#I can see the giant pencil statue from where I walk my dog BUT NOT FOR LONG

[oneprotagonistshort]

also a Dirk Gently WIP whenever just for kicks. from the ongoing Forces Unseen sequel

-

“Holy shit,” Todd said, hearing Dirk come in through the door he’d left propped open. “Did you know we can see the Washington Monument from here?”

Dirk joined him at the window and wrapped an arm around his middle from behind. He was suddenly feeling a bit clingy, like he was going to need to front load all the cuddles he could get, which was abjectly ridiculous. Todd had never shied away from that, if anything it was Dirk who’d been jumpy lately about tender little moments like this. Still, Dirk couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d be wanting more of this later but might not be able to get it. He hooked his chin over Todd’s shoulder and squinted out the window, not sure what Todd was referring to. 

“The bloke on the penny’s house?” he asked, not seeing it. “I don’t think he lives in DC anymore, Todd.”

“What?” Todd asked, pulling back a little to look at him before pointing at a large lit-up obelisk surrounded by illuminated American flags. “No, that. I’ve only ever seen it in movies, National Treasure didn’t prepare me for the real thing.”

“Ohhh,” Dirk said, comprehension dawning as he held Todd close to his front. “You mean the giant pencil statue.”

“The giant—Dirk, that’s the Washington Monument. As in George Washington? It doesn’t even look like a pencil.”

“Doesn’t look much like George Washington either,” Dirk mused, and whatever retort Todd had been about to fire back was interrupted by the sharp trill of Dirk’s phone. 

[bump1nthen1ght]

Campus Romance

Pairing: Art Teacher!Sex Demon x Writer!Gender Neutral!Reader

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1786 words

Summary: You stumble into an art lecture while around your new college campus. Luckily, the hot professor doesn’t seem to mind

Request: UH BELZ HELLOOO???? You can’t give this gay anon a He/They art professor sex demon and not expect them to request a fic??

Anyways- can I humbly request a meet cute fic of Belz with a reader (GN or Male either or) who’s a writer? Maybe they meet on the college campus Belz works at or they meet over the phone cause of Belz’s night job, whatever floats your boat I just want flirty demon pls (/lh)

A/N: For those who haven’t read it, heres the piece where I introduced Belz!

What a perfect first day. No rain coat, no umbrella, an open campus and a downpour of rain. You hold your (hopefully) waterproof binder over your head as you race across a crosswalk, just avoiding getting splashed by a campus gardener.

This is what I get for waking up early. This is a sign from god.

You had meant to peruse around the college today, taking a note of the building you’d soon be teaching out of and the general layout. But the rain has turned everything into a blurry mess and you end up ducking into the nearby arts building. Your future office is technically only one over, but you’d rather not spend that extra 5 minutes and have your jeans get soaked through.

After shaking off like a dog, you begin wandering down the halls trying to find a bathroom, at least to see how much of a mess you must look like. The building is heated, thank gods, but only few of the classrooms are occupied. You’d guess most people decided to ditch or cancel their 8 AMS after seeing the weather outside.

You’re shrugging off your damp sweater when you see a propped open door, a vivacious voice and the sweet smell of incense luring you in. At first you intend only to peek, maybe ask where the nearest restroom is, but what you had expected to be a dull lecture room ended being much more interesting.

Numerous paint cases and student exhibitions line the wall, the tables well loved with paint splatter and pencil scratches. In the center of the room is a giant marble statue of a man in a rather artful pose, surrounded by multiple students and their easels. They all sit hunched over, charcoal smudged on their fingers as they sketch the form in front of them. But what really catches your eye is the lecturer, standing right next to the subject.

“Now, I want you pay special attention to the movement lines of this piece.” They say, running their fingers down the statues upturned arm. Long, black nails trail down the side of the figure, tracing the defined side and the hip bones. “Notice the flow of the Contrapposto stance, how it positions his limbs around the slight twist in his torso. If you want to come and see up close, you may.” The lecturer smirks, “Starting next week we’ll have live models, so this will be the only subject you can get flirty with.” The lecturer slaps the statue’s butt, a general murmur of laughter coming from the students.

The lecturer steps off the stand and brushes back their shaggy hair. Their billowy shirt exposes a lean clavicle and several necklaces. Their blue skin is complimented by the dark red of their boho pants, only adding to their relaxed air. Their gaze wanders around the classroom, observing their students before landing on you, the wet stranger lurking in the corner. You give a wave, hoping it doesn’t look too awkward.

Their eyes go wide at your soaking wet form, briskly walking over. You’re able to catch the small name tag pinned in their shirt.

Belz (He/They)

“Howdy.” They mock salute, eyes wandering down your wet clothes. “My goodness, you’re drenched! Here-” They reach over, grabbing a smock from a nearby hanger, “It’s not much but hopefully it should warm you up some.” Before you can protest they’ve thrown it across your chest, ducking behind you and grabbing onto the laces. You feel the faint brush of their claws as Belz quickly ties up the back, cinching it tight to your waist with a few precise movements. The fabric itself may not be particularly cozy, but you feel a warmth covering your body nonetheless.

“There,” Belz mutters, rubbing some imaginary dust off your shoulder. “And look at that, it fits perfectly.” He mutters, his chuckle at his own little joke just as inviting as the classroom itself. “Now, what can I do for you, stranger?”

“Oh, nothing! I actually was just escaping from the rain when I saw the door open. I guess I just got…drawn in?” You straighten out the front of the smock, realizing now how random this encounter is. “Just thought I’d observe. I hope I’m not intruding.”

“It’s no problem at all, my lessons are for all, as is art itself.” Belz brushes a stray hair back before sticking out their hand. “I’m Belz.”

“____.” You shake their hand, “I-I’m actually a new literature professor, I was supposed to be touring the campus today, but, well….” You gesture outside, an ironic crack of thunder echoing as you do. But Belz isn’t dissuaded by the storm, a big smirk coming across their lips.

“Well, I’m happy to be your welcoming party, Professor ____.” Belz wraps their other palm around the outside of your fist, enfolding your hand in theirs. Their warm palms feel refreshing against your icy skin. “Now, do you like muffins?”

“Oh, yeah, I guess so-”

“Perfect!” Belz keeps your hand in his as he leads you to his desk, a big tray of different muffins sitting right by his laptop.“My mom always said the cure to bad weather is good food, so you may have the pick of the lot. Though my students have probably pilfered the best ones. Can’t let your mind work on an empty stomach, after all.”

Belz sits down in their chair, giving it a little spin before grabbing a chocolate muffin from the basket.

“Thank you! These look delicious.” You grab a banana-nut muffin, shocked by how warm it still was, like it just came out of the pan.

“I get them every morning from that bakery right near campus. It’s to die for, you have to check it out.” Belz takes a big chomp out of their muffin, immediately swooning at the flavor. Their noises are almost..erotic.

You take a bite of your muffin, trying not to think about that. But Belz is right, these muffins are delicious, you can almost forget about your waterlogged jeans.

“So, you’re a banana nut fan, huh? Underrated flavor in my opinion.”

“Agreed. But I think my favorite is blueberry.”

“Hmm, good to know.” Belz laughs, tapping their cheek as their eyes elevator up and down. You take another bite of your muffin, hoping he can’t see your cheeks flush. Instead you look around their desk, multiple knick-knacks and smaller art pieces scattered all around. Right near their laptop is a framed picture, one of those cheesy ones with a photoshop caption from the early 2000’s, of two rats. The caption reads “Benny and Jet <3”

“Are those your pet rats?”

Belz gasps, excitedly nodsing before holding the photo proudly up to his face.

“Yes, these are my babies, the loves of my life, my platonic soulmates. I would’ve brought them to class today, if not for the weather.”

“They’re really cute.” You point towards Benny, who is almost all white except for the brown spot on his hind. “I had a rat that looked like Benny when I was a kid. She was an absolute sweetheart, though my friend would freak out whenever they saw her.”

Belz tuts, “I don’t trust people who disrespect rats. It’s my ultimate judge of character.”

“Well, one of those friends did throw a pudding cup at me a year later, so I’d say it’s pretty accurate.”

You both laugh, Belz throwing his head back. He’s got a pleasant laugh, resonant like a bass guitar. His countenance is infectiously friendly and when he smiles your way, you can't help but feel a little more giddy.

“Well, good to know you have great taste in food and in pets, Professor. Hopefully that good taste rings true elsewhere, hmm?” Belz leans on their palm, giving you another wink.

You find yourself stuttering, rubbing the back of your head as you try to come up with a funny retort, but then-

“Professor? Could I ask for some advice on something?”

Belz stands up with a flourish, their billowing clothes making the motion seem extra elegant. “Well, it seems my people need me.”

“Of course, I’ll let you get back to work.”

Belz places a hand on your shoulder, that flirtatious smile making the contact feel even more electrifying. “Feel free to stay as long as you like, I have a kettle if you’d like some tea to warm you up.”

“Thanks again, but I probably should go and find my office. Be brave and face the rain.”

Belz smile widens, their eyes wandering down before locking you in with a sultry gaze. “Well, feel free to holler if you need anything. And you can stop by my class anytime.”

Belz begins ti walk away, but keeps their hand lingering on your shoulder. Their fingers glide across the back of your shirt, only loosing contact only when they’ve walked too far away.

Goosebumps rise to your skin, and you know it’s not from the wet clothes.

“Who knows, maybe you could be the model next time.” With another sultry wink, they walk away and to their student, immediately shifting into teacher mode as they look over the sketch.

You scurry out the door with a weak goodbye, hoping the cold rain will help your burning blush.

—-

Its your first official day of teaching and you're leaving the lecture hall with a pep in your step. Your students are much more engaged than you thought they would be for a morning class and you have a nice hour break before office hours. A warm lunch waits for you in your mini fridge, though you’re slightly regretting not grabbing those cookies you had back home; You were really craving some sweets.

You’re fiddling with the keys to your office door when you notice a small bag sitting right outside. It might have been mistaken for garbage, if not for the sticky note with your name and a heart stuck to the outside. You pick it up, nudging open the door with your hip as you walk inside, opening the bag with two fingers.

The first thing you see is paper wrapping, the thin kind all bakeries use, and then you the sweetest, most delectable looking blueberry muffin. It’s still warm to the touch, with a tasteful amount of sugar crystals on the top.

You place the muffin down on your desk, noticing the note underneath it. You unfold and read it as you sit down in your office chair.

You’re favorite, hope you’re having a great first day <3

-Belz

The smile that creeps up on you is a giddy one, quickly tesring open ghe muffin and taking a large bit.

Damn, this is delicious.

[nyrandrea]

Setting The Stage

My hyperfixation is set back on fnaf again in anticipation for Security Breach, so I’ve decided to write my own interpretation on how the game might begin! 

Summary: Gregory had always dreamed of going to Freddy Faxbear’s Mega Pizza Plex and meeting his heroes. But he somehow ends up getting more than he bargained for, and dreams start to turn into nightmares.

Originally planned as a oneshot but had to split it into two parts.Link to next chapter is down below! Also available to read on AO3 here!

Enjoy!

Walking into Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizza Plex for the first time was something that every kid in the world should experience, at least according to Gregory’s logic. 

And it was that logic – and a lot of puppy dog looks – that just about managed to work on his mom. Because here he was, finally standing in front of the colorful neon sign with his favorite animal mascots welcoming him in.  

It had taken a lot of begging and guilt-tripping but he wasn’t ashamed one bit, though his mother might have disagreed, especially when it came to the snivelling part. But hey, it wasn’t his fault she had worked late on his birthday, so she owed him. Big time. 

He vaguely recalled her grumbling about having to dip into her savings for this trip. 

So that meant that he only had today, and he had to make every second count. 

“So...” a voice spoke up from behind him. “Am I finally forgiven?” 

Gregory looked up to see his mom giving him ‘the look’, and to that he nodded profusely.  

“Good. After today you can finally leave me in peace,” she said, giving his hair a playful ruffle as they walked through the large sliding doors and into the mall. 

He decided to push it just a little bit further. 

“Can I get a Freddy plushie?” 

The little boy swore he could hear a vein pop. 

“I already bought tickets for the meet and greet. Do you know how much those cost me?” 

He shrugged. 

“A lot, and it’s coming out of your college fund.” 

