#DID I HAVE CD OVERFLOW?? DID I PUT IN OTHER BOXES??

[bogkeep]

im the victim of a HORRIBLE TRAGEDY (couldn't find my CD with the promare OST in my big heavy box of CDs :((((((( )

[neo-culture-mafia]

焦虑

钟辰乐 Zhong Chenle

Jaemin has removed himself from our everyday lives since we found out the news. The news that broke and separated us more than we already were. Our family has split again. This time-- we all repelled each other. Dinners were now silent when no one dared to speak into the heavy silence. Taeyong talks with no reply as if the news never affected him.

I sometimes walk past the older Junior Force's rooms to hear faint sniffles and some masked sobs. I don't blame them-- I don't even blame myself when I break down in the middle of the day.

"I'm gonna do it." Jaemin smiled as he came into the lounge. "I'm going to grow a pair and ask them to come back home." his smile lit up the room as his eyes sparkled in the early morning light.

"Can I come?" Jisung asked while his hands grasped together in front of his chest. "Not this time, Jwi. I'm going to come back with them-- then you can hug them and annoy them for the rest of eternity." Jaemin grabbed his keys and bag without another word.

Renjun sat on the middle couch cushion in a heap of blankets with a cup of tea; Jeno laid spread out next to Renjun on the pristine white sofa without a care in the world; Jisung sat next to the couch on the armchair where his legs were thrown over the armrest-- his long legs guarding a bag of candy and I laid across the loveseat. The older elites were either training or sleeping the hours away. It was a crisp morning that held so many promises and wishes.

"I'll be back," Jaemin called as we were left with his absence. "Do you think they'll come back?" Renjun called into the air as he took a sip from his cooling tea. "It's going to take a lot of convincing." Jeno sighed as his eyes shut and he stole a blanket from Renjun's stack.

"Lele." Renjun called my name lightly, "Did you talk to Kun lately?" He asked me as I tried to rake my brain for the last memory I had of a conversation with the older member. "No. I talked to him about 2 weeks ago. Something about a big mission," I trailed off and Renjun nodded, "he wanted to know when Mark and y/n would be back though so he could come back and prepare dinner." I hummed and Renjun's eyes shut softly.

"I just want them home," I whispered to myself as a shiver of loneliness ran down my spine. "We all do. Just trust Jaemin." Jisung called across the room. We all looked towards him as he tapped furiously on his screen. "You heard me?" I asked and he nodded. "You mutter rather loudly." His eyes squinted into a smile as he waved off our stares and returned to his game.

Jeno and Renjun began a conversation as I took this time to exit. I grabbed the back of the loveseat and hoisted myself over the back and onto the ground. "Where did lele go?" Renjun's voice broke the conversation as I held my breath. "Probably slithered out not too long ago." Jeno yawned. I used the blind spots and crawled out of the living room and into the kitchen where Johnny stood, eating a bowl of fruit.

"Is it yummy?" I asked as I grabbed the water container. "Delicious," Johnny interjected and sat down on a barstool. I poured myself a glass of water and began sipping leisurely. "So how's it going, little man?" Johnny questioned as his eyes trained on my figure. "Pretty good, big man." I laughed and his smile broke the tension.

"Do you think they'll come home today?" I asked and I could see him hesitate. "I hope they do." He chuckled and pushed some fruit around with his fork.

"Their rooms are still here. They have all of their stuff here...we just need them." He confirmed the current situation bluntly. Yet, the bluntness was calming coming from Johnny.

"We should clean their rooms for them. It must be dusty up there. We could make it more warm and habitable." I shrugged and finished the rest of the water in my glass.

Johnny smiled. "You, Chenle? Wanting to clean?" I watched as his shoulders shook a little with humor as he couldn't believe what he was hearing. My mouth gaped a little. "I will have you know that I can be clean when I want to be. And when I want to be-- I polish up pretty nice." I straightened my back and pointed my nose to the sky. His smile was infectious as I could feel the familial love in the air.

"I think that is an amazing idea, lele. We have the day to rearrange and clean and maybe even decorate if you wanted," Johnny said and I could feel my heart swell, "I can run to the store to get some new blankets and pillows for them while you stick back and start to move things around." This was happening. They were coming home.

"Can the others help?" I asked and he waved off to the living room where the other Junior Forces laid in male laziness. I had a running start as I dived onto the pile of blankets that shielded my older friend from the light of morning. I landed on Jeno as he groaned and tried to move me over so I was squished between his body and the back of the couch.

"Johnny-hyung and I are going to be cleaning and rearranging y/n and Mark's rooms. Do you guys want to help?" I looked at the 3 boys. Stares were exchanged amongst them. "I call y/n's room!" They shouted as they tried to fight each other off their asses and out of the living room. "We'll work on y/n's room then go onto Mark's...deal?" I asked and they all stopped mid bicker. "Deal." They all repeated and marched up the stairs and in front of the two untouched rooms that sat at the end of the hall.

We all stood in front of the plain white door with our breaths trapped in our chests. "Who's going to open it?" Jisung whispered and we all looked at each other in our peripherals. "It's locked." Jeno breathed. "I'll get Johnny." I ran to the balcony that overlooked the kitchen. "Hyung. The doors are locked." I explained and he looked around the counter for his keys. They shot up and right into my hand. "The black and white key is y/n's and the dark red one is Mark's." He explained quickly. "Thank you!" I called and ran back down the carpeted hallway. Jaehyun and Jungwoo now stood in the crowd in front of the closed door.

"I got the keys." I called and stepped around some of the bodies that were crowding. They all skeptically looked to the door as I walked to the piece of wood and shakily put the key into the lock. I turned and the door creaked.

I pulled the key out and stood staring at the piece of painted white wood in front of my face. "It's okay. Open it." Jaehyun whispered. My hand came up to the cool metal doorknob and turned it and pushed.

The light streamed through her balcony door and lit up a rainbow on her carpeted floor. Dust floated through the rays of sun and reminded us of the neglect the room had been through.

Jisung stepped up through the crowd and was the first to walk into the room.

He grabbed the stuffed koala at the end of her bed and sat in its place. The stuffed animal was smushed in his embrace as we could see the emotion flash through his eyes. "They're coming home." He whispered to himself.

We all slowly walked in and inspected a random object that caught our attention.

White walls made the room feel open yet bare. "Do you think her record player is somewhere in here?" Jungwoo called and we all were determined to find the familiar yellow suitcase that held one of her most prized possessions.

I was the first person to open the closet and was met with the yellow box on the floor. "In here." I grabbed the record player and set it on her bed. Renjun opened it up and started to set it up. Rap records laid in a box with writing all over it. I pulled the heavy box out and we all started sifting through the box.

The most worn-out record laid on the top, 'Eminem' laying in front of our eyes. "I've been looking for that record for the past 3 years." Johnny sighed as his presence was finally recognized. He snatched the vinyl and placed it onto the spoke. The hand came down and a familiar tune was projected from the speakers.

'Beautiful'. I remembered the numerous times that she would play this song in the car. The groans from the rest of the car always made her eyes sparkle with mischief. I know we all miss this song though.

"Alright let's start." Johnny clapped his hands and we all began to move around the room trying to make the room look liveable. Some of us hummed along and some of us were just so caught up in the task that we blocked each other out.

"Does anyone have anything we could hang up? Like posters or pictures?" Jeno called as he organized her cd's with care. "I do! I have a bunch of family pictures in my room." Jisung called and sprinted out of the room.

We were all prepared for some handfuls of pictures, yet, we were never prepared with 4 photo boxes that were each overflowing. We all sat down and tried to make a collage that would make the room come together.

Pictures of us as kids leading up to when we first left were cascading through the room as we began hanging the photos up. "Do you think she'll like it?" I asked and Jaehyun's hand messed up my hair. "Love it."

"Onto Mark's." Jeno rounded us all up and ushered us to the door right next to y/n's. This door was easier for us to open as we already experienced the rollercoaster of emotions once before.

"Is that my old holster?" Renjun pushed us all aside and ran into the room where indeed, his old holster laid on top of Mark's chest at the end of his bed.

"Are those my old chemistry notebooks?" Jeno gasped as he ran to the bedside table where a stack of notebooks full of Jeno's old equations laid in perfect solitude.

"Yeah. We didn't know who's was who's stuff when we moved their stuff in. We just divided it up and stored," Jaehyun said as he grabbed a chain that laid on the desk. "Sorry about that." His smile washed away any anger the other boys could've been feeling.

"You guys rearrange and I'll go shopping for new sheets and stuff like that." Johnny bid us a farewell and was on his own way.

~~~

"How did you find out?!" Renjun hollered as he finally took a rest on the couch. We had all worked for 5 hours straight on the rooms and they were pristine. We could finally sit down and rest after a hard day of homecoming preparations.

"No. Family dinner can be tomorrow. They need time to rest, Kun-" "Are you stalking us?!" Renjun called and we laughed in amusement. "Fine. Fly up tonight and prepare for tomorrow. They'll be here any minute, I have to go." And with that-- Renjun hung up his cellphone.

He threw his head onto the back of the couch and let out a long sigh.

More members came to sit in the living room, excited to see the two most missed people walk through

acting like. It was a happy-filled space, yet, something just feels off.

Taeil came in and sat down on the recliner across from my place on the loveseat. He looked at me and could sense I felt something wrong. "You feel it too?" He asked and I slowly nodded. His hands ran through his hair as he leaned back on the black leather recliner.

The front door opened and we all jumped to our feet to see a familiar set of dark brown eyes and silver hair. "Yuta?" Doyoung called out in shock. "I've come to bless you all with my presence." He smiled as some of his men followed suit. "And also to introduce to a new team member," Yuta smiled and grabbed a younger boy by the shoulder. "This is my second in command, Osaki Shotaro." Yuta's actions took us for a loop.

"I heard my brother and sister are coming back and wanted to join the rest of the family upon their return." It was as if Yuta read our minds. "And while celebrating their homecoming, I thought we could all welcome a new face around here." We were all open to the idea and Shotaro didn't seem like the problem...something was still off.

There was a bang from the front door as Yuta's guards all drew their guns and held them at their sides.

"I won, you lost, bozo." "Get off of me you numb nut!" Someone struggled. A hand gripped the floor as a more familiar face rounded the corner into the living room. "Hello!" Kun smiled with Sicheng and Xiaojun in tow.

"Gege!" Renjun shouted and bear-hugged them all at once...or...well at least he tried. Lucas, Ten, Yangyang, and Hendery were in a heap on the floor as they wrestled each other senselessly. The Chinese family members said their hello's and Kun went to tame the ones who couldn't control themselves.

"I will put you all on a plane back to China right now if you don't stop." Kun called over the group and they didn't stop. "We are here to see Mark and Y/n, not to fight on the floor." Kun tried yanking some of them off each other.

Our smiles couldn't be tamed as Johnny walked over and literally pulled the boys off of each other. "Oh hey, Johnny." Ten smiled as his feet were lifted off the ground. "Hey, dude." Johnny greeted as he tossed him over onto the carpeted living room floor. "Lucas I am not picking you up." Johnny groaned as he put his leg in between Hendery and Yangyang's bodies. "I will put you both into chokeholds." Johnny threatened and they were still going at it.

"3." Johnny started counting and they were up before he reached 2. "Hello." They bowed and walked into the warm and spacious living room.

"Any word?" Kun asked me after we exchanged greetings. I shook my head with a sigh. "What's wrong?" He asked and I just shook my head again. "Something's wrong," I whispered, "I don't know what, but, something is going on that we don't know about." I started pulling at my fingers.

"Well let's just sit down and wait for a little bit. Hopefully, once they arrive, you'll feel okay." Kun's smile calmed my fears slightly as we both sat next to each other on the love seat.

~~~

We all sat around the living room as we were waiting and ready to go out to dinner once Mark and Y/n got home and washed up.

The familiar rev of Jaemin's motorcycle could be heard in the distance. We all looked to each other in silence as our hearts were about to beat out of our chests. "Just breathe." Kun reminded everyone and it was as if a group of fish had been taken out of water. Gasps were heard around the room as we tried to stabilize our heartbeats.

The engine stopped in front of the door and the front door was opened soon after. Jaemin stormed in with anger written across his features. Blood stained his cheekbones and brow bone as a sad tone took hold of the room...no Mark or y/n followed him.

Jaemin searched the faces of the room. "Where the fuck is he?" His hand that gripped his helmet raised and was held above his head for a moment. "Where?!" Jaemin's voice broke and we all looked around at each other looking for a response. "Taeyong?" Yuta asked and with a flare of Jaemin's nostrils, we knew that Taeyong was the wanted man of the hour.

"He's in his office, Jae." Jeno called softly and Jaemin's hand threw down his helmet where it shattered into what looked like a million pieces. Jisung, who sat closest to the outburst, shielded himself from the flying glass.

We all got up to confront him as we watched him run down the hall towards the head office. We watched as he kicked the door in and ran to Taeyong who was startled from the action.

"What. Did. You. Do." Jaemin grabbed Taeyong by the collar and pulled him close to his own face. "What are you talking ab-" "I will use your head as a hood ornament-" "Excuse me?!" Taeyong shrieked. "Where are they?!" I watched from behind Hendery as we saw Jaemin completely lose it.

Taeyong became limp as his face fell. "You weren't supposed to find out like this." Taeyong sighed as he grabbed Jaemin's face lovingly.

We all looked to Taeyong. "Jaemin. What is going on?" Jaehyun asked as he stepped into the office. "They killed themselves-"

There it was...the bombshell that rocked all of our worlds.

"No. They didn't." Jaemin shook Taeyong again. "That wasn't them. They-" He threw Taeyong back into his office chair, "They wouldn't do something like that." He pointed at Taeyong. "Their tattoos. They were in different spots. The people in that apartment weren't them." Jaemin shook his head, a couple tears cascading down his cheeks. "You did something-" "They're gone, Jaemin. They're never coming back. They killed themselves and you need to deal with the fact you weren't there in time-" We were all overwhelmed with what we were experiencing. This wasn't real.

"I'm gonna-" I looked back to see Jeno start to stumble. His face was stark white and his pupils were the size of tea plates. His hand was fumbling for something to hold onto and hold himself up. "No-" I whispered as I didn't have the strength to outstretch myself and catch him.

Kun turned around at the perfect time to catch him. He plummeted in Kun's arms. "Lucas. Help me get Jeno to the living room." Yet, Lucas was spaced out too. It looked as if he was going to go down at any moment.

