#I can't buy prints yet so i all i can do is make gifts

[ghost-byte-art]

I love @passionpeachy's snesbians so much and I was very inspired to draw them in my new style! I hope you like it! I have another that I'm working on too.

[tiramissyoucake]

No title sorry bout that lol Satoru Gojo x Reader, mainly fluff, reader lovingly bullies gojo, gojo is whipped, 800+ Words

CW: none, fluff head to toe, can't spell 'Satoru' without 'Sato' (sugar) gehehehehehehehe dies, little proof reading

Notes: I had a long day and I was book shopping and I realised "ah, gojo would buy shit for his gf just because he remembered her" so here we are, I'm not good at writing fluff plz bare wit me, I'm trying out a new divider plz tell me if it looks good or bad :')

A book slid across the soft surface of the table to you, you put down your mug and examined the cover then looked up towards your white haired boyfriend who's face looked like he was expecting you to jump into his arms and express gratitude.

"What's this?" Satoru's expression fell at your words. He sat up and gestured to the book as if that would make you understand. "The book you were talking about, remember? When we had coffee in that new place?"

Wow, he remembered? You couldn't help but smile, that conversation was weeks ago and he still remembered, during then you passively mentioned the book's title, you merely brought it up saying your friends were all reading it and talking about it but you weren't going to pick it up anytime soon (for the sake of your TBR list, you can't..)

"And you waited until now because...?" You picked up the book as you spoke, fingers flipping through the freshly printed pages and examining the font size and spacing of the words. Satoru snorted, "waited? I've been looking for it everywhere!" He folded his arms over his chest as irritation took over his features."Everywhere I checked, it was sold out!"

"Seriously? You ran around stores for me?" You teased, and he pouted, scooting his chair closer to you. "Of course~ when my love asks for something, I race to get it!"

"Satoru, that's nice, but.." You set the book down. "I didn't ask for–"

"Shhhh, you can show me your devoted thanks later." He cut you off with a finger to your lips, acting as if he was saving your breath from praising him and his valiant efforts (of purchasing a popular book).

Continuing this would just prove to be useless, although it was a nice gesture, even if you couldn't read it now– he listened, he knew you were interested and he made the effort to purchase something with you in mind.

To say Satoru was an impulsive buyer was an understatement. He's smart with his money, and yet moments where he loses all rationality in a transaction have been frequent after establishing a relationship with you. If Satoru sees anything in a store that briefly reminds him of you, he's taking it home to you.

The best part of the whole process is seeing your reaction, even if you told him he didn't need to waste his money on you– he could see the smile twitch at the corner of your lips as you grew flushed; almost as if shy that satoru thinks of you so fondly outside of your daily interactions.

His surprises could be anything, ranging from a mug that was the right shade of your favorite color to a necklace he thought would look good on you, it makes him even happier when he sees you use said gift in any mundane activity.

"This is really sweet of you, baby, thank you." You replied and kissed his cheek, Satoru hummed through a smile happily, accepting your affections. You reached for your mug– the mug he bought you because he knew you'd love the cartoon cat on it.

"So where'd you find it?" He waved off your question."It doesn't matter. What matters is that I got it before anyone else could, and capitalism loses!"

"Capitalism actually won because they got your money, so.." You quietly drank from your mug as you watched his face contort to disappointment. You restrained yourself from laughing at his pouting. How dare you belittle his victory?

"You're so mean to me! And here I bought 2 copies so we can read it together!" He announced as he showed his copy, the same book with the same cover. You set down your mug and cooed at him. "Satoru! You didn't have to do that. Honestly, are you obsessed with me?"

You uttered that sentence in a clear joking tone, but his expression hadn't changed. "Of course I am! I thought I made it pretty clear! You're literally all I think about!" Satoru proudly proclaimed and grew red in the face when you burst out laughing, your features growing flushed as well at his declaration.

"You're so lame, Satoru!" You wiped the tear away from your eye as you came down from your little giggle fit. He pouted at you once more. "What? Am I the only obsessed one here?"

"Maybe, I'm not the one who ran store to store looking for 2 copies of the same book?" His pout persisted at your retort, laying his head on your shoulder he stared up at you with a pitiful yet loving gaze, one that he would give you whenever you were being 'mean' to him.

"Okay, okay.." You turned to him and cupped both his cheeks in your hands, kissing his forehead, Satoru indulged in the closeness, feeling your scent envelope him as you leaned closely to him. He stopped you from moving your hands away just as you began doing so, keeping them on his cheeks.

"... Satoru?" You waited for him to answer but he only tipped his face towards you, you rolled your eyes unable to fight the smile off your lips as you kissed his cheeks, the tip of his nose and finally right on his soft lips. "Was that good enough compensation?"

His face reddened, and he nodded once. "Mhmm, thank you, pookie~"

[randomrabbidramblings]

do…. do you have any phandrow headcanons… and/or headcanons about phantom and woodrow seperately…. smiles politely

Sure, I guess it's time to share some things that I've tought until now for these two!

Something about Woodrow that I don't think I've shared yet:

Him and Sweetlopek are best friends since elementary school. Sweetlopek defended him from bullies and Woodrow helped him with literature homework. Everyone in town started calling them "the disaster duo" as kids due to Woodrow's jinx and Sweetlopek's fondness for sharp things.

His cloud Jinx is the one constantly above his house. A small portion of it can detach to follow him everywhere, even on other planets, altought it's not really know how it gets there as it isn't allowed anywhere inside, even a spaceship.

He's trans. He briefly went to live with Sweetlopek after his top surgery so he could get some help from his friend while he recovered (yes he got a cone of shame too, lmao). His little cloud Jinx refused to stay outside so the two Rabbids agreed to let it in to watch over its owner. Jinx probably tought Woodrow was injured like after the ship accident, but it seemed deligthed when its owner looked really happy instead.

He can't keep his hair combed, no matter how much hair conditioner, oil or hair straightener he will always have a cowlick.

Rabbids' skeletons are very weird and able to collapse (like a mouse's). Woodrow's one after the ship accident is more messed up. He can basically do a 180 Exorcist style, but with his torso and he can be stretched out without being hurt.

Little about Phantom, why not?

He sincerely tought he was straight. Then between Bea's backup dancer (yes, I headcanon him as male for this now, lol) and then Woodrow he realized he's bi.

He's afraid of chandeliers. What if one crashes on his head?? (I know in the og Phantom of the Opera the chandelier doesn't fall on the Phantom, but I think our Phantom needs an irrational fear, plus it's a funny reference to that scene)

He makes flower orders from Terra Flora under a false name. He could buy flowers from another place, but he adores Bea's compositions. Even if he'll never admit it.

And now Phandrow moments!

Phantom and Woodrow are the couple who lose all their braincells when they are together.

Woodrow is the guy who could set on fire even a salad when cooking, meanwhile Phantom is a pretty good cook. He's also a grandma when it comes to food, so he cooks a lot and if youre not hungry, well you are, lol. After they moved in together Woodrow gained a bit of weight.

Phantom loves playing with makeup. Woodrow was never a fan, but in one of their "no braincells found" moments, he agreed to have Phantom do his makeup. He gave him a moustache with eyeliner and Woodrow bursted laughing saying he looked like his father. He then proceeded to keep it for the day to confuse everyone in town.

In one of their anniversaries together they both had the idea to gift eachother a rubber ducky dressed up as themselves.

Woodrow likes to have his back cracked (it's not a surprise with that posture, lol). When he needs to he would hold onto something while Phantom pulls his legs until it goes "crack!". As said, Woodrow's bones are weird so he can stretch without harm. It's while Phantom stretched him a little bit too far accidentally exposing his butt, that he found out Woodrow wears pumpkin printed underwear, lol.

Phantom is able to fix Woodrow's permanent cowlick. It takes more hair conditioner than Phantom uses (and he uses a lot of it), so it's only done for special occasions.

Phantom writes songs based on the poems that Woodrow reads him. Depending on how many words from the poem he uses in the song, when sung it can have more or less of the poem's effects.

Sometimes they start writing random things before they go to sleep. They often continue writing even while in bed until one of them fall asleep.

Phantom is a night owl and Woodrow an early bird. Phantom makes sure Woodrow falls asleep peacefully while cuddling him and he's usually the one that puts in order the things they used while writing. In the morning Woodrow will snuggle up on still asleep Phantom, combing his hair with his hand while waiting for him to wake up. He only has to make sure no rhyme leave his mouth as he already startled awake Phantom once making a framed picture fall on his head (don't worry Phantom has a very hard head, lol).

Phantom purrs very frequently and very loudly. Before Phantom, Woodrow has never been heard purr by anyone, not even Sweetlopek. He does indeed purr, but only when he's writing when he's very inspired and he does it very softly.

[These two are going to give me diabetes, I have to go punch a wall now AFHABJSWD]

[babycatlix]

hi friends 💖

just checking in! i know i've been a little inactive lately, besides my queue and me occasionally reblogging old sets that have hit milestones, i haven't really been here. don't worry, i'm not leaving or taking a hiatus... there will be a TL;DR at the end bc i know not everyone cares about these posts, which is totally okay!

there is a reason for my inactiveness, i've been a little distracted lately but mostly distracted this week. i had planned to make more gifsets, but my laptop keeps disconnecting from the internet randomly (a fairly new issue) and the internal fan keeps turning on (an ongoing issue); it's on rn and the only thing i have open is chrome to make this post, which is making my laptop overheat; making it run a lot slower.

since this has been happening, i asked my parents if i could possibly replace my laptop with a desktop computer. i am an apple kid (there is no right between macs or pcs; it's all personal opinion!), so i do want to get an imac. i've actually wanted an imac for a while now, but i didn't get one when my parents offered to buy me my laptop back in 2016, when i was let go from my previous job, that treated me terribly. the stipulation for my parents actually buying my laptop was it HAD to be a laptop. their thinking was that i would need a laptop if i got another graphic design job... which i never did. if i had gotten a desktop back then, i would've had to pay for it, which i didn't have the money for. so i took the generosity of my parents and i got my current laptop, which i do love and will forever be grateful for. but my laptop is approaching 8 years old, which is pretty old for a macbook pro. it is still up to date with the latest software, but it just runs so slow due to age. another reason i want an imac, i can't keep sitting in my bed on a laptop, i need to sit at a desk. my chronic back pain has been getting worse and i know it's partly due to how i sit in my bed all the time on my laptop.

but a lot of things need to happen before i can even get the new computer, i need to get a new desk that will accommodate the new computer, i need a new chair; the one i currently have has zero back support which i need, and i really want a nice customized mechanical keyboard. so i've been busy this week looking at keyboards, desks, and computer chairs. my parents agreed to pay for half of the imac as a hanukkah gift! so i have time to get everything together. and of course not all of these are things that i need to have to get the new computer, but they are things i want.

i've wanted a nice mechanical keyboard for a while and i do love my current mechanical keyboard, RK84. i use it for work and everyone loves the RGB effects on it! but i want one that i have completely customized. the board, switches, and keycaps. ironically, the keyboard i've been looking at is the same keyboard that felix customized and showed off recently, the GMMK Pro, which for some reason is really hated OR really loved in the mechanical keyboard community... but i really just want the board part. i want a heavy metal keyboard, but i don't know what switches i want yet or what keycaps i want. it's funny though bc the current switches i'm used to are glorious switches, they're the purple kailh pros. i love them, but i don't know if they're what want i want for my at-home typing and gifmaking. i'm using them right now to type this post. they are really good for quick typing but still have a little bump to let you know that you've hit the key hard enough. so they're great for work where i type emails daily.

the keycaps i'm also interested in, akko black translucent w/ green print, may need to have a special switch so that the RGB on the keyboard shines through better. i brought my RK84 home to actually change the keycaps so i can test out the ASA profile of the keys for a while before i actually decide on the keycaps. but the only type available is linear switches, which in the past, were too sensitive for me. i would always knock into incorrect keys when typing and make a lot of mistakes. but i'm really used to typing on a mechanical keyboard now (so used to it that i hate flat mac keyboards now lol), so the linear switches may not be an issue now.

anyway, i know that was a lot and again, it's okay if you didn't read any of it and just scrolled down here to see the cliff notes version:

TL;DR: i know i've been a little inactive lately, but i've been distracted with trying to update my desk setup. and my laptop keeps disconnecting from the internet making it harder for me to actually upload gifsets. but i'm going to try to at least make gifs this weekend. i may or may not be able to actually have them drafted.

i hope you're all doing well. if no one's told you recently, i'm proud of you and you're doing great! 💖 please stay safe out there and stay hydrated my friends! 💖

[witchyligea]

Quantifying Your Craft: Witchcraft Journaling Questions (Autumn 2024)

I'm planning to do something like this every season around the equinox to see how my practice has changed.

