STOP NOW BECAUSE THIS IS ALREADY WAY TOO LONG BUT THE TWO OF THEM HAVING SEX FOR THE FIRST TIME AT MORK'S APARTMENT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE BECAUSE THERE'S WHERE DAY IS GONNA START FEELING LIKE HIMSELF AGAIN AND I THINK I NEED TO BE SEDATED NOW THANKS

[anon-apple]

Hot Soup and Soft Bread 19

Table of Contents and Synopsis <- Chapter 18 Read on WordPress

Chapter 19: Wild Onions Fried Rice I

When Liu Xiaoying woke up, she was met with an extremely white ceiling. She turned her eyes and saw only Qi Zhiqiu in the hospital room. It was already noon the next day. Qi Zhiqiu asked: “Do you feel ok?”

Xiaoying slowly gained consciousness. The first thing she asked after she was completely awake was: “Where’s Zhou Cunqu?”

Zhiqiu poured half a cup of hot water and placed it on the nightstand, replying: “I knew you were going to ask that. Someone came to pick him up last night.”

Around 11 am, Zhong Qiuyan’s phone rang. He saw the caller ID and said to Zhou Cunqu: “The old lady is probably awake. I got a call.”

He picked up and said in a deep voice:  “Liu Xiaoying, your grandson is in my hands. Prepare a 100 million ransom. Otherwise, I will eliminate the hostage.”

Xiaoying didn’t say anything. Qiuyan then said: “Ok, how about 50 million.”

Xiaoying weakly laughed and said: “Hand the phone to Zhou Cunqu. I’m going to tell him that in the eyes of Zhong Qiuyan, he’s only worth 50 million.”

Qiuyan yelled, “You’re driving a wedge between us. How hateful.”

Xiaoying sighed and asked: “How’s Zhou Cunqu doing?”

While eating something, Qiuyan replied in between pauses to chew: “Pretty good. Don’t worry, I brought him to my place.”

Last night, after Xiaoying passed out, it was chaotic outside the hotel. Qi Zhiqiu scolded Zhou Ming and clutched her phone to call the ambulance. Cunqu was leaning against Zhiqiu’s car. After a while, he suddenly asked Zhou Ming: “You guys must be incredibly disappointed in me right now, right?”

Zhou Ming paused and asked: “What do you think?”

Cunqu laughed and said: “That’s great. How great.”

When the ambulance arrived, Cunqu and Zhiqiu got on as well. Xiaoying received an exam at the hospital. Overall, there was no major issue. Moyamoya disease is quite an annoying and troublesome disease. The blood vessels on the inside of the skull are unhealthy and can cause problems when the patient excessively breathes or becomes excessively emotional. 

Later, when Qiuyan rushed over, Cunqu was leaning against the corridor outside, picking at the dead skin on his hands. Qiuyan, a bit short of breath, asked: “How’s Liu Xiaoying?”

Cunqu replied: “She’s fine.”

Qiuyan hugged Cunqu and stroked the back of his back, asking: “And are you also fine?”

Cunqu nodded against his shoulder. He knew that Zhou Ming wasn’t wrong. He selfishly relied on his grandma for two whole years. Cunqu asked Qiuyan with his eyes lowered: “Did you also know about grandma’s sickness?”

Qiuyan replied: "Ah. Well, I first met her because she fell down on the sidewalk. Back then, the hospital said the old lady had a rather rare blood vessel disease. And she could faint if it wasn't handled properly. After waking up, she stubbornly insisted that it was just her high blood sugar acting up."

Cunqu didn't say anything else. Zhiqiu exited the patient's room and told them to head back first and rest up. There was no use waiting around here. Qiuyan tugged Cunqu and said: "Little friend, the little ducks of Moon Lake Park have already gone to sleep. Let's also go back and rest?"

He led Cunqu into his car and drove back to the Qin Qin Homeland residential community. During the whole ride, he chatted with him as if it were any other day. When they got home, Cunqu said that the temperatures have dropped recently. The duvet they used yesterday was too thin, so he had set out a thicker duvet in the sun and planned to use it today.

When putting on the duvet covers, Qiuyan climbed into the covers and pushed this way and that. In the end, he still couldn't correctly figure out the four corners of the duvet. Cunqu punched the squirming body inside the covers and said: "The sky's going to be bright by the time you're done."

Qiuyan climbed back out and took a deep breath. Then, he scooped Cunqu and brought him inside as well. The two of them rolled around in the covers. The new covers smelled like the laundry detergent they used. Qiuyan helped Cunqu’s face and placed kisses here and there. He said: “Smells so good, smells so good.” Cunqu helplessly laughed and said: “Can we get the covers on first?”

A few stacks of books in the room were tottering dangerously. Suddenly, one fell over onto the stack next to it. The two people inside the bed covers stopped.

Cunqu didn't climb out to fix them. He started telling Qiuyan about a story he read in a nonfiction book last year. It was about a thirteen-year-old boy who was falsely accused and imprisoned. He was a mentally and physically disabled child but was put into an adult prison and sentenced to life without parole. The person who recorded this story, a lawyer, went to find this boy fourteen years later. The lawyer said he waited in the visitors' room. The boy, now twenty-seven years old, sat in a wheelchair and was shut inside a steel cage. The lawyer didn't understand why a prisoner without any physical threat had to be caged. But there he was, sitting with his back facing everyone. When the prison guards opened the door to bring him out, the wheelchair wheels got stuck inside the cage. The guards used all of their strength and tugged on the wheelchair, tugged on that prisoner, but it was of no use.

In the end, they discussed: "Why don't we push over the cage and see if we can get him out that way." 

The lawyer said the mentally disabled prisoner had his back facing them the whole time. But his shoulders started shaking; he had started crying.

Cunqu told Qiuyan that the first time he read this story, he also cried. He discovered that he resonated with that feeling of being treated like non-sentient goods. 

He said: “Today, my dad said he was disappointed in me. I suddenly felt relieved, like I let out a breath I’ve been holding this whole time.”

Qiuyan looked at him, and Cunqu’s eyes started tearing up. Raising his shoulders, he cried out loud. Through the tears streaming down his face, he said: “I was relieved. They were finally disappointed in me.”

--

The following morning, Cunqu woke up not long after Qiuyan. Qiuyan smiled and said: "Hehe. Ge, your eyes are so swollen that they can't even open." Cunqu shut his eyes again, clutched Qiuyan's pajamas, and burrowed himself into his embrace to continue sleeping.

Around eight, Qiuyan drove away with Cunqu. The latter asked: “Where are you going?”

Qiuyan replied: "I am going to kidnap you right now."

Cunqu looked at him with curiosity. The dancing girl charm twirled again and again. The car drove onto the highway and then exited. Qiuyan had driven all the way to the Zhong family village.

He drove into his family home. Qiu Xuemei was wearing her pajamas and chatting with some friends in front of the courtyard doors. She turned her head and saw Qiuyan get out of the car. Xuemei yelled: "Isn't that my long-lost son? Son, do you recognize mom?"

Qiuyan yelled back: “What mom, isn’t that my sister who’s as lovely as a flower?”

The two of them, one tall, one short, one chubby, one skinny, heartily hugged each other. Cunqu almost laughed out loud from where he sat in the passenger's seat. Qiuyan dragged him out of the car and introduced him: “Sister, this, this is my good friend.”

Xuemei happily led Cunqu around. She said: “Dudu has never brought home a friend from the city. Come in, come in. Did you eat? Probably not, right.” She then turned and yelled into the house: “Zhong Baocheng, where are you at? Dudu brought home a friend!” 

Qiuyan tried very hard to interrupt: “No but, can you not call me Dudu? Ah, Qiu Xuemei, do you hear me??”

Qiuyan’s family home, which was built by hand, was torn down and rebuilt again a few years back. The outside used a dirt-yellow colored ceramic tile, which was pretty disastrous in the eyes of Zhou Cunqu as an architect. They even glimmered with light. Qiuyan’s bedroom was even worse. A pale purple floral wallpaper, a Baroque-style large bed covered with plastic-made diamonds. Cunqu couldn’t help but laugh. Qiuyan asked him how it was. Cunqu nodded and replied: “Quite grand.”

Qiuyan yelped: “What do you mean, ‘grand’?”

Cunqu pinched his cheeks and asked: "Prince, you used to get up every day from this bed?"

Qiuyan suddenly hugged Cunqu from behind and brought him onto the bed. He kissed Cunqu's shoulder and said: "Yes, princess. These couple of days, you will rest up inside my imperial palace. Liu Xiaoying will have to stay in the hospital for monitoring for a few days anyway. You should relax, stay in the mountains, and get some fresh air."