"No. Not you too." Kun pleaded quietly. "Lele-" but it was too late...I was on the ground.

~~~

I woke up in a frantic sweat. Masses of bodies held onto each other as the moon shone through the window. "You need to sleep." The dark voice made me jump as I snapped my head to the window where Yuta stood in silence once more.

"But-" "No. You passed out. You need to rest." "Is it true?" "That doesn't matter right now-" "Yes!" I said and some bodies turned in their sleep.

Yuta made sure the others didn't move again as his eyes locked with mine. "They're safe now. They're with Donghyuck." Yuta muttered but I started to feel lightheaded again. "My men and I will be in Japan by morning. Don't invite me to the memorial service as I've already wept my tears for their suffering." Yuta walked to the entrance where Shotaro and the other men stood in silence.

"Take care of yourself, Chenle." Yuta hummed. "My door is always open to you all," he thought for a moment, "Well...most of you." Yuta's eyes locked with someone's at the other end of the entranceway-- Taeyong.

The tension was strong as they stared each other down, "A man who cannot tolerate small misfortunes will never accomplish great things." Yuta spoke clearly. And with that-- Yuta and his men walked out of the front door in a clean formation.

Taeyong looked to me one more time before walking away in what I sensed to be shame.

Now we worked at an off base site where that day replays in my head on an endless loop. It holds me prisoner in those emotions I still feel on a daily basis. We worked on filing for Seven Stars and their local triads. Taeyong had sold the Neo Culture Family name and we were basically slaving away at the expense of our enemy.

"I know they're out there." Jeno barked quietly. "If you bring up those dead bastards one more time-- I swear to God that I'm gonna slap you." Renjun groaned as he typed furiously on the laptop he was provided. "Renjun. Stop." Kun pleaded as he popped his knuckles for what sounded like the millionth time.

"They're your family-" "They're dead, Kun. They’re our dead family." Renjun bashed and we all fell silent. Jisung walked into the room with tears in his eyes as he wiped at his mouth furiously.

We didn't dare ask what he was forced to do after he honestly told us the first time. "You okay?" I called softly and he nodded, choking back what seemed like a sob.

We all bowed our heads and didn't dare to look at one another try to break the tension. The tension hasn't been broken since we left the overrun base 5 months ago.

[thebraingremlinsaremad]

Daily Blog #15: August 22, 2021

Dollar Tree is honestly pretty fucking awesome 👌👌👌

I set my alarm for like 6:25 this morning, but it took 6 minutes for the "Horsin' Around" theme song instrumental to wake me up. I was pretty tired lol. I just dismissed it and went back to sleep.

I only went back to sleep because I knew I had another alarm set for 7:00. That got me up.

I should mention that this was still in the RV over an hour away from the house.

After I got up, I went to go get a shower, and did so successfully.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten my brush this time and had to do it afterwards after my hair had a bit of time to dry, which did make it a little more difficult lol.

I got dressed and grabbed my stuff, putting it into my car.

I made it a point to see and say "see you later" to my grandparents before I left for the flea market.

My dad insisted that I stayed to say goodbye to my mom, so I left.

I did NOT have cell service up there, as was mentioned in my previous 2 blogs of which I could only post today, so finding my way was a tiny bit difficult until I got some service to ask Google to take me to "...".

It worked and I got there.

On my drive, I listened to 1 by Simple Kid, a CD I had previously purchased at a Dollar Tree location.

I got a call from the guy at the flea market saying that I had some people there waiting for me. He asked how far away I was, to which I said "about 10 minutes." Ironically, that call made me miss my exit, as Google couldn't talk during the call, and added about 3 minutes to my arrival time lmao.

I did sell the Xbox that he said someone was interested in. I got $40 for it. I spent 27¢ on it. Pretty good return if you ask me.

I couldn't sell it with anything other than a power cord because the controller and AV cables I had been using to play it there were for my personal console. I'm just glad I can actually hook my Xbox up and stop having to drag them to the flea market along with a small library of games.

Not too long after I sold the Xbox, someone came in and asked if I wanted to see some electronics he had in his car. I went out with him. It was a pair of 3ft speakers and a Pioneer audio system with dual cassette decks (although neither of them works) and a 25 Disc CD-changer, as well as the standard AM/FM tuner. Additionally, there was a Fisher amplifier and AM/FM tuner as well as a Fisher Direct Drive turntable. He said he wanted $60 for em, but before that he casually, and probably accidentally, dropped that he was just gonna take em to the thrift store.

Big mistake.

I got em for $35 lmao. THERE GOES MOST OF MY PROFIT.

Oh well.

I tested everything. As I mentioned, the cassette decks don't work, but everything else does apart from the turntable needing a new stylus.

I posted some new photos of the shop to Facebook, and someone soon DMed me about a stereo system.

I priced everything, and it turns out I have about $300 worth of equipment from that deal, the Fisher amp and tuner being worth about $150.

The buyer will hopefully show up next weekend, for he wants to buy the Fisher stuff ($185 with the turntable), the 3ft speakers, an 8-track deck, and a Kenwood deck we've had for a week or two.

The speakers are listed for $50 (and are worth around $100-150), the Kenwood Deck for $50 as well, and the 8-track for $35. That makes it about $320 in equipment. Since he's buying so much, I'll knock it down to $270 and essentially give him the speakers or cassette deck for free lol.

Apart from that stuff, not much happened at the flea market. I sold some records, cassettes, CDs and I think 2 DVDs. One person bought a VHS tape? That money was the other guy's though. Oh well xD.

I can't say that I didn't miss my wonderful partner while on the trip. I actually brought along the stuffed animal they gave me (who's name is Greg) and snuggled with him both nights.

I was very happy to hear from them UwU.

They let me rant and I let them rant.

I honestly give them too much responsibility over me xD. I'm like, "Okay, I'm gonna do this. HOLD ME TO IT."

I know I can't hold myself to anything I personally say (this blog being the only exception apparently), but I listen to them pretty well I think 🤔. If they tell me, "No, you don't need that VCR," so long as it's not some weird specialty thing, like a worldwide VCR 🥵, I'll be like "Yeah, you rite bro."

I love you man xD. You control my craziness pretty well. I'm so thankful for you UwU.

#relationshipgoals

So part way through the flea market day, I went over to Dollar Tree to buy some snack, but ended up looking through the CDs to see if there was anything good. I took photos of about 18 CDs and flipped through them online for the remainder of the flea market day.

I deleted the photos of the ones I didn't want and kept those that I liked. Surprisingly, I ended up buying 13 CDs there, but not before dropping them on the floor like the dumbass I am.

Also, sorry for all the nerd shit I spilled on your lap earlier. No one cares about amps and tuners xD.

I'M LISTENING TO ONE OF THE DOLLAR TREE CDS RIGHT NOW THO.

I already transferred over to my online library on iBroadcast and put the disc into my CD changer, which is now holding 164 CDs.

Its max capacity is 300 discs 🥵

WHY AM I NERD

Oh well

I like being a nerd gurl

Also maybe a technosexual 👀

I get really excited over some electronics. Like. REALLY excited.

Some editing VCRs are like "Holy shit that is SEXY. Look at those goddamn VU meters 🥵. And hhhh there are like 7 inputs on this thing and individual controls for left and right audio gain, not to mention Hi-Fi S-VHS recording. Hhhhhhhhhhh please gimme 😭. Why are you so expensive?"

I uh, mean, uh, *cough* look, pretty lights.

Oh yeah, I was gonna say the album I was listening to xD. MAN I GOT SIDETRACKED.

It's 37 Everywhere by Punchline. Def give it a listen; it's pretty heccin good.

Another notable album I picked up was Page One by Steven Page. I very much like the first track, "A New Shore." It's quite catchy and he has a great voice imo.

Also at dollar tree, I bought a regular bag of Fieras and 2 bags of Fieras Sticks, which were marked down to 75¢/bag because they're expiring soon.

I honestly like the generic Dollar Tree version of Takis more than actual Takis. They're a lot more flavorful when it comes to the lime, but also hotter at the same time.

Don't get the hot nacho ones tho. Hot nacho? More like hot pile of shit.

HAH

Goteem.

They're not that good xD.

THE REGULAR ONES ARE FIRE THO

"How do you do fellow kids?"

I got home and started working on putting the CDs onto my computer, and then onto iBroadcast, but not without first adding The Music Man to my digital library, something I had neglected for a month or two. The CD had just been sitting there lol.

I also switched my digital file for "The Black Parade" to that of the uncensored CD, which I had purchased before I event started working over 2 months ago.

MAN I'M LAZY

I eventually get around to shit tho lol. I guess it's just a matter of priority.

What usually takes priority is digging through everything to find something that I forgot about but then remembered, making a mess in the process that I would then have to clean up, at least partially.

I think the album just ended. I've been writing for a while xD. I'ma start "I Made You Something" by The Island of the Misfit Toys.

I'll tell you where that album came from in a minute.

In the meantime, where was I?

I kinda lost my train of thought despite reading up to see where I was. Oh well. On I go.

I ate dinner and kept working on those CDs, eventually putting my clothes from the week into the washer.

I FORGOT TO PUT MY SHAPING UNDERWEAR IN. FUCKING HELL MAN.

I wanted to wash em for this week 😭

No tight pants for Leonna I guess qwq.

Meanwhile, the box of my CD album cases is overflowing. I need another box.

I keep all of the album artworks in a big CD folder. That's almost full.

I wanna fill my entire CD changer. That's one of my big goals in life. Idk why, but I just wanna legitimately fill the entire thing.

My clothes are in the dryer now. I don't think I have the time (or energy) to fold them tonight. I'll leave that for tomorrow morning before work.

And God. Fucking. Damnit. I start school again on Wednesday. NOT looking forward to that, and neither are my 2 coworkers. We already have low enough staff, but only the two of them working is gonna be a pain in the ass.

I'll still work Saturdays.

I need to contact my guidance counselor to get out of the gym class I signed up for. I scheduled this shit before I found out I was trans, and I don't wanna deal with the fucking locker room situation 🙄 I have far more important matters.

Okay so anyway, the album I'm listening to came from a cassette. I bought this cassette a few months ago at the flea market along with a few others. The reason I bought them? They were all newer cassette releases from the 2010's, and they're all actually pretty good music from very indie bands.

Currently getting mad at iBroadcast's compression algorithm. It's unnaturally fucking anything over -10db up. Oh well, there's not really anything I can do about it.

I have like 13GB of music on my phone btw. That's about 3.5k songs on 268 albums.

I'm kind of an audiophile, but I'm too cheap to pay for a lossless service. Oh well.

They do actually have a lossless service on iBroadcast, but once again, too cheap.

Someone just sent me a friend request who legitimately posted that BLM and the democratic party are hate groups.

BLOCK.

Goodbye ho.

I don't get that. They call the democratic party a hate group when they hate people like me, and I, being more of a democrat although not fully because the 2-party system is fucked, think nothing more of them than they're very wrong about certain things, especially, as shown, that black people, as well as asian, Indian, native, and people of all ethnicities and backgrounds, are not equal to white people.

Yeh.

Totally.

You go buddy.

Anyway, yeah, I can, and do, convert music and video from analog formats to digital files in order for me to archive and listen to whenever and wherever I please. I've actually made a bit of a business out of it, but I don't get too much work from it. At least I'm not overloading myself xD.

I honestly have so much more to say, but I should probably go to sleep soon.

A few final shoutouts to the following people and companies:

-Dollar Tree

-Steven Page

-Broken World Media

-The Island of Misfit Toys

-Simple Kid

-Punchline

-My incredible partner QwQ I love you so much. Thanks for being the best all the time. I hope I can give you the best life ever.

Anyway I suppose this is goodnight. Lmk if you want a full list of the CDs I bought today! I'll link that song by Steven Page here.

And here's a good song from Simple Kid

I really like music lol. Enjoy these pieces.

Anyway, goodnight lol.

Lots of love,

-Leonna.

[sambergscott]

a peralta guarantee

“I promise I’ll come home safe, Ames. That’s a Peralta Guarantee.”

(missing scenes from 7x08 - amy worrying about jake)

hUge thanks to johanna for inspiring this fic and helping when i had a lil breakdown halfway through

When he approaches her desk mid-afternoon with a decaf coffee and the white chocolate chip cookies she’s been craving from the bakery across town, she knows he’s either a) broken something, b) wants something or c) has bad news. She narrows her eyes suspiciously, detecting an excited bounce in his step which can only mean it’s b and c; he wants something she’s not going to like.

“Hey, babe,” he tries to play it cool, clearing a butt-sized space on her desk on which to sit. “I come bearing gifts.”

“What do you want, Peralta?” She cuts to the chase.

“Damn it, you know me too well,” he mutters. “OK, so, here’s the thing: Doug Judy’s gettin’ married. He invited me to his Bachelor Party this weekend and I know he’s a criminal, Ames, but I really wanna go. Like, so bad. Would you be cool with that?”

She conjures up a mental pro and con list. On one hand, Doug Judy is The Pontiac Bandit, known felon, committer of God knows how many crimes, an overall bad dude. On the other, he’s Jake’s friend, singer of the smush songs CD in the glove box of their car that they always forget to take out, giver of the Le Creuset pot she adores. He’s always been nice to her and—.

“Sarge?” Gary interrupts her decision-making process with a quick question about a perp he just brought in, snapping her back to reality. She’s a Police Sergeant, her job is to serve and protect the city they call home and as much as she loves cooking her mom’s beef casserole recipe in Judy’s awesome wedding gift, she has a responsibility to bring him in.

“I’m sorry, babe. I just think it’s a bad idea.”

His face falls, his disappointment coming through loud and clear.

“What were you expecting me to say? Ignore the million arrest warrants out on this guy, many of them submitted by you, so you can drink beer and go to strip clubs?”

“You’re right,” he sighs. “You’re obviously right. Man, being good at your job sucks.”

She nods in agreement. “Remember last month when I had to shut that binder store down for running a secret drug dealing operation out back?”

“How could I forget? You cried for three days straight.”

“They had the best binder collection I’ve ever seen!”

(It was actually what was so fishy about it. In four trips to buy pregnancy binders, she hadn’t seen any of the founding members of the Brooklyn Binder Babes blog — Mary Sue, Catherine, Margaret or Jane — once. And there’s no way a stationery start-up would attract such long queues without their recommendation. It was a pretty easy solve from there).

“The point is, you can’t go to a criminal’s Bachelor Party.” She pats his hand. “You’ll just have to come maternity clothes shopping with me instead. None of my jeans fit me anymore.”

“As much as I would love to, you can take Kylie. I’m going to the party.”

“What?” She double-takes. “Jake, did you not listen to what I literally just said? We’re cops. We cannot be friends with criminals.”

“But we can be friends with informants who have helped us catch numerous, even bigger, more dangerous criminals,” he says with that look on his face, the one he gets when he finds a loophole that he can use to his advantage. She recognises it from home videos Karen has shown her where, instead of tidying his room like she asked him to, seven year old Jake shoves everything under his bed and carries on enacting a police chase with his race cars. “Captain Holt has given him immunity before, so technically I should be able to go party it up with him in Miami!”

“Wait... It’s in Miami? Miami... Florida?”

It’s a stupid question, she knows. Of course he means Miami, Florida. It’s just... they both promised on the flight home that they would never, ever go back there. After everything that happened with Figgis and not knowing if they’d ever see each other again, a statewide travel ban seemed a good way to put it all behind them, focus on all their future moments together, not on all the moments they missed.

“This isn’t like last time,” he reassures her. “It’s only for a weekend and then I’ll be coming straight home for snuggles with you and —,” he lowers his voice to a whisper because they haven’t told anyone she’s pregnant yet, “the baby.”

Her eyes fill with tears and she bites her lip so hard to stop them overflowing in front of all her uniformed officers. It’s pretty clear that he wants to go and she never wants to be one of them wives who control their husbands’ every move. All she wants is for him to be happy. And if going to Doug Judy’s Bachelor Party makes him happy, he should go, no matter how much she hates the entire state of Florida. She agrees, on one condition: “You have to text me hourly updates to let me know that you’re still alive.”

“Don’t I text you constantly anyway?”

“I guess so,” she sniffs.

He lifts her chin so she’s looking him in the eyes. “I promise I’ll come home safe, Ames. That’s a Peralta guarantee.”

“You better,” she warns, tears suddenly flowing down her face at the thought of him not coming home, not being there to watch Property Brothers with her, not raising their baby and proving to everyone what a great dad he will be.

Used to her extra strength pregnancy hormones shifting her emotions from 0 to 100 faster than John McClane can say “Yippie-Ki-Yay, motherfucker”, he pulls her into a tight hug, careful not to crush the precious cargo that is behind said mood swings.

He strokes her hair and whispers that he’ll be home before she knows it and that nothing, not even the worst state in the country, will tear him away from her.

When it’s time for him to leave, she follows him out to the street and, after a brief argument over the fact he packed his bag before he OK’ed the trip with her and another hormone-induced cry when his cab shows up, reluctantly waves goodbye.

True to his word, he texts her before the car is even out of sight. Miss you already 😘.

--

Her phone buzzes periodically throughout the rest of the day.

In a meeting with Holt and Terry: flying on mark cuban’s dope ass private plane!!!!! ✈️

Cooking dinner: florida is HOT (not as hot as u babe, dont worry)

Doing her crossword in bed: g’night ames, g’night baby, love u both SO MUCH

She smiles, tells him she loves him too and braces herself for the barrage of drunk texts and selfies coming her way.

--

Sleeping without him sucks. The bed is cold, her pregnancy pillow is not as good of a cuddle buddy and she tosses and turns all night worrying about him, where he is, what he’s doing, whether he’s safe.

Her eyes finally slip shut around 1 am when her phone buzzes. Again. And again. And again.

She tries to ignore him, bury her head under her pillow and go back to sleep, but the messages keep coming thick and fast. She groans, giving up and unlocking her phone.

There are 47 new messages from him.

Forty-seven.

Her initial annoyance at being woken up quickly disappears as she scrolls through the thread. He’s mostly sent her random, meaningless emojis and keysmashes, interspersed with the odd “I love you”, “you’re my best friend” and “I’m thinking about you” that warm her heart. He mentions something about their proposal, about crying with Doug Judy, which obviously makes her cry too.

(Dumb pregnancy hormones).

By the time she reaches the bottom, he’s sent her 10 more.

She decides for her sake — and the sake of all of her officers who would have to deal with a tired, emotional pregnant lady — to turn off her phone and reply to him in the morning.

She returns her phone to her nightstand, settles back into a comfortable position and closes her eyes.

She lies motionless for what feels like hours, unable to fall asleep. She tries the breathing technique her brother David brags about constantly, counting sheep like little Matthew, even reciting police codes like Teddy used to go to sleep after sex. Nothing works. She’s still awake.

She turns her phone back on to see what Jake’s up to now, only to see his messages ended abruptly with a caterpillar emoji over an hour ago.  

She immediately panics, dialling 911 into her phone.

Her thumb hovers over the green call button.

She’s heard thousands of crazy operator call stories, frequently reminded the general population to only call in a genuine emergency and watched the YouTube compilations for fun. She deletes the number, positive that if she told an operator her husband was missing because she hadn’t heard from him while he’s at a Bachelor Party, she’s positive she would be added to those videos.

In an attempt to stop her spiral, she contemplates the possible scenarios in which his constant texts would cease.

Scenario 1: He’s living in the moment and has put his phone away (something she has been encouraging him to do lately to reduce his screen time)

Scenario 2: He’s very drunk and has completely forgotten about his promise

Scenario 3: He used up all his battery texting her and his phone has died

Scenario 4: He’s fallen asleep (although a quick check of Trudy Judy’s insta reveals the party is very much still in full flow)

Scenario 5: Judy’s criminal buddies have killed him and thrown his body into the ocean

Once the thought pops into her head, no amount of squeezing her eyes shut will make the image go away.

Holt giving an emotional eulogy about wearing ties and being an amazing detective/genius.  

Some rookie taking over his desk.  

The sympathetic looks when she tells all the other moms in baby group that her husband died.  