General

Do you follow any paths or traditions?

🦇 No

How would you classify your practice?

🦇 I could call myself as a beginner practicioner. You can say you can play an instrument just because you know how to play a chord. I use whatever I have available to me and things I can do without anyone noticing. I am very experimental. I like to see things for myself and write my own spells, as others are usually not accessible to me.

Do you work with any deities?

🦇 When it comes to witchcraft, I've worked with Goddess Aphrodite once. Other than no. I need to get to it again some time.

Do you work by yourself or with others?

🦇 I work by myself as that's what I have available to me. But I would really like to have friends to celebrate special days with.

For how long have you been practicing?

🦇 I think I only got myself to believe in it towards the end of last year, but I only really started practicing this year.

Working Space

Do you have an altar?

🦇 No, I would love to have one but I don't live on my own and I practice in secret. I might decorate my room properly, fill it with enchanted items and turn it into an altar though. I have other things to handle first. I might get a little travel altar when I go to university.

Do you have a dedicated workspace or a space for magical workings outside of your home?

🦇 I don't have a dedicated space but I do my workings inside. I live somewhere where it's impossible to do anything without being interrupted. Unless the area is so deserted that there aren't even drunks outside.

If you could describe your ideal workspace, what would it look like?

🦇 I would like to have everything I use often in one place to find quickly. A notebook full of my spells, herbs I already have access to like mint, cloves, chilli peppers and salt. Maybe some candles. The playing cards I use for divination. A bowl to put things in. Some matches because I prefer them to lighters. Ropes and beads. Flowers I've gathered from the side of the road. The Harry Potter wand my cousins 3D printed for me as a birthday gift. A ritual dagger would be so cool, but unfortunately it has to be fake because I can't be trusted around sharp objects. I can imagine it placed nicely on a purple tablecloth.

Tools

Do you have tools that you work with?

🦇 I have a deck of playing cards. I'm using the one I already had at home. It does the job. One more thing I gotta figure out. When there are people home however, I use the deck of cards website. Still works. I haven't looked into how to use the wand I had talked about yet. Another thing on my to do list.

What do you use the most frequently? Do you have favorites?

🦇 I really like cloves. It's easy to have them around all the time because I can't chew gum and it's an alternative for bad breath.

Do you make or grow any of your components?

🦇 I don't grow anything just yet. I just use what I have at home. I do have some ideas in mind though.

Where do you acquire the things you need for magic?

🦇 I just use whatever I have at home or collect things from the plants outside.

What are your favorite sources of information?

🦇 I can't buy books so I like to watch long form videos on YouTube. I also like to meditate on things I use as correspondences.

Do you have a ritual garb or jewelry that connects you to your craft?

🦇 No but this is a good idea. I should make a bracelet or necklace to wear when I want to get in the mood for spell work.

Witchcraft Exercise - Quantifying Your Craft

Witchcraft is a complicated business. There are lots of moving parts, dozens of things to study, and so much information to try and keep straight in your head. It’s easy to become overwhelmed. Sometimes we forget things. Not just when the full moon is (although plenty of us do) but what it is we want to do with our craft.

And sometimes we feel like we’ve lost our drive. Like whatever moved us to become witches in the first place has somehow slipped away, leaving us with just the dregs. Sometimes we feel stuck, unable to make progress. It’s easy to become frustrated too, but it’s important to push on.

To that end, I offer this exercise.

Choose a journal or open a word document and begin quantifying your craft.

Start by outlining the broad concepts. Do you follow a particular path or tradition? How would you classify your craft, i.e. green witchcraft, cottagecraft, sea witch, lunar witch, and so on? Do you work with any deities, and if so, which ones? Do you work alone or with others? How long have you been practicing? What, to you, is the most important aspect of your craft?

Then get into your working space. Do you have an altar? If so, what’s on it and why? Do you have a dedicated workspace, or a place you go to work magic outside of your home? If you could describe your ideal workspace, what would it look like? 

Next, describe your tools. Do you have cards or runes or a wand or other specialized tools that you work with? What do you use most frequently? Do you have favorites? Do you make or grow any of your components? Where do you acquire the things you use in your magic, if you can’t make them at home? Do you have a personal library? What are your favorite sources of information? Do you have ritual garb or jewelry that connects you with your craft?

Sketch out your year as a witch. What holidays do you observe and how do you celebrate them? What seasonal festivals or special occasions do you mark? Which ones do you enjoy the most? Is there a time of year when you feel more energized?

Once you have all of this recorded, think back to what first interested you in magic and witchcraft and describe that. Was it a movie? A favorite book? A personal experience? Were you raised in the craft or did you come to it on your own? What made you decide to become a witch?

Then think about how you’ve progressed since you started. Have you achieved a particular goal you set when you began, or are you closer to achieving it then you were? What have you gotten really good at? Where are you still struggling? Where would you like to be a year from now? Are there things you’d like to try but haven’t yet?

And of course, if anything else occurs to you, record that too.

There is no need to share these thoughts with anyone if you don’t want to. This is purely a personal exercise, to help you understand where you are, where you’ve come from, and where you want to go. Quantifying this information might provide some much-needed inspiration, in addition to helping you solidify any nebulous thoughts that might be floating around. It’s much easier to progress in your craft if you have an outline for what you’re already doing.

Happy Witching!

===

Want more witchcraft exercises? Check out the masterpost here.

(If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar, tune in to my monthly show Hex Positive on your favorite podcast app, or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊)

[100dayproductivity]

13/100.

So anyway. Here's my above-the-fridge cupboard in its well-hung glory.

I used this type of hardware, three of them along the top end of the cupboard. It's called a toggle bolt.

Alright. My next priority is Christmas gifts for my kids. If I'm going to order anything online I have to do it soon. Tick-tock tick-tock! The thing is, in order to stretch my budget, I want to use points I earn from doing surveys. I have about $100 worth of points with this one survey company called Web Perspectives. I've been doing surveys off and on for years, and I tried a whole bunch of different ones out when I first discovered you can earn a bit here and there doing them. Somehow Web Perspectives is the only one I do these days. Not sure if that means they are better than others, but there must be a reason why I still use them and not others.

There are a couple of ways I can cash-in the points. Two options are Amazon e-gift cards and Indigo e-gift cards. You just trade your points for the cards, then login in to Amazon/Indigo and apply the cards to your account. I'm thinking about getting my kids a couple of books and need to check whether I should get them from Amazon or Indigo. The Indigo cards cost 1000 points for a $10 gift card, whereas Amazon costs 1200 for $10. So you get a little more bang for your buck (er, point) with Indigo. However, you obviously have more things you can spend the money on with Amazon. You also have to factor in shipping costs. Also, I think Indigo changed something recently where you can no longer add a gift card amount to use for later, you have to apply it at checkout. With Amazon, you can squirrel away gift card amounts to use whenever you want. I currently have $70 of credit on Amazon, plus another $20 I haven't added yet.

Another detail about this process with Web Perspectives is that you can only redeem points for a maximum of two gift cards per day. So even though I have about $100 worth of points, I can't redeem them all at once, I can only redeem about $20 per day. So you need to plan ahead a little bit to use them.

The other company I use for points is called Nielsen Homescan. You get a scanner or, more recently, just download an app, and you scan the stuff you buy and they collect the data for companies that pay them for market research. In return you earn points that you can redeem for stuff. They used to only have a catalogue of actual stuff, which was kind of limiting because maybe you're not interested in any of the stuff in the catalogue (for instance, I've redeemed points for movie tickets, pillow cases, and a camping lantern in the past). And the stuff was really "expensive" (you needed a shit-ton of points to just be able to get the most inexpensive things). But now they also have an Amazon gift card option! I think this is fairly recent.

So that's the background info on my foray into online surveys. You won't get rich doing it but it's an easy way to earn a couple of bucks when you have 5 or 10 minutes to kill. It's great for when you have to be physically but not mentally present for something. For example, waiting for an appointment or a bus or a client, or when you have a couple of minutes gap between meetings or classes that you would otherwise be spending being bored out of your skull, or when you've taken the kids to the playground or the dog to the dog park and are just sitting there while they play and you just need to look up from time to time to make sure everyone is ok. Everyone has these sorts of "in between other things" times, why not earn some money while you're doing nothing anyway?

Alright, so here's my updated to-do list:

Gmail account sign in.

Buy new charger for Pixel phone.

Transfer Web Perspectives Amazon e-gift card to Amazon account.

Fill out eye surgery forms. ✓

Take photos and email back to clinic. ✓

Check previous clinic's paperwork to see which lens they recommended.

Make appointment at bank.

Print out bank documents.

No printer service at library--do I need to print it? Download to thumb drive and think about next steps.

Compare cost of books Indigo vs Amazon.

Recurring:

Alternate heat and ice on foot.

Do hamstring stretches.

Reference: https://www.sports-injury-physio.com/post/top-5-stretches-plantar-fasciitis

Roll out knots in leg muscle.

Do Sun Salutation x5 - 0/5

Take inhaler

[theuniquestore]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Christmas holiday Sweater Size Small.

[genshrineimpact]

abnormal day

| ✾ | golden plated chopsticks [prologue]

⬙⤠ masterlist ⤝⬙

◇ a/n ◇ just fyi i feel like this series will probably have a lot of zhongli x reader chapters + found family trope. i'm so sorry i just can't stop simping this man slkfsdjl

"zhongli."

you can see the funeral consultant visibly tensing up. his motions are practiced and elegant as ever as he sets down his tea and turns to face you, but if you look closely you can see that he's concerned at the steely tone in your voice.

"yes, [name]? how may i assist you?"

a loud slam. zhongli blinks and catches your hand. two pairs of eyes stare at the paper you had shoved onto his chest.

fuck, your knuckles hurt.

and yet he doesn't even look winded.

"this is….?" the ex-archon blinks and fumbles with the glasses hanging on the elegant strap around his neck. squinting at the small prints of the document, zhongli gives you a clueless look, "i apologize, it seems to be a financial report of some kind? while i am familiar with doing such work back in the parlor, i'm afraid this world's customs are still-"

"that," you inhale deeply, "is my bank statement. a compiled financial report, you could say. i don't need help with that."

"then what does-"

"explain to me why i have to pay a whole three hundred dollars for a damn gold plated chopsticks, rex lapis."

he blinks and tilts his head, "well, the item has yet to arrive seeing as they had to 'ship it' from far out the land, but i assure you that the intricacies of the patterns and the craftsmanship that i have seen on the sample product was truly astounding. you would not have been able to find anything like it in all of teyvat, and not for such a low price. even the lovely chopsticks i bought for childe costed 426 times more than that. i believe it is - if i may use a word i have learned recently - 'a steal'."

he looks so satisfied with his explanation.

zhongli is anything but a himbo but at this moment you think the title fits him so well.

"zhongli. darling. i have chopsticks at home. they cost like, three dollars," you groan, "i told you how we have different currency systems here and how one mora does not equate to one dollar. do you understand how ridiculous your logic sounds now?"

he blinks and places his chin on his fist.

god fucking damn it his thinking pose is even hotter in real life.

"it… seems like the common sense of this world has escaped me again. my apologies, the moment i saw the product i thought it would make a good present for you, seeing as you have been looking extremely stressed these past few days."

oh.

"you… were about to gift it to me?"