Cunqu turned around and tapped Qiuyan's nose, asking: "Are you scared that I'll shut myself up in my room again…"

Qiuyan was about to reply, but Xuemei suddenly entered while carrying a quilt. He immediately shot up from the bed.

When Xiaoying called, Qiuyan and Cunqu were sitting around the dining table having a meal. The temperature was very comfortable, and they could see the family orchard from the window. Xuemei's chatterbox abilities exceeded even Qiuyan's. She said they should come to visit again around December; they could pick strawberries to eat. Neighbors often passed by the window and would pause to exchange a few greetings with Xuemei and them. When the neighbor started to ride away on his little motorcycle, Xuemei even got up and stuck her chubby body out the window, saying: "Don't forget, don't forget to bring some seeds."

On the dining room walls hung a calendar gifted when purchasing Chinese New Year's goods and professional studio photos of Xuemei. Qiuyan said while biting a shrimp: "This was when she got scammed. She spent a good few thousand to get these photos taken. Then they ended up with this type of style, and she cried as she hung them up everywhere in the house." 

Xuemei blushed and grumbled: “Why are you talking about this?” She abruptly raised her glass and said: “Come, in honor of finding my long-lost son, as well as my son’s good friend, let’s toast.”

The three Zhong family members instinctively stood up and prepared to toast. Cunqu was briefly taken aback. 

It was at this moment that Xiaoying called. When Cunqu picked up, the other three still stood there, waiting for him to toast with them. Xiaoying said from her end: "Grandma's doing fine; your little aunt isn't letting me leave the hospital. How are you?"

Cunqu raised his head and looked at the family of three holding their glasses, who held their positions and eagerly waited for him to join. Cunqu couldn’t help but smile as he said: “I’m doing pretty well, Grandma.”

After he hung up, he raised his cup of hot water and met their glasses in a toast.

-> Chapter 20

[sunsetsandrivers]

My time at Taj :

My first day at Taj Mahal (New Delhi) was actually the day after the day I was to arrive - I met with a mishap enroute caused by a trivial fight that led to a nasty public scene in the car with my father and my aunt who were driving me on the morning I was asked to report because of my displayed lack of punctuality seemingly due to a lose chain of familial disturbances over the years prior to it.

I reached the hotel eight minutes early on the 9th of January and entered the grand premise from the main guest entrance to the hotel lobby area and waited on my Learning and Development in-charge who had excused me for the day before to guide me further into the process of training that would be taking place in the coming months.

Upon finding out that she'd taken a complimentary off that day, I contacted a senior trainee who had been asked to give me a hotel tour on behalf of the L&D team and I saw two girls emphatically come to my rescue while I was lost in sonder over the current state of affairs in our country (i.e. busy reading the daily news).

I was led to the L&D HRSS office wherein I was asked to submit my medical reports as well as other necessary documents attached with the No Objection Certificate from my small-town college in order for me to be initiated into the official training procedures.

The senior trainees showed me around the front and back ends of the hotel like I was the most important person in the room through it all and I was at once smitten by the architecture, the interior design and decoration, the variety of uniforms people were wearing, the stature of guests present at the hotel that day, the different kinds of treatments and luxuries that money could buy, the granduer of the capital city views, but most of all the thought of what life was going to feel like over my internship tenure.

I had the privilege of being introduced to all the senior chefs at the kitchens of Machan, House Of Ming, Varq, Emperor Lounge, Club Lounge, Rick's or Banquets / Garde Manger / Butchery and even the Executive Lounge and Chamber dining areas. The experience was exhilerating in the sense that I was witnessing the most prestigious brand of hotels function before my eyes first hand. Everything felt so fancy and out of this world that I felt at home with the hotel staff's hospitality instantly! What caught my attention more than that though was the fact that it was the day of an untimely external audit at the hotel alongwith an ongoing staff progress review which I found out about under the famous Jamun Tree at the back-end entrance of the hotel for the employees towards the end of my tour.

When most of the staff was breaking for lunch thereafter and I was asked to join everyone at the Common Cafeteria, I graciously declined the offer and chose to wait on my senior trainees so that I could reach back home comfortably and not have them loitering around because of me unnecessarily. After having completed my form fill-up and other formalities, I got back excited and hopeful.

[captainhopefulcatcollection]

目標堅定

從小埋下的種子，讓���中的目標始終清晰，持續前行。

無論潛意識中的信念多深藏，從不鬆懈，一步步邁向事業的前端。

這份堅定，是邁向不斷進步的力量源泉。

#目標堅定 #潛意識力量 #持續前行

[myfriendcallsmeasickwoman19]

Ice Cream Shots

Did I have to make him pass out? No but I did anyway.

@luna-rein @irathgo @smellofsnoww

*****************

He would never have expected this even though his life was full of surprises.

Standing at his door was an older woman in casual clothes and a young girl dressed to go out.

Wen Jin can't say he looked his best in his grey baggy sweatpants and loose white t-shirt. Which had been his go to outfit after being discharged.

He didn't know they would come so early.

His mother didn't look that well, not ill she just looked tired. Ming Yue on the other hand seemed to beam with excitement at the sight of him.

"Mama says I can spend the day with you." She signed informing him. But he already knew. Lian told him yesterday.

He smiled down at the child.

"Really?That sounds amazing. Go inside while I talk to your mama." He signed back.

She happily walked into the house past him.

Lian had a bag with her which she handed to Wen Jin.

He didn't like seeing how puffy and sad her eyes looked or how hoarse her voice was.

"That has whatever she needs and I'm sorry to just do this out of the blue. She's been asking for you and I honestly didn't have the energy to say no." She said,

She seemed to avoid his gaze as she wiped her face.

He really just wanted to tell her. Let her know she didn't need to cry for her lost child cause he was standing right in front of her. But one glance at how his identity could hurt his sister and maybe it's best he let her go through this. But what if she doesn't…… he began to speak but she spoke again. This time looking at him. Still tired and sad but with some determination.

"I'm going to a counselor today, a grief counselor. I'm doing it for Ming Yue. You're right I have to think of my child that's with me now."

"Yes…" he agreed. Definitely it was hard seeing his mother talk about him like he was dead but at least she was moving on.

She forced a smile then gave him the small bag. He took it then she turned to leave.

As she left he felt a tugging at his heart. That's his mother. He hasn't seen her for years and she's walking away.

"M….. Dr Wang." He called out.

She stopped and turned to him confused.

He didn't know what it was but he felt like he needed to do this. He put the bag down at the doorstep then rushed to her.

Lian didn't know what to do when the tall young man wrapped his hands around him. Did he feel pity and think she needed it? No it didn't feel like that as he tightened his hold. He held onto her like she was the most precious thing he had. She held him back. Then she heard a stifled hic. Then he pulled away.

"I'm sorry." He said pulling away. Turning his head away from her as he wiped a tear.

"It's alright. I needed it too." Lian reassured him with a more genuine smile.

He nodded and then turned around.

Lian walked away feeling a lot better.

He watched at the doorstep as she got into the car and watched the car drive away.

The only time he got back into the car was when he felt a tug at his shirt.

He shook himself from whatever trance he got himself into and turned to see Ming Yue next to him. She looked confused.

"What's wrong?" She signed.

He smiled and shook his head. "Nothing" he signed back then ruffled her long black hair.

He led her inside the house.

***************

"So what do you want to do?" He asked.

Ming Yue looked to be thinking intensely as she placed her hand on her chin. At least that's what she made it look.

Then her face lit up and she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

With some false looking through she found what she was looking for and showed him a picture.

It was an ice cream shop. Looked fancy and cute with pretty decorations and as he scrolled through he could see it had a lot of social media presence.

He shook his head. It was cold today and she couldn't have ice cream.

"It's cold." He signed.

She frowned and pouted, putting her hands together to beg.

Still he shook his head.

"We won't eat the ice cream…."

He looked confused.

She sort of avoided his eyes, looking down "We'll just take pictures."

That was more confusing and surprising. He signed asking for some more clarification.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Then she sort of sighed and turned to her phone again. She handed it to him.

It was her social media profile. A model…… She had quite the following.

"You want to model?"

She nodded with a large smile.

He shrugged. Sure why not?

"But you have to dress warmly."

Her face turned to one of a professional and then she dramatically turned and strutted to her bag that her mother gave him. It was on the table.

He was left a little stunned and amused at the little girl.

She pulled out a winter themed pastel blue long modernised Qipao with fluffy boots.

Before he could raise the question about how it still wouldn't be enough to keep the cold out she pulled out leggings and a coat.

He looked at her even more stunned. "where did you get these?"

She shrugged then signed back. "Savings and allowances and Mama's closet." The last line was followed with her pointing at the coat.

Looking at it now. That was his mother's coat.

Ming Yue was surprisingly tall for her age so the coat wouldn't be too big for her.