“What if I don’t wanna go to college?” 

“Maybe you won’t get to after today,” she replied, rubbing at her temples. “Fine. I’ll give you ten dollars and you can buy yourself something at the store when we’re done, alright?” 

That was enough to cover a pencil, maybe an eraser as well if he haggled. But he didn’t argue.  

Both Gregory and his mom were suddenly blinded when they entered into the main part of the building as bright neon lights bounced off of the high glass ceiling and right into their retinas. Only once they were able to adjust their eyes could they really absorb the true grandeur of the place. 

Everywhere you looked there were people: from tired-eyed parents trying to find the next thing to distract their kids to enthusiastic parents who wanted to get involved in everything their kids were doing while filming it on their phone for their blogs. Then there were the snot-nosed teens who were bunking off school and several professional shopping guides with forced smiles wider than Moondrop and Sunrise’s combined. Everyone seemed to move in unison as the hall was filled with the sound of shoes squeaking against the polished checkered floors. 

Topping it all off was a massive gleaming golden statue of Glamrock Freddy proudly posed right in the center, singing silently into the microphone as soft music and wacky adverts played in the background. 

Suddenly Gregory felt very small. 

“It sure is...big, isn’t it?” His mother said, not sounding so confident herself. 

He merely nodded in agreement. 

Her son-o-meter seemed to be finely tuned as ever as she gently grasped Gregory’s shoulder and gave him a light but reassuring shake. 

“C’mon now,” she tenderly prodded. “We’ve got all day to enjoy the place so let’s make the most of it, huh? It’s not every day we get to go to Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizza Plex.” 

This was true. Coming here had once been only but a dream. Now he was here, staring up at a brilliantly shining statue of Glamrock Freddy. And pretty soon he was going to be meeting the bear himself. 

His hand absently went to towards his back-pocket before he made a fist as determination washed over him. Looking up at his mom, he nodded. 

“And if I’m remembering right, I think I know the first thing on your to-do list.”  

The boy had already grabbed her hand as he made a beeline for their first activity. 

“To Fazer Blast!” 

 xxx

Trying to imitate the pose of the Roxanne cut-out that was behind the reception desk, Gregory pointed his laser blaster at his mom as she attempted to fit on his vest. 

“Could you stop fidgeting?” 

“But I’m practicing-” 

“Stop. Fidgeting.” 

He pouted before she struck him with that look again, which he pretended not to notice as he gazed up towards the lady at the reception desk. She looked about in her twenties and was using one hand to push back her long sleek black locks away from her face every five seconds while her other hand typed lazily on a screen. 

“So...do I just join a team or...?” 

It took her a moment to even register that he was talking to her before she flicked her hair back again just to glare down at him. 

“Sure, like, do what you want. It’s your game, you make the rules.” 

She seemed to pause for a moment. 

“You do, like, know the rules, right?” 

Gregory wasn’t sure how to respond to that.  

“Uh...sure?” 

“Fantastic,” she drawled as she focused her attention back to her tablet. “Your session ends in fifteen minutes.” 

His mother rolled her eyes and muttered something about, “kids these days”, but soon smiled and took Gregory’s shoulder as she walked him in. 

“Just remember to have fun, alright? Screw the rules.” 

“Really?” Gregory asked, his toothy grin twisting into something sinister as he got into the Roxanne pose again.  

“Just...don’t run and remember to stay within the walls,” she added on quickly. “Can’t have my little space man getting lost now, can I?” 

Gregory made a sound of disgust as he was pulled in for a kiss before she finally let him loose into the brightly colored arena. He couldn’t help but take a moment to stare up in awe as spotlights of purple, green and red shone upon the various props and fixtures that decorated the place. 

 In the center was a giant space rocket that was surrounded by planets with neon rings glowing around them. The cut-outs from reception were scattered about too, though now they were humongous. Gregory almost couldn’t help but salute the towering Freddy as he walked past. 

He also noticed a room near the back walls. It was raised up to overlook the whole arena and was surrounded by green-lit pillars. It fit in with the theme of the room but also...jarringly stood out. Maybe it was a place for parents to watch their kids play, or perhaps the employees? 

“Hey Grogery!”  

That voice. That name struck fear into his chest as he swirled around to face a group of boys that had aimed their blasters right at him. 

“Never thought we’d see you here,” the biggest one said with a smirk. “You sneak in through the gutters or something?” 

“Hey... Bob,” Gregory casually greeted. Though it was hard to act so suave when he was trembling. 

“It’s Rob.” 

“Rob! Yeah...cool to see you too.” 

Learning the names of his bullies from class had never been at the top of Gregory’s to-do list, but then again it hadn’t been at the top of theirs either, clearly. But God, why did they have to be here of all places? Of all days, even? 

“Nah, his mom probably got him in here with all that hooker money she earns!” The skinny one snorted, making them all burst out into laughter. 

“She works at the hospital,” Gregory weakly argued. 

“Not what my dad said!” Rob hollered, still rubbing tears from his eyes. 

“So, what, is your dad cheating on your mom?” He sniped back with a sneer of his own. 

His grin soon disappeared though when they all suddenly stopped laughing and a beat of silence followed, save for the distant laser blasts sounding off around them. 

“The hell did you just say to me?” Rob asked, his voice dangerously quiet. If his brows knitted together any tighter then those pimples on the bridge of his nose might pop at any given moment. Gregory grimaced at the very thought. 

“N-nothing! Um...I mean- it's technically not cheating if your parents are divorced, right?” 

Rob positioned the blaster in his hand not so much as to aim it, but rather throw it. 

“Like I said, my mom wouldn’t even do that!” 

The pimples popped. 

With that, Gregory legged it before the gun could smack him in the face. He dashed between the walls as the angry voices behind him grew distant, he almost felt bad as he climbed through the holes and bumped past people, but hey it was like his mom said, screw the rules, right? 

However, it looked like the rules were starting to screw him when he smacked into a dead end. The black wall was too high for him to jump over and the only way out would be to re-trace his steps, which meant... 

“C’mon Grogery!” Rob’s voice taunted through the luminous hall. “Let’s see how many knocks to the head you can take before you bleed.”  

The boy swallowed a hard lump down his throat as he backed himself up against the wall and looked up at the Roxanne cut-out that towered above him, aiming her blaster with such confidence and attitude. With a deep breath and a firm nod, he did the same with the hope that getting them disqualified might save him. 

If not, at least his mom was a first-aider. 

“Hey...” A soft, almost girlie voice laced with a mechanical tone called out. “In here.”  

Gregory’s head snapped to the right as a hand – or was it a paw? – beckoned him into a dark corner. 

“Hurry up...!” The voice urged, and before Gregory could question anything, he saw four shadows creep around as the sound of footsteps thundered towards him, forcing him to make a snap decision and dive into the darkness, getting caught by a pair of skinny, furred arms. 

“Shit, where did he go?” Rob shouted as the group gathered where Gregory had been standing just seconds before.  

“Looks like he dropped his blaster,” one of them said as he picked it up. “Maybe he climbed the wall?” 

There was a sudden yelp as Rob smacked him upside the head. 

“Don’t be so fucking stupid, he’s tiny. No way in hell he’d be able to scale that.” 

Gregory stiffened as Rob suddenly turned in his direction, but he felt the stranger put a hand on his head, and strangely enough, it calmed him down. 

“...C’mon, he’s gotta be around here somewhere,” Rob finally said, pulling the group away. “He can’t hide forever.” 

After a few moments of waiting, Gregory let out a breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding. 

“Bullies are just the worst, huh?” 

Almost jumping out of his skin at the sudden chipper voice cutting through the tense atmosphere like a knife, he glanced up with wide eyes as the figure gave him a little pat on the head.  

This was obviously a girl but with the shadows enveloping her it was hard to tell exactly...what she was.  

He could make out a pair of tall ears so...a rabbit? Gregory couldn’t remember any animatronics other than Freddy, Chica, Monty and Roxanne, as well as Moondrop and Sunrise. Was this a new character? 

But what kind of bunny would have such piercing red eyes? 

“My name’s Vanny,” she greeted. “What’s yours?” 

Feeling slightly relieved that she had finally let him go, he cautiously stepped out and looked around to make sure he was in the clear before turning to face her.  

“...Gregory,” the boy timidly answered, still feeling a bit unnerved.  

“What a swell name! It’s nice to meet’cha,” she said with a small bow, which unveiled a few more features like a bright blue bow tied around her neck, and an unnaturally wide toothy grin plastered on her patched face.  

What’s more, she didn’t exactly move like a robot, despite sounding like one. 

“Are you new?” Gregory asked, causing Vanny to tilt her head. 

“Huh?” 

“I’ve never seen you in the show before and...” he paused, knowing his words had already gotten him in trouble today. 

“And what?” she prodded. 

“Well...you don’t really look like an animatronic.” 

“That’s because I’m not!”  

Gregory flinched at her overly cheerful tone and stepped back as she kneeled down to his level. 

“Can I let ya in on a little secret?” Vanny asked, cupping her hand to her mouth in a poorly disguised whisper. 

“Sure...?” 

“I wanna be in the show. Like, I really really wanna be in the show. That’s why I made this,” the rabbit gestured to herself in an overly dramatic way; caressing her ears and cupping her face. “But I gotta prove myself first.” 

“Prove yourself?” 

“Yup!” 

Gregory raised an eyebrow when she didn’t elaborate further, but decided to put it to rest as he really wanted to get out before Rob and his goons came back. 

“I know a shortcut outta here,” Vanny offered with a tilt of the head, as if reading his mind. “Just take a couple of rights and a left and you’ll be as right as rain! Want me to show you?”  

“T-that’s okay, I should be good,” Gregory replied with a smile, though it slowly turned into a frown when she didn’t answer back, choosing instead to just...stare at him, her head still tilted, almost as if she were deep in thought. 

“But...thanks anyway...?” he weakly offered. 

This seemed to snap her out of her trance as she nodded vigorously. 

“No problem! And don’t worry, if those bullies come back, I’ll give ‘em a dose of Moondrop’s sleepy candy. That oughta slow ‘em down!”  

He had heard of that stuff, but couldn’t for the life of him understand why kids would want candy that would put them to sleep. Nevertheless, he nodded and thanked her again before turning, and hurrying away, a soft giggle echoing behind him. 

 xxx

“Where on earth have you been? It’s been thirty minutes!” 

Gregory was still a little shaken up by the time he had reached the exit, so much so that he had forgotten that he had been on a time limit. 

“Sorry, mom...” Gregory muttered sheepishly as she looked him over. 

“You didn’t answer my question.” 

Glancing back towards the arena, he tried to see if he could spot Rob’s gang still wandering about in there. 

“Did you see a group of guys come out by any chance? Older than me. Kinda ugly...” 

“Now you’re answering my question with a question,” his mother said with a sigh. “But no. Why? Did something happen?” 

“No!” he blurted out, making her give him that look again. “We were just...having so much fun but then I uh...I lost them. Just wondering if they left without me or something.” 

Her expression softened a little. He hated when she did that. 

“No, sweetie...but I’m sure they won’t be far, should we go look for them?” 

Gregory grabbed her hand and started pulling her away. “It’s fine! The show’ll be starting soon, right? We can’t miss it!” 

“Okay, okay...!” she chuckled as he dragged her. “But first we need to hand your blaster in.” 

He stopped then, inwardly cursing at himself before smiling sheepishly up at his mom as she narrowed her eyes at him. 

“You lost it, didn’t you.”  

Her tone suggested that it wasn’t a question. 

“Yep.” 

He yelped when she was suddenly the one dragging him away. 

“Well, we best make ourselves scarce then, besides we can’t miss your big show, right?” 

Gregory grinned. “Screw the rules?” 

She smiled back. “Screw the rules.” 

 xxx

They had made it to the main stage before the show began, but there were already big crowds congregating near the front to get the best view, and Gregory was having none of it. 

His mom kept apologizing to the angry faces and pointed looks as he towed her through the mass of people to get to the front, ignoring her when she grumbled about having to teach him some social skills. 

Gregory drowned everything else in the auditorium out as his wide brown eyes focused on the stage, even trying to balance up on the tips of his toes to get any kind of glimpse of brown, green, pink or purple. He had waited so long for this moment, and nothing more mattered than the next hour. 