"yes. it was meant to be a surprise, of course, but i failed to consider that you would be notified by the purchase before the item could even reach your hand," zhongli hums, "truly, this world of yours is a complex one. i wonder if the future liyue will be able to grow into such an advanced civilization. before coming here, i would have never imagined that such a world exists where one could pay for everything by simply handing over a small card and receiving it back just seconds later."

you almost can't process the next few words that leaves his mouth after his affirmation.

zhongli is trying to give you a gift.

zhongli is trying to give you a gift.

after so many gifts you've spoiled him, so many primogems wasted, and so many overtimes you pull to pay for his kit. he's trying to give you a gift.

nevermind the fact that he's trying to buy you a present with your own money.

you think you're going to cry.

"[name]. i truly apologize. i can see that this is very distressing for you and i'd like to discuss how we can resolve this. is there perhaps a way so that we can cancel the-"

to zhongli's astonishment, you sniffle and shake your head.

"i'll pay the three hundred dollars…… it's nowhere close to what i spent for you anyway."

you shudder when you remember the monthly bank statement whenever zhongli's banners roll around. he seems to have taken this gesture as your resolution wavering, and so being the considerate man that he is, his voice softens as he addresses you again.

"[name], are you certain? please know that it is never my intention to make things harder for you. i am very grateful for your hospitality thus far. if there's anything i could do to reduce your burden, please, by all means, let me know."

"....."

"....."

"you could, uh, start working, i guess?" as much as you want to take over childe's spot as zhongli's sugar daddy in this world spoil him, you're a little worried about your slowly diminishing savings.

zhongli nods resolutely, "very well. i suppose i will have to look for a different profession, seeing as my knowledge of the past will not be of use here. what do you suggest i should do? is an equivalent of a job advertisement board in the city that might help me in this endeavour?"

you sigh.

"alright, time to teach you about computers, i guess."

"kom-pyu-ters?"

oh boy.

ah, yes, how nostalgic. you never thought you'd miss the main menu music, but here you are, humming along as the game downloads its latest patches and updates.

it's been so long since you've played, mainly because you were busy with work and your roommate from another world, but today you're intent to do some de-stressing and to enjoy yourself fully! even zhongli seemed like he knew you didn't want to be disturbed somehow! he has yet to leave his storage-room-turned-bedroom since morning, and-

….. what the- where the hell are all your teams?

"[name], i believe we have a problem."

oh please not now.

"well, i have a problem too, i had a bad day at work and now genshin is glitching on me and-" you freeze on your seat right after you swivel to turn towards the entrance of your work-slash-play room.

because in addition to zhongli, there are even more familiar faces.

well, at least now you know where your main teams have gone.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING???!?!?!???"

© genshrineimpact | 2022 ◆ no repost. reblogs much appreciated. feel free to reach out to submit suggestions, feedback, comments, or if you just want to talk!

◇ taglist ◇ @paintingsofdragonspine | @genshinparty | @abyssmal-skies

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[copperbadge]

I know you don't have much to do with this (and for all I know, your company doesn't even have this problem), but why don't charity websites have portals for monthly donors? If I want ti increase my donation, update my credit card, or print up my tax forms, it's a giant production of calling up and cancelling and re-starting, when I should just be able to type in my password and get it done! I assume there's a good reason, since it's so consistent, but I can't figure out what it might be. And they want us to donate monthly so badly, you'd think they'd want to make it easier!

I can't speak for all nonprofits, but this is actually a problem I ran into as well when I started giving monthly to a couple of places and then promptly had my debit card stolen :D

My organization isn't exempt from the issue, so I can say that the problem for nonprofits in my experience is that we don't code our own giving pages a lot of the time -- we buy the services of a third party who, for a small fee, handles the credit card processing both generally and for the recurring giving. When you go to a giving page, even to set up a recurring gift, you’re actually seeing a credit card processing company reskinned to look like the nonprofit’s website. We sometimes have admin access and can help you change things, but we can’t give you admin access. (We actually have two processors at my place -- one to handle “tribute” giving in memory of those who have passed, and one to handle the regular website giving and “event” giving where you sponsor walk-a-thon walkers and such. Both have to speak to our actual database, which is yet another service we pay for.)

These third parties could, in theory, create a setup where you have a login and can go in and change your credit card info or giving amount at any time, but what I’m given to understand is that increases the price because it requires more coding and data storage on their end. So basically it’s that the nonprofit hasn’t found it cost-effective to give you that level of control over your recurring giving. 

I am going to sound like a broken record or a shill for Charityvest, but that’s how I got round this problem -- I cancelled my recurring gifts and got a donor-advised fund through Charityvest, which allows me to schedule a monthly donation to any registered 501c3. On the first of the month it goes in and takes, say, $100 out of my bank account, and around the 20th of the month that money goes back out in $20 increments to five nonprofits of my choice, all automated, all changeable whenever I feel like it. The downside of Charityvest is that the minimum donation is $20, and the nonprofit can’t register me as a recurring donor in their system because I don’t recur-give through their processor. But that’s really their data issue, it doesn’t alter much on my end. And all my giving is recorded in Charityvest if I have any tax issues! 

Anyway, it’s a bummer for sure, but it’s one of those “nobody wants to pay for the lights to stay on” issues. When you look at a nonprofit’s expenditures on “overhead” it’s one of the contributing expenses. 

[littlenahsstuff]

My Way or the Highway

Sally Mckenna x Reader

A/n, geez this took me forever to actually get out. Not reread so I'm sorry but hope you still like it. Also I don't know how to do the friggan read more thing so... sorry again.

WARNINGS: implied death, implied abuse, sally being possessive, unhealthy relationships, sexual reference. Uhhh yeah plz read at ur own risk.

It's a wonder to many how Sally ended up with a girl like you. Sally was a wrecked soul made of ash and fire and the gasoline lighting it and tears and pained laughs. You were a hopeful wanderer made of soft kisses and poems and snowflakes and pretty fragile flower petals and innocence. Or maybe sweetness. Even though, you were a rabbit and Sally, a fox. Possessive and cunning over her prey.

You met when you went to the Cortez to get away from your past, from the people who hurt you, from her. Truth was you were terrified of anyone and everyone and... well she said she could protect you. You believed her too.

***<>***<>***<>***

"Hey babydoll, why ya crying without a drink in your hand? After all, your at the bar and clearly because you don't want to be alone in your room," she spoke husky and blunt. You were awfully shy and you spooked easily.

"Oh I just, I'm not usually one to drink. It makes you do things," you whispered, still not meeting the ladies face. Your twiddling thumbs were looking awfully nice to you right now.

The truth was she was right, you didn't want to be alone. Not after the year of being alone with her. Though, the alcohol only served to remind you of her more, it was the only place you could go with people who you don't know. With people.

"Aw, that's okay. But c'mon I'll keep you some company, only if you let me buy you at least a little liquid courage. We can't have you being this shy with me the whole night," she ended her bargain with a deep chuckle. It was startling how quickly you agreed to her.

So making your decision you let out an okay and decided you should know what this person looks like at least.

Upon your scan of her you figured out 5 important things. 1. This woman was crying earlier and you knew because her eyeliner smudged and dripped in tracks. 2. She was wild. This was given by her frizzy blonde hair that looked as dead as her, yet so alive. 3. She had an odd sense of fashion that complimented her too perfectly. Her leopard print coat and older dress told you this one. 4. She holds more emotion in her brown eyes than in anyone else as a whole that you've ever seen. The fact that even with the immense amount of depth in them, you could still see a twinkle in the depth of them, shocked you. 5. She was and still is the most beautiful person you've ever seen and she's trouble.

"Okay, sure. Thanks," you exhaled. And thus you two were forever in each other's debts. For you both were never alone after that day.

***<>***<>***<>***

"Hey sweets," you called out into room 64, "I brought you something!" You always felt bad for leaving her so you ended up getting her things that reminded you of her. This time it was a new guitar. Sure it was a little expensive but you didn't mind, you practically lived at the Cortez now and for almost free.

You, of course, know that Sally is a ghost and that she can never roam farther than a few steps out of the Cortez. It breaks your heart that you can't take her with you to explore the world you couldn't before but you just have to. Your ex never let you, so having a job and getting to actually do things was something you thought you would never be able to again. Yet here you are.

One problem, Sally doesn't like it either. It doesn't matter how many gifts you give, she just wants you. Her approaches aren't nearly as rough as your ex when she wants you to stay and she would never be too harsh with you. Or so you believe.

Sally had been plotting this night forever, she was gonna ask you to die tonight and stay with her forever. She needed you here. She needed you to stop leaving her.

Of course you were her precious angel and she understood that you loved exploring, but she could never shake the sense that you were too eager and would get yourself hurt or worse, killed. Then she would be alone forever again. She couldn't be alone and she had to make sure you stayed with her. So even if you didn't know better and wanted to still go out despite the danger, she had precautions in place to keep you safe.

So, this night had to be special and romantic. She had made your favorite meal, despite not being a master chef. She had set up a romantic scene in your room and it. Was. Perfect.

How could you say no after this?

"Hi babydoll. I made you dinner, your favorite Y/N," she appeared next to you. You made a slight jump, but collected yourself when you saw it.

"It's gorgeous," you gasped. Your eyes marveled at the candlelight, neat placement of the silverware, and your absolute fav dish on the table.

"The best for my babydoll," Sally smirked, kissing you on the cheek. You twiddle with your thumbs again.

"I'm sorry," you suddenly spoke, eyes downcast. Fear shot through your spine and your thoughts raced. Did I forget something important?!

"Hey, Y/N, look at me. I know that look what's wrong?" Sally's tone was soft and she added some comforting rubbing on your back to ease you.

"I- Did I forget something? I know your birthday's not today or our anniversary or-did we make plans? I can't remember. I'm so sorry, I promise I can do better," You said meekly and decidedly.

"Oh," Sally's heart broke. She hated when you got like this. So stiff and afraid if herself and all because of her. "Babydoll, I just wanted to do something special for you. Dont worry everything's gonna be just fine."

"Well..." you paused, relief had worked itself through you, "Thank you so much, this is so lovely. I love you so much Sally. I um, got you this," you handed her the new guitar.

It was light weighted and had a darker wood, practically perfect to Sally. At least... that was until she gazed upon the not so delicate etching in the side. Sally & Y/n 4ever. A message not long forgotten to her. You meant it too.

You made a deal that when you were ready, you would kill yourself to be with her at the Cortez. Till death do we not part, you had joked. It would be a day when you would at least be no younger than 30, you were 24 now.

So today was not that day. Or rather tonight.

But it didn't make the phrase any less emotional for Sally. Despite the agreement. So with shaky hands she reached out for the instrument.

"I love it baby," she whispered from her messily painted lips. Her fingers brushed across each copper string. They plucked one by one at it, each ringing out with the vibration. It was out of tune but surely nothing she couldn't fix. You must have gotten it at a pawn shop. Usually ones elsewhere come pretuned.

Relief flooded over you as you saw the smirk snake upon the ghost's lips. She did like it, good.

"Well as much as I would like to play this baby. I think you might be a little hungry, it is 10. Can't have my meal without her having hers first Y/n." Sally smirked at the way your cheeks went aflame.

"Okay," you whispered, looking at the table and sitting down. The ghost followed suit.

With a click, warmth was made from Sally's cig lighter.

Candlelight brightened the both of yours faces, adding a yellowish tint. This tint was especially viable upon Sally's pale face and the shadows stood in stark contrast, formed from her chiseled cheekbones.

They could cut you.

Knowing that Sally is impatient at times and was highly receptive to others actions and expressions, told you that briskly, you should tuck in. Boy did you tuck in.

The first bite was pure bliss. Enough so that a moan was let out and you craved more from the first touch to a tastebud.

Sally watched as pleased as can be. You liked her food, it was praise that came from your reaction and because of that she's happy.

The second bite happened after of course and this one tasted oddly different. Not bad, but as if it was bitter.

Then Sally ate, she chewed with a hum. Of course eating wasn't necessary, but anybody except some anorexics can appreciate the taste.

She then sputtered a giggle, "Too much parsley, oops." It explained it, it's why it was so bitter.

Then silence as food was enjoyed. The atmosphere was tense with a question wafting through.

Fortunately, Sally exudes so much emotion in that slim frame of hers that you didn't have to wait long to be asked it.