He sighed then stood up.

"I'll go change and then we can go." He signed to her and she almost jumped when he let her know.

He laughed a little.

After a few wardrobe changes, ones that he felt were unnecessary but apparently it's a nice place and he shouldn't dress like he's ready to go to bed.

He got out the house, borrowing Milo's keys and leading his fashionista out of the house. He left a text telling Milo he was going out so he wouldn't worry.

Ming Yue strode out of the house past him and sat at the back. Is he supposed to look like her driver? Whatever he gets to spend time with her.

The place was hard to find but they got there eventually if they took any longer his boss in the back might have lost her patience.

She didn't waste any time and opened the door herself, quickly stepping out and running into the shop. Leaving him behind he shook his head and just got out.

He stood by the car. She'll be back.

He saw her coming back looking a little humbled now.

"You have the money." She signed, looking up at him a little embarrassed.

"Oh…. I do, don't I?" He signed, giving an exaggerated shock expression. Then he reached into his pocket and took out his wallet.

Then he signed to her with a serious expression now "settle down."

She nodded.

They walked into the shop and he ordered something small for him and she had something of her own. It was much larger but he understood why when she gave him the phone.

He groaned rolling his eyes and she motioned for him to hurry.

He gave in and aimed the camera. She posed and from where he was he noticed a few things didn't look too right.

He put his hand out for a time out. Then he moved over and fixed her hair. Then added a little of his ice cream on part of hers.

Ming Yue turned her head trying to make sense of what he was doing, then her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open when she noticed how much better he was making things.

He sat down then gave her a thumbs up. She shook away the shock and posed again.

He would stop her and would guide how she did things and then go back.

He even left the seat and went to different positions to get the right angle. Even climbing on top of the chair to get an up view.

Then when he was done he sat down on the chair 'looking exhausted' and flicking off a fake stream of sweat. He handed her the phone. Maybe he was feeling a little tired.

She took it and looking through the pictures most of them were really good.

"These are really good." She signed to him. Looking impressed.

He gave a cocky smile and just nodded in agreement.

Then he took a spoonful of his own ice cream. He didn't see how much he got and felt the consequence. When the sharp pain hit his brain, he hissed at the pain.

Brain freeze.

Ming Yue laughed at him.

"Be careful Mr photographer." She signed, taking a break from her laughter.

He put a hand to his forehead. Then laughed at himself.

When it passed he turned back to it suddenly realizing he forgot his own rule. He couldn't say anything as Ming Yue began eating her ice cream.

It was good ice cream anyway.

"Thank you…... Gege" *big brother*

The last addition stopped him in his tracks. She definitely didn't know about their relationship then it just means she considers him a big brother without knowing.

He smiled. "You're welcome." He signed back.

Then turned back to his ice cream with a soft smile on his face.

Ming Yue tapped his arm a while later.

He looked up at her.

"The people behind you keep looking at you Gege." She had a proud smile on.

He looked back and the people seemed to turn away.

He didn't really mind it. It was flattering but nothing would come out of it.

"Which one do you like?" She asked.

"None though the middle one is pretty."

Ming Yue looked at the person seated in the middle. He was tall with colored hair and was really pretty.

"Gege, you like boys?"

Seems that's what she'll be calling him. But maybe he should clarify.

"I don't like boys that way or girls or anyone."

Maybe that was enough.

"But Gege you said that one was pretty I thought it meant you liked him."

He put down his spoon and began trying to find a way to explain his attraction.

"I can find people pretty without needing to want to be with them in any wayLike....how you find that ice cream pretty."

Ming Yue seemed to understand and nodded.

"Alright Gege." She signed.

It wasn't something new to him. He'd come to this conclusion a long time ago. Romance or sex weren't things he cared for and when he found out he wasn't really torn on the issue. Though it felt nice having a word for it or words.

His biggest issue was the way he found people attractive. It made him falter on his standing with his identity until he found the types of attraction.

Milo helped him with the romance part because he was the same. He had to find out about sex on his own.

"Asexual Aromantic."He texted it to her phone. He wasn't sure if the word existed in sign language.

"That's what it's called" he sent another one.

She checked her phone.

Before she could text back. He sent another one.

"Don't compare me to a plant.😒🌱"

She looked like she was busted.

"I wasn't going to Gege.😅"

They finished their ice cream and left the shop.

"I'm cold gege let's get something hot now." She signed, looking at him, making her eyes bigger and pouting.

"You're the one who wanted the ice cream."

"You're the one who took the first bite." She retorted and he couldn't say anything else.

"I'll make you soup at home."

She jumped feeling victorious.

He pointed at something and asked if she wanted more pictures.

She was a little reluctant, probably worried for him. He pushed her until she said yes. This time he used his phone.

After a few more trips they finally headed back.

They got in the car and this time she sat in front, this time.

****************

When they got into the house Ming Yue changed back to her previous clothes and he went to the kitchen.

He began making something warm while she waited. Watching something on her tablet. She said her mother would find ways to find subtitled things for her to watch and that's what was keeping her busy now.

He came out with two bowls filled with some soup he made.

The day really weakened him. He didn't expect to feel this tired after barely doing much. Sure the surgery wasn't too long ago. But he couldn't pass off being with her.

Ming Yue rejoiced when he brought the soup. It was. Corn and spare ribs.

She immediately dug into it satisfied with each spoonful and he smiled looking at her eat.

There was a knock at the door and he turned his attention to it, pulling away from Ming Yue.

He stood up to answer it. It was probably Ming Yue's mother. She texted saying she was coming soon.

As he stood. The world turned and there was a ringing in his ear. The world began to darken and he couldn't seem to keep his eyes open.

He held the wall. When the dizziness got too bad. That didn't help him stay up when his legs gave out and his eyes rolled back.

His knees hit the hardwood floor then he fell to the side.

Ming Yue made a terrified cry when she saw him fall. Then Lian just opened the door when she heard her.

She was horrified to see him lying on the floor and her daughter next to him not sure what to do.

**************

Lian looked at the passed out young man on the couch. He definitely looked a little pale.

Ming Yue was seated beside him. Looking impatient just begging him to wake up.

Maybe she shouldn't have brought Ming Yue here. Though he assured her he had recovered enough. Maybe she should have passed it along to his father.

She heard the young man groan then saw as his eyes fluttered open.

He looked around the room pretty confused, then his eyes wandered to Lian.

Before he could process what was going on he felt hands wrap around him. It was Ming Yue. She was crying.

He held her back. Rubbing her back to calm her.

Ming Yue pulled back. Rubbing the tears from her eyes. He looked up at her, not quite caught up yet.

"Why do you always scare me?"

He looked at Lian not quite catching on with her remark.

"You fainted young man." Lian explained. Then she gave a tired sigh and disapproving look. "Why didn't you say something? You scared the child."

"I'm sorry." He began pulling himself up and Lian stopped him. Then she motioned for Ming Yue to give some pillows she placed behind his head, leveling him up.

Then she gave him a stern expression. He knew better than to argue

"No, you're staying there. I called your father. He'll be coming from work soon." Lian commanded.

Then she moved over to get the soup he had made…. It still looked warm. Maybe he wasn't out long.

She began to feed him. He still looked a little adamant about this but then she persisted motioning for him to open his mouth.

He relented and let her feed him. It wasn't so bad. Lian was gentle as she fed him and he quite liked her being there. Really missed his mother.

He felt happy as he looked at her. She looked much better than this morning. He could also now see how time had caught up to her. Her hair was much shorter and was already greying. She tied it back in a new way. He didn't notice the smile and only noticed the tear when Lian pointed it out.

"Something wrong? Does it hurt anywhere?" She put the bowl down. Then began frantically checking him for injuries.

Both of them looked pretty surprised at his sudden crying.

"Oh I'm sorry it's nothing. I…. Uh …. I." He just couldn't find the words.

Lian stopped checking then wiped his tears.

"I'm sorry. I heard about your mother dying recently. I guess I brought up memories."

"No it's not….. It's not your fault……. I guess I just miss her. Sorry for making you worry."

"It's fine. I myself have people I've lost." She paused holding back tears then turned to him with a smile. "But I'm learning to move on."

She took the bowl and began to feed him again. He ate everything and then when she was done she took both their bowls.

"It's okay you can leave them, I'll take care of that." He protested.

"Seat down." She commanded and he complied.

He wasn't willing to argue with her when she was using that tone.

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. I'll clean up and wait for your father with you."

As she left the room Ming Yue was left with him. Acting as a guard to make sure he didn't disobey.

She was seated on the other end of the couch. He reached out and ruffled her hair again.

She stood moving away from him and fixing her hair.

Then her expression changed. She looked away from him and lowered her head.