Usually Jake is there to hold her when her nightmares get bad. She rolls over, expecting to see his kind eyes and soft smile, the untouched side of his bed only serving to make her cry harder.

She can’t lose him. Not yet. Not until they’re old and grey, and maybe not even then. She spent so long denying her feelings for her dorky partner, rueing every missed opportunity to be together, and when they finally, finally took the plunge, she had never been happier. She can’t lose him yet. They have so much more life left to live.

She can’t lose him because he promised her he would come home safe. He guaranteed it.

She clings onto the tiny grain of hope like one might cling onto a raft in the middle of the ocean.

He would never break a Peralta guarantee.

--

Her phone finally buzzes again an hour later.

From: Unknown

Ames, it’s me, Jake. Judy’s buddies found out I’m a cop + destroyed my phone. So sorry I couldn’t text before. Hope you didn’t worry too much, although I know you probably haven’t slept. You can stop worrying now. I’m safe. Love you + see you tomorrow.  

Love you too, she responds, yawning as she places the phone back on the side table.

Relieved that he’s OK, and exhausted from all the worrying, she falls into the easiest sleep she’s ever had.

--

Before she knows it, it’s the next afternoon, Jake’s keys are turning in the lock, he’s dropping his holdall on the floor and rushing to her side to kiss her all over her face.

“I missed you too,” she laughs, kissing him properly.

“Sorry it took so long — Doug and Trudy made me fly commercial —.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re home now. That’s all that matters.”

“I’m never leaving you two again,” he swears.

“You’ll have to leave us eventually to go to the bathroom and stuff,” she points out, raking her fingers through the unruly curls that she so hopes their baby will inherit. “Just don’t go back there.”

A solemn understanding passes over his face and he nods. “Never again. Not even if our kid wants to go to Disney World. We’ll take them to the California one instead.”

“Smort,” she says, stealing his line and in an instant, that familiar grin is back.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

A dozen memories flood back, of oldies in short shorts and shuffleboard and Doug Judy getting away again. Of noice and smort and saying “I love you” for the very first time. Her eyes fill with tears — dumb pregnancy hormones strike again — as she buries her face in his shoulder.

“Let’s go to bed,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and lifting her bridal style to carry her to their room. He places her carefully onto the mattress and flops down next to her.

She snuggles into him, eyes closing once more. “Did we even get an invite to the wedding?”

“Not even close,” he sighs.

“Damn it. I would’ve loved to see that trainwreck.”

“You and me both, babe. You and me both.”

[funkymbtifiction]

ENFP admin, I’d be curious as to if you have a similar problem with getting rid of books or movies because you get emotionally attached to them and have a hard time letting go (Fi and Si?) Even if you don’t re-watch or re-read for a long time. Or do you move on from them with ease?

For me (INFP) I don’t have much storage space in my room but if I did then I would be a hoarder for the things I'm attached to, like books. The ones I’ve read and really enjoyed my first instinct is to hold onto them to keep forever and perhaps re-read at a later time. They're mine now! Unfortunately due to lack of space Ive had to donate some to charity over my life or pass onto others. But I feel like I’m betraying them and giving a part of me away. Even though they will make others happy! I still sulk. However our charity shops are still closed so my book box is overflowing with my brand new books to read, the ones I’ve read and was captivated by, and a few I started reading and disliked - which I do want to be rid of!

I’d be so interesting in hearing your own experiences as an ENFP with inferior Si. I’ve spoken to an ISFJ who who said she would actually get rid of books and movies even if she really enjoyed them because she’d want to keep the space organized and it would make more sense to get rid of them if they weren’t being used. She said she’d get more joy in passing them on, and would trust that down the line if she wanted to reread the book or watch the film that she’d be able to find it.

I’m actually more sentimental about things like old toys and stuffed animals. I felt terrible taking my toys to the Goodwill after 15+ years of keeping them without playing with them, and it didn’t make me feel better to imagine another child loving them. I still kept my most important / valued stuffed animal from childhood. Books... I am more sentimental about them than movies, yes. I will go through periods of not caring and get rid of something, only to wish I had it later and wind up buying another copy. In a move, I lost a box of books and I wish I had them all back. =P Movies... I go through periods of love/don’t care. Some things I know I will always love and so I keep them forever; other things come and go. I reason that I’ll cycle back to them later, so I should keep most of them -- and that’s how I’m coming to see books that I like well enough to reread more than once. Just keep them.

Limited storage space. I’m about to blow your mind, because I’ve happily been organizing my house during quarantine. You can fit way more books into a storage container (a pretty, colorful one) on your shelves than you can just stacking them on there, if you don’t mind having them in a box. I also took 400+ DVD/Blu Ray’s out of their cases, put them in slips, and inside four pretty boxes made just for that purpose and... voila, I get to keep them all. (I wanted to keep the cases in case I ever do want to give stuff away, so those went into bags into the basement.)

For me too, it’s that I am something of a tightwad so I hate giving away stuff that I might need to repurchase later. Seems like a never ending cycle of “bucks.” So if I buy it, I usually want to keep it.

Here’s some stuff that you might find useful for storing books / movies in a tight space (I have a little house -- 120 years old -- and almost no closets :P -- you can store more in a box than flat on the shelf)

10x10 cubes

12x12 cubes

DVD/Blu-Ray/CD Storage + Alphabetizing System (also buy paper cases)

Also, those clear plastic shoe storage boxes are nice for stacking books, shoes, and other things in. Basically, keep your stuff, just minimize its required space. ;)

Didn’t ask for storage solutions but... there ya go. ;)

- ENFP Mod

[chimswae]

BTS Caretaker CH10

Summary: She may think she has Bangtan Sonyeondan wrapped around her fingers. She may think it is easy to love the members equally without hurting any soul. She may think the boys wont fall head over heels for her. She assumes it is okay to show a little love and affection towards the boys, what if she gets it all wrong? What if it only brings more complication to her already complicated life? Can she survive their charms? Will she be able to resist them? What if they just wont let her go?

- Pairing: BTS x Oc ( Yoongi x OC, Jungkook x OC)

- Genre: Fluff, Slight Angst, Romance, Idol!au

- Word Count: 3,403

- Author Note:Sorry, im so busy these past few weeks! so,i update slightly late and i appreciate your feedback and comment, just drop in my ASK BOX :)

Previous | Next

Chapter 10

Seul trudged backwards feeling her bones melted due the overflowing warmth from the kisses, but before her body could kiss the ground a hello Yoongi’s strong arm encircled around her waist, holding her close to his body. This was dizzying, she could not feel herself anymore. The way his lips moved desperately against her, seeking for a permission to enter caused her soul to depart permanently from her body.

On the other hand, Yoongi found himself got carried away as his earlier plan was to tease and trip guilt her not to extent of locking lips with her. Why was his body acting against that genius brain of his? Had he gone nuts overnight?

Regaining back her composure, Seul found the strength in her to push Yoongi chest backwards, breaking the kisses. He was still holding onto her tight, even though she managed to stop the unexplained moment that they had a minute ago.

Her small hands were clutching onto his shirt, and Yoongi muscle flexed due to the contact. Both of them were left breathless after the unexpected kisses. A visible taint of blushes could be seen on their cheeks, Seul and Yoongi were in dazed.

Inhaling a deep breath, Seul uttered the first word to break the silence between that “Wh..at was that for…” a heavy lump on her throats making its hard for her to breathe. With Yoongi gregarious presence close to her, she could smell his manly cologne and it drove her insane once again.

What is wrong with her and man’s cologne? She felt the same way with Jimin, their smell. Why they got to smell so effin good? Not that she cared but it was sinful to her senses.

Yoongi’s silence only to suffocate Seul even more “I have to go…” she felt his grip loosened then she took the chance to slip away.

Snapping his weird thought away, Yoongi realized Seul was about to escape again and before that thing happened, he needed to clarify something. She staggered towards the door and before she could twist the knob, a pair of arms once again engulfed her into a tight embrace putting her step at halt.

Seul was about to open her mouth to question his sudden affection towards her as she had no more strength to fight Yoongi, her energy had depleted following the kisses that they shared. It was too much for her to digest.

Yoongi’s breath tickles against her neck, he hummed “I will see you again soon, Mrs Hwang’s daughter” it somewhat sounded like a warn that another time he caught her again, he would make sure to bring the truth out. However, why it didn’t sound like a warn to her more like a hope that they would be together again?

She screamed mentally not liking this sticky situation that she was in. Min Yoongi out of all people, it never dawned on her this thing escalated fast. Was it just her feelings or Min Yoongi was hinting on something?

He took a step backward giving the poor girl space to breathe or at least that’s how he thought it would be. Okay breath in breath out Ji Seul, Seul mentally groaned while steadying her rapid breathing. Without uttering any words, she dashed out and was welcomed by flabbergasted Jimin.

“Mmm…I.. mmm…. where” he swayed his body from left to right and frowned.

Seul still had to regain herself after the things with Yoongi and to face Jimin again giving her no time to chill “I..am sorry..I have to go…” Jimin nodded staring at her way.

Gathering all her stuffs, Seul took off her apron and set it aside. Jimin watched her every movement closely wanting to say something but decided to hold his tongue back. What was he supposed to say? That he was sorry about the incident in the bedroom?

Manners always come first, so Seul bowed politely at Jimin way before making her way and finally escaped from the tiger lair. Jimin ran after her taking a hold of her wrist, the touch startled her “W-hat is wrong?” she gulped not knowing how to react to Jimin’s intense gaze.

It burnt hole through her head.

“You..left your phone..” Jimin said shyly, handing the rose gold phone to her.

Seul hummed under her sharp breath “Mmm.. thank you…” it took her a moment to initiate the first move as her eyes focused on Jimin’s hand which was wrapped securely around her wrist. Jimin sensed the fiery gaze and immediately let go Seul’s hand with a soft huff.

“Oh sorry..” she gave him final glance and disappeared from his vicinity.

“Ji Seul..Seul” he muttered with a small smile spread across his face. The name tickled his heart, way to allow some strangers invaded his personal space. That one space in his heart is untouchable at first now gets a little shaky.

 ----------------------

“Jeon Jungkook you better be fast, or I am leaving you” he hollered as he continued to press the elevator button furiously.

“COMING KIM SEOKJIN-SSI!” the younger guy strutted with a soft pant.

“Did you find the tape? Yoongi is so going to kill you if you don’t get the tape delivered safely to him”

“Am I delivery boy now? Namjoon hyung could have sent it by himself, yet he made us do a detour just to get this cd. And why would Yoongi hyung be home so early? That is so not him” he pondered.

Yoongi is known to be a workaholic freak, staying in his genius lab was his thing ever since they debuted. So, to see him back home early this broad daylight was a little over the top. He wouldn’t be back unless something really was bothering him.

“ He does the unexpected thing so scratch that” Seokjin grew impatient as he watched the elevator descended diligently through the digital monitor. The ding sound from the elevator made him heaved a sigh of relief “I wonder what is so important that Jimin forced us to be back home at this time”

Jungkok shrugged “It must be a prank because we forgot to bring him along” as soon as the door the elevator opened, a figure with head hung low scurried off without caring who’s important of them.

Jin frowned at the impact “Hey watch out where you are going young lady” he voiced out his annoyance. To his utter astonishment, Seul turned to him with an apologetic look before scurrying off in hurry.

“Mmm? No problem…”

Jungkook blinked confusedly “Hyung, hurry the elevator is about to close duh” his voice brought him out of his trance. Jin managed to capture the look in her eyes, it was a hint of fear and confusion. He wondered what happened to the young lady? It was none of his business anyway, but he got to admit he was drawn by the beauty of her eyes.

He hoped she will be just fine.

 ------------------

Despite her weird encounter with Jimin few days ago and the Suga thing, Seul managed to pull through it, tending her works as usual but thankfully these days her luck was on her side. As far as her concerned there was no unexpected meeting with the babytan.

She tried to occupy herself with the workloads at the shop, and decided to forget Yoongi’s devil whispers which became a mere nightmare for her now. For an odd reason, her voice lingered in her mind since that day. Do not speak of the kisses, now it affected her so badly to the point her heart weakened every time Yoongi’s part came into the songs that she listened to.

With that, she decided to stay away from Bangtan Sonyeondan for the time being.

Away from their songs.

Away from their updates.

Away from Park Jimin.

Away from Min Yoongi.

Okay, that is how she’s going to put this. Min Yoongi is a real fire.

“Can I come in?” a knock on her door brought her back to her sense. Then, she remembered her date with Hwasa. They were supposed to go out for a movie since that time of the month whereby they only got a short break. Without waiting for her answers, Hwasa would enter anyways. Who could stop her.

Seul’s eyes rounded at the image of her best friend “Oh my god, I almost forgot our date! Screw the caretaker job” she arose from her feet immediately pulled out random clothes from her closet getting ready to change.

“I knew you would forget, so I came to pick you up. What is wrong with you though Seul? You seem a little off” Hwasa closed the door behind her, and leaned against it, crossed arms.

A small sigh escaped from her lips “I don’t know. It feels just wrong. Have you ever felt something was tugging you hard and this roller coaster feeling that you experience, it becomes too much for you? At one point you just want to cry it aloud” she clenched her fist into a ball feeling the pain sipping in.

“Hey.. Seul-ah.. Tell me, is everything alright?” Hwasa was taken aback by Seul’s confession. It rarely happened, and this was one of the rare time she would see Seul looking glum and lost. The girl was not good in expressing her feelings even to Hwasa and her own mother, to let her feelings bottled up for so long resulted in sudden outburst.

Making her way to the queen size bed, Seul slumped on it accompanied with tears cascading down like broken pipe “SEUL-AH!” Hwasa pushed her panic button upon witnessing the scene in front of her.

“Babe…please.. tell me, let it out” she pulled Seul into a tight embrace letting the broken girl bawled her eyes out. She felt Seul’s clutching onto her shirt as if her life hanging onto it “Hush… cry it out cry it out” Hwasa stroked her hair with affection.

Seul too had no idea why she cried.

Was it because of things happened in her life?

Was it her failure to control her own feelings?

Or was she always this fragile and broken yet she refused to admit to it?

Why Ji Seul?

After god twenty minutes of silence, only Seul’s small sob could be heard filling the emptiness in the room, she looked up meeting Hwasa’s worried gaze. “Are you feeling any better?” Hwasa finally spoke up earning Seul’s attention.

“Thank you”

“And?”

“That is it? Just a simple thank you? You owe me an explanation, why with the sudden outburst?” this time Hwasa gaze was on her, giving the sad girl a soft squish as an assurance.

“I am just too overwhelmed, with the things happened in my life right now”

“Like what?”

Damn, Hwasa would not back away that easily. It was her fault to break down in front of her. Seul was contemplating whether to spill put the truth or to keep the secret within her. Life is a matter of choice, it is either you grab it or let it go.

“Ji Seul, I am waiting” her brows quirked up in curiosity.

“This work that I am doing for my mother right now is driving me up the walls” Seul took a deep breath as she finally spilled the beans from the first time she tended the job up until the recent event with Yoongi.

Eyes wide opened, lips hung loose allowing a small whimper coming from her, Hwasa is officially dead inside. She held up her palms signalling her friend to give her a moment to regain her lost back to body.

“So you are saying, the Min Suga of Bangtan Sonyeondan and you shared a weird kiss?” she rephrased and Seul nodded in embarrassment.

Hwasa let out the highest octave of human’s squeal which feared Seul “YAH TONE DOWN WOMAN! ARE YOU TRYING TO GET ME KILL?” she slapped her arms with a deep frown.

“OH MY GOD SEUL HOW CAN I? WHAT THE HELL? YOU ARE PRACTICALLY SPOILING ME WITH SOME FANFICTION! ARE YOU NUTS?”

Annoyed, Seul clasped her hand over Hwasa’s mouth with hope she would lower down her voice for the sake of everyone’s happiness “I know this sound crazy, but can you please stop screeching like some annoying parrots. Gosh woman!”

“This is not crazy. Yes, a little! However, this is by far the best thing that I ever heard from you!”

“So how is it kissing the famous Min Yoongi?”

“How does a lip of rapper feel like?”

“Is he a good kisser?”

“FEED ME GIRL!”

Seul facepalmed regretting the decision that she made to trust Hwasa with her story, now that big mouth of hers are not going to stop blabbering nonsense. The excited girl shook her shoulder with all her might just to get answers from her, she was unstoppable.

“For a record, he is not that almighty don’t fool yourself with that idol image of his. He is a normal citizen like us, except he is a little too cocky and annoying. Apart from that, he is annoying as hell!” Seul pursed her lips in protest. The image of Yoongi teasing her with that smile of his triggered her anger.

“I would rather stay with weird Jimin than him, he is a big big trouble” she continued without hesitation, Seul continued to comment of Yoongi demeanour and it continued for five minutes. Hwasa on the other hand was mentally judging the angry girl “But he smells awfully good, I hate that part the most” she finally ended her long ranting.

“What did you just say?” she poked fun.

Clearing her throat to chase the awkwardness away, Seul shot her a death glare “I said he smells awful, not let me change so we can eat that patbingsu!” Seul escaped without problem leaving her mischievous friend behind.

“Min Yoongi smells awfully good huh?” she hummed.

 ---------------

“ 2016 Melon Music Award, Best Album of the Year goes to…”

“Bangtan Sonyeondan. Congratulations!” the news spread like wildfire as people was surprised by the announcement. Some was overjoyed by their winning after years of hard work, some immature human being was too salty with the winning and bashing them out openly.

However it wouldn’t change the fact that they just won Best Album of the Year. The members were in dazed as they tried to decipher the information that they just heard few seconds ago. They were woken up by the standing ovation from other celebrities who fought along them. Everyone had a wide grin and congratulated them for their winning.

Each one of them ascended to the stage with a shocked expression across their faces, none would expect this thing to happen overnight. Armys are everything to them. Up until now, they managed to pull through the worst time in life thanks to Armys.

The announcer continued “ This year hot idols, their albums did really well on different charts. Congratulations for the best album of the year award”

None of this would happen without the overwhelming supports that they received from Armys.

Namjoon led the group to the centre in order to receive their first daesang, Taehyung on the hand was chanting “It is us.. It is us? Us ? Us” along the way followed by other members who seemed as baffled as him.

The boys politely bowed to both announcers before receiving the award and readied for their important speech. A start of every path that they will take after this night, it is indeed too much for their heart to handle.

Taking a moment to settle his unsteady breathing, Namjoon lips were pressed into thin line as he spoke “Army! THANK YOU” that was the first thing came out from his soft lips.

He shook his head in disbelief, wandering his eyes around the audience watching their Bangtan Bomb in the air.

To his distaste, his eyes landed at some part of the audience which went black as if like a protest from other fandom. Namjoon gulped at the sight trying to shrug off the thought. A small pat on his back and he knew other members witnessed the awful scene too. As much it ached his heart to see those hatred being thrown to them openly like this, he did not want to ruin the moment.

Jin looked down letting the tears flowed wetting his cheek, whilst Hoseok slipped his arm around his shoulder with a grateful smile. Grateful with this moment that he could cherish with other members. His eyes were sting with tears which he forced not to spill.

Yoongi noticed the hesitation in Namjoon’s voice, but he chose to stand silently behind Jin and Namjoon without uttering anything. He held back his tears refused to let it go or else this would be a long hell of night for him.

Armys have suffered enough because of us. I am sorry and thank you. Yoongi clenched his fist to calm down his desire to cry.