"Will you stay with me?" She asks. Oh dear. Again? Is this why she made me this?

"Of course, I would never leave you for someone else." It's stated firmly but calmly. She needed nothing else.

"No, I mean stay with me, forever... as a ghost babydoll. Tonight?" She clarifies with hesitation. Breathing gets harder a bit, not too terribly but enough to feel as if something's stuck in you esophagus.

"I, but I thought you wanted me to experience stuff?" You croaked. You wanted to cry, because you thought there was more time.

"You have, but I think that now you know life without that much pain, you can stay here. It's not a safe world out there, just like it was with them. I wanted to have you see that. You just haven't," she explains. You think.

If this is what she really wants...

"And besides we can live together. It's not like there isn't anything here. I always moan and groan about it but I could be stuck somewhere worse and with you here it would be p-"

"O-okay," you decide. You sound like a mouse and the tears have only been growing.

Sally stops, not expecting that. She thought you would have said no. She made a grave mistake.

"Really?" She asks dumfoundedly.

You nod slow and with a slight twitch as a sob wrecks you silently. "Yes, but only the way I want. I want to be killed by myself. It's my decision. It's my death. I don't want anybody taking it away, not even you Sally."

Sally really messed up now.

"Oh god." You mistake her statement as happiness that she doesn't know how to deal with. So you take it as agreement to your terms.

Thus you move upward out of your seat to hug her and that niggle in your throat itches, getting worse. The headache brewing ever since eating is tenfold what it was. Bile is a sickly fiend approaching up way your throat.

Pain seeps through your innards to your mind. Pain wracked your bones and breaks your heart. Pain.

The table you gripped was no longer there, causing clenching on nothing but wind while you tumbled down onto the floor, your foot snagging on the chair leg as well.

"Oh Babydoll no," Sally wails, making sure you can't see her, but can feel her presence and hear her voice. She's ashamed and you realized she did this.

That wasn't parsley that tasted bitter.

She's smarter than she looks but blind as well. You would die for her at this hotel and she couldn't see it.

So she had to make sure you would regardless.

You layed there with sorrow and betrayal. She took the one thing you never got, freedom of choice. It was never about protecting you that you held onto. It was that she would honor you. What they didn't do.

She broke fine china, already so fragile and yet handled with improper care still despite it's value.

The etching on the guitar served to mock.

Sally & Y/n 4ever

[noyaphilia]

My Annoying Brother

a Suzuki Nao x Hinata Natsu FF

genre : fluff

cw // protective brother trope, incase you don't like to read it

disclaimer : this is my first time writing ff in English (and English isn't my first language too), so sorry if there are grammatical errors 😣

characters : Hinata Natsu, Suzuki Nao, Hinata Shoyo, Bokuto Kotaro, Miya Atsumu, Sakusa Kiyoomi

"So... where did my brother and his friends go?" The orange haired girl asks her boyfriend.

"Atsumu-san said that they're looking for a wedding gift for MSBY captain, he said it's gonna take some time and would be better if we go around instead of waiting for them," says the boy as he look down to meet her eyes due to their height gap.

"It's good then! Ugh, finally I can get rid of Shoyo-niichan. Shall we go there?" Natsu points at the amusement arcade.

"Sure! What are you planning to play there?"

"Umm, I'm not really in the mood for playing games... What if we take some pictures in the photo booth?"

"Cool, let's go!"

And so they're finally inside the photo booth.

"Let's take the first pic! How about... We use this cat filter?"

"YES YES YES PLEASE!!! I bet it's gonna look cute on you Natsu"

"3...2...1—"

"OMG OMG OMG IT'S SO CUUUTEEE!!! Look Natsu, the cat ears and whiskers, and the cute little dot on your cute nose, everything looks perf—"

"Ok Nao, I get it, we're going to take another picture, 3...2...1—"

"Nao? Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah? Yeah, I-I'm alright..."

"Are you sure? You just stand still looking so flushed... Are you tired? If you wanna take a rest we can just sit on the bench and wait for my brother and the others to finish..."

"No! I'm fine! It's just..."

"Just what?"

"It's just... You look so cute winking and pouting that way, make me wanna..."

"Make you wanna...?"

"T-t-touch your lips... Wait!! Please don't get me wrong and think of me as a perv! I just think that your lips look so plump and soft and it's so—"

"Pfft!"

"Natsu?"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAH, Nao, Nao... You keep telling me that I'm cute and so on while actually you're the cute one here! Of course you can touch my lips if you want to."

"Really??!"

"Yup! You can also touch my lips with yours."

"..."

"Did you just blush harder because I said you can kiss me? Aww, my cute cinnamon roll..."

"Natsu stop teasing me..! Also I'm not a cute cinnamon roll, you know..."

"Prove it to me then."

"How?"

"Hmm... Maybe you can kiss me on the lips."

"WHAT?!"

"Why? You don't like the idea? I'm not forcing you to do it if you don't want to"

"Of course I want to!!! There's no way I'd refuse to kiss you"

"Then go ahead, do it."

"Are you sure you want our first kiss... right here right now? I mean, don't you wanna do it in a more romantic place or somewhere...?"

"I don't mind share our first kiss inside the photo booth. In fact we can take pictures as we kiss, isn't it great?"

"O-okay if that's what you want..."

"Hold on, let me set the timer first... It's taking 3 pictures in a row, get ready Nao~"

Just like the beeps getting louder with each passing seconds, so does Nao's heartbeat.

First picture already taken before their lips meet. He's too nervous for his first kiss, he needs a moment to calm down a little.

"Okay, let's do it for real on the second take!" Nao says to himself.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

This time their lips almost touch with one another. He can even feel Natsu's warm breath from here. Nao's heart beats more faster.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP.

Just right the moment he about to kiss her lips, he hears a sound of footstep walking toward their direction and enter their booth.

"Nao?? Why are your lips not—"

"Hinata Natsu, Suzuki Nao. WHAT. ARE. YOU. GUYS. DOING. HERE?!"

It's a familiar voice that even with both eyes closed, Natsu could know who is it.

"Shoyo-niichan?"

"Yes, it's me. Now explain what you two are about to do just now."

"Well, as you can see we're going to kiss, if only you didn't interrupt us all of sudden tho. Now that you know would you please leave us alone? It's kinda awkward for me to kiss him if you're watching—"

"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I'D LET YOU KISS HIM RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME??!"

"WELL, IT'S NOT LIKE I DIDN'T ASK YOU TO LEAVE, SO??"

"DO YOU THINK ANY BROTHER WOULD LET HIS LITTLE SISTER KISS ANOTHER GUY? NO WAY, NOT ON MY WATCH. NATSU WE'RE LEAVING NOW"

Shoyo just casually picks up Natsu, carry her somewhat like a log on his shoulder.

"NOO WE'RE NOT FINISHED YET, NIICHAN LET ME GOOOO!!!! NAO!!..."

"Natsu, forgive me for now I can't stand up against your brother... I'll sure come and get you back once I'm not weak anymore, my lady..!"

And so they're separated dramatically.

"Nao-kun, what's happening here???" It's Bokuto.

"Wait, why did Shoyo-kun and Nacchan leave first??" That's Atsumu.

"Hmm, maybe because of this..," Sakusa takes the picture that finish being printed since Nao-doesn't-know-when because he's too caught up with the commotion.

"So..."

"You guys didn't kiss?"

"Yeah..."

"That's bad", Atsumu and Sakusa say in unison.

"THANK GOD!" Only Bokuto feel glad they didn't kiss. He's with Hinata Shoyo in this case.

"Uhm, sorry," says Bokuto.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Anyway, did you all found the wedding gift for your captain?" Nao tried to break the awkward silence.

"Yes we did."

"Shall we leave now too? We can't get back to the athlete village too late if we don't wanna get some scolded by coach next morning."

"Let's go~" Atsumu puts his arm on Nao shoulder as he drags him out to parking lot.

"Aww, poor Nao-kun... Omi-kun and me already buy you some times but sadly you couldn't have your first kiss with Nacchan yet..."

"It's fine Atsumu-san, thank you anyway..!"

"Better luck next time, okay?" says Sakusa as he pats Nao's back.

"Thank you Sakusa-san!"

Special tag for @maku-chan my fellow NaoNatsu shipper 🥰💖💖

Credit to picrew

[dignitywhatdignity]

NaClYoHo Day 21

So I didn't think I'd be able to count today (much less be able to update), because 5yo is doing remote learning for election day (GO VOTE if you can and haven't yet).

But I was surprisingly productive. And 5yo is taking a break because MIL keeps going, "Aren't you done yet?!?!" so I'm like, just go play with Grandma, we'll finish later. As if she wasn't warned.

I think I mentioned before that some strong winds knocked over the sunflowers. Well, I tried propping them back up, but it didn't take, and then I'm pretty sure FIL, in the course of fixing our basement walls, stepped on them. And I'm also pretty sure squirrels got into what's left. But I salvaged and hung what I could, even though I think it's a bit too soon. Pictures to follow.

So I did all that today because I have, in fact, met my MIL, and she can't stand when I leave undone a task she thinks makes us (and by extension her, somehow) look bad, so if I didn't do it, she would... and she definitely would not have saved the seeds. While I was at it, I started pruning the Shasta daisies. I'll have to do another round of that next week, but it looks better already.

There's no bulbs in the fridge. I didn't think so, but I had to check.

Since the asbestos guys aren't coming until the 20th, I don't expect to get too much of the basement done for NaClYoHo, but eyes on the prize, right?

Now that Halloween is over, it's time to start thinking about Thanksgiving. Yikes.

I did, in fact, finish the 2019 book last year. So we're only 1 year behind. I think that will be my main focus the week I'm temping.

I really need to work on the medical stuff. Ugh.

Current Date: 11/2/2021 Current Score: 20/91 = 22%

Make this list.

Garden 2. Buy some spring bulbs 3. Plant the bulbs 4. Check fridge for bulbs. 5. Prune the sunflowers 6. prune the Shasta daisies ✅ 4. Cut down the sunflowers 5. Dig up the sunflower stalks 6. Harvest the seeds. 10. Repot houseplants

Basement 8. Set up direct deposit for the insurance 9. Upload pictures to FEMA portal 10. get an asbestos appraisal 11. Figure out insurance-vs-fema money situation. 14. Get asbestos removed 15. Get floor refinished 16. Get the walls fixed ✅ 17. Get the walls painted 18. Buy a new rug 19. Put all the furniture back 20. Buy a new couch 21. Buy a new TV 22. Replace the other stuff we claimed 23. Submit receipts for depreciation. 25. Buy new desk chairs.

Halloween 12. Have 5yo hang his window clings 13. Dig non-Christmas holiday box out of the garage and pull out Halloween decorations 14. Buy pumpkins 29. Buy 5yo’s costume

Thanksgiving 30. Put Halloween decorations in non-Christmas box and pull Thanksgiving decorations out 31. Figure out where we're going when and what we need to bring.

Masks 16. Line the white knit mask. 17. Finish knitting the blue knit mask. 18. Line the blue knit mask. 35. Start another knit mask.

Photos 20. Download the official school picture 21. order this year’s pictures 22. parcel out pics for relatives 23. Buy frame for school pics 40. frame the wallet-sized

41. Deal with papers ✅

Medical 26. find glasses prescription 27. order glasses from zenni 28. make GP appointment 29. Attend GP appointment 30. Ask GP about therapy 31. Ask GP about ADHD 32. Make OB/GYN appointment 33. Attend OB/GYN appointment 34. Get flu shot 35. Get the kids their flu shots.✔ 36. make dentist appointments 53. attend dentist appointments

Christmas 38. Make a list of needed gifts ✅ 39. Inventory purchased gifts 40. Shop 41. Pick out kids’ holiday outfits 42. Take holiday photos 43. design and order cards 44. Compile, mail merge, print addresses 61. Order stamps

photo books 46. Did I ever finish the 2019 book? 47. Compile 2020 pictures – my phone 48. Compile 2020 pictures – husband’s phone 49. Compile 2020 pictures - 5yo’s camera 50. Compile 2020 pictures –BIL 51. Compile 2020 pictures – facebook 52. Compile 2020 pictures – my parents 53. Compile 2020 pictures – desktop 54. Compile 2020 pictures – laptop 55. design 2020 photo book 56. Order 2020 photo book 73. repeat process for 2021 book

74. work through mending pile

Finish thank you notes 59. the last of last Christmas (yes I know) –J&S gave castle blocks, pirate stickers, bath book and toys, pelican sorter –J&D gave crayons, sketch pad, tiles, bead maze 60. 1yo’s baptism 61. 5yo’s birthday 78. 1yo’s birthday

79. Organize the coupon drawer ✅

Fridge 64. Contact paper 65. Magnets 82. Organize

83. Bag up clothes for Goodwill

Decorate 5yo’s room 68. frame lighthouse pics 69. Hang all art and pics 86. Hang growth chart

Decorate 1yo’s room> 87. hang art

88. Clean and organize nightstand

Windows 73. Measure all windows ✅ 74. get new blinds for bedrooms 91. get curtains for bathroom, 1yo’s room, kitchen?