"I'm sorry you always get hurt because of me." She signed to him.

He patted the couch telling her to come closer.

"It's not your fault. It's just that there are people that always want to harm others." He reassured her but she still didn't look convinced.

"But today…."

He held her shoulder stopping her before she could finish signing. Then he shook his head.

He let go of her shoulder.

"That was because I was an idiot that didn't listen to the doctor."

She chuckled. At least she was smiling again.

Just then Milo walked in and Lian walked out of their kitchen hearing the door.

"Dr Hiroshi." She greeted him.

Milo was still taken by surprise seeing them there with Wen Jin on the couch and Lian coming out of his kitchen. She was also drying her hands with his kitchen cloth.

Milo only realized he didn't actually greet her back and sort of faltered. "Um….. I… Dr Wang, how are you?"

"I'm fine. Your son over there is the problem."

Both of them turning to him made him want to sink deeper into the couch.

"Yes he is." Milo agreed.

Wen Jin felt both their disapproving glares and looked over at Ming Yue but she just looked the same.

Maybe he should have let her have some of the blame.

"Thank you for taking care of him." Milo offered his gratitude.

"It's alright he's done a lot for me and my daughter. It's the least I could do to repay him."

Lian stayed for dinner much to his and surprisingly Milo's dismay.

But she cooked for them and would have stayed if Milo didn't convince her to let him do the dishes.

Ming Yue had fallen asleep and Milo picked her up not wanting to wake her.

Then placed her in Lian's car.

They said their goodbyes and Milo walked back into the house.

He found Wen Jin asleep as well.

He grabbed a blanket and placed it over him. Then began with the dishes.

[neko-naruto]

Monster

Miriam had convinced her parents to let go to Portorosa, Pira had done the same along with Abby, all three agreeing to ride with Miriam, her parents agreeing to let them tag along, they were lucky they had a fifteen seater van, all that was left was getting Mei to tag along.

Mei was already working on convincing her parents to let her go, her dad was perfectly fine with it, her mother, not so much, but she was budging as Mei had helped her lock the panda up again.

"Hey mom!" Mei shouted as she finished packing her backpack, all she grabbed was the essentials and of course, a few items that didn't count as the essentials to others, Gameboy Advance, Pokemon Gold, batteries, camera and one of the older pieces of panda merch during the hustle.

"Yes Mei Mei?" Ming asked as she pushed open the door to find Mei in her normal attire with a smile on her face, tail standing on end a bit.

"Can I go to Portorosa with my friends, I swear I'll be good, and I won't let the panda out in public, I promise!" Mei said, words tumbling out in a single, rapid fire string of words, Ming wore a look of shock, but she already saw how prepared Mei was, she sighed a bit, a light smile on her face.

"Go ahead, just be careful." Ming said, Mei poofed into a red panda before pulling her mom into a tight hug, relaying 'Thank you!' as much as she could before changing back, and rushing out the front door, emotion overtaking her as soon as she exited, she found herself ducking and dodging cars as she ran across the city, climbing few things.

Mei had to take a few extra turns to save time as she did so, she found herself leaping from rooftop to rooftop in no time as she hurried to Miriams house, a van resting outside on idle, she leapt down, changing back almost on command for an awesome entry, Miriam was first to run over and engulf her friend in hug.

"Your mom let you come?" Miriam asked as she let down her friend, Mei nodded, still grinning as she was led into the car, finding herself in the very back, with Miriam beside her, Abby and Priya in the seat ahead, Mei had to refrain from poofing back into red panda as the most likely couldn't hold her, unless she was splayed out on the floor with the seats down, most of them down.

"Girl! Are you hyped for pasta or what?!" Abby asked, clearly excited as she turned to see Mei, the car coming to start as Miriams parents slammed the doors.

"Hell yeah!" Mei said, nearly shouted, a puff of pink shrouding her for a split second and clouding the back end of the car, a red panda tail and ears along with her hands turning to paws, she had to steady her breathing.

"Calm down girl!" Abby said, still full of excitement and nearly shouting as they coasted across the pavement, the trip would take at least eight hours, with various gas station stops until they reached their destination.

"It's just a road trip, not like were gonna meet any cute guys." Priya said, everyone paused to release a dreamy sigh, Miriams dreamy sigh was the weakest, she didn't mind boys, but she wasn't opposed to girls, everyone in the group had that view, but Miriam was the best with girls and guys alike.

"Yeah, but what if we do?" Miriam asked, everyone started to heat up a bit at the idea, maybe their would be one for each of them, if not one guy for everyone, Miriam could settle for a sister with ease, so could Mei, Abby would have the hardest time settling for a female, Priya, Priya wasn't new to the idea of girls, that emo chick with the purple hair, she was definitely way up high on Priyas list.

"That would be nice, or what if we met someone with a 'blessing' like mine?" Mei asked, it sounded far out and unrealistic, but for all they knew Italians could be like Mei, maybe they would just find a few, or none, maybe even a fabled sea monster, that would be fun.

"I don't know man, but I bet we'll find at least one sea monster, they might be similar," Priya said before turning back to look out her window, already coming up on glorious views, nothing seaside yet, but still beautiful. "Look out your window."

Everyone turned to look out their window, Abby having the hardest time as she was on the opposite side of the car, Miriam had to push herself on top of Mei to get a view of the lakes and and barely snow coated trees, a few other people were driving along with them on the same highway.

The drive hazed by for the most part, the first eight hours took no time at all, talking and chatting about 'girl stuff' along with Pokemon and cartoons, some anime as well, stuff they shared an interest in.

"Go buy snacks while we refill the tank!" Miriams mother stated as the car came to a screeching halt, all four sprung to their feet, a twenty and a fiver in each of their hands as they barrelled through the glass, gas station doors, a ding sounded off, heaven.

Coolers full of energy drinks of any and all brands, bags of chips lined up on shelves, gum and lottery tickets at the front desk, very little healthy food next to the jerky, everyone spread out to cover the most ground.

They reached the desk with an armful of snacks, Miriam had three packets of overpriced jerky of various meat types and peanut butter chimes, Abby had grabbed multiple blue and purple gatorade and two cans of monster energy, Mei had all dressed chips with onion and sour cream even plain, Priya had grabbed the candy, gum, liquorice, gummies and of course hickory sticks.

"That will be a total of eighty five dollars." The cashier stated as he finished ringing up the last item and sliding it into a bag, each of the four girls items in a separate bag, they slammed down each of their bills on the desk.

"Keep the change, my good man, we are going to Portorosa." Mei stated before taking her leave, the rest following, Priya giving a 'Thanks.' to the cashier before leaving as well, Miriam pulled open the door and every rushed in, sitting on the ground with the seats down, checking their bounty before portioning it out.

"Same seating as before?" Priya asked, everyone nodded before getting to their seats, instead of sitting opposite to Mei, Miriam sat next to Mei instead, the girl morphing to her red panda, nearly changing the cars structure with her form, she was so excited by everything in general.

"Calm down, mom and dad would flip their lid if you messed up their car." Miriam said, running a hand through Meis fur as her friend tried to calm down before poofing back to a human, her friend collapsing onto Mei.

"I know, how much time is left before we reach Portarosa?" Mei asked as she leaned against the window behind Priyas.

"Eight to fifteen hours before the pasta!" Abby stated before taking a swig of purple gatorade, the caffiene taking little time to start having effect on her, the rest giggled a bit at how energetic she was.

The rest of the drive hazed by for them, they ended up falling asleep for a couple hours, waking up one or two hours before they arrived, Mei waking up first and plaining on her GBA, trying not to move from her spot in hopes it wouldn't wake Miriam, the volume on her GBA being at max didn't help, the music blared and Priya snapped awake, Mei turned down the volume after she realized how loud it was.

By the time they had fully arrived, everyone was juiced up on energy drinks, stale chips and candy, Mei was nearly turning panda, Miriam brushing her fur preventing Mei from messing up the car.

When the car came to a halt, all four girls barrelled out with no abandon and made a dash across the sea faring town, in search of people, dashing past elderly as they held no interest to the four.

They ran into a group of three, getting knocked to the ground.

"Watch your going!" The brunette they ran into snapped, pointing aggressively at them with a scoff.

"I could say the same to you!" Miriam snapped back as she brushed down her clothes, Abby and Priya had to hold down Mei who was close to releasing the panda again, freaking a bit but at the same time agitating flowed through her veins.

"Your not even from here, fucking Canadians!" The brunette snapped again, all four girls gasped in slight shock, that was the final push, even with Priya holding Mei back, the panda was out and had tackled both the brunette and his friends to the ground, claws threatening to break their skin.

"Chill, chill, Berto is a bit, blunt, but he's a nice guy, promise!" The smallest one stated, that snapped Mei from her rage and she released them before going to her happy place, turning back to human.