Gregory wasn’t ashamed to admit that he squealed a little when the lights died down, it was just as well that every other kid in the auditorium screamed too, resulting in the kind of high-pitched noise that would make a banshee cringe. 

“Hello ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!” A mechanical voice greeted over the speakers. “Welcome to Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizza Plex! Are you all having a fantabulous time?”  

The crowds erupted once more. 

“Rockin’!” Gregory gasped as a rough female voice took over. "Y’all ready to get your glam on?!”  

“Oh Roxanne...” a more feminine tone scolded. “Now you’ve given us away. Again.”  

Gregory’s smile grew wider, he knew this whole skit, next up would be- 

"I think we’ve kept ‘em waiting long enough, gals,” a graveled voice boomed out from the speakers. "Whaddya say, Freddy? Should we give the kids what they want?”  

The little boy almost couldn’t contain himself at this point. 

“I say let’s rock out!”  

The curtains suddenly swung open to reveal the animatronics in all their shiny, glittering glory.  

They were all 80’s themed, of course, to fit in with the aesthetic of the mall. Glamrock Chica had the typical pink leotard with green leopard print leg warmers; very popular with the girls. Roxanne Wolf was more unconventional with a striking red outfit, piercings and the mascot for the mall’s race course; she appealed to quite a wide range of people. Montgomery Gator was more for the chads as he had a rough and tough attitude with a love of golf, but Gregory did admire his red mohawk and star-shaped shades. 

Then there was Glamrock Freddy. The mascot of the Pizza Plex. He didn’t really have a gimmick as such but was incredibly popular just for how great he was with the children. The other animatronics were good with kids but Freddy was the one who seemed to pay the most attention to them, whether it be sitting down and listening to a kid’s story, accepting gifts from them to even giving them gifts of his own free will – mostly a plushie of himself. 

Management were irked by this odd behavior at first but when they saw how much cash he was raking in from meet and greets alone, they decided to leave it. Why fix it if it ain’t broke, right? 

As they burst into their first song, with Freddy singing into his mic stand and the other three playing keytars, Gregory didn’t even notice when his mother shook his shoulder and told him that she would have to take a phone call but would be back as soon as she could. There were some instructions on where to meet if she didn’t make it back by the time the show was finished but the words fell on deaf ears as he bounced and sang along to the lyrics he had spent so painstakingly long to learn. 

By the fourth or fifth song, the crowds had started to dissipate as parents took their children away to browse some more shops or to go to the food court for lunch, but Gregory stayed until the very end, cheering and whooping when the animatronics did their final encore and bowed as the curtains were drawn to a close. 

Fearing his chest might explode from excitement, the boy took a few moments to breathe as he tried to calm down from the buzz of electricity that was jolting through his body. The past hour had gone and went so fast that he could hardly process any of it, all he knew was that it had been the happiest moment of his life.  

With a huge grin, he watched as the robots were escorted off stage by staff and taken to their individual show rooms for their meet and greet sessions. Lines were already starting to grow long. 

It was only then that Gregory realized that his mother was gone. He looked around with a frown, she had said something about a phone call but...that had been half an hour ago now. 

‘She must be waiting at the show room for me,’ Gregory concluded, beaming at the thought of finally meeting his hero in the flesh. Or...plastic. 

Shaking his head, he made a beeline past Chica’s room, where mostly little kids were sitting on the floor watching the animatronic as she played them a song while others had started a food fight with the leftover pizza and soda cans that had been lying around the room, making the parents and staff grimace as they tried to break it up. 

Monty’s room was a little more organized and catered more towards older children as the gator showed them how to get a hole in one with a little golf stand while others played on the arcade machine. This reminded Gregory that the golf course was next on his list. 

Roxanne’s room was very high energy as the wolf raced around with the other kids with driving wheels in their hands while making engine noises. Though when one tripped up, she immediately halted and gently picked the child up, reassuring him that “Even the most rockin’ superstars get hurt sometimes!” and carried him into the back area to where the medical staff resided with a worried mother in tow. 

Stopping to catch his breath, Gregory finally made it to Freddy’s room, gaping slightly when he saw the queue nearly reaching the end of the walkway. He couldn’t even see inside due to the mass of people gathered at the curtains, forcing him to back up a bit and climb up on a bench just to be able to get a look in. 

The room was painted red and blue to fit in with Freddy’s color scheme and decorated with bright lightning bolts and portraits of the bear himself. It was also the least cluttered as there were only a few bowling bowls, party hats and – of course – plenty of plushies to give away. But what caught Gregory’s eyes were the assortment of colorful drawings that had been halfhazardly pinned to the wall next to the make-up mirror. 

It was true then; he really did collect kids' drawings! 

Reaching into his own back-pocket, Gregory pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and opened it up, smiling a little when he looked upon his own masterpiece. All the animatronics were singing on a stage on top of the whole world, with Freddy towering over them wearing a crown and rainbow cape because why not?  

It had taken him hours and an absurd number of crayons that he had ‘taken’ from his classroom, so a selfish part of him hoped that Freddy would pin it above the rest. 

A flurry of movement in the crowd suddenly caught Gregory’s attention as the stewards moved them aside to let the animatronic move in. He felt himself get giddy when the bear greeted everyone and gave them a sign of the horns with his clawed hand, to which all the kids mimicked, including Gregory from all the way in the back. 

As the queue started to move along, Gregory couldn’t help but start to feel impatient. Where was his mom? He thought she knew how important this was to him. 

Forgiveness was suddenly starting to come in very short supply. 

With a cross of the arms and a small pout, he watched as Glamrock Freddy took photographs, played with kids and even recognized a regular and accepted a drawing from her, praising her for becoming more talented every day. 

Gregory’s chest tightened up a little at that. 

Frowning down at his own scribbles, he didn’t even notice the tall figure hiding behind the golden statue of Roxanne that was trying to get his attention. 

“Hey...! Hey Gregory!” A familiar voice hissed. 

Startled, he turned to see that tall rabbit lady from earlier waving and beckoning him over. Blinking, he took a moment to look around to see if anybody else had seen her, half-wondering if she was some kind of hallucination at this point. When she beckoned again, he tentatively walked over. 

Once again, she was hidden in the shadows, but the overhead lights made it a little easier to see more details of the suit, like the stitches that barely held the mismatched creams and beiges together along with a few patches of crosshatched red. It was like the whole thing had just been thrown together. 

“Uh...hey...”  

It took him a moment. 

“Vanny?” 

She gasped and gleefully put her hands up to her grinning mouth. 

“You remembered!”  

He forced a grin, trying to ignore the bristling hairs on the back of his neck. 

“Sure.” 

She paused and knelt down. 

“What’s wrong? You look a bit down.” 

This caught him by surprise. 

“Huh? No, I’m fine. Just...waiting.” 

Glancing back, he could see the crowds starting to dwindle as time went on, but still no sign of his mother. 

“Ooh! What’s that?” 

He looked down to where she was pointing and held up the piece of paper that he had been clutching a little too hard. 

“It’s...um...just a drawing I made...for...Freddy,” he meekly replied, his cheeks heating up. 

“Oh wow! Can I see?” 

The very question he was afraid of. But she was already holding out her hand, so he couldn’t just say no. 

She seemed to study it very closely when Gregory handed it over. He started to wonder if she was having to squint through the costume’s red eyes just to be able to see it. 

“This is so good, Gregory!” She gushed, holding it up as if to show it off to everybody else in the mall. “You’re super talented! Are you gonna be an artist when you grow up?” 

He looked down in embarrassment but couldn’t help but smile at the compliment. Despite how weird this lady was, she actually seemed pretty nice.  

“Um...I dunno. I like drawing so...maybe.” 

“You should definitely show it to Freddy, I bet he’d love it!” 

Gregory perked up at that, but frowned again as he looked back over to the show room. 

“I want to but I can’t yet.” 

“Why not?” Vanny asked. “Ya nervous?” 

That was true but he wasn’t about to admit it.  

“My mom has the ticket for the meet and greet but...she had to take some kinda phone call and hasn’t come back yet.” 

“Hasn’t...come back,” she repeated. 

As Gregory watched kids and parents come and go, he hadn’t noticed that Vanny was staring right at him until the silence between them grew uncomfortably long. But as he turned back to look at her, she stood up and offered her hand. 

“I know a way you can give it to him.” 

A little perturbed by her sudden shift in tone; he looked at her hand but didn’t take it. 

“Uh...how?” 

“The VIP room, silly!” She said, her chirpy voice returning once more. “You know that one up at Fazer Tag? I saw you looking at it earlier.” 

The one that was high up, he remembered. But... had she been watching him that whole time? 

“That’s where Freddy and the others go for the secret meet and greets, where they give you their undivided attention.” 

Gregory raised an eyebrow. 

“I... didn’t even know that was a thing.” 

“That’s cuz it’s secret!” 

Okay, well that made sense. 

“Usually only the rich kids get to go there but I think you’re much more deserving, Gregory,” she said, holding out her hand once again. “You only get today, right?” 

The boy looked over once more. Freddy was waving goodbye to the last of the children as the stewards drew the curtains. He had missed his chance. 

He looked back up at Vanny. 

“What about my mom?” 

The rabbit tilted her head. “I’ll notify the staff so they can let her know, then she’ll come pick you up when you’re ready, okay?” 

There was a moment of hesitation but he knew she was right. He only had today and nothing was going to stop him from getting what he wanted. 

Screw the rules.  

With a nod, Gregory took her hand and let her lead him away to the Fazer Tag arena, not noticing that his drawing had slipped from her grip and she had let it fall into a crumpled ball as they walked away. 

xxx

So let me know what y’all think! Would you like to see a part 2? :D

Edit: Part 2 is now available here!

[kpopfanfictrash]

Cordially, Jimin

Author: kpopfanfictrash

Pairing: You / Jimin

Rating: R (mentions of sex)

Word Count: 6,175

Summary: When you start work in your new office, the last thing you expect is a distraction. Especially not one as cute, witty and impossible to handle as Park Jimin. A story told through correspondence.  (fluff + humor)

From: Park, Jimin

To: Kim, Namjoon

Subject: Process Documentation

Tuesday, October 10th [10:23 AM]

Nonconfidential, Internal Use Only

Hey, Joon! I was thinking about the spreadsheet you sent over this morning. Do you think we should add some sort of documentation to it regarding the employee’s training status? Just in case there’s overlap between the sessions. Let me know what you think but otherwise, I agree with your changes. 

PS, are we still on for lunch?

All the best,

Jimin

Senior Analyst, Internal Audit

555-1013

From: Kim, Namjoon

To: Park, Jimin

Subject: Re: Process Documentation

Tuesday, October 10th [10:45 AM]

Nonconfidential, Internal Use Only

‘Sup, Park.

Yeah, throw the training into the excel spreadsheet. The executives will likely want to know.

Lunch is good, but I can only do a half hour. I’m leaving early to take the girlfriend out to dinner. 

Fondly,

Namjoon

Senior Analyst, Communications

555-0912

From: Park, Jimin

To: Kim, Namjoon

Subject: Re: Re: Process Documentation

Tuesday, October 10th [10:59 AM]

Nonconfidential, Internal Use Only

“’Sup, Park”? Dude, at least try to keep things professional. Who knows what HR monitors in our email. 

... and is tonight the night you and Fal finally... you know? 

Sincerest wishes,

Jimin

Senior Analyst, Internal Audit

555-1013

From: Kim, Namjoon

To: Park, Jimin

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Process Documentation

Tuesday, October 10th [11:15 AM] 

Nonconfidential, Internal Use Only

I just leaned over to ask HR and Kim’s response was: “f*** no, I don’t monitor your email. What do you think I’m made out of, free time?” Then she threw up the middle finger. 

Also, shut your pie hole about me and Fal. Talk about inappropriate work conversation.

Warmest thoughts,

Namjoon

Senior Analyst, Communications

555-0912

From: Park, Jimin

To: Kim, Namjoon

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Process Documentation

Tuesday, October 10th [11:21 AM]

Nonconfidential, Internal Use Only

Why’d you use asterisks if they’re not monitoring our emails?