[tessiete]

"I wish you would write a —" continuation or AU of that scene from away the vapour flew (because I've seen you mention that even your AU's have AU's lol and I'm selfishly hoping you'd consider revisiting that fic and coz I can't let this opportunity pass when this fic literally lives in my mind rent free lol)

Alright! At long last I have figured out what happens next. This is for you, dear thing ❤️❤️❤️ ( @lightasthesun on - or very near thereabouts - your birthday)

LED BY THE WANDERING LIGHT

It starts with a very little thing: a seed.

 It is slipped from the glove of a Republic aid trooper who smiles as he passes it over.

 “From the General of the 212th,” he says. “Don’t know what it is, but I damn near lost the thing on the way over.” 

 “For me?” he asks, and the man nods, his grin growing wider.

 Then he leans in as though commiserating with a friend. “Jetiise sha’bise, lek?”

 “Elek,” agrees Korkie, dubiously, turning the little living pebble between his fingers.

 The trooper grins, and gives him a friendly shove before trotting off back to his ship. Korkie has come down on his aunt’s behalf to oversee the relief efforts, but he is distracted by the seed in his hand. It is flat, and furry, and pleasingly plump. If he squeezes it, he can feel the skin relent and rebound, and if he digs in his nail ever so gently, he can feel the taste of water upon his thumb, and see the pale blush of springtime in the depths of the cut. It is a seed of something, he knows, but of what?

 He places it in the breast pocket of his Academy jacket, and turns his attention back to the work. It is an impressive, and important sight, but his thoughts linger on the seed, and he feels it sit bright and eager against his heart.

 Later, when the supplies have been unloaded, and the aid troopers seen off, when the ceremony of thanks and assurances of neutrality have all been displayed, when he is back in his room at Sundari only hours away from the magtrain ride back to school, he plants the seed in a little pot of black earth, and dampens the soil. It will not grow tonight, but he cannot help but stare at it anyway, waiting in the dark, beneath the stars, so patient.

A week passes, and he is back at the Academy when the mail officer - an upperclassman he’s never met - stops at his place during first meal.

 “Su-su, Kryze!” he calls. ��A package for you from the Core.”

 A small bundle wrapped in layer upon layer of bonding tape, and stamped with the ink of a hundred spaceports too numerous and cramped to decipher lands upon his lap. He uses the thin knife from his plate to slice through the plastifibe envelope. 

 When his fingers graze the object within he gasps, and pulls back the wrap to reveal a real, proper book. It’s not even printed on flimsi, he notes, cracking the aged spine and letting the pages fall open, but on actual paper. They don’t make these in the Core, and hardly ever in the Mid Rim, it’s just not economical, and most planets don’t have the resources to spare. But this one is old, it’s pages creased, and worn smooth at the corners with the turning of many fingers. It is about horticulture, though the illustrations of green and growing things have faded to browns and burnished golds. It is beautiful. 

 A piece of dried grass has been tucked between two pages, and when Korkie folds them back to look he sees an image of the seed he’d sown in the pot by his bed. Beside it, a riotous bouquet of blossoms burst in an array of different colours. It is a daesyn flower.

He tucks the book in his kebisebag, and carries it around for the rest of the day. At nightfall, he takes it out with careful reverence, turning the pages back to the daesyn slowly lest they tear or turn to dust. Then, by the light of a little glowrod, he props the book against his window and reads along as he tends to the small green sprout only just peeking through the soil.

 He buys a sun lamp, and a watermeter, and adjusts the temperature of his quarters much to Amis’ chagrin, determined to provide the most optimal growing conditions he can for the little plant.

  After a month, the seedling has become a sturdy sprout, with prickly leaves of a green so deep it might be blue. He is attempting to commit those variegated lines to flimsi when Amis returns to their quarters, a small pouch swinging from his hand.

 “I’m supposed to give this to you,” he says, tossing the pouch. Korkie reacts without thinking, snatching the bag out of the air before it can hit the ground.

 “Who’s it from?”

 “Front desk. Said some high up Republic alor sent it.”

 “Which one?”

 “Don’t know. Didn’t ask, did I? Too busy polishing the silver.”

 Korkie grimaces in sympathy, having spent many an afternoon of his first year cleaning the trophy case in the main hall. He thinks that Amis’ plight could be easily avoided if only he behaved himself, but refrains from saying so to his friend.

 Instead, he pulls the drawstring at the top of the purse, and turns it over his hand. A dozen discs of coloured glass tumble into his palm. They are thick, and smooth, though not polished by anything but time. Each is a different colour, though some are struck through with shimmers of gold and silver. 

 “What’s that?” asks Amis over his shoulder.

 “Don’t know,” he echoes. The glass feels comfortable in his grip. Made to be held, and carried, and passed from hand to hand.

 “Should ask Lagos,” says Amis. “That seems like her kind of thing.”

 He makes no reply to Amis, but of course, he does as he suggests. Lagos is, after all, a walking encyclopaedia, and of all their friends the most likely to at least have an idea of where to start looking.

 The excitement on her face when Korkie shows her his hoard tells him she has more than an idea - she knows.

 “Oh, oh, oh!” she gasps. “Where’d you find Abafar trading beads?”

 “They were a gift,” he replies. “What are they for?”

 She picks them up one at a time and holds them to the light. By some trick of their design, they cast no shadow, but seem to capture the rays inside like banked embers, or twisting prisms. The ones marked with ribbons of ore grow warm in her hand, and she presses them to his cheek so he can feel their heat.

 “They’re the traditional currency of Abafar,” she explains. “It’s a desert planet in the Outer Rim, and craftsmen in the Void used to make these beads as a means of facilitating trade over great distances. Metal was scarce, and the beads could also be used to retain heat for longer - that one in your hand could keep the warmth of the sun all night, if you wanted it to.”

 He considers the disc of deep indigo, and holds it up to the sun until it turns red. The glass seems to have become molten, but its warmth is not painful in the hand. He leaves the bead out for the rest of the afternoon to test Lagos’ theory, and brings it into bed with him at night. Tucked beneath his pillow, it radiates a soothing heat, and he feels his muscles relax and his worries melt as he drifts away into an easy slumber.

   The next gift he receives is shattered into bits.

 “Sorry, kid,” says the attendant at the delivery depot when he arrives to claim his parcel. “Happens sometimes with these packages from the front. The war is not a safe place for fragile things. Bic cuyir meg bic cuyir.”

 He takes the present anyway, carrying it delicately back to the Academy, fearful of breaking it further. When he finally tears through the tape and plastifibe, clay and ceramplast pieces give up any pretense at form and clatter over the surface of his desk.

 It was beautiful once, he can tell. Perhaps a bowl or a cup turned by hand - he can see the telltale print of a foreign finger pressed into a section of naked clay - but now it is only fragments and dust.

 Still, he hovers over the pile, turning the pieces this way and that, trying to see how they fit together. He doesn’t notice when sixth bell rings, or when Soniee pings his comm, or when Amis sneaks in past curfew and turns out his light. He stays up late into the night, until the form takes shape, and through the cracks and crevasses of painted clay dawn creeps in.

 It is an amphoriskos. A small vessel for storing precious oils, like the kind used in the rituals of so many traditional peoples. There is none in it now, and Korkie retrieves the sachet to see if perhaps it was spilled into the weave of the plastifibe wrap. But it is dry. And the clay, when he looks at it more closely, is dry and unstained by use. The gift was always empty.

 The shards sit upon his desk in their loose arrangement until, one afternoon, Amis moves to sweep them off into the dustbin.

 “No, no!” protests Korkie, before Amis can complete the task. “I want to keep it.”

 “What for?” his friend asks. “It’s broken.”

 “I don’t know yet.”

 He collects the bits of amphoriskos into his hands, and arranges them about the base of his daesyn pot. The paint glints in the light, and so too do the Abafar beads nestled amidst the debris. The plant grows green and bushy, its leaves reaching out to skim the rim of its bed as though a swimmer poised on the edge of emersion.

He receives Theelin singing strings wound tight around a holodrive meant for the Duchess, paired basalt spindles from Hapes, seashells from the deep oceans of Mon Cala, and a set of Lateron hoops carried on the wrist of the visiting senator from Naboo.

 “From Master Kenobi,” she says, and she smiles at him with a warmth that feels like family. He wonders if they’ve met before, if he should know her, but she moves along with the entourage of press and government officials before he can ask.

 He is home for Holyrod month, and has brought his prizes with him carried along specially in his kebisebag, his daesyn in his hands. He sets them out along the windowsill in his rooms at Sundari. The watchet blues and greens of crystalline filtered light play over his collection, illuminating one after the other in joyous turn. He does not know what they mean, or why his father has sent these particular things to him, but they are all precious, and he longs for a way to display his gratitude for the thought he has been spared.

 The daesyn itself revels in its new surroundings, and leans close to the glass to get as close a view of the sun as it can, budding with imminent delight.

The Senator from Naboo is called Padme, he discovers when he is introduced to her again at mealtime. And she has not come alone. She is part of a delegation of foreign ambassadors, all from the Republic, but not all, Korkie suspects, as enthusiastic about the Chancellor as they had once been. There are murmurings and whispers amongst them, hurried out between thin lips and caught only in the corner of his eye, or the turn of his head, but whether satisfied or not, they are accompanied by the ceremonial force of the Senate, and the might of Palpatine himself - Two Jedi travel with them.

 Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

 He sees him through the crush of bodies, and later down the line at suppertime. In the midst of deep blues, and mauves, and furs, and silks, his earthen tunics stand out, but he is always distant, always just out of reach. All he needs is a moment, he thinks, to make sure he’s seen, so he can acknowledge his father - even in the polite, and suitably respectful language of perfect strangers if he must, but it never comes. 

The plates are cleared, the halls are emptied, and Korkie finds himself bidding his aunt (she is always his aunt here) goodnight, and wandering back to his rooms alone.

 It is dark when he arrives, though by the window the Abafar beads glow like the distant lights of the city. He slips off his stiff shoes, and his raiments of clan, but is interrupted by a knock at the door. He waits, uncertain, until the knock comes again.

 Perhaps his mother come to assure herself of his health and presence, as she has done so often in the past, but he opens the door to find Obi-Wan Kenobi waiting, with his hand out. In the euphoric rush of astonishment, he hastens to place his own hand upon his father’s as is customary on Stewjon, though he holds fast in a manner peculiar between children and their parents.

 “Master Kenobi,” he stammers. “I did not expect you. I thought you’d left. Forgive me.”

 “There is nothing to forgive,” Obi-Wan replies. “I’d rather hoped to catch you alone, but I’m afraid our schedule was somewhat packed.”

“Of course.”

He is staring, he knows it, but he can’t seem to think of anything else to say, caught up in looking at his father and searching for all the commonalities between them. Does he tilt his head like that? Does he stroke his chin? Does he frown and smile by equal measure?

But the weight of his scrutiny is too much to bear, and Obi-Wan cracks.

“I thought to ask: did you get my gifts?”

“Yes,” says Korkie. “Thank you. They were very thoughtful.”

“Ah...And did you - did you like them?”

At this, Korkie cannot help but smile, and he shakes his father’s hand, tugging him forward with zeal.