Jimin was admiring the older guy gathering his thought on the other side with a proud smile, he gave the leader a small nod assuring him everything would be alright when their eyes met “Hyung, you can do it” he mouthed.

A small smile spread across Namjoon face as he continued “Really.. yes.. Thank you to everyone who made us, helped us and we will always love you” he let out a small chuckle with a deep breath. “This is really the biggest award we got since our debut, we would like to thank Bang PD and Big Hit, our family and friends. Army I LOVE YOU” he hollered at the last words while pumping his fist.

Jungkook watched the crowd where he could spot Armys waving their Army Bomb timidly, he felt a heavy tug on his heart. Not them, not our Armys, I am sorry that you are afraid to cheer for us because of us. I am sorry. Jungkook heaved a soft sigh. 

One final glance, Yoongi found the corner of his lips twitced into a small smile "Thanks for believing in someone like me,dealing with these tears and wounds.For becoming my light, for becoming the flower in the most beautiful moment in life" he watched other members with a content heart.

Sweet Jimin was the first one wo lurched forward pushing everyone to the centre of the stage for a group hug. Seokjin continued to cry nevertheless. No one knew he could be a cry baby sometimes. As they were ready to get off the stage, Jimin went to Jin side with a soft smile “We did it hyung” he squished the older guy’s shoulder.

Bangtan Sonyeondan’s first daesang would be one the best memories for them and Armys. This is the start of everything.

 -------------------

“Are you sure you don’t want me to accompany you?” Yoongi gave the older guy a wary look. Jin’s smile was rather fake or could he say, it was not real him. Something is bothering him for sure, as soon the show ended, Jin went mute along the journey.

They decided to celebrate it at the company together with Bang PD and other Bighit staffs, but halfway of the humble party, Jin excused himself. The latter insisted of going home saying that he was not feeling well, but rejected a ride offer by their managers.

Seeing his weird demeanour, Yoongi decided to check on him because after all he was his roommate. They might not talk that much considering how he spent less time in his own room in comparison to his studio yet Yoongi was aware of Jin’s insecurities and worries when it came to his status as Bangtan’s members.

That foolish guy would always blame himself for every failure that Bangtan had. It was hard at first to reach out to Jin but as time passed, he eventually found way to give a small pep talk. He was neither good nor bad in comforting others, but considered him decent.

“I will be okay, I just need some time alone. See you at home” Jin nodded tiredly as he shushed the shorter guy inside. Even though he was reluctant to get inside and leaving Kim Seokjin behind, Yoongi complied to his request.

It was the best thing to do for now. Everyone needed space.

In Jin’s case, he needed time to gather himself together.

He would not invade his personal space

This work belongs to  Chimswae © 2020. All Rights Reserved.

[allthings-fantasy]

See You Again - Part Three

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 1467

Warnings: 

AuthorsNote: All other parts can be found on my masterlist, LINK IN BIO

You had just stepped out of the shower when you heard your phone ringing. “Shit…” Quickly, you scrunched the ends of your hair a few times before wrapping the fabric around you. Almost slipping on the tile, you grabbed your phone off the counter. “Hello?”

“Hey, sweet thing. What are you doing?” The sound of Jason’s voice instantly brought a smile onto your lips.

Putting the phone on speaker, you set it back down and began drying off your skin. “Actually, just got out of the shower, currently trying to dry off. Why? What are you doing?” Your voice had a teasing tone as you ran the towel across your legs.

He laughed from the other end. “Hmm, does that mean you’re naked right now?”

Your eyes rolled as you shook your head. “Shut up, Jas and get to the point.”

“Well now how can I focus on anything other than you talking to me all naked and wet?” There was a satisfied smirk in his voice, making your cheeks turn a shade darker.

“Jason!”

He groaned and you could hear him moving around. “Fine, I wanted to know if you wanted to go shopping with Addison and I today. Need some groceries and I promised her we could stop by the mall.”

There was no hesitation in your answer. “Of course! I’d love to. But I thought it was her weekend to have Addison?”

You could practically hear him rolling his eyes. “C’mon Y/N. You know know damn well she has no interest in taking care of her daughter. She’s lucky if she has her one week out of the month. Besides, she has her aunt Y/N.”

It made you incredibly angry that Addison’s mother wanted nothing to do with her. She was the sweetest little girl you’ve ever met. Thankfully, Addi looked like Jason and not her mother. It has been three years since Jason became a father. You were the closest thing that poor little girl had to a mother. “I’ll be ready in about a half hour, want me to swing by or are you gonna pick me up?”

“Why don’t you come over here? And bring an overnight bag. It’s Saturday, we can all watch movies tonight and make dinner.” You couldn’t think of a better way to spend your Saturday evening than with the two people you cared for the most.

A bright smile formed onto your lips. “I’ll be there soon.”

Jason only lived a short drive from your house, fifteen minutes at max if you hit all the red lights. Before you even fully unloaded your car, you saw his front door swinging wide open. A small girl with wavy dirty blonde hair came flying across the porch. “Y/N! Y/N!”

Before your foot could even make it up the first step, Addison was hurling herself at you. You caught her with ease, letting out an exaggerated groan as your lifted her onto your hip. “Hi, pretty girl.” You smiled at her and kissed her cheek as she wrapped her little arms around your neck. “Let’s go find daddy okay?”

As soon as you stepped through the door and kicked it close behind you, Addison started yelling. “Daddy! Aunt Y/N is here!” You flinched as she yelled right beside your ear before letting her down. “Daddy!”

Footsteps echoed from the hallway and soon Jason appeared in the doorway. “Chill, little lady I was putting your clothes in the dryer.” He smiled and stepped over to you, slinging an arm around your shoulder, he kissed the top of your head. “Missed you, baby girl.”

You scoffed and pushed at his chest. “You just saw me like two days ago.”

He snickered and grabbed the duffel strap from your shoulder. “I’ll take this upstairs and we’ll get going, alright?”

The ride to the mall didn’t take long. It was filled with you and Addison singing along to whatever Disney CD she was in the mood for. Jason pretended to be annoyed, but you knew he found that song from Mulan just as catchy as you did. The three of you strolled through the stores and picked up a few things for Addi as well as yourselves. Next stop was the grocery store.

“Think you can sit in the cart for a little bit?” You pleaded with the little girl as your arms could no longer take the weight of carrying her. She dramatically rolled her eyes before nodding and slipped her legs into the front carrier. “I promise, I’ll carry you later.” You placed a quick kiss on her temple and pushed the cart. “So what all do you need?”

Jason dug around in this wallet until he found a folded piece of paper nestled inside and sheepishly handed it to you. “A lot.”

Your eyes scanned the various items he needed and nodded your head. “Let’s get started then.”

The cart was overflowing with groceries and you and Jason were currently debating on what type of cereal to buy. With a heavy sigh, you shifted Addison over onto your other hip. “Jason, I am telling you that we do not need to buy four different kinds of cereal, that’s ridiculous!”

You laughed as he tried to balance the difference boxes in his arms. “Addi likes fruit loops, I like Wheaties, you like frosted flakes but if you wake up in the grumpy mood all you want is lucky charms. That’s four different kinds, baby.” Jason smiled and stacked them on top of the ever growing pile.

The smile that was on your lips only grew bigger. “I’ve told you a hundred times there is no need for you to buy food for me.”

Addison squirmed in your arms and she moved her mouth beside your ear. “I like lucky charms too.” Her admittance had you laughing all over again.

Jason looked at you with a question on his face. “She said she likes lucky charms too.”

“Then it’s decided.” He chuckled and walked behind the two of you, placing a kiss on your’s and his daughter’s head.. “Gotta keep my girls fed.”

Dean’s POV

The sinking feeling I felt in the parking lot should’ve been my first indication to turn around and drive right back to the motel. It’s not like this town didn’t have good takeout. But before my brain could catch up with my feet, I was suddenly walking through the main entrance.

The sickening feeling only worsened the more isles that I walked through. That was until I heard it. That laugh, that sweet laugh that my brain would never let me forget. My feet suddenly felt stuck in concrete and my lungs felt as if they could no longer take in air. The chips in my hand crumbled under the force of my hands squeezing into fists.

I knew she was talking to someone else, but the voice I couldn’t recognize. It was a man’s, that much I knew for sure.  There was a burning jealousy in my chest the more I heard her laugh. I had no right to be jealous, I should be happy that someone was making her smile again. But it didn’t stop me from wishing it could be me.

Again, my feet had a brain of their own. I pushed the cart towards the isle she was in, the closer I got the tighter my lungs felt. But none of that compared to when I saw her. I could only see half of her face, but there was no doubt in my mind that it was her.

It was when I registered the little girl on her hip that I felt like I actually was going to throw up. The way she cradled the girl to her chest created a whole new type of hurt. The man she was with kissed the tops of their heads and started pushing their cart. She looked up at him and smiled, like she used to look at me, as if he hung the stars.

I knew it was a dick move, but I left the cart of groceries right where it sat. No part of me wanted to risk a closer encounter. Not when she had her family with her. It was a family I would never be a part of.

My nails dug into the palm of my hands as I tried resisting the urge to lay my fist into whatever I could get my hands on. It was only when my skin broke open that I relaxed my fingers. My chest shook as I took in an unsteady breath. I could feel my eyes sting from tearing up, but I wouldn’t let them fall. With a solid punch to the steering wheel, I started Baby back up and pulled out of the parking lot. Take out for dinner it is, even if it is in that damned hotel.

Tags: @memes-and-food

[kanasmusings]

[Translation] QUELL “Matchless People” Track 5

Track 5~ It’s the last track for the actual CD but there’s still the mini drama that comes with it ^^ I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did because the angst and resolution was all just great! 

Thank you again to Deea for the files~! Please don’t ask her for them as per her request and please don’t ask if I’ll be sharing mine as well, thank you ^^

※ Please don’t re-post these translations without permission. Instead of reposting, please just like/reblog instead ^^

Under the cut, enjoy~!

Track 05: [君の隣に立つために] “So that I can be able to stand next to you.”

[0:00]

  (Issei walking around)

ISSEI: (yawns) Hm? There’s no one here…

ISSEI: Are they all out somewhere? Hm?

ISSEI: This is breakfast. Oh.

(Issei picks up a note)

ISSEI: “We went out for a bit but we’ll be back by lunch.” From Eichi…

ISSEI: Ah, he’s really considerate.

ISSEI: I have to eat properly before Eichi comes home.

(Issei opens a pot’s lid)

ISSEI: I knew it. There was some miso soup.

ISSEI: Let’s warm it up.

(Issei close the lid and starts pressing buttons)

ISSEI: And then… I have to prepare some rice and make side dishes at the stove... Ah, I have to make some now.

(Issei turns the faucet on)

ISSEI: I wonder what Ichiru’s doing now…

ISSEI: It looks like he wasn’t in his room. It’s his day off today so maybe… he went out somewhere?

(Issei turns the faucet off)

ISSEI: Wait… It’s been a while since Ichiru and I weren’t together…

ISSEI: Until recently, I felt uneasy whenever we weren’t together but… I wonder why?

ISSEI: I feel like I’m not that worried at all.

(Ichiru comes running in)

ICHIRU: Ah…!

ISSEI: Ichiru?!

ICHIRU: Issei… You were awake?

ISSEI: Yep, good morning. You were out? Were you with Eichi by any chance?

ICHIRU: Yeah, well, for a bit.

ISSEI: I see. I just woke up.

ISSEI: Did you eat lunch, Ichiru?

ICHIRU: Not yet.

ISSEI: Want something to eat? I’m about to eat breakfast so want me to make something while I’m at it?

ISSEI: Is there something left in the fridge?

(Issei opens the refrigerator)

ISSEI: Um… Eggs and tomatoes and…

ICHIRU: Issei, um…!

ISSEI: Hm?

ICHIRU: Um… I’m sorry about… yesterday.

ICHIRU: I’m really… sorry.

ISSEI: (closes the fridge before turning to Ichiru) You didn’t say anything wrong, Ichiru.

ISSEI: I should be the one saying sorry.

ICHIRU: No…! You didn’t say anything wrong either.

ISSEI: That’s not true. I didn’t follow my own advice. I only thought it was natural that you’d scold me.

ISSEI: I’ve already reflected on it. I’m sorry, too.

ICHIRU: But, I… Shouted at you in public.

ISSEI: Ichiru, I have a favour.

ICHIRU: What?

ISSEI: I want to go eat. Can we talk about it while eating?

ICHIRU: Y-Yeah, of course. I don’t mind at all.

ISSEI: (smiles) Thank you. Ah, I forgot about the miso soup!

ICHIRU: Miso soup? W-woah…! (Ichiru rushes to turn the pot off)

ICHIRU: That was close… It almost overflowed.

ISSEI: Ah… I forgot I switched it on…

ICHIRU: I’ll do it. I just have to eat it up, right?

ISSEI: Yeah… But—

ICHIRU: Just let me. I’ll do it.

ISSEI: Got it. Then, I’ll go get the table ready.

  ICHIRU: Geez… I’m sure that he’s still half-asleep or something.

ICHIRU: Um… heat the miso soup and then er…

[04:00]

  ICHIRU: It’s done.

ISSEI: Thank you.

(Ichiru sets the table and Issei takes a picture suddenly)

ISSEI: I got a nice picture~ Thank you for the food.

(Issei starts eating)

ICHIRU: I made that eggplant miso soup… Though, I made it with the broth that Eichi made yesterday.

ISSEI: It’s delicious.

ICHIRU: Right?! It got a bit over boiled so I was worried the taste might change.

ISSEI: It’s okay.

ICHIRU: You were that hungry, huh?

ISSEI: It’s like Ichiru said.

ICHIRU: Huh? Did I say anything?

ISSEI: I didn’t get to eat much yesterday. I think it was because I was too tired from not being able to sleep.

ICHIRU: Oh, that? You’re only realizing that now?

ISSEI: Yeah.

ISSEI: I thought I’d be fine if I didn’t sleep for just one day.

ICHIRU: Geez… You’re too thick-headed, Issei.

ISSEI: I guess I am.

ISSEI: From now on I’ll eat properly. And I’ll sleep when I’m sleepy. I’ll discuss with everyone if I can’t fall asleep.

ISSEI: I’ll stop judging easily whether something is a big deal or not.

ICHIRU: Yeah. I’ll be happy if you do that, too.

ISSEI: That’s why, if there’s something that bugs you again, I want you to tell me properly.

ISSEI: I want to fix my bad points, too.

ISSEI: Oh, and, I’m sorry for being too nagging. I trust you properly and--

ICHIRU: Ahh…!! Wait a sec, stop!

ISSEI: Ichiru?

ICHIRU: If you go and apologize that much, it’d be hard for me to apologize, y’know?

ISSEI: Hm? You already did, didn’t you?

ICHIRU: I only got to say ‘sorry’, didn’t I?! I haven’t said anything else yet.

ISSEI: That’s more than enough.

ISSEI: Plus, now that I think about it, the things I kept warning you about were just me being overprotective. You don’t have to mind them.

ICHIRU: Of course I would! Ah, but… I don’t mind being told to be careful and it makes me happy but… that’s not it!

ICHIRU: I want to be able to do something even without being told.

ICHIRU: Like you and Shu.

ISSEI: Ichiru doesn’t have to be like me or Shu. You’re fine as you are.

ICHIRU: But…!

ISSEI: Then, what would you do if I said that I want to be like you or Eichi?

ICHIRU: Huh? You don’t have to, you know? Ah…

ISSEI: See what I mean?

ICHIRU: That’s true but…

ICHIRU: (groans)

ISSEI: What’s wrong?

ICHIRU: I just can’t win against you…

ISSEI: Do you want to?

ICHIRU: No… It’s not like I want to, it’s… I just don’t want to be left behind…

ICHIRU: I want to stand beside you or something…

ISSEI: (chuckles) Oh, so felt that way, too?

ICHIRU: Eh…?

ISSEI: I do, too. I feel the same.

ICHIRU: Eh…? What?!

ISSEI: I want to be prouder and confidently say that we’re twins someday!

ISSEI: I’ve always thought so. Maybe we really are similar somehow.

ICHIRU: Because we’re twins…?

ISSEI: No, because we want to always do our best together.

ICHIRU: I see… That’s right!

ISSEI: Yeah, I’m sure it is.

ICHIRU: Ah, wait a sec.

ISSEI: Hm? What’s wrong?

(Ichiru leaves to grab something)

[08:05]

  ICHIRU: Here. I bought it for you.

ISSEI: Can I open it?

ICHIRU: Yeah.

(Issei opens the present)

ISSEI: Ah, it’s the fashionable glasses we saw yesterday!

ICHIRU: I had Eichi take me there and we kinda discussed what would be good…

ICHIRU: But I knew that these were the best style!

ICHIRU: It matches with mine.

ISSEI: Did you go and buy these this morning?

ICHIRU: Yeah. I kinda planned to be home before you woke up.

ICHIRU: I was gonna hand these to you and then we’d make up.

ISSEI: Even though I wasn’t mad?

ICHIRU: I wanted to apologize.

ICHIRU: I didn’t want to just “sort of” make up.

ICHIRU: Plus… I didn’t want yesterday to remain a bitter memory…

ICHIRU: That’s why I had Eichi come with me shopping but only I came back earlier.

ICHIRU: I wanted to talk with you properly.

ISSEI: So that’s why… (smiles)

ISSEI: Thank you! I’ll have to thank Eichi later, too.

ICHIRU: Did you say anything to Shu this morning, Issei…?

ISSEI: To Shu? I haven’t met him today though…

ICHIRU: Ah… You’re the type who doesn’t remember sleep-talking…

ISSEI: Should we go out somewhere after we eat? Just the two of us while wearing these (the sunglasses)?

ICHIRU: As a disguise?

ISSEI: Yeah! And a hat, too~!

ICHIRU: Let’s go! Yeah, let’s do it.

ICHIRU: Oh yeah! Wanna go take a look at the boxed lunches from yesterday?

ISSEI: That’s a great idea. Let’s buy four then~

ISSEI: Oh, I wanna see the pet stores, too.

ICHIRU: Since it’s our day-off, too!

ISSEI: Let’s enjoy ourselves today~

[10:00]

  SHU: Shiki!

SHIKI: Sorry for making you wait.

SHU: No, I just arrived myself.

SHIKI: This is unusual. I thought that since it’s you, you’d be sitting at a private booth.

SHU: Don’t you like it?

SHIKI: Nah, I’m the type who enjoys myself in any kind of situation.

SHIKI: You’re the one who doesn’t like crowds, aren’t you?

SHU: Have I ever mentioned that?

SHIKI: I can tell that much just by looking.

  SHIKI/SHU: Cheers.

SHIKI: This is delicious.

SHIKI: You’re drinking tea? You really not up to trying at least one glass?

SHU: Unfortunately, no.

SHU: I’d end up causing trouble for everyone around me if I started feeling bad.

SHU: It’s just my constitution so I can’t do anything about it.

SHIKI: I imagined that you couldn’t handle alcohol but I didn’t think you’d be this much of a non-drinker.

SHIKI: Well, I guess that’s so like you. So? What did you want to talk about?

SHU: It’s um…

SHIKI: Oh? It’s rare for you to be tongue-tied. Even though you hounded on me when I left our former unit.

SHU: That’s…

SHIKI: You were the only one who directly told me not to quit. Multiple times, too.

SHIKI: The others didn’t really mind or care or they thought that it’d be wasted effort, or just laugh and say “that’s so like you.”

SHIKI: Each of them either understood me or didn’t.

SHU: I didn’t want to give up even if it seemed impossible.

SHIKI: I see.

SHU: I didn’t want you to get too far ahead. Even now, I still want to catch up with you, with SolidS.

SHU: I didn’t want to be protected, taught, and then catch up a long while after.

SHU: I wanted to stand at the same place as you.

SHIKI: (smiles) I thought so.

SHU: (smiles) I told you all I felt and that’s the extent of your reaction?

SHIKI: I told you a while ago, remember? I can tell that much just by looking at you.

SHU: Am I really that easy to read?

SHIKI: Lately, you’ve become easier to read. Though you did manage to put on a passable poker face during the general meeting.

SHIKI: Though, your true feelings showed afterwards.

SHU: If only that would count as a good poker face.

SHU: I think I keep losing face when it comes to you. It really is a bit frustrating that you can always notice it.

SHIKI: I get nervous if I don’t notice it. I mean that in a good way, of course.

SHIKI: As an artist, there’s really no one who’s in full control of their emotions.

SHU: Shiki…

SHIKI: Also, I don’t particularly dislike tenacious people, you know?

SHIKI: As proof, I’m constantly surrounded by those kinds of people.

SHIKI: You can compete with me anytime you want, you know? I’ll take you on as long as it’s not a drinking competition.

SHU: (smiles) Got it. I’ll cling on to that while relying on you at the same time.

SHU: Anyway, without further ado.

SHIKI: Hm? This is?

SHU: The talks about the promotion. I gave it some more thought.

SHU: Would you take a look at them?

SHIKI: You… It would’ve been better to discuss this in a private booth, you know?

SHU: If we talk quietly, it would be no different from our usual meetings in a meeting room.

SHU: I wanted to be more frank about it.

SHU: It’s a material that I planned to bring so I prepared for this beforehand.

SHU: If someone caught a glimpse of it, the words inside are only things we can understand.

SHU: Also, since I don’t drink, there’s zero chance that I’ll lose the files from being drunk.

SHIKI: Wait, I can’t let that last line slide.

SHIKI: I haven’t lost anything even when I was drunk, you know?

SHU: I heard a rumor that someone’s a bit difficult when he’s tired though~

SHIKI: Ah… The rumor’s origins are so easy to tell that it makes my head spin.

SHIKI: Damn it… Don’t treat me like a forgetful old man just because I hit 30.

SHU: You’ll listen to me, won’t you?

(Shiki takes a sip of his drink before replying)

SHIKI: Yeah, of course.

  ==END==

※ Please don’t re-post the English translations without permission.

If you enjoyed this, please consider buying me a ko-fi here to support my work if you want. (o^▽^o)Thank you!!

[tommyoboe]

FINAL YEAR - WEEKS 29 & 30.

Oh, Birmingham. 

Oh. Birmingham.

Being back here after what has been quite a blast of a two weeks away is not fun. Stress is taking over my being and today has just been lovely. Not.

I was all ready to go in this morning for an audition for an exciting orchestral opportunity in September, and just as I was heading out the door I received a message from a colleague about a rehearsal I was supposed to be in.