Hugs and kisses,

Jimin

Senior Analyst, Internal Audit

555-1013

From: Kim, Namjoon

To: Park, Jimin

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Process Documentation

Tuesday, October 10th [11:29 AM]

Nonconfidential, Internal Use Only

Oh, right. Swearing is monitored. It sends a warning to IT, which sends an email to your manager. This is also triggered by writing s*x, pen15, or the jolly, green giant’s name. 

Steer clear of those, Jiminie and you’ll be fine.

Ardently yours,

Namjoon

Senior Analyst, Communications

555-0912

From: Park, Jimin

To: Kim, Namjoon

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Process Documentation

Tuesday, October 10th [11:34 AM]

Nonconfidential, Internal Use Only

I thought you were the jolly, green giant? Tall, relatively new to the office (green). It fits. Ha!

Anyways, for lunch I thought we could meet – oh, sweet lord. Who is that? 

F***. Got to go.

Cordially,

Jimin

Senior Analyst, Internal Audit

555-1013

From: Kim, Namjoon

To: Park, Jimin

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Process Documentation

Tuesday, October 10th [11:37 AM]

Nonconfidential, Internal Use Only

What? What?? JIMIN. You can’t just leave me hanging. Who did you see? What did you see? Was it something outside of your office window? Is the Avengers finally happening? Is the city under attack?

... I’m going to k*ll you at lunch. 

Impatiently yours,

Namjoon

Senior Analyst, Communications

555-0912

Tuesday, October 10th [11:45 AM]

Jimin: sorry, man. I just saw the most beautiful girl in the world. You know how my office overlooks the street and sees into the building next door?

Namjoon: you little sack of fungus. How dare you leave me hanging like that

Namjoon: … but yes, I do know. Go on.

Jimin: cool. So, there I was sitting in my office. Contemplating world peace, the usual.

Namjoon: translation – thinking about jacking off when you get home

Jimin: sometimes your words hurt, you know

Namjoon: apologies, jimini muffin

Jimin: I swear to god.

Namjoon: ok, ok – sorry. Tell me about this girl

Jimin: you mean tell you about my future wife?

Namjoon: you use that phrase too liberally, Jimin. Your dog walker is not your future wife. Your florist is not your future wife. This random chick across the street is not your future wife.

Jimin: no, Peaches’ dog walker is not my future wife; no, Fran is not my future wife. But this random girl is – LISTEN. She’s exactly my type, Joon. She looks smart. You think that she’s smart?

Namjoon: Is she wearing glasses?

Jimin: no

Namjoon: Then, no.

Jimin: she could be wearing contacts

Namjoon: Then, yes.

Jimin: okay, I’ll cave. Why are you basing her intelligence off whether or not she wears glasses?

Namjoon: wearing glasses implies she stayed up late reading in her youth, subsequently ruining her vision

Jimin: or… she didn’t eat enough carrots

Namjoon: or that

Jimin: I think that she’s new there – she must be; she looks really worried. It’s adorable, she keeps on biting her bottom lip. I think the Angry, Red-Haired Woman Who Yells a Lot is her boss because she keeps stopping by her cubicle to talk.

Namjoon: Big Red is her boss? Damn. Good luck to your future wife

Jimin: omg she has Gudetama pencils. Namjoon

Namjoon: Marry her, Jimin. Okay, enough creeping – let’s go and get lunch. I’m starving.

Tuesday, October 10th

Hello. I am typing. Typing, typing, typing.

Just typing on my brand-new LAPTOP the company PROVIDED for me! Granted, it’s to do my work, I know but it’s just so SHINY and NEW. Catherine even gave me a welcome package of office supplies when I got here. It has paper, pens (not as good as my Gudetama ones), a notepad, post-it notes. It’s adorable. Everyone has been so welcoming today – though the guy in the mail room did warn me that Catherine spits when she yells.

I’m not sure what to do with that information.

How do I shield myself from spit-yelling? Gah, I feel stupid for writing this note diary-format. I’m trying to pretend like I’m busy, since I haven’t been given any official work yet. Oh, wait! Catherine just sent over training for this afternoon. Perfect.

Hm. What now. What now, what now, what – OH.

Oh, god. Oh, yikes. HELP.

I am… looking at my laptop. I am looking at my laptop and concentrating on writing. I am not making eye contact with the very handsome man across the street.

Listen. You don’t know me, Laptop but I swear I’m usually a very level headed individual. It’s one of my best qualities – Y/N, the stable, the realistic. I don’t typically subscribe to the notion that looks make a person. But Laptop, wow. This guy. He’s – how do I describe? He’s got blondish hair. On the shorter side. I didn’t get a great look at his face, but from what I did see, he looked – kind? Is that a weird thing to say? His face looked kind.

I don’t know how else to describe him. He was stretching, arms overhead and I swear, Laptop, I don’t normally say things like this but – WHAT. AN. ASS. ON. THAT. MAN.

WOW. You could bounce a quarter off that thing.

Oh my god. What am I doing??

Okay. Okay. Catherine is here, we’re going to lunch. I –

Thursday, October 12th  [3:45 PM]

Office Instant Message [3:47 PM]

Min, Yoongi: hey

Office Instant Message [3:48 PM]

Park, Jimin: hello, sunshine

Office Instant Message [3:49 PM]

Min, Yoongi: gag me. Listen, you want to shoot hoops after work?

Office Instant Message [3:51 PM]

Park, Jimin: yeah! Where?

Office Instant Message [3:52 PM]

Min, Yoongi: Bryant Park. I’ll drop a pin to your cell. John Cook is coming, so bring your A-game

Office Instant Message [3:53 PM]

Park, Jimin: … who?

Office Instant Message [3:53 PM]

Park, Jimin: wtf? Do you mean Jungkook?

Office Instant Message [3:54 PM]

Min, Yoongi: yeah, that’s what I said

Office Instant Message [3:55 PM]

Park, Jimin: you’re one weird dude, Yoongi. But sure, see you then

“Hey, sis, it’s me. Sorry, I’m leaving you a voice note – I know you hate those – but I’m currently walking with both hands full, so it couldn’t be helped. Now you can’t say I never call you back! Because here I am, calling you back! Anyways, the third day went well. A lot of training, some overly wordy manuals – you know, the fun stuff. I have my own cubicle though, which is exciting and I have a window. It overlooks – well, the street and an office building. Actually… there’s this really cute guy in that building, Megan. I know – it’s totally creepy to spy on him, but I can’t help it! He’s right there! And he has the most amazing smile, I – wait, oh my god. It’s him. It’s him, Megan, the guy from the window! He’s playing basketball in Bryant Park, along with a bunch of other guys and I, OOF –"

Thursday, October 12th [8:35 PM]

Namjoon: how’s that egg on your face?

Jimin: how’s that who on my what now

Namjoon: Egg on your face. It’s what you say when someone looks foolish or embarrassed. You, I imagine, look both right now

Jimin: choke on a dick

Namjoon: is that what you say to your friend who loves you

Jimin: to my friend who loves torturing me, yeah

Namjoon: I just keep on seeing your FACE, man. You just whammed that poor girl smack in the stomach hahaha

Jimin: IT WAS AN ACCIDENT

Jimin: fuck

Jimin: I didn’t mean to :(

Jimin: I was trying to throw the ball to Yoongi… and she was so pretty… and my hand slipped. THE BALL WAS POSSESSED

Namjoon: … you done?

Jimin: with living? Yes. With this conversation? Also yes.

Namjoon: cheer up, man. She seemed fine after

Jimin: god

Namjoon: Jungkook helped her off the court, it’s all good

Jimin: fucking John Cook

Namjoon: what

Jimin: nothing

Jimin: … do you think she was into him?

Namjoon: oh my god. Are you serious?

Jimin: no

Jimin: maybe

Jimin: fuck, what am I doing?

Namjoon: idk man, go to sleep

Jimin: it’s not even nine 

Namjoon: shhhhh

Jimin: … ok, fine I’ll go to sleep

Saturday, October 14th [11:10 AM]

Jungkook: hey, Jimin

Jimin: hey, what’s up Jeon

Jungkook: not much

Jungkook: listen, you know that girl you hit with the ball on Thursday?

Jimin: … yeah

Jungkook: lol that was embarrassing

Jimin: do you have a point

Jungkook: she was pretty cute, right?

Jimin: yeah, pretty cute

Jimin: why are you telling me this, anyways? Is it sharing hour?

Jungkook: damn, man. Can’t I let my feelings out? Anyways – we’ve been texting and I was thinking about asking her out. Her name is Y/N, she works in the building across the street from yours!

Jimin: ok

Jimin: ... again, why are you telling me this?

Jungkook. Getting to that. When I told Namjoon, he said you have dibs

Jimin: what?? On Y/N?

Jungkook: did the two of you like, hook up or something

*Jimin has added Namjoon to the chat*

Jimin: Joon, wtf are you telling Jungkook about me

Namjoon: ‘sup, peons

Namjoon: nothing

Namjoon: just that you’re in love with a girl you’ve never met

Jungkook: wait, they’ve never met? Idk if that constitutes dibs, man

Namjoon: yes, it does. Dibs is granted unto whichever gentleman doth see the lady first

Jungkook: whoa, sees? That’s implied dibs! That goes against the whole spirit of the idea! You must call dibs, in order to have it

Jimin: this is the stupidest argument we’ve ever had

Jungkook: Agreed. No dibs

Namjoon: Jimin, what do you think?

Jungkook: Jimin, just let me bang her. Once. You can have her after that

*Jimin has left the chat*

Namjoon: don’t do it, bro. He really likes her

Jungkook: he’s never even TALKED to her!

Namjoon: respect the code, bro. Respect the code.

Namjoon: besides don’t you have like, a list of girls you can call

Jungkook: 😉

Namjoon: gross

Monday, October 16th

Week two at the office.

Everything is going well. No major screw-ups, which is good and I completed my first Excel assignment, so basically... I’m on the road to success. Who knew there were so many ways you can add? It’s hard to type though, since I screwed up my pinky finger. Well – I didn’t screw up my finger. I was walking home from work and this guy pummeled me with a basketball.

Okay, but get this – the guy who hit me? THE SAME ONE FROM THE WINDOW, LAPTOP. The guy I wrote you about on my first day! He’s even cuter in person but... ah, I don’t think he likes me. After the whole Basketball Incident, he barely even looked my way. It was his friend who helped me off the court – Jungkook is his name – he even gave me a band-aid and apologized for his friend.

Jungkook’s cute. He’s nice, I gave him my number and we talked a bit. But Window guy, Laptop. Window guy’s cheeks turned bright red haha it was adorable, I – oh, shit.

Don’t look now, Laptop (I SAID, DON’T LOOK!) but it’s him. Window guy is back. He’s standing in the middle of his office and stretching his arms. He’s lowering himself to the desk and holy shit.................. he’s doing push-ups. PUSH-UPS.

What did I do to deserve this?!

I – I’ll be back, Laptop.

From: Park, Jimin

To: Kim, Namjoon

Subject: Important!

Tuesday, October 17th [2:11 PM]

Non-Confidential, Internal Use Only

She has peonies on her desk. They’re pink.

Kind regards,

Jimin

Senior Analyst, Internal Audit

555-1013

From: Kim, Namjoon

To: Park, Jimin

Subject: Re: Important!

Tuesday, October 17th [2:24 PM]

Non-Confidential, Internal Use Only

… are you kidding me? You can’t title the email important and then say that.

Your ex-friend,

Namjoon

Senior Analyst, Communications

555-0912

From: Park, Jimin

To: Kim, Namjoon

Subject: Re: Re: Important!

Tuesday, October 17th [2:28 PM]

Non-Confidential, Internal Use Only

That was important.

Thank you,

Jimin

Senior Analyst, Internal Audit

555-1013

From: Kim, Namjoon

To: Park, Jimin

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Important!

Tuesday, October 17th [2:32 PM]

Non-Confidential, Internal Use Only

Remind me to get you a dictionary for your birthday. That’s not what the word important means. So, does this mean you’re back to liking her? I thought you told Jungkook to have at her.

Cheers,

Namjoon

Senior Analyst, Communications

555-0912

From: Park, Jimin

To: Kim, Namjoon

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Important!