“Yes, of course,” he says. “Would you like to see?”

If he is confused by his son’s desire to reintroduce him to items he has already laboured over and seen, then he does not show it. Nor does he resist when the hand in his pulls him further into the room, and doesn’t let go even as a curtain is flung open, and a light flicked on low.

He is pulled over to the broad casements and left to bask in starlight as Korkie steps aside to reveal a colorful mobile hanging from the frame of his window.

“The amphoriskos broke,” he explains, and sees a shadow flicker in his father's eyes. “No, no,” he insists. “It wasn’t your fault. It just happened. But I couldn’t bear to throw it away. It was so beautiful.”

He gestures at a silver thread from which hang a variety of irregularly shaped clay shards. The shiny amber and black paint catches the light thrown by the glowing Abafar beads strung further up, and on another and another thread. When he blows on them the threads hum, and sway together, the seashells and pottery and glass clattering together like wind chimes.

“The singing strings,” notes Obi-Wan, and Korkie grins.

“And the Lateron hoops,” he says, pointing to the frame from which the strings are suspended. “And the spindles, for balance. It’s meant to hang with my window open, like it is at school. And then, at night, when the dreamwinds come, the whole thing sings, and shines, and glows like the stars.”

“It’s beautiful,” says Obi-Wan with awe. He reaches out with one hesitant finger, the beads flickering beneath his touch, and the strings murmuring the low notes of an opening phrase.

“You gave it to me,” says Korkie with a shrug, and Obi-Wan turns his awe upon his boy.

“No,” he says. “I gave you fragments, but you have made them into art. You gave them meaning. You gave them a soul.”

Korkie shifts on his feet, fretting at the cuff of his sleeve, and diving in.

“Would it be okay, do you think -” he starts, then stops. Then he starts again. “Do you think it’d be alright if I wrote you? Every once in a while.”

“Wrote me?”

“Or com’d,” he says, quickly. “Only I know you’re busy, and I can’t expect to lay claim to any of your time, not really, but I -”

“Com me,” says Obi-Wan. “Write me. Send me anything you like, but only say you will and I will have all the time for you I can spare.”

“I promise that I only want a very little.”

“If it’s mine to give it’s yours to have, Kiorkicek,” his father swears. His grip upon his hand is firm, willing him to believe him, and Korkie nods his head because he does.

They stand there, hand in hand, reading themselves in each other, and learning the other in turn, and in the glow of the stars, and the city, and the Abafar beads, the daesyn flower bursts from its roots into a riot of colour and life.

[cherryblossomstars]

II. Navy (W. Ushijima)

Taken from my AO3 series of one-shots & reposted here

Pairing: Ushijima x F!Reader

Word count: 1,446

Genre: Fluff, birthday fic

Summary: Aoba Johsai's volleyball team has never been able to defeat the Great Ushiwaka of Shiratorizawa. Their manager, however? She can bring him to his knees in mere seconds.

Or, Ushijima Wakatoshi is helplessly in love with Seijoh's Ace's twin sister, and the Aoba Johsai VBC is not appreciative of it.

Previous | Next

It's no secret that Ushijima Wakatoshi is a baby when it comes to matters of love or any emotion that comes with showing affection. His movements on the court are lithe, careful, and precise. Mistakes rarely happen when he's playing his beloved sport, and errors will almost certainly never happen if he's at his peak concentration- then he's at a completely different and untouchable level. He has a degree of grace and beauty on the court that a professional figure skater would be jealous of (not to mention his incredible stamina).

And yet, when it comes to you, he may as well be an infant struggling to walk. It's messy, he's not sure what he's doing, and sometimes he gets hurt trying to figure it out. He knows you, that much he's sure about. You've both known each other for years now. So why, why is it so hard to figure out something to do for you on your birthday?

Around the holidays and on his birthday, he would always tell you not to get him something. He's not a big fan of presents. If he needed something, he'd simply ask his family and then in 1-2 business days, bam. The item in question would be at his front door. And yet, every time, you've still found a way to give him something meaningful.

In the three years he's known you, you've given him a scrapbook, a jar of reasons you love him, and, his most favorite gift of all, a volleyball with everyone's signatures on it. Not just his team's, but other teams as well. People from the Fukurodani, Johzenji, Nekoma, Itachiyama, hell, even Karasuno and Aoba Johsai. You'd somehow managed to coerce Oikawa into signing it. When he'd asked about Oikawa, you'd simply shrug and say "he owed me one". He decided not to press any further. While some people opted to simply write their name on the ball, others wrote little messages too. Iwaizumi Hajime had written a simple happy birthday, while Tendou had to be stopped by you from practically taking up the entire damn ball, a story told to him by his teammates later on. He even cracked a small chuckle imagining your small figure trying to restrain Tendou Satori of all people. He also learned that Oikawa likes to sign his name with a star next to his signature. Ushijima thought it was tacky, but it fit his personality well. Every year you didn't have a physical present for him, you'd take him out on a date or give him one of your homemade bentos.

He was not a fan of presents, but he's certainly grown to look forward to receiving yours.

Yet, every year, he struggles to figure out what to get you. In the past years, he'd given you something simple, but nice or something you just happened to need at the time. One year it was a phone, since Oikawa had accidentally broken yours that year. Ushijima had to visit Oikawa himself and convince him not to buy you a new phone, since Ushijima would be the one handling it. After some debate, Oikawa finally gave in. Another year he'd gotten you a simple silver band, one that you keep on your index finger. He rarely sees you go out without it on, something he's found very pleasing. It brings a sense of satisfaction to his mind when he sees it on you.

Perhaps it was the weather, he rationalized, that was getting in the way of his ideas. Or maybe it was the fact that he had another practice match coming up soon, so he was also coming up with game plans in the back of his mind. He needed to focus. Ushijima was normally ahead of things when it came to plans with you, but he's been so busy with volleyball these past few weeks that he hasn't been able to buy you your gift yet. And now it was six in the evening on a Friday, and he still wasn't sure what to get you for your birthday tomorrow.

He grumbled under his breath, he'd just have to swallow his pride and ask for help. He took out his phone and called the first person he could think of- Tendou. You two were good friends, after all.

"Helloooo? What's up Wakatoshi?" Tendou sang.

"[Name]." He said.

"You're gonna have to give me more context than that." His friend pointed out.

"We're celebrating her birthday tomorrow and I'm unsure of what to get her."

"Something sweet. She's got a pretty awful sweet tooth after all."

"I want something she can keep. Something that will last."

"Oh wow. What a doting boyfriend. Hmm... Well I don't think she needs anything right now... Oh! Why don't you just give that ace from Seijoh a call?"

"...I do not have his number."

"I'll text it to you. Later." And with that, the line went dead.

Damn. He had to ignore his pride just to call Tendou, but Iwaizumi? That was a different level. He'd do it, though, because it's for you.

Ding!

Tendou: It's +81-XXX-XXXX-XXX

Tendou: good luck~ (*´ I `)ﾉﾟ(ﾉД｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡

Ushijima: Thank you.

Should he call or text? Maybe texting would be the better option. You never answered any unknown numbers, who's to say your twin wasn't the same way? He gave your brother a contact before sending a text.

Ushijima: Hello, Iwaizumi. It's Ushijima. Do you have any good gift ideas for [Name]?

Iwaizumi: dude how'd you get my number?

Ushijima: Tendou had it.

Iwaizumi: cool. follow up question: why does he have it?

Iwaizumi: nevermind. not sure I wanna know.

Ushijima couldn't help but think about how you and your brother text the same way.

Iwaizumi: dunno. she likes meaningful gifts i guess. maybe an album? or a scr:"//ad39E

He furrowed his brows in confusion. A what?

Iwaizumi: sorry. oikawa made a grab for my phone. i was gonna say maybe a scrapbook.

Ushijima: I don't know how to make those.

Iwaizumi: painting?

Ushijima: I am bad at art. What are other people getting her?

Iwaizumi: im getting her a new video game for her switch. oikawa's getting her concert tickets to that band she likes so much. yahaba and kyoutani pooled their money together and got her a bunch of new clothes. kunimi's giving her $20. the rest of team pooled their money together and got her a new tablet. i know the players from fukurodani, karasuno, johzenji, nekoma, itachiyama, and inarizaki got her stuff but i dont know what.

Iwaizumi: wait actually those twins from inarizaki got her a stuffed animal and a box of cookies from a bakery she likes

Yahaba and Kyoutani got her clothes... A lightbulb lights up in his mind.

Ushijima: Thank you. I know what to give her.

Iwaizumi: yea no problem

Ushijima went to the shopping district for no reason, then. He went back to his dorm, stepping inside and immediately opening his closet.

"Figured something out?" Tendou greeted from his bunk.

"Yes." He responded, taking one of his sweaters off from a hanger and holding it out in front of him.

Tendou raises his eyebrows in shock, "she's gonna be swimming in that."

"Yes, but she likes to take my volleyball jacket all the time. She says it smells like me, so I may as well give her this one since she can't keep the volleyball jacket." Ushijima holds in front of him a large maroon sweater with the word Shiratorizawa printed in white on it. It was bought to fit him and all his 189 centimeter glory.

"She'll love it."

"Why are you giving this back to me? I gave it to you." Ushijima tilts his head slightly.

You stood in front of him holding out the sweater he had given you for your birthday a few weeks ago, neatly folded in your hands. You felt your face grow hot in embarrassment. "It... Doesn't smell like you anymore. There's no point if it doesn't feel like I'm close to you."

He's quiet for a moment before taking the sweater from your hands. "So you are returning it?"

You can't look at him in the eye, "for now. I want it back, of course. Just... wash it or something with whatever laundry soap you use and give it back so it smells like you."

He smiles softly at you and presses a light kiss to your forehead. He doesn't look like someone who could be soft. His sheer strength on the court and his powerful spikes on the court can attest to that, but he can't help it when it came to you.

"I love you."

Fin.

[arisamsara]

The change of relationship: breaking point of Yoo Jung

Cheese in the Trap Season 4, Ep. 30

WARNING: This post contains several spoilers of the story released up to this particular chapter. The selected plot points are needed for explanation of the chosen topic. If you haven't but plan to read Cheese in the Trap (much reccomended), please avoid this post or read at your own risk.

Cheese in the Trap (치즈인더트랩) is a Korean manhwa (aka comic) series created by Soonkki (story and artwork). It was published on online platform Naver Webtoon in 2010-2017. Later the story was published in print, translated into English on Webtoon app, made into a TV series and live action film. The English translation is in its last 4th season and still has around one year worth of material yet to be translated.

The story revolves around Hong Seol, a hardwoking and little overthinking 3rd year university student majoring business management who is suddenly approached by her same major sunbae, very rich, handsome and popular 4th year student Yoo Jung. It would seem Seol hit a jackpot, attracting attention of such a guy as Jung; however, there is no promise of typical romance in sight. Why?

Maybe because Seol knows that Jung is not as nice as he pretends to be in public?

Or maybe because the previous year Seol's university life was turned into hell and the main puppetmaster behind all those evil schemes seems to be... Yoo Jung?

Relationship that began shrouded in misunderstanding, antipathy and suspicion. Can it ever be turned into romance? Or is it just another Jung's masterplan to get back at Seol?

THE ANALYSIS

In this post I will:

1) do a quick recap of "Jung's attitude towards Seol" evolution (in approximate data graph form in interval -10 to 10 because they're business majors, duh);

2) explain what happened in this episode, what was mistranslated in Jung's monologue and what character details are hidden here;

3) clear the mistranslation of Jung's repeated "Seol" in this episode.

Important parts are highlighted with colour (setting/situation) or bolded (particular events). The words in "..." are actual quotations. The words in '...' are rephrased sentences. Lets begin!

[1st Part] RECAP

How Jung's attitude towards Seol changed since the beginning of previous year aka flashback year? Jung returned from military service to the 3rd year, Seol returned to the 2nd year; they first met during comeback drink party. Seol got wasted (she can't drink much), picked up thrown ciggarettes from the ground outside (for Bora) and kept side-eyeing Jung all evening (how he spilled drink on clingy girls). Jung's first impression of Seol was bad, around 0 to -1 (she's "pathetic"). Then Seol kept saying hello and smiling to him (he was sunbae and popular/respected as well) but Jung flat out ignored her (thought she's another leecher).