"Well, Berto, I would suggest you start biting your tongue." Mei said, it was different for her to be bold with someone new, but she was still agitated.

"It's Alberto, not Berto, and I guess you can stick around in our town for a bit." Alberto said, still snarking a bit at the four girls, red panda ears shot up on Meis head, she brushed them down.

"Good," Miriam said, slicing the tension in half, she offered to help up the redhead. "We should probably introduce ourselves, I'm Miriam."

"Guilia, pleasure to meet you." The redhead, Guillia said before putting out a hand for Miriam to shake, which she took in a hearty shake.

"Priya." Was all Priya need to say as an introduction, Abby cut her off before she could get anything else out anyways.

"And I'm Abby!" Abby said, full of energy, the monster she drank kicking in.

"Luca, sorry for how rude Alberto was." Luca said, putting out a hand for Mei to shake, which she did so haphazardly.

"Mei, do you, by any chance, know where we can find a beach, maybe even a sea monster or two?" Mei asked, Luca and Alberto exchanged glances, no one noticed, but a silent agreement took place between both of them.

"Of course we do, we can you show you around, or just the beach if you want us to." Alberto offered, repressing a grin that threatened to creep onto his face.

"No sea monsters?" Abby asked with slight disappointment.

"Nope, they come out at random." Luca said, smiling lightly before turning to lead the three to the beach where the Albertos reveal had went down, it was shite, but a good place.

"And they're aren't any cute boys either, what a waste." Priya stated as they climbed over jagged rocks ending up on a rocky shore with waves that licked the sand it crept up on and receded away from, the seven took a seat on the ground.

"So," ALberto started. "When do you do that panda thing, it was pretty cool."

"Sometimes, strong emotions push it out." Mei explained, hear the rocks shift before both brunettes stretched their arms and legs and stepped over to the rocks, jumping from each one till they reached the final one above the water, Guillia smirked, knowing what they were gonna do.

"Ready?" Alberto asked, keeping his voice quiet before looking at the four, eyes trained on him and Luca, Luca nodded before hopping in, Alberto following shortly after.

The water that splashed from Lucas dive hit Albertos skin causing scales to blossom in a periwinkle and violet shade, no one noticed as the scales were small, but when the two resided underwater long enough to cause concern is when the girls started to rush over, Mei was fastest to find herself knee deep, being thrown back with a poof of pink clouds when two reptilian monsters shot up and lunged at her, releasing her the second her knockback started.

The two reptilian creatures bared their fangs, tails behind them resting but twitching from time to time as they stepped closer, clothes torn slightly and claws out, growling slightly as the four inched back in fear, Guillia showed no sign of true fear, but feigned the emotion for her friends plan to succeed.

The two creatures continued to push forward, scales gleaming in the light in almost iridescent fashion, the periwinkle one was first to act, feigning a slash at Abby, grazing her skin, there was no contact, but she was in enough fear she 'felt' the slash.

The two creatures, after on land, straightened their posture a bit and shook themselves down, scales replaced with skin and eyes changed colors as well, clothes stayed torn and tail disappeared, everyone was to shook to do everything, Guillia started to laugh a bit along with her friends.

"Wh-What was that for?!" Was all Miriam could spit out, she was still immobilized with fear, how good Luca and Albertos acting was shocked everyone, but more importantly how voracious and blood thirsty they looked.

"You said you wanted to see sea monsters, so we delivered." Alberto stated with a chuckle, leaning on Luca a bit, both still laughing, the latter wiped a tear from his eye.

"Jerk," Mei stated boldly as she got up, forcing herself to stay panda, she could calm down and stop if she wanted to, but she needed it to tear these sea monsters limb from limb, she gripped Alberto first, squeezing him in her fist till she heard a crack, he coughed up blood with a yelp of pain, Mei released him instantly before poofing back, regret filling her form. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to, I just-"

"It's fine, I totally deserved it, and it means Guillia no longer has a free pass to break one of my toes for the time I memorized her diary." Alberto stated weakly with a forced laugh before Guillia elbowed him in the side, more blood spilled from between his lips, he was fine, not as bad as a harpoon, but it still stung.

"You what?" Miriam asked, the conversation already shifting to one less heavy.

[artxsticsuper]

My favorite member is definitely Robaire 🌹 THIS MAN IS SO FINE ✨✨✨ When I first saw him, he reminded me of 2 of my favorite artists: Jason Derulo and Usher. I started to grow into him after finding out he was voiced by Jordan Fisher (bro’s so talented I swear 😭). Also, THE HIGH NOTE! Can’t forget that high note he did. It was so angelic and it literally gave me goosebumps when I first heard it. 

I don’t have a favorite member I previously had but if I had to pick another one, it’d be Jesse.

Robaire likes to confuse the hell out of anyone who doesn’t know or speak French, specifically when he flirts or swears in French.

When it comes to Tae, Jesse can become overprotective sometimes (he’s literally the dad of the group).

Because Tae is an animal person, he’s usually not afraid of most animals. He’d be the type to ask if he can keep a rescued animal while on tour. If they say yes, he’ll end up filling the whole tour bus.

For Aaron T: T is the type of guy to say yes to “If your friend jumped off a bridge, would you?” For Aaron Z: Z would sometimes playfully tease Robaire while playing basketball with him.

My top 3 songs ranked: 1. U Know What’s Up 2. 1 True Love 3. Nobody Like U // This was honestly a hard pick to choose from since all of them I loved. But my favorite was “U Know What’s Up”, especially the panda hustle version. Because of how catchier the song and the lyrics are, I ended up dancing harder with this song compared to the rest of the other songs.

I ship Robaire and Tae Young; I feel like Robaire would have a cute relationship with Tae and he would be one of the members where he treats Tae like a regular member rather than a child. It’s hard to ship the rest of the band since they never got a lot of screen time in the movie. I might ship Robaire with Jesse too but for now I’m depending on Tae.

My first memory of 4*Town was when I first saw the Tween Beat magazine on Pixar’s Instagram account back in early 2022 before Turning Red was released on Disney+.

Yes! I wish there were more chapters but I absolutely enjoyed it. My favorite chapter in the Manga is True Crew because I love the idea of Robaire and Aaron Z being childhood friends and rivals to each other. We should have seen more of Robaire’s mom in the manga since she could have some similarities to Ming Lee and she could also be an obstacle to Robaire’s relationship with Z.

Nobody Like U: “I want everybody to stop and stare, and you know why it’s me Robaire” 1 True Love: “I could never survive a minute apart, you are my one true love” U Know What’s Up: “You want those shoes, you want that shirt, you want that car, you want that purse”

The concert scene, 100%! The moment those cages and the wings appeared, I knew I was going to lose it because I ended up fangirling so hard the whole time and I wanted to take Mei’s place to reach out for Robaire’s hand so badly. It gets even better when the band comes back during the Panda ritual, it had me shook—

Tough choice. I’m thinking between Robaire and Aaron Z because I feel like these two would be the ones who led to the rise of 4*Town besides both of them having a passion for singing.

I’m not that experienced with fairy tales. But here’s which fairy tale I think each member would be in: Robaire: Jack in the Beanstalk // Jesse: Rapunzel // Tae Young: Snow White // Aaron T: Alice in Wonderland // Aaron Z: Red Riding Hood//

I would buy their clothes and accessories, maybe the CD’s as well.

This one, I’m not too sure about. But I do want an album that relates to the song featured in True Crew.

What I like the most about 4*Town is their songs. As much as I don’t frequently listen to boy bands, 4*Town perfectly represents a band from the 2000s, especially with the lyrics, tone, and beat (Finneas and Billie, I love you for this 💕).

I love the headcanons and the artwork from this fandom! It’s fun to read them from all of the members and I would sometimes read the X Reader ones too! 💕

Besides doing art, I sometimes make edits and play video games.

“Catch 22” and “I’ll Be” ✨

NewJeans - OMG

Smash Mouth - All Star

If I had to make a series, I would include all of the members backstories and the formation of 4*Town because I was hoping to get more screen time with the band in the movie. I don’t care if they’re not the main protagonists, I NEED TO SEE MORE OF THEM 😭

I have 2 favorites, specifically from the Manga: I love Tae Young and Jesse’s relationship in the manga. It melts my heart when Jesse becomes supportive of Tae while he’s going through conflict with his parents. I also love Robaire and Aaron Z’s relationship. Like I said before, I love the idea of these two being childhood friends and rivals to each other.

I would love to hear the Girl I Love Your Jeans remix! I say it should have a mixture of pop and rap for most of the song. The rap sections would mostly be in the verses.

I currently don’t have any suggestions.

I can’t pick any favorites at the moment. However, I did love most of the blogs on Tumblr when I first started using Tumblr around mid 2022.

I enjoy sharing 4*Town content! I also enjoy the fandom that increased my love for the band. If Pixar ever made a series focused on the band, I would immediately binge watch it because these guys deserve it after what I have witnessed in that concert scene.

The Manga doesn’t really need changes but I do think there should be more added to it. Although we did get a minor backstory for most of the band members, I wanted to see more of the lives of each band member, especially Robaire, Aaron T, and Aaron Z.

I have a feeling I’ll get jumped for this. But I don’t ship Aaron T and Aaron Z a lot. As much as I have nothing against this ship and I support the idea of them being together, I just don’t ship it as much as other people do in the fandom.

Another tough choice but I think I would mostly get along with Robaire and Jesse. For Jesse, him being the father of the group should be a good enough explanation even though I consider him the type of guy to babysit me and try to keep me under control even when I’m not being a menace (I could be kinda goofy in real life but only with close friends cuz I’m not very sociable). However, he has similar interests to mine due to him going to art school. Personally, I think he can do art other than pottery. For Robaire, his personality would be spot on to Jordan Fisher’s. I count this man as a sweetheart, pretty mature like Jesse, charming, and takes certain things seriously like I do. Robaire could sometimes be extra to the point where it can be slightly annoying but I can manage him. And another thing, this man’s singing skills other than Aaron Z’s sends me over the roof. It feels like heaven to me and I would wanna be his soulmate if he was real.

I currently don’t have any expectations.

Love me Back by Trinidad Cardona: I honestly blame the edits people made of 4*Town with this specific song. That, and this one Tae Young X Listener video I watched a while back which has been unfortunately deleted. The song gives me summer vibes and I think it would be awesome if the entire band sang this song! If I ever got the chance to learn how to animate, I would make a music video. Everybody by the Backstreet Boys also reminds me of 4*Town, which is a bit ironic since this band might be Domee Shi’s inspiration behind 4*Town.

Yes, I do! Here’s my message: I would like to say thank you all for giving 4*Town the attention they deserve and for the popularity it got. I would also like to say thank you to the people who made some of the most talented artwork, edits, fanfictions, and headcanons from this band. No matter how active this fandom is, 4*Town will always remain in my heart and this will be a reminder to me where I can count on the team who created this band. I love y’all so much 💕

Welcome one and all to the… 4*Town Ask Game! Where you can answer questions to emphasise your love for the entire 4*Town fandom and to also bring the hype of my fanfiction that’s coming up soon.

How it’s going to work: I’ll write the questions on this post, make sure to read them carefully as a way to fully answer the questions in detail, once you've read them, reblog to answer the full questions and make sure that the words are appropriate as I don’t tolerate hateful behaviour. And don’t forget to share this to others so they can share the love for this group as well! Without further ado, let’s get started!

Who is your favourite member and why?

Who was your favourite member previously?

Share with me a headcanon on Robaire 🌹

Share with me a headcanon on Jesse 🎨

Share with me a headcanon on Tae Young 🕊️

Share a headcanon on The Aarons (Z and T)

What is your favourite 4*Town song and why? (Include your Top 3.)

Who do you ship from the group and why?

What was your first memory of 4*Town?

Did you read the manga? If so, what is your favourite chapter and why?

Name me your top 3 favourite lyrics from each 4*Town song🎵🎶

Do you have a favourite 4*Town scene from Turning Red and why?

Since I’m working on the “4*Town: Unfiltered” story, who do you want to be the main protagonist and why?

If you could imagine each 4*Town member in a fairy tale or any story, which one would each member be in and why?

What type of merch would you buy if 4*Town had merchendise?

For their next album, what concept would you want it to be and what songs could you include and why?

What do you like the most about 4*Town and why?

What do you love most about the entire fandom?

Do you do art or any other activities?

Can you tell me your favourite song from Robaire and Aaron Z’s discography? (You can sing the song’s lyrics as well.) And if you don’t know what I mean, I’m talking about the songs from my headcanons.

Pick a song for Tae Young and Jesse if they were a duo.

Pick a song for Aaron T if he went solo.

If you had to make a series or a spin-off of 4*Town, what would you include and why?

Do you have a favourite relationship from the group and why?

Which unreleased song from the group are you willing to hear and what are you expecting the song to sound like?

Are there any more themes or genres for my fanfiction that I should explore? It would be nice if you gave me any suggestions, please.

Do you have a favourite blog from the fandom and what do you like about them?

Do you enjoy sharing 4*Town content? Why or why not?

If there were any changes in the manga, what would you change? Why or why not?

Any unpopular opinions on 4*Town?

Which member do you think you’d get along with the most? Why or why not?

What are you expecting the fanfiction to look like to you when it gets released on Wattpad? Any form of plot? Character development? Conflicts?

Which songs remind you of 4*Town? Why or why not?

And the final question: Do you have a message for the whole entire fandom?

[translations-by-aiimee]

Dig a Grave to Dig Out a Ghost - Chapter 7

Original Title: 挖坟挖出鬼

Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 7 - Police Station

His early morning class was basically just background noise. After trying to listen to the professor, all the sentences blurred together until there was only a buzzing sound.

Lin Yan propped himself up with his elbow on the table, his head nodding off again and again.

"These Ming Dynasty shirts were made of jade-coloured cloth and silk. They had wide-sleeves and circular collars, with black ribbons and seams hanging down.

Even prisoners wore this style of clothing."

The city was immersed in sleep at midnight, and there was no activity insight. Lin Yan drove his car from the residential area to the main road, and the night breeze came in, blowing the hair on his forehead.

A person appeared silently in the middle of the road.

Lin Yan gasped. Too close to swerve out of the way, he subconsciously slammed on the brakes, "Squeak--"

The huge inertia made him rush forward. He prayed that he didn't get into an accident. When he looked up again, he saw the front of the car stopped less than two metres away from the person, but the person stood perfectly still as though he hadn't seen the car. There is no intention of moving out of the way at all. Did this guy want to die? Lin Yan's hand grabbed his chest. He flashed the car lights twice to signal to the person to move aside. After seeing the person clearly, Lin Yan's mind turned to static.

The man’s feet were reversed, with heels facing forward and toes facing backward.

He slowly raised his head towards Lin Yan. His head was a skull covered with chunks of flesh with bone peeking through. His lips were more than half-rotten, two rows of slanted white teeth exposed. There was a stiff, crooked grin that pulled at the corners of his mouth, and dark laughter sounded in Lin Yan's ears. . .

Lin Yan's body trembled and he was thrown back awake.

"Skirts were slightly lighter in colour in the early Ming Dynasty; white skirts were promoted during the Chongzhen period. There were one or two inches of embroidery around the hem of the skirts. . .

"At the end of the Ming Dynasty, it developed into eight or ten inches. Pleated skirts were very popular, with fine and large folds..."

It was the middle of the day, these were human voices.

. . . Was that a nightmare?

Lin Yan recovered from his mini heart attack and tried to slow his breathing, but his heart couldn't stop beating.

Hesitantly, a cold hand touched his hair lightly. It stopped on the back of his neck as if it were soothing, but it disappeared in an instant. Lin Yan froze. The anger and constant anxiety of being violated at any time would make anyone paranoid. His anger came to a breaking point; ghost encounters at night, dreaming of ghosts during the day, would it ever stop? With a wave of his hand, he threw the textbook to the side, slapped the table, stood up, and shouted, "Fucking try it again! Come at me, I'm not afraid!"

The book fluttered across the table and chairs in the front row, and the papers in the book scattered like snow. Lin Yan stood in a daze, and it took a moment for him to snap out of it. Looking around, his confusion melted into overwhelming embarrassment. He saw the hundreds of students in the classroom turned back and stared at him. The teacher that taught his Ming Dynasty costume research class stood on the podium at the front of the room and looked at Lin Yan with disgust.

"Sit down. If you have any questions, you can talk to me after class. This teacher is old and can't keep up with your young people's games."

The rustling whisper in the class turned into a roar of laughter. Lin Yan blushed and shuffled all the way to the front to retrieve the textbook. He bowed to his teacher and returned back to his seat.

He was terrified that the ghost would try something else for most of the night. It had gotten harder to keep his eyes open just as dawn broke. It was hard staying awake during his morning class but he didn't expect his half-asleep daze to cause him this kind of embarrassment.

His face was still burning.

Just as he was thinking about it, his phone screen suddenly turned on, and a text message popped up. Yin Zhou sent: "Was everything alright last night?"

Lin Yan settled down and quickly sent a reply: "I'm still alive. I should be fine before July 15th." Fingers snapped and moved across the keyboard: "I found something new on a supernatural forum. Meet me at the entrance of the cafeteria at noon so we can talk."