Tuesday, October 17th [2:40 PM]

Non-Confidential, Internal Use Only

Listen. I have no claim upon this woman. I do not own the beautiful, wonderful Window girl. She is a person unto herself, master of her own fate! If she wants to date Jeon Jungkook, so be it.

She should know though, that his feet smell.

xoxo,

Jimin

Senior Analyst, Internal Audit

555-1013

From: Kim, Namjoon

To: Park, Jimin

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Important!

Tuesday, October 17th [2:46 PM]

Non-Confidential, Internal Use Only

Ah, the high road. What’s it like up there? Lofty? Breezy?

As a gift, I found something for you: www.instagram.com/peoniesandparkas

Enjoy,

Namjoon

Senior Analyst, Communications

555-0912

From: Park, Jimin

To: Kim, Namjoon

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Important!

Tuesday, October 17th [2:50 PM]

Non-Confidential, Internal Use Only

What. Namjoon, how did you find this?

Where did you – oh, god. She’s adorable. She has a puppy, she likes chocolate. I like chocolate. Namjoon, its fate, its kismet, its meant to be. Our children would be so chubby.

Why did you send me this??

Pissed off and in love,

Jimin

Senior Analyst, Internal Audit

555-1013

Wednesday, October 18th [10:42 AM]

Megan: how’s the finger?

Y/N: not broken! 100% doctor confirmed, it’s just a mild sprain. Should be okay in a few weeks.

Megan: did the delinquent ever apologize?

Y/N: Megan!

Y/N: I told you yesterday, he did apologize. He just, you know… ran away after

Megan: like I said – idiot

Y/N: I doubt he’s an idiot, Megan. I can see into his office and he wears suits to work. That’s the indicator of a very important person.

Megan: wow.

Megan: I can’t believe you’re crushing on the guy who sprained your finger

Y/N: I AM NOT CRUSHING ON HIM

Megan: I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you over the sound of your love

Y/N: fight me 

Y/N: I’m sorry, that was uncalled for

Megan: lolol

Megan: so, he works in the office next door?

Y/N: yeah

Y/N: sorry, was multitasking.

Megan: No problem. Have you ever thought about looking the guy up?

Y/N: what? Look him up where?

Megan: On LinkedIn. You already know his company, his face. Just… browse their list of current employees

Y/N: omg what!! That’s so fucking creepy

Megan: You’re right. Much less creepy to watch him do push-ups in his office

Y/N: … I told you that in confidence

Y/N: so much for sisterly love

Megan: dooooooo it

Y/N: … already am

Megan: YSE!

Megan: *YES!

Y/N: *drumroll please*

Y/N: Park Jimin, 24 years old. Senior Analyst of Internal Audit, joined the company two years ago. Is proficient in English, Korean and Microsoft Office 2013. Hobbies include: cooking, chasing his dog in the park for exercise and anime.

Megan: wow, what a dork

Y/N: You wouldn’t think that if you saw his ass.

Megan: omg

Megan: you love him so much

Y/N: asldfkajskldfa

Y/N: I DON’T EVEN KNOW HIM

Thursday, October 19th [1:00 PM]

Office Instant Message [1:01 PM]

Park, Jimin: well, Namjoon. It finally happened.

Office Instant Message [1:03 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: You finally got that growth spurt you’ve been hoping for?

Office Instant Message [1:04 PM]

Park, Jimin: I’m small but I’m feisty. I’d kick your a$$ in a fight

Office Instant Message [1:05 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: lol, no need for that. What happened?

Office Instant Message [1:06 PM]

Park, Jimin: I talked to her.

Office Instant Message [1:07 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: holy f*** WHAT?! When?

Office Instant Message [1:07 PM]

Park, Jimin: just now, over lunch. I went to that deli, you know the one?

Office Instant Message [1:08 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: the one with the cashier, Taehyung, who sings?

Office Instant Message [1:09 PM]

Park, Jimin: that’s the one. So, I walk in and she’s standing by the door. Confused as hell by Taehyung’s rendition of Take Me to Lunch (a poignant rendition of Hozier’s Take Me to Church)

Office Instant Message [1:10 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: well, sure. Who isn’t confused by that. Anyways, what did you say??

Office Instant Message [1:11 PM]

Park, Jimin: I apologized for hitting her, like twelve times. She sprained her pinky finger – can you believe that? I felt like complete shit when she told me

Office Instant Message [1:12 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: Wow. You are an idiot. What did you do next? What did you say?

Office Instant Message [1:14 PM]

Park, Jimin: God, I don’t even remember. It happened so fast. I just – she’s so pretty, Namjoon. Not in a cheesy, movie-star way but in an everything-she-does-is-real way. You know? God, I don’t even know. I just keep picturing her in my room… my car… my jacket

Office Instant Message [1:15 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: I thought you said not cheesy

Office Instant Message [1:16 PM]

Park, Jimin: shut up

Office Instant Message [1:17 PM]

Park, Jimin: I can’t stop smiling

Office Instant Message [1:25 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: Sorry, the boss stopped by my desk. Did you ask her out?

Office Instant Message [1:26 PM]

Park, Jimin: no

Office Instant Message [1:27 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: you’re the worst

Office Instant Message [1:28 PM]

Park, Jimin: I know this

From: Jordan, Elizabeth

To: Y/L/N, Y/N

Subject: Apologies

Monday, October 23rd [4:06 PM]

Non-Confidential, Internal Use Only

Hi Y/N,

I’m the one who messed up that PO form. It was my fault, but when Catherine asked who did it, I just froze. I couldn’t think, let alone speak and I know she blamed you for the mistake; I heard her yelling over in your cubicle. If you’d like, I can set things straight with her. 

I’ll fix it; I promise to tell Catherine it was my fault.

I am so unbelievably sorry.

Thank you,

Liz

Analyst, Purchasing

555-1114

From: Y/L/N, Y/N

To: Jordan, Elizabeth

Subject: Re: Apologies

Monday, October 23rd [4:35 PM]

Non-Confidential, Internal Use Only

Hi Liz,

I appreciate the apology. I know last week was stressful and busy for everyone – a lot of things slipped through the cracks. I’d like to just let this go, but if something like it happens again – I’d appreciate the clarification. Here’s hoping for a better week, huh?

Best,

Y/N

Analyst, Training

555-0821

From: Park, Jimin

To: 9th Street Florist

Subject: Urgent Order

Monday, October 23rd [5:30 PM]

Non-Confidential, External

Hello Fran,

I’d like to place an order: one (1) bouquet of blush pink peonies, please.

Recipient name: Y/N

Address: 1010 LaSalle Street, Floor 16

Timing: Lunchtime, around noon if possible

You can just add this to my account. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Jimin

Senior Analyst, Internal Audit

555-1013

From: 9th Street Florist

To: Park, Jimin

Subject: Re: Urgent Order

Monday, October 23rd [6:30 PM]

Jimin!

You adorable angel, of course! What would you like the card to say, dear? Oh, you know what – I’ll just give you a ring on your mobile.

Kisses,

Fran

555-8934

Co-Owner of 9th Street Florist

Tuesday, October 24th [5:42 PM]

Y/N: Megan, you’re not going to believe what happened today

Megan: What?

Y/N: Someone sent me flowers

Megan: Flowers??

Y/N: FLOWERS

Megan: But who??

Y/N: Idk. There’s no card.

Y/N: Wait, there is a card!

Megan: What does it say??

Y/N: It reads, “Here’s hoping your week gets better.”

Megan: … that’s all?

Y/N: It’s a very short card.

Megan: No name?

Y/N: No name. I have no idea who sent them?

Megan: Hm

Megan: Maybe from that Jungkook guy? You two were texting, right?

Y/N: yeah, but then he just stopped 

Y/N: Asshole. I doubt it was him lol

Megan: What about hot window guy? Did you guys ever talk after that one day at the deli?

Y/N: No :( Idk, I thought our conversation was nice… but maybe I was boring.

Megan: Shut up. I hate it when you repeat anything that stupid, nincompoop ex-boyfriend of yours used to say. He’s a fucking turd. You’re amazing.

Y/N: Gah. Thanks, sis

Y/N: Either way, I doubt it was him

Megan: Maybe they’re from Mom. Did you tell her about your shit day yesterday?

Y/N: oh.

Y/N: you’re right. They’re probably from Mom

Megan: You sound disappointed. Who did you think they were from?

Y/N: nothing

Y/N: no one

Wednesday, October 25th [8:35 AM]

Office Instant Message [8:35 AM]

Park, Jimin: oh my god, I’m so stupid

Office Instant Message [8:40 AM]

Kim, Namjoon: sure

Office Instant Message [8:40 AM]

Kim, Namjoon: but why this time?

Office Instant Message [8:41 AM]

Park, Jimin: I forgot to put my name on the card

Office Instant Message [8:43 AM]

Kim, Namjoon: Wow.

Office Instant Message [8:44 AM]

Kim, Namjoon: You are stupid. How do you get out of bed in the morning without a map?

Office Instant Message [8:45 AM]

Park, Jimin: shut up

Office Instant Message [8:45 AM]

Park, Jimin: … very carefully

From: Wine, Fallon

To: Park, Jimin

Subject: Life Advice

Thursday, October 26th [11:40 AM]

Jimin!

I’ve been thinking about what Joonie said to me last night.

He explained about your Window girl and Jiminie, you just need to talk to her! I know you did that one time in the deli – or was it two times? – but listen to me! 

You! Are! Cute! As! A! Button! Any girl would be lucky to have you. I mean, half of my friends do want you, but that’s beside the point. You need to get over whatever this insecure nonsense is and just ask her out.

That’s all.

Love,

Fallon

PS, has she worn that coat from Instagram into the office yet? Is it really that bright shade of red?

From: Park, Jimin

To: Kim, Namjoon

Subject: What is wrong with you

Thursday, October 26th [1:15 PM]

Non-Confidential, Internal Use Only

You told Fal?? You showed her Y/N’s INSTAGRAM??

Whatever happened to boundaries

The opposite-of-warm wishes,

Jimin

Senior Analyst, Internal Audit

555-1013

From: Kim, Namjoon

To: Park, Jimin

Subject: Re: What is wrong with you

Thursday, October 26th [1:31 PM]

Non-Confidential, Internal Use Only

Boundaries? Oh, the irony. Have you peeped through any good windows lately?

Devotedly,

Namjoon

Senior Analyst, Communications

555-0912

From: Park, Jimin

To: Kim, Namjoon

Subject: Re: Re: What is wrong with you

Thursday, October 26th [1:40 PM]

Non-Confidential, Internal Use Only

… I hate when my past wrongs come back to haunt me.

Embarrassedly,

Jimin

Senior Analyst, Internal Audit

555-1013

Thursday, October 26th [5:10 PM]

“Hey, Megan! It’s me, Y/N. Sorry to leave you another voice note, but I’m carrying home these peonies and my hands are full. Anyways, I was just – oh, hey!’

‘Hi.’

‘Uh, what are you doing here? It’s Jimin, right?’

‘Yeah, Jimin. Y/N, right?’

‘Right.’

‘I, uh – I’m here because I’m waiting for a friend who works in this building. His name is Hoseok, do you know him?’

‘Can’t say that I do, but then again – I’m new. He could just work on a different floor.’

‘Ah, right. What floor are you on?’

‘Sixteen.’

‘Gotcha. Hoseok is on ten – but that’s funny.’

‘What is?’

‘Well, I work over in that building.’

‘That one on the corner?’

‘That’s it! I also work on the sixteenth floor. What are the odds? What side do you face?’

‘Right over… there.’

‘No way. Haha, my office is right … there.’

‘So close! I bet that if you looked, you could see me.’

‘I bet that I could. Maybe I’ll look for you tomorrow.’

‘That would be nice. I – uh, is your friend coming down, or…?’

‘Ah, right. Yeah, Hoseok shouldn’t be more than a few minutes. There’s this dog store by his place I’ve been meaning to go to.’

‘Dog store? You have a dog?’

‘Yeah, her name is – ah, this is embarrassing. Her name is Peaches.’

‘Peaches?’

‘Don’t laugh! Haha but yeah, Peaches. My friend’s girlfriend kept on calling her that as a joke and it kind of stuck.’

‘Ah... your friend’s girlfriend? Not yours?’

‘Nope. Me, I’m hopelessly single.’

‘Except for Peaches.’