Shiiiiiiiit. I knew there was something I had forgotten this weekend, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it, as I had this audition today. Like, it’s not a huge deal, but I really don’t want to be that person who is flakey and unreliable. I’m constantly having a go at those sorts of people, so there is no way I’m going to become one.

Then I spilt yoghurt inside my bag, so I had to go round smelling like strawberry flavouring all day. How lovely.

But I suppose things improved: I had a good first rehearsal with my string group for one of my recital pieces and I’m now enjoying treats with Cameron to close the week.

Now to talk about something much more exciting than being here in cold miserable Birmingham.

I went to Texas! TEXAS! 

On the second Monday of the Easter break, at a rather ghastly 4:30am, quintet and I set off from Mark’s house in Hertfordshire to Heathrow Airport to get the plane to Dallas/Fort Worth and then to the nearby suburb of Southlake, where we were to be based for the next ten days.

After the nine hour flight, having to put our clocks back to lunchtime was not pleasant, and as much as I wanted to be, I was not hungry for instant Mexican food with tonnes of Texan queso.

It was a lovely welcome though, and set the tone for the next week and a half of concerts, travels and crazy adventures.

This began with a rehearsal at what would be 1am UK time with the Southlake Community Band for a commission piece we would perform with them on the Saturday.

With this in mind, tea and rest was well deserved afterwards.

Waking up at 9 the next day realising it was 3pm in the UK felt bizarre, as if I had spent a hungover day in bed. But no, I had the rest of the day to come yet, and no, I was not hungover.

I had the ambition of selling some of our CDs at our first concert on Tuesday, but realised I did not have a large enough pot for potential cash, so I nicked a tiny bowl from my hosts’ house. To our pleasant surprise and amusement, on the night we sold ten CDs, which meant the bowl was overflowing and I resorted to combining our general donations with this money to share with the others. It was a great feeling, properly earning that money for ourselves.

It also meant that we didn’t have to busk whilst we were out there, quite a relief.

The next two days were free, so we filled the first morning with bowling, which for me started off well before things dramatically declined, rather like a bowling ball crashing to the floor.

Luckily my day was redeemed with a large chocolate covered cherry milkshake. That alone was enough to make up for the rest of the day, and then with wine at tea back at my hosts’ place, I was back feeling *the opening of Love Affair’s Everlasting Love*.

Visiting the ranch and cosmopolitan areas of Fort Worth on Thursday provided some real holiday vibes as we roamed in shirts and shorts in the strong Texan sunshine as if it was summer. We watched the cattle drive (ten seconds of cows with horns) before exploring what people might associate more as ‘traditional Texas’. We ventured into places selling Stetson hats and cowboy boots for $5000 (craaaaaaaazy) and thankfully did not have to dual at high noon in chaps, which I really wanted to find so I could joke to my mum about wearing them as I did as a child out of mine and my brother’s costume box.

Not even embarrassed about that.

Cosmopolitan Fort Worth brought a slice of me to the trip, with high buildings a plenty and cool places for tasty food in a cute open square. The toasted sandwich I had was simply excellent. I am thoroughly missing it now, as I am most of the food.

This included the beautiful brisket we enjoyed at one of our hosts’ houses that evening, before indulging in too many brownies, as well as beer and wine. The effects of that lethal combination weren’t felt until after the laughs in the swimming pool and hot tub and gazing at the beautiful husky puppy brought by a family friend. Almost falling into the swimming pool at one point and cutting my finger on a bottle opener made for some literal sore moments, but overall it was a wonderful night in company as such.

Once the lethal effects of that night did pass through me (unfortunately a bit too literally), I was ready for our first day giving a school performance and workshop. This provided many laughs and even a great moment of tension as we played our classic workshop game ‘21′. With the idea between the group to get to 21 without multiple people saying the same number, the moment two people synced ‘21′ was explosive as the room erupted into meltdown and laughter. It definitely made a change to nodding off in some of the workshops I’ve experienced as an audience member!

Following this was a mammoth of a dinner (not literally, obvs), as I had a super large portion of pesto pasta with a gigantic brownie to follow. Some of the others had huge slabs of cake, easily four times the size of portions here in the UK. Food comas ensued.

Said food coma did not stop us from visiting a beautiful place that evening called Velvet Taco, containing the best taco I’ve ever had. No regrets.

Dallas that evening was also superb. As we drove in and saw the skyline emerge, my eyes lit up as we found a place I would happily live in. I just love the excitement and buzz of big cities, and in its architecture alone Dallas had this in abundance. The contrast with a park right in the middle of the city with a cinema made for another lovely evening.

Saturday brought our partaking in a local festival. The sun deceived us, as despite having pegs for the outdoors setting, this was not enough to prevent the wind behind us blowing our music all over the place. However, our missing entries here and there as a result (or sections in some cases!) didn’t prevent us from enjoying our slot at the popular Southlake festival and with a few accent jokes and our supportive hosts as audience, we got through a tricky couple of hours.

Later that day we returned to the gazebo stage with the Southlake Community Band to give a premiere performance of our commission piece, titled ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas’. It was a fabulous piece, full of traditional American tunes and fun little quirks. Having the band play it so well enhanced our playing also, and even with a couple of hairy moments we performed our best and embraced the great opportunity we had been given.

Delicious Phillipino food at another of our wonderful hosts’ followed, sending me into yet another food coma. Can’t complain though, with salmon it was so worth it.

The next day we took part in a church service, which contained lots of terminology that went over my head, like ‘offertory’ and ‘postlude’. I just did what I was told and appropriately walked out between playing when I had forgotten some music (as you do) and listened to a passionate sermon involving the pastor bashing the table and crying (again, as you do). I just sat there like, well, we’re just here to play the nice music and eat the nice food, thank you, bye bye.

We were indeed treated to food afterwards though so my heart’s desires were fulfilled.

Abi, Henry and I ventured into Dallas again that afternoon to watch the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s stunning rendition of Stravinksy’s Firebird. It was thrilling, after a slightly lacklustre programming for the first half. I just hope all I remember isn’t Abi and I laughing at some of the captions of the story that came with the music, including the antagonist’s soul living in an egg.

Spoiler: it got smashed.

In the next days more school concerts and workshops took place and we expanded our group knowledge and skills whilst meeting some lovely young people. My favourite person by far was the girl who had a mutual love for The Beach Boys; we took great pleasure in discussing best songs afterwards.

We embraced culture on Tuesday, with a trip to Dallas’ Sixth Floor Museum, an insightful exhibit on the assassination of John F. Kennedy, giving interesting details and making me theorise with my colleagues over what may have happened on that historic day.

This was followed by a trip to TGI Fridays, where history was made in the fact that I indulged in yet another massive meal, along with a VERY fruity cocktail.

Before we knew it it was our final day in the vast state, and after a full morning of performances and masterclasses, we treated ourselves to ice cream and I mean ICE CREAM.

I enjoyed two enormous scoops: one of Oreos and caramel and the other rocky road. It was divine. The others revelled in the fact that I finished so speedily. I don’t mess around, you see.

And then it was our last meal and drinks as a whole group. We enjoyed a final night of interesting conversations, fun laughs and lots of pictures, as well as a coffee stout that literally changed my life, before heading back to rest in preparation for the next day’s flight back.

Saying goodbye to everyone was genuinely emotional in places, and with my hosts having been so great to me, I almost didn’t want to leave. The level of accommodation there was nothing like I’d seen before. Such great people.

The flight back, on the other hand, was not great. Due to waiting in a holding bay for almost an hour at Chicago Airport, we missed our connecting flight, which was to be a huge double decker luxurious plane where we could all sit together.

So we were automatically booked on to the next direct flight home where we were unable to sit next to each other, I hardly got any sleep because I felt uncomfortable and as a result of me misinterpreting the air steward’s question of me wanting a ‘special meal’, I got some horrible vegan shit for my tea, whilst everyone else got chicken entrées and pasta. Abi said they weren’t that nice though so that admittedly did make me feel better #notspoiltatall.

Oh and then because we were told our luggage would be transferred over to this new flight, we believed them and were somewhat surprised to not find our luggage on arrival back in London. It turns out they were put on the next flight after ours, so Mark had to come back in the evening and pick everything up to have delivered to us the next day.

We’ll know which airline we shall NOT be flying with next time...

So despite a sour note to end our fantastic trip on, the experience has been that and more, with so many memories made. I have serious holiday blues now being back in Birmingham, and at the moment seeing Cameron and knowing I can be productive again are the only things getting me through.

Now for a gruelling two weeks and then I will have finished final year! Mental! And then the real world, which tonight seems less horrible as I’ve just got some work for the summer, but after that, who knows...

Back to reality this week, wish us luck!

T

(https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNgt2j9ypNMB3m1d0u8bBzs8naSTuc3kyJ-eBz8CJgfVnUg6Ok16C8W1Gt4dTRbLg?key=UjdtUmNqYTNUU1E0Q0lYcDF5NzEyLUpmMXRpYkl3 - pictures from Texas: there are just too many for one blog post!)

[grapesodatozier]

Can we get some uhhhhhh,,, Bevchie friendship hcs? And some Bev and Eddie friendship hc’s?

here are these multiple days later lol sorry it took so long (this got really long so i’m putting it under the cut)

bevchie/beverie (more specifically, this is about them as roommates)

they’re much more functional roommates than any of the losers expected

like, yeah, their apartment is a little messy, but it’s never dirty

it’s mainly just messy bc it’s littered w dumb shit they bought online and used like twice

bev can’t cook for shit, and richie’s actually pretty good at it, so richie usually cooks and bev does the dishes

they do eat a lot of cheese and carbs and sugar tho, so stan comes over every other week or so to force feed them vegetables

like their pantry is genuinely astounding

how can two people own and eat so much junk food????

but then their spice cabinet is also overflowing bc richie loves experimenting with his food (bev loves taste testing them, bc either it’s delicious or it’s awful and hilarious)

richie cleans the bathroom bc the drains freak bev out

they have a double vanity in their bathroom bc they’re ~domestic~

they always give each other reviews of date outfits bc they’re twin bi disasters with v similar taste in fashion

richie wants a liquor bottle graveyard but Bev says no bc “we’re not straight, richard”

neither of them ever care about being sexiled, they both support each other getting dicked down so ardently

like one of them will come home w someone and the other will just be like “am i joining or fucking off?”

threesomes are rare and treasured occasions

they hookup w each other from time to time if they’re both horny at the same time

they don’t use plates when they order pizza, they just rip the box in half and use that as plates bc they know they’ll eat 4 slices each

they’ve got a record player bc they’re those indie kids (this is a modern au now btw so this is some indie kid shit lol)

shelves and cabinets literally overflowing with cds and dvds

posters everywhere

the apartment always smells like weed, on a sliding scale from “faint suggestion of cannabis” to “yeah we just hotboxed out entire apartment lmao”

edbev

it takes a long time for them to recognize how similar they are just bc they never really hung out just the two of them

until one day when everyone else bails on some plans they made

it’s honestly a little bit awkward at first, but then it’s so great it’s like???? how did this take so long????

they bond emotionally over their horrible parents and bullshit societal expectations and whatnot

but also over music and movies

eddie gets bev to let herself admit that she really does like bubblegum pop

they switch off between horror movies and romcoms every time they have a movie night

they’re both pretty chill people honestly, and they both thought they were mainly just chaotic around richie

and sure, they chill together, but they also have so much chaotic gay energy that being around each other just magnifies it so much sometimes, it’s honestly a lot even for them lol but they love it

they love baking together but they’re both really bad at it so they just make those precut pillsbury cookies

bev eats the dough raw and eddie yells at her about salmonella

but then once he starts growing out of the habits and fears sonia forced on him he starts eating it too

one time they just ate an entire roll of sugar cookie dough together (and they both had stomach aches afterwards but they agreed it was worth it)

they convince richie, stan, ben, and mike to let them make bills birthday cake one year

it’s super lopsided and it says “birthday bitch” in barely legible letters

mike is so disappointed in himself for trusting those two with baking

bill still cries tho he loves the cake (and bev and eddie) so much

one day bev is so angry she doesn’t know how to handle it, so Eddie takes her on a run

and she’s huffing and puffing and everything hurts, but she feels... better

so they start running together

none of the other losers believe it until they see it

they have an ongoing runaway plan/fantasy (the other five are included in said plan, but they don’t know about it)

they’re each other’s safe havens when they’re upset and need to vent or cry

they’re both so soft and kind but also they’re both so strong and also very sarcastic and they find confidence in one another

i love them both so much

bonus edbevchie

so many dance parties, so much 80′s pop

the three of them are like a permanent cuddle puddle

they go on so many day trips together and find really cool places/really cute towns

they especially love to go shopping together (even tho eddie sometimes balks at what bev and richie are willing to spend money on)

she’s so happy when they get together, and part of the reason is lowkey bc now she doesn’t have to share the “richies best friend” label w eddie and the “eddie’s best friend” label w richie since they’re boyfriends now

bev is reddie’s official third wheel bc she’s the only one who's just as chaotic as they are

also she endured enough of them gushing about and pining over each other to earn the title

she designs both of their tuxes for their wedding

she also djs bc no one knows their music taste better than she does

they all love each other so much im emo

[sequoiann]

❦ liqhtmas ┊ halo

❆ 10 ; “i met you last christmas and never saw you again until today on christmas day. are you an angel? wait, you actually are?

❆ 19 ; “yeah, uh, alcohol doesn’t go in hot chocolate.”

pairing; seventeen jeonghan x reader

genre; fluff + angst + humor + angel!jeonghan + medieval!au (but slightly modernized?) + fantasy

word count; 1.8k words (i swear it’s not as long as it sounds hjsdkf)

; prompts for liqhtmas

You wandered around the warm, empty house which had festive decorations put up on almost every wall and every corner, your fingers numbly brushing across the wooden table that you walked past. Snow was falling outside, creating a huge white blanket that spread over the entirety of your village. Your eyes scanned the colorful living room which had no signs of life other than your own. A lit Christmas tree was standing proudly at a corner, the lights circling around it shining their individual colors brightly. Garlands were hung neatly on the walls, the center of each drooping down slightly to create a mini U-shape. Red and green Christmas stockings lined the top of your fireplace, seeming to provide a teeny bit more warmth than the fire itself did on other days.

You were a young adult living alone, and you have been for the past 5 years. Where were your parents? Well, you were a product of a failed relationship --- or rather, a failed marriage. Your parents got into a huge fight when you were 16, and it honestly wasn’t surprising. They’d been fighting for as long as you could remember, but this one just had a denouement that concluded the end of their marriage. Neither of them wanted anything to do with the former family after signing the papers, and you were something that would tie them down. So they left the house to you, as if that was a reasonable alibi for them to leave you to raise yourself.

There was a kind lady in the village who acted as your godmother after your biological one left, though --- Madalyn. She was a clothier, someone who makes clothes for the nobles. Most of the materials that were supplied to her were expensive and fine, and she had briefly told you before that if she used any of those for her own benefits, she’d suffer a great deal. You could easily guess what she meant --- you were old enough.

However, materials that had minor stains or manufacturing defects in them would never be bought by any noble, so she used those for you, sewing up dresses and normal everyday clothing. You couldn’t thank her enough. She would often come over with food, but you could feed yourself. You worked as a little deliverer. Your pay wasn’t that good, but it helped you get by.

Madalyn was the one who put up all the Christmas-y decorations in your home, too, even after countless protests from you, who had told her that there was no need in doing that since ‘no one’s gonna see them anyway’. She had smiled warmly, shaking her head as she continued doing what she was doing --- setting up the Christmas tree.

“You’d see it,” she said as-a-matter-of-factly.

She was going out of town for the holiday to visit her direct family, and she had indirectly shown guilt for not being able to be with you. It’d be like that every year, during any festive season. You were used to it, you told her, and you didn’t blame her.

So now, you were alone in your house, the decorations somehow making you feel lonelier on this occasion. You sighed and headed to the kitchen, opening the cabinet overhead and pulling out a container of cocoa-mix powder. You rinsed a yellow-colored mug and filled it with milk before heating it up in the microwave, and adding the cocoa powder in after that. You mindlessly stirred the hot chocolate, hoping that it’d warm your insides. You found your mind floating to the thought of alcohol --- you were reminded that you had a few cans left in the fridge, and the day was passing by unimaginably slowly, so why not?

Grabbing two cans out of the fridge, you placed them both on the countertop beside your mug of hot chocolate, opening one of the cans and taking a sip out of it. You stared at the brown liquid still sitting on the tabletop for a moment, before tilting the canned alcohol above the hot chocolate. You have this habit of making weird concoctions, and sometimes, just sometimes, they turn out tasting fine.

“Yeah, uh, alcohol doesn’t go in hot chocolate.”

You literally jumped back in surprise at the voice, your hand jerking and hitting the filled mug of hot chocolate. It overflows a little and spills onto your hand, making you yelp and instinctively put your lips on the scalded area after hastily putting down the can.

You looked up at the speaker, who had widened his eyes after seeing what happened, pushing himself up from his original position of leaning on the wall.

“Are you okay?” he asked, coming closer to you. You flinched and moved back, and when he noticed that, he stopped in his tracks. You removed your hand from your mouth, unbothered about how unsightly that was.

“W-who are you? Why’re you here? How’d you get in?” you blabbered, your other hand holding onto your wrist close to your chest. You scrutinized the stranger for a bit. He looked oddly familiar, but you couldn’t recall where you had seen him before. He was wearing a white, comfy-looking woolen sweater, his blonde hair and pale skin making him look really… glowy.

The man pressed his lips into a small smile, folding his arms and letting you continue to look him up-down as a sense of familiarity flashed across your eyes.

Then it clicked.

“I met you last Christmas,” you spoke unsurely, the image of him being at the carpenter’s when you were delivering something to them popping up in your head. The man nodded excitedly.

“Yes! Hello, I’m Jeonghan!”

You raised an eyebrow. You still aren’t trusting him. Why was he in your house? And also, you knew almost everyone in the village since you were one of the few ‘deliverers’, but you had never seen him after that one meeting.

“I never saw you again until today, on Christmas day again. Are you an angel?” you questioned. Your social skills weren’t very good.

Jeonghan blinked in surprise, hesitating to confirm your words. You frowned, confused at how he didn’t deny it immediately.

“Wait, you actually are?”

“Yes…?”

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. Jeonghan sighs after seeing your unconvinced expression and casually twirls his index finger in the air, and a whirl of shiny, white sparkles which seemed tinted with pink trailed in the atmosphere.

You were still in disbelief. “...For real? Angels exist?”

Jeonghan nods, unfazed. “I’m a guardian angel. More specifically, your guardian angel.”