During Jaewoo's study group Seol was the only girl there (they thought she outsmarted other girls and came alone to be closer to Jung); Jung caught her laughing at him (he thought she was mocking him and saw through his "nice sunbae" mask; she was just laughing at her imagination of Jung as aloof prince) and his impression dropped to -5 as he really disliked her now. Seol tripped on waxed floor and Jung caught her saying "Be careful" (not about tripping but about her behaviour towards him).

Seol then badmouthed Jung in public (said he was distanced, chose with whom to mingle, acted a bit fake); he found out about it and started to hate Seol (drop to -8). Seol tripped again and dropped papers, Jung kicked them and said "You keep making mistakes. I told you to be careful" (again not about tripping but about making him seem WEIRD to others in public). So he began to act nice with Seol to make Juyeon (black-haired girl who crushed on Jung) jealous and ruin Seol's life (in study related matters)

Then Younggon badmouthed Jung during basketball game (something like 'Jung pities you clingy people', which was true). When everyone turned their backs on Younggon, who went to talk to him, comfort him with snacks? Seol. Jung saw that and likely thought 'So these Jung haters team up now, huh? They deserve each other'. Jung's hatred for Seol got even bigger (drop to -10). When Younggon came to Jung asking for forgiveness, Jung was tired of his sh*t and wanted to go home already (he sighed and ruffled his hair). Juyeon told Younggon he and Seol would be a great couple; they asked for Jung's opinion and he was like 'Yeah whatever you would look good' with a fake smile to be left alone and not involved in unnecessary rumours and drama. He also didn't stop Inha from taking his phone and writing Younggon (pretending to be Jung and advising to send Seol gifts etc.), because, well, he disliked Seol and couldn't be bothered thinking about her. However, Jung had no idea how far Younggon would go during summer break (stalking, threatening and assaulting Seol).

When Seol came straight to Jung and asked if he really told Younggon Seol liked him (and Jung found out how obsessed Younggon was) Jung was shocked and felt bad. Yes, he hated Seol but didn't wish her to be hurt/threatened. Then Juyeon sent homeless woman to the library where Seol was and Seol got cut with a glass. It was Jung (if I remember correctly) who secretly called security guard to save Seol (yet Seol thought Jung was there knowing what happened and did nothing). Jung was really mad with Juyeon for this.

More things have happened that I forgot a bit, but essentially Jung kept noticing he and Seol are somewhat similar. He overheard her phone call with her parents and learned she was also lonely and not fully appreciated by her family. They both were diligent and hardworking in studying (both often were the ones who were used in team projects and ended up doing most of the work, or even did all work alone so their grade would not be affected by other people's laziness). They disliked petty drama. And found it difficult to speak their worries to others (Seol was too self-conscious and afraid to burden her friends, Jung had no one to speak to at all). So Jung's hatred for Seol started to decrease and he occasionally found himself thinking about her and even smiling when doing that (which made him frustrated and confused).

Jung looked for opportunities to speak with Seol but she always ran away, avoided to be left with him alone. During festival Jung made her a part of his preparation group, assigned her an easy job (sort out boxes) so she wouldn't overwork herself as she usually does and so that they could have time to talk alone. Jung didn't know silverware arrived earlier than planned and those boxes were heavy instead of light (Seol thought Jung gave her that job on purpose, to get back at her and just make her more miserable). While working they kept glancing at each other (Seol saw Jung wipe his sweaty face and cough - he caught a cold and felt really sick, but kept working). As others ran home early avoiding work, finding ridiculous excuses, Jung said Seol will help him clean up, but when everyone left, he told her to go just home (no one will appreciate her sacrifice and hard work, he knew that from experience). Seol wanted to leave, but seeing how Jung was sick, she went into rain to place directions towards their bar space. As she got back to take her bag, she saw Jung cleaned the place and lied back on the sofa, mumbling with fever. She couldn't just leave him there, bought him medicine, placed a wet towel on his head and fell asleep on the other couch. Jung woke up feeling better and was surprised to see Seol who was also sick and grabbed his hand in her feverish sleep (Seol's habit). The way they both tended to each other as both were sick (such caring gesture) made them closer but still confused about each other.

Jung left umbrella to Seol (she didn't take one and got wet while placing directions outside) and next day didn't take it back immediately between lectures so they could speak in person when she returns it, but that plan failed (Seol was too sick to keep running after Jung; she didn't want to be alone with him; the students' pissed her off saying 'Poor Jung, got sick working all alone'). In episode 29 sick Seol mistook Jung as Euntaek and asked him for money (initially 10$, then changed her mind and said 2$ was enough). Jung was happy to help her (he knew Seol wasn't like other students who hanged out with Jung only because of his money; also she approached him first and he hoped now they could talk) and offered 40$ (possibly all the cash he had on him, as Jung seemed to favour his card for paying). However, Seol recognized him and ran away again thinking Jung was showing off his money and pity, humiliating her. He followed her and saw her crouched (she vomited), tried to approach her but couldn't (street between them was drawn as an abyss); during next break Jung bought a health drink for Seol but she collapsed and was carried to the infirmary.

Then this episode happened (explained in detail in 2nd part). After that, Jung found out Seol was taking a study break. He was desperate to keep her at university so he could finally get close to her (it was going to be Jung's last year, so if she took a break, they would likely never meet again). Having no other idea how to do that, Jung blackmailed Assistant Seo to make his research paper dissapear (Assistand Seo had stolen and used Jung's credit card, so Jung gave him a chance to be forgiven; once research paper was gone, Jung's grade would drop, Seol would become first in business department, get the scholarship instead of Jung and stay for another year). Then the first chapter of CITT happens when Jung approaches Seol all smiles and offers to buy her dinner (bomb food and triangle rice). So during this 'realization' period which started after Younggon's assault, Jung's like/dislike bar towards Seol jumped from -10 to a decent 8.

[2nd Part] EPISODE EXPLANATION + JUNG'S MONOLOGUE MISTRANSLATION + CHARACTER DETAILS

This whole chapter is from Jung's POV, so it's a rare opportunity not only to see him behave but also hear what he's thinking. Infirmary part is the breaking point is Seol-Jung relationship: it's Jung's last effort to stop being bothered and confused by his feelings towards Seol; and his utter defeat as his opinion of Seol changed completely. Jung was getting worried of her and her health before, but here we see the extent of it. Jung is super diligent when it comes to studying (a bit later, during their first movie date at the cinema Jung was hangover and asked Seol to wake him up if he falls asleep; but it was Jung who stayed up watching boring historical film without breaking attention because it was homework; while Seol quickly fell asleep). It is absolutely outrageous to see Jung deliberately skip important lecture (which has attendance marks) in the middle of it just to go and see Seol. It shows how much he worried about her without even realizing.

Then Jung quietly stared at Seol for a long time with a serious, cynical face as if criticizing, evaluating. Although Jung has dated many girls before (they asked him out and he said ok), he has never had any romantic feelings for them and had no experience with love. So here Jung tried to rationalize whatever newly experienced softness he was feeling towards Seol, remembering past incidents (how she fell several times and got her hand cut). But his concentration broke as soon as Seol moved and Jung was controlled by the unconscious desire to touch her HAND. Seol woke up (delirious) so Jung put his HAND over her eyes to make her sleep (it mirrors how Seol put her HAND over Jung's eyes to calm his rage after Sangcheol pushed them and Jung hurt his HAND). Seol grabbed Jung's HAND half asleep, thanked he was still there and told him to go already. Since she spoke in banmal (informal language), she must have mistaken Jung for Euntaek again, as she never spoke informally with Jung before. Obviously a HAND motif is extremely important in the story. Seol keeps grabbing people's hands (usually Jung's after they became close, ex. when he asked her to become his girlfriend, during volunteering etc.) because she pushed away grandmother's hand; Seol had her hand cut by homeless woman; Inho got his hand hurt during assault; Jung's habit to tap his fingers when he's thinking. I can say this hand grabbing was one of the deciding elements that defeated Jung and last effort of resistance, but why exactly this gesture has such an impact on him is revealed only at the end of the story.

The part time job paper he found in her pocket softened him more. Jung's monologue is MISTRANSLATED in English version on Webtoon app; in essence Jung said he was frustrated about his feelings towards Seol but now feels better (weird), it means he changed (that's weirder). Seol caused a chaos of emotions inside him and she was the only one who could contain that chaos and bring back peace to his heart. He had no proof they could get along as their relationship was dissapointing so far but he wanted to try once more and make sure of it. He admitted he had never regretted his actions so much as he did now (things he did to Seol). Jung realized he couldn't run away from Seol, was fascinated by her, worried (her call with parents), touched by her kindness (she cared for him at festival), apologetic (she crouched after asking for 2$). Suddenly realization hit Jung like a lightning -  he lost the battle and got taken over by affection and crush towards Seol. Jung fell in love for the first time. And here started his obsession with food and having dinner with Seol.

[3rd Part] MISTRANSLATION OF "SEOL"

Why Jung kept repeating "Seol" like crazy? The way it's translated in English on Webtoon app, there is no difference between Jung addressing Seol as he first got into the infirmary and at the end of the chapter. In original Korean version there is a huge difference. For ex. Seol never adressed Jung as Jung; he was Yoo Jung or Sunbae (the latter even after they started dating). Titles of hierarchy or full names are used between people who are not very close and are in official respectful relationship, mostly professional. Family members, close friends and lovers use banmal (informal speech) and address each other using each other's name (there are exceptions; also Bora and Euntaek also often called Seol as Hong/Hong Seol but it may have been a tease). So people who are very close would usually add ending -ah to other person's name as a form of endearment.

When Jung first entered the infirmary, he adressed Seol formally as "Hong Seol" (a fellow student and hoohae of the same major). But after Jung realized he fell in love with Seol, he smiled and called her name softly as "Seol-ah", suggesting she became a close person to him, a dear friend and a possible future lover. Being first time in love, Jung was fascinated by how lovely it sounds and kept happily repeating it.

AFTERTHOUGHTS

CITT emphasizes the importance of subjectivity of one's point of view. This post was written explaining Jung's point of view, how he saw Seol and judged her behaviour. However the story is written mainly from Seol's point of view, so the reader identifies with her and can clearly understand only her actions and thoughts. Most of the time Jung looks weird, unreadable and suspicious to the reader because Seol sees him like that, affected by her past experiences which were caused by misunderstanding between them (and also because Jung is a complex person in general who on top of that is inexperienced in expressing himself clearly).

Nothing like that would have happened if Jung and Seol had sat down and talked everything out in the beginning. But these two do not openly speak about things. Instead they observe, overthink and internalize, judging people by subjective patterns of their own experience. Seol and Jung are similar in this appproach, only their patterns differ.

Seol grew up nice, diligent, disliked troubles and drama, smiled at sunbaes and was often underappreciated. And Jung was always at the center of attention. Seol thoght it was unfair, but she didn't know that people hanged out with Jung only for his status, money and connections, looking for personal gain. When Seol tried to be nice to Jung because she was just raised like that, Jung thought she was another leecher as he only knew such people.

Money was a touchy issue in Seol's family and she had to work several part time jobs to earn for tuition. Jung never thought about money at all or give it much importance. He was collecting expensive watches because he hd nothing better to do (habit came from the childhood as he was lonely and wanted to have a hobby). His issue was not using money for other people (paying for team dinners; Jung is generous) but for people using him only for money. So when Seol paid for her dinner (like she was raised to do) she thought Jung considered her a fool. Actually, he was impressed and surprised (sge's a first who did that) and even felt a little mocked. So he had no issue to give her more cash than she asked - 'I have money, you need it as you're sick, take it all'. She felt humiliated as if Jung was showing off.

Jung made her part of his festival preparation group only to have a chance to speak with her. She thought he did it to make her life hard. Whatever nice Jung did later, he was misunderstood by Seol as having evil intentions. Even when he "lost his paper" and gave up his scholarship so that she would stay at University, he avoided telling her the truth as Seol could (and eventually did) misunderstand and judge him resorting to blackmail (Seol is very righteous). But she would not open to him or ask him for help otherwise, so Jung had to repeatedly help her from behind the scenes and later get scolded.