‘Well, sure. Except for Peaches.’

‘Interesting.’

‘Yeah… those flowers are pretty. Peonies, right?’

‘Right… yes. Peonies. Thank you – they were a gift.’

‘Really? From your boyfriend?’

‘Nope. I think from my Mom.’

‘You think? Haha, isn’t that something you should know?’

‘Well, she keeps saying she didn’t send them – but come on. Who else would send me flowers?’

‘Well, I – ’

‘Jimin!’

‘Hey… Hoseok.’

‘Oh, shit! I’m still recording, how embar – ’

Friday, October 27th [9:37 AM]

Jimin: Namjoon. She left me a post-it note message.

Namjoon: a… what?

Jimin: A post-it note message. A message written entirely in post-it notes on her window.

Namjoon: what

Namjoon: what does the message say?

Jimin: “can you see this?”

Jimin: I can

Jimin: I can see it, Namjoon

Namjoon: oh my god, she’s just as dorky as you are

Namjoon: also, did I miss something? Since when do you two converse?

Jimin: since I took Fal’s advice and went to see her

Namjoon: you WHAT?

Namjoon: … there’ll be no living with her after this.

Jimin: Yeah, I went. I told her about Peaches and then chickened out before I could tell her about the flowers

Namjoon: wow

Namjoon: you’re still an idiot. But maybe only half of one

Jimin: thx man, I’m gonna cry

Jimin: … she left me a message

Jimin: 😊😊

Monday, October 30th [10:37 AM]

Office Instant Message [10:37 AM]

Jordan, Elizabeth: hey, Y/N! Coffee last week was fun. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to make it a daily thing?

Office Instant Message [10:39 AM]

Y//L/N, Y/N: yes, of course! Sounds perfect :)

Office Instant Message [10:40 AM]

Jordan, Elizabeth: amazing.

Office Instant Message [10:40 AM]

Jordan, Elizabeth: on a side note, have you looked out the window today?

Office Instant Message [10:41 AM]

Y//L/N, Y/N: not today, no – why?

Office Instant Message [10:43 AM]

Jordan, Elizabeth: ohh haha okay, long story. So, there’s this super-hot guy in the building next door that we all creep on. Today he’s wearing some sort of fuzzy yellow blanket and put this message in post-it notes on the window?? It’s the oddest thing

Office Instant Message [10:44 AM]

Y//L/N, Y/N: omg. Gudetama!! It’s a Gudetama blanket!

Office Instant Message [10:45 AM]

Jordan, Elizabeth: Gude-what now?

Office Instant Message [10:46 AM]

Y//L/N, Y/N: it’s hard to explain lol

Office Instant Message [10:47 AM]

Y//L/N, Y/N: it’s this beloved, depressed, Japanese egg

Office Instant Message [10:48 AM]

Jordan, Elizabeth: uh haha okay

Office Instant Message [10:49 AM]

Jordan, Elizabeth: what about his message? What do you think it means?

Office Instant Message [10:49 AM]

Jordan, Elizabeth: “I like your pens.”

Office Instant Message [10:51 AM]

Y//L/N, Y/N: asldkfjalskdjaf

“Hello, this is Kim Seokjin. You have reached the front desk of Bangtan Incorporated. For quality assurance purposes, the following phone call will be recorded and monitored. How may I help you today?”

“Hi, there! I need to speak to Park Jimin. He’s the Senior Analyst of Internal Audit for Bangtan Incorporated.”

“Absolutely, ma’am. To what should I say this is referring?”

“Gudetama.”

“Like – the egg?”

“Yes, Seokjin. Like the egg. Tell him that it’s very important.”

“I – uh, sure. I mean, wonderful – your happiness is our top priority. Connecting you to Mr. Park now.”

Monday, November 6th [9:30 AM]

Office Instant Message [9:30 AM]

Kim, Namjoon: why did you text Fal, asking her what kind of coffee girls drink

Office Instant Message [9:32 AM]

Park, Jimin: why do you and Fal tell each other EVERYTHING

Office Instant Message [9:33 AM]

Kim, Namjoon: get your own damn girlfriend if you want to keep secrets

Office Instant Message [9:34 AM]

Park, Jimin: I just wanted to know for science

Office Instant Message [9:35 AM]

Kim, Namjoon: I know you’re not seeing anyone right now, Jimin but you have met a girl, right? Get her normal coffee.

Office Instant Message [9:37 AM]

Park, Jimin: just… have Fal answer me, okay?

Office Instant Message [9:39 AM]

Kim, Namjoon: she says get her plain coffee but buy different creamers/sugar so she can make her own

Office Instant Message [9:40 AM]

Park, Jimin: brilliant. Give Fal the good lovin’ tonight, Joon

Office Instant Message [9:42 AM]

Kim, Namjoon: I’m going to kill you

Office Instant Message [9:43 AM]

Park, Jimin: Got to catch me first. I’m quick

From: Park, Jimin

To: Jung, Hoseok

Subject: Question

Monday, November 6th [6:50 PM]

Non-Confidential, External

Hey, Hoseok!

I was wondering if you could do me a favor. I need to drop something off at a friend’s desk in your building. Could you let me in tomorrow morning?

Sincerely,

Jimin

Senior Analyst, Internal Audit

555-1013

From: Jung, Hoseok

To: Park, Jimin

Subject: Re: Question

Monday, November 6th [7:05 PM]

Non-Confidential, External

Sure thing! Just let me know the time.

Side note – Yoongi keeps asking when we’re playing ball again. Are you and Jungkook over your little spat yet?

Regards,

Hoseok

Lead, IT Security

555-0218

Tuesday, November 7th

Laptop – he left me coffee.

He keeps on denying it. I called him earlier (that Kim Seokjin at reception is such a sweetheart) and he said it wasn’t him – but Laptop, I could see him laughing through the window! He was grinning that stupid handsome smile, so I know it was him. I mentioned to him last week that my building was cold and what was his response? Drink more coffee.

I know it was Jimin – that’s his name, Laptop, Jimin – I just know it.

Laptop. I think I might be falling for him.

 Wednesday, November 8th [3:01 PM]

Office Instant Message [3:01 PM]

Park, Jimin: I can’t stop thinking about her. I’m going crazy

Office Instant Message [3:02 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: then ask her the f*** out and stop bothering me

Office Instant Message [3:03 PM]

Park, Jimin: what if she doesn’t like me though

Office Instant Message [3:05 PM]

Park, Jimin: what if she just puts up with me because the flirting is funny, but when I ask her out – it becomes too real and she bails

Office Instant Message [3:06 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: Jimin

Office Instant Message [3:07 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: I am only going to say this once, so listen

Office Instant Message [3:08 PM]

Park, Jimin: okay, listening

Office Instant Message [3:10 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: You’re an amazing guy. This girl has been flirting with you for weeks. You like her, right? Even if she doesn’t like you – which is dumb, because she does – do you really want to live the rest of your life watching her from behind glass?

Office Instant Message [3:12 PM]

Park, Jimin: huh

Office Instant Message [3:14 PM]

Park, Jimin: for being such a dick, you’re surprisingly insightful

Office Instant Message [3:15 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: annnd the moment’s over

Office Instant Message [3:15 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: go get laid

From: Min, Yoongi

To: Y/L/N, Y/N

Subject: Idk what to title this

Thursday, November 9th [4:00 PM]

Non-Confidential, External

Hi Y/N,

Listen. This is probably weird, since we’ve barely spoken. I got your email address from Namjoon, who got it from Hoseok – and now I’m realizing you might not know who either of those people are. Well. I’m sending this as a formal request to please ask out Park Jimin. He’s madly in love with you, and the stress is really throwing off his basketball game.

I need to win these games, Y/N. If we lose, the youth win.

Don’t let the youth win.

In summary: ask out Jimin, save my game. Oh, yeah – and have a good day

Best,

Yoongi

Manager, HR

555-0309

From: Y/L/N, Y/N

To: 9th Street Florist

Subject: Order

Thursday, November 9th [5:40 PM]

Non-Confidential, External

Hi there!

I’d like to place an order for one (1) bouquet of peach-colored daisies. I would like this order sent to Park Jimin, Bangtan Incorporated at 1011 LaSalle Street, Floor 16. I’ll stop by after work to pay. If the card could read, “I really loved the peonies,” that would be great.

Thank you!

Best,

Y/N

Analyst, Training

555-0821

Friday, November 10th [5:20 PM]

“Hi, you’ve reached Jimin. Leave a message after the beep. BEEEE – hahaha just kidding – ”  

BEEEEEEP.

“Hey, it’s Namjoon. If you don’t change that annoying-ass voicemail of yours, I’m going to throttle you. I’m calling because we were supposed to leave for Seokjin’s happy hour together. Well, I’m in your office now – and surprise, surprise, you’re not here. Damn, your laptop and bag are gone, too! Did you just leave without me – oh! Shit! I just looked out your window. Oh my god, is that you? Is this it? Are you finally doing it? I see you – listen, Jimin, you should really trim your hair – but oh my god, you’re running. YOU’RE RUNNING – that’s her! That’s Y/N! You’re … tapping her on the shoulder! Oh crap, you scared her. You’re – YES, JIMIN! YES! FUCK, YES! Wow, man. That is some kiss. That’s Notebook-level shit, right there. Okay. You can stop. Fuck, man – are you scared she’s going off to war? I – oh. Alright. I see how it is. Nice, man. Ve-ry nice. I’m going to hang up now, because I feel super creepy watching this. Bye.”

Monday, November 13th

Hey, Laptop.

He got the flowers I sent him.

We kissed.

I – we’re dating.

😊😊

From: Wine, Fallon

To: Park, Jimin

Subject: Life Advice 2

Friday, December 15th [4:16 PM]

Jimin, dear. What kind of wine does Y/N drink? I’m going to the store after work and need your input. Red would probably go better with the pasta, but what kind of red?

Love,

Fallon

Friday, December 15th [4:34 PM]

Office Instant Message [4:34 PM]

Park, Jimin: tell your fiancée to stop emailing my work email

Office Instant Message [4:36 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: oh, please

Office Instant Message [4:37 PM]

Kim, Namjoon: I’ve seen the stuff you and Y/N send. You two think you’re sooo clever.

Office Instant Message [4:38 PM]

Park, Jimin: point taken

Friday, December 15th [4:42 PM]

Jimin: hey babe, what kind of wine do you want? Xx

Y/N: dry, sarcastic, red as blood

Jimin: cool. Totally normal, not at all scary

Y/N: lol tell Fal whatever wine she has is perfect

Jimin: that’s what I said! I told her you’re a lush and will drink anything in front of you

Y/N: yes, I will 😉

Jimin: holy fuck, I choked

Y/N:  😉

Jimin: babe! You can’t be dirtier than me, it’s not allowed

Jimin: god, when will today be over

Jimin: can you leave early?

Jimin: please. I need to be inside you at least once before tonight

Y/N: jimin!!

Y/N: … twice, if you’re lucky

Y/N: leaving work now

Jimin: good. I missed you

Y/N: haha I just saw you at lunch

Jimin: I’m not a logical man

Y/N: I accept all your shortcomings and love you despite them 😊

Jimin: I love you too, babe

Jimin: a lot 😊

Author’s Note: Hi. I hope you enjoyed :)) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JIMIN! 

© kpopfanfictrash, 2017. Do not copy or repost without permission.

[hannahlouillustration]

Art Director week

This week we were tasked to be art directors. we were paired up and one had to choose an article for the other and vice versa.

Illustrator’s POV

I was partnered with my friend Amara, and she gave me an article to create an editorial illustration for from The New Yorker Magazine titled “ Returning to Storm King”

The text went as follows:

“Few installations at the Hudson Valley sculpture park are new, but in this pandemic summer the park’s breeze, changing light, and theatre of clouds are novelty enough.