Your eyes dropped down to his clothes, and you frowned. “I thought angels wore long, silky, white dresses? And where’s your halo?”

Jeonghan chuckled, his laughter sounding especially melodious. “What era are you living in, Y/N?”

You blinked. “Oh, you know my name.”

“Were you not listening to whatever I said?”

You blinked again. “I was.”

Jeonghan hummed in half-hearted acknowledgment, walking closer to you again. “How’s your hand?”

You had totally forgotten about scalding yourself. You looked down at your hand and saw a red mark on the spot. Jeonghan gently takes your hand, putting it under the tap in the sink and turning on the water. It felt especially cold to the touch.

“Don’t be so stiff,” Jeonghan said, chuckling. “It’s not like I’m gonna hurt you.”

You knew that. There was just something about his presence that made you feel like he had actually been with you since forever, but it was your second time meeting him in person.

“Why’re you here?” you asked carefully, trying to keep the fluttering in your stomach in check. Jeonghan turned off the tap, his hand holding onto yours like you were a princess made of diamonds.

“Well,” he started, his eyes moving from your hand to your eyes. He really looked like an angel, you thought. His eyes were a dreamy grey and seemed to literally sparkle. You quickly looked down before you got lost in them.

“First of all, you’re alone again this Christmas, and that isn’t nice,” he said, smiling gently, his hand letting go of yours, which fell to your side. “Second of all, you actually tried mixing alcohol with hot chocolate. You’re gonna kill yourself.”

You laughed. “I’m still alive, don’t worry. You haven’t failed your job.”

Jeonghan chuckled, shaking his head. “So, what do you wanna do?”

You cocked your head to a side. “You’re actually spending Christmas with me?”

He nodded simply. “Yeah, of course.”

You smiled. “I’d like a movie. It’s too cold out,” you mumbled. “But I’m bored of the movies I have.”

Jeonghan smiled in understanding, before twirling his finger in the air again before pointing it onto your countertop. A ray of sparkle followed the line, and a wide array of different movie CDs appeared on the table.

“Woah!” you exclaimed, widening your eyes and grabbing a random CD box to make sure it was real. It was.

“You can make anything appear?” you asked Jeonghan, and he nodded proudly.

“Would you like a house?” he suggested cheekily, opening his hand where a mini, sparkly house was floating above his palm. You quickly grabbed onto his arm and pushed it down, the sparkles disappearing.

“Don’t! There’s no space!” you exclaimed, the both of you laughing at the thought.

“Okay, choose your movie and we’ll move to the couch.”

You ended up picking up 4 of them before the both of you plopped down on the couch in the living room and playing one of the movies you picked out. You have seated a safe distance away from Jeonghan, who was snug at the corner of your L-shaped sofa. Jeonghan noticed you being all awkward and reached out, grabbing your arm and pulling you towards him. You yelped softly and ended up being seated right beside him.

“Just treat me as your boyfriend,” Jeonghan spoke, chuckling a little. “You don’t have to be so reserved.”

You swallowed at the term he used, hesitant. Honestly, you were tempted to just snuggle up to him and stay there, and since his presence wasn’t actually unfamiliar, you knew it’d be fine. But you were still wary.

Jeonghan raised an eyebrow and pulled you closer such that you were literally squeezed next to him, his arm over your shoulders. You were surprised, but didn’t adjust yourself. It was warm and... nice.

There was a moment of silence between the two of you as the movie introduction played on the television before Jeonghan speaks up.

“You know, angels can read the minds of the person they’re assigned to,” Jeonghan informed you, making you gulp and attempt to sit back up. But he pulls you back down, laughing.

“Just stay here,” he chuckled, resting his head on yours and making a warm, fuzzy blanket appear on top of both of you. “I know you’re cold.”

[daggerzine]

Awaking Up Together- Ben Crum discusses the different lives of Great Lakes.

It was the S/T debut in 2000 that was released on Kindercore that initially got me interested. I loved most everything on that label so when a cd by a band called Great Lakes popped into my po box I was excited to check it out. Like a few of the others under the Elephant 6 moniker, (Apples in Stereo, Olivia Tremor Control, etc.) it exuded a sort-of grandiose 60’s pop charm with bits of psychedelia and some beautiful noise ala Pavement, too. Other records followed (including the brand spankin’ new, and very good, Dreaming Too Close to the Edge) and along the way Crum lended his skills to bands such as Ladybug Transistor and the Essex Green. The more recent Great Lakes records have been a bit darker, more guitar heavy (less sunshine pop) than previous records but still with excellent songwriting and an overflow of hooks. I wanted to know a bit about Crum and what made him tick and when I shot some questions his way he was more than happy to expound and expand on his life from the early days until present day. If you’ve never heard the music of Great Lakes then by all means check out one of their many releases, each one with its own distinct personality. Read on dear fans….

L-R- Kevin Shea, Suzanne Nienaber, Kenny Wachtel, Chris Talsness and Ben Crum

Where did you grow up?

Mt. Airy, Maryland, though I finished high school in suburban Atlanta.

What was the first band that made you take notice?

The Descendents was really the first band that I was in to. I mean, I was discovering classic rock at the same time, but that 80s punk stuff was big for me. I came to them through skateboarding videos. They’re still one of my favorite bands, though I confess I haven’t kept up with their latest music. Fugazi was also an early big one for me. That first EP especially. I also loved, and still love, The Misfits.

When did you first pick up an instrument? Was it a guitar?

I was required by my mother, who played piano, to take piano lessons. She made me practice right after school. While sitting at the piano practicing my scales I could hear the other neighborhood kids playing and having fun. I found it miserable at the time. But my piano teacher let me come early to the lessons. She had a giant leather recliner and a nice stereo system with headphones. She’d let me play whatever records I wanted to listen to. That was my introduction to CCR. The main lick from “Down On the Corner” really grabbed me as a kid. That and the lead guitar part from “Up Around the Bend” had really caught my attention.

By middle school I chose to be in the school band. That lasted about one year. I think I mainly did it because I didn’t like the other options. I “played” saxophone. When I was about 14 I was watching Maryland public TV and I saw the One Night With You movie with Elvis. It’s taken from the 68 Comeback Special. I still love that stuff. I got out my mom’s old nylon string guitar and started teaching myself to play. I begged my parents to let me trade my sax for a steel string Guild acoustic. I took a few lessons, but those didn’t really take. I learned to play “Dust In the Wind” though.

What was your introduction to independent music? Was it hardcore? New wave? Something else?

I used to have a skateboard ramp in my backyard. All kinds of people would hear about it and come to my house to skate. There was an older dude who had a hardcore band and he gave me his 7 inch when I was about 15. That must’ve planted the seed in my mind that independently putting music out was something I could do. Before then, I don’t think it had occurred to me.

What was your first band? And how/when did Great Lakes come about? That was in Athens, GA, right?

 It’s all kinda related, to me. The way I got started in doing music was that during breaks from college, around 92-93, I started getting together with high school friend, Dan Donahue, when we were both visiting our parents in Atlanta. We would write songs and record them on 4 track. We liked Galaxie 500/early Luna, The Flaming Lips, Pavement, Dinosaur Jr. And I remember he liked The Chickasaw Mudpuppies a lot and got me in to that stuff. He didn’t really play an instrument, though in the early days neither did I, really, so we both played whatever we could. He liked writing lyrics, though. That was his main thing. It always felt like a chore to me, and I was happy to have him be the lyricist. We called ourselves The Patty Melts. We had a song called “I’m Alive” that was kind of a fictional blues about how bad life was for the narrator, but the idea was that at least he was alive. A choice nugget of the lyrics, referring the guy’s wife, went: “ she’s a briarpatch with an eyepatch”, and later the narrator says:  “…gettin’ my ass up is a damn chore.” We made a pretty cool 4 track recording of that song. I had this homemade 4 string fretless instrument that my dad and brother had built. I’ve still got it. It was made out of paneling for the body and a piece of molding for the neck. The tuners were eye screws, screwed right into the wood. I tuned it to an open chord and played slide on it with a screwdriver as the slide. So we made this Chickasaw Mudpuppies-inspired song with that. By about 94 I started visiting Dan in Athens, where he was in college, and we would write songs and try to record them. Jamey Huggins, who was then in high school but came to Athens a lot on breaks and weekends, joined us on drums. We were all really into Teenage Fanclub by that time, and one night we stayed up all night and wrote a song that we thought was so good that we had to start a band one day. Even then, I was focused on the recording. Unless we had a cool recording of a song, it was as if it almost didn’t really exist. I think we all felt that way. I still do.

Meanwhile, I was in a band in college in Birmingham, Alabama with some friends. We were first called a few different names that I’ve forgotten, but when we started playing shows we were calling ourselves Wonderock, like a superhero or something. We had a couple good songs, actually. I remember getting some encouragement from the sound guy when we played our first show at The Nick. He was a pretty grizzled old guy, Johnny Mack, and he came up to us after our set and said begrudgingly, “Well, my toe was tapping and my toe don’t lie to me…” One of the members of that band, Craig Ceravolo, moved to Athens with me in 96 and went on to play in the earliest version of Great Lakes. Another member of that band formed a band called Three Finger Cowboy. They were on Amy Ray’s label and, I think, did a tour or two opening for The Indigo Girls. After that band I had a short-lived band with Craig, Jason Hamric, and Jamey, called Alaska. Craig, Jason, and I all lived together in Southside, and Jamey had come to Birmingham to stay with us for the summer. I think we chose the name because of that line in “Stephanie Says:, “It’s such an icy feeling / It’s so cold in Alaska”. We also called ourselves Cherry Valence for a bit (this was back before there was a band called The Cherry Valence). Anyway, that band had 3 members of what would become Great Lakes in it. I tried to convince Jason Hamric to leave Birmingham and move to Athens with us, but he wasn’t into that idea. He definitely would have been in Great Lakes, though, if he had moved with us. Great player, and great guy. So, anyway, in Athens, Dan joined us as a lyricist, and we merged Alaska/Cherry Valence and Wheelie Ride and The Patty Melts and became Great Lakes. And then Great Lakes evolved over time. But it wasn’t until 2009 or so that the current iteration, the longest running consistent lineup the band has ever had, came together. But Great Lakes is really more than a band to me. It’s what I consider my life’s work as an artist.

Tell me about your tenure in both the Ladybug Transistor and the Essex Green.

Well, when I got to Athens I arrived right as the Elephant 6 thing was coalescing. The first Neutral Milk Hotel and Olivia Tremor Control records had just come out and they blew me away. Elf Power, too. All those guys were into 4 track recording, like us, but, of course, they were way more advanced. We became friends with that whole group of people. And then, after years of recording (including really learning how to record), the first Great Lakes album came out on Kindercore/E6. Ladybug Transistor had a connection to E6. Their album The Albemarle Sound had certainly caught nearly everyone’s attention that year. I mean, if you liked Love and The Beach Boys and Van Dyke Parks’ Song Cycle and stuff like that, then that record was pretty much made for you. We loved it. That and that Lilys record that sounded like The Kinks (Better Can’t Make Your Life Better). Through E6 connections some of the people in Ladybug asked the Kindercore guys to release the first record by their other band, Essex Green. Kindercore happily did. We played a show or two together with Essex Green and Ladybug in Athens, which was fun. We hung out and kinda bonded over shared musical tastes, they way you can only really do when you’re in your 20s, it seems like. A few years later when I moved to Brooklyn they were some of the only people I knew. Jeff Baron, of both bands, immediately asked me to get together with him and Mike Barrett and play some music. We quickly realized that not only did we all love 60s psych and pop, but we also really loved old country music and the whole Flying Burrito Brothers style of country rock. Because we each knew so many country songs, and because we just loved to play, we would get together and play a lot. Mike and Jeff lived together, and had a cool little low volume set up in their apartment, and we’d hand out and play for hours, swapping instruments and trading off singing lead on all kinds of stuff. Eventually we started doing some of Mike’s originals, and Jeff and I would do some tunes. We talked about making a record, possibly of Mike’s original songs, and probably should have. But for some reason we ended up not doing that. But, like I said, we had a bunch of fun. It was also like some kind of music school for me, in a way. Jeff and Mike helped me train my ear to hear the changes, and to improvise. Previously, a live show for me had been about basically just executing what I’d written beforehand; but I came to see music differently through that experience of playing with those guys. I mean, with them, nothing ever sounded the same way twice, and I learned to love that. Then, soon after, Essex Green didn’t have a bass player for a tour they had booked, so they invited me to play. Tim Barnes (Silver Jews, Royal Trux) was on drums for the first tour or two that I did with them, and between Jeff’s great guitar playing and Tim’s incredible drumming and way of listening and responding, it was a great experience. That lineup of that band was definitely one of the best bands I ever played in. We did a tour or two with other drummers, and despite the fact that the Essex Green songs are great and I love playing with them, there came a point when I decided to bow out and focus on a new Great Lakes record, which became Diamond Times. But after that album came out Gary of Ladybug found himself without a guitarist. I guess Jeff didn’t want to do it at that point, so I started playing guitar with him. We did several tours, sometimes with Ladybug Transistor and Great Lakes on the same bill, and then we made what I call the Buckingham Kicks album together (officially titled Can’t Wait Another Day). I wanted to change the band name to Buckingham Kicks and release a self-titled debut, because the album we did was so different from previous LT albums, but Gary decided against that. The great thing about joining Ladybug Transistor, apart from playing with Gary, who is one of the better singers around, was that I got to play with longtime Ladybug drummer San Fadyl. He was another fantastic drummer, and he taught me tons as a musician. After he died tragically, my days in that band were numbered. But Gary soldiered on and made another record, and he’s still doing stuff now. I think he’ll keep making great records for a long time. I’d like to think that I’ll do more stuff together with the Essex Green/Ladybug Transistor folks. We’ve talked about wanting to do something, but logistically it’s a little tough. Maybe one day, though. There’s a new Essex Green coming out soon, though. I’ve been listening to it and it’s great.

When did you move to Brooklyn? What prompted the move?

I moved in 2002. I think I stayed in Athens a little too long for me. I’m not saying people shouldn’t stay in Athens. It’s a great place and I love it. But I was there 6 years, and it’s a small southern town, you know? That has its up and downsides. I think I should have left a little before then, but I didn’t for some reason. The way I actually ended up moving is that my girlfriend at the time was moving and I came along. We promptly broke up, but I stayed in New York because I liked it. Though New York is expensive, it’s a fun place to raise a family. We got to the Catskills, we have a great beach nearby, and we live in a community that is progressive politically. That goes a long way.  

Tell us about the new Great Lakes record, Dreaming Too Close to the Edge. Where was it recorded? Who played on it?

Dreaming Too Close to the Edge, the 6th Great Lakes record, ended up being the third in a series of three records that sort of share a lyrical theme. The previous two, Ways of Escape and Wild Vision, are much more country-inflected, however. I think those two are good records, but they’re kinda heavy in terms of the moods and subject matter. This new one feels more fun to me. The subject matter is still pretty heavy, but the songs are back in major keys again. I think it’s a really strong batch of songs. I’m proud of it. I think with Ways of Escape I finally really found myself as a songwriter. I think the stuff I’ve done since that record has been my best work, and this new one feels very strong to me.

The lineup is pretty much the same as played on the previous two records. The drummer is Kevin Shea. He’s been with me for over 10 years now. Suzanne Nienaber sings with me again. Kenny Wachtel plays some guitar. Joe McGinty is back on keys, and Dave Gould on bass. There are a couple other people who played on a song here and there, Luis Leal played mellotron on a aong, and Andrew Rieger did a guest vocal on one song. They’re great musicians, all of them. And just nice, easy-going people. I have no intention to shake up that lineup. As long as those lovely people want to play with me, they’ve got the gig. Of course, it’s different when you’re in your late 30s and early 40s. We’re not trying to tour the world, and I really don’t have ambitions beyond making what I think are good records, and maybe playing the occasional show.

As for the recording of Dreaming, the drums were recorded at Brian Eno’s old space in Gowanus, Brooklyn. I think Martin Bisi has been there for 30 years or more. There’s a documentary film about the place. It’s now called Seizure’s Palace (when Jason LaFarge is behind the desk). It’s a huge room, but Jason’s got a great handle on getting good drum sounds in that space. A Boredoms record or two were done there, as well as several Swans records. It’s a great and really weird space. The keyboards were tracked at Joe McGinty’s vintage keys studio, Carousel, in Greenpoint. I played with him and got to know him through Ladybug Transistor (especially when we were rehearsing with Kevin Ayers, but he was also a good friend of San’s, too). Nearly everything else was done in my home studio. And I went to Don Piper’s Brooklyn studio to track vocals. He’s got a Neve desk there, and gets nice sounds. The record was mixed by Steve Silverstein, who mixed each of the last three records. Steve and I have a long relationship of working together, and he’s great.  

Is Loose Trucks your own label? Do you release other music other than your own on it?

Yes. My old friends Andrew and Laura of Elf Power run Orange Twin Records in Athens. They put out a couple Great Lakes records, but for Wild Vision, the 5th record, Andrew suggested to me that there was really no reason anymore to give them a cut of the money. He just hooked me up with their distributor and I started my own label. So far, so good. But I teamed up with Mike Turner (of HHBTM Records, and the guy who released the first ever Great Lakes 7”) to help me with distribution this time. I think that’ll be a positive thing. The truth is, I’d never want to start a label, necessarily, but it just made sense for me to do it.

I haven’t released anything else on the label except the last two Great Lakes records, and I really don’t have any desire to do so.

Who are some of your favorite current bands or musicians?

Steve Gunn. I especially love Way Out Weather. That’s the modern record that I’ve listened to the most in recent years. I love the Fahey meets drone-y raga thing; but it’s the strength of the compositions and the melodies that I find elevates it above other records in that style. I also think David-Ivar from the band Herman Dune is one of the most criminally underrated songwriters around these days. And Bill Callahan has long been a favorite of mine. I think he’s peerless.

What is one musician you’d say who’s had the biggest impact on your music?

My biggest influence as a guitar player is/was Dean Wareham. First, I always thought his sound was really cool. And his solos and lead playing, from Galaxie 500 on, has all been consistently great. I mean, as a beginning guitar player I’d sing along with the guitar solos. It doesn’t happen that often, when the long guitar solo or outro is the highlight of a song, or just as good as the singing part. Wareham was kind of my guitar teacher in a sense, because the way he plays, it’s not super fast. It’s about the melodies and the feeling and the mood. Because his stuff wasn’t very technical, I was able to play along with his solos and lead parts pretty easily and figure out what he does and how he does it. Every now and again I still kind of think to myself, “What would Dean Wareham do on this song?” if I’m stuck trying to figure out a guitar part for a song.

Tell us about your day job as a teacher. How does it fit into your lifestyle? Any of the other teachers know that you’re a musician?

Well, I don’t have a very wild lifestyle, I can tell you that. I’ve got a 7 year old son and a 1 year old daughter. With a full-time job as a third grade teacher, I’ve got my hands full. Lots of responsibility. But I still find the time to play a handful of shows each year, and to release records regularly. I’ve kind of gotten into a pattern of working, that works for me. During the school year I write songs when inspiration hits. But then I have the summers off. That’s when I have more time to work on music. If I can get all the songs for a new record written, revised and ready to record by August, I can track drums for an album. And then the cycle of overdubbing on the recordings, while also writing new songs, can begin again. That’s really my pattern.