On the first day of the month of Wushen, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, was the day of the Ghost Festival, and the gate of ghosts is wide open.

Lin Yan shrugged his shoulders and lay on the table, scribbling on the notebook while thinking. Unconsciously, he had covered a whole piece of paper with the rebirth curse. He hadn't done anything, so why is this ghost doing all of this? Lin Yan poked the paper bitterly with his pen, making small holes.

At the end of his two classes, when it was time for lunch, Lin Yan rushed to the cafeteria after packing up his things haphazardly. He went out and, when he turned to the left, he roughly bumped into another person. His nose slammed into their forehead and he almost cried out loud.

He should have checked his horoscope before going outside today.

Lin Yan held his nose and hissed and sucked in cold air. The other man stood silently. When Lin Yan opened his eyes and looked at the person he hit, he was surprised to see that he had run into a Daoist priest.

He was short and thin, his skin pale and he appeared weak. He was wearing some weird Tibetan blue homemade clothes. His shoulders were hunched under the weight of his backpack. This person seemed so dull that people couldn't help but yawn just glancing at him.

"Sorry, I was rushing to the cafeteria and didn't see you," Lin Yan apologized embarrassedly. The man didn't seem to be listening to him at all. His gaze was focused on something over Lin Yan's shoulder. He stared at it and suddenly grinned.

"Such powerful Yin energy. You need to be careful."

After speaking, he let out a soft "ah" as if he had just woken up from sleepwalking, and lightly floated past Lin Yan.

"Is that guy rambling delusions again?" The boy following Lin Yan poked his arm and said in disbelief.

Lin Yan shook his head and rushed down the stairs with his bag.

It was raining lightly, and the whole campus was wet. The students who were going to eat held umbrellas over their heads, looking like large colourful mushrooms from a distance. Lin Yan stepped onto a small paved road to avoid stepping in a puddle. Looking around, he saw Yin Zhou, who was looking around like a stupid bird at the entrance of the cafeteria. He looked terrible. He was holding a large red umbrella, four characters seemingly hanging on his forehead that was advertising his current mood: Stay away from me.

People who passed by couldn't help but glance over at him.

Lin Yan strode over the accumulating water under the steps in two quick strides, and patted Yin Zhou on the shoulder: "Why do you look as bad as I do?"

Yin Zhou was a little out of it, and took a long time to look at Lin Yan: "Second Immortal Gu is dead."

"My mother just called and asked us to the police station."

Lin Yan's face dropped.

When the police offer on duty led Lin Yan and Yin Zhou into the morgue and removed the white cloth that covered Second Immortal Gu’s face, Lin Yan took two steps backwards in shock. Yin Zhou couldn’t stop gagging. The face was extremely distorted. Her eyes were cracked open, the eyeballs almost bursting out of the eye sockets. Her mouth was wide open like a black hole, and her face looked like it was covered with nail scratches. It seemed that she had witnessed something extremely terrifying before she died. The most disgusting thing was that the skin all the way from her face to her neck was covered with deep holes. She had been eaten at by insects and ants. It is only by the contours of her face that they could barely recognize her as the grandmother who pretended to be a ghost in front of them yesterday.

Lin Yan covered his mouth and tried his best to suppress the urge to vomit. He waved his hand vigorously to let the police know to put down the white sheet.

"This is the person?"

Lin Yan nodded and took a few steps back unconsciously.

"She died last night. The bug bites are still under investigation." The policeman said casually, and glanced at Lin Yan's expressions disdainfully: "Are you two okay? We are all used to seeing dead people. It's better to think about where they're going."

Lin Yan and Yin Zhou, as the last two customers of Second Immortal Gu, were asked to stay at the police station to assist in the investigation. The interrogators took them to record their statements and fill out some forms. The police officer shuttled back and forth between the two interrogation rooms with the folders. As he walked, he muttered: "College students still believe this. I've heard so many crazy things over the years."

At 3 pm, the autopsy report from the hospital was sent to the police station. Second Immortal Gu died of a heart attack, which was a normal death. The blood contains a lot of catecholamines, the myocardial cells are damaged, mixed with erythema; it was a common way to die for patients with cardiovascular diseases. There were many insects in the countryside, and they gnawed away at the corpse overnight.

Lin Yan and Yin Zhou were taken out of the interrogation room, and each concluded the case by leaving their fingerprints for the file. The policeman on duty sent the two out. Seeing that the superior was not there, they shook their heads and muttered to Lin Yan: "The report said that they were strongly affected. To put it bluntly, they were scared to death. When I was a child, I heard the villagers say that these sorts of people never died a peaceful death, and dealing with ghosts and gods would damage their morality and sucks away at their life to the point that it kills them."

When they left the police station, the pattering rain was still falling, and there were few people on the street. Lin Yan's face turned blue and he couldn't stop shaking from head to toe. When he passed by the convenience store, he bought a pack of cigarettes and sat side by side with Yin Zhou on the road. The body of Second Immortal Gu lingered in front of his eyes. Lin Yan wiped the rain off his face, his lips shaking as he asked, "Do you think. . . that thing did it?"

Yin Zhou was silent. "He came again last night, he seemed very angry." Lin Yan buried his face in his hands. "We shouldn't have gone to see her yesterday."

"You saw how she looked just now. That thing isn't human."

As he raised his head and looked around, his voice suddenly rose: "just because no one can see it, it thinks it can just kill anyone it wants to? That's a human being; a living, breathing person. No matter what I do, you always fucking leave regardless of what I say. You're coming after me and yet you take revenge on others?!"

Insane, perverted, totally unreasonable. Lin Yan said mutely, "Ghosts were human once too. Did you even have a conscience when you were alive?! Why don't you come out? Brother, I’m waiting to die, it would be very kind of you to come here now. Why wait for July 15th? Let's end this!"

On all the roads of all the towns and villages, the faces behind every window have remained unknown to the general population. No one knew that in a village in the northwest corner of the city, a grandmother had been robbed of her life. She died inexplicably. To many, it was as unnoticeable as stepping on an ant. A ghost did it! Who would believe that? Lin Yan recalled his experience last night. He thought that that gentle kiss would at least show that the monster still had some trace of his conscience from when he was a human being. It even sympathized with his paranoia, but now? Second Immortal Gu couldn't see his existence at all, what did she do wrong? Lin Yan shouted desperately in his heart, what did I do wrong!

"The next one could be me, my parents, or you. . ." Lin Yan squeezed the cigarette out, a vicious expression in his eyes: "I wanted to make peace with it, but now I changed my mind."

"He can come and try to take my life. I'll kill him first; a life for a life!"

[killerandhealerqueen]

Can I ask for a Yu and Junbai fanfiction? With "Tending wounds/sickness", where Junbai hurt, something that doesn't require a doctor and Yu patch him up. Thank you

Hey!  I hope you like this!  I always wanted to write about Yu Tangchun singing Zhan Junbai to sleep, so this was a nice chance to write that! 

Zhan Junbai had never felt a headache like this before in his life.  It was a terrible pounding behind his eyes and every time he stared at words or paperwork, the words would swim and blur, making his headache even worse.  No matter how much water he drank, the headache would still not go away.  After about half a day at the office with the awful headache, he couldn’t handle it anymore and ordered one of his men to take him home.  As he sat in the backseat of the car, he let his eyes shut and leaned his head back, hoping that some rest would hopefully make the headache go away.