What’s with the metal-band-worthy name of Storm King, the marvellous sculpture park—or, better, landscape with sculptures in it—about fifty miles north of Manhattan, in Cornwall, New York? I’ve just spent some happy hours there, sprung from months of art deprivation, on the occasion of the Storm King Art Center’s reopening to visitors with timed tickets. The setting is thundery enough, under the mighty brow of one of the highest mountains of the Hudson Highlands, in a valley of variegated hills, lawns, meadows, forest, and waters, along with elegant alterations that include arboreal allées and plantings with deference to native flora—some five hundred acres hosting roughly a hundred art works. I hadn’t known, until I was told during my visit, that the park’s name owes its provenance to the Romantic exasperation of a writer who, in 1853, pressed locals to rebrand their principal mountain Storm King from—get ready—Butter Hill. That nineteenth-century embrace of the hyperbolic anticipated the moxie, in 1960, of two art-loving businessmen, Ralph E. Ogden and his son-in-law H. Peter Stern, who gradually acquired much of the valley. They founded the park as a nonprofit entity, made a museum of an existing château on a hilltop, and pondered the ambient possibilities of the terrain.

In 1967, Ogden bought thirteen works from the estate of America’s greatest sculptor, David Smith. Mostly made of welded steel, they deploy a repertoire of shapes, from the surreally animate to the nobly abstract, gracing dancerly postures with lyrical drawings in space. A suite of eight of them, currently installed under cathedralesque oak and black-walnut trees, is modestly scaled. Not so the vista-dominating, gestural arrays of mostly steel elements by a favorite of the collectors since 1968, Mark di Suvero, which at times suggest playground facilities for giants. Nine of those were supplemented last year by a three-year loan of “E=mc²” (1996-97)—a tower, more than ninety-two feet high, whose converging I-beam legs are topped by flaring forms in stainless steel that grab at the sky. Also monumental are two maximum-sized stabiles by art’s foremost bejeweller of air, indoors or out, Alexander Calder. There are major works, as well, by Richard Serra, Andy Goldsworthy, and, most recently, Maya Lin, whose earthwork “Storm King Wavefield” (2007-08) represents a vast expanse of mid-ocean waves, up to fifteen feet high, with grassy undulations.

Sculpture parks proliferated, worldwide, in the second half of the twentieth century, in the wake of an identity crisis for large three-dimensional art. Modernist austerity had stripped sculpture of its traditional architectural and civic functions: there were no more integrated niches and pedestals, few new formal gardens, and an epochal apathy regarding statues—until lately! (We are now practically neo-Victorian in our awakenings—rude, for the most part—to symbolism in statuary.) Never mind the odd plaza-plunked, vaguely humanist Henry Moore. Where could one put outsized works that were almost invariably abstract—modernism’s universalist ideals persisting—to give them a chance of seeming to mean something? In nature! Conjoining the made with the unmade, gratifying both. Sculpture parks emerged as game preserves and laboratories for big art. Storm King’s early concentration of works by relevant artists of the late nineteen-sixties and seventies includes some formulaic banalities, tending to presume a surefire magic in embowered angular geometry, but even there you may savor the zest of a moment when sculpture jumped into nature’s lap. The history is complicated and obscured, in the art world, by the contemporaneous development, in the sixties, of Minimalism, which, by engaging the physical presence of viewers, shrugs off its surroundings. (The park’s chastely white modular piece by Sol LeWitt doesn’t mind a bucolic site one way or another.) As a consequence, Minimalism sidelined poetic potencies that prove their lasting worth at Storm King.

Prior visitors won’t be kept away by learning that few installations in this pandemic summer are new. The park’s changing light, breezes, and theatre of clouds will do for novelty. The best recent addition, on view until November 9th, is “River Light” (2019), a ring of nine high-flying cyan-blue silk flags that Kiki Smith derived from a sun-sparkled film she made on a walk along the East River. Wind stirs the fabric to rippling, soft applause. The ensemble suggests a rallying point for angels. Also new is “A stone that thinks of Enceladus” (2020), a piece by a young New York-based artist, Martha Tuttle, which consists of a mowed field studded with boulders and cairns and rather hectically festooned with carved rocks and molded glass stones. Close by, propped on an island in a pond, is a startling curio, the hull of an America’s Cup-grade racing boat that, in 1994, was prettily decorated with a mermaid motif by Roy Lichtenstein. Its abrupt presence, which you may less look at than gawk at, invokes the metaphysical truth that everything has to be somewhere. Storm King’s prevalent rectitude might serve as a foil for other sorts of interesting shocks, within appropriate limits.”

The images needed to be 1980 x 2560 pixels and my art director wanted me to capture the hudson valley landscape in the image. 

I did some research of the sculpture park and sent my roughs in:

The third image was approved. 

I tried a new technique with this piece that I have been meaning to try for a while. I used Watercolour and coloured pencils to introduce some textures in my work and I drew the background and foreground seperately so that the image could have a collage-inspired feel to it. The collage style didn’t end up as I was hoping but I think that what it ended up looking like was just as interesting. 

I then used photoshop to merge them together (which was a lot more of a hassel than I was expecting as the drawings were bigger than my scanner at home so I had to scan the images in parts and photomerge them together on photoshop). I also added some extra details digitally (the clouds, leaves and ground) to create this final piece:

The art director was very happy with the image and had no major changes. 

I was also incredibly happy with this piece. The new medium really worked for me and I really feel as though this piece could be a turning point in my artwork.

Art Directors POV

I found a good article on Country Living magazine that I thought Amara would enjoy illustrating, as I know from her previous work that she enjoys drawing people and animals. For this task I pretended to be an art director for Country Living magazine in an attempt to make my emails as realistic as possible. 

The first email was as follows.

Hello,

I am an art dierctor for Country living Magazine, I came across your work and I would like you to create an illustration to accompany an upcoming article for our magazine.

The image would need to be full colour and 1280x720 pixels at 300 dpi

The article is as follows:

​

​Country Living Magazine

Dogs are our oldest and closest companions, new DNA has confirmed

Pups were domesticated before any other known species

We know that dogs are man's best friend, but new DNA has confirmed that they are in fact our oldest and closest companions, too.

The study, which was conducted at London's Crick Institute, found that dogs were domesticated before any other known species. Interestingly, it discovered that humans have had pet dogs for around 11,000 years, showing just how far back our love for them really goes.

Shining light on the "inextricable bond between dogs and humans", the study is based on DNA from 27 ancient canine specimens from around Europe, Siberia and the Near East.

"Dogs are our oldest and closest animal partner. Using DNA from ancient dogs is showing us just how far back our shared history goes and will ultimately help us understand when and where this deep relationship began," Greger Larson, a co-author from the University of Oxford, told BBC News.

Elsewhere in the research, they also found that the genetic patterns of dogs were fairly similar to that of humans. This is because when humans adopted dogs, they took them with them wherever they moved and shifted, strengthening their bond.

Anders Bergström, lead author and post-doctoral researcher at the Crick, also added: "If we look back more than four or five thousand years ago, we can see that Europe was a very diverse place when it came to dogs. Although the European dogs we see today come in such an extraordinary array of shapes and forms, genetically they derive from only a very narrow subset of the diversity that used to exist."

Just another reason to adopt one of your own...

Many thanks,

Hannah Jones

Art director for Country Living Magazine.

The same day, I heard back from her with attatched roughs. 

I liked the second one best as the concept was clever and the composition was very nice. 

After a short while she came back with two different options of the image. 

One without hands and one with hands, I prefered the image with hands as it showed the human connection with dogs more, which is what the article is all about. 

Overall, I was happy with the finished image so I approved it. I think she did a really good job.

You can follow Amara’s fantastic work at https://www.instagram.com/apiple_art/

[goodluckdetective]

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WOMAN’S MARCH I ATTENDED:

-A father and his two daughters with the sign “take your daughters to protest day.” He was really excited to be there.

-A small band that set up near our end point and played music. Said band had a rainbow colored sousaphone, and a giant statue of liberty trump effigy wearing a pussy hat.

-The local statue was also adorned with a pussy hat.

-Multiple families were in attendance. One had a stroller that said “feminist in training.”

-A dog with the sign “Looking for missing Rawhide Bone: Orange, tweeting, has a comb over”

-I asked a lot of folks if I could take pictures of their signs for a photography project. Not one said no. Multiple people wanted signs of ours in return.

-A woman with a double sided sign that said “I marched in 1973 for Reproductive Rights, 44 years later I walk for 2 grandsons and 7 granddaughters”

-An older woman who, after I asked for her photo, said “I was around when abortion was illegal. We can’t go back to that. We can’t.” dead serious tone.

-A group of older woman handing out handmade pussy hats.

-A crocheted uterus

-We had a non-binary speaker. They were excellent.

-”This bitch wants to see your tax returns”

-A Month Python themed sign with Feminism Knight saying “tis only a flesh wound.”

-A For Sale sign that advertised one feminist since birth who respects race religion and rights.

-Multiple lovely signs in Spanish.

-A sign of a raptor that said “one day Trump will be extinct.”

-A woman who handed out chocolates as the march got delayed since people were hungry.

-A woman with a lovely hand-painted sign who then told me the art is from a famous transgender artist who was providing them for the march. The artist specialized in works about the trans community. You can find the artist here!

-Two middle aged woman who’s signs were just pencils with tiny hands on the top.

-A 10 year old boy who was with his family. He told me my hat was inside out and he asked me all about Pokemon on college campuses. His sign was “when have walls done anything but divide.”

-A man with the sign “too much bullshit for one sign”

-Speaking of men, lots of men came out in support. Many of them had signs of their own which said “I’m with her” pointed in all directions.

-A woman with an Oregon trail parody sign which said “you repel the ACA. You have now died of cervical cancer.”

-A group of woman who’d driven in for the march asked me where to get coffee without a line. In exchange for my assistance, they let me take photos of them and their signs.

-”We’re Queer, no fear!”

-And my personal favorite, a woman with the sign “triple threat: immigrant, WOC, educated.”

Bonus: My mother’s handmade sign from her march back home. She’s very proud of it:

[floraone]

Get to know me!

I was tagged by @sailor-moon-turtle , so I’ll better get to work, ;)

 Relationship status: married to the sweetest soul in the known universe!

 Favourite colour: to look at: yellow, to wear: white.

 Pets:     None :( :( I would love to have a cat - I grew up with 4, but my man is too allergic :( :(

 Wake up: sometime before 7…. too early. blame work.

 cats or dogs:      KITTENS

  Coke or Pepsi:      neiter. I’m caffeine intolerant.

 Day or night:     Night. On a rooftop, with blankets and a bottle of wine and my husband and snuggles.

 Text or call:      Text. I hate calling.

 Chapstick or lipstick:  barely use either. Bright red lipstick only ever for going out to cabaret and burlesque shows, with glitter in my hair and cleavage, and the whole shebang. chapstick only in deepest winter. Otherwise: none.

City or country: Citygirl through and through. Always have been, always will. And I’m talking big cities, and smack in the middle. The more crowded and crazy it is, the better. If I can’t see street lamps and hear people howling, I feel lonely and misplaced. Plus, I need the feeling I could get up at three in the morning and immediately get a Döner Kebab from somewhere, NOW - even if that never happens.

 Last book I read: Currently reading “Untenrum Frei” - a brilliant collection of essays by a feminist journalist whose newspaper columns I like to read.

 Last song I listened to: Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps, by The Pussycat Dolls, while editing chapter 6 of Yugen before I posted it, where it’s mentioned.

Five (very random) facts about me:

1. Although one definitely couldn’t say I’ve ever been gifted with a lot of wealth, l’ve seen quite a lot of the world already. While university is completely free in Germany, it can sometimes take a while to get a placement in one. So I’ve spent four years right after graduating from High School traveling all over the place - mostly doing volunteer work projects, or just regular jobs, or couch-surfing … or …stuff, lol. I’ve lived in Ireland for 20 months where I worked in a women’s shelter, I hitchhiked across the coast of Spain for a month, with a friend and a sleeping bag, wild-camping at the ocean most of the time. I’ve stayed in a monastary in southern France for a little while and I travelled across China for several months, from Beijing down to Hong Kong, complete with more wild camping on the chinese wall, then spent a month staying with a friend at NYU in Greenwich Village. One of those New Year’s I jumped buck naked into the ice cold North Sea in the Netherlands with hundreds of crazy dutch people and a few of my friends (very weird, very entertaining tradition). And even outside of those travelling years: I’ve been to Dublin over 20 times in my life, to Amsterdam 12 times, London about the same amount. I’ve been to Paris, to skiing trips all across the alps from northern Italy to Austria, I’ve hiked down all across the german wine-hills, been to Toyko a few times now, and to Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and to small villages near Fuji-san. I’ve travelled across Great Britain several times, from Scotland down to Wales. I’ve been to Budapest and Venice, to Prague and Vienna, travelled across Pennsylvania and Scandinavia, been to Zürich and Qatar, to Barcelona and Luxemborg, all through Belgium and the Netherlands, and that’s not even all of them. I’ve booked the “surprise me” options on flights several times, and I’ve made friends all over the world that I get to visit all the time now. When one is ok with AirBnBs and someone’s couch, with travelling by train and coach and letting the journey truly be the destination, and/or working while travelling, then all of that doesn’t need to be expensive either. (Also, living smack in the middle of Europe, where different countries and cultures are pretty damn close, helps with that, too, of course.)