People I work with know I write and play music, and put out records. Sometimes they’ll come to the shows. Some of my student’s parent’s have actualy looked me up and bought my records. I leave a guitar in my class and we sing all the time. The parents know me as this gentle teacher who sings Paul Simon and Cat Stevens songs with their kids, but I could tell by the way they some of them talked to me about my music that they were a bit surprised, after hearing my music, at how thematically dark some of my stuff is. It’s not children’s music that I’m making, you know? If they’d asked me I’d have warned them.

As a teacher, I think about Robert Pollard a lot. He’s not only one of my favorite songwriters, but he made a bunch of his best records while he was working full-time as a 3rd grade teacher. It’s really not hard to balance teaching and music. The hours can be tough, though. I have to be on point at 8am when I have to face a class of 8 year olds. One of my regular working times is between 4am and 6am. It’s been less this way since we had our second kid, because I’m really tired from having a baby,  a 7 year old, and a demanding job. But I made most of the previous two records, and a lot of Dreaming, between the hours of 4am and 6am. That’s when my brain works best, anyway, I don’t even set an alarm. I just wake up naturally when I’m feeling inspired to work. It’s nice. The house is quiet, and I’ve got a tried-and-true system for recording electric guitars, bass, and keyboards silently. My wife is also very supportive, and often graciously allows me weekend mornings off of childcare duty so I can get some recording work done. I’m one of those people that if I’m not recording and getting work done, I’m kind of irritable and feel unsettled. So it’s probably in her best interest to do that… (haha)

 You’re the only remaining original member of the band., then? What’s that like?

Yeah. I've been the only original member of the band for over 10 years now. But it was really only for the first 2 records that the original members were a big part of the band, anyway, to be honest. And even then it was really just the first one that was the product of genuine collaboration. Back then it was me and Dan writing songs together, but by the time the first record came out we'd put together a big band that also featured Kevin Barnes from Of Montreal, Scott Spillane from Neutral Milk Hotel/Olivia Tremor Control, Bryan Poole from Elf Power, and Derek Almstead, Dottie Alexander, Heather McIntosh, and Jamey Huggins as a multi-instrumentalist and our main drummer. Jamey and I really collaborated very closely on the first record, in terms of working out the instrumentation on the songs. That was a really good, positive collaboration. And, truthfully, it hurt me when he chose to pretty much leave the band and focus on Of Montreal. But I understood his decision. They were getting really popular, and I couldn't blame him. Then, in 2002, I moved to Brooklyn and Dan followed not long after, and once we'd both left Athens that was basically the end of the original lineup. Dan and I kept writing songs together, though, with him writing the lyrics and me writing the music. We went back to Athens to record Diamond Times, and a bunch of the old crew pitched in and played on the record, but by that point I'd formed a pretty strong connection with Jeff Baron of Essex Green and Ladybug Transistor, and had convinced him to come down from Brooklyn to Athens with me for the recording sessions. He ended up playing a big role in terms of making that album what it became.

The last released songs that Dan and I co-wrote, apart from one that made it onto Ways of Escape, came out on Diamond Times in 2006. After that album came out, I put together a 3-piece lineup of the band in New York, to tour behind that album. We did a long tour of the US, opening for The Clientele. It was Kevin Shea on drums, and Kyle Forester, who I also roped into The Ladybug Transistor as a keyboardist, on bass. We did a few tours of Europe with that lineup, too. What's strange is that, though it's not the original lineup, we played more shows together as a 3-piece than any previous or later Great Lakes lineup ever played, yet the three of us never made a record. Kyle left right before we began recording the 4th record, Ways of Escape. Around then Dan and I had a disagreement over the musical direction of the band and he abruptly moved back to Athens. Him leaving really turned out to be a great thing for me. Kevin Shea was happy to keep playing drums with me, and I wrangled a bunch of great NYC-based players to help me make that record. Towards the end of that process, Suzanne Nienaber started singing with me. As soon as we started doing stuff together I thought it sounded great. That lineup ended up being the players I've continued to work with for a decade and counting. We made Wild Vision together, which, to me, really felt like a highlight in the band's discography, and then we made the new record, Dreaming Too Close to the Edge, together, too.

 Looking back, I think I went out on my own at just the right time. I was feeling weird about singing somebody else's words. And it felt so much better to sing my own. Dan also just wanted more say over the music than I was willing to give him. I think a lot of artists reach a point where they get fed up with making art by committee. At a certain point, you need control to really realize your vision. I've done 6 Great Lakes records now, with the most recent 3 being made without any other original band members. And it's the 3 I've done on my own that I feel most proud of, to be honest. I'll never disavow the early stuff, and if you're a fan of unabashed 60s psych-pop then that's the Great Lakes stuff for you.

 The thing about bands continuing on without original members is tricky. A lot of times those bands aren't very good without the original lineup. But I always think about The Byrds when this subject comes up. My favorite Byrds records are the ones Roger McGuinn made without Gene Clark and David Crosby. I mean, I love the Gene Clark solo stuff, and that first David Crosby solo record, too. And of course the early Byrds stuff is great. But those late Byrds records are the ones I like the most. I like to think of Great Lakes like that. Maybe some people prefer the early stuff, and that's fine. But I'm just going to keep on doing my own thing, regardless of what anybody else thinks.    

 Any closing comment? Final thoughts? Anything you wanted to mention that I didn’t ask?

I’m always focused on what I’m doing next. I’m working on the 7th Great Lakes record now. More and more, I find myself drawing on more of my influences from the time when I was starting to play music, lthe stuff I was into in my early 20s. Dinosaur Jr., Pavement, Sebadoh, Luna/Galaxie 500, Teenage Fanclub, Guided By Voices, Built to Spill. Not that there’s a cohesive sound there, but that combination of sounds is really where my heart is lately. I’m working on the next record now and I can feel it going in that direction. It’s not at all thematically connected to the other records. I feel like it’s going to be good.

Thanks for your interest in my music, Tim. I appreciate it.

 All photos by Jami Craig except the 3rd pic from the top (the outdoor shot with the Puerto Rican flag) which is by Diego Britt. 

 www.greatlakesbencrum.bandcamp.com

��6թZ|

[normanandcaliban]

Demons and Department Stores

Music: “You and Me” by Shallou

“Whoa, dude check this out!” Norman’s voice called to Cal from several aisles down in the department store.

They’d been rummaging through the $5 movie section for the past fifteen minutes trying to find something christmas-y for the annual family Christmas movie marathon. Every year, the Castor household came together the first weekend of December to watch all the classic holiday movies like “The Santa Clause” or “Deck the Halls” or “A Christmas Story.” This year, Norman wanted to find something new to add to the movie collection. It was also Black Friday, which meant their $5 movie was actually closer to a $1 movie. Bonus points for team thrift shop.

Cal’s human-form ears perked up at the sound of his boyfriend’s voice. They tingled and felt slightly uncomfortable due to their unusual small, round shape. He scratched them in irritation. The natural curves of his elongated, pointy, red lobes suited him much better, but he promised Norman he’d remain shifted whenever they were in public since “ordinary humans can’t handle the concept that demons actually exist.” Yet, Cal thought to himself.

Maintaining a human appearance was a pain in the neck and took intense psychological focus to keep up. Any distraction, no matter how slight, could cause his skin tone to shift back to its bright, demonic red or his tail to sprout through his pants, which, by the way, was definitely as painful as it sounded. Most demons his age still struggled to keep basic transformations down, but he wasn’t worried. He was almost five hundred years old and he’d had several centuries of practice maintaining concentration when shifting his physical form. Besides, he was out having a good time with Norman. That’s all that mattered to him right now.

Without taking his eyes off the back cover of a bizarre “Rudolph the Reindeer: Zombie Apocalypse” movie, he called back over his shoulder, “Yeah? What’d you find?” He chuckled as he put the movie back in the bin. He never knew Rudolph could be such a badass, saving the world from mutant elves, armies of undead creatures, and powerful, unholy entities.

He turned to head towards the spot where he last heard Norman’s voice and collided with a middle-aged woman looking at CD’s.

“Oh shit, I’m so s–!” Cal’s eyes widened as he saw the woman’s sharp, blue claws quickly shift back into human form. She frantically checked her surroundings to make sure no one else saw the transformation. Her eyes returned to meet Cal’s with an edgy, apprehensive stare. She readied herself to pounce, as if she was waiting for him to scream or run. If Cal had been human, she likely would’ve silenced him to make sure her secret disappeared along with his body.

Cal cocked an eyebrow at her aggressive stance and shifted his eyes to their true demonic form, giving her a flash of his true identity.

The woman immediately backed down and relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief. “Goodness you sure gave me a fright, deary! If you had been human, I was going to have to call the Collectors to have this mess straightened out.”

The Collectors were a sort of black market “laundry team” that helped demons stay below human radar by cleaning up…accidents. They mostly worked in stain and body removal, but they also worked behind the scenes to position evidence and erase identities.

“It’s not the Collectors you’d have to worry about, ma’am. Work harder at maintaining your appearances or the Department of Earth Affairs will step in to reclaim you.” Cal tried to keep the underlying tones of condescension in voice hidden.

The woman straightened up and quickly hustled away as a confused Norman approached.

“What was that all about?” He asked, holding about twenty shiny, red and green movie cases in his arms and three in his mouth.

Cal scratched his head, “Seems like I’m not the only demon out Christmas shopping in this town.” He noticed the overflow of movies his boyfriend was attempting to carry and took some to lighten the load.

“Seriously?” Norman looked over Cal’s shoulder at the woman in question. She appeared as normal and as human as Cal did now, which meant she must be a shifter too. She grabbed a box from a shelf containing a small, lighted trees and placed it in her shopping cart. Seeing demons actively participate in Christian traditions was both intriguing and confusing. “How is it demons can stand Christmas? Aren’t you supposed to hate all things holy, religious, and God-related?”

Cal’s eyebrows shot up and he burst out laughing. “Well, yeah, as long as you don’t dump a bucket of holy water on me or start an exorcism. But Christmas? Heck no! Giving and receiving gifts is awesome, dude. Think of all the loot you collect!”

Norman thought about the Christmas traditions and realized that some of them didn’t have much religious symbolism. The tree. The gift giving. Santa Claus. The pieces started fitting together in his head, “Oh, so it’s the greed that attracts you to it?”

Cal shrugged, “I guess.”

Norman blushed, realizing he’d been ignorant.  “I’m sorry if I’m sounding like a bigot…”

Cal waved it off, “No, no. you’re fine. Your assumption was partially correct. The greed is definitely a huge draw for my kin, but just because we thrive on the vices of humanity doesn’t mean we hate Christmas. We love spending time with the people we care about just as much as humans do. We are creatures of passion after all.”

“I guess that rings true with all of us.” He grabbed Cal’s free hand with his and gave it a squeeze. Cal smiled back at him as they walked to the checkout aisle.

“How did you know that woman was a shifter? Do you have a 6th sense?” Norman asked, changing the subject back to the other demon.

“Oh I bumped into her and she partially shifted back. That happens sometimes if a shifter loses their focus.” He said as they payed for and bagged their movies and walked toward the exit. The cashier had been listening in on their conversation and looked at the two of them like they were a couple of weirdos. He figured they’d been talking about some “Dungeons & Dragons” thing and rolled his eyes at the weird shit young people get into these days.

“Wait, so how does that work? You just focus really hard and stay in your human form?” Norman pinched Cal’s cheek trying to test his concentration to see if his beige skin color would change back to its natural crimson.

Swatting away Norman’s hand, Cal laughed and shook his head, “Yes and no. Focus is definitely key, but so is age. A demon’s power solidifies and matures with age. That’s why young demons are considered more dangerous due to the volatile nature of their abilities. When I was younger, I could barely even hold my tail in, much less my wings.”

“So how old are you then?” Norman realized this was the first time he’d asked about Cal’s age. He felt kinda ashamed for not asking sooner.

“Well, time works differently in my home dimension. There, I’m about twenty-two, but here I’m almost five hundred years old.”

The information took a moment to sink into Norman’s head. His eyes widened when it did, “Whoa, wait WHAT?! You’re FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OLD?!”

Cal raised a sarcastic eyebrow, “Oh come on, don’t tell me you’re honestly surprised that demons have long lifespans.”

Even though Cal was right, Norman had no response. He was still quite astonished at the fact that his boyfriend was currently old enough to be his living 16th-century ancestor. A shudder passed through his body.

Cal wrapped one arm around Norman’s shoulder, pulling him close. A wicked smile curved across his face.

“Kiss me, I’m ancient.”

“Ew, no! Get away from me grandpa.”

“Oh ho! So that’s the type of kinky shit you’re into, huh?” He briefly tickled Norman’s ribcage.

That comment, plus the tickles, earned Cal a soft punch on the arm. “Shut up, you know what I’m into.” Norman pulled Cal in for a kiss.

When they parted, Cal could hardly restrain his curiosity, “And what would that be?” He was pretty sure he knew the answer, but he wanted to hear Norman say it out loud. Norman rested his forehead against Cal’s and stared into the demon’s fiendish eyes.

“You.”

.

.

.

.

[akemilena]

Kachoufuugetsu (Beauties of the nature) “Hana”

残英

Remnants

Translation index || Tori || Kaze || Tsuki

“Well, then… let’s take a little break”

After reaching a point where he could stop, Shiki stretched and left his room. When he was heading to the kitchen, he saw Rikka on the sofa of the common room.

“Rikka? What are you doing?”

“Ah, Shiki… sorry for the mess”

By Rikka’s side, a mountain of magazines was piled up.

“No, I don’t mind, but… that’s a lot”

“Yep. They were in a box I hadn’t opened since we moved…”

“Fashion magazines… Could it be… work?”

“Yes, they’re all complimentary copies. I don’t usually look back at them that much, but you see, it was kind of hard to throw them away”

“Aah… I understand how you feel. For me, it’s things that have become finished products, and even if I know I have the sound source, I can’t get rid of them. Even though they continue increasing”

“Right. I took them out thinking I should do something about them already… but I ended up looking at them”

Shiki took a magazine from the mountain and sat on the sofa.

“… These clothes are amazing”

He didn’t know anything about fashion, so he couldn’t say any more than that.

A heavy stole and a cut skirt. In addition, Rikka, with his hair dyed pure white, was looking at the camera with a voluptuous expression.

“If I saw someone wearing this on the street, I’d be so surprised I’d have to do a double take”

“Haha… that’s from a collection line, so it’s pretty eccentric, yes”

“The fact you’re managing to wear this stylishly makes you amazing, too. It’s a peculiar world view”

“Thank you”

He imagined Rikka walking the runway.

(If it was me, what kind of sound would I attach to it…?)

He looked at Rikka again after thinking that – suddenly, Shiki felt something strange.

“Your impression has changed slightly”

If he wrote a song looking at this photo, it would definitely become something entirely different to the sound he has right now.

“Really? Maybe because I was younger… Ah, this work is precisely from the time I met you”

“… Now that you mention it, I have the feeling you had a weird hair colour back then”

“Weird… you’re so mean. Well, at that time I changed it often depending on my mood”

“How nostalgic. The first time we greeted each other, you looked way more like an adult than me”

When he confessed his honest feelings from that time, Rikka laughed a little.

“I was so busy back then, so much that I can’t remember each one of the jobs even if I think about it now…”

Rikka murmuring that made Shiki feel, suddenly, like he saw the vestiges of that time.

He should be earning so much praise that it overflowed, bathing on the spotlight of a gorgeous profession, but he looked somewhat sorrowful.

(I see, there might be people who call this atmosphere “gloss”)

Shiki gazed at Rikka as if he was tracing the past.

At that time, they met because of work, and they didn’t even have a conversation that would show they had hit it off, but mysteriously they kept in touch and their relationship continued. Maybe they had something that made them be attracted to each other.

“But… the Rikka right now has a much better face than back then”

He pretended to say it in his mind, but he unintentionally put it into words. When he did, Rikka made a surprised face, and then, with a bright face that he would have never made in the past, blushed slightly.

Translation index || Tori || Kaze || Tsuki

TL notes:

Hello hello! One of my followers reminded me of the existence of these short stories so here I am! These are included in the booklets of the Kachoufuugetsu CDs and written by Seki Ryouko, the script writer for SolidS and QUELL drama CDs. 

This time the translation notes will be mostly about the titles, because (almost) all of them are proverbs or expressions!

残英 (zan’ei) is an expression that means “a flower that was left blooming” or “(last) flower remaining in bloom”. The remains of something that has disappeared.

SolidS and QUELL’s illustrator Satsuki You blessed us with an illustration of the young Rikka that appears in this short story.

This is something you can only read if you have a physical copy so please consider buying it to support them!!

Thanks for reading~

[thismanateelovestowrite]

When Jooheon confesses to you

Thank you so much for requesting~ ^^ I enjoyed writing this! Also, I hope you don’t mind that I changed it so that it happens at the reader’s group’s dorm~ ><

okay so i’m extremely sorry if the ending is awkward i didn't know how to make it natural idk i hope it’s not too weird ;-;

Words: 2035

Slight angst, fluff idk, is this fluffy? not really, you tell me

Requested by anon ♥

[Are you still planning on coming over to our dorm today?] You texted to a close friend of yours who happened to be Jooheon from Monsta X.

[Yup, I’ll be there around eight o’clock or something] he texted back.

Your group and Monsta X were close all together, mostly thanks to the fact that you were under the same agency. Your group had also been given the opportunity to do a reality program with Monsta X shortly after your debut, which led to your groups becoming closer. You all were friends, some closer than others, take you and Jooheon for example. Befriending the charming rapper had been quite easy, easier than one would imagine. After the reality show had ended, you two just kept hanging out together like friends would, sometimes accompanied by some of the other members but usually it was just the two of you.

[I’ll see you then] you texted him, smiling a little.

It had been a few weeks since you last saw Jooheon so you were more excited than usual.

“What’s with the grin?” the leader of your group asked and sat down next to you on the couch, smiling. “I haven’t seen you this happy in ages.”

You shrugged. “I’m just happy because we get to rest for a few days,” you told her.

“Ah, me too,” she exclaimed and stretched her arms into the air. “It’s been so long since we got a weekend off.”

“I’m sorry you couldn’t go see your family,” you said to her, knowing that her family was on a vacation in Japan. All the other members of your group had left on the day before to go visit their families.

“It’s okay,” she said, still smiling. “I get to see them often. You, on the other hand…”

“Don’t worry about me,” you said. “I’ll get to see them in a few months anyway.”

She wrapped her arms around you and hugged you. “Why are you so strong? Can’t you spill a few tears every once in a while?”

“You want me to cry?” you asked jokingly.

“It sounds mean when you say it like that,” she pouted and let go of you. “What I mean by it is that it’s okay to cry at times.”

You smiled. “Yes, yes, I know. I’ll cry a little more often from now on,” you chuckled, earning a nudge from her.

She settled down next to you and leaned on you, resting her head on your shoulder. Your phone vibrated when Jooheon sent you a new text.

“Is Jooheon still planning on coming over today?” she asked once you opened the chat.

“Yeah,” you said.

[I can sense your overflowing excitement through the phone, _____] the text read.

“I’m envious of how close you two are,” the girl beside you whined and shook you a little after grabbing your arm.

“But you’re close with Hyungwon,” you pointed out.

“Yeah, but we aren’t close like you two are. It’s almost like you two are dating,” she gave you a look when you looked at her.