~*~*~*~*~

When he returned to the mansion and the driver woke him from his rest, he found that the headache was not only not gone but it was worse.   “Fuck” he whispered to himself as he stepped out of the car and headed inside, Qiu Ming immediately at his side. “Sir, are you alright?  You look awful” he murmured.  Zhan Junbai shook his head. “It’s just a headache.  Make me some tea” he instructed.  Qiu Ming nodded and headed off to the kitchen as Zhan Junbai walked over to his chair and sat down, placing his head in his hand. “You don’t look so good, Executive Zhan” a gentle voice called out, making Zhan Junbai look up to see Yu Tangchun walking down from the second floor, looking ethereal as usual.  Yu Tangchun then walked over and stood before him, a gentle smile on his face. “Is something the matter?” he asked.  Zhan Junbai stared at him and felt his vision blurring, causing him to shake his head. “Nothing.  I’m fine” he replied.  Yu Tangchun tsked softly and shook his head as he stepped forward, leaning down to look at Zhan Junbai’s face, causing the older man to jolt back in surprise. “Boss Yu” he breathed.  Yu Tangchun smiled. “Sorry.  But you look exhausted.  Have you been sleeping well recently?” he asked.  Zhan Junbai looked at the young man before he sighed and shook his head. “No” he admitted.  Yu Tangchun hummed before he reached out and gently touched Zhan Junbai’s forehead, startling him again. “Boss Yu” he hissed as Yu Tangchun placed the back of his hand to his forehead before he sighed. “No wonder you don’t feel well, Executive Zhan.  You have a fever” he declared.  Zhan Junbai blinked in surprise. “Fever?” he repeated.  Yu Tangchun nodded. “You haven’t been sleeping well, right?  A lack of sleep can bring on things like fevers because your body is trying to re-regulate itself.  You need rest” he declared.  Zhan Junbai groaned. “But I have so much work to do” he murmured.  Yu Tangchun raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you have subordinates at work?  Let them take care of it.  You don’t have to do everything yourself, you know” he stated.  Zhan Junbai made a face, causing Yu Tangchun sigh. “If you don’t trust your subordinates to do it, then you need to at least rest so you can do it yourself” he instructed as he held out his hand.  Zhan Junbai frowned and looked up at him in confusion but he just smiled sweetly and motioned to his hand. “Come Executive Zhan” he murmured.  Zhan Junbai’s frown deepened before he sighed and reached out, taking Yu Tangchun’s hand.  He then allowed himself to be guided up to his bedroom, where the young opera singer led him over to his bed and sat him down. “You can change later, Executive Zhan, but for now, just take off your shoes” he instructed.  Zhan Junbai did as he was told and took off his shoes before he slipped under the covers, letting out a heavy sigh. “I’ll get a cool towel” Yu Tangchun murmured as he slipped away and headed to the door, opening it quietly before he headed downstairs.  He soon returned, Qiu Ming following behind with a tea tray.  Qiu Ming then set the tray down and bowed before he turned and left, leaving Zhan Junbai in Yu Tangchun’s care.  Yu Tangchun then walked over to the tray and picked up the cool damn towel before turning back, placing the towel over Zhan Junbai’s forehead. “This should help to bring down the fever” he murmured.  Zhan Junbai hummed, barely registering Yu Tangchun’s words.  Yu Tangchun looked down at him and smiled softly, shaking his head before he turned and headed out of the room, heading towards his bedroom.  He then walked over to his desk and opened it, pulling out the brown bottle of pills that Chen Yuzhi had given him for when he had last been sick.  He shook a pill out into his hand, quickly putting the bottle back into the drawer before he turned and headed back to Zhan Junbai’s bedroom, where the man was almost, but not quite, asleep.  He smiled softly again as he walked over to the man, sitting down on the edge of the bed as he reached out, gently shaking Zhan Junbai’s wrist. “Executive Zhan” he murmured.  Zhan Junbai cracked open a tired eye, looking up at him with barely conscious recognition. “Tangchun” he whispered.  Yu Tangchun’s heart fluttered at how Zhan Junbai called his name, but he just cleared his throat as he held out his hand, revealing the pill. “You need to take this.  It’ll lower your fever” he murmured.  Zhan Junbai nodded and slowly sat up, weakly holding out his hand.  Yu Tangchun placed the pill in his larger hand and watched as he quickly popped the pill and dry swallowed. “Junbai, you need to drink water with that.  Taking pills without water isn’t good for you” he explained softly before he stood up and walked over to the tray, picking up the cup of tea that Qiu Ming made.  He then turned and handed the cup to Zhan Junbai, who took it and nearly chugged the cooling tea before letting out a pained groan.  Yu Tangchun took the cup from him and placed it on the bedside table before he reached out and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Junbai, get some rest, okay” he murmured.  Zhan Junbai nodded and slowly lowered himself back down into his sheets, Yu Tangchun tucking him in like he was a little child.  Yu Tangchun then took a step back and watched as Zhan Junbai’s breathing began to slow and soon his chest was rising up and down at a regular pace, signaling that he was asleep.  Once he was asleep, Yu Tangchun softly cleared his throat before he took a deep breath and began to sing.  He had been living in the Zhan Mansion for a while and Zhan Junbai was so kind to him so the least that he could do was sing for the man to hopefully help him sleep a little better.

~*~*~*~*~

The next morning, Zhan Junbai awoke to find that while his body was a bit achy and his skin felt sticky, his head was no longer pounding and he definitely felt a lot better.  As he slowly sat up, he looked over to find Yu Tangchun fast asleep in a chair beside his bed, his head hanging in what looked like an uncomfortable position. ‘Did he stay here all night?’ he thought to himself before he remembered that he heard something that sounded like singing in his dreams.  His eyes widened in shock. ‘Was he singing to me the whole night?’ he wondered as he slowly slipped out from under the covers and walked over to Yu Tangchun, kneeling before him. “Tangchun.  Tangchun” he whispered, placing a gentle hand on the opera singer’s knee.  Yu Tangchun let out a soft hum as he slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head, only to nearly jump out of his skin when he saw Zhan Junbai kneeling before him. “Executive Zhan!” he exclaimed before he blushed in embarrassment. “Did I fall asleep?  I’m sorry, I meant to continue singing but my voice needed to rest and I was feeling a bit tired so I thought I could just rest my eyes for a few minutes, I didn’t realize—” he started when Zhan Junbai moved his hand from his knee and reached out, gently taking his hand. “Tangchun” he interrupted, stopping Yu Tangchun in his rambling.  Zhan Junbai then smiled fondly. “Thank you” he whispered.  Yu Tangchun smiled. “Are you feeling better?” he asked.  Zhan Junbai nodded. “Much” he answered.  Yu Tangchun grinned. “Good.  I don’t like seeing you in pain like that” he admitted.  Zhan Junbai blinked in surprise before he huffed. “I’m sorry to make you worry.  But I feel better now.  Thank you” he thanked.  Yu Tangchun nodded as Zhan Junbai stood to his feet, still holding his hand. “If you’re feeling up to it, would you like to take tea with me in the gardens?” he asked.  Yu Tangchun smiled. “I would love to” he replied as he stood to his feet as well.  As they headed out of Zhan Junbai’s bedroom and downstairs towards the gardens, Zhan Junbai looked over at Yu Tangchun and smiled fondly.  He was grateful to have the opera singer by his side and he hoped…he hoped that he would stay there.  Forever.

[justrandomthoughts18]

Taiwan

Its been a year, I have been caught up with a lot now. But I am continuing our virtual tour with my travel series.

Our next destination is Taipei, Taiwan. One of my craziest and unforgettable trip. Maybe you can consider visiting this places soon.

1. Yangminshan - This place is bit far from the city centre so prepare a lot of patience in riding the bus. There is a big garden but do your research on when is the best time they bloom.

2. C.K.S Memorial Hall - One of the landmarks in Taiwan this is a very tourist-y spot. Just bring a lot of water as this place is big and you need to walk a lot. But knowing such history is additional information on your brain.

3. Maokong Gondola - Just near Taiper Zoo, there is this gondola which will bring you up and there are traditional tea shops you can visit and unwind. Or if you just wanted to ride you can also just do a full circle.

4. Taipei Zoo - My friends and I fascination to pandas led to this unplanned location. There are a lot of animals to see in this vast place but definitely the interaction with the pandas are the highlight.

5. Taipei 101 - Your Taiwan expedition will not be complete without visiting this high point building. Not only with its height there are a lot of luxury shops and foodstalls can be seen here. You will see a lot of business people, and when we can here there are also protesters as this is also near their City Hall.

6. Yehliu Geopark - This is part of the 3 location tour provided by Klook that we availed. I suggest also taking the tour especially if you are alone because if you DIY it will cost you a lot as locations are very far from each other and even on the city.

7. Shifen - I super love this place because of the aesthetics, the food and the floating lanterns. As one of the signature places of Taiwan, this is so pretty plus the chicken legs was to die for. If I will be back I definitely pic this place.

8. Jiufen - For Spirited Away fans this is your place to be, as this place inspired the said anime movie. This is also a place for souvenir shopping so be ready for your wallets and knowledge in direction because there are a lot of streets that make it a bit confusing

9. Raohe Night Market - We seriously love shopping but this is a market will a lot of street food so make sure your stomach’s empty before you come here so you can enjoy Taiwan’s local cuisine/street foods.

10. Fisherman’s Wharf - This is a popular location for Taiwanese dramas, I mean look at the beauty. It is a bit far from the city but a very worth it location we didn’t stay long but the calmness it will bring you is amazing.

11. P.S. Bu Bu - Me being a Meteor Garden fan cannot resist not coming here. This is the place where Shan Cai and Dao Ming Su had their first date. It is so cool eating on vintage cars. Plus the food is delicious, it is a bit pricey but worth it.

12. National Taiwan University - Another Meteor Garden location, they have used the entrance and the hallways for the drama. It is just so cool that you can enter universities here even you are not a student. The trees was calming and refreshing from the hustle and bustle of the city. If you are curious in the university life of Taiwan this is a must visit.