Also, I wanted to clarify Jung's line "I'm all you got" from episode 27 that generated a lot of discussions about his 'inappropriate, sketchy and manipulative' behaviour. The sentence does sound creepy, but it was partly the fault of translation. Actually this sentence does not mean Seol has no family or friends and has to rely solely on Jung. It is a mistake to take this one sentence out of context, as the sentence was a continuation of Jung's train of thought about unconditional love and trust; about putting someone always first.

Read the colour coded dialogue below:

Jung Seol

"Next time tell me anything. Even if it's just a suspicion. Didn't we agree to share everything? That night, at my house... We talked about it."

"Yes we did, that conversation. Well, I was suspicious of him (Sangcheol) for being a thief so I had to be cautious."

"Seol, when you get suspicious, you had a good reason to be. You can tell me."

"What? How can you be so sure? Aren't you trusting me a little too much?"

"Of course. Who else would believe you and take your side if not me? See? I'm all you got."

Jung never experienced unconditional love and trust; his father never put Jung, his son, first above everything else. Jung was told to give beloved picture frame (mom's treasure) to a boy who simply liked it. Father told Jung to stop whining and be nice - apparently how other people saw Jung was more important than what Jung wanted. Jung's father considered him weird and the lack of trust was expressed by making Baek twins spy on Jung and report back (twins were manipulated too). Father even seemed to like twins' company better than Jung's as father was always smiling and laughing around them, but giving Jung a cold shoulder and scorned face. In Jung's mind, he was never first to Inho too although they were best friends. Jung went to see Inho's favourite musician and get autograph in Inho's name. And Inho kept reporting to Jung's father about Jung, laughed about father liking him more than Jung and caused a scandal about being a second son in the family. People at work and University also don't care about Jung as a person, only about his status in society.

Seol's life is different, she has family and friends yet she can relate to Jung a lot too. In episode 29 Seol said: "No matter how hard I try, there is someone else who's on a whole different level from the beginning. Do I really need to feel this way even at school?" and a picture of Seol's brother Joon appeared. Seol was never put first too - her brother as the only son in the family was the most important. Grandma used to favour Joon and bring him more snacks. Parents sent him to USA to study (Seol also wanted that) and sent him money frequently but Joon stopped his studies and went home. Meanwhile, Seol took a break and had several jobs to earn money for her tuition. No one at home asked how she felt, what she wanted; no one noticed how sick she was (father said no one around the house was useful). Seol had Bora and Euntaek but they had their own problems at home and Seol couldn't find strength to tell them everything thst bothered her. This lead Seol to keep stuff to herself and just brace through it alone.

For Jung, Seol is his girlfriend, the girl he loves and by far the closest person he has. Despite rocky start she eventually tried to know him behind the façade. She bought him a watch (he collects them) with her scarce savings when her time, interest and honesty were more than enough for him. After arguing she would still come and try to work it out and understand him (the night they talked at Jung's house). She often worried about him to the point where she thought she would trouble him with her "small" problems. So that's what Jung talked about - he wanted Seol to share even the smallest worries with him, not bottle everything inside. When friends can be very close, they both are a couple. For Jung couple means people who are ultimate, the most important for each other. "I'm all you got" means "the ultimate/the last one/ the only one to remain with you when everyone turns their backs on you and leaves". It means that as her boyfriend, Jung is the only one who ALWAYS puts Seol first above others, supports her and is on her side no matter what, even if she is wrong or mistaken. That is unconditional love and trust they haven't experienced from their family and friends, so have to give to each other instead.

END

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

[countesspetofi]

I thought I'd like to share with you this little story that my family used to read aloud every Christmas. It's got all the mid-century holiday anxieties: fear of overconsumerism, distrust/dislike of the younger generation, distrust of technology, war toys, "I am a human being: do not fold, spindle, or mutilate," fear of loss of individuality, and a general fondness for complaining. I've tried to preserve all the old-timey formatting choices.

But we always got a lot of laughs out of it, and certain lines have become stock phrases in our family jargon. Plus, it flashes me back to two of my former jobs, assembling furniture and technical writing. Consider it our gift to you this holiday season, and you don't even have to assemble it yourself.

MERRY CHRISTMAS IN TEN PIECES

by Robert Yoder

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and he has a home near the North Pole, where it is colder than a bathroom floor. But don't believe that story about his having a lot of little dwarfs who put toys together for him, singing as they hammer. Nobody puts toys together, until Christmas Eve. Toys come in sixteen pieces, with one missing, and are put together by a large band of Involuntary Elves who call ourselves Santa's Press-Gang Helpers. We don't exactly sing, either, although a certain low, ominous murmur can be heard rising from a million homes on Christmas Eve. Put it this way, kid: that ain't no dwarf; that's your old man, beaten down. The luckless peon bought the toys; now he is learning that he has to finish manufacturing them, too, and by one A.M. his mood will make Scrooge seem like Sunny Ebenezer.

The first thing your frightened eye lights on, in the store, is a nice little red wagon, and you think, in your fatuous adult way, that this is just the thing to brighten the young heart. If you weren't partially paralyzed by the fear that you were shopping too late, you would realize that if the kid wants a wagon at all, it isn't this chaste little model. He would want one twice the size, with demountable tires, a ram-jet engine, electric lights, an overdrive and a windshield wiper, at $79.75. The kid next door has had one like that for two years and uses it only to haul his good toys in. Then you see the rocket-firing antiaircraft gun and realize that this is the answer. While it will not do bodily harm, and is therefore a partial bust to start with, it is a realistic-looking little number, and you buy it, at an exceedingly realistic price.

About the hour on Christmas Eve when you are in mild shock for fear the thing won't arrive, the delivery man stumbles in with a large package that can't be anything else. Will you put it under the tree that way? Or will you have it out in the open, so the child may see this splendid sight first thing in the morning? Full of Christmas sentiment, you decide to expose the gun to full, gladsome view. So you tear off the wrapping. Here is a dial, here is a leg, here is a muzzle. You thought it would look like the model in the store, did you? Well, Santa has a little surprise for you. It's in pieces, and you are going to have to put it together. Merry Christmas, in at least ten pieces.

There is a sheet or folder of directions which could not get under your skin worse if they were in Spanish. They are written in the special language of directions, a mechanical gobbledegook achieved by writing the directions first in Ruthenian and then allowing the translation to curdle. A stop sign from the same mumbling pen would take 200 words. In the language of directions, "Close the door" would read like this: "Grasp door-opening device with right knob grasper and exert pressure outward until Panel A fills Aperture B. If scream is heard, other hand may be caught in opening." Along with being as turgid as possible, the directions are printed in a miniature type face known as Myopia Old Style, which is two sizes smaller than pearl and is otherwise used only to print the Declaration of Independence on souvenir pennies. Well, lying there in pieces, the gun looks like nothing at all; it's got to be assembled. The first line you encounter in the directions says: "Using ring grasper from Assembly Kit, grasp collector ring near tube spar tightening guide rod"... but, thank heaven, that goes with some other toy. Your own directions start out more simply: "Connect round opening at end of Feeder Spring A with hooked end of trigger lock restraining bar by placing round opening over hook and pressing." What'd he think you'd do - spot-weld it? (The answer, unfortunately, is that he expects more than that, but not just yet.) Now the guy begins getting esoteric.

"If retaining mechanism fails to admit trigger, horizontal opening of drum impeding stopper should be widened horizontally." He means if the damned trigger won't go into the guard, you got to cut more room, and sure enough, it won't. This is going to be the only gun in the neighborhood with a demountable (falling out) trigger, unless you fix it. If retaining mechanism fails to admit what it's supposed to retain, then it should never have left the factory, but it's too late for that kind of recrimination now. Getting a hammer from the basement, a good paring knife and a screwdriver, you manage to make the trigger go where it should, with one very bad moment when you think you've split the thing.

Well, the barrel, H, slides into place nicely; maybe things are beginning to go your way. The next step is to fit Firing Platform Z on Tripod, the Tripod being made by inserting Metal-tipped Ends of Legs into Sockets, which is child's play. Now all it takes is two bolts, L and M, which you slip into place with great efficiency. They must be firmly in place, the directions say, or gun will not swivel on Platform Z; you might say, it won't swivel on any platform. A neat little bag contained the bolts, and in it you find the nut for bolt L But half an hour later you are still rummaging through wrapping paper in a grim search for the other nut, the crucial nut, the nut without which, as the Latins say, nothing. You may have 128 nuts of assorted sizes in a jar in the basement, but you will not have one that fits Bolt M. That is a freak size used nowhere else in the whole panoply of American industry. It is part of a shipment the toy manufacturer bought up from the Uruguayan War Assets Administration.

it is 11:45 by the time you manage to make the bolt hold with a piece of wire wrapped around it, and if the kid looks at that part, he will feel sure this toy is something the firemen repainted for the poor. Meanwhile the house is grown cold, three of the Christmas-tree lights have winked at you by burning out, and your cigarette has fallen out of the ash tray and burned a six-dollar hole in the carpet. But the gun is starting to look like a weapon, and there can't be much more - only a couple of odd-looking metal pieces are left and a cardboard circle marked "Cosmic Ray Computer Dial."

One of the pieces of metal is easy enough to use. It's the missing plug, for lack of which the barrel has had that tendency to point to the floor like the tail of a whipped hound. The other is the crank with which the young gunner moves the barrel to keep on his target. You tackle the easiest job first - the computer is nothing more than two sections of light cardboard. "Bending tabs A, C, E and G," the directions say, "fit them into Slots B, D, F and H." The cardboard is a special kind which is a stiff as metal for a minute and then relaxes completely as you push, so that in twenty minutes you have four dog-eared tabs holding one crumpled dial marked with a little blood from the finger you cut trying to enlarge the slots.

Now you reach the part of the directions that tell you to fix on the telescopic sight. The diagram shows a handsome metal gadget coming to a square end, fitted into a ring fastened neatly around the end of the barrel. The only piece of metal you have left, outside of the crank, is a cotter pin. Even if you had missing part R, you would have nothing like missing part Q which fits into it. You ransack the wrapping paper again, in what the novelists call cold fury, but with no luck. Finally, with great self-control you smooth the wrinkled directions and read that jargon over again out loud. It is then that you come across Step 2. "In assembling Model A-200 Junior, our second-rate cheaper model for pikers, Step 2 may be disregarded," the directions say. "No sight comes with this model. There is, however, a cotter pin. You can stick it on the barrel with adhesive tape and play like it's a sight. It ain't much, but neither are you."

There is one final step - mounting the crank. "Slip Directional Crank 16 through Arm Y into Slot EE," the directions say. "When in position, give crank one quarter turn counterclockwise. Trigger should then fall sharply back into firing position." This is simplicity itself, and the only trouble is that if the crank goes through Arm Y, it misses Slot EE by a good quarter of an inch. The bitter thoughts that arise on Christmas Eve about the sleepwalker who bored that slot must visibly affect the temperature.

But the direction writer thought about this impasse, forehanded soul that he is. "It may be necessary, for best results - meaning, to make the thing work at all - to enlarge aperture in Arm Y. This can be done quickly and easily by using a 16.3 metal file without tang, a 13-oz. dinging hammer, and some Australian canoe-builders' flux." This is equipment the ordinary household would be just as likely to have as a Javanese blow gun and a guroo bird, and you know, as your thoughts profane the early Christmas air, that the only 16.3 file in the world is one resting in the manufacturers plant 850.3 miles away across the snowy landscape. So you gouge out a new Slot EE four times the proper size, the crank falls into place, wobbling foolishly, and the task is done. If it holds together until Christmas afternoon you will be agreeably surprised, and a glance at the clock tells you that won't be long.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. If there weren't, ugly mobs of maddened parents would rove the streets Christmas Day armed with bolts, pins, wheels and axles, and some toy manufacturer would end up assembled on Movable Rail A wearing Tar B and Feathers C, after a slight going-over with No. 16 emery paper and a common hydraulic half-knurled center punch.