“We’re not,” you gave her a nudge.

Not that I would mind, you thought subconsciously and shook your head when you realized what you were thinking. You didn’t want to admit that sometimes your stomach was full of butterflies when you were with Jooheon. Dating and such didn’t really sound appealing to you thanks to a past relationship that ended in a quite nasty manner.

[Your excitement makes me blush >///<] Jooheon sent another text and brought you back from your thoughts. You snorted seeing it, knowing he was joking around.

[Oh my >///<] you texted him, smiling. You two joked around like that a lot.

“If that’s not cute then I don’t know what is,” the leader let out a somewhat frustrated sigh and stood up. She smiled when you looked at her. “This place is a mess. Maybe we should clean up before he comes?”

You didn’t even have to look around before nodding. “Sounds like a good idea,” you said.

Even though you all tried your best to keep the dorm clean, it was almost impossible thanks to your busy schedule. Whenever you guys had time to clean, you were way too tired to do it.

***

After a few hours the dorm looked a lot tidier. You two had cleaned all the rooms, even the bedrooms of the members who weren’t there. You took a deep breath and looked at the clock. It was almost eight o’clock. You were pretty much done cleaning the room you shared with a few other members, only one task was left: putting your folded clothes that had been on the floor in the closet. You had folded the other members’ clothes too but since you didn’t know who they belonged to, you had piled them all on one bed.

“Let’s see…” you opened the closet.

You tidied it up a little before putting in the clothes you had found on the floor. It didn’t take long before you were ready. You looked at the tidy closet with a smile. Then your eyes stopped on something on the top shelf of the closet. It was a box.

Oh, could it be?

You reached for it and managed to pull it out.

“Ha!” you grinned widely.

Back when you had moved in to the dorm during your trainee days you had had three things with you: a suitcase filled with your clothes, a small backpack that contained your phone, wallet and such and then the box that you were now holding in your hands. It was a cardboard box that had some random stuff in it. You hadn’t opened it after moving in so you couldn’t really remember what was inside.

You opened the box after crouching down and placing it on the floor in front of you. The first thing you saw was your favorite book that you had packed in to the box, thinking it would help you with homesickness.

That plan didn’t really work out, huh? I totally forgot I had it…

You took the book out and placed it on the floor. You looked through the box, finding things like an old diary, a plushy and a few CDs in there. What really caught your attention though was the small pile of polaroid pictures on the bottom of the box. You took the pile out and smiled, looking at the pictures. There were pictures of you with your friends and family, pictures of you smiling widely with your friends back home. You could feel tears stinging your eyes.

I miss them so much…

There was one picture that caught your attention and made you take a shaky breath. It was a picture of you and your boyfriend of that time. He was kissing your cheek and both of you were smiling widely.

“______,” you heard the leader’s voice yell from somewhere. “I’ll go buy some soda from the store!”

“Okay,” you said as loudly as possible while trying to sound normal.

A painful lump had already formed in your throat when the first tear rolled down your cheek. Seeing the picture triggered a strong emotional reaction in you. It brought back all the memories you had tried hard to forget. How he had not trusted in you after you had moved. How he had gotten mad at you even though you did nothing wrong. How you had eventually decided to break up with him after he had not believed even though you kept telling him that you weren’t cheating on him.

We could have just talked it out… I was such an idiot for breaking up with him, he knew how to be an asshole but we still loved each other… I was too sensitive…

A pair of hands suddenly landed on your shoulders and you flinched, your heart almost stopping.

“Got you,” Jooheon’s familiar voice said with a chuckle and you got up and turned a little to look at him.

For a second you forgot the tears in your eyes and when you remembered, you turned away and started wiping them away. “You sure did,” you said, trying to sound normal.

“Were you crying?” he asked with a concerned voice and moved to see your face but you turned away.

“What? No,” you denied.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” he asked and kept trying to see your face but you kept turning away.

“I…” you started but stopped when you heard your broken voice.

“Hey,” he grabbed you, making you stop. “Look at me,” he said and gently grabbed your wrists, pulling your hands away from your face.

You avoided his worried gaze. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

“You don’t want to tell me?” he asked and let go of your wrists. “Why?”

“I don’t want to make you feel like you have to comfort me,” you mumbled.

“I’m already feeling the need to comfort you,” he stated, making you look at him. “You can tell me.”

You gulped, trying to get rid of the lump in your throat and looked at your feet. “I… found some old pictures. One had me and my ex in it and… I was reminded of our breakup.”

He just quietly looked at you, waiting for you to continue. You remembered telling him about this ex and breakup before but you doubted he remembered it.

“I think we… we broke up because I was too sensitive...” you took in a shaky breath and tears rolled down your cheeks. “We could have made up by talking about it… But I was too sensitive and chose to break up with him…”

He pulled you closer and gently wrapped his arms around you, hugging you comfortingly.

“You’re so silly,” he said with a warm voice.

“How is anyone going to love me when I’m this sensitive?” you sobbed, unable to control your emotions anymore. “How is anyone going to love me when I’m like this?”

“I know one person who loves you, no matter how sensitive you are,” he quietly said.

“You don’t count,” you mumbled, knowing he meant himself.

“Why?”

“Because you’re just a friend. You love me like a friend. It doesn’t count.”

“Who said I don’t love you more than that?” he asked and you grew silent. “Who said my heart doesn’t flutter for you?”

“Don’t joke around,” you gently pushed him away and looked at him.

“You think I’m joking?” he gave you a look and you nodded.

He looked at you for a bit before placing his hands on your shoulders and slowly pushing you against the closet behind you. Your stomach was slowly starting to fill with butterflies. You two looked at each other quietly for what felt like forever. You could feel your heart beating faster than normally.

“Forget him, would you?” he said, his voice as quiet as a whisper. “If I remember correctly, it was him who was too sensitive. You deserve so much better.”

“But-“ you were cut off when he leaned closer to press a heart-fluttering kiss on your lips. The kiss was warm and loving, and you found yourself unable to pull away.

Eventually the kiss turned into many more. After a while Jooheon pulled away and observed your expression.

“Are you the “so much better” you were talking about?” you asked quietly and looked at him.

“No, no one is good enough for you,” he said, looking in to your eyes with a gaze that made your heart flutter. “I might not be the best one for you but I’m still a lot better than him.”

You couldn’t stop looking at each other.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

Your eyes moved to look at his lips. Then, without thinking much about it, you closed your eyes and leaned in to kiss him. This time the kiss was more passionate and so were the ones after it.

“I see,” Jooheon said with a smirk, slightly out of breath after you pulled away to catch your breath.

“Don’t tease me,” you mumbled, trying to lighten up the mood a bit. “I’m sensitive.”

He couldn’t help but smile and soon you felt his lips on yours once again.

[cracklook1-blog]

Decluttr vs Amazon: Where to Sell Your Stuff

Psst, do you want to hear a secret? (I’m assuming you answered yes, because who says no to that?) Alright, this is a little hard for me to say, but… I have too much stuff. I know it’s hardly the salacious secret that keeps tabloids in business, but it’s still something I feel uncomfortable saying out loud.

It’s probably that throughout my formative years, advertisers bombarded me with the message that more stuff makes people happy: more toys, more clothes, more expensive gadgets to entertain myself. Basically, Western culture sells you this myth that buying things will bring you happiness. If you run out of space in your closet, you can always pack your seasonal items in boxes in the attic. Out of room in your DVD stand? You can always buy another. If you run out of room in your house, you can always pay a company a monthly fee to store the skis you’ve used twice and the furniture you inherited from Grandma that doesn’t suit your style right now, but maybe one day.

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Ending the Cycle

Over the past three years, I have begun to reject this notion. I think it’s probably that I now work from home, which means I’m surrounded by my stuff all day long, so I feel a little suffocated by it. It’s also probably that I’m no longer in the city center, so I don’t waste my lunch break buying fast fashion. I don’t think I’m the only person who feels like that.

Whether you’ve been inspired by Marie Kondo’s Netflix special “Tidying Up,” you’re getting a jump start on spring cleaning, or you’re just fed up with never being able to find the item you actually want in your overflowing dresser, there is no better time to start decluttering. And no better time to start making money from it.

Yes, that’s right. It’s time to trade in your unwanted items for cold, hard cash. Money that could be used to pay something off your mortgage, let you take a weekend break or be put towards your children’s college funds.

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Benefits of Decluttering

Making extra cash

Decluttering can also be a real money maker, which is probably what led you to this post in the first place. Your trash is someone else’s treasure, and they might be willing to pay big bucks for it. While you probably can’t afford to retire selling unwanted items that are currently hidden away under your bed, you could make enough money to take a couple of days off work and treat yourself.

Saving the environment

When we buy new, manufacturers have to use more natural resources to create our products. If we hoard perfectly usable items that we just don’t need any more (or worse, drop them off the dump), it means that someone else will go out and buy it new. This is unsustainable.

Improving mental health

According to Psychology Today, decluttering can boost your confidence, self-efficacy, energy levels, and creativity, while reducing anxiety and stress. This is because you’re forced into a productive mode and the endorphins you get from that will encourage you to continue marking items off your to-do list. It also means that you can find what you need more easily, which means rushing everywhere because you couldn’t find something that you needed (i.e., car keys).

So, let’s not beat around the bush anymore. You have items you want to get rid of, and you want to know the best way to do it.

Decluttr

Decluttr is an easy, fast, and free way to sell your items online. All you have to do is enter the name of the tech product (i.e., iPhone 7) or the barcode of media items (i.e., CDs or books), answer a couple of questions, and they’ll give you an instant price. (They even have a free mobile app to streamline the process by allowing you to scan the barcodes with your phone’s camera.)

If you like the price, then they’ll send you a free shipping label, and you just drop the box of items off at your nearest UPS store. The day after Decluttr receives your items, they’ll make the payment. It couldn’t be simpler.

What does Decluttr take?

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Cell Phones

CDs

DVDs

Blu-rays

Video Games

Books

Smartphones

Tablets and Kindles

Wearable Tech

Consoles

Apple Products (i.e., iPods, iPads, and Macbooks)

LEGO (bought loose by weight)

Pros

Simple: Nothing could be easier than typing or scanning in your item, accepting an offer, and posting it off. You don’t have to write a description or take photos. You don’t have to worry about buyers changing their minds. And you don’t have to worry about sorting out shipping labels.

Fast: If you need to get rid of your stuff quickly, perhaps ahead of a move, Decluttr is the ideal choice. You can sell and post everything in just one day. You’ll probably even get paid in less than a week.

Free: Most online marketplaces will charge you a fee to list your items and an additional fee when your item sells. You’ll also have to pay for shipping unless you charge the buyer for it. This can add up, especially if your products aren’t selling for that much.

Best price for electronics: Decluttr claims proudly to give the best prices for electronics and, based on a small study I did of items in and around my home office, they did. In fact, on my 32GB iPhone 5, Decluttr offered more than double its nearest competitor.

Cons

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Less money for media items: Decluttr is buying your products to sell onto other customers or to recycle its components. This means that to make a profit, they buy your unwanted items at less than they are worth. While some users report offers of $5 per media item, you’re more likely to make $0.50-1. So, you might make more money selling them directly on an online marketplace, even with the fees. Also, if there’s any kind of damage the items, Decluttr won’t pay you, and they won’t send the items back.

Less product variety: Decluttr has a set list of stuff it will and won’t buy, so if you want to sell off some old clothes or a stuffed toy, you’ll have to find somewhere else.

Doesn’t buy older tech: Another problem is that Decluttr considers some tech or media too out of date to be worth anything. A quick search for the original iPhone yielded no results, but I sold mine last year on an online marketplace for $35. (It might have been the nostalgia factor, rather than anyone wanting to use it as a phone.)

Amazon Trade-In Program

The Amazon Trade-In Program is a simple way for you to trade in your unwanted items. All you have to do is look up the item that you want to trade in, click the trade in button, and you’ll get an immediate price.

You then ship the items to Amazon using their pre-paid shipping label and get paid soon after your items arrive. They also have a free iOS and Android app that you can use to scan your items in.

What does Amazon Trade-In take?

Books

Cell Phones

Video Games

Tablets and Kindles

Bluetooth Speakers

Amazon Echo

Streaming Media Players

Video game console

Video game accessory

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Pros

Free: There are no fees or hidden charges to the Trade-In Program. Amazon will even issue you a free tracked shipping label for your items. All you have to do is find a box. (Pro Tip: Supermarkets will give you free boxes if you ask nicely.)

Simple: As with Decluttr, you’ll never have to deal with difficult buyers asking questions that they could easily Google, like “Does this console work in Britain?” or “Does Region 2 play in Australia?” You also don’t have to mess around with creating a listing or actively trying to sell the item.

No cost for returned items: If your item is damaged or can’t be accepted for any reason, then Amazon will return it free of charge. This is great news for those of you worried about losing the item and not getting paid for it.

Instant payment: Some customers will be eligible for instant payment when submitting certain items, but, obviously, if the Trade-In is canceled or the items are not accepted, then Amazon will charge your account for the amount they placed on your gift card.

Cons

Items must be in good condition: Unlike other sites that will take broken or damaged items to recycle for spares, Amazon requires the products to be in the same condition that they are listed as in the Trade-In Store.

Paid in Amazon gift cards rather than cash: If you’re saving money to buy a big ticket Amazon item (i.e., a Kindle Fire), you use Amazon a lot for shopping, or it’s your go-to for gift shopping, then this could work out well for you. After all, there’s no chance that you’ll spend the money on something else. However, if you’re looking to spend the extra money on a holiday or save for a down payment on a house, then you’ll be miffed that you can only spend it on the site.

Fewer types of items accepted: Amazon doesn’t accept as many types of items as some other sites, so you can’t sell DVDs or CDs to them anymore, but they do advise checking back regularly, as they are constantly updating the catalog. However, as with Decluttr, they are unlikely to accept non-media related items.

Which One Should You Choose?

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This is the really important question that has been on your lips since you clicked onto this article comparing Decluttr vs Amazon, but in all honesty, it depends on what you have to sell, what you want the money for, and what price you want to sell it for.

For example, if you have a lot of DVDs and CDs to sell or you want to be paid in cash, you’ll need to choose Decluttr. However, if you’re looking to spend the money on an Amazon product, then choose the Amazon Trade-In Program if they offer a better price. It really is dependent on your circumstances.

However, it never hurts to mix and match. List your item through both apps to see who is offering you the best price for it and then choose the highest bidder.

If Amazon is offering only slightly more on a book, then weigh up whether you should get the lower price in cash just to increase the amount of money in your pocket. However, if Amazon does happen to offer you a higher price for your tech items, you can always show that to Decluttr and ask them to match it because they do advertise the best price for tech items. It’s a win-win-win situation.

Getting Rid of Stuff That Hasn’t Sold

There is a chance that you might not be able to sell all your unwanted items via either Decluttr or Amazon. It could be that your product falls outside the categories that they buy or is not in the condition that they require. But don’t throw it away just yet, there are still plenty of ways to make money from your goods.

Depending on the item, you might be able to sell them directly to customers via an online marketplace or to local shops for store credit or even to a pawnbroker.

Pawn Shop 

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These type of shops can have a bad reputation, but they can allow you to get rid of electronics, jewelry, antiques, or any number of things depending on what they specialize in. This means that you can get rid of a lot of diverse items in one go.

Pros

Easy

Can buy back items if you change your mind

Quick

Cons

Lower money than you could get elsewhere

eBay

This is most people’s go-to site for selling stuff online. Here you can sell anything from old CDs and DVDs to a brand new car and everything in between. You’ll have to do a bit of work to create a listing, including taking good photos, making a note of any damage, and working out how much it will cost to ship, but this can often result in getting more cash than for a basic listing.

Pros

Sell almost anything

Free listings are available

Can make more money selling this way

Cons

Fees

Dealing with problem buyers

Can take ages for your item to sell

Shipping can be tricky to arrange

Yard Sale

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I think everyone knows how a yard sale works. You put out a table, set out your items to sell, and spend a Saturday on your front lawn. It’s often best to do this as a neighborhood effort to get more people interested and get more potential customers milling about

Pros

Free

Sell almost anything

Payment in cash and upfront

Cons

Hagglers

Need to get publicity

Facebook Marketplace

This is sort of like eBay, but there are no fees. You take a picture, write a description, name your price, and wait for buyers to come to you.

Pros

Free

Sell almost anything

Cons

Problems getting payment (Top tip: stick with PayPal or a similar service)

Shipping can be tricky

Can take ages to sell

What if You Can’t Sell Your Items There Either?

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If you’ve tried all of the methods above and you still can’t shift your goods, then you might not be able to get any money for them, but that doesn’t mean that you have to ditch them. Why not try donating the items to charity for a tax write off? This is a fantastic opportunity for you to clear out, do good, and get some tax relief for it.

If you have old, but still good condition, clothing, electronic, or homeware items, seek out your local shelter for domestic abuse victims, homeless people, or refugees. They can make the world of difference for someone starting a new life.

If you have bedding or towels that have seen better days, you can donate them to the local animal shelter for the rescue animals to use as bedding. It also great to donate any toys, clothes, or treats that your pet doesn’t like.

Or you can always drop any unwanted items off at your local Goodwill, where they’ be sold for charity.

What if your items aren’t decent enough to donate?

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If the item is too worn or damaged to be usable by the average person, you can always drop it off at your local recycling center. Many places will recycle electrical goods for free, but some will even take damaged clothing and the like to strip down into fabric that can be reused.

Now that you’ve done all the hard work to get rid of your unwanted items, try to save the money to pay off bills (i.e., student loan or mortgages) or towards experiences (i.e. holiday or days out), rather than putting it back into stuff that might not have long-term benefits for you.

In the long run, it’s better to buy slightly more expensive and better quality items, rather than having to replace your leggings every other month, and timeless items that won’t get thrown out next season. It’s better for the planet and your wallet.

Now, I’d like to hear from you about your experiences with Decluttr or the Amazon Trade-In Program or how you’ve made money selling your unwanted items on. Let me know all that in more in the comments below.

Source: http://www.thebudgetdiet.com/decluttr-vs-amazon-where-to-sell-your-stuff