2. I’m the black sheep of a family of musicians. My sisters are singers, guitarists and harpists, my mother used to be a concert pianist when she was younger. While I did learn to play two instruments: piano and violin, I’m sadly rather rubbish at them.

3. I have collections of strange things that I like to take photos of:

Of letters in the wild, of stone bums, of plastic food. Here, have some examples:

4. While I am extremely dexterous when it comes to fine motor skills (I croquet tiny amigurumi monsters - from Cthulu to Nosferatu - I sew and draw and DIY and build furniture, from tiny delicate things to giant bookshelfs, with precision and skill.) I SUCK ONCE IT GETS TO GROSS MOTOR SKILLS. I have absolutely no sense of balance, I hurt myself on ANYTHING - I literally have two giant burn marks on my bum from when I bloody sat on the hot flat iron, an involutary tattoo on my cheek from when a pencil stuck in it, I am covered in mysterious bruises constantly from when I run into things, and I just can’t walk across loose cables without landing on my head (also, I seem to be missing that very handy reflex where people usually stick out their hands to brace their falls? Doesn’t work on me. I seem to be too terrified to injure my hands, so they immediately go behind my back when I fall, and so I tend to land on my face - sigh.) So yeah, I’m a running paradox. The dexterous klutz. I’d give Usagi a run for her money.

5. I get SO ANGRY when technology doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do. I’m a really chill and laid-back person, and nothing USUALLY ever gets my blood boiling, EXCEPT WHEN MY BLOODY COMPUTER ISN’T DOING WHAT IT’S SUPPOSED TO DO. So, have it do that ping noise that it does when it’s overwhelmed and you have me read-faced, banging my fists and cursing crude and vulgar things at it, while eyeing the next window I could throw it out of. It’s usally very amusing to my husband, as long as he’s a save distance away.

I tag: whoever wants to do it.

And, @uglygreenjacket, & @irritablevowel - Only if you want to, of course.

[we-walk-the-miles]

51 questions, we want to know all of them!

I bet you do :P

1. Zodiac signTaurus

2. Sexual orientationStraight

3. Relationship statusTaken

4. Someone you missMy boyfriend Evan. We saw each other like every few days over break, but now thatwe’re both back in school it’s not as easy and it’s hard to get used to again:/

5. Person who’s arms you’d like to be inMy boyfriend’s

6. What you find attractive in Men/Women?Well they pretty much have to be smart. I honestly don’t have much patience fordumb people. They also have to have a good sense of humor and not be too easilyoffended, because my sense of humor is kind of vulgar and dark lol. Physically,I’m into big, tall, masculine guys with long dark hair.

7. How tall are you?5′8″

8. What you love about yourself?I like that I’m intelligent and can learn things quickly, and that I’m goodwith animals. Physically, I like my eyes and my boobs haha.

9. What you’re doing tomorrow?Going to class, and that’s probably it.

10. What are your future plans?My future is a big source of anxiety for me honestly. I’m at the point where Ihave to start making decisions about what I do after I graduate, and I’m notthrilled about that. In the short term, at least, I’d like to do the MFAprogram at my school for creative writing. I think I’ll enjoy it, andthe “thesis” is a book manuscript, so I’d get that out of it, which iscool. I don’t know what I want to do for a career though. I’m considering dental school.

11. Your last night out in detailMy boyfriend and I went to see Hannibal Buress live for our anniversary (wewere supposed to go in like November, but it got postponed conveniently to ouranniversary weekend). I had to drive from school to his house (two and a halfhours) in a very crunched time period because it was a Friday and I had classesthat morning. So pretty much as soon as I got there we left. It was a reallygood show, Hannibal and the opening act were both good. The guy they had DJingbeforehand (if you could even call it that) was terrible though. He played,like, a copyright-infringing amount of three or four ‘80s movies (including TheFly) mixed with memes and mediocremusic, all SUPER loud. But otherwise we had a good time. Afterward we went backto his house, got Papa John’s, smoked with his roommate, and watched the firsttwo episodes of Westworld (which is AMAZING).

12. Your favourite bookProbably A Game of Thrones.I really don’t read as many books as I should though.

13. All of pets you’ve ever hadWell, my family has had loads of fish, a couple green anoles, box turtles, greenturtles, bearded dragons, a green tree frog, and a spotted turtle. My dad has agreen iguana. In my lifetime, my family’s had three Brittany spaniels, abeagle, and a mutt (we think he’s a pug-lab mix) Our current dogs are Molly (aBrittany) and Hank (the mutt). We also have three cats, because the mothershowed up as a stray and she was pregnant. So we have her, a tuxedo namedFlower, and two of her babies, a black male named Frodo (my sonion) and aticked-tabby female named Soot. Personally, I’ve had two guinea pigs, a rescued black male named Smokey and abuff-and-white female named Cedar. I leased a horse for a while in high school,a red dun Paso Fino mare named Gardenia. I raised two baby box turtles namedRosie and Layla, cared for one my family’s elderly bearded dragons for a while,and currently own two mice, a yellow and a black, who I have not named becauseI’m an indecisive piece of shit haha.

14. Something that changed your lifeIdk. I think going through pretty severe depression and recovering from thatwas pretty significant. Also meeting my wonderful boyfriend. We met online, andhe’s the only boy I’ve ever dated and I just got so crazy lucky.

15. Do you remember your last dream?I guess not. I can’t remember any dreams more recent than a few weeks ago.

16. What your last text message says?“Cleaning my coffee maker and mouse cage (common denominator is vinegar :p),” to Evan.

17. Do you respect your government and the way your country isrun?I mean, I respect the government in the sense that I recognize that we verymuch need it and that it’s more intricate than I could fathom. I also respectpeople who are willing to put their whole lives into politics (even though somany are pieces of shit, it’s an impressive dedication). But I’m certainly having my doubts with this newadministration, for obvious reasons… I think religion (Christianity, anyway)is given way too much influence in this country, and that accounts for a lotof the problems I have with it.

18. Where you would like to live?Geographically, I think I would like living in Montana or somewhere up there.It’s cool and dry and beautiful. Dwelling-wise, I’d like to live somewhere withsome land. Enough to have a horse or two ideally, and some woods. I don’t havea lot of specifics as far as a “dream house.” I love woodwork, stonework,and rustic architecture though. Like European cottage-style stuff.

19. Your  favourite flavour of ice creamI’m a big fan of Turkey Hill’s Double Dunker (it’s like mocha ice cream withchocolate cookie crumbles and cookie dough). I also really like butter pecan.

20. Last thing you ateA steak burrito from Chipotle.

21. Which swear word do you use the most?Lol idk. Probably “fuck.” Lately I’ve been watching a lot of Australian YouTubers and saying“cunt” more than I probably should, haha.

22. Your plans for summerI’d like to be able to intern or something at the Knoxville Zoo. We’re familyfriends with the director of animal collections there, formerly head of theherp department, and I would love to work with him if I can. I’ll probably also look more into dental stuff (shadowing and what not).

23. Any upcoming concerts?Not that I’m going to, or particularly want to as far as I know.

24. Something that you’re proud ofProbably my intelligence, again. And my writing ability and talent withanimals.

25. Do you still talk to your first crush?My first crush was when I was in kindergarten, and that was in another state,so no lol.

26. What language do you want to learn?I took one semester of German, and I’d really like to keep learning that.Though I’ve heard German starts getting really hard really quick after thatpoint, haha. I’d also like to learn Irish, but that’s not terribly useful andit’s hard af.

27. Where you have lived before?I lived in eastern Tennessee as a kid, and I’ve lived in two houses in the same generalarea in NC.

28. Eye colorGray, kind of greenish.

29. Favourite style of clothingIdk exactly. I wear a lot of jeans, flannels, black shirts, and black boots.Black is a common theme, haha.

30. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?About an hour and a half, if I take a shower and put on makeup and everything.

31. Where did you go today?This morning I went to a meeting with the dental program adviser. Then I went out to go to Ulta to return some stuff, and to Bath & Body Works to spend some coupons. I also went to Chipotle and stopped at the grocery store.

32. Where are you right now?In my bedroom at my desk.

33. How many countries have you visited?Just this one and Costa Rica.

34. Something oldThe poinsettia sitting on my desk that’s very nearly dead.

35. Something newI bought some lavender essential oil over the weekend, so I’ve been basically bathing in that.

36. Something inheritedMy lack of patience and ability to hold my liquor, haha.

37. Is death more scary than life?Depends on the life and depends on the death. A horrible death is scarier thana comfortable life, but a miserable, tortured life is scarier than dying in myopinion. I’m more scared of people I care about dying than myself, or if I died how that would affect my loved ones.

38. Experience you’ll never forgetWhen I was in the seventh grade I did a backflip off a swing at recess, and overshot it, so instinctively I stuck my arms out, and I landed square on them with all my weight. I basically went into shockinstantly, and the art teacher had to walk me to the nurse’s office. Turns out, I totally smashed both my wrists. Like, nothing came through the skin, but they were shattered. So they had to put me under to reset them, and when I woke up I had massive splints on both my arms because they were too swollen to put casts on. Then, once the swelling went down, my bones were too loose in there to take them off without risk of having to reset them again. So they put the goddamn casts over top of the splints. So I had giant sloth arms for like two months and could barely use my hands (like, couldn’t even hold a pencil). This was basically me:

39. What’s your favorite part about today so far?I don’t have any homework to do, so that’s good. And I got a few treats like Starbucks and Chipotle and B&BW.

40. Who is your hero?Not really sure I have one. There are a lot of people I look up to, but I honestly don’t think it’s all that necessary (or healthy) to have one person you idolize. They’re just a human too, after all.

41. Are you happy with whereyou live?Relatively. The apartments I’m living in now are hella convenient for me to get to class, so that’s nice. But the rooms are very tiny and bare-bones (white walls, high ceilings, no ceiling lights, cheap, shitty laminate and cabinets, etc.). Plus the roommates I have now are filthy pigs, so the kitchen is always a mess. But overall I’m fairly content. I’m moving to a nicer place next year, and hopefully that’ll be more pleasant. Geographically, it’s alright. North Carolina is kind of a clusterfuck, but we have some cool stuff. It’s significantly too hot here for me, but I just don’t go out of the house during the summer if I can help it, haha.

42. Do you like yourhandwriting?Meh. It’s readable and pretty neat. It’s not anything special really.

43. What do you wear to bed?Nothing yo. It’s healthier to sleep naked. Plus I roll a lot, so pajamas always twist around on me and piss me off.

44. Tea or coffee?Coffee always.

45. Chocolate or Vanilla?Depends. For cakes and ice cream and frosting and stuff, vanilla. But I do love actual chocolate (candies and such).

46. Are you excited foranything?I’m excited for Evan to come stay with me this weekend

47. How late did you stay up lastnight and why?Three AM I think? No reason. I just lost track of time, which happens a lot.

48. What’s your ringtone?My phone is on vibrate like 98% of the time. If I turn on the sound I usually just set it to some generic ringing sound. If I make a song my ringtone or alarm I very quickly come to hate that song :P

49. Did you have a dream lastnight?Not that I remember.

50. What keeps you going eachday?I honestly don’t really have a “mantra” thing like that. I kind of just live in the moment I guess? Long-term, I guess my loved ones and my desire to someday have a comfortable life the way I want it to the best of my ability. My anxiety is also partly to thank, because I have a crippling fear of missing a deadline or something and fucking everything up, so there’s that I guess :P

51. Picture of yourselfI don’t think I’ve posted this one on here